Letter 25 From Gunner John Meekly, of Leeds
Been in battle, and, wonder of wonders, haven’t scored a scratch. My ship, as you know, is the Arethusa—“Saucy Arethusa” as history knows her. She was the first there, and the first that shot home. It was her that made them come out, and her that took the most prominent part, as all the ship’s company know only too well. Now we are in dry dock.
We had to sacrifice ourselves almost to do what we did do—to get them out of their shells. Not only were submarines and mines a menace, but also the fire from the forts. We got within their range, and our ship suffered the most. We have got a fearless admiral, and at the same time a decent fellow.
I saw an account in the papers when we got in dock, and I was very pleased with it, because another ship had been mistaken for us. The name of our commodore is Tyrwhitt.