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[Page 36]
1914
to Commander Cumberlege of the "Warrego". In view of the opposition at the wireless station it was decided to land 150 men with a few quick-firing guns. These encountered opposition immediately on landing, & in an attempt to clear the bush one officer & one man were seriously wounded. One German was also wounded. It appears that the Germans has taken considerable trouble to defend the station, for the attacking part found that by keeping to the road, they were constantly sniped at by blacks who had stationed themselves, or had been stationed by the Germans, at the tops of palm trees. Moreover, the roads had been divided up into lengths denoting certain ranges & marked by white posts. This enabled the enemy to fix their ranges accurately. Accordingly, our men kept to the bush, which made the progress necessarily slow, on account of the prickly nature of the undergrowth. Eventually an entrenchment was approached, and preparation was made to attack at the point of the bayonet, when 5 Germans came forward & surrendered. Our losses amounted to 4 killed & 5 wounded. Of the four killed there were two offices, & 2 seamen. Lieutenant Commander Elwell was shot through the head when gallantly leading his men, & Dr Pockley [Captain Brian Pockley] of Sydney, a civil doctor serving with the troops in the transports, was shot through the back whilst bending over a wounded German & in the act of bandaging him up. The bullet used in