- Author
- Patterson, Andrew Barton (Banjo)
- Subjects
- Biographies and personal histories, Ship histories and stories, WWI operations
- Tags
- RAN Ships
- HMAS Sydney I
- Publication
- March 2000 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)
`I’ve seen my first naval engagement, Massie; and all I can say is, thank God we didn’t start the war.’
We left Captain Glossop to handle his very turbulent lot of prisoners and went back to our ships. The next night a message came that the Sydney, with the German prisoners on board, would pass us at sea about two o’clock in the morning. The Brigadier ordered that all ranks should parade and stand at attention as she went past: an order that started a lot of grumbling among the recruits until a Yorkshire ex-sergeant-major said:
‘Tha’ll be proud, laad, some day to say that tha’ did it. Yesterday ye were nowt but a handful o’ blacks; but the world’s talkin’ about ye to-day.’
Under the tropic night the ghost of a warship glided by and all the ranks on our transport fell in and stood at attention until she had passed out of sight. A formality, perhaps; but it might have satisfied even Mr Kipling that we were growing up.
The Society thanks Lansdowne Press (18 Argyle Place, The Rocks, Sydney) for permission to publish this abridged version of pages 346-351 of “The Best of `Banjo’ Paterson” – Selected by Walter Stone. – (Eds.)