BOYLE, V.C OF THE DARDANELLES

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 257, 25 July 1919, Page 7

BOYLE, V.C OF THE DARDANELLES

NAVAL HEKO IN SYDNEY

.Commander Boyle, V.C, who lias arrived in Sydney in command of Australia s gift submarine, is the hero of a famous exploit in the Dardanelles, ne is quite a young man, tall, slim, and not at all standoffish, and he was persuaded to toll the' story of his dives unl , l !?'» sh Ini »efiekls in a wav in which it liad not before reached "these parts.

«rr.'i! Ve ., started out at night," said he. ine idea was to travel up the strnits as tar as pussibloon the surface. Tho current was so strong that with our battery w> should only just be able to manage it but ftere would be no difhculty with our Diesel engines. When we were about six miles up a Turkish searchlight caught us, and the forts began nrlngj and we had to dive. Wo (lived under three minefields, and then there was a 'half-mile scmare of water in winch wo had to come up. We had to arrange to get there just at dawn, come up and take our bearings, and then go down again, nnd so or round Chnnnlf. through the Narrows. We did that, and then went down again in 90ft. of water; below 80ft. there is no current We came up half-way to Nagara Point, got another quick bearing, went down n«ain. came up past Nngara, and got into the upper reaches of the Dardanelles. t lv< ? Nad t0 break through ft nefr-Sj-mch wire and chain and iron bolts, and all sorts of things! The great thing was to take this net exactly at right ang es ; if you took it on the slant, you would be apt to swing round against it, and get your proDellors fouled. This net was bellied out by the tide. You ■Had to hit it, an( i cavtv it m miil it ?, ot taut-and then break tlirougli. When iSi vi jt mM ) e n terrific noise; yon telt like the middle lump in n bn"' of coal going down a shoot!" ■ .The commander smiled reminiscently, and went on.

Once through tho net you wore riiht; there were no mines on the other side. Only we'didn't know (his. so we came up as little as possible—of course, thn mines would ho near the Gurfaoe-and 'then only to get our bearings. Wp «ank about 70 boats altogether: mostly sailing dhows filled with grain. Tht> bigeest thing we got was a transport ivith fiflOO troops on board; but wo got four other transports and a gunboat mid lots of supply ships "It took us 7J hours to get up and i>l o Ret Lack =.»aln. I went up three times. The first time there ivcro gunboats about inside, but not afterwards! On the second trip I -thought we would probably get it that time. And the third time. I felt pretty sure that wo were in tor it: but wo weren't, T vna going up a fourl'h time only something went wrong with the boat."