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[Page 2]
and had the bathroom painted out, intending to return to it on this very day when the paint was dry.
Before the action began at 9.30 a.m. there was only time to get things down below without proper stowing, so that there was confusion, and one could not put one's hand on things as quickly as would have happened at any other time. The No. 2 action theatre is not kept ready, but is hurriedly fitted out with a sick bay mess table as an operating table, and stores are taken along the tube from No. 1 theatre.
Adjacent to these stations are six other bathrooms, which are cleaned up as well as possible under the circumstances, and are very useful as shelter places for the wounded as they are brought below. In addition to the water supply in the bathrooms I had an emergency supply of boiled water in the Captain's and the ward room galley further aft along the tube.
It was fortunate this was so, as ten minutes after our guns had been firing, the water came through the bathroom-taps black, muddy & useless.
On sighting smoke I went round the guns and to the fire control stations to see if the first-aid bags were correct, thence to see if anything useful had been left behind, and before I was able to get below, our guns had opened fire. The Emden soon hit us & within five minutes to ten minutes the first wounded man was brought below to me by an unengaged gun's crew, the stretcher party having orders from me not to go on deck during the action unless directly ordered. The first was "A" Ord. Sea. R.A.N. He had a fractured right leg and thirteen shell wounds besides.