dreaming of. However, after the German Governor refuses to surrender New Britain, 25 naval troops and a party of Sydney âs men under Lieutenant-Commander Finlayson are landed at the German gubernatorial capital of Herbertshöhe, on the shores of Blanche Bay, to occupy the island in the name of Australia and the British Empire. Though the Australian forces suffer their first six fatalities in the process, this is quickly achieved.
Two days later, on the afternoon of 13 September, in the main square of Rabaul, the denouement â¦
And oh, the glory of it.
For, with all German resistance now ceased, the men of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force line up in the tropical splendour of Rabaulâs main square, a spot superbly positioned to be at the centre of Rabaulâs business, administrative and social life â a lush, green space, dotted with palm and mango trees â and command the heights that look down upon the powerful Australian ships gloriously bobbing in Simpson Harbour, a vista of glittering blue surrounded by high mountains.
After the band of the Australia has formed up, it is time. While Admiral Sir George Edwin Patey and Colonel William Holmes â resplendent in their naval whites â stand to attention with a rigidity that rivals the central flagpole they are facing, it is Holmesâs own son, Lieutenant Basil Holmes, who has the honour of unfurling, then attaching, then hauling up the good olâ Union Jack, while the ships in the harbour unleash a roaring 21-gun salute, âGod Save the Kingâ is sung and three cheers for His Majesty ring out.
Rabaul has now formally been claimed for the British Empire, and it is the Australians what have done it! Let all the villages and villagers throughout New Britain be told the wondrous news and let this document now pasted up all over the newly claimed territory be officially read to them:
All boys belongina one place, you savvy big master he come now, he new feller master ⦠Suppose you work good with this new feller master, he look out good alonga you, he look out you get good feller kaikai; he no fighting black boy alonga nothing.
You look him new feller flag, you savvy him? He belongs British, he more better than other feller ⦠British new feller master he like him black feller man too much. He like him all same you piccanin alonga him ⦠Me been talk with you now, now you give three good feller cheers belongina new feller master. NO MORE âUM KAISER. GOD SAVE âUM KING. 24
The joy in Australia at the military victory is unbridled, led by the Argus , with its huge headlines:
GERMAN NEW GUINEA
NEW BRITAIN CAPTURED
SEAT OF GOVERNMENT TAKEN
AUSTRALIANS IN ACTION
30 GERMANS; 4 AUSTRALIANS KILLED 25
Though there will continue to be some scattered German resistance, it does not last long. Australia soon will have control of all German territories in the Pacific below the equator, including Nauru, Bougainville, New Ireland, the Admiralty Islands and New Guinea, while New Zealand takes over Samoa.
More problematic than these triumphs, however, is the German East Asia Squadron that the Australians had been hoping to destroy. For it will soon emerge that, while Admiral von Spee had taken most of his cruisers across the Pacific to South America to attack British shipping there, he has left one cruiser, the Emden , behind, with an order for its Kapitän , Karl von Müller, to capture and destroy every Allied ship he can in the Indian Ocean.
14 SEPTEMBER 1914, AT SIMPSON HARBOUR, A SILENT WATCH KEPT
In the meantime, there is nothing for it but for the navy to look elsewhere for the German cruisers and other German ships, starting with the nearby St Georgeâs Strait, which separates New Britain from New Ireland.
No matter that the AE1 has mechanical problems â for one thing, the port-side diesel-engine clutch is broken â today it is her turn to do the patrol, in company with the
Two days later, on the afternoon of 13 September, in the main square of Rabaul, the denouement â¦
And oh, the glory of it.
For, with all German resistance now ceased, the men of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force line up in the tropical splendour of Rabaulâs main square, a spot superbly positioned to be at the centre of Rabaulâs business, administrative and social life â a lush, green space, dotted with palm and mango trees â and command the heights that look down upon the powerful Australian ships gloriously bobbing in Simpson Harbour, a vista of glittering blue surrounded by high mountains.
After the band of the Australia has formed up, it is time. While Admiral Sir George Edwin Patey and Colonel William Holmes â resplendent in their naval whites â stand to attention with a rigidity that rivals the central flagpole they are facing, it is Holmesâs own son, Lieutenant Basil Holmes, who has the honour of unfurling, then attaching, then hauling up the good olâ Union Jack, while the ships in the harbour unleash a roaring 21-gun salute, âGod Save the Kingâ is sung and three cheers for His Majesty ring out.
Rabaul has now formally been claimed for the British Empire, and it is the Australians what have done it! Let all the villages and villagers throughout New Britain be told the wondrous news and let this document now pasted up all over the newly claimed territory be officially read to them:
All boys belongina one place, you savvy big master he come now, he new feller master ⦠Suppose you work good with this new feller master, he look out good alonga you, he look out you get good feller kaikai; he no fighting black boy alonga nothing.
You look him new feller flag, you savvy him? He belongs British, he more better than other feller ⦠British new feller master he like him black feller man too much. He like him all same you piccanin alonga him ⦠Me been talk with you now, now you give three good feller cheers belongina new feller master. NO MORE âUM KAISER. GOD SAVE âUM KING. 24
The joy in Australia at the military victory is unbridled, led by the Argus , with its huge headlines:
GERMAN NEW GUINEA
NEW BRITAIN CAPTURED
SEAT OF GOVERNMENT TAKEN
AUSTRALIANS IN ACTION
30 GERMANS; 4 AUSTRALIANS KILLED 25
Though there will continue to be some scattered German resistance, it does not last long. Australia soon will have control of all German territories in the Pacific below the equator, including Nauru, Bougainville, New Ireland, the Admiralty Islands and New Guinea, while New Zealand takes over Samoa.
More problematic than these triumphs, however, is the German East Asia Squadron that the Australians had been hoping to destroy. For it will soon emerge that, while Admiral von Spee had taken most of his cruisers across the Pacific to South America to attack British shipping there, he has left one cruiser, the Emden , behind, with an order for its Kapitän , Karl von Müller, to capture and destroy every Allied ship he can in the Indian Ocean.
14 SEPTEMBER 1914, AT SIMPSON HARBOUR, A SILENT WATCH KEPT
In the meantime, there is nothing for it but for the navy to look elsewhere for the German cruisers and other German ships, starting with the nearby St Georgeâs Strait, which separates New Britain from New Ireland.
No matter that the AE1 has mechanical problems â for one thing, the port-side diesel-engine clutch is broken â today it is her turn to do the patrol, in company with the
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