Captain Charles Fryatt, a civilian who commanded the passenger ferry SS Brussels for the Great Eastern Railway, between Southampton and Rotterdam. His murder by the Germans in 1916 left his widow and seven children without financial support, until the Great Eastern Railway and the British Government stepped in. King George V also wrote to express his condolences and his outrage.
Introduction
Captain Fryatt was a civilian, in command of passenger ferries in the perilous waters between Britain and the Netherlands during the Great War. With U-Boats patrolling the Channel and regarding civilian shipping as fair game, it was no longer clear what the rules of engagement were, but unlike the enemy, Captain Fryatt conducted himself with courage and honour to the end.
ON July 27th, 1916, Captain Charles Fryatt, a civilian, was brought before a German military court in Bruges.
Entered into evidence were two gold watches presented to the captain by his employers, the Great Central Railway and the Great Eastern. One commemorated the occasion on March 3rd, 1915, when under Fryatt’s command SS Wrexham escaped the clutches of a U-Boat in a breathless pursuit over forty nautical miles. The other acknowledged his courage three weeks later, when SS Brussels had rushed at U-33 rather than surrender.* The Germans finally caught up with Fryatt on June 25th, 1916, and took no chances. Five destroyers escorted his little ferry to Zeebrugge.
Fryatt was found guilty of abusing his position as a non-combatant — by the Government whose torpedo-laden submarines had been chivvying his civilian ferries all over the Channel — and immediately shot. The proceedings were denounced as murder in Britain and across the civilised world, and Fryatt was posthumously awarded Belgium’s highest honour, the Order of Leopold.
A Dutch newspaper reported that Fryatt had been charged with sinking the U-33, though the Germans knew fine well that it was now plying its ugly trade in the Aegean. In fact, he had only forced it to crash dive.
Précis
Charles Fryatt was a ferry captain in the English Channel, who stoutly rebuffed repeated attacks from German U-Boats during the First World War. Eventually, he was captured, tried before a military tribunal despite being only a civilian, and convicted of acting as an illegal combatant before being summarily executed, a chain of events that provoked worldwide outrage. (57 / 60 words)
Charles Fryatt was a ferry captain in the English Channel, who stoutly rebuffed repeated attacks from German U-Boats during the First World War. Eventually, he was captured, tried before a military tribunal despite being only a civilian, and convicted of acting as an illegal combatant before being summarily executed, a chain of events that provoked worldwide outrage.
Variations: 1.increase the length of this precis to exactly 60 words. 2.reduce the length of this precis to exactly 50 words. 3.introduce one of the following words into the precis: although, besides, if, must, not, otherwise, since, until.
Archive
Word Games
Sevens Based on this passage
Suggest answers to this question. See if you can limit one answer to exactly seven words.
Variations: 1.expand your answer to exactly fourteen words. 2.expand your answer further, to exactly twenty-one words. 3.include one of the following words in your answer: if, but, despite, because, (al)though, unless.
Jigsaws Based on this passage
Express the ideas below in a single sentence, using different words as much as possible. Do not be satisfied with the first answer you think of; think of several, and choose the best.
Spinners Find in Think and Speak
For each group of words, compose a sentence that uses all three. You can use any form of the word: for example, cat → cats, go → went, or quick → quickly, though neigh → neighbour is stretching it a bit.
This exercise uses words found in the accompanying passage.
1 Over. Shot. Surrender.
2 Civilian. Eastern. March.
3 Escape. High. Honor.
Variations: 1. include direct and indirect speech 2. include one or more of these words: although, because, despite, either/or, if, unless, until, when, whether, which, who 3. use negatives (not, isn’t, neither/nor, never, nobody etc.)
High Tiles Find in Think and Speak
Make words (three letters or more) from the seven letters showing below, using any letter once only. Each letter carries a score. What is the highest-scoring word you can make?
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0
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