Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 122
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[Page 122]
glad enough to give their nerves a spell in the peace and quiet of the West Indies.
All the same any flag ship is a nuisance and upsets ones routine. On detached service a ship makes her own routine and one gets into a comfortable sort of frame that makes life tolerable and the Sydney had either been employed this way or as acting flagship - in which case she annoyed other people - for several months.
In the West Indies and in general and Jamaica in particular - a spot which we had come to look on as our Headquarters - we always endeavoured to do what was necessary in the easiest fashion.
We always went alongside a wharf to obviate boat work and always coaled at night when the heat was less but with the flagship in harbour all this peaceful routine vanished was at an end and an era of frightfulness began.
It was wrong we were told to go near a wharf as bombs might be placed aboard and night coaling was disapproved of on account of the risk of accidents.
Also all officers were to change into their hot blue rigs at sunset and on no account to be ashore before 4 pm without helmets.
This last meant taking a cap ashore and at four precisely hatting in the street when an evolution of "off helmets & on caps" was gone through. One then carried one's helmet under ones arm for the rest of the evening or hired a nigger to carry it two paces astern.
The flagship had been up North when the Kronprinz made for cover and the Lewis told us that the Suffolk had seen her going in and signalled her to stop. The Kronprinz refused and just as the Suffolk was preparing to open fire she made the Signal I have one hundred and sixty English prisoners aboard so she was let pass. For the truth of this yarn the writer