Todd war diary, 3 August 1914-29 February 1916 / Arthur Todd - Page 324
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[Page 324]
not be enforced; and thus it was that an event which was a close official secret in England was well known on the other side of the Atlantic and probably equally well known in Germany. The loss of course has long since been admitted, and this very valuable unit has been replaced by ships much more powerful.
The Sydney's dinner party off Lavandeira Reef, as the reader can imagine, was a success; and the stream of war reminiscences flowed on far into the night.
Next day we coaled, and the fleet broke up. The Admiral transferred himself to the Gloucester bound for England, and the Sydney was shorn of her shortlived greatness. An Admiral's flag is always flying, night and day, and as Rear-Admiral Stoddart left the Sydney his flag was slowly hauled down: but as ours came down the Gloucester's was hoisted to the masthead, and thus the traditional continuity was maintained. So the Gloucester and Liverpool left for the north with the Laurentic, Celtic and Macedonia. The Glasgow turned south again to police the South American coast, and the Sydney made for St. Lucia. The South Atlantic was clear, and the ships had useful work to do elsewhere.
On looking back over the period of war one felt that the Australian Navy could fairly claim to have done its share of work, perhaps even a share out of proportion to the number of its ships. The Pacific had been denuded of German stations with the help of the Japanese and the French, and all the Ger-