Fr \ i | al £mi * 9 SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 290, 1919, _TH : DAILY BRITISH W ® HIG 4 4 4 qd 4 4 RC TCE SL Ty TO, YL ey ST Sar ve ' THE RT x VIC -- REE ' TS Sr rr By ADMIRAL WILLIAM SOWDEN SIMS ---- i eo | BAYLY OURFRIFND AT QUEENSTOWN ll Delightful Life at Admiralty House -- The Ad- miral's Liking for American Officers and Men --His Keen Sense w of Humor Pleases Them--His_Charming "Family" - > Helps Him Entertain. . Admiral Bayly wad wonderfully | Was scornfully eritical of any naval quick at repartee, as our men found | when they began.!'josking" him. on | British peculiarities, for as naval al-| tache he had traveled extensively in | the United States, had observed most | Of our national eccentricities, and | {thus was able promptly "to come | tback." In such contests our men | Sdid not invariably come off with all | jthe laurels. Yet, despite hese mod- | fern tendencies, Admiral Bayly was a | feonservative of the conservatives, | thaving that ingrained British respect | for old things simply because they 'were old. An ancient Brittsn cns- | 'tom requires that at church on Sun- | days, the lezding dignitary in each 'community shall mount the reading desk and read the lessons of the day; "Admiral Bayly would perform this office wth a simplicity and a reverence which indicated the genuinely relgi- "ous nature of the man. SUWilllam the Conqueror" Used to + And in smaller details he was lke. iwise the ancient, traditfon-loving 'Briton. , Hg would never think of writihe a lettér to @n equal or a superior officer except in longhand: to use a trpewri er for such a purpoe would have been profapation in his "eves. I onte criticised a .certain Admiral for consuming an hour or :%0 in laborfously penning a letter fwh'ah could have been' dictated to a sterographer in a few minutes. | "How do you expect to win the | [war If You use up time this way?" +1 asked. » 3 I'd rather lose the war," the Ad- : ral replied, but with a twinkle in f0is eve, "thin use a typewriter to' "my chiefs!" ! Ont officers liked to chaff the Ad- ¢miral guletly on this conservatism. He frequently had a number of them + to. breakfast, and upon one such Loccasion the question was asked as to why the Admiral ate an orange after breakfast, instead of before, as is the custom in America. "1 can tell you why," said Com- mander Zogbaum. "Well, why Is 1?" asked the Ad- miral, "Because that's what Willlam the Gongueror used to do." "1 can think of no better reason than that for deing it,' the Admiral promptly answered. But this remark tickled 'him immensely, and became oa byword with him. Ever afterward wi he proposed to do some- thing' whieh the Americans regarded as too conservative he would say: "You know this is what Willlam the Conqueror used to do." Yet In one respect the Admiral was all-American; ho was a hard worker even to the point of hustle. He In- sisted on the strictest attention to the task om hand from his sabordinates, ¢ but at least he never spared himself. When he arrived at Queenstown, a few months before our destroyers Dut in, he proceeded to reorganize Admiralty House on the most busi- .mews-like basis. The first thing he need upon was the bilMard room gr the basement, He decided that it would make an excellent plotting room, 'and that the billlayd tables could be transformed into admirable drawing boawds for his staff; he im- mediately called the superintendent and tol him to make the neccessary transformations. "AI right" said the superintedd- ent, "We'll #art work on them to- morrow morning." "No you won't," Admiral Bayly reniied. "We ) lished in thie room, airs tables, to-morrow mo % 1 must be all ready for use by eight o'clock, "And he was as good as his word; the workmen spent the whole night making the changes 2,08. 000 slr; officers who made a lavish display of silver on their tables; money should be spent for depth charges, torpedoes, and twelve-inch shells, not for ostentation. He was scrupulous ness itself in observing all regula- tions in the matter of food and other essentials, ' A "Bone Dry" Englishman, For still another reason the Admir- al made an ideal commander of Am- erican naval forces. 'He was a strict teetotaler:. His abstention was mot & war measure; he had always had a strong aversion eo alcohol in any {form and had never drunk a coeck- tall or a brandy and soda in his life. Dinners at Admiralty House, there fore, were absolutely "dry," and in perfect keeping with American naval regulations. Though Admiral Bayly. was not athletic--his outdoor games being Hmited to tip-and-run eric ket in the Admiralty ground: which the played with a round bat and a tennis ball -- he | was a man of wiry phyelque and a tireless walker. Indeed the mos active young men in our navy had Sram difficulty in keeping pace with One of his favorite diversions on 2 Saturday afternoon was to take » group on a long hike in the beaut! ful country surrounding Queens town; by the time the party reached home, the Admiral, though sixt: years old, was usually the freshegr of the lot. I still s1vidly remember a long walk I took with him in » pelting rain; I recall how keenly he enjoyed it and how young and nimble he seemed when we reached home drenched to the skin. A-steep hil led from the shore up to Admiralty. House; Sir Lewis used to say that this was a valuable military asset-- it did not matter how angry a man might be with him when he started for headquarters; by the time he ar rived, this wearisome climb always had the effect of quieting his an- tagonism. The Admiral was fond of walking up this. hill with our young officers; he himself usually reached the top as freh as a daisy, while his juniors wre frequently puffing for breath. He enjoyed testing out our men in other waye; nothing delighted him more than giving them hard jobs to do-----especially when they acocom- plished the tastes successfully. One day he ordered ome of our officers Liettenant Commander Roger Wil Hams, captain of the Duncan, a re cent arrival at Queenstown, to cros the Irish Sea and bring back a ship The joker lay in the fact that this man's destroyer had just come Ir with her steering gear completelr out of commission--a circumstance which Admiral Bayly well unde stood, What Commander Williams Did. Many officers would bave prompt! asked to be excused on this ground but not this determined American He knew that the Admiral was trv ing "to put something over on him * and he rose to the occasion. The far that Queenstown harbor is long an' narrow, not wide enough for a dee troyer to turn around. made Com mander Williams' problem still more difficult, but, by cleverly using hia engines, he succeaded in backing out ~the {istance required was five miles; b took another mile and a half to 'turn his ship apd then he once mentioned to the Admiral the difficulties under which be had work- Pringle of the U 8.8. Melville, Cap- tain Campbell, the Englishman whoss exploits with mystery ships had given him world-wide fame, and myselt went out on the Active to watch cor- | somewhat grimly behind his desk wholly absorbed in the work In hand. If he were writing or reading his mail he would keep steadily at it, never glancing up until ne had finished. n He would listen to the report stole. ally, possibly say a word of praise, and then turn again to the business in hand. Occasionally he would no- tice that his abruptness had perhaps rs officers who were stationed at Queens. vol Reel Duly Lo mientic he name of Miss Voysey. The dignity with whirh aho al's house,and the success with which Licutenant-Commander (now Com- mander) A. F. Fairfield, * in Command Destroyer McDougal. tain pxperiments with depth charges. 't was a highly imprudent thing to do, but that only added to the zest of "the occasion from Admiral Bay. y's point of view. "What a bag this would be for the Hun!" he chuckled. 'The American "onfmander-in-Chief, the British Ad- miral commanding in Irish waters, « British and an American captain!" In.our mind's eye we could see our nieture in the Beritn papers, four listinguished prisoners standing in a row. A single fact shows with what con- sideration Admiral Bayly treated his mbordinates; The usual naval regu- lation demands that an officer, com. 'ng in from a trip, shall immediately eek out his commander and make > verbal réport. Frequently the men 'ame in late in the evening, extreme- ly fatigued; to make the visit then was a hardship and might deprive them of much needed sleep. Admir- 1 Bayly therefore had a fixed rule that such visits should be made at en'o'clock in the morning following he day of arrival. On such occas- ms he would often be found seated VEISTWAERD HO hs { \& of _-- An English Cartoon, Dained ihe young Amerfean; then he would break into an apologetic him to come up to , and even~--t Pat in particular 4s tic was an indespenstble part of this menage; [ have never seem any object quite 80 crestfallen 'woebegone as this little Ee a, Sitter Miss Vorsay ox or: two the a. Foysey | i i fii i il 2 3 Ti Ii E pit i ° she looked out for his comfort, also inspired their respect. Miss Voysey waé the leader in all the war charities at Queenstown and was for the purpose of expressi ae end tiding over, with ho Jotfee and tobacco, the inevitable de- lays complating the arrangments. 1 am sure that long the minor incidents of this War have faded from my memory, I shall still keep & vivid recollection of this kindly gentioman, Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, KCB, KCMG, CVO. Royal Navy. serving coffee to wretched British, American, French Italian, Japanese or with a 'cheering word i afterwsrd with sleeves | tucked up calmly washing dishes in & big pan of hot water. ' I have my fears that the Admiral' will not be particularly pleased hy the fact that I have sake en al these pains to in- troduces him to the American pub- lic. Excessive modesty is one of-his most counspleuous traits, When the American correspondents same to Queenstown, Admiral Bayly would receive them courteously, ou can have all you want about the navy." be would say, "* but remember--not a word, about Admiral Bayly." He Was 80 reticent that he was averse to havinm his picture taken; even the moving picture operator detailed to get an historie record of the arrival of our destroyers did not obtain a 800d view of the Admiral, for, when- ovér Sir Lewis saw With coming, he would turn bis dack to the camera! My excuse for describing this very lovable man, however, is because he became almost an object of venera- tion to our American officers and be- cause, since for eighteen montha he was the commander of the American forces based on Quecnstown, he is an object of legitimate 49tareet to the American people. Th ot that the Admiral was generally kmown to our officers as "Uncle Lewis," and thet some of those who grew 0 know him best even called him that to his face, {llustrates the delightful relations which were established. Any account of the operations of our Navy in the European war would thus be sadly incomplete which ad the splem- d sailor who wes ly respolnet- ble for their ¢ wi mmm Criticism of British Command. The fact that theses American de stroyers were placed under the com- mand of a British Admiral was some- what displeasing to certain Ameri- cans. 1 remember that one rather bumptious American correspondent, on a visit to Queenstown, was loud in expressing his disapproval of this state of affairs, and even threatened to "'expose' us all in the American press The fact that Iwas specially eore- Mmissioned as destroyer commander also confused the situation. Yet the procedure was entirely proper, and, in fact, absolutdly necessary. My official title waa "Commander of the U.8. Naval Forces Operating in Euro- pean Waters"; besides this, 1 was the represantative of our Navy Des partment et the British Admiralty and American member of the Allied Naval Council. These duties requir. ed my presence in London, which be came the centre of sll our operations. 1 was commander not only of our destroyers at Queenstown, but of a Gastriver force at Brest amother at Gibraltir, of sub-chaser forces at Corfu agd Pl th, of 2 mived force at the of battle squadrons at Sea ow and Berohaven, Ireland, and of many other contingents, Clear- ly it was Impossible for me to devote all my time exclusively to amy one of these commands; so far as actual operations were concerned it was ne« cessary that particular commanders should control them. All these destroyer squadrons, in- dluding that at Queenstown. were the Roni soi TB : Adm Bayly. At any time T conld withdraw these destroyers from i n send them where the particular ne geanitide required. My position, that