REMARKABLE MEDAL

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 3, Issue 274, 26 February 1941, Page 5

REMARKABLE MEDAL

LOCAL MAN'S SOUVENIR LUSITANIA SINKING RECALLED In his reminiscences "The Yield of Years" Admiral Sir Guy Gaunt, who in the Great War acted as Naval Attache and Chief of the British Intelligence Service in the United States, relates many of the exploits of his branch of the service! and touches to some extent on the manner in which German propaganda was levelled, at himself. He was accused of being responsible for the sinking of the Lush tania, the German press accusing him of shipping large quantities of explosives on this vessel and it was in his endeavours to disprove these stories to the satisfaction of the Americans, that he unfolded a remarkable story. He learned that there was a medal struck to commemorate the sinking of the Lusitania and by some fatal mischance—the sort of thing the Germans Avere always doing—it had a date on it. One of the medals which arrived in America and he offered 5000 dollars for it intending to use it for propaganda purposes. His reason for that was" that 'the medal was dated two days before, the Lusitania was sunk.

This story is indeed remarkable, but more remarkable still is that one of these medals was brought into the BEACON office last week by Mr T. Hurndell, of Whakatanc. Mr Hurndell states that the medal was given him by an old soldier who also told him the story of the mis-i take in dates. This story he had quite believed but until coming across the publication of Sir Guy Gaunt had not had it confirmed.

The medal which is about 1 y'i inches across and is of metal substance shows on one side passengers at a ticket office purchasing tickets from *a skeleton, while on tha reverse side an illustration of a ship sinking is given. It will be remembered that the Germans claimed to have warned Amorica that the Lusitania was likely to be stink and the scene shown on one side of the medal is indicating that passengers persisted in buying tickets from "Death."

The German wording on the medal reads as follows: Henceforth lake warning. The giant passenger-ship "Lusitania" sunk by German U-Boai May 5, 1915.