Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 264
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[Page 264]
told that forty had gone to sea as soon as the news of the Emden's destruction was received. The breakwater and foreshores were crowded with people; all Colombo and half the population of Ceylon seemed to have congregated to do honour to the ship which had been lucky enough to rid them of the German pest. At the heels of the Sydney came the Ibouki and the Australian division of the convoy; and as ship after ship, each crowded with khaki-clad men, came up quietly and dropped anchor outside the breakwater, the amazement of the Germans was amusing to see. They had simply no conception that so colossal an armada was on the water, and least of all that Australia, a country which was supposed to be ready to cut the painter, should have made so great an effort so early in the war. They kept saying "If only we could have got amongst them with our torpedoes!" - but fortunately the secret was well kept.
The Ibouki came in still smoking as of yore, and dropped anchor beside her quondam enemy the Askold, a five-funnelled Russian cruiser known to the sailors as the "packet of fags". The Askold and the Emden were reported to have sunk each other in the beginning of the war. In the harbour the British, Japanese, French, Russian, and Australian Navies were all represented, and the Germans were already beginning to see the strength of their country's foes.
As soon as the ship was moored, the work began of landing the wounded who still remained on board. The writer went ashore to superintend the landing, and was immediately