NEWS OF THE ENEMY.
Terror and excitement reigned everywhere. The wildest rumours were
hourly afloat. London was a seething stream of breathless multitudes of
every class.
On Monday morning the newspapers throughout the kingdom had devoted
greater part of their space to the extraordinary intelligence from
Norfolk and Suffolk, and Essex, and other places. Only the slow,
old-fashioned "Globe" remained asleep, or pretended to know nothing of
what was in progress.
That we were actually invaded was plain, but most of the newspapers
happily preserved a calm, dignified tone, and made no attempt at
sensationalism. The situation was far too serious.
Like the public, however, the Press had been taken entirely by surprise.
The blow had been so sudden and so staggering that half the alarming
reports were discredited.
In addition to the details of the enemy's operations, as far as could as
yet be ascertained, the "Morning Post" on Monday contained an account of
a mysterious occurrence at Chatham, which read as follows:
"CHATHAM, _Sept. 1_ (11.30 P.M.).
"An extraordinary accident took place on the Medway about eight o'clock
this evening. The steamer 'Pole Star,' 1,200 tons register, with a cargo
of cement from Frindsbury, was leaving for Hamburg, and came into
collision with the 'Frauenlob,' of Bremen, a somewhat larger boat, which
was inward bound, in a narrow part of the channel about half-way between
Chatham and Sheerness. Various accounts of the mishap are current, but
whichever of the vessels was responsible for the bad steering or neglect
of the ordinary rules of the road, it is certain that the 'Frauenlob'
was cut into by the stem of the 'Pole Star' on her port bow, and sank
almost across the channel. The 'Pole Star' swung alongside her after the
collision, and very soon afterwards sank in an almost parallel position.
Tugs and steamboats carrying a number of naval officers and the port
authorities are about to proceed to the scene of the accident, and if,
as seems probable, there is no chance of raising the vessels, steps will
be at once taken to blow them up. In the present state of our foreign
relations such an obstruction directly across the entrance to one of our
principal war-ports is a national danger, and will not be allowed to
remain a moment longer than can be helped."
"_Sept. 2._
"An extraordinary _denouement_ has followed the collision in the Medway
reported in my telegram of last night, which renders it impossible to
draw any other conclusion than that the affair is anything but an
accident. Everything now goes to prove that the whole business was
premeditated and was the result of an organised plot with the object of
'bottling up' the numerous men-of-war that are now being hurriedly
equipped for service in Chatham Dockyard. In the words of Scripture, 'An
enemy hath done this,' and there can be very little doubt as to the
quarter from which the outrage was engineered. It is nothing less than
an outrage to perpetrate what is in reality an overt act of hostility in
a time of profound peace, however much the political horizon may be
darkened by lowering war-clouds. We are living under a Government whose
leader lost no time in announcing that no fear of being sneered at as a
'Little Englander' would deter him from seeking peace and ensuring it by
a reduction of our naval and military armaments, even at that time known
to be inadequate to the demands likely to be made upon them if our
Empire is to be maintained. We trust, however, that even this
parochially-minded statesman will lose no time in probing the conspiracy
to its depths, and in seeking instant satisfaction from those
personages, however highly placed and powerful, who have committed this
outrage on the laws of civilisation.
"As soon as the news of the collision reached the dockyard the senior
officer at Kethole Reach was ordered by wire to take steps to prevent
any vessel from going up the river, and he at once despatched several
picket-boats to the entrance to warn in-coming ships of the blocking of
the channel, while a couple of other boats were sent up to within a
short distance of the obstruction to make assurance doubly sure. The
harbour signals ordering 'suspension of all movings' were also hoisted
at Garrison Point.
"Among other ships which were stopped in consequence of these measures
was the 'Van Gysen,' a big steamer hailing from Rotterdam, laden, it was
stated, with steel rails for the London, Chatham, and Dover Railway,
which were to be landed at Port Victoria. She was accordingly allowed to
proceed, and anchored, or appeared to anchor, just off the railway pier
at that place. Ten minutes later the officer of the watch on board
H.M.S. 'Medici' reported that he thought she was getting under way
again. It was then pretty dark. An electric searchlight being switched
on, the 'Van Gysen' was discovered steaming up the river at a
considerable speed. The 'Medici' flashed the news to the flagship, which
at once fired a gun, hoisted the recall and the 'Van Gysen's' number in
the international code, and despatched her steam pinnace, with orders to
overhaul the Dutchman and stop him at whatever cost. A number of the
marines on guard were sent in her with their rifles.
"The 'Van Gysen' seemed well acquainted with the channel, and
continually increased her speed as she went up the river, so that she
was within half a mile of the scene of the accident before the steamboat
came up with her. The officer in charge called to the skipper through
the megaphone to stop his engines and to throw him a rope, as he wanted
to come on board. After pretending for some time not to understand him,
the skipper slowed his engines and said, 'Ver vel, come 'longside
gangway.' As the pinnace hooked on at the gangway, a heavy iron cylinder
cover was dropped into her from the height of the 'Van Gysen's' deck. It
knocked the bowman overboard and crashed into the fore part of the boat,
knocking a big hole in the port side forward. She swung off at an angle
and stopped to pick up the man overboard. Her crew succeeded in rescuing
him, but she was making water fast, and there was nothing for it but to
run her into the bank. The lieutenant in charge ordered a rifle to be
fired at the 'Van Gysen' to bring her to, but she paid not the smallest
attention, as might have been expected, and went on her way with
gathering speed.
"The report, however, served to attract the attention of the two
picket-boats which were patrolling up the river. As she turned a bend in
the stream they both shot up alongside out of the darkness, and ordered
her peremptorily to stop. But the only answer they received was the
sudden extinction of all lights in the steamer. They kept alongside, or
rather one of them did, but they were quite helpless to stay the
progress of the big wall-sided steamer. The faster of the picket-boats
shot ahead with the object of warning those who were busy examining the
wrecks. But the 'Van Gysen,' going all she knew, was close behind, an
indistinguishable black blur in the darkness, and hardly had the officer
in the picket-boat delivered his warning before she was heard close at
hand. Within a couple of hundred yards of the two wrecks she slowed
down, for fear of running right over them. On she came, inevitable as
Fate. There was a crash as she came into collision with the central
deckhouses of the 'Frauenlob' and as her bows scraped past the funnel of
the 'Pole Star.' Then followed no fewer than half a dozen muffled
reports. Her engines went astern for a moment, and down she settled
athwart the other two steamers, heeling over to port as she did so. All
was turmoil and confusion. None of the dockyard and naval craft present
were equipped with searchlights. The harbour-master, the captain of the
yard, even the admiral superintendent, who had just come down in his
steam launch, all bawled out orders.
"Lights were flashed and lanterns swung up and down in the vain
endeavour to see more of what had happened. Two simultaneous shouts of
'Man overboard!' came from tugs and boats at opposite sides of the
river. When a certain amount of order was restored it was discovered
that a big dockyard tug was settling down by the head. It seems she had
been grazed by the 'Van Gysen' as she came over the obstruction, and
forced against some portion of one of the foundered vessels, which had
pierced a hole in her below the water-line.
"In the general excitement the damage had not been discovered, and now
she was sinking fast. Hawsers were made fast to her with the utmost
expedition possible in order to tow her clear of the piled-up wreckage,
but it was too late. There was only just time to rescue her crew before
she too added herself to the underwater barricade. As for the crew of
the 'Van Gysen,' it is thought that all must have gone down in her, as
no trace of them has as yet been discovered, despite a most diligent
search, for it was considered that, in an affair which had been so
carefully planned as this certainly must have been, some provision must
surely have been made for the escape of the crew. Those who have been
down at the scene of the disaster report that it will be impossible to
clear the channel in less than a week or ten days, using every resource
of the dockyard.
"A little later I thought I would go down to the dockyard on the
off-chance of picking up any further information. The Metropolitan
policeman at the gate would on no account allow me to pass at that hour,
and I was just turning away when, by a great piece of good fortune, I
ran up against Commander Shelley.
"I was on board his ship as correspondent during the manoeuvres of the
year before last. 'And what are you doing down here?' was his very
natural inquiry after we had shaken hands. I told him that I had been
down in Chatham for a week past as special correspondent, reporting on
the half-hearted preparations being made for the possible mobilisation,
and took the opportunity of asking him if he could give me any further
information about the collision between the three steamers in the
Medway. 'Well,' said he, 'the best thing you can do is to come right
along with me. I have just been hawked out of bed to superintend the
diving operations, which will begin the moment there is a gleam of
daylight.' Needless to say, this just suited me, and I hastened to thank
him and to accept his kind offer. 'All right,' he said, 'but I shall
have to make one small condition.'
"'And that is?' I queried.
"'Merely to let me "censor" your telegrams before you send them,' he
returned. 'You see, the Admiralty might not like to have too much said
about this business, and I don't want to find myself in the dirt-tub.'
"The stipulation was a most reasonable one, and however I disliked the
notion of having probably my best paragraphs eliminated, I could not but
assent to my friend's proposition. So away we marched down the echoing
spaces of the almost deserted dockyard till we arrived at the
'Thunderbolt' pontoon. Here lay a pinnace with steam up, and lighted
down the sloping side of the old ironclad by the lantern of the
policeman on duty, we stepped on board and shot out into the centre of
the stream. We blew our whistles and the coxswain waved a lantern,
whereupon a small tug that had a couple of dockyard lighters attached
gave a hoarse 'toot' in response, and followed us down the river. We
sped along in the darkness against a strong tide that was making
upstream, past Upnor Castle, that quaint old Tudor fortress with its
long line of modern powder magazines, and along under the deeper shadows
beneath Hoo Woods till we came abreast of the medley of mud flats and
grass-grown islets just beyond them. Here above the thud of the engines
and the plash of the water, a thin, long-drawn-out cry wavered through
the night. 'Some one hailing the boat, sir,' reported the lookout
forward. We had all heard it. 'Ease down,' ordered Shelley, and hardly
moving against the rushing tideway we listened for its repetition.
Again the voice was raised in quavering supplication. 'What the dickens
does he say?' queried the commander. 'It's German,' I answered. 'I know
that language well. I think he's asking for help. May I answer him?'
"'By all means. Perhaps he belongs to one of those steamers.' The same
thought was in my own mind. I hailed in return, asking where he was and
what he wanted. The answer came back that he was a shipwrecked seaman,
who was cold, wet, and miserable, and implored to be taken off from the
islet where he found himself, cut off from everywhere by water and
darkness. We ran the boat's nose into the bank, and presently succeeded
in hauling aboard a miserable object, wet through, and plastered from
head to foot with black Medway mud. The broken remains of a cork
life-belt hung from his shoulders. A dram of whisky somewhat revived
him. 'And now,' said Shelley, 'you'd better cross-examine him. We may
get something out of the fellow.' The foreigner, crouched down shivering
in the stern-sheets half covered with a yellow oilskin that some
charitable bluejacket had thrown over him, appeared to me in the light
of the lantern that stood on the deck before him to be not only
suffering from cold, but from terror. A few moments' conversation with
him confirmed my suspicions. I turned to Shelley and exclaimed, 'He says
he'll tell us everything if we spare his life,' I explained. 'I'm sure I
don't want to shoot the chap,' replied the commander. 'I suppose he's
implicated in this "bottling up" affair. If he is, he jolly well
deserves it, but I don't suppose anything will be done to him. Anyway,
his information may be valuable, and so you may tell him that he is all
right as far as I'm concerned, and I will do my best for him with the
Admiral. I daresay that will satisfy him. If not, you might threaten him
a bit. Tell him anything you like if you think it will make him speak.'
To cut a long story short, I found the damp Dutchman amenable to reason,
and the following is the substance of what I elicited from him.
"He had been a deck hand on board the 'Van Gysen.' When she left
Rotterdam he did not know that the trip was anything out of the way.
There was a new skipper whom he had not seen before, and there were also
two new mates with a new chief engineer. Another steamer followed them
all the way till they arrived at the Nore. On the way over he and
several other seamen were sent for by the captain, and asked if they
would volunteer for a dangerous job, promising them L50 a-piece if it
came off all right. He and five others agreed, as did two or three
stokers, and were then ordered to remain aft and not communicate with
any others of the crew. Off the Nore all the remainder were transferred
to the following steamer, which steamed off to the eastward. After they
were gone the selected men were told that the officers all belonged to
the Imperial German Navy, and by orders of the Kaiser were about to
attempt to block up the Medway.
"A collision between two other ships had been arranged for, one of which
was loaded with a mass of old steel rails into which liquid cement had
been run, so that her hold contained a solid impenetrable block. The
'Van Gysen' carried a similar cargo, and was provided with an
arrangement for blowing holes in her bottom. The crew were provided with
life-belts, and the half of the money promised, and all except the
captain, the engineer, and the two mates dropped overboard just before
arriving at the sunken vessels. They were advised to make their way to
Gravesend, and then to shift for themselves as best they could. He had
found himself on a small island, and could not muster up courage to
plunge into the cold water again in the darkness.
"'By Jove! This means war with Germany, man!--War!' was Shelley's
comment. At two o'clock this afternoon we knew that it did, for the news
of the enemy's landing in Norfolk was signalled down from the dockyard.
We also knew from the divers that the cargo of the sunken steamers was
what the rescued seamen had stated it to be. Our bottle has been fairly
well corked."
This amazing revelation showed how cleverly contrived was the German
plan of hostilities. All our splendid ships at Chatham had, in that
brief half-hour, been bottled up and rendered utterly useless. Yet the
authorities were not blameless in the matter, for in November, 1905, a
foreign warship actually came up the Medway in broad daylight, and was
not noticed until she began to bang away her salutes, much to the utter
consternation of every one.
This incident, however, was but one of the many illustrations of
German's craft and cunning. The whole scheme had been years in careful
preparation.
She intended to invade us, and regarded every stratagem as allowable in
her sudden dash upon England, an expedition which promised to result in
the most desperate war of modern times.
At that moment the "Globe," at last aroused from its long and peaceful
sleep, reproduced those plain, prophetic words of Lord Overstone,
written some years before to the Royal Defence Commission: "Negligence
alone can bring about the calamity under discussion. Unless we suffer
ourselves to be surprised we cannot be invaded with success. It is
useless to discuss what will occur or what can be done after London has
fallen into the hands of an invading foe. The apathy which may render
the occurrence of such a catastrophe possible will not afterwards enable
the country, enfeebled, dispirited, and disorganised by the loss of its
capital, to redeem the fatal error."
Was that prophecy to be fulfilled?
Some highly interesting information was given by the Ipswich
correspondent of the Central News.
Repeated briefly, it was as follows:--
"Shortly before three o'clock on Sunday morning the coastguard at
Lowestoft, Corton, and Beach End discovered that their telephonic
communication was interrupted, and half an hour later, to the surprise
of every one a miscellaneous collection of mysterious craft were seen
approaching the harbour: and within an hour many of them were high and
dry on the beach, while others were lashed alongside the old dock, the
new fish-docks of the Great Eastern Railway, and the wharves,
disembarking a huge force of German infantry, cavalry, motor-infantry,
and artillery. The town, awakened from its slumbers, was utterly
paralysed, the more so when it was discovered that the railway to London
was already interrupted, and the telegraph lines all cut. On landing,
the enemy commandeered all provisions, including all motor-cars they
could discover, horses and forage, while the banks were seized, and the
infantry, falling in marched up Old Nelson Street into High Street, and
out upon the Beccles Road. The first care of the invaders was to prevent
the people of Lowestoft damaging the Swing Bridge, a strong guard being
instantly mounted upon it, and so quietly and orderly was the landing
effected that it was plain the German plans of invasion were absolutely
perfect in every detail.
"Few hitches seemed to occur. The mayor was summoned at six o'clock by
General von Kronhelm, the generalissimo of the German Army, and briefly
informed that the town of Lowestoft was occupied, and that all armed
resistance would be punished by death. Then, ten minutes later, when the
German war-flag was flying from several flagstaffs in various parts of
the town, the people realised their utter helplessness.
"The Germans, of course, knew that, irrespective of the weather, a
landing could be effected at Lowestoft, where the fish-docks and
wharves, with their many cranes, were capable of dealing with a large
amount of stores. The Denes, that flat, sandy plain between the upper
town and the sea, they turned into a camping-ground, and large numbers
were billeted in various quarters of the town itself.
"The people were terror-stricken. To appeal to London for help was
impossible, as the place had been cut entirely off, and around it a
strong chain of outposts had already been thrown, preventing any one
from escaping. The town had, in a moment, as it seemed, fallen at the
mercy of the foreigners. Even the important-looking police constables of
Lowestoft, with their little canes, were crestfallen, sullen, and
inactive.
"While the landing was continuing during all Sunday the advance guard
moved rapidly over Mutford Bridge, along the Beccles Road, occupying a
strong position on the west side of the high ground east of Lowestoft.
Beccles, where von Kronhelm established his headquarters, resting as it
does on the River Waveney, is strongly held. The enemy's main position
appears to run from Windle Hill, one mile north-east of Gillingham,
thence north-west through Bull's Green, Herringfleet Hill, over to Grove
Farm and Hill House to Raveningham, whence it turns easterly to
Haddiscoe, which is at present its northern limit. The total front from
Beccles Bridge north is about five miles, and commands the whole of the
flat plain west towards Norwich. It has its south flank resting on the
River Waveney, and to the north on Thorpe Marshes. The chief artillery
position is at Toft Monks--the highest point. Upon the high tower of
Beccles Church is established a signal station, communication being made
constantly with Lowestoft by helio by day, and acetylene lamps by night.
"The enemy's position has been most carefully chosen, for it is
naturally strong, and, being well held to protect Lowestoft from any
attack from the west, the landing can continue uninterruptedly, for
Lowestoft beach and docks are now entirely out of the line of any
British fire.
PROCLAMATION.
CITIZENS OF LONDON.
THE NEWS OF THE BOMBARDMENT of the City of Newcastle and the
landing of the German Army at Hull, Weybourne, Yarmouth, and
other places along the East Coast is unfortunately confirmed.
THE ENEMY'S INTENTION is to march upon the City of London, which
must be resolutely defended.
THE BRITISH NATION and the Citizens of London, in face of these
great events, must be energetic in order to vanquish the
invader.
The ADVANCE must be CHALLENGED FOOT BY FOOT. The people must
fight for King and Country.
Great Britain is not yet dead, for indeed, the more serious her
danger, the stronger will be her unanimous patriotism.
=GOD SAVE THE KING.=
HARRISON, _Lord Mayor_.
MANSION HOUSE,
LONDON, _September 3rd, 1910_.
[Illustration: THE LORD MAYOR'S APPEAL TO LONDON.]
"March outposts are at Blythburgh, Wenhaston, Holton, Halesworth,
Wissett, Rumburgh, Homersfield, and Bungay, and then north to Haddiscoe,
while cavalry patrols watch by day, the line roughly being from Leiston
through Saxmundham, Framlingham, and Tannington, to Hoxne.
"The estimate, gleaned from various sources in Lowestoft and Beccles, is
that up to Monday at midday nearly a whole Army Corps, with stores,
guns, ammunition, etc., had already landed, while there are also reports
of a further landing at Yarmouth, and at a spot still farther north, but
at present there are no details.
"The enemy," he concluded, "are at present in a position of absolute
security."