Thousand-To-One

Chance

When Von Luckner Was Taken in Fiji

NOW that Britain and Germany again are at war, there are many people who believe that the friendly and jovial Count Felix von Luckner (hero of the German raider “See Adler” in 1916- 17) was really on espionage duty when he cruised in the Eastern and Central Pacific last year. It is a matter of opinion. Certainly, the Count and Countess travelled far and made many new friends in the Pacific in 1937-38.

This may be an opportune time to tell

a new story of the capture of von Luckner in Fiji in 1917. It will be remembered that the “See Adler” was wrecked on an island eastward of Tahiti; that the crew got safely ashore, with some supplies; and that von Luckner, with a dozen men, made a remarkable voyage in a motor launch from the Tuamotus right across to Wakaya, a small island in the Fiji group. There, everyone accepted their story that they were shipwrecked Scan dinavians—everyone, except Captain R.

Macpherson, a shrewd Euronesian. He had his suspicions so he quietly slipped away in his cutter, and crossed to Suva.

An unimpressive little freighter, the “Amra” was pressed into service by the Fiji Government, and she took an un armed police-party to Wakaya.

The story of how the Germans thought the “Amra’s” cattle-pens were concealed guns and surrendered, has been told many times; but the story of how the “Amra’s” visit was arranged was recently told for the first time by Mr. K. Lawry, of Bris bane, who was radio operator at Suva in 1917.

“Captain Macpherson, from Wakaya, sailed to Suva with the news of the land ing of several suspected Germans”, said Mr. Lawry. “He reported to the Colonial Secretary. The secretary ’phoned me, said that there were no ships at Suva that could be sent to investigate, and asked me if I could get word to the ‘Amra’, which was due at Levuka at midnight.

“Unfortunately, the captain had not arrived until 7.30 p.m. The cable between Suva and Levuka closed at 6 p.m., and would not open until 9 a.m., and the ‘Amra’ had no wireless.

“There was just a thousand-to-one chance. The ‘Atua’, a passenger ship equipped with wireless, was lying at the wharf at Levuka The secretary asked me to go outside the war-time regulations, which forbade wireless calls after 6 p.m., and to try to raise the ‘Atua’, although it was probable that there would be no operator on duty. , “I began calling at 8 p.m., and called about every ten minutes. No answer. I thought I would make a call at 12.30 in the morning, the last one. I made it . . . and at last a call came back at me.

“As I learnt later, the wireless operator had been on shore to a dance. He had re turned soon after midnight to show two friends how the wireless worked. By chance he had put the earphones on, and caught my call.

“I told him to hang on a few minutes.

Then I ’phoned the Colonial Secretary.

He prepared a telegram in Fijian, which ! sent via the ‘Atua’s’ wireless operator to the postmaster at Levuka, asking him to open up the cable. The cable was nec essary so that the instructions could not be picked up by von Luckner.

“Orders for the stopping of the ‘Amra’ were given. Her passengers were put ashore, and with two police officers she went to Wakaya, and von Luckner was arrested.”

Captain P. H. Day, now one of the best known master mariners on the Australian coast had command of the A.U.S.N.

“Amra”, which was then employed in the Fiji inter-island service. He took aboard a sub-inspector and five of the Fiji native police.

Captain Day decided that if there was anything in the armed launch story, audicity was the only thing to carry the “Amra’s” party through. When the steamer arrived off Wakaya, the sub-in spector of police, according to a pre

arranged plan, put off in one of the “Amra’s” boats. Reaching the island he called on Count von Luckner to sur render, which the Germans did. The motor launch was then searched, and was found to be armed with a machine gun and 5,000 rounds of ammunition, six Mauser pistols, six rifles, and a bag of bombs.

Count von Luckner afterwards told Captain Day that he knew McPherson had got away to give the alarm, and he thought the “Amra” would have had an armed party of at least 30 men.

Mr. Lawry said that von Luckner played a joke on Suva when he arived there under arrest. “You’ve got me”, he said, “but you haven’t got the other two boats.”

Suva was rather scared. Veterans were sent to guard the wireless station in case of an attack by the other two “raiders”.

The “Amra” was fortified with sandbags, and a machine gun company was placed on board. Then von Luckner explained that he had only been “leg-pulling”.

Swimming in the Laloki River, Papua, recently, a native employed by the Gov ernment Stores Department was seized by a crocodile. Displaying extraordinary pluck and quickness of mind, another Papuan jumped on the reptile's back and, by pressing in the crocodile’s eyes with his fingers and wrenching open the jaws, forced it to release its victim. The res cued native was taken to hospital where a number of stitches were inserted in his badly torn thigh.