James Taine, some of Walter Taine the chemist, was in the Artillery contingent of Dunedin's contribution to the New Zealand Expeditionary Force's Sixth Reinforcements. The local paper, above the list of names of those departing, described the farewell.
OFF TO TRENTHAM.
ENTHUSIASTIC SEND-OFF FROM DUNEDIN.
Otago's quota of men for the Sixth Reinforcements left Dunedin on the 17th at midday. The public took a deep interest in the farewell, and at the Garrison Hall, in the Octagon, and at the railway station there were huge but very orderly assemblies. At the railway station, when the men were entering to entrain, the crowd was dense, and it was only by the exercise of tact and forbearance that the police managed to keep the way clear for the departing soldiers.
AT THE GARRISON HALL.
At 10 o'clock the men mustered in the Garrison Hall, the gallery of which was crowded by the public. The people simply rushed the hall, and the front door had to be closed. The platform was occupied by members of the Recruiting Committee, the Otago Patriotic and General Welfare Association, and the Otago Women's Patriotic -Association. Captain Eraser was in charge, and had the assistance of Lieutenant Keligher and a staff of officers. The roll was called while the men were drawn up in lines, and was checked and re-checked to insure accuracy, after which the men were marched, in parties of 20, to the stage, where they received and signed for their kits, the gifts of the Women's Association and th handiwork of many hundreds of women in the city and suburbs. These were made up in brown paper parcels, about 10 inches in length, and as each man received his packet he was handed a label, on which he was requested to write his name and attach it to his kit.
The Town Hall was gay with bunting. Part of the street immediately opposite the steps was roped off, and a crowd began to gather there shortly after 10 o'clock. Fife and drum bands from the schools brightened the period of waiting with familiar patriotic selections. The Mayor and councillors,, and a number of clergymen and others gathered at the top of the steps, where a small platform had been arranged. Ladies of the Patriotic Association passed through the ranks, distributing tins of tobacco to all the men.
His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. B. Shacklock), addressing the officers and men of the Sixth Reinforcements, said he held in his hand a telegram from the Minister of Defence, in which he stated how very sorry he was that he was not able to be with them that morning. Pressure of business detained him in Wellington, and neither he nor any other member of Cabinet was able to be present. He was there representing the citizens of Dunedin to wish them God-speed in the undertaking on which they were starting. They had heard the call of Empire and of right, and they were now proceeding to take their part in the protection of the suffering and supporting the good government, not only of our Empire, but of the world. Their duties would be many and onerous, and if these duties were to be thoroughly well carried out then strict discipline must always be observed. When they were away from our shores we wished them to remember the dominion they were leaving, to remember the associations of the past, and to look forward to the time when they would return to to join us. We handed to them the honour of our city, and the honour of our dominion, and we knew that they would keep these sacred. In the words of Lord Kitchener, "Keep yourselves fit, thus enabling you successfully to carry out all the duties that many be entrusted to you. Be strong and of good courage." We hoped to see them once more on our shores, and they would leave us with our prayers and our blessings in the very best sense of the word. — (Applause.)
The Primate, (Bishop Nevill), and Father Coffey also delivered appropriate speeches.
After the singing of the National Anthem enthusiastic cheers were exchanged between the men and the crowd, and at about 10 minutes to 2 Captain Fraser set the troops in motion again for the railway station.
Lower Stuart street was packed with people, especially the area in front of the station. Relatives and friends pressed forward to say a final word of farewell, and the general public, in their eagerness to see the departing troopers, encroached upon the space intended for the four-abreast soldiers, and things became somewhat mixed. But it was a good-natured and happy crowd, and the police gave valuable help. Finally the last of the men made his way into the station enclosure, but still the public lingered around the gate and along Athol place to the departure of the train. Ten carriages were in waiting, and nine of these were soon, filled with the rollicking, happy band, the other carriage being reserved for the Palmerston and Oamaru contingents. A few minutes after noon all the men were aboard, and the train pulled out, accompanied by the best wishes of the city and a salvo of cheers from a crowd lining the railway fence and others who stood on stacks of timber or similar points of vantage in the vicinity. Several of the school bands were on the streets, and added to the enthusiasm of the send off with their lively music. -Otago Daily Times, 26/4/1915.
TRANSPORT TORPEDOED
NEW ZEALANDERS ABOARD.
SOME EXCITING EXPERIENCES.
THREE MEN MISSING.
There appears to be no doubt that a transport on which there were New Zealand and Australian troops was torpedoed while proceeding from Alexandria to Anzac. At least four separate accounts of the incident have come to light, and although as to details, all are agreed that three New Zealanders lost their lives, one being a Dunedin boy. Apparently there were several members of the Fifth Reinforcements aboard, probably men who had been attached to the Headquarters Staff of the Second Brigade. Gunner George S. Webb (a son of Mr J. S. Webb, of Michie street, Roslyn) furnishes a graphic account of the occurrence, which he regards as something very much in the nature of a splendid adventure.
"We had a glorious time last week," says this light-hearted soldier. “We left camp all right, but a blooming submarine torpedoed our transport. Of course, we had to take to the boats, and ours was capsized." He proceeds to describe events in detail. “I had previously taken off boots and putties, and therefore could swim fairly easily. I got jammed, and was pulled down in the water after the boat, but finally managed to free myself. I had not a lifebelt, either. After swimming for about 20 minutes I was pulled into a lifeboat. (Deletion by Censor.) Evidently the boat was pretty well full of water, but they managed to get the plug in, and soon had her baled out. Altogether there wore 57 men in it, or eight above its full complement. Fortunately,” continues Gunner Webb, the sea was fairly calm, so we were not upset again, although nearly so several times. The ship was torpedoed at 9.45, and we were picked up by a French torpedo boat at 2.15. We lost everything, but what does that matter so long as I am here? We are absolutely forbidden to mention places, ships, or names. The ship had two torpedoes fired at her; one hit, the other missed, but nearly hit us in the water. She did not do much damage — only put a hole 50ft by 40ft in her under the water! The deck on which we were sleeping was blown to matchwood, and unfortunately several men were killed. The noise was not bad, but the smell of guncotton was vile. The ship just gave one big shiver and stopped dead when struck.
“I was standing right over the place where the torpedo struck, and there was no half of a commotion. I tried to get downstairs to get my lifebelt, but as my bunk had been blown sky-high the attempt was a failure. So I got into a lifeboat. The troops were nearly all orderly. One of the crew, who was in our boat, was quite unnerved, and cut one of the falls, which so capsized the lot of us. There are only three of our crowd missing, and the whole ship’s death roll does not reach 30 — not a bad escape at all. The French were more than kind, giving us cigarettes, fruit, and wine. So you see we were not so badly off, after all.”
The vessel not sunk.
GUNNER LEWIN’S ACCOUNT. Mr G. A. Lewin’s son, who left with the Fifth Reinforcements, and was attached to the Headquarters' Staff of the Second Brigade, writes an interesting account of the same experience. He says:
"When the torpedo struck us I happened to be below, shaving, and it caught her just below where I was and blew the whole of the middle out of the apartment. It was a large place, where bunks had been fitted up all round the hold. The explosion blew the hatches clean oft, and the steps that led from the hold went with them, so we were really caught down there. However, a chain happened to be hanging down from the deck above, and we climbed up that somehow or other. I went along the deck to the boat that had been allotted to us, and things were very orderly on deck — mo sign of panic or anything like that; at least, amongst the soldiers, but I can’t say the same for some of the crew. We got into our boat, bright and early, and then gave the word to two of the crew to lower away; but one of the fellows let her go with a rush, while the other held on. Most of us were tipped into the sea, but somehow or other I managed to hold on till the boat struck the water. She did not float long, however, as, with so many trying to climb into her, she upset. I then swam off and got into another boat, and, after picking up five or six other chaps, we made for an island that appeared to he about 10 miles off. Then I found that only two of the New Zealanders were with me, and we thought that that was the end of our Headquarters Staff of No. 2 Brigade.
“The torpedo struck us at about 10 a.m., and in about an hour and a-half boats, cruisers, and destroyers began to arrive; but we kept on rowing for the island until we were picked up by a French destroyer, about 5.50 p.m. We were treated like lords on that destroyer. They dried our clothes — the few we had— and gave us hot wine and. cigarettes and bread and “bully” beef, so we soon felt happy again. It took us about an hour to reach port, and we were then all put on a big transport to await orders. We are still on the transport. All that night boats were coming alongside with others of our company, and when we were collected again we found that we had lost three of our boys of the Headquarters Staff and about 51 Australians, so you see we were pretty lucky. They made a terrible mess of their attempt to sink our ship, luckily for us. The first torpedo missed the engine room, while the second one missed the vessel altogether. The crew got the bulkhead closed quickly and the transport was able to make port under her own steam. I came here in a singlet and a pair of trousers, and so far I have got none of my other gear. As they have to send divers down to get the things, I fear it won’t be much good, even if I do get it. I don’t mind going without a wash or a shave, but I do wish I could land a toothbrush somehow; but I suppose they will be issuing some gear to us before I was sorry to lose all the things the Dunedin ladies so kindly gave us, but I suppose I should not complain, as I should consider myself lucky to be here at all. One of our chaps who is missing is a Dunedin boy, but I am not allowed to mention names. Our lieutenant and all our N.C.O.s are all right, so we have a lot to be thankful for.”
ST. CLAIR BOY’S EXPERIENCE.
Gunner J. F. Kerr, of the Headquarters staff, writing to his mother (Mrs Kerr, Allandale road, St. Clair), says: “We had a pretty exciting experience the other day. The boat our crowd were on was torpedoed by an enemy submarine. There was just one boatload of us, and we stood to our allotted boat without any confusion. However, in lowering away they let go one end first, and spilt us all into the water, young Lewin and myself swam to another boat and got aboard. It was empty, and we pulled in men until it was full, including one of our own crowd. We then got away and made for an island 12 miles away. We did not get there, though, as we were picked up by a French destroyer after being hours in the boat. I did not expect to see anything more of our own crowd, but they were all picked up by different boats except three, of whom two were killed by the explosion and the third drowned."
MR W. TAINE’S SON DROWNED.
The Dunedin boy above referred to was James Tayne Taine, the second son of Mr Walter Taine. He was born in Dunedin and if he had lived would be now about 21 years of age. He went with the Fifth Reinforcements, and was the Headquarters Staff as a specialist. Prior to enlisting he worked with his father at the chemical stores. -Evening Star, 20/10/1915.
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| The troopship "Southland" after being torpedoed. |
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