PATROLLING THE PACIFIC
We can hold our own–
'Gainst us in vain all envious shafts are hurled
If still we be
The Sons of Freedom, 'neath one flag unfurled,
Co-heirs of Fame and Wardens of the Sea,
One tongue, one race, one heart before the world.
GEORGE ESSEX EVANS.
Whilst the new armies were still training, the fleet of Australia put to
sea, joined the New Zealand fleet, and together they proceeded to
co-operate with the British naval forces in sweeping the Pacific for
German merchantmen, and hunting down the few elusive German cruisers
that were prowling the seas thereabouts in search of prey. Three of
these cruisers in particular, the _Gneisenau_, the _Scharnhorst_, and
the _Emden_, were dodging all pursuit, successfully capturing and
sinking British and French trading and passenger ships, and bombarding
the coast towns of some of our South Sea Islands; and the _Emden_,
before it could be rounded up and destroyed, had gone as far afield as
India and shelled Madras. "The German cruisers are playing a game of
hide-and-seek on the broad expanse of the Pacific," an Australian naval
officer wrote home, "and are avoiding a trial of strength with the
vessels of the Australian fleet. We have been looking for them ever
since war was declared, and are more than anxious to have a go at them,
but they keep out of the way. The task of definitely locating them and
getting to grips is an enormous one. The Pacific is so wide, and there
are so many thousands of islets that we could pass within five minutes
of them and yet fail to be aware of their presence. Once they are
cornered, it will be a fine fight–a fight to a finish.... Once we
thought we had the German boats bottled up in Simpson Haven. Orders were
issued to the destroyers to ferret them out, and in the dead of night
the three little boats, with all lights out and crews at their stations,
crept into the harbour, which might have been mined. However, after
sweeping round the bay we found our quarry was not there. We landed a
small party which smashed up the telegraphic instruments, then dashed
out again."
So for some weeks the warships of Australia and New Zealand were alertly
at work, chasing the nimble Germans in and out among those thousand
islands of the South Seas. British and French and Japanese vessels took
up the difficult hunt with them, but in that vast wilderness of waters,
with such innumerable creeks and bays and obscure hiding-places to skulk
in, it was far easier to lose the wily enemy than to find him. In due
course, however, the _Gneisenau_ and the _Scharnhorst_ were cornered and
accounted for; but the _Emden_ remained at large and ran a long and
brilliantly triumphant career before it was trapped and beaten at last
in a desperate fight with the Australian battle cruiser, the _Sydney_.
Meanwhile, on the 30th August, 1914, the island of Samoa was captured
without opposition by the combined fleets of Australasia, Britain, and
France, under the command of Rear-Admiral Patey. When the fleets arrived
off the island, the Admiral sent an officer ashore with a letter to the
Acting Governor, Herr S. N. Rimburg, saying:
"I have the honour to inform you that I am off the port of Apia with an
overwhelming force, and in order to avoid unnecessary bloodshed, I will
not open fire if you surrender immediately. I therefore summon you to
surrender to me forthwith the town of Apia and the Imperial possessions
under your control. An answer must be delivered within half an hour to
the bearer."
To some of us now there seems a touch of unconscious humour in Herr
Rimburg's reply, when we remember how the ships of his own nation
bombarded unfortified English towns without giving them any preliminary
warning at all, for this is the letter that Admiral Patey's messenger
brought back:
"According to the principles of the rights of nations, especially of the
agreements of the second Hague Peace Conference, the bombardment of our
harbours and protectorates is forbidden, as is the threat to do so. I
therefore respectfully protest against your Excellency's proposal. But
to avoid the military measures you propose, I have given orders for the
wireless telegraph station to be demolished and that no resistance shall
be offered."
It always went against the grain with many Britishers that the last home
of Stevenson, the island that has his grave on one of its hill-tops,
should ever have been ceded to the Germans, and the news that it had
been recovered from them was an occasion for enthusiastic rejoicing on
that sentimental ground, as well as because it meant that a valuable
colony had been added to the Empire. One very pleasant circumstance in
connection with this bloodless victory was that the French and British
residents in the Samoan Islands bore testimony to the kindness with
which they had been treated by the German authorities and spontaneously
petitioned the conquerors to show special consideration to the German
ex-Governor and his officials, and the request was met at once in the
friendliest possible spirit. It almost seemed as if the gracious, humane
influence of Tusitala were still potent in the very atmosphere of the
place. Colonel Robert Logan, the new British Administrator of Samoa,
took up residence with his staff at Stevenson's own house "Vailima,"
which had been occupied by the German Governor, Dr. Schultz, and says in
his report:
"I conferred with the German heads of departments and their
subordinates, and, as they have given their parole to do nothing
inimical to British interests and to carry out their duties loyally, I
have retained them, with two exceptions, in their respective offices at
the same salaries as they were previously receiving."
Equally pleasant, too, in connection with the capture of Samoa, were
certain details mentioned concerning the appointment of Mr. Williams to
the post of Deputy-Administrator of the island of Savali. "Mr. Williams
has been in the islands for over forty years," wrote Colonel Logan, "and
from the inception of German rule in Samoa until the declaration of war
acted in the capacity of Deputy Administrator of Savali, under the
German Government. On the declaration of war he was given the option of
resigning his British citizenship or being relieved of his office, and
he chose the latter alternative, although this entailed the loss of his
pension."
The transfer of Samoa being arranged in this humane, reasonable fashion,
the allied fleets departed to continue their other business, leaving a
garrison of some 2,000 New Zealand troops at Apia in charge of the
islands. A fortnight later those roving ships of the German Pacific
squadron came round that way and shelled Apia, and were energetically
shelled in return; but the firing did not last long; there was no
attempt at a landing, very little damage was done, and ever since the
New Zealanders have remained in peaceable possession of their first
trophy.
In the interval, on the 11th September, at 7 in the morning, the
Australian squadron occupied Herbertshohe, the principal town in the
island of New Pomerania, which is the largest island of the Bismarck
Archipelago. It was discovered by Captain Cook, who named it New
Britain, but the British Government never formally took possession of
it, and in 1884 Germany seized and rechristened it, and at the same time
annexed half of the neighbouring island of New Guinea and changed its
name to Kaiser Wilhelmsland. The remainder of New Guinea had long been
shared betwixt the Dutch and the British, and there was profound
dissatisfaction in Australia when the Germans were thus allowed to steal
a march on us. There was already a feeling abroad that they were
hankering after world-dominion and were dangerous neighbours. This
uneasiness had been lulled by the passing of years, but the aggressive
boastfulness of Germany and the outbreak of the war had naturally
revived it and sharpened it to more than its first acuteness, and the
knowledge that this menace to her peace had been finally removed was
received throughout Australia with a lively satisfaction that was echoed
from every quarter of the Empire.
On that morning of the 11th September a party of fifty men of the
Australian Naval Reserve, under the command of Commander J. A. H.
Beresford, and accompanied by Lieutenant-Commander Elwell and Lieutenant
Bowen, landed at Herbertshohe. There was a small group of Germans
gathered on the wharf, and these, being hailed, replied that no
opposition would be offered. As soon as the landing party had fallen in
on the beach they set out to march through the forest to the wireless
station, which was about six miles inland, and luckily, in spite of the
Germans' assurance that they would meet with no resistance, Commander
Beresford was on the alert against treachery, had thrown out scouts, and
was prepared for any surprise attack that might be attempted. There was
no sign or sound of an enemy for a while, but when they had gone some
two miles into the forest the invaders suddenly realised that they had
walked into a trap. A volley fired from the bush and dense tropical
undergrowth which shut the road in on either side took them unawares. A
German force had entrenched themselves close ahead athwart the road, and
a number of blacks, hidden among the trees on both sides, started and
kept up a harassing enfilade. But the Australians took the half-expected
surprise with the most perfect sangfroid. They energetically returned
the enemy's fire with a raking volley or two, then hurled themselves on
the trenches, and, after a furious hand-to-hand struggle, carried them
at the point of the bayonet. They captured several prisoners, and
leaving these in a hut under a small guard the rest of the party pushed
on resolutely, taking what cover was possible by the way and maintaining
a continuous fight with snipers who kept pace with them, lurking in the
depths of the forest. The advance was necessarily slow, for, in addition
to the death that momentarily threatened them from among the trees, the
road was mined in many places, and nothing but the utmost caution and
coolness saved the indomitable little army from annihilation. As it was,
they suffered heavy losses.
[Illustration: A SMALL PORTION OF THE ARMY IN EGYPT.
A part of the camp at Menai.]
[Illustration: THE AUSTRALIAN TROOPS IN EGYPT.]
[Illustration: FROM DIFFERENT POINTS OF THE COMPASS.
A meeting of sons of the Empire. This picture was taken about a mile
from the Pyramids in Egypt. It illustrates how Britannia's sons from
various parts of the Empire have rallied to the Flag. These four men are
in the same Australian regiment, but (left to right) they were born in
Canada, Australia, Scotland, and England respectively.]
Within 500 yards of the wireless station they found themselves faced
with more entrenchments and came to a halt. A careful reconnaissance was
made, and the position discovered to be so powerfully fortified that a
dispatch-runner was sent back to ask for reinforcements from the fleet,
and as it was by now almost dark Commander Beresford decided to encamp
for the night. All night scouts were out keeping a close watch, and the
men slept beside their rifles, but nothing happened. Even the snipers
remained silent; many had been shot down, and the rest had either used
up their ammunition or withdrawn disheartened; and the entrenched
Germans lay low, apparently contented to wait till they were attacked.
Before dawn a great cheer rang from the awakening camp as the expected
reinforcements, a detachment of Australian sailors, were seen
approaching along the forest road. They brought several quickfirers and
some 12-pounders with them, but no sooner were the guns in position and
a storming party in readiness to advance than the enemy blew up the
station and fled. Shots were sent after them, but they escaped into the
bush, and the pursuit was not continued, since the object of the
Australian expedition had been to destroy the wireless equipment there,
and this had been accomplished.
Later in the day, however, the enemy reappeared behind the town and
indulged in some casual sniping, but a few well-placed shells from one
of the warships in the harbour discouraged them and drove them back into
the interior.
The fighting for the wireless station had occupied eighteen hours, and
it fell into the hands of the Australians at 1 o'clock in the morning on
the 12th September. Between twenty and thirty Germans were killed; there
were many wounded, and the Commandant and one other officer, fifteen
German non-commissioned officers, and fifty-six native police were taken
prisoners. The Australian losses were Lieutenant-Commander B. Elwell,
Captain B. A. Bockley, R.A.M.C., and four seamen killed, and Lieutenant
Rowland B. Bowen and three seamen wounded.
The Governor of New Pomerania (now restored to its earlier name of New
Britain) remained at large for a day or two, and then was captured with
his suite ten miles inland, and they were sent as prisoners to the port
of Rabaul.
The capture of this port of Rabaul was one of the most daring and
successful episodes in the campaign on New Pomerania. It was thought
possible that the German cruisers were somewhere in the vicinity, and
the Australian Commander had no knowledge of Rabaul Harbour, and knew
nothing of its fortifications; nevertheless, with all lights out he
raided the port at night, caught the Germans napping, and landed a naval
force without opposition. They had taken possession of the post and
telegraph stations and destroyed the plant before the inhabitants were
roused and came out to find it was too late for them to attempt to do
anything. Some of the German residents subsequently refused to take the
oath of neutrality, and these, with two German officers, were sent as
prisoners to Sydney. There was also some little trouble with the
natives, who resorted to a sort of guerilla warfare, but it was not long
before these were reduced to order, and the Australian garrison remained
in peaceable control of the island, which had been the centre of the
German government in the Bismarck Archipelago.
Whilst Rabaul was being raided, another Australian warship landed a
small squad of sailors under the command of Lieutenant-Commander
Bloomfield at Nauru, the capital of the Marshall Islands. With the party
were Lieutenant Cooper, Engineer-Lieutenant Creswell, and Staff-Surgeon
Brennard, to act as interpreter. The surf round the island is very
heavy, and there were difficulties in getting a boat through it, but
this once accomplished the rest was easy. There were no defences, and
the landing was unopposed. The Governor surrendered at discretion, and
the wireless station, one of the most powerful in the German Pacific
series, was demolished.
Shortly after the fall of Rabaul, the Australian fleet captured a German
steamer that was making for the harbour there, and learned from two
Englishmen who were aboard that the elusive German cruisers had recently
been sighted off Kaweing, New Hanover. But though a warship was
dispatched forthwith to that quarter and toured all about the islands,
searching diligently, no enemy vessels were anywhere discoverable. They
had been seen thereabouts a few days previously, but had mysteriously
vanished again.
The conquest of the German Pacific islands was completed on 24th
September, when Kaiser Wilhelmsland (German New Guinea) surrendered
without firing a shot, the British flag was hoisted at Friedrich Wilhelm
town, and a garrison established there. Most of the available German
soldiers had been sent thence a fortnight before to assist in the
defence of New Pomerania; but when they arrived it was already taken
over by the victorious Australians and they simply fell into their hands
as prisoners. The principal officials of Kaiser Wilhelmsland were also
absent; the four that remained, with some fourteen other Germans, took
the oath of neutrality. So, with every German wireless station in the
Pacific put out of action, and the British flag flying over all enemy
territory in those waters, the Australian fleet was free to render more
assistance to the New Zealand, the British, and French fleets in their
dogged hunt after the German commerce raiders, and presently added a new
glory to its name by overtaking, giving battle to, and sinking that most
dashing raider of them all, the _Emden_.
3
THE TRIUMPH OF THE _SYDNEY_