Although the Naval Manceuvres ended with somewhat dis- appointing suddenness,
they were marked by some instructive episodes, notably the admirable exploit of one of the Castle- town coastguards. Five vessels of the "B" Fleet having entered Bantry Bay, the men at the signal-hut on Bere Island received orders from the Castletown coastguard station to hide all confi- dential documents, telegrams, &c., and succeeded in despatch- ing one of their number into hiding before the invading force landed and captured them. Meantime, one of the Castletown coastguards made his way to the island in disguise, assuming the character of an old naval pensioner who had come to cut turf, and after successfully imposing upon the invaders, made his way to where the man with the secret documents was lying perdu, carried them off in two baskets of turf, was dismissed by the Sub-Lieutenant, who vainly endeavoured to "pump" him as to the intentions of the defenders, as "the stupidest Irishman he had ever met," and made his way back in safety to the mainland. Manceuvres in which the rank-and-file enter into the spirit of the situation with such thoroughness cannot fail to be of real practical value.
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