THE LEGEND OF THE ADMIRAL.
70
The Ypres Times.
Those long four years are all over now, thank Godand when I look back at them it
all seems a dream. One benefit of those experiences is that it makes one feel less inclined
to worry over trivial matters that crop up every now and again, and it makes one appre
ciate much more the joys and comforts of home, the good companionship of friends, and
the delights of Nature.
H. GORDON GOLDSMITH.
By V. \Y. ANDREWS.
Running past Crossroads Farm and Forward Cottage there is a road which in 1916
received the name of Admiral's Road. Until the end of the War it bore this name and,
as long as official maps of the Salient are cherished by those lucky enough to possess
them, Admiral's Road it will remain. But there must be many of those legionaries who-
passed along this road on their way to Passchendaele who know not how it came by its
name, and who may, perhaps, have wondered after which admiral it was called. Put the
"Admiral was no Admiral of the Fleethis connection with the Fleet being somewhat
remote. He was, in fact, an owner driver in charge of a convoy of 'buses with the Royal
Naval Division at Antwerp. Many who knew him and liked him well probablyjnever
became acquainted with his correct name, and since this short article is built in the main
of material of an essentially legendary nature, we will continue to refer to him as The
Admiral." 1 i>
The "Admiral" was fortunate enough to escape to France after the withdrawal of the
British Forces from Antwerp, and by October, 1914, had succeeded in attaching both
himself and his car to the Headquarters of the 6th Division, then and until the Battle of
the Somme holding a sector of the line in the Salient. The whole of the Admiral's
activities against the enemy were thus confined to the Ypres Salient. He had no official
position and was on no one's parade state for pay or rations, nevertheless he contrived to-
serve the Division in a voluntary capacity for nearly two years. During a portion of this
time he was attached to the Headquarters of the 6th Divisional Bombing School and the
story goes that it was a member of the Staff of this School who gave him the name of
Admiral." It had been customary to call him Bos'n," but when he rebelled against
this title he was dubbed The Admiral," and this rank he retained.
The Admiral was the living embodiment of that spirit of restless energy which
animated the whole British Army when it found itself opposed by an enemy willing for
the time being to lie low and avoid combat. Practical jokes were played upon the enemy
on every possible occasion, and it appeared to be the Admiral's sole aim in life to
devise means of annoying the gentlemen over the way." Many were the inventions
he thought out back at Headquarters and long and hazardous were the nights he spent
in trying out these devices upon the enemy. Perhaps the most amusing was his tank."
This was nothing more than a loop-holed shield which could be hand-propelled across
No Man's Land." It afforded moderate protection against projectiles from the front,
but the backs of the occupants of this tank were entirely unprotected. He was
wounded in the neck while leading his tank into action during a minor raid near Forward
Cottage. It must be confessed, however, that the infantry did not fully appreciate the
work of the Admiral when on one occasion he was compelled to leave a ditched tank
astride a front line trench through the hours of daylight. The enemy took a more than
friendly interest in this new piece of trench furniture.
The 6th Divisional Shield Party, an authorised harassing detachment of which the
