" SUBMARINE BILLY " 



the weather side, quite close to the smack, and the 

 commander, who was greatly excited and seemed 

 terribly nervous about British warships, shouted, 

 'Hum- up! Hurry up!' and I can tell you no 

 time was lost by anybody. 



The Germans weren't long below. The}' planted 

 their bombs and then rushed up on deck and jumped 

 back into the boat, and I sculled to the submarine. 



" A very strange little thing happened while all 

 this was going on. 



The German commander said to our third 

 hand, ' I knew you in Yarmouth. I kept a shop 

 in Millgate Street. They used to call me Peter.' 



" The third hand said afterwards that he didn't 

 remember the German at all ; but what he said may 

 have been true, and he may have been one of the 

 Germans who lived in England and waited for the 

 war to come. 



' About a quarter of an hour after we left the 

 smack there was a terrific explosion ; the deck split 

 up, there was a lot of fire and smoke, she began to 

 sink, and in about eight minutes she had gone alto- 

 gether. Our floating home and everything in it 

 went to the bottom, which is just about the same 

 as a home ashore being destroyed with everything it 

 contains. 



" The Germans lost no time over their job. While 

 this was going on our other three chaps had been 

 ordered back into the boat, and we were told to go 

 to another smack which was not far away — the Ben 

 Nevis. This smack had been spared so that she 



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