A FIGHT IN THE LODEN STYLE

Mount Ida Chronicle, Volume XLV, Issue XLV, 27 July 1917, Page 1

A FIGHT IN THE LODEN STYLE

LIVING UP TO NAVY TRADITIONS. ■■'lt has transpired that the author of the fivid story—an epic in- prose that deserves to be read repeatedly in the schools of the Dominion—of the old-time sea fight betwee* the destroyers Swift and Broke and sis enemy destroyers on April 21-22 off Dover was Commander Dion Calthorpe, the wellknown playwright and novelist, who joined the R.N.Y.R. at the beginning of the war, and is now attached to the Admiralty Staff. The main features of the story were told in the ' Star' of June 23, but some of the details are worthy of apparent repetition. It is a story which tells in letters of fire that the dauntless spirit which animated our sons of the sea in the days of Drake and Raleigh, of Nelson and Collingwood, burns as fiercely as ever, and that, given anything like an opportunity,! the British bluejacket has no rival. In this Channel fight the conditions were reminiscent of the old days, when Britain gained her ascendancy 011 the seas, for at one time the crews of the fighting ships fought hand to hand with bayonets and rifles' and cutlasses. Here is the history 'of ; THAT SPLENDID MIDDY. Donald _ A. Gyles, R.N.R., 2wl:o received wounds in te right arm and right leg find a badly-wounded eye—the result of a piece of • German shrapnel. For this he has to undergo aii operation at Deal Hospital. [ .This is not the first time that he has been r wounded. He is becoming almost accus--2 tomed to tight corners 1 . He is only 19. | Four years ago he elected to go to sea, and , started_his career as a cadet- with the White ' Star Line. On board the Mersey lie was trained as an officer, and learned scn\;('iing 3 of those traditions of the sea which were to be of value to him in later years.' With the Mersey he travelled round the wor.'d, p eking Up the rudiments of what an officer hi His Majesty's Navy should be. Just before the "War broke out he got his chance. He was t nominated as a midshipman to the battleship London, and the beginning of the war 3 found him serving in the Mediterranean. It was not long before he smelt powder. He went all through the Dardanelles campaign, j <\nd helped to land some of the first Australians at Gaba Tepe under the terrible fire of the Turks' land batteries. He was wounded

twice, although not seriously. When he came back came back from the Mediterran- , oan last November he was appointed to his destroyer—the Broke—in the Dover patrol, and with the Broke and Commander Evans he has seen active service ever since THE MAN AT THE WHEEL. "I SMILED, AND HAVEN'T STOPPED ■ SMILING SINCE." ; ! Despite the severe- injuries he had sustained, Able Seaman Kawle, steersman of the Broke, smiled blandly when he told the story, of the fight. " I was at my station at the wheel,"' he said, "and although I had to keep my eyes on the compass I managed to take them off for a moment, when I caught Sight of a German destroyer on either side of us Vbout 300 yds away. They y;ere a little ahead of us. At this supreme moment I had to keep my eye fixed on the captain to. receive my orders, when a shot from the leading German boat burst behind the wheel where I-was standing, and'the fragments struck me all over the lower part of the body. Two pieces embedded themselves in the bottom of my back, and a piece in the fleshy part of each of my legs, but the 'dinky' pieces I did not mind. When I was undressed after the action I looked like a carrot pudding. Although slightly dazed by my wounds and suffering from shock I stuck to my post, but I had to look round occasionally over the stem to get a puff of wind and a sniff of the briny to buck me up. All this time I was taking orders from the captain through the voice-tube connecting the telegraph' and the helm. This kept my mind occupied. When I received orders to - slew around to ram the German boat it put new life into me. With the assistance of the telegraph

man, who was also wounded, I-.managed to get the wheel into the ordered position, and then came the crash into the German destroyer. I saw the destroyer lying under our port side with only her fore-part visible, and then for the first time during the action I smiled, and I have not stopped smiling" since. Still receiving orders through the voice-tube, we went for another vessel which we saw was on fire, and which we believed to be out of action. On our closing upon her, however, she treacherously opened fire on us, and we promptly retaliated with a feW more rounds, which finished her. As I thought the action was then over I gave way, and called out to the captain: ' I am just going to drop off, sir.' 1 then fell on the d,eck in a faint, and the next I remember was being bandaged up." THE MIDDY TALKS. " I was off watch and asleep," said Midshipman Gyles, in a graphic story of the fight, " when the German destroyers were first sighted. All hands were called to their stations, and I came to my post, forward above the gun. The first shell from the enemy hit the superstructure bf our bridge, taking away one side, and killing and wounding several of our crew, and also killing or wounding a number of men who were manning the port No. 2 gun below. I myself was struck by a fragment of shrapnel, which pierced my right eye. I was also wounded in my right leg and right arm. The force of the firing knocked me down and stunned me, but, recovering, I managed to pick myself up and go below to assist at one of the other guns, which, however, I found disabled. I then went on the forecastle, where I found only five men left who were able to man the gun there. Able Seaman Ingleson, whose gun was already disabled, came forward to us to see if he could render any assistance. He loaded the port gun while I loaded l.be starboard gun. Owing to the great quantity of blood which was pouring down my nice from my wounded eye I experienced great difficulties in doing my work. Whilst we were firing several Germans managed to board us, yelling all the 'time for mercy, and saying other things wliich we could not understand. They rushed along the decks and endeavored to attack us, and I pointed my revolver at them, and ordered them to go forward. Then one burly German, a regular giant, made a lunge at me, and got hold of my right wrist, endeavoring to wrench my revolver from me. But he did not succeed. Petty-officer Woodfield aimed a blow at him, which, however, he managed to avoid. He then dashed round ou£ gun, and endeavored to attack me from the rear, but lie was run through by a cutlass by Able Seaman Ingleson. We threw his body overboard. Then we cleared the decks of the remaining Germans, whom we made prisoners. Later we • discovered two others hiding in the forecastle. These we also made prisoners. We torpedoed one enemy destroyer and rammed another." ANOTHER PARTICIPANT'S, STORY. - " It was very soon over, but while it lasted it was tremendously exciting. When steering to ram one of the enemy destroyers we at the same time let fly a -torpedo at the next boat. The torpedo got home, and so did our boat, for we went crashing into the leading enemy destroyer, cutting her down amidships. .'"We were locked together for about two minutes. On our managing to . back out we discovered that we had actually got a part of a torpedo tube sticking to us

from out of the side of the German.. While we were backing, a number of; Germans swarmed oyer on to our forecastle, and one' made a dash for our gallant little middy. Before he could do any harm to him we ran him through with our cutlasses and threw his - body overboard. We cleared the deck of the remainder and took many prisoners."