Apparently little is known of the end of the _Karlsruhe_, but the _Emden_ met with the fate she richly deserved; and fittingly enough, wireless telegraphy, which had enabled her to carry out her marauding exploits, was the means of bringing her to her doom. On 9th November 1914 the _Emden_ anchored off the Cocos-Keeling Islands, a group of coral islets in the Indian Ocean, and landed a party of three officers and forty men to cut the cable and destroy the wireless station. Before the Germans could get to the station, a wireless message was sent out stating the presence of the enemy warship, and this call was received by the Australian cruisers _Melbourne_ and _Sydney_. These vessels, which were then only some 50 miles away, were engaged, along with a Japanese cruiser, in escorting transports. The _Sydney_ at once went off at full speed, caught the _Emden_, and sent her to the bottom after a short but sharp engagement. As the _Emden_ fled at sight of the Australian warship, the landing party had not time to get aboard, and consequently were left behind. They seized an old schooner, provisioned her, and set sail, but what became of them is not known. In land warfare field telegraphs play a very important part; indeed it is certain that without them the vast military operations of the present war could not be carried on. The General Headquarters of our army in France is in telegraphic communication not only with neighbouring French towns, but also with Paris and London. From Headquarters also run wires to every point of the firing-line, so that the Headquarters Staff, and through them the War Office in London, know exactly what is taking place along the whole front. The following extract from a letter from an officer, published by _The Times_, gives a remarkably good idea of the work of the signal companies of the Royal Engineers.