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[Page 55]
the light house at Castro to be clearly visible. Hill decided to hoist urgent signals of distress so getting the Captain to look them up in the Italian Code book, this was done. Very soon afterwards a large Italian tug boat came out from Castro, and, seeing the predicament of the "Orione" launched a boat, and took everyone off, making several trips in a considerable sea for the purpose.
[The following paragraph crossed through.]
An hour after an Italian T.B. came out saw the mine and promptly laying her ears well back went back to port like a redshank without further enquiry. "Cheerful sort of blighter" Hill remarked to Bridge and sat down to wait for the next thing to turn up. This proved to be a large sea going tug boat. Her skipper was rather more humane, for he launched a boat and took every one off the "Orione".
The first into the boat was the "Orione's" skipper adorned by two life belts and carrying a life buoy in each hand. He was taking no chances. Hill and Bridge left the "Orione" in the last boat load, and, approaching the skipper of the tug, Hill asked him to stand by and destroy the mine by rifle fire, when he would return to the ship. But murmuring "multo pericolo" (too dangerous), the tug boat skipper would have none of it, and proceeded at his best pace into Castro where the castaways, after having their first square meal for eighteen hours, proceeded overland in carts to Brindisi. These two officers were subsequently thanked by the Admiralty for their services in this affair.
The "Orione", after drifting right through one of our mine fields, was eventually brought into port, and is now running as good as ever.