Date: 10 June 1915

Transcript:

ANOTHER SUBMARINE.

It was a glorious afternoon,
A dead calm out at sea.
The only sound was from the waves
That murmured ceaselessly
Upon me pebbly beach, which lay
A hundred feet beneath
The spot where I was lying, 'mong
The soft and springy heath.

Up on the cliff that overlooks
Our dear, old-fashioned town,
I'd strolled that summer afternoon,
And there had laid me down
In lazy mood upon the heath
And watched the seagulls play.
When, shimmering in the sun, I sees
A bright speck, far away.

[cartoon showing Jack lying in the grass]
Watching the seagulls play.

I took it for a bird at first,
Until it larger grew.
Then saw it was an aeroplane
(Of course, they're nothing new
Down here-about). And, as it flew
Across our little town,
I saw the pilot turn his craft,
And then come circling down.

He circled round and round, and then
He landed gracefully,
Just like a bird alighting, not
A hundred yards from me.
I ran across. "Why, Jack!" be cries.
It was Lieutenant Hood.
I'd eerved with him, aye, years ago,
Aboard the Collingwood!

[cartoon showing Hood greeting Jack]
It was Lieutenant Hood.

"I've got important news," he says,
"D'ye know that I've just seen,
As I flew in across your bay,
A German submarine?
She's lying at the bottom, Jack,
Waiting to make a dash
On some poor trawler. How I'd like
To settle, Jack, her hash!"

"Well, sir, you may depend on me
To help you all I can."
And then I had a think, to try
And fix upon a plan
Whereby we'd get to windward of
That pirate in the bay.
"I've got it, sir!" I cries at last,
"I'll try it, any way."

[cartoon of Jack in a dive suit and Hood looking at him]
"So long," I says.

Out at the bottom o' the sea,
Halfway across the way,
I knew a big ship's anchor and
A length o' cable lay.
A big ship lost it there last year,
I knew it would suffice
(Once I could fix it round that sub ")
To hold her like a vice.

And so I donned my diving-suit.
"Good luck to ye!" cried Hood,
"Youpr little plan to keep him here
I think is extra good."
I'd got a good supply o' air,
Enough, to last all day,
"So long!" I cries, and soon was on
The bottom o' the bay.

[cartoon showing Jack in the dive suit looking at the sunken submarine]
A coffin for her crew.

I found her just where Hood had said,
And found the cable, too.
"Lor', I'm in luck," I says; "this job
Will take no time to do."
The anchor—fixed as firm's a rock—
Was of tremendous weight.
I wound the cable round the craft,
And—left her to her fate!

This happened, aye, a month ago,
And I went yesterday
Down for the second time to where
That German pirate lay.
Yes, there she was, but over her
The seaweed thickly grew.
That German submarine is now
A coffin for her crew!

Source:
McMann, W. ‘Jack’s Yarns: “Another Submarine”.’ The Brecon County Times. 24 June 1915. 7.