FISHERMEN IN WAR TIME 



as we could. This was on the lee side, away from 

 the firing. 



" There were no other craft in sight, only a 

 ' Dutch ' sailing vessel — at any rate, she was pre- 

 tending to be Dutch, but, as a matter of fact, she 

 was feeding the submarines with petrol. 



" I started sculling the boat away from the smack, 

 and we got about twenty yards astern very quickly, 

 all the time under fire ; but the Germans were not 

 content with firing shells at a helpless craft — they 

 now turned a machine-gun on to defenceless fisher- 

 men who were adrift in a boat on the open sea. 



" There was amongst us a little boy — William 

 Collins, they called him, only fourteen years and a 

 half old. His mother was a widow, and he had four 

 little brothers and sisters, so that the two or three 

 shillings a week he earned was a help to her. Being 

 such a little chap he was naturally scared at such a 

 terrible business, and he was crying. 



" ' Get into the bottom of the boat, Billy,' I said. 

 ' You'll be safer there.' And he did. He lay there, 

 under the thwart, and I sat over him, protecting 

 him as best I could. 



" The boat was getting actually riddled by the 

 machine-gun fire — later on it was seen how she had 

 been peppered and holed, so that it was wonderful 

 she kept afloat — and before I knew what was hap- 

 pening I was struck by a bullet on the right thigh, 

 and began to bleed dreadfully. 



" I knew no more at the time than that I had been 

 hurt in some way, but as a matter of fact I had been 



116 



