The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 1918. THE NAVAL RAID

Waikato Times, Volume 89, Issue 13752, 27 April 1918, Page 4

The Waikato Times With which is incorporated The Waikato Argus. SATURDAY, APRIL 27, 1918. THE NAVAL RAID

Britons the world over must have felt stirred and thrilled by the graphic cabled account of the dating raid on Zeebrugge and Ostend by a small British naval force. It was a great undertaking, dashingly conceived and gallantly carried out. It shows that the intrepid spirit which has ever characterised British sailors is still the motive force of our Navy, and that when great deeds are demanded there are great men to carry them out. The Germans may attempt to decry the exploit, and to deny its success; hut they cannot deny that it was attempted, and that fact alone establishes the supremacy of the British naval personnel over that of the enemy. There was no doubt upon that point before, but the late raid has made the truth more pronounced. In every naval encounter, wherein the odds were not overwhelming, during the present war it has been the German who has gone under, and he has assiduously declined the combat unless all the advantages were with him. He has refused to take risks, and has been content to confine his naval activities to spectacular rather than solid actions. The much-belauded Emden was a case in point. She had a somewhat length.' career before she was knocked out by the Sydney, and she effected a lot of damage to British shipping and Indian towns, but she took practically no risks. Her commander ensured that when he struck there was no possibility of his blows being returned, and while we have no desire to detract from his laurels, we have little hesitation in asserting that had the Emden been a British ship, commanded and manned by British sailors, she would have taken greater risks and thereby accomplished deeds more worthy of respect and laudation.- The reason, of course, is that the British naval man has traditions which he feels instinctively that he must live up to. He honours a brave foeinan, and respects the helpless and incapacitated. He scorns to take a mean advantage of his adversary, and would rather die himself than descend to the base and infamous crimes which have been repeatedly perpetrated and revelled in by the officers and men of the German navy. The British sailor deals out hard knocks, but is also ready to receive them in fair tight, and if he succeeds in getting his adversary into the water he is eager to extend his hand ( to pull him out, and will share his kit and ration with him. The German has no such proclivity; he wantonly leaves his foe to drown, and has no hesitation in turning a machinc-f. r un on helpless men and women, the victims of his own dastardy, who can neither fight, hide, nor run. If it were possible to even imagine an officer of the British Navyordering his men to fire without warning at a German merchantman or hospital ship, it is safe to say that the order would .not be obeyed, and that if it were persisted in the officer would find himselij in duress as a m'atiman, qVu' cause that pfd'er would be contrary, lio the traditions,of the sea, which his men j have been taught to reverence arid hftfiour. There is no inhumanity in British'J Jack Tars, and that constitutes the •

difference between the Briton and the

German. The latter, when assured that it is reasonably safe, steals out of his, well-protected havjsi and, enveloped in a mist, hurries 'across to the British coast; he fires a few rounds on an unprotected : townf to his fastnesses ere an enemy can waylay hiiivi and then boasts he has established the supremacy of German valour. The Briton, on the other hand, openly takes his ship off the fortified places and exchanges shots iii honourable combat. If his ship is sunk he ascribes it to the fortune of war, and compliments the enemy upon his success. He goes out to fight, not to wantonly murder, and he takes risks. His raid on Zeebrugge proves this. He there ran the gauntlet of mine, submarine and battery. He entered the very stronghold of the enemy, he accomplished his purpose and he retired, battered and damaged, but triumphant and proud, for he had upheld the traditions and won fresh laurels for the service. It was a glorious action, but it is such deeds that, the nation expects of its sailors and knows that it will not expect in vain. The Zeebrugge raid, we are convinced, is but the prelude to even greater things, and the initial success is a guarantee that what the men of the Navy have in view will be carried to a triumphant conclusion.