World War, 1914-1918 -- Naval operations -- Submarine; World War, 1914-1918 -- United States
Admiral Sir Lewis Bayly, K.C.B., K.C.M.G., 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
public. Excessive modesty is one of his most conspicuous traits. When
American correspondents came to Queenstown, Admiral Bayly would receive
them courteously. "You can have all you want about the navy," he would
say, "but remember--not a word about Lewis Bayly." He was so reticent
that he was averse to having his picture taken; even the moving picture
operator detailed to get an historic record of the arrival of our
destroyers did not obtain a good view of the Admiral, for whenever Sir
Lewis saw him coming he would turn his back to the camera! My excuse for
describing this very lovable man, however, is because he became almost
an object of veneration to our American officers, and because, 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 the 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 his face, illustrates the delightful relations which
were established. Any account of the operations of our navy in the
European War would thus be sadly incomplete which ignored the splendid
sailor who was largely responsible for their success.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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