Source.—The Times History of the War and Encyclopedia, Vol. I, p. 161; Vol. II, p. 31; Vol. III, p. 126
The aggressive policy of Germany led to the outbreak in 1914 of the greatest war in history; for nearly every country in the world ultimately became involved in the struggle.
Germany advised Austria to demand most humiliating concessions from Servia, and the resistance of Servia supported by Russia resulted in war between Germany and Austria on one side, and Servia, Russia, and her ally France on the other.
For strategical reasons Germany determined to attack France through Belgium, declaring that the international treaty which bound her to respect Belgian neutrality was but a "Scrap of Paper." Great Britain, as one of the signatories to the treaty, protested against such a violation of good faith, but finding protestation vain declared war upon Germany on 4 August 1914.
The whole Empire solidly supported the Mother Country and shared valiantly in all her achievements.
The Rally Of The Empire
Important as were the offers of help, both of men and provisions, which the self-governing Dominions and the Indian Empire made to the Mother Country almost immediately after the outbreak of the war, the knowledge that these great daughter-nations were morally convinced of the justice of the British cause, was a factor of even more far-reaching importance. Great as was the necessity of organizing and expanding the Imperial forces, and thus creating an extra army or armies to
reinforce the British Expeditionary Force in France, urgent as was the need of taking advantage of the prompt offers of help which came from all parts of the Empire, the necessity of convincing the self-governing Dominions and the Empire at large of the righteousness of the cause for which Great Britain was fighting was more imperative still. For in the long run the consciousness of the justice of the principles for which a people is fighting, alone can ensure the massing of
material force sufficient to secure material victory.
Evidence that the case for Great Britain was fully understood and thoroughly approved, not only by our own peoples, but by the bulk of the neutral States of the world, was not long in presenting itself. The Dominions as a whole had satisfied themselves that the British cause was just, before Sir Edward Grey had made it plain by his speech of August 3rd that the British Government had done everything short of sacrificing the honor of the country to avoid war. In the words of
Sir Richard McBride, the Premier of British Columbia, "Should it unfortunately develop that Great Britain is compelled to engage in hostilities, Canada will automatically be at war also"; while in Australia, Mr. Fisher, the ex-Prime Minister, declared, "Should honor demand the Mother Country to take part in hostilities, Australians will stand beside her to the last man and the last shilling." These sentiments found expression in the offers of help of men and material, which
have been described in the preceding chapter. To those offers the King replied by a message to the Overseas Dominions:
"I desire to express to my people of the Overseas Dominions with what appreciation and pride I have received the messages from their respective Governments during the last few days.
"These spontaneous assurances of their fullest support recall to me the generous, self-sacrificing help given by them in the past to the Mother Country.
"I shall be strengthened in the discharge of the great responsibility which rests upon me by the confident belief that in this time of trial my Empire will stand united, calm, resolute, trusting in God.
"GEORGE R.I."
The Sinking Of The Emden (German Cruiser)
Against us there were known to be some eight or nine German cruisers abroad, all efficient for commerce-destroying purposes, and several with very high speed, which it was recognized would require a great deal of catching....
The Emden was a small vessel of some 3,500 tons, with a speed of about 25 knots—quite fast enough to overhaul any British steamer she was likely to encounter, and fast enough also to run away, if necessary. The Emden was generally heard of where she was least expected, and after reaping her harvest of merchantmen, as unaccountably disappeared. In something under six weeks she had captured nearly twenty steamers, always contriving to pick up a collier among them, so that she
was able to keep her bunkers replenished....
As a variety of adventure, the Emden steamed one evening into Madras Roads, and threw shell into the outskirts of the town for the space of half an hour or so—some oil tanks were set ablaze, and two or three natives killed; Fort George returned the fire—probably without effect—and the Emden retired.
It may be assumed that the German captain received information by wireless of the probable approach of colliers or other vessels, as he was so very much on the spot; in any case, he was a courageous and enterprising man, and a good sportsman; but we wanted very badly to catch him. There are so many holes and corners in that part of the world, where a vessel may lie for a time with little chance of detection, and the Emden's speed would have enabled her to reach some such
refuge very quickly.
The last act in the drama of the Emden took place off the Cocos-Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean....
It was to this desolate spot in the Indian Ocean that Captain Von Muller brought his ship, in the early days of November; with him was one of his captures, the Buresk, which was full of coal. The object of this visit of the Emden was the destruction of the important wireless station that is established on the islands, and on the morning of November 9th, the officials were unpleasantly surprised by the landing of an armed boat's crew from a cruiser, which had come to an
anchor, and which they first imagined to be H.M.S. Minotaur. They were quickly undeceived by the German officer in charge of the party, who informed them that their operations from the wireless station had greatly hampered the movements of the cruiser. One detachment of the Germans then rounded up all the officials and their servants, placing them under a strict guard, while a second party prepared to blow up the wireless installation and to smash the instrument rooms of the
cable office. This they did most thoroughly, but the officials seem to have kept their heads in the most praiseworthy manner, as, just as soon as they discovered that the enemy was upon them, they sent out distress signals by wireless, and warned adjacent stations by cable that they were about to be smashed up.
The landing party now blew up the wireless mast and the store in which spare cable and cable gear was kept; a third explosion wrecked the wireless hut, and completed the destruction of the installation. The dynamo rooms and workshops were destroyed with flogging hammers and axes, everything breakable, including clocks, being smashed to atoms. Their next proceeding was to cut the shore ends of the submarine cables, and this was done in full view of the prisoners. There are
three cables from the Cocos—to Perth, to Batavia, and to Rodriguez—and the pleasure of the prisoners can be imagined when they saw the Germans spend much hard labor in destroying a dummy cable. Eventually the Perth cable and the dummy were cut, the others being left, presumably because the Germans did not know that they existed.
The party from the Emden had landed at 7.30 a.m., and by 9.20 their mission of destruction was accomplished. At this time a signal was blown on the siren from the ship; the officer in command collected his men, marched them down to the beach, and re-embarked. The telegraphists report that they were fairly and courteously treated. On arrival the Emden was still using her now famous fourth funnel, a dummy, and this it was that caused the telegraphists to mistake her in the
first instance for the Minotaur, which is a four-funneled armored cruiser. As she steamed away in the bright light of the tropic morning for what was so shortly to prove her last cruise, the Emden hauled down, and stowed away, her dummy.
The action that ensued between the Sydney and the Emden is here given in the official dispatch of Captain Glossop, dated from Colombo on November 15th:
I have the honor to report that whilst on escort duty with the convoy under the charge of Captain Silver, H.M.A.S. Melbourne, at 6.30 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 9th, a wireless message from Cocos was heard reporting that a foreign warship was off the entrance. I was ordered to raise steam for full speed at 7.0 a.m. and proceeded thither. I worked up to twenty knots, and at 9.15 a.m. sighted land ahead and almost immediately the smoke of a ship, which proved to be the H.I.G.M.S.
Emden coming out towards me at a great rate. At 9.40 a.m. fire was opened, she firing the first shot. I kept my distance as much as possible to obtain the advantage of my guns. Her fire was very accurate and rapid to begin with, but seemed to slacken very quickly, all casualties occurring in this ship almost immediately. First, the foremost funnel of her went, secondly the foremast, and she was badly on fire aft, then the second funnel went, and lastly the third funnel, and I
saw she was making for the beach on North Keeling Island, where she grounded at 11.20 a.m. I gave her two more broadsides and left her, to pursue a merchant ship which had come up during the action.
2. Although I had guns on this merchant ship at odd times during the action, I had not fired, and as she was making off fast, I pursued and overtook her at 12.10, firing a gun across her bows and hoisting International Code Signal to stop, which she did. I sent an armed boat, and found her to be the ss. Buresk, a captured British collier, with 18 Chinese crew, 1 English steward, 1 Norwegian cook, and a German prize crew of 3 officers, 1 warrant officer, and 12 men. The ship
unfortunately was sinking, so I took all on board, fired four shells into her, and returned to Emden, passing men swimming in the water, for whom I left two boats I was towing from Buresk.
3. On arriving again off Emden, she still had her colors up at mainmast head. I inquired by signal, International Code, "Will you surrender?" and received a reply in Morse, "What signal? No signal books." I then made in Morse, "Do you surrender?" and subsequently, "Have you received my signal?" to neither of which did I get an answer. The German officers on board gave me to understand that the captain would never surrender, and therefore, though very reluctantly, I again
fired at her at 4.30 p.m., ceasing at 4.35, as she showed white flags and hauled down her ensign by sending a man aloft.
4. I then left Emden and returned and picked up the Buresk's two boats, rescuing two sailors (5.0 p.m.) who had been in the water all day. I returned and sent in one boat to Emden, manned by her own prize crew from Buresk and one officer, and stating I would return to their assistance next morning.
5. I lay on and off all night, and communicated with Direction Island at 8.0 a.m., November 10th, to find that the Emden's party, consisting of three officers and forty men, one launch and two cutters, had seized and provisioned a 70-ton schooner (the Ayesha), having four Maxims with two belts to each. They left the previous night at six o'clock. The wireless station was entirely destroyed, one cable cut, one damaged, and one intact. I borrowed a doctor and two assistants,
and proceeded as fast as possible to Emden's assistance.
6. I sent an officer on board to see the captain, and in view of the large number of prisoners and wounded, and lack of accommodation, etc., in this ship, and the absolute impossibility of leaving them there, he agreed that if I received his officers and men and all wounded, "then as for such time as they remained in Sydney they would cause no interference with ship or fittings, and would be amenable to the ship's discipline." I therefore set to work at once to tranship
them—a most difficult operation, the ship being on weather side of island, and the send alongside very heavy. The conditions in the Emden were indescribable. I received the last from her at 5.0 p.m., then had to go round to the lee side to pick up 20 more men who had managed to get ashore from the ship.
7. Darkness came on before this could be accomplished, and the ship again stood off and on all night, resuming operations at 5.0 a.m., on November 11th, a cutter's crew having to land with stretchers to bring wounded round to embarking point. A German officer, a doctor, died ashore the previous day. The ship in the meantime ran over to Direction Island to return their doctor and assistants, send cables, and was back again at 10 a.m., embarked the remainder of wounded, and
proceeded for Colombo by 10.35 a.m., Wednesday, November 11th.
8. Total casualties in Sydney: killed, 3; severely wounded (since dead), 1; severely wounded, 4; wounded, 4; slightly wounded, 4. In the Emden I can only approximately state the killed at 7 officers and 108 men from captain's statement. I had on board 11 officers, 9 warrant officers and 191 men, of whom 3 officers and 53 men were wounded, and of this number 1 officer and 3 men have since died of wounds.
9. The damage to Sydney's hull and fittings was surprisingly small; in all about ten hits seem to have been made. The engine and boiler rooms and funnels escaped entirely.
10. I have great pleasure in stating that the behavior of the ship's company was excellent in every way, and with such a large number of young hands and people under training it is all the more gratifying.
It will be seen from Captain Glossop's dispatch that he was on escort duty with the convoy under the charge of Captain Silver of H.M.A.S. Melbourne. This convoy was carrying Australian and New Zealand troops to the scene of the great conflict in Europe. The act of self-denial on the part of Captain Silver in sending the Sydney to engage the Emden, instead of taking that duty upon himself, certainly deserves to be noted. This officer denied to himself and to the officers and
men under his command, the privilege of dealing with the notorious raider, and in so doing he was actuated solely by his high sense of duty and the responsibility that he owed to his country. In his judgment the Sydney was the more suitable ship, so she was sent, and the Melbourne remained with her convoy until the affair was concluded.
A Source Book of Australian History, 1919 |
