Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 275
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[Page 275]
served, and such as were able ate the usual Christmas dinner. After dinner the petty officers came into the wardroom, and the toast for one and all was "peace and home next Christmas". Alas, next Christmas was spent in the Bahamas, and the next two in the North Sea, and the Sydney is not yet home again.
On the 28th December the Sydney made San Miguel, where we saw the German ships in port, all sheltering from the British Navy which according to the Berlin papers was confined to its bases in the North Sea. The Huns, as soon as they saw us, hoisted their ensigns, and the German flag fluttered bravely in the breeze. It was a form of cheap bravado which the German merchantmen displayed in all the ports we visited. After a short stay at San Miguel we left for Fayal, another island of the group. In Miguel the consul came aboard and gave us all the information obtainable about the German shipping. Amongst other things we learnt that the Karlsruhe had called in early in the war but had not been heard of since. The Karlsruhe was really the reason for our presence in the Atlantic, though her depredations had not been nearly so great as those of the Emden, probably because of the wider spaces of ocean in which she was forced to operate.
In Fayal there was another sailor's holiday, and the ship's company, officers and all, put in a pleasant day coaling. The Portuguese authorities gave us full permission to come as often as we liked and stay as long as we felt inclined; but then Portugal was really our ally and was only waiting for the word to declare hersellf officially. We had just settled down to a com-