Many stirring stories of his personal experiences during the war were told to an enthusiastic audience of children at the Royal Colonial Institute by Capt. G. R, L. Edwards, M., of the Navy League.
Daring resource and an un-and men of the Royal Navy they kept their perilous four years' watch upon the waters of the world, and Capt. Edwards, who commanded the destroyer Laforey in the famous Harwich patrol, and afterwards commanded a cruiser Dardanelles, collected fund of grave and gay naval yarns which illustrate the spirit that won the war.
One of the first incidents of the Great War which Capt, Edwards related was a mixture of tragedy and comedy. After the Amphion had been sunk by a mine in the North Sea the Harwich patrol was returning to port when a ship was sighted flying the German ensign. The squadron prepared to open fire on the enemy when the order to cease fire was suddenly flashed from the masthead of Admiral Tyrwhitt's flagship, the Arethusa, and the fleet returned to harbour in amazement. On reaching Harwich it was discovered that the German Ambassador, Prince Lichnowsky, who had been given safe passage to Holland, was in the German vessel. The admiral at Harwich had asked the Admiralty what} flag the Ambassador's ship was to telegraphed that Prince Lichnowsky was to fly his bed sheet, Dealing with the battle of Jutland, Capt. Edwards said there yas no doubt about the victory. "Even now," he said, "there, are silly Jugginses arguing as to who won the battle. The fact that the German ficer is now being salvaged at Scapa Flow is conclusive enough for me." In a fine tribute to Earl Jellicoe, Capt. Edwards said he could not' understand how any-
great admiral, who was univer-could dare to eriticiza the sally. loved throughout the British Navy.
"Hymn No. 224"
The lecture went on to what is, per hay the most humorot signal ever flashed during "It was the custom," the Harwich patrol to keep' a Bible and a hymn-book on the bridge of every ship. We found that the hymns, or the Psalms of David contained apt allusions of some kind to fit nearly every incident of Ife at sea, and to relieve the monotony ships used to flash messages to their neigh-hours, giving the number of some Psalm or hymn alluding to the particular incident of the moment, We did not think that Tyrwhitt knew of this practice until one day, off the Danish const, whi aeroplanes had' just great airship was descending in flames and before she reached the water the following signal was flashed from the Arethusa to all ships in the squadron:—'Hymn No. 224: Oh; happy band of pilgrims, look up into the sky.!
Capt. Edwards told how he had asked "a captured German officer replied, "We hate your politi "Oh," ' said Capt. Edwards, "Iq that all. So do we."
A Gloomy Hero 3
Describing his meeting. with a gloomy lieutenant at Plymouth about six months after the cute break of war, Capt, Edwards said a young lieutenant from the Bittern came to tea with him one day at Devonport and bored him terribly with his mournful pessimism, The lieutenant was convinced that the war would be over in a month, and he complained bitterly that all he had seen of it was the Eddystone Lighthouse, was jolly glad when that dismal young man left my ship," Capt. Edwards added.
'About a year later, however, I met him again at Portsmouth. He was now a commander with: a DSO. I asked him what ho had done to earn it. 'I don't know, he replied. 'It was sent down from the Admiralty and somebody had to have it' Another year went by, and I came across him again ax'a Captain with a V.C. and D.8,0. with two bars. Still he did not know, What he had' been decorated for, That gloomy young man was a 'Q* boat commander.'
Capt. Edwards emphasized the portance of maintaining a strong Navy, and recommended his young listeners to join the Navy League, where they could do something practical to preserve the great traditions of the Navy. "Every time the Navy has been let down by the country," "the country has suffered, it will suffer in future if we the Navy down at this critical tung our history.'
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.