THE FIRST CONVOY.

Hokitika Guardian, 13 March 1926, Page 4

THE FIRST CONVOY.

•SFA VOYAGE OF THE ANZAC'S. A SUCCESSFUL FNDKRT.V KING. INCIDENT OF Til K YEAR. An interesting account, of the voyage ol the first convoy of Australian and New Zealand troopships during Ihe early stages of the late war is published in a recent issue of the Blue Rider. ’ Ihe author is Rear-Ad-miral A. Gordon Smith. C.M.G., who was in command of the flagship, the Orient liner Orvieto.

I lie Australian troopships assembled in King George's Sound. When the Orvieto entered the harbour the Australian cruiser Melbourne was doing "ditch (log duty at the entrance, and about a dozen transports rode at anchor. 'flic business of preparing the convoy lor its voyage was very trving, lor it was not until the beginning of lb 15 that the seas could he considered safe tor the passage of transports. The British armoured cruiser Minotaur and the Japanese cruiser Ihuki arrived on October dOtli with ten New Zealand transports all painted grey and looking very warlike. Later the Australian warship Sydney joined the division.

On November Ist. 1914. the convoy set sail for Albany, the “hips filing out, in single line. .Many of the ships were inclined to pla.v for safety and certainly did nut imperil their next ahead by being too close on moving oil. The Orvieto wit.- well out to sen and heading westward before the Wiltshire, leading the second division was sighted, rounding the. black bluff at the entrance In the sound. The speed of the first division was reduced to allow the column to close tip. and the other two divisions In term up on either beam, all according to i/rogramme. By 8 o’clock flic whole convoy was formed up as a fleet in cruising erdcr. Five miles ahe ad ol the Orvieto' ua- lhe .Minotaur, the Sydney was to iiort. the • Ihuki to .starboard, and the .Melbourne out of sight astern, was the rear guard. The New Zealand transports formed a little fleet of their own, steaming in two columns to the rear. The total length of the convoy, including the Now Zealand vessels, should have been only seven miles, hut on sonic mornings it was double that distance, the tail being almost out of sight. At sm h times one of Ihe cruisers would go

along the lint' like a policeman, making the queue close up. On the second day out the convoy was joined hy two t rnusnorts from Fremantle. the ntiinhor cd' steamers being thus increased lo 03, SYDNEY’S DEFEAT OF THE EMDEN. The i onvov steered an unusual course, keeping lo t!ie eastward oi llie Cocos Islands. The men saa nolliing Imt sea and sky and the same old ships. Day followed day in peacelid I niiiqailiity, and Da y begun to wish lor something to happen. Then strange wireless signal.-, fairly close, and in a (,'ciman code. At that time the Emden, the Kouigsberg, ami another smaller t miser, tin- (.'eier, were heiieved to he somewhere in the Indian Ocean. At seven o'clock the following morning the whole Heel was electrilie.il hy another message in plitin English : ‘‘Strange ernisei* at entrance.” It was from the Cocos Islands telegraph station, al that lime some thirty miles distant on the port side. H.M.S. Sydney, being the nearest of the warships, was sent lo investigate. At !) o’clock another message in naval code was received: Enemy in sight.” There was 110 reason for .secrecy and within fifteen seconds everyone on the Orvieto was hurrying on to the deck to see the Dlll. From time to time laconic ■•craps ol news were received from Ihe Sydney as (lie tigiii progressed. Mien the convoy received: “Enemy’s oremost funnel and foremast down.” shortly alter another funnel was reported shot away. Einallv alter a one; wait llie convoy was informed

that llie Emden had been benched and was completely beaten. Tile hit-

ter message was greeted with cheers

1 1 1,, n every ship of the line. II was a red letter day for Ihe Australian Xav v.

- PASSIM: THROUGH SUEZ CANAL, file convoy did not receive the full ' details ol the light until arrival a! . Ceylon, where the Sydney had already anchored. At Ceylon stores and water were taken on hoard. Thence the convoy proceeded to Aden. On ,arrival at -the latter port the men discovered that Turkey had joined up with the (loniums. At Aden il was I'm Iso 'learned that the Australians were to be disembarked in Egypt, The | absence of lights in the southern part .of the Red Sea caused considerable anxiety, and the convoy took a very unusual route on account of the possibility of mines. After a stay of a few hours at Suez the convoy started to file through the canal, the Orvieto leading. Although small parties of I urks wove known to be in the vicinity, the canal, for the greater part of its length, was lined with British troops. When the trasports passed a British regiment they got their first real welcome. One of the Tommies one the bank shouted out: ‘'Hallo, I whore 1 ve you come from?” And there J was a general reply from the ships. “Australia.” The Tommies on shore passed the word round, and they all came running towards the bank from their camp and hurst into continuous cheering, waving their towels and caps frantically, “Any more com mg?” they asked.' “Twenty thousand!” More prolonged cheers from the bank. ARRIVAL AT ALEXANDRIA. Then the next morning at Port Raid the troops exchanged cheers with ipim.i,| 1: pun d;i|saiiiun rsni.'ST cruiser. There was also aP. and O. liner, crowded with passengers for India, who yelled themselves hoarse when they learned who the men were. The troops finally landed at Alexandria and proceeded by train to the

camps that had been prepared for them near Cairo. The New Zealanders, having been longest on hoard, were landed first. Good fortune had favoured the Anzacs from the time of their departure from their home shores.