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BAYLY OUR FRIEND
AT
Delighiful Life at Admiralty HouseThe Admiral' Liking
for American Officers and Men.Hi Keen Sense of
Humor Please ThenwHi Charming "Family"
Helps Him Entertain.
A: DM1RAL BATLT wai wonder
fully quick at repartee, aa our
k man found when they began
Joshing" him on Brtttah peculiarities,
tor aa naval attache he had traveled
xtenatvely In the United State, had
pb rved moat of our national eccen
tricttie, and thua was able promptly
to coma back." In audi conteeta our
tnen did not Invariably come oft with
all the laurel. Yet, despite these mod
em tendencies. Admiral Bayly waa a
conservative of the oonaervativea, hav
ing that Ingrained British respect for
Did thing simply because they were
told. An ancient British custom re
quires that at church on Sundays, the
leading dignitary in each community
hall mount the reading desk and read
the lessons of the day: Admiral Bayly
would perform this office with a sim
plicity and a reverence which indicated
th genuinely religious nature of the
William th Conqueror" Used To.
And in smaller details he waa like
wise the ancient. tradition-loving
Briton. He would never think of writ
ing a letter to an equal or auperlor
officer except in longhand: to use a
typewriter for such a purpose would
have been profanation in hia eyes, f
one criticised a certain Admiral for
consuming an hour or so In laboriously
'penning a letter which could have
bean dictated to a stenographer In a
few minutes. i
"How do you ever expect to win the
war if you use up time this way?" I
asked. ...
"I'd rather lose the war," the Ad
miral replied, but with a twinkle in
hia eye, "than use a typewriter to my
ehlefsl"
Our officers liked to chaff the Ad
miral quietly on this conservatism. He
frequently had a number of them to
breakfast, and upon one such occasion
the question waa asked as to why the
Admiral ate an orange after break
fast. Instead of before, aa .la the cue-
(torn in America. , . . - . 1 '
"I can tell you why," said Com
mander Zogbaum.
"Well,, why Is ItT" asked the Ad
miral. "Because tbat'a what William the
Conqueror used to do."
"I can think of no better reason than
that for doing it," the Admiral
promptly answered.'- But this remark
tickled him Immensely, and became a
byword with . him. Ever afterward,
whenever he proposed to do something
Which the Americans regarded aa too
conservative, he would say: '
oukHOWnthatthts U what William
the Conqueror used to dot"
Tot In one respect the Admiral waa
an American; he waa a hard worker
wren to the point of hustle. He In
sisted on the strictest attention to the
task In hand from his subordinates,
but at least he never spared himself.
When he arrived at Queenstown, a few
months before our destroyers put In,
ho proceeded to reorganise Admiralty
House on the most business-like basis.
Th first thing he pounced upon waa
the billiard room In the basement. He
decided that It would make an excel
lent plotting room, and that the billiard
tables could be transformed, Into ad
mirable drawing boards for his staff;
b Immediately called the superintend
ent and 'told him to make the neces
sary transformations.
"All right," said the superintendent.'
"We'll start work on them tomorrow
morning." "" v
"No you: wont," 'Admiral Bayly re
plied. "We propos to be established
In this room, using these tables, to
morrow morning. They must be all
ready for use by eight o'clock."
And he waa aa good aa his word;
the workmen spent the whole night
making th changes. .
A Weloeme at Admiralty House.
The episode la significant, not only
M Admiral Bayly's methods, but of
Ms Ideals. In his view. If a billiard
room oould be made to serve a war
purpose. It bad no proper place In an
admiralty house which was the head
quarters for fighting German subms
tinea. The chief duty of all men at
that crisis waa work and their on
responsibility waa the defeat of th
Hun. Admiralty House was always
epen to our officers; they spent many'
a. delightful evening there around th
ImlraJ's fir; they were constantly
itertalned at lunch and dinner, and
: ey were expected to drop In for tea
henever they wero In port, But social
ivltles in th conventional sens
re barred. No ladles, except the Ad--al's
relatives, ever visited the' place.
; of th furnishings were rather
QUEENSTOWN
badly worn, but the Admiral would
make no requisitions for new rugs or
chairs; every penny In the Brltlar ex
chequer, he Insisted, should be used to
fight the war. He waa scornfully crit
ical of any naval 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
scrupulousness Itself in observing all
regulations In the matter of food and
other essentials.
A "Ben Dry Englishmsn,
For still snother resson the Admiral
made an Ideal commander of American
naval forces. He wss a strict tee
totaler. His abstention was not a war
measure; he had always had a strong
aversion to alcohol In any form and
had never drunk a cocktail or a brandy
and soda In his life. Dinners at Ad
miralty House, therefore, were abso
lutely "dry", and in perfect keeping ,
with American naval regulations.
Though Admiral Bayly waa not ath
letichis outdoor games being limited
to tip-and-run cricket In the Admiralty
grounds, which he played with a round
bat and a tennis ball he waa a man
of wiry physique and a tireless walker.
Indeed the most active young men In
our Navy had great difficulty In keep
ing pace with him. '
One of his favorite diversions on a
Paturday afternoon waa to take a group
on a long hike In the beautiful country
surrounding Queenstown: by the time
the party reached home, the Admiral,
though sixty years old, wss usually the
freshest of the lot. I still vlvldjy re
member a long walk I took with him
in a 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
hill led from the shore .up to Admiralty .
House; Sir Lewis used to say that this
waa a valuable military asset It did
not matter how angry a man might be
with him when he started for head
quarters; by the time he arrived, this
wearisome climb always had the effect
of quieting his antagonism. The Ad
miral waa fond of walking up this hill
with our young officers; he himself
usually reached the top as fresh aa a
daisy, while hia juniors were frequently
puffing for breath.
He enjoyed testing out our men in
other ways; -.. nothing delighted him
more than giving them hard Joba to
do especially when they accomplished
the talks successfully. One day, he
ordered on of our officers, Lieutenant
Commander Roger Williams, captain of
the CimceH, a recent arrival at Queens
town, to cross the Irish Sea and bring
back a ship. The Joker lay In the fact
that this man's destroyer had just come
In with her steering gear completely
out of commission- , circumstance
whioh Admiral Bayly welt understood,
What Commander Williams Did,
Many officers would have promptly
aaked to be excuses on this ground,
but not this determined American. He
knew that the Admiral was trying to
"put something over tin him," and he
rose to th occasion. Th' fact that
Queenstown' Harbor Is long and nar- .
row, not wide enough for a destroyer
to turn"' around, . made Commander
Williams's problem still more difficult, '
but, by cleverly using his engines, he
succeeded in backing out the distance
required waa Ave miles; he took' an
other mile and a halt to turn hi ship
and then he went across th sea and
brought -back his convoyall without
any steering gear. This officer never
once mentioned to the Admiral th dlf-.
Acuities under whtQh he had worked,
but hi achievement completely won
Sir Lewis' heart,' and from that time
this young man became one of his
particular favorites. Indeed, It was the -constant
demonstration of this kind of
fundamental character in our naval
men which made th Admiral admire
them so.
On occasions Admiral Bayly would .
go to sea himself something quit un
precedented and possible even rpr ,
henslble,' for It was about the, same
thing as a commanding general going
Into the front line trenches. But tJi
Admiral believed that doing this . now
and then helped to Inspire his men;
and, beside that, ' he enjoyed It he
was not mad for an exclusively land .
sailor. He had at flagship a cruiser
of about 1.00 tons;' he bad a way of
Jumping on board without the slightest.,
ceremony and taking a' cruls up th
west coast of Ireland. On occasion th
Admiral would personally lead an ex- ,
sedition which was going to th relief
By ADMIRAL
III .
v v.vv - :;,-
' ' 1 fVT 1-1'--Xli t&Js&D1
Lieutenant-Commander (now Com
mander) A. F. Fairfield, .
in Command Vettroyer MeDouuaX.
of a torpedoed vessel, looking for sur
vivors adrift in small boats.
"Whst a Bag for th Hun.
On day Admiral Bayly, Captain
Prlngle of the U. 8. 8. MelviUe, Cap
tain Campbell, the Englishman whose,
exploits with mystery ships had. given
him world-wide fame, and myself went
out on the Active to watch certain ex
periments with depth charges. It was
a highly imprudent thing to do,' but
that only added to the seat of the oc
casion from Admiral Bayly's point of -view.
' "
"What a bsg this would be for the
Hunl"1, he chuckled. "The American
Commander-in-Chief, the British Ad
miral commanding in Irish waters,
British and an American captain!
In our mind's eye we 'could see our
picture In th Berlin papers, four dis
tinguished prisoners standing In row.,
A single fact shows with what con
sideration Admiral Bayly "created hit
subordinates. The usual naval regula
tion demands that an officer, coming In
from a trip, shall Immediately seek out
hia commander and maks a verbal re
port. Frequently th men came In
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Aamwal iiuyly, hi A tec, Mit$
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WILLIAM SOWDEN SIMS
7
Voytcy, and the BpaniH Patrick.
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Lieutenant-Commander (now
' ' " '' - ' ' - - .. -Jul.
- I.T7Q. I ----- 1 9-7 - i
An KnatUh Cartoon,'
late In the evening, extremely fatigued; the Americana. She kept open house
to make the visit then waa a hardship for them; she was always on band to
and might deprive ' them of much serve tea in the' afternoon, and she
needed sleep. Admiral Bayly therefor never overlooked an opportunity to add
had a fixed rule that such visits should to their well .being. As a result ot her
be mad at ten o'clock In the morning-
following th day of arrival. , On such
occasions he would often b found
. seatea aomewnai gruniy oenina nis
desk wholly absorbed in th work In
hand. If he were writing or reading
his mall he would keep steadily at It,
never glancing up until he had finished.
He would listen to the report stoically,
- possibly say a word of praise, and then
turn again to th business) In hand,
Occasionally he would notice that bis
abruptness had perhaps pained th
' young American: then he would break
Into an apologetic smile, and ask him " dignity- with which she presided over
to come up to dinner that evening, and th Admiral' house,, and , th success
even this was th great honor of with which ah looked out for hi Corn
ell -to spend th' night at Admiralty-fort, also Inspired thetr respect.
House.'; ,-,-! . Miss Voysey was the leader in all
Th Vamitr at' Almlr-ity Mtimmf- ."' war charities at Queenstown and
The- dinner, ww, groat occ l Z JTfZ IJSS
' a ira via suvas rssi wvmhh s sbmbi sb
presided, over by Miss Voysey, the Ad
miral's niece. Miss Voysey, th little
spaniel Patrick, and th Admiral con
stituted the "family", and the three
wer, entirely devoted to n another. .ZZZ cly th -am as that of General
Pat in particular wat an tadlspenaabl i "i,'! lZ Ln ' Tnm.- H sent certain
part of this menage; I have never seen ,i. JTTnd Amerlcan th British vmr:
any object quit so crestfallen and woe- "V , . , ZJ?l j. long aa they acted with th British
V, begon. ihi mUdog when either ' - "tLIriS to wer ,ubJect to th 0Pder" 8,r
' Miss Voysey. or th. Admiral t-'rtJ:i)m Halg; but General Pershing
V day or two a way from th house. Mum JlrTJ Zrl ,uld withdraw thee, men at any Urn.
v Voyy was a young woman of groat IJT?1 t ZVZ JT-T " The actual supreme
pernal charm and ctHUvation: prob- JEZftSZL . nimand of all our focse. Army and
:l ably ah was th. influence that, most ?d and sometime woundd, , , , ; N.vy, rested in th hand of Amer
' .contributed to the happlnea and com- Weloomina U-Best Refuge. ' - leans; but, for particular 'operations,
fort of our officers at Queenstown. "Even though .th Admiral might be they naturally had to take their order
From th day of their arrival sh en-' at dinner he and Mis Voysey would : from th particular officer under whom
tered into th closest comradeship with leave their meal half eaten and harry they wer stationed. .
Commander) it. . rosbaum.
delightful hospitality Admiralty HousOjna whch became the centre of all
Teally became a horn for our officers. Mur op,rations. I was commander not
,Mls Voysey had a genuine enthusiasm onty , oup destroyers at' Queenstown,
lor America anu Americans; poesfoiy
th fact ' that ah was herself an
.Australian mad her feet Ilk on of
us; at 'any rate there wer certain
' qualities in oar ,;men that, ah found
extremely congenial, and she . herself
certainly won all their hearts. Any
on who wishes to start a burst of
enthusiasm from our officers who wer
etaUoned at Queenstown need only to
mention the nam of Miss Voysey. The
tlms of torpedoed ships. At whatever. Umotl wiu,draw .thes destroy-
hour the survivors arrived they wero, QuMnilUlwn and send them
stir of th most warm-hearted atten- WBer the . parUcular necessities re
.Jl iTV
to the landing to, welcome th sur
vivors. The Admiral and hi officers
always Insisted on serving them, and
they would even wash the dishes and
put them away for the next time. The
' Admiral, of course, might have or-
dered other to do this work, but h
preferred to give this personal expres
sion of a real seaman's sympathy for
Whereame - distress, It i -un
necessary to say that any American
officers who could get there in time
always lent a hand. Of course there
were regularly appointed representa
tive ' of shipping companies , charged
with the duty- of providing quarters
-- for these people and transporting them,
to their home; but this reception tmJ
mediately upon landing was for the
purpose of expressing sympathy and
tiding over, with hot coffe and to-
' bacco, the Inevitable delays in complet
ing the arrangements. i
I am sure that long after most of
the minor Incidents of this war have
faded from my memory, I shall still
keep a vivid recollection of this kindly
, gentleman, Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly,
K.C3, K.C.M.Q., C.V.O, Royal Navy,
serving coffee to wretched British,
American, French, Italian, Japanese,
or Negro sailors, with a cheering- word
for each, and afterward with sleeves
tucked up calmly washing dishes in a
big pan of hot water.
I have my fears that the 'Admiral
will not be particularly pleased by the
fact that I have taken all these pains
to introduce him to the American pub
lic. Excessive modesty is one of his most
conspicuous traits. When American cor.
respondents came to Queenstown, Ad
miral Bayly would receive them
courteously. Toucan have all you want
-' about the navy," he -would say, "but
rmember not a word about Admiral
; Bayly." H was so reticent that he
was avers to having his plctur
taken; even the moving picture oper
: ator detailed to get an historic record
of the arrival of our destroyers did not
obtain a good view of the Admiral,
for, whenever Sin Lewis saw him com
ing, he would turn hit back to th
camera! My excuse for describing this
very lovable man, however, ia because
he became almost an object of venera
tion to our American officers, and be
cause, since for eighteen months he
was the commander of the American
forces based on Queenstown, he Is an
object of legitimate Interest to the
American - people. The fact that th
Admiral was generally known to our
officers as "Uncle Lewis," and that
some of those who grew to know him
best even called him that to hit face.
Illustrates the delightful relations
which were established. Any account
of the, operations of our Navy In the
European War would thus be sadly In
complete i which ignored the splendid
sailor who was largely responsible tor
their success. '
i Criticism of British Command.
The fact 'hat these American de
stroyers were placed under the com
mand of a British Admiral was some
what displeasing to certain Americans.
I remember that one rather bumptious
American correspondent, on a visit to
Queenstown, was loud in expressing hi
disapproval of this state of affairs, and
even threatened to ."expos" us all in"
the American press. , -
The fact that I waa specifically com
, missioned as destroyer commander also
' confused th situation. Tet the pro-'
cedur was entirely proper, and. In
fact, absolutely necessarx. My official
title' was "Commander of ' th TJ. 8.
Naval Force Operating in European
Waters"; . beside this, I waa th rep
resentative of our Navy Department at
the British Admiralty and American
member of the Allied Naval Council,
These duties required my presence in
onty
but of a destroyer fore at Brest, an
other at Gibraltar, of sub-chaser force
at Corfu and Plymouth, of a mixed
fore at th Asores, of battle squad
rons at Sea pa Flow and Berehaven,
Ireland, and of many other contin
gents. Clearly it waa impossible for
m to devote all my Urn exclusively
to any ono of the commands: so far .
M ctutl operations wet concerned It
was . necessary that particular com
manders should control them.
; An these - destroyer squadrons,' in
cluding that at Queenstown, were un
der th command of th American Ad
miral, stationed in London: whenever
they sailed from Queenstown on spe.
cifld duty, however, -they sailed under
mviIam f.nr. iilmlrfll Ttivtv. : At He
ulr1- Mr aoslUon. that la, was pre-