BATTLE HONOURS
FOR THE BRITISH CAPTAINS COMMODORE KNIGHTED & PROMOTED. OTHER AWARDS TO FOLLOW. (British Official Wireless.) RUGBY. December 16. The Admiralty announces that in recognition of gallantry in the successful action fought by the Achilles. Ajax, and Exeter against the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee the King has been' pleased to appoint Commodore Henry Harwood to be Knight Commander of the Bath and Captain W. E. Parry, of the Achilles and Captain C. H. L. Woodhouse, of the Ajax, and Captain F. S. Bell, of the Exeter, to be Companions of trie same Order. Commodore Harwood has also been promoted to Rear-Admiral in his Majesty’s Fleet to date from December 13. the date of the action. The Admiralty called for recommendations from Rear-Admiral Harwood in respect of the good conduct and forwardness in action of the officers’ and men in the squadron under his command.
The promotion and honours announced by the Admiralty are assured of enthusiastic endorsement by the public, which greeted the news of the engagement, in the South Atlantic as a brilliant vindication of British sea traditions. Extracts from the foreign Press which have reached London show that the significance of the action is also widely appreciated abroad. Cordial references in the newspapers of France have naturally given pleasure here. “L’Ere Nouvelle” says: "Our friends once again attained their mastery, their courage, their tactical knowledge and that sea sense which is their second nature." AMERICAN COMMENT.
The skill of the British commanders is the subject of much comment in the neutral Press. The verdict which recurs frequently finds typical expression in the remark of the St Louis "Post Dispatch." that the bogey of the pocket battleship seems to have been deflated. The same idea recurs in the conclusion reached by the Latvian Segodnia that the British "habit” of naval victory has been revived. The running fight in which unarmoured and out-gunned ciuisers compelled a battleship to take punishment and chased her damaged and ineffectual to the inglorious refuge of a neutral port will, says the Dail} Telegraph." rank with the most splendid exploits of frigates against threedeckers in the brave days of old.
Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Harwood, K.C.8., 0.8. E.. was very near the'headof the list of captains of the Royal Navy His seniority as captain dated from December 31. 1928. He has been Commodore Commanding the South American Division of the American and West Indies Squadron since September. 1936 flying his broad pendant in H.M.S. Exeter. He specialised in torpedoes in 1912 and served during the Great War as torpedo officer in the armoured cruiser Sutlej and the battleship Royal Sovereign. In 1922-24 he served in the Plans Division at the Admiralty. He was promoted captain on December 31, 1928.
NEW ZEALAND SEAMEN AS EFFICIENT AND KEEN AS ANY IN NAVY. PRAISE FOR ACHILLES COMPLEMENT. LONDON, December 16. Officials pay a high tribute to the part played by the Achilles, stres-' sing the fact that New Zealand ratings are as efficient and as keen as any of the Royal Navy. -The Times," in a leader, says: “New Zealanders are justly elated at the Achilles’ part in the River Plate victory. The exploit must recall to Australians their own delight over the Sydney’s inking of the Emden. New Zealand may well be specially proud of the part played by her sons in this important action." After referring to the efforts ol the Dominions in the air, on land and on sea. "The Times" concludes: “Whatever trials the future may bring, we will face them as an Empire united in the same high cause. Millions of listeners heard a 8.8. C. naval commentator, who for four years was on the New Zealand station, praise the remarkable exploit of the offlceis and crew of the Achilles. “They were trained," he said, “in the traditions of the Royal Navy on the other side of the world under the shadow of Rangitoto. The sea is m their blood. Their traditions are our traditions. They were brought up to abide by the motto read by every recruit as he walks aboard the training ship Philomel 'Fear God and honotu the King,’ words which have inspired members of the British Navy for centuries."
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Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 December 1939, Page 7
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700BATTLE HONOURS Wairarapa Times-Age, 18 December 1939, Page 7
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