Charles E W Bean, Diaries, AWM38 3DRL 606/264/1 - 1914 - 1938 - Part 8

[* But see Garsia's comments. *]

During the Sydney-Emden action Boys Lots and Ryan Lotze & Colless did 
great work. Their duty was to carry the 6-inch shells, each

of which weighed about 100 lb., from the forward ammunition

hoist beneath the bridge, around the conning tower, to the

forward gun. This meant that they were constantly passing

backwards and forwards across what is recognized as the zone

of greatest danger in a warship when in action. After they

had been doing this for some time they naturally became tired,

and, although they managed to carry the shells, they had not

sufficient strength left to place them in the breech. 

Lieutenant Garsia, who was in charge of the forward guns, then

started taking the shells from them and placing them in the

breech. The conduct of the boys seems to have impressed the men

on the Sydney who apparently considered that their conduct was

most gallant.

The crew of the Sydney seemed to have been proud of the

quick rate at which they could coal their ship. When they left

the West Indies they held the record for coaling and naturally

expected to make a great showing when they joined the Grand

Fleet. On the first occasion, however, they found that whereas

they were loading 140 tons of coal per hour, other ships in the

squadron were loading nearly 300. Eventually, however, as they

got to know the ways of the Grand Fleet, their rate improved and

at the end the Sydney held the record not only for her squadron

but also for the Grand Fleet.

The Sydney seems to have been very proud of her concert

party. It is stated that after Lady Beatty had attended a concert

at Rosyth she stated that the Sydney's party was the best

she had ever listened to. One of the boys mentioned above (Lots,

I think) took the part of a girl so successfully that Lady Beatty

believed the party must have called in "local talent".

After the Emden was driven ashore the Sydney landed a

party under Lieutenant Garsia. Next morning when the party was

picked up, Garsia was clad only in a shirt; he had given up all

the rest of his clothing for bandages, slings, etc., for the

Emden's wounded. His return to the Sydney in the bow of the

boat, where the wind played all sorts of tricks with his shirt,

gave the sailors a great deal of amusement.

TELEPHONE NOS.

F 2597.

F 2598.

COMMUNICATIONS TO BE ADDRESSED TO

"THE DIRECTOR."

IN REPLY PLEASE QUOTE

No.

COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA.

HOME AND TERRITORIES DEPARTMENT.

TELEGRAPHIC ADDRESS

"AUSWARMUSE."

AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL.

EXHIBITION BUILDINGS, MELBOURNE.

18th June, 1927.

Dear Mr. Bazley,

Some time ago I sent you a note of a conversation with

Mr. J. W. Seabrook in which he referred to the fine conduct

of 2 boys in the "Sydney" at the time of her engagement with

the "Emden". The names he gave me were "Ryan" and "Lotze"

(which I believed at the time was spelt "Lots").

He now says the second boy was not "Lotze" but ? "Colless".

Yours sincerely,

J Shelon

Mr. A. W. Bazley,

c/o Official Historian,

Victoria Barracks,

SYDNEY.

Diagram - see original document

Sydney - Emden Action

In the main these notes are

very inaccurate.

Boy Lotze was not at the 7X Gun

in the action - in fact I don't think

he was in the ship at all until later.

J. Ryan is correct over carrying the

100 lb projectiles. He had joined the ship

from "Tingria" in Sydney just before she sailed

to event main body. A. Colless another

who joined at the same time did good work

at 7X Gun. Roy Miller an older Boy was

at Range Finder ^(telescope number) where on Upper Bridge when

its pedestal was severed by a German Shell,

which took off the Operators leg & threw

Miller to the deck with Rangefinding instrument

on top of him. He got up, shook himself,

remarked "Where's my bloody telescope", which

he proceeded to unscrew from the instrument,

& looked out for torpedo tracks for rest of action.

A Mellor a Signal Boy on bridge did was very

steady ^& more than that. R. Whitly below decks on

ammunition supply was another.

Tom Williamson who was severely wounded in

after control position. There were many other

examples Vieal — The case as to the splendid

behaviour of the Boys is proved up to the hilt

& is not something that is a 
good thing to say without it having
any backing in solid fact.
Lieut Garsia did not load projectiles.
[Garsia's letter published in "Times" in 1914 & republished all over
the world, should be useful, to give impressions of one officer & Boys are
mentioned in this.]
Coal Ships
The Sydney did some very fine
coaling, but I have not the figures
& I could not say those given were 
are strictly accurate.
I believe Sydney did put up a record
for a Light cruisers.
Sydney Concert Party
A very good concert party was
got going by Signalman Seabrook & others
Boys Lotze, James, Broth (now a P O Instructor
in Tingira), Grumley & others figured in it.
Lotze made a very good girl - & used
to sing in a duet from the Bing Boys
"If you would the only girl in the world" &
"Another little chink wouldn't do us any harm".
The photo of some of the party 
including Boy Lotze as a girl, is among War
Museum photos. I didnt know
Lady Beatty ever saw them, if so, I'm almost
sure it was not onboard Sydney. Her remarks about
local talent would not be very serious.

Trousers incident
The trousers were lost, &
the xxxx cap also. The result
was really rather undignified if
anything, but was worthy of a 
the few guffaws at the time.

(1) Captain Dumaresqs Maneuveres
Captain Dumaresq maneuvered in
the main to make the Zeppelin keep
turning, at which it is very clumsy
as compared with a ship. Thereby the
Zeppelin could not get a steady sight
for dropping her bombs.
The joke was that Comdr Pope called 
up the Voice pipe ^angrily from the Chart House for
the frequent alterations of course to be 
passed down to him, not knowing he was
speaking to the Captain, who replied abruptly
"Come up here and & have some damned bombs
dropped on you". (Which was of course not
seriously meant as the bomb that hit the
upper bridge would have obliterated the Chart House
under the Captains feet)
I was in on the upper Bridge during this
comedy & saw the large splinter of bomb
that has been preserved fall on the signal
Bridge below after "Thudding" against the
protective mattress on the side of the upper Bridge,
when it just missed the head of a young rating
called Payling. This bomb exploded in
striking the water a short distance (say 50 yards)
on Starboard beam of ship.

(2) Ships at various bearings —
Dumaresq I think in his report
speaks of having the Zeppelin surrounded
but I forget the details. I could
not attach much importance to this
xxx point as the Cruisers would be 
"spread" in any case, & would
be more concerned at looking out
for submarines than attacking a Zep!;
which is ridiculous proposition for a
ship that doesnt carry a fighting 'plane.
The atmosphere was that "we never
saw the enemy". So the moment Capt Dumaresq
sighted the Zep: he put his helm hard over,
made a signal to "chase" (Ridiclous Ridiculous
really) & at 30,000 yards fired his FX 6" Gun
which had a range of 15,000 yards & a "culminating
point" of say 4000 feet (Zep say 10,000 feet at least)".
In other words he "threw down his glove",
although he never admitted it [Moreover
he persistently insisted expressions being used
that indicated "attack". Where the
word "defence" occurred even in quite reasonable
context, it was eliminated].

[* Dear Bean
Attached remarks
forwarded, with much
pleasure
RCG *]
Remarks
A very well put forgotten narrative
almost certainly written by a 
Signalman.
Appears to be far more accurate
than most personal narratives of
it's kind. Although I was on duty
on the Bridge for this affair I
cannot put my personal observations
& recollections against those of
this man, but must appeal to
the official xx records for their
verification.
But it must be observed that Captain
Dumaresq he was not necessarily
concerned to give a full & unvarnished
account of the affair.
He had irons in the fire. He might
have been personally dissatisfied with
some small point in his own actions.
Also he was either then or later
deadly keen on getting aeroplanes carried
in light cruisers, a most difficult
matter owing to their liability to damage
& deterioration, & might make his report "point the moral".
When the writer gets on
the Captain Dumaresqs motives he is
on debatable ground & a lot of it

 

(2)
must necessarily be conjecture.
Firing the 6" Gun — Confirms that
this was in nature of a challenge.
"Running away" — I dont remember
this aspect of it. We may have "turned
16 points" for many reasons (if we did turn 16 pts)
"Working
"Working in conjunction with the Boats" —
This was always in view. The fact
that torpedo tracks were reported ^possibly wrongly &
actually a torpedo broke surface
near "Dublin" (Vide Records) would make
this ^a point the C.O would have in mind.
I am surprised this narrative
makes no mentioned of the fro Dutch
Fishing Vessel which comes into the
official account. "Obdurate" figured
in this chiefly, & I was under the
impression that Zepp attacked her first
& then came on to us, but again official
accounts should make this clear.
"The Anti Aircraft Gun" had just
newly been fitted in the ship & its crew
had had little practice with it.
It definitely served the purpose of keeping
the Zepp up high
"Not many feet below the undercarriage"
I'm afraid our friend overestimates his power
of estimating these things.