It was exactly 92 years ago on the same date of September 22 that people of Madras and the British colonial officers went about their chores in a routine manner unaware of German cruiser Emden stalking the shore from the eastern side, the Bay of Bengal.
Entering Indian waters like a ghost, Emden positioned itself a few 100 metres from the beach and pounded the city with cannon fire.
Panicked residents fled the city. They did not return for many months fearing that the Germans might return.
The Emden attack punctured the might of the British empire during the First World War.
The good news was that an Australian warship, Sydney, sank Emden that drowned or captured over 25 ships in a few months in the eastern Indian Ocean, on November 9, the same year, off the Australian coast.
Though the attack lasted only for a few hours, the heroics of Emden remain inscribed in the minds of the people, senior citizens, in particular, who quite often address brats of the family as ‘Emden’.
The term Emden is quite popular even among the populace and it is evident from a Kollywood movie named after Emden (Emden Magan) hitting the screens in recent years.
“My uncle, an octogenarian, still calls mischievous children ‘Emden’. He used to narrate the moments of the Emden attack to us, as told to him by his father,” says Rama Ravikumar, a homemaker from Chennai.
“On September 22, 1914, the German warship fired swiftly at landmarks in the city, shocking the British and creating untold damage to them,” explains, Dr R.R. Sundaram, head, Department of Indian History, Madras University.
He says Madras witnessed an exodus of 1 lakh residents from the city. It was a major setback for the British monarchy.