THE HELMSMAN'S SMILE.
ROWELS TELLS HIS STORY. (Delayed Cable). London, May 1. Special particulars gathered from Helmsman Rowels in-connection with the Channel fight show that fragments of a shell which burst behind the wheel struck him all over the lower part of the body. "When undressed after the action I resembled," he said, " a carrotty pudding. When the skipper ordered me to swing the ship round and ram the destroyer it put new life into me. The telegraph man, who was also wounded, helped me to get the wheel '.nto position. Thu? we crushed the German destroyer. I then saw the destroyer lying on its port sido and crushed right down, only the forepart being visible. Then I smiled for the first time during the action, and I haven't stopped since. [The Admiralty account of the engagement made this reference to Rowels: "The spirit of the wounded was epitomised in the conduct of the Brake's helmsman, Rowels, who, though hit four times with shell fragments, retrained at the wheel throughout the action, and only betrayed that he was wounded by reporting to the captain: 'I am going off now, sir!' and then fainting."]
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Taranaki Daily News, 15 May 1917, Page 3
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193THE HELMSMAN'S SMILE. Taranaki Daily News, 15 May 1917, Page 3
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