Sweet-Escott v. Von Spee

Governor of the idyllic Fiji Isles from 1912 until 1918 was Sir Ernest Bickham Sweet-Escott. "Toward the end of 1914," said he in England last fortnight, "I received a message that Von Spee's squadron was heading toward the Fijis and was only a day's voyage away.

"I knew that any wireless message sent from Fiji would be intercepted by the German warships, so I gave instructions for the following words to be wirelessed in English to H. M. S. Australia, flagship of the Australian fleet: THANKS FOR MESSAGE. SHALL EXPECT YOU EARLY TOMORROW.

"I had no idea where the Australia might be, and I learned afterward that it was nearly 2,000 miles away from the Fijis. "We found out later that things happened exactly as we had calculated, for we intercepted a letter from a German officer on one of the ships which read:

" 'So the British bulldog was waiting for us 'round the corner. How kind of them to let us know of the trap in time and what a fool of a governor to give the show away! When Von Spee was informed he laughed heartily, and we steamed off full speed in the opposite direction.' "

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