WAR NOTES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 197, 28 January 1915, Page 7

WAR NOTES.

INTERNED BRIGADE IN HOLLAND. Commodore Wilfred Henderson, who is in command of tile brigade interned ill Holland, writes as follows: Interneeringsdepot (Groningcn, Holland). November 17th, 1014. I It was crushing bad luck to be "Vim 'out" so early in our innings, but we refuse to the "downhearted," and away back in our minds we cherish a firm conviction, although we cannot explain it, that the wheel of fortune will take some turn which will release us before the war ends. We just must have our revenge for Antwerp. Thank you for the papers you have so kindly been sending. Thanks to generous response to my appeal, we now Jiave an excellently stocked library, and I am asking people not to send lis any more literature except current illustrated papers and daily papers posted not later than the day after issue. I halve succeeded in arranging here for a daily English edition of the local paper; so we get all the telegraphic war news served up hot every morning-

'My greatest difficulty is providing "useful occupation" for the men, anil the best thing I have hit upon is knit- , ting warm garments. I have a department knitting war garments which gives over fifty men occupation. If yon feel inclined to help us a little you could do no better than send us a parcel of wool, either khaki, brown, blue or natural shade. I have carpenters, tailors, barbers and bootmakers' shops in full swing now; this week I hope to start a netmaking department, as we have many fishermen Resides this, I have a few sporadic departments making knickknacks. One ir:an is inlaying pipes as mementoes I must keep the the men employed, or else they will run to seed mentally and physically. MIDDY'S VIVID STORY. J Following is a copy ol a letter which has been received from a midshipman on service on one of His Majesty's ships which was in the vicinity when the explosion took place on His Majesty's ship Bulwark. Words cannot describe the fearful suddenness or the appalling enormity of the Bulwark affair. The Bulwark, as you probably know, was a ship in every way identical with this one, with 12in. armor and goodness knows' what not, but had she been made of cardboard, the disintegration could hardly have been more complete. I was halfway down one of the mess-deck hatchways from the upper deck, when I felt an enormous concussion of air in my ears, and an instant later a noise , that can only be described as simply 1 deafening, filled the air. i "Man and arm ship," "Close water- i tight doors," "Away all boats," was pip- < ed, for it was very naturally suppos- j ed their either a submarine or a Zep- i pelin had done this fearful damage. 1 Two seconds later, when I had rac- < ed up to the boat deck, I could see J Nothing but smoke and debris hurtling i skywards. Such smoke I have never ' seen in my life before—inky black, and ( filling the entire sky. A fierce, blind- i ing flash, the explosion of 300 tons of i (powerful explosive, an ear-splitting i roar, and a deadly Slower of debris, i timber, coal, twisted metal fragments, ] burning pieces of wood and human re- 1 mains, charred beyond all recognition I —that is how tile Navy lost 650 men i and a £1,000,000 battleship. 1 In less than thirty seconds, 15,000 i tons of steel was blasted to pieces—all r that was left at high water being the ] anchor cable, which still held a mass of i what once bad been the bows of a 1 battleship to the buoy. /An ever-wid- i cning circle of wreckage and corpses marked the sight of the disaste:. Myriads of boats put out all along . the shore to save, but they might well J have known that they could not expect , to find but very few alive. About six j corpses, too horribly mangled for des- , cription, were hoisted on board; all bore fearful wounds ami burns, and I . should think were quite unrecognisable. '

Floating past the side went all that remained of the Bulwark; portions of the deck, chests of drawers, clothing of all descriptions, charred and blackened by the appalling heat. A lieu-tenant-commander's full dress coat and a midshipman's jacket went past side by aide, closely followed by a tattered blue ensign. A wooden box was fished up, and was found to contain the ship's silver communion plate absolutely unhurt.

Destroyers and trawlers seemed to arrive from nowhere, and all the shipping in the harbor wa s stopped. I being midshipman of the watch, was told to search all craft that came alongside in response to our orders. I, therefore, spent a most exciting morning routing about the holds of private vessels of all descriptions. "Familiarity breeds contempt," and a little contempt goes a long way with lyddite, doesn't it?" This is a catastrophe I can never forget.