A curious result of the world war has been the expeditions initiated
by the great oversea dominions of Britain and by India. The work of
two of these, in Africa and Mesopotamia, has been already described.
There remain the joint Australian and New Zealand expeditions against
the island colonies of Germany and the great semi-continental area of
New Guinea.
A lively account of the expedition against the Samoa Islands is
printed in The Sydney Bulletin for Sept. 24:
The recent expedition to Samoa furnished many surprises,
chief among which was the adaptability of the Maorilanders
to military discipline. When the men came on board the
transports (Moeraki and Monowai) discipline simply wasn't in
their dictionaries. They acknowledged orders with a "Right
O, Sport," or with an argument. Companies were referred to
as mobs, the commanding officer as the boss or the
admiral....
The night before we reached Samoa an English military
officer on board told me it was remarkable, and highly
creditable, the rapidity with which the men had adapted
themselves to the changed circumstances....
The expedition called at Noumea to pick up the French
warship Montcalm, also the Australia and Melbourne of ours.
Noumea had been very worried since the war began, lest the
German fleet from Samoa would come along and bombard the
place. Had notices up to the effect that five shots would
signify the arrival of the Germans, and that every
inhabitant was then to grab rations and make for the
horizon. The welcome the French handed to us would have
stirred the blood of a jellyfish.
Samoa proved a walk-over. Not a gun, not a ship, not a mine.
A bunch of schoolboys with Shanghais and a hatful of rocks
could have taken it. The German fleet that was supposed to
be waiting to welcome us hadn't been around for eleven
months. Seemingly the German fleet has gone into the
business of not being around.