A LETTER written by a sailor aboard HMAS Sydney giving a personal account of the sinking of the German raider SMS Emden in 1914 is “absolute gold”, according to broadcaster Mike Carlton, who has published a book on the famous sea battle.
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Among Wagga residents keen to meet Mr Carlton on Saturday (August 29) when he discusses his book, titled First Victory, is John Day.
Mr Day’s uncle, also named John Day, was aboard HMAS Sydney on November 9, 1914, when it tackled the Emden at the Cocos Islands.
His father, George Day, was aboard HMAS Australia which, with the Sydney, was escorting troop ships taking Australian soldiers to Egypt.
The John Day of 1914 wrote a letter to his wife, Janie, giving a detailed account of his ship’s clash with the Emden that resulted in the German ship being pounded into submission with the loss of 134 lives.
During the exchange, Mr Day worked as one of the gun crew.
“You should have seen the Emden at this time,” Mr Day wrote.
“She was on fire aft and only her main mast was standing, her funnels and foremast having fallen over at the time.”
Mr Day’s letter contains a sketch of the Emden drawn by him after the ship was beached and a diagram to illustrate the movements of the two fighting ships.
On learning of the letter on Friday, Mr Carlton described it and other first-hand accounts of war “as absolute gold”.
“I wish I had seen it when I was writing the book,” he said.
Mr Carlton said he was looking forward to meeting the modern-day John Day, aged 96, who has a photocopy of his uncle’s letter.
Mr Day’s daughter, Kathryn Halliwell, said that after hearing about Mr Carlton visiting Wagga to talk about the Sydney-Emden fight she thought her father would be interested in attending.
“And I thought Mike Carlton would be interested in meeting dad,” she said.
Mr Carlton will speak on his book at the Museum of the Riverina’s historic council chambers site between 10.30am and 11.30am.
There is no charge to attend the talk, which is being held to mark the opening of the museum’s exhibition: War at Sea. The Navy in World War I.