This Reporter
Aug 20, 0600 hours, Victoria BC.
Premier McBride and Captain Trousdale shared the morning Victoria Daily Colonist at their early morning situation meeting.
“ Barbaric Huns Bombard Swanson Bay.
4 Dead, 7 Missing and Presumed Dead, 18 Wounded.
Industry and Port Facilities Burned. CPR Liner Princess Beatrice Sunk.
Hospital ship SS Prince George rendering assistance.
“This reporter arrived at the pulp mill town of Swanson Bay, on board the Union Steamship SS Cowichan, to a scene of utter devastation. The bay was shrouded with smoke, the shattered remains of the wharf were still burning. The once proud Canadian Pacific Sulphide Pulp Company Ltd. Mill was reduced to ruins.
“ Upon landing, we found numerous wounded laid out in drawing rooms and on the town boardwalk. The town doctor was bandaging the casualties with torn bed sheets, on account of all the medical supplies having burned up with the aid station in the mill building. Wounded men stoically endured, with no painkillers available to sooth the effect of their terrible wounds.
“Mercifully, the hospital ship Prince George, bound for Prince Rupert, appeared an hour later entirely by providence. She was flagged down and moored in the bay to attend to the casualties. The survivors of the terrible bombardment are now recovering in the most modern medical facilities available.
“Wounded mill machinist Elliot Knox gave this account of the action…
“Ocean Falls Shelled by German Cruiser.
Corsairs of Admiral Von Spee’s Far East Squadron Strike Again.
Dozens wounded.
Number of Dead Unknown.
“Million dollar Crown Williamette Pacific pulp mill reduced to ash.
Broken windows throughout the town gave testament to the savagery that the remote industrial town had endured…
“Heroic Russian Allies Defend Prince Rupert Against All Odds.
Over 100 Russian sailors dead or missing. 40 wounded.
Merchant cruiser Anayr battles Nürnberg at point blank range in fog shrouded harbour. Russian ship goes down fighting…
“Reprinted from the Anyox and Alice Arm Herald
Aug 16, 1914. Ernest Moss
“This evening, on Anyox’s Wharf Number One, I interviewed Captain Karl Von Schönberg of the German Navy cruiser Nürnberg. As a backdrop, the warship was obscured by a haze of dust as its bunkers were being filled with stolen Crowsnest Pass Coal. The SS Prince Rupert, now armed and flying a German naval flag, stood nearby. My impression was of a man who was at once cultured and dangerous, serious and humane. I asked him what brought him to Anyox.
“ ‘You know there is a war,” he said, “and sometimes the war happens where you do not expect it. Everyone is surprised when it comes to their personal world. My orders are to carry the war to the enemy, wherever he may be. We are engaged in cruiser warfare, which means disrupting the commerce of the enemy, who now happens to be the British Empire. Copper is a Strategic War Material, ergo, we are here to disrupt the trade in copper.”
“I asked him about the legality of the German actions: taking coal, supplies, and even the SS Prince Rupert.
“ ‘Our presence here is explicitly permissible under the Hague Conventions of 1907. This same Convention protects the civilians of your town from harm as long as you do not obstruct our men or vessels… The Conventions indeed allow us to seize ships of a belligerent power. The food here we purchased with cash. The shopkeeper can attest to that. The coal also was purchased.”
“ ‘I asked further questions about the German’s intentions, but the Captain remained tight lipped, and said he was not about to share military secrets. He did however invite me to interview the recently released crews of the merchant vessels Nürnberg had captured.
“ ‘We were in the Gulf of Alaska on August 6,” said Durward Carmichael, the captain of the Canadian barquentine Ballymena. “We did not even know war had been declared. Then from nowhere, the Nürnberg stopped us, ordered us off, and sank our ship.”
“ ‘How were you and your crew treated?” I asked him.
“ ‘The German sailors and officers were polite. We were their prisoners, no doubt, but they apologized for it, and we ate the same meals they did. We were kept below at night, but spent time up in the light and air in the day. The cruiser got right crowded by the end. They captured six more merchants after us, so we were squeezed in like sardines, until they captured the Prince Rupert on the 16th. Then we got to stretch out some more…”
“Rubbish! It just goes on like this,” said Premier McBride indignantly. “The friendly German navy taking them on a pleasure cruise.”
“There is some useful intelligence in that article,” said Trousdale.
“The reporter is giving aid and comfort to the enemy!” insisted McBride. “How is that useful? There is a war on!”
“To be fair,” said Trousdale, “this article was written and published before the Germans burned Anyox down the next morning.”
Premier McBride and Captain Trousdale shared the morning Victoria Daily Colonist at their early morning situation meeting.
“ Barbaric Huns Bombard Swanson Bay.
4 Dead, 7 Missing and Presumed Dead, 18 Wounded.
Industry and Port Facilities Burned. CPR Liner Princess Beatrice Sunk.
Hospital ship SS Prince George rendering assistance.
“This reporter arrived at the pulp mill town of Swanson Bay, on board the Union Steamship SS Cowichan, to a scene of utter devastation. The bay was shrouded with smoke, the shattered remains of the wharf were still burning. The once proud Canadian Pacific Sulphide Pulp Company Ltd. Mill was reduced to ruins.
“ Upon landing, we found numerous wounded laid out in drawing rooms and on the town boardwalk. The town doctor was bandaging the casualties with torn bed sheets, on account of all the medical supplies having burned up with the aid station in the mill building. Wounded men stoically endured, with no painkillers available to sooth the effect of their terrible wounds.
“Mercifully, the hospital ship Prince George, bound for Prince Rupert, appeared an hour later entirely by providence. She was flagged down and moored in the bay to attend to the casualties. The survivors of the terrible bombardment are now recovering in the most modern medical facilities available.
“Wounded mill machinist Elliot Knox gave this account of the action…
“Ocean Falls Shelled by German Cruiser.
Corsairs of Admiral Von Spee’s Far East Squadron Strike Again.
Dozens wounded.
Number of Dead Unknown.
“Million dollar Crown Williamette Pacific pulp mill reduced to ash.
Broken windows throughout the town gave testament to the savagery that the remote industrial town had endured…
“Heroic Russian Allies Defend Prince Rupert Against All Odds.
Over 100 Russian sailors dead or missing. 40 wounded.
Merchant cruiser Anayr battles Nürnberg at point blank range in fog shrouded harbour. Russian ship goes down fighting…
“Reprinted from the Anyox and Alice Arm Herald
Aug 16, 1914. Ernest Moss
“This evening, on Anyox’s Wharf Number One, I interviewed Captain Karl Von Schönberg of the German Navy cruiser Nürnberg. As a backdrop, the warship was obscured by a haze of dust as its bunkers were being filled with stolen Crowsnest Pass Coal. The SS Prince Rupert, now armed and flying a German naval flag, stood nearby. My impression was of a man who was at once cultured and dangerous, serious and humane. I asked him what brought him to Anyox.
“ ‘You know there is a war,” he said, “and sometimes the war happens where you do not expect it. Everyone is surprised when it comes to their personal world. My orders are to carry the war to the enemy, wherever he may be. We are engaged in cruiser warfare, which means disrupting the commerce of the enemy, who now happens to be the British Empire. Copper is a Strategic War Material, ergo, we are here to disrupt the trade in copper.”
“I asked him about the legality of the German actions: taking coal, supplies, and even the SS Prince Rupert.
“ ‘Our presence here is explicitly permissible under the Hague Conventions of 1907. This same Convention protects the civilians of your town from harm as long as you do not obstruct our men or vessels… The Conventions indeed allow us to seize ships of a belligerent power. The food here we purchased with cash. The shopkeeper can attest to that. The coal also was purchased.”
“ ‘I asked further questions about the German’s intentions, but the Captain remained tight lipped, and said he was not about to share military secrets. He did however invite me to interview the recently released crews of the merchant vessels Nürnberg had captured.
“ ‘We were in the Gulf of Alaska on August 6,” said Durward Carmichael, the captain of the Canadian barquentine Ballymena. “We did not even know war had been declared. Then from nowhere, the Nürnberg stopped us, ordered us off, and sank our ship.”
“ ‘How were you and your crew treated?” I asked him.
“ ‘The German sailors and officers were polite. We were their prisoners, no doubt, but they apologized for it, and we ate the same meals they did. We were kept below at night, but spent time up in the light and air in the day. The cruiser got right crowded by the end. They captured six more merchants after us, so we were squeezed in like sardines, until they captured the Prince Rupert on the 16th. Then we got to stretch out some more…”
“Rubbish! It just goes on like this,” said Premier McBride indignantly. “The friendly German navy taking them on a pleasure cruise.”
“There is some useful intelligence in that article,” said Trousdale.
“The reporter is giving aid and comfort to the enemy!” insisted McBride. “How is that useful? There is a war on!”
“To be fair,” said Trousdale, “this article was written and published before the Germans burned Anyox down the next morning.”