The Dangerous Years Read Free Page B

and rangefinders. They moved in long lines – Hindenburg , Derfflinger , Seydlitz, Moltke, Von der Tann, Bayern, Grosser Kurfürst, Markgraf, Kronprinz Wilhelm, Kaiser, Kaiserin , and many others. The mutinous sailors, Kelly had heard, had wanted to fly the red flag and had only been dissuaded by the information that it was also the flag of piracy and might be fired on, and the old imperial colours were fluttering at the masthead instead. Under their grey clothing, the German ships looked dingy and unkempt, their hulls streaked and rusted, only one, Derfflinger , looking as if she had recently been painted.
    They cut through the water in a long slow-moving column in the funeral tread of a defeated nation, and as the two fleets approached the Forth, the excitement died. By the time they passed May Island, the reaction had set in, in an overwhelming weariness.
    The sun had driven away the mist so that the day was clear, cold and fine and the Firth looked like a vast inland sea. The three parallel lines pressed close together, then the southern line of escorting ships turned once more upon itself and in a long backward sweep fell in behind the Germans. Cardiff led to a point halfway between Kirkaldy Bay and Aberlady Bay east of Inch Keith, while the destroyers moved to the Haddington shore by Cockenzie. As the German ships approached their prison anchorage, soldiers from the shore batteries lined the sea’s edge, watching, and boats of every description, steamers, row boats and yachts, all packed with civilians, milled about, savouring the triumph.
    ‘I never thought we’d insist on it.’ Orrmont still seemed faintly bewildered.
    Perhaps, Kelly thought, that was because Orrmont had spent most of his war in the calmer areas of the Mediterranean. The mood of the Grand Fleet had always been grimmer. Despite the feeling of contempt and pity for the Germans, not one of the men who had watched the northern waters round Britain had ever wanted anything but a surrender that was complete and unequivocal. It made up for the harshness of the winters and the toll the North Sea had taken.
    As Queen Elizabeth passed to her mooring, there was a storm of cheering, and Beatty, standing on the bridge, lifted his cap in acknowledgement. Apart from this, the whole manoeuvre of anchoring was executed in a silence that was almost funereal. But, as each German ship reached its place and dropped anchor, its bulwarks became crowded at once with men fishing.
    ‘What a way to celebrate Der Tag,’ Orrmont observed coldly. ‘Chucking out a fishing line to catch a herring. Still–’ his shoulders moved in a shrug under his bridge coat – I expect the blockade’s been biting and the poor buggers are hungry.’
    As the opalescent northern dusk approached, Lipscomb, the yeoman of signals, sang out.
    ‘Signal from flagship, sir,’ he said. ‘“To admiral in command of interned squadron and all German COs and leaders of torpedo boats: The German flag will be hauled down at sunset today, and will not be hoisted again without permission.” Friedrich der Grosse’ s acknowledging.’ There was a pause then Lipscomb spoke again. ‘There’s another, sir. “Flagship to the fleet. It is my intention to hold a service of thanksgiving at 6 p.m. today, for the victory which Almighty God had vouchsafed to His Majesty’s arms, and every ship is recommended to do the same.”’
    Kelly spoke in a voice as flat as a smack across the chops. ‘I don’t know so much about Almighty God,’ he said. ‘I always had the impression it was us sitting up here and the pongoes sitting it out in the trenches.’
    ‘Quite so, Number One,’ Orrmont said dryly. ‘However. I suppose we’d better comply. It seems to be really over at last. Finis. Kaput. End. The war’s finally stopped, and we’re in for a bit of peace.’

 
     
Two
    The madness that had been in the air at the Armistice had died. By 1919, church bells no longer burst into excited peals, steamers on