Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1920 ON BOARD THE WOLF.

Hokitika Guardian, 30 November 1920, Page 2

Hokitika Guardian & Evening Star TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 30, 1920 ON BOARD THE WOLF.

In September, 1917, Mr A. H. F. Clarke,. a member of the Ceylon Civil Service, was on, board the Hitachi Mariij in the Indian Ocean, when the Japanese vessel fell in with the Wolf and was forced to surrender. In due course he, with the rest of the passengers and crow, was transferred ot the raider, and then began a long period of captivity, which ended only with the Armistice, and is described in “To 1 Kiel in the Gorman Raider Wolf.” Mr Clarke and his fellow prisoners (who included Australians and New Zealanders) had not very much to complain of. They were civilly treated, and got what what was going; later on the food became insufficient, and monotonous—tinned crab taken from the Hitachi Ma-i . ru was the chief item on the inen,u, and soon palled—but that was inevitable in the circumstances. Their chief grievances were the overcrowding and their inability to communicate with, their friends. Also the suspense upon their .nerves, for they never knew when they might he blown into the air by an Allied warship. However, the Wolf reached Kiel in safety, and the captives were sent to Ruhleben, where, subjected to irksome interference, and restraints, they remained till November, 1918. The cruise of the Wolf 'thoroughly, justified itself from the German point of view. The total tonnage sunk was not very great—it was under 40,000 tons, though this <does not include the vessels destroyed by mines laid by the raider. But the authorities magnified the figures, and her exploits produced a ; great moral effect. Here was a boat I which could steal out under the very eyes of the enemy, scour four oceans, capture merchantmen within a few> : hours’ steapi of a hostile port, and return unscathed. What a proof of German prowess! And indeed we need not with-hold credit from the Wolf. Her enterprise was a daring one, conducted I with courage and resources. 'She had : not a heavy armament, and she could not have stood up to an enemy of any I gun power. Her sole hope of survival lay in escaping observation. But chance often smiles on those who woo her resolutely; the seas are wide and the Wolf’s luck held throughout-her long voyage.