Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 317
Primary tabs
Transcription
[Page 317]
spectacle of the ship's surgeons prostrated on the deck, and the Padre, all knives and chloroform bag, carrying on, was conjured up by one of the wardroom wags and eagerly swallowed by the innocent pressman. The Padre was accused of writing the article himself and threatened with legal proceedings by the senior Surgeon. There was much joy in the wardroom, for landsmen and especially reporters are always considered fair game in a man-o'-war.
After leaving Abrolhos on the 8th April we hurried north as fast as the colliers could go, still keeping the sweep formation lest the quarry should slip through our fingers. The Kronprinz Wilhelm, we were told, was due to rendezvous with the Macedonia at N 3º W 37º on the 13th, and it was our business to arrive the day before and sit down and wait. This Macedonia, by the way, was not the P. and O. liner but a German merchantman which had been playing scout and mother-ship for the Kronprinz Wilhelm for several months. Speaking of duplication in ships' names reminds me of the Buresk. The Buresk, the reader will remember, was a captured British collier in attendance on the Emden at Cocos, and was scuttled by the Huns after the action and finally sunk by our gunfire. Curiously enough, a collier called the Buresk was the first ship to coal us at the Abrolhos, and she was a facsimile of the departed. The amazement of our matelots was amusing to see. "Gor blime, Bill," said one, "we sunk this 'ere lugger at Cocos, and 'ere's the ruddy stiff caryin' coal again!" What really happened was