FISHERMEN IN WAR TIME 



mine was entangled in the sweeping-wire and was 

 swirling in the eddy under the vessel's counter. 



The situation was one of the most extreme peril 

 and called for the greatest courage and promptness 

 on the part of the officer in charge. Both were 

 forthcoming. He ordered the trawler to be 

 abandoned. 



That was but the beginning of one of the dramas 

 of the sweeping service, it was, so to speak, the train 

 which fired the powder. The little vessel might 

 well have been left to chance or fate — for one trawler 

 lost from thousands could not matter much, so long 

 as the crew were safe. But the senior officer in 

 command of the mine-sweepers had no intention of 

 letting the gallant little craft go in such a fashion 

 — if she could be saved at all he was determined to 

 preserve her, and in the right British way he led the 

 volunteering, calling for a man to go with him. 



An engineman — he was described as " the ' 

 engineman, and presumably belonged to the tem- 

 porarily abandoned ship — responded to the call, and 

 together they boarded the rolling craft which at any 

 moment might be blown to pieces. Having reached 

 her they set to work on their perilous task, and reck- 

 less of the risk they ran, cut the sweeping-wire and 

 the " kite " wire, with the joyful result that the two 

 mines fell clear without exploding, and they were 

 towed clear of the spot by means of a rope which 

 had been passed to another trawler. 



This fine act stood in something like splendid 

 isolation, for it was not a case of saving life ; it was 



102 



