Britain at War 2014-08

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WW CENTENARY SPECIAL ISSUE

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BRITAIN’S BEST SELLING MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY

KICKING OFF ON THE SOMME

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THE TICKING CLOCK THE ANGELS OF MONS FIRST CASUALTY OF WAR THE WRONG DECLARATION OF WAR THE BEGINNING OF MANY SORROWS

A WORLD AT WAR The Events of August 1914 Revealed

BATTLE OF BRITAIN AIRCRAFT

Remarkable Group of Veterans From Iconic Film on Sale

CENTENARIAN GREAT ESCAPER: STALAG LUFT III Survivor Pilot Officer Paul Royle Recalls His Part in the Escape from Stalag Luft III

THE RAF’S FIRST JET KILL: GLOSTER METEOR v V-1 FLYING BOMB

AUGUST 2014 ISSUE 88 £4.40

Notes from the Dugout

www.britainatwar.com Should you wish to correspond with any of the ‘Britain at War’ team in particular, you can find them listed below: Editor: Martin Mace Assistant Editor: John Grehan Editorial Consultant: Mark Khan Editorial Correspondent: Geoff Simpson Australasia Correspondent: Ken Wright Design: Dan Jarman EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES: Britain at War Magazine, Green Arbor, Rectory Road, Storrington, West Sussex, RH20 4EF or email: [email protected]. ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES: For all aspects of advertising in ‘Britain at War’ Magazine please contact Alison Sanders, Advertisement Sales Manager Tel: +44 (0)1780 755131 or email: [email protected]. GENERAL ENQUIRIES: For general enquiries and advertising queries please contact the main office at: Britain at War Magazine Key Publishing Ltd PO Box 100, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 1XQ Tel: +44 (0)1780 755131 Fax: +44 (0)1780 757261 SUBSCRIPTIONS, BINDERS AND BACK ISSUES: Britain at War, Key Publishing, PO Box 300, Stamford, Lincs, PE9 1NA Email: [email protected]

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OR A seemingly interminable time, the centenary of the start of the First World War has been heralded and now, almost suddenly, it is upon us. Around the UK and the rest of the world, the centenary will be marked by an incalculable number of organisations and groups, and, of course, individuals. My generation has never witnessed such a momentous event as the beginning of the First World War. I can just about recall the Argentine invasion of South Georgia and Prime Minister Thatcher’s decision to recapture the Falklands. The mood was one of considerable tension, but there was also an element of great excitement and national pride – just as it was in August 1914. It is something of that tension and excitement 100 years ago that we have tried to portray in this edition of Britain at War Magazine. We have a Cabinet insider’s account of the immense burden of responsibility that lay on the shoulders of ministers faced with the most important decision of their lives. There is also the remarkable story, told by a Foreign Office official, of the terrible mistake that was made when, in the anxious moments of the evening of 4 August 1914, the German Ambassador was handed a premature declaration of war. The young official, one of the most junior members of staff in the Foreign Office, was given the job of quickly retrieving the letter before its contents had been read!

‘Britain at War’ Magazine is published on the last Thursday of the preceeding month by Key Publishing Ltd. ISSN 1753-3090 Printed by Warner’s (Midland) plc. Distributed by Seymour Distribution Ltd. (www.seymour.co.uk) All newsagents are able to obtain copies of ‘Britain at War’ from their regional wholesaler. If you experience difficulties in obtaining a copy please call Seymour on +44 (0)20 7429 4000. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or part and in any form whatsoever, is strictly prohibited without the prior, written permission of the Editor. Whilst every care is taken with the material submitted to ‘Britain at War’ Magazine, no responsibility can be accepted for loss or damage. Opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or Key Publishing Ltd. Whilst every effort had been made to contact all copyright holders, the sources of some pictures that may be used are varied and, in many cases, obscure. The publishers will be glad to make good in future editions any error or omissions brought to their attention. The publication of any quotes or illustrations on which clearance has not been given is unintentional. We are unable to guarantee the bonafides of any of our advertisers. Readers are strongly recommended to take their own precautions before parting with any information or item of value, including, but not limited to, money, manuscripts, photographs or personal information in response to any advertisements within this publication.

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Martin Mace Editor

COVER STORY To mark the 100th anniversary of the First World War, this month's issue is a special 132-page edition. Our commemorative section begins on page 55 and includes a selection of articles examining some of the events of August 1914. Amongst these are Jon Cooksey's investigation of the events surrounding the British Army's first shots on Continental Europe following the outbreak of war (page 68), and the story of the Angels of Mons (which begins on page 72). This month’s cover image has been provided courtesy of Pen & Sword Books. For the full range of First World War titles they have produced, please visit: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk AUGUST 2014

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Contents ISSUE 88 AUGUST 2014

55 WW1 CENTENARY SPECIAL SUPPLEMENT To mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the First World War, we present a number of articles detailing some of the events of August 1914.

FEATURES

33 CENTENARIAN GREAT ESCAPER

One of the survivors of the famous Great Escape in 1944, Paul Royle, reached the age of 100 in January 2014. Charles Page was not only able to interview him about the escape from Stalag Luft III, but also present him with the medals he had earned seventy years ago.

46 “OUR LOSSES: NIL”

On 3 September 1940, Herman Goering informed his senior officers that that Fighter Command was on its knees. The following day mass attacks were delivered against southern Britain. But, as Frank Phillipson describes, the result was not what the German Reichsmarschall expected.

83 DAN VC: THE HERO WHO CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD

Harry Daniels was a larger than life hero who came back from the dead to add a Military Cross to his Victoria Cross earned at Neuve Chapelle and to represent his country at the Antwerp Olympics. Steve Snelling chronicles a real-life ripping yarn.

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26 DORNIERS OVER WALES

The combats of the Battle of Britain are generally associated with Kent, Sussex and the other counties of southern England. However, as Chris Goss relates, as the Battle of Britain progressed more German bombers started to operate by night and against targets other than London and the South East.

70 THE RAF ON THE AIR: “PINPOINTING THE V-2 ROCKET SITES”

In a talk first broadcast on Thursday, 16 April 1945, Squadron Leader Ernest Esau DFC, RAAF detailed the part that he and the remainder of 453 Squadron RAAF played in helping to tackle the threat of the V-2 rockets – “the ‘flying gas main’ the security conscious public called it”.

REGULARS 6 BRIEFING ROOM

News, Restorations, Discoveries and Events from around the UK.

22 FIELDPOST Your letters.

32 IMAGE OF WAR

20 November 1942 – HMS Delhi Attacked at Algiers.

50 WHAT I WOULD SAVE IN A FIRE

This month’s artefact has already been saved in one remarkable set of circumstances and is now set to be saved again should a disaster strike at the Scapa Flow Visitor Centre & Museum.

51 TANK TIMES

The latest issue of Tank Times from The Tank Museum at Bovington.

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96 DATES THAT SHAPED THE WAR

We chart some of the key moments and events that affected the United Kingdom in August 1944.

117 RECONNAISSANCE REPORT A look at new books and products.

130 THE FIRST WORLD WAR IN OBJECTS

NEW

The gun which fired the first shot of the war at sea in 1914. SERIES

Editor’s Choice 93 KICKING OFF THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME

When the whistles blew on the morning of 1 July 1916, the men of the 8th Battalion East Surrey Regiment charged towards the German trenches at Montauban dribbling footballs ahead of them.

98 “PLENTY OF MIGS ALL AROUND”

In the final instalment in his series of articles detailing the remarkable RAF career of Wing Commander Brian Spragg, inspired by the entries in his flying log books, Mark Hillier examines this pilot’s role as a jet fighter pilot in the Korean War.

104 LORD ASHCROFT’S “HERO OF THE MONTH”

In the latest instalment in a series examining his “Hero of the Month”, Lord Ashcroft details the remarkable story of Warrant Officer Kim Hughes GC.

109 THE RAF’S FIRST JET “KILL”

The Gloster Meteor’s first “kill”, and the first combat victory of an Allied jet fighter, was achieved by Flying Officer T. “Dixie” Dean seventy years ago on 4 August 1944. Andy Saunders investigates the events surrounding that engagement.

www.britainatwar.com

121 THE SEIGE OF FORT DUFFERIN

The Fourteenth Army was on the offensive, driving the Japanese back through Burma. In its way stood the ancient Burmese capital of Mandalay and its powerfully-built Fort Dufferin. Its capture would see very heavy fighting, a report of which was later compiled by one of the men involved and is presented here by James Luto. AUGUST 2014

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News • Restorations • Discoveries • Events • Exhibitions from around the UK

First World War Aircraft on the Move

THE RAF Museum has recently completed the move of some of its Great War aircraft, such as Sopwith Camel F6314, into a new exhibition space dedicated to telling the story of the air war between 1914 and 1918. First flying in December 1916, the Sopwith Camel was the first British fighter to mount twin forwardfiring machine guns side-by-side, a natural arrangement that soon became standard for the British fighters. Alongside the SE5a, the Camel helped the Allies address the balance of the air war over the Western Front and was credited with shooting down 1,294 enemy aircraft – more than any other fighter, of any nation, between 1914 and 1918. Production totalled some 5,500 aircraft, the final number being

confused by cancellations and nondelivery after the Armistice. Little is known of the early history of the RAF Museum’s Sopwith Camel and some of this information is contradictory. Stamps found on the airframe fuselage and original woodwork during restoration in the 1960s suggest that F6314 was built in either July or October 1918. The original log book, which has long been missing, gave the manufacturer as Boulton and Paul Ltd of Norwich (this company built 1,575 Camels). On display at the Museum since October 1971 (aside from short absences), F6314 was purchased by the MoD from the Royal Aeronautical Society in 1992. Another aircraft that was recently moved is the Fokker D.VII. This design was the equal of, if not better

The Sopwith Camel being rolled into the exhibition space.

The RAF Museum’s Fokker D.VII on the move.

than, the British SE.5s, Camels and French SPADs and is considered to be one of the outstanding fighters of the First World War. It was so successful that it was the only aircraft to be singled out by the Allied Powers in the Armistice Agreement section which detailed the war material to be handed over. The RAF Museum’s records show that the D.VII was built at the Ostdeutsche Albatros Werke Gmbh factory at Schneidemuhl, Pomerania (now Pia in Poland) in 1918. Probably never issued to a

front line unit, it was abandoned at Ostend, Belgium by the retreating German forces in November 1918. It was possibly one of seventy-five D.VIIs supplied to the Aviation Militaire (Belgian Air Force) in 1919 as war reparations, many of which remained in service with fighter and training units until the early 1930s. Opening in December 2014, the new exhibition, called “First World War In The Air”, was made possible with a grant of £898,558 from the Heritage Lottery Fund.

Recreating a Part of Pembroke Dock’s Wartime History A KEY day in Pembroke Dock’s wartime history has been frozen in time, thanks to the skills of a volunteer with the Sunderland Trust, writes John Evans. Ann Neville has meticulously recreated RAF Pembroke Dock’s

Operations Board for one of the critical days following the D-Day Invasion in June 1944. From a faded photograph Ann has extracted all the lettering and numbers on the original board for 10 June which was displayed in the RAF Station’s operations room. It lists the names of twenty-three pilots and the individual letters of their Sunderland flying boats tragically two of the aircraft and their crews did not return on that date. One mystery still surrounds the original Operations Board as the meaning of the letters FOCY has not been identified. The replica board is now on display at Pembroke Dock’s newly opened Heritage Centre in the Royal Dockyard Chapel.

ABOVE: Sunderland Trust volunteer Ann Neville with the newly created Operations Board. (MARTIN CAVANEY PHOTOGRAPHY) RIGHT: The photograph of the original Operations Board which was used to create the replica. (SUNDERLAND TRUST ARCHIVE)

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Exhibitions from around the UK • Events • Discoveries • Restorations • News

‘Empire, Faith & War: The Sikhs and World War One’ A NEW exhibition to commemorate the contribution and experiences of Sikh soldiers during the First World War, as well as the families they left behind, has been unveiled by the UK Punjab Heritage Association (UKPHA). “Empire, Faith & War: The Sikhs and World War One” will be held at the Brunei Gallery, School of Oriental & African Studies in Russell Square, London until 28 September 2014. It marks the launch of a three year project to reveal the untold story of how one of the world’s smallest communities played a large role in the “war to end all wars”. From the blood-soaked trenches of the Somme and Gallipoli, to the ABOVE: “Stalwarts from the East” – a French lady pins a flower on a Sikh soldier as they march through Paris, 1916. (TOOR COLLECTION) LEFT: Sikh and British wounded soldiers, recovering from injuries sustained at the front, in Southampton, November 1914. (UKPHA ARCHIVE)

BELOW: Men of the 15th Sikh Regiment spend time with the locals in a Flanders village after weeks in the trenches of the Western Front, circa 1915. (UKPHA ARCHIVE)

deserts and heat of Africa and the Middle East, Sikhs fought and died alongside their British, Indian and Commonwealth counterparts to serve the greater good, gaining commendations and a reputation as fearsome and fearless soldiers. Although accounting for less than 1% of the population of British India at the time, Sikhs made up nearly 20% of the British Indian Army at the outbreak of hostilities. They and their comrades in arms proved to be critical in the early months on the Western Front. Despite the contribution made by Sikh soldiers their role often remains overlooked, though Undivided India provided Britain with a huge volunteer army. Close to 1.5million Indians served, fighting in all the major theatres of war from the Western Front to the Mesopotamian oil fields of what is now Iraq. Indeed, every sixth British soldier serving during the war would have been from the Indian subcontinent, making the British Indian Army as large as all the forces www.britainatwar.com

from the rest of the Empire combined – including from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. The story of Sikhs in the First World War will be told through original artefacts, including unpublished photographs and drawings, newspapers and comics, postcards, works of art, uniforms, gallantry medals, and folk songs sung by those left at home. It will also feature a unique album of X-Rays of wounded Indian soldiers’ injuries by kind permission of The Royal Collection,

Windsor. A core aspect of the new project will be the development of a database of soldiers’ and families’ stories which will be created with the help of the public. This work will also include uncovering the lives of those left behind – the wives, mothers and others who waited anxiously for loved ones to return. For further information on the exhibition, which has free admission, or the UK Punjab Heritage Association’s work, please visit: www.empirefaithwar.com

| BRIEFING ROOM

BULLETIN BOARD

RUE HENRI Gonay, in the Jersey parish of St Ouen, was formally named on 14 June 2014. The road honours Squadron Leader Henri Gonay, DFC, CO of 263 Squadron, based at Harrowbeer, who had died exactly seventy years earlier when his Typhoon was shot down and crashed nearby. Present at the ceremony were the Bailiff of Jersey and Henri Gonay’s daughter and grandson, the latter wearing the pilot’s wedding ring which had been hidden from the Germans in 1944 and returned to the family after the Liberation. A message was read at the ceremony from Air Chief Marshal Sir Michael Graydon, President of the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust in which he declared, “Henri Gonay was a gallant pilot who escaped from Nazi occupation to join the Royal Air Force. In doing so he helped to ensure that the United Kingdom remained free and that the Channel Islands were eventually liberated.” FIVE FORMER pupils of Lancing College, West Sussex, who flew in the Battle of Britain, have been honoured on a plaque unveiled at the College. Those named on the plaque are: Flying Officer Jeffrey Quill, AFC, Air Vice-Marshal Stanley F Vincent, CB, DFC, AFC, Squadron Leader John Sample, DFC, Squadron Leader Robert Woodward DFC, Squadron Leader Jefferson H Wedgwood, DFC. The suggestion for the memorial was made by the Battle of Britain Historical Society. THE ARMY Matron-in-Chief, Australian-born Maud McCarthy, the most senior nurse on the Western Front during the First World War, has been honoured with a blue plaque at her former home in Chelsea. Maud McCarthy was responsible for the entire nursing operation on the Western Front, from the English Channel to the Mediterranean. By 1918, she was in charge of over 6,000 nurses. She is said to have been the only departmental head of the British Expeditionary Force to remain at their original post throughout the war.

CAPTI P1 P3

PLANS ARE being made to reinstate and rededicate the Rolls-Royce Battle of Britain Memorial Window during 2015. The window, which once stood prominently in the RollsRoyce factory in Derby, has been in store for some years. It was unveiled by Marshal of the Royal Air Force Lord Tedder in January 1949 in the presence of a large number of “The Few”. The new location has not yet been decided.

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BULLETIN BOARD

PLANS FOR a memorial in Prague, Czech Republic, to Czech and Slovak airmen who served with the RAF in the Second World War, have come to fruition. On 18 June 2014, the “Winged Lion”, donated by the local British community, was unveiled by Rt Hon Sir Nicholas Soames, MP, grandson of Sir Winston Churchill. A plaque was unveiled on the same day in the Slovak capital of Bratislava. Speaking at the ceremony in Prague, Sir Nicholas paid tribute to the “selfless devotion” of the Czech and Slovak airmen who escaped from their country, then Czechoslovakia, to fight for freedom in Europe. ON 14 June 2014, a commemorative plaque was unveiled to honour Eric Lomax in his birthplace of Joppa in Edinburgh. Eric Lomax, author of the best-selling The Railway Man, was imprisoned in a Japanese PoW camp in 1942 and endured barbaric treatment as he was forced to build the Burma Railway, a task that killed more than 100,000 people. Mr Lomax, who died in 2012 at the age of 93, suffered mental and physical scars from his imprisonment all his life but reconciled with one of his captors, interpreter Takashi Nagase, whom he chose to forgive, saying “sometimes the hating has to stop”. A MEMORIAL to the youngest known British and Commonwealth battle casualty of the First World War has been unveiled in Waterford in the Republic of Ireland. Private John Condon was killed during a German gas attack on 24 May 1915, whilst serving with the 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Regiment. He is listed by the CWGC as being aged 14 at the time of his death. Condon, who was from Wheelbarrow Lane off Barker Street in the city, had lied about his age to join the Royal Irish Regiment as a reservist in 1913. He arrived in France in December 1914. The bronze cylindrical memorial stands 4.3 metres high. Councillor Tom Cunningham said: “Some 4,800 people from Waterford city and county fought in World War 1 and over 1,100 of them perished … Although it [the memorial] is named after the iconic figure of John Condon … it is dedicated to all men and women from Waterford who died in armed conflict including in our own War of Independence.” Among those present at the ceremony was John Condon’s nephew.

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News • Restorations • Discoveries • Events • Exhibitions from around the UK

Normandy Aircrew Commemorations TWO COMMEMORATION ceremonies were held on Saturday, 21 June 2014, near the village of Lyons La Forêt in Upper Normandy, reports Olek Brzeski. The services were held to honour the crewmembers of two Avro Lancasters who lost their lives when their aircraft were shot down during missions over France during 1944. Every year the local community pays homage to those members of the Allied forces whose aircraft crashed in the local area, though the events this year carried added poignancy as they marked the 70th anniversary of both incidents. Both losses occurred within a mile of Lyons La Forêt, the services taken place near each of the crash sites. The first ceremony was held at 10.30 hours at the small hamlet of La Villenaise. It commemorated the crew of a 49 Squadron Lancaster B.1, ND533 coded “EA-M”. On the evening of 9 June 1944 a force of 108 Lancasters and four Mosquitos of 5 Group, with five Pathfinder Mosquitoes, attempted to bomb a railway junction at Étampes, south of Paris. ND533 had taken off from RAF Fiskerton in Lincolnshire at 21.36 hours. The target marking was accurate but late and the bombing spread from the railway junction into the town. A local report stated that a quarter of the small town was affected by the bombing; between 400 and 500 houses were destroyed and 133 people were killed and fifty-one injured. On this raid six Lancasters were lost. One of the

The memorial to ND533’s crew at La Villenaise.

ABOVE: The memorial service to the crew of 49 Squadron’s Lancaster B.1 ND533 underway at the small hamlet of La Villenaise near Lyons La Forêt. (ALL IMAGES

COURTESY OF OLEK BRZESKI)

LEFT: One of the men remembered during the services in Normandy on 21 June 2014 – the Flight Engineer of ND533, Sydney Holmes.

aircraft lost that night was ND533, which is believed to have been shot down by Oberleutnant Johannes Werth of 5./NJG2. The crew of ND533 consisted of Flying Officer B.E. Bell (Pilot), Flying Officer H.D. Clark (Air Gunner), Flight Sergeant S. Holmes (Flight Engineer), Flying Officer D. MacFadyen RAAF (Navigator), Sergeant J. Holden (Wireless Operator), and Sergeant J.J. Reed (Air Gunner). There was only one survivor, the Bomb Aimer, Flying Officer P.D. Hemmens, who died whilst in captivity at Buchenwald Concentration Camp in October 1944. The second ceremony, which started at 11.00 hours, was held at Les Maisons Blanche. It honoured the crew of a 463 Squadron RAAF, Lancaster B.1 ME614 (“JO-K”) at Les Maisons Blanche. On 4 July 1944, an underground V-1 flying bomb store located in the caves at St Leu D’Esserent, north of Paris, was attacked by seventeen Lancaster bombers, one Mosquito and one Mustang aircraft of 617 Squadron. The attack was successful and all aircraft retuned from the raid. Later that day aircraft of 463 Squadron took off from RAF Waddington in Yorkshire to take

part in a second raid. The attacking force consisted of 231 Lancasters and fifteen Mosquitos, mostly from 5 Group but with some pathfinder aircraft taking part. The underground flying bomb store was attacked with 1,000lb bombs in order to cut all communications to the site. The bombing was accurate but thirteen Lancasters were lost when German fighters engaged the force. One of the losses was ME614, which crashed at Les Maisons Blanche, on the outskirts of Lyons La Forêt, killing all the crew on impact. Those who lost their lives were Flying Officer N. Webb RAAF (Pilot), Flying Officer Arthur Connor RAAF (Navigator), Flying Officer Ernest Fletcher RAAF (Bombadier), Warrant Officer Launcelot Harrison RAAF, Flying Officer Malcolm John McLeod RAAF, Flight Sergeant Patrick Dunford RAAF, Flight Sergeant Archibald Gillet RAAF, and Flight Sergeant Thomas Hendry RAF. The ceremonies were attended by local dignitaries, with the Australian Defence Force represented by Major Stephen Ward. Two nieces of Flight Sergeant Sidney Holmes, the Flight Engineer on ND533, were also present. www.britainatwar.com

NEWS FEATURE |

Far East WW2 Naval Artefacts To Return To Holland

WW2 Naval Artefacts to return to Holland IN FEBRUARY 1942 Japanese forces launched an attack on the island of Java in what was then the Dutch East Indies. A combined Dutch, British, American and Australian naval force was duly despatched to intercept the approaching enemy warships. The Japanese warships included two heavy and two light cruisers and fourteen destroyers, compared to the Allies’ two heavy cruisers, three light cruisers and nine destroyers. The Japanese heavy cruisers were much more powerful, armed with ten 8-inch guns each and torpedoes. By comparison, of the two Allied heavy cruisers HMS Exeter was armed only with six 8-inch guns, and USS Houston carried nine 8-inch guns. The opposing forces clashed in the Java Sea on 27 February in what was the largest surface ship engagement since the Battle of Jutland in 1916. Over the course of two days the battle raged with more Japanese cruisers joining the action on the 28th. The result of the battle was that two Allied cruisers and three destroyers were sunk, with just one Japanese destroyer being damaged. A visit to HMAS Stirling, the Royal Australian Navy’s primary base on the west coast of Australia, by Colonel Harold Jacobs, the Dutch Defence Attaché for Australia and New Zealand, provided the ideal opportunity to return some Second World

ABOVE: A starboard view of the former HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen at the Dutch Navy Museum in Den Helder.

War artefacts. These included the Bridge voice pipes from the light cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter which was sunk by Japanese torpedo on 28 February, with the loss of 345 men. Another item, unrelated to the Battle of the Java Sea, is the top of the starboard running light from the Dutch submarine HNLMS KVI. On 24 December 1941, KVI torpedoed and sank the Japanese destroyer Sagiri, the first Allied submarine to sink a Japanese warship. A day later, the Dutch submarine

ABOVE AND LEFT: Captain Angela Bond, Commanding Officer HMAS Stirling, presents the voice pipes from the light cruiser HNLMS De Ruyter to Colonel Harold Jacobs. (COURTESY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA)

was torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-66 off Borneo, with all on board killed. The artefacts were recovered, along with other naval items, from a Perth auction house on behalf of the Australian Chief of Navy’s office. Captain Angela Bond, Commanding Officer HMAS Stirling, presented the items to Colonel Jacobs. In accepting the artefacts Colonel Jacobs revealed an interesting Australian link to where the artefacts will reside on their return to the Netherlands. “The handover of the artefacts will take place on the Abraham Crijnssen at the Dutch Naval Museum in Den Helder,” Colonel Jacobs said. 

HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, a minesweeper, was stationed in the Netherlands East Indies when the Second World War began. After the destruction of so many Allied ships during the Battle of the Java Sea, Abraham Crijnssen’s Captain was ordered to escape with his ship to Australia. The ship arrived in Fremantle on 20 March 1942, being the last vessel to successfully escape Java. Following a refit Abraham Crijnssen was commissioned into the RAN on 28 September 1942 as an anti-submarine escort vessel with a mixed crew of Australian, Dutch and British personnel. Abraham Crijnssen served under Australian colours until 5 May 1943, when she was officially handed back to the Koninklijke Marine. She continued to operate as a convoy escort vessel until 7 June 1945, at which time she deployed to northern Australian waters operating from Darwin. Following the end of the Second World War, the ship returned to the Netherlands East Indies. In 1995 Abraham Crijnssen was donated to the naval museum at Den Helder and refitted to her wartime configuration.

BELOW: A port side view of HNLMS De Ruyter at anchor shortly before her loss in the Battle of the Java Sea. Note the tall super structure and funnel and the two Fokker C14W aircraft midship. The cruiser is camouflaged in the two tone grey splinter pattern common to Dutch ships of the period. (AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL; 305837)

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Royal Marines 350

| NEWS FEATURE

MAIN PICTURE: The Changing of the Guard ceremony at Buckingham Palace on 17 June 2014. It was also 42 Commando that was the last Royal Marines unit to perform ceremonial Public Duties when it conducted the Changing of the Guard in 1982. Then equipped with the SA80, they were the first troops to march with the new rifle into Buckingham Palace. (ALL IMAGES © CROWN/MOD COPYRIGHT 2014)

Royal Marines Change the Guard at

Buckingham Palace TO MARK the 350th anniversary of the formation of the Royal Marines, on 17 June 2014 personnel from 42 Commando took over guard duty at Buckingham Palace from the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards in an hourlong Changing of the Guard ceremony. With the Band of Her Majesty’s Royal Marines at the front, Lieutenant Colonel Richard Cantrill led the men of Kilo Company, 42 Commando, on to the forecourt of Buckingham Palace as the red of the Guards transferred the duty to the Royal Marines in their No.1 Dress – known simply as ‘Blues’. The colour of the original uniform of the first official regiment of naval infantry – the Duke of York and Albany’s Maritime Regiment of Foot – was of dark yellow or old gold. In 1685, what was then the Admiral’s Regiment, adopted the traditional English infantry red uniform, when, coincidently, a company of Foot Guards was incorporated into the regiment. It was not until the 1920s that the current blue was used by the whole Royal Marine corps, having previously only been worn by the Royal Marine Artillery. Possibly the most famous member of the Admiral’s Regiment was the future Duke of Marlborough. Due to his conduct at the Battle of Solebay in 1672 as an ensign in the Guards, he was granted captain’s rank in the Admiral’s Regiment. In 1755 the corps became His Majesty’s Marine Forces and in 1802 the Royal Marines. In their role of amphibious infantry, the Marines have been involved in almost every conflict www.britainatwar.com

The last time that guard duty at Buckingham Palace was performed by the Royal Marines was in 1986. The only other two previous occasions in the modern era were in 1978 and 1935. The Changing of the Guard at Buckingham and St James Palaces was mirrored at Windsor Castle, where the Queen is currently in residence, and, without ceremony, at the Tower of London. At the latter, the public instead witnessed the Ceremony of the Word, carried out daily at 15.00 hours, when an escort walks through the tower grounds to collect a password. At 22.00 hours, those same Royal Marines in the Tower performed the historic Ceremony of the Keys – going back at least 700 years – which symbolises that the fortress is secure for the night.  ABOVE: Lieutenant Colonel Richard Cantrill leads Kilo Company, 42 Commando at Buckingham Palace.

involving both the Royal Navy and the British Army. This included the Crimean War, where three Royal Marines were amongst the first recipients of the Victoria Cross. In more recent times the Marines took part in the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency and in the troubles in Northern Ireland. A full commando brigade was raised for the Falklands War of 1982. The conflict in Afghanistan has also witnessed the deployment of 3 Marine Commando Brigade, including Colonel Cantrill’s 42 Commando.

ABOVE: Men of Kilo Company, 42 Commando and the 1st Battalion Welsh Guards during the Changing of the Guard ceremony.

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NEWS FEATURE |

New Memorial in Snowdonia to WW2 Crash Victims

New Memorial in Snowdonia

to WW2 Crash Victims EIGHT AIRMEN who were killed in wartime accidents in the mountains above the slate quarrying town of Blaenau Ffestiniog in Gwynedd, Wales were commemorated during a special service and memorial unveiling at the town’s St David’s Church on 28 June 2014, writes David Smith. The memorial, consisting of four slate plaques with inscriptions in Welsh and English, is mounted on a block of slate and sited in the churchyard. It was funded by donations from local people and businesses. Mel Thomas of community group Cofio Cwmorthin said the ceremony was the culmination of twelve months’ painstaking research by the group after a chance remark by a volunteer that there was no memorial to the airmen. Mr Thomas said: “It was during our research into the history of the abandoned settlement of Cwmorthin, near Blaenau, that we discovered the tragedy involving Pilot Officer McIntyre. He was killed when his Hawker Hurricane of the Merchant Ship Fighter Unit based at Speke, Liverpool crashed into the top of Allt y Ceffylau on the slopes above the valley on 9 August 1942. The 24-year-old was serving with the Royal Canadian Air Force.” Further research revealed that there were three other flying accidents in the Blaenau area and well known author Edward Doylerush, who has written a number of books about air crashes in North Wales, was enlisted to help with the project. Announcements were placed in the newspapers covering the towns in which the airmen were buried in the hope of finding relatives. They were successful on two counts in the UK, whilst

Wing Commander Clare Sharp, who unveiled the memorial, with Mr Mel Thomas who played a leading part in the memorial project.

12 AUGUST 2014

The dual language panels on the new memorial in Blaenau Ffestiniog. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR)

The position of the stone near the churchyard gate in Blaenau Ffestiniog.

McIntyre’s family were traced back to Kamloops in British Columbia. They were sent an account of the crash, together with a small piece of the wreckage which they requested for closure. During the service Wing Commander Clare Sharp of RAF Valley, who later unveiled the memorial, said: “Seventy odd years ago these men paid the ultimate sacrifice and it has been far too long since this sacrifice was noted. Today we put that right. Sadly, none of the relatives are here today but you will have noticed, perhaps with some disbelief, the ages of those killed. Can you imagine a person piloting a bomber on active duty aged 21? I think it brings the sacrifice very close to home.” Apart from the above-mentioned Pilot Officer Robert Bruce McIntyre, who was training for service on catapult-equipped merchant ships at the time of his death, two other fighter pilots were killed in separate crashes. Coincidentally, both had the same surname. On 26 May 1941, Spitfire Mk.I P6834 of No.57 Operational Training Unit based at RAF Hawarden, Flintshire, collided with the north face of Moel Dyrnogydd. The pilot, 26-year-old Pilot Officer John Tiplady Brown RAFVR, was killed.

On 5 April 1942, Spitfire Mk.I X4239, also of No.57 OTU, Hawarden crashed near Llyn Newydd. The pilot was Pilot Officer Douglas MacGillvary Brown RAFVR, aged 21 of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania USA. The worst loss of life was in a single crash when five members of a bomber crew were killed. On the night of 21 March 1941, Wellington Mk.Ic R3288, a 150 Squadron aircraft, was one of a force of sixty-six aircraft (thirty-four of which were Wellingtons) despatched to bomb the U-boat base at Lorient in Brittany. Returning from the raid damaged and lost trying to find the way to its base at RAF Newton in Nottinghamshire, the Wellington hit the upper slopes of Moel Farlwyd. Those killed were the Pilot, Flying Officer (Pilot) Charles Hamerton Elliot, Pilot Officer Roland Clive Parkhurst, Sergeant Harold Beddall (Observer/Navigator), Sergeant Lewis John Kirk (Wireless Op/Air Gunner), and Sergeant John Killen (Air Gunner). Air Gunner Sergeant Peter Martlew survived when his rear turret detached on impact. It is said that when Welsh-speaking rescuers got to him he surrendered, thinking he was in occupied Europe! www.britainatwar.com

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Casualty Identified

Remains of Bomber Command Airman Identified THE CANADIAN Department of National Defence has recently announced that the remains of a Second World War airman found in the Laacher See, a large lake south of Bonn, Germany, have been identified as those of a Canadian air gunner killed in 1942. Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba on 4 February 1920, Flight Sergeant John Joseph Carey (above right) had enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force, at Ottawa, Ontario, on 31 May 1940. On the evening of 28 August 1942, he was one of the sevenstrong crew of a 103 Squadron Handley Page Halifax despatched to attack the German city of Nuremburg. Piloted by Sergeant H.G. Dryhurst, Carey’s aircraft, Mk.II BB214, took off from RAF Elsham Wolds in North Lincolnshire at 20.37 hours. It was part of a force of 159 aircraft, consisting of seventy-one Lancasters, forty-one Wellingtons, thirty-four Stirlings and thirteens Halifaxes, sent to Nuremburg. BB214 was one of twenty-three aircraft that failed to return - 14.5 percent of the attacking force. Built by the London Aircraft Production Group to contract number B124357/40, BB214 was fitted with Merlin XX engines. The London Aircraft Production group was made up of a number of companies including London Transport, Chrysler, Duple, Express Motor & Bodyworks Limited, and Park Royal Coachworks. Collectively, they produced 710 Halifaxes. BB214 was issued to 103 Squadron on 11 August 1942. The aircraft had eighteen hours and fifty minutes flying time recorded on

the airframe at the time of its loss. It was believed that it was shot down by a Messerschmitt Bf 110 night fighter piloted by Feldwebel Fritz Schellwat of 5./NJG1 1 operating from Mendig. Of the crew of seven, three airmen, Sergeant Dryhurst, Sergeant A.A. Roberts RAAF and Sergeant B.E. Hughes RNZAF, survived the crash, but were captured. Of the four airmen who died in the crash, only the remains of Sergeant J.L. MacLachlan and Pilot Officer V.M. Morrison RCAF were recovered for burial in 1947. The remains of Sergeant J.W. Platt and Flight Sergeant Carey were not able to be recovered. Whilst a number of further efforts were made to locate the remains of the two missing airmen, most notably

in 1948, 1980, and 1994, the danger of unexploded ordnance at the crash site was, and still is, considerable. In 2008, a team of German explosives disposal divers conducted several surveys on the wreckage to assess the stability of the aircraft’s cargo. In the process of one of these dives, human remains were recovered. Several years later, a scientist from the University of Bonn genetically tested the remains against a genetic descendent for Sergeant Platt. It was a failed match. Then, in December 2013, a possible genetic donor for Flight Sergeant Carey was located. The Canadian Department of National Defence duly conducted genetic testing, again in coordination with the University of Bonn, and the results, received in February 2014, indicated that the remains were those of Flight Sergeant Carey. Flight Sergeant Carey’s remains were interred at Rheinberg War Cemetery, north of the city of Koln, on 9 July 2014. Amongst those due to attend the service were Carey’s nieces, Sheila ABOVE: The Cross of Sacrifice in Rheinberg War Carey (from Ottawa), Maureen Pegg (Perth, Cemetery. The last resting place of Flight Sergeant Ontario), and nephew David Carey (Calgary, John Joseph Carey can now be found there at Alberta), as well as representatives from the grave 13. G. 25. He had previously been listed on Government of Canada and the Canadian Panel 103 of the Runnymede Memorial. (COURTESY Armed Forces. OF THE COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION)

BELOW: The location of the crash site of 103 Squadron’s Handley Page Halifax BB214 – the Laacher See south of Bonn. (COURTESY OF HOLGER WEINANDT)

14 AUGUST 2014

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A Carton of WW1 Princess Mary Gift Boxes Is Opened A SEALED cardboard carton containing eighty Princess Mary’s gift boxes, which had been untouched since the end of 1914, was recently opened at the Chalke Valley History Festival. Stored in the carton in packs of eight, the brass tins were revealed during an event organised by Onslows auctioneers. The honour of cutting the string tied round the carton and examining the contents for the first time in a century fell to Lady Emma Kitchener, great-great-niece of Lord Kitchener of Khartoum, the then Secretary of State for War. Launched on 14 October 1914, by HRH The Princess Victoria Alexandra Alice Mary, the Christmas Gift Fund would lead to one of the most enduring mementos of the First World War – the Princess Mary’s Gift Box. Princess Mary’s original intention had been to pay, out of her private allowance, for a personal gift to each soldier and sailor for the first Christmas of the war. Instead, she was persuaded to give her name to a public fund which would raise the necessary monies to pay for the gifts. It was intended that recipients would receive an embossed brass box inside which would be one

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ounce of pipe tobacco, twenty cigarettes, a pipe, a tinder lighter, Christmas card and photograph of the Princess. A number of representations were made, resulting in a number of variations being made available for “special groups”. For the biggest of these “special groups”, the non-smokers, it was decided their brass boxes would contain, as well as the obligatory Christmas card and photograph, a packet of sweets, a khaki writing case containing pencil, paper and envelopes together with the Christmas card and photograph of the Princess. For the Indian Army, the Gurkhas were to receive the same gift as the British troops, Sikhs would be sent the box filled with sugar candy, a quantity of spices and the Christmas card, whilst for all other Indian troops, it was the box with a packet of cigarettes and sugar candy, spices and the card. Nurses at the front were provided with the box, a packet of chocolate and the card.

A Carton of WW1 Princess Mary

Gift Boxes Opened TOP: Prior to being opened, the carton was x-rayed. The souvenir pencil holders, made using a .303 cartridge case and sterling silver bullet, can clealry be seen.

LEFT & ABOVE: The carton opened at the Chalke Valley History Festival. (ALL IMAGES BNPS)

In January 1915, the final number of gifts supplied was revealed. By the end of 25 December 1914, it was announced, some 355,716 had gone to the BEF (putting an intense strain on the British supply train), 66,168 to the men at home either on furlough or sick leave, 4,600 to the French Mission to the BEF and 1,390 to members of the various army nursing services. This made a grand total of 426,724 gifts. The tins opened at the festival in Wiltshire only contained the pen and note – it is believed that the remaining contents were to be added at a later date. The carton had been found in Ireland where it was part of a private collection of First World War memorabilia. It is not known why the tins never reached their intended recipients. After opening the boxes, Lady Kitchener, said: “The smell as I opened them was a mixture of sawdust and damp … It was perhaps the very first time the soldiers who received these boxes were away from home … so to get a little present like that from Princess Mary was thrilling.” www.britainatwar.com

AUGUST 2014 15

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Unique Piece of WW1 History Sold

A PROTOTYPE trench hat and fighting knife combination, which represents a fascinating and unique aspect of the history of the First World War, has been sold at auction. The unusual invention, in the form of a 1902 Pattern service cap with the additional fitting of a circular metal base plate and attached folding blade, was the idea of Birmingham-based solicitor Philip Baker. Paperwork from the original patent application for the hat, which started in May 1916 and was completed in 1917, provides the following insight into Baker’s intentions: “This … has for its object to provide such head-gear with a dagger or like attachment so that in close combat a further weapon is available to the soldier without the addition of weight to his equipment … Accordingly, the present invention consists in the application of a dagger-like attachment to a helmet or other cap,

the attachment preferably being rigid in the case of the metal helmet and collapsible or folding in the case of the soft cap [seen here]; and in each case providing a suitable portion within the interior of the article for gripping by hand … “In the case of a soft cap,” continued Baker, “a boss plate or disc for mounting the dagger blade may be used with suitable means for securing it to the cap such as eyeletting, and a strap or straps or webbing strips may be used within the cap for gripping by the hand, preferably being connected to the metal plate. The dagger may be mounted between lugs or otherwise hinged so that it can be raised or closed when desired and may be backed with a spring like a knife blade, but preferably has a removable or hinged strut on the unsupported side to prevent its closing accidentally in use. “When in use in combat, the helmet or material of the cap or boss plate constitutes a form of hilt or guard for the hand of the soldier or a protection for the head when worn as a cap and particularly in the case of a helmet may be used as a small shield or buckler to resist blows or thrust from steel weapons. In both cases for the comfort of the soldier I prefer to pad or cushion the inside of the helmet adjacent to the position occupied by the band and knuckles of the soldier when using the dagger helmet or cap.”

Matthew Tredwin, of C&T Auctioneers in Kent which sold the item, said: “This bayonet hat was meant for hand-to-hand combat ... We can only assume this item was made to present to the War Office to gain approval, but obviously was not considered as was not by any means practical.” This prototype had previously been held by the Baldwin Collection and Wilson Military Headgear History Research Centre in the USA. Following the death of philanthropist Robert Wilson in 2013, the hat returned to the UK to be sold at auction. It achieved a hammer price of £2,600.

Unique Piece of

WW1 History Sold MAIN PICTURE and TOP RIGHT: The prototype headgear designed and patented by Philip Baker pictured with the blade folded and raised. (ALL IMAGES

COURTESY OF C&T AUCTIONEERS)

ABOVE: The interior of the trench hat and fighting knife combination. The interior of the cap has a black oilskin liner with a leather base and handle.

16 AUGUST 2014

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“Battle Of Britain” Aircraft Revealed

“Battle of Britain” Aircraft Revealed A Remarkable Collection of Veteran Aircraft from the Iconic 1969 Film Has Been Offered For Sale

THE CLASSIC 1969 film Battle of Britain has often been credited as being the catalyst that gave rise to the historic aircraft preservation movement in the United Kingdom, writes Andy Saunders. Certainly, its production resulted in the creation of what was then described as the “thirtyfifth largest air force in the world”, the film’s aviation consultant, former Bomber Command pilot Group Captain Hamish Mahaddie, having assembled around 100 aircraft for its production. The various aircraft sourced by Mahaddie included Spitfires and Hurricanes and, to represent the Luftwaffe, a selection of some look-alike aircraft masquerading as Heinkel He 111s and Messerschmitt Bf 109s. The latter were sourced as surplus from the Spanish Air Force who had operated, post-war, a number of Spanish-built versions of the two German designs. These were the CASA 2.111, derived from the Heinkel, and the Hispano Aviación HA-1112 M1L Buchón. Thirty-

two of the CASAs and twenty-seven of the fighters were acquired for filming and it is a selection of the latter, plus a Spitfire, that have just emerged, after a period of long-term storage in the United States, to be offered for sale. The background to these “Messerschmitts” is not widely known. In 1942 the Spanish government arranged a manufacturing licence with Messerschmitt AG to build examples of the Bf 109G-2. These would be fitted with Daimler-Benz DB605 engines and Vereingite Deutsche Metallwerke variablepitch propellers, which, along with assorted instruments and weapons, would be supplied from Germany. The strain on the German manufacturing and supply chain at that time, however, led to a number of delays and problems with the agreement. In fact, only twenty-five airframes, minus their tail units and with not even half the necessary engineering drawings supplied, were ultimately delivered to the Spanish Air Force.

Spanish production of the Buchóns resumed post-war, the final variant being the HA-1112M1L Buchón which first flew 29 March 1954. The 1112-M1L was equipped with the 1,600hp RollsRoyce Merlin 500-45 engine and Rotol propeller, both purchased as surplus from the UK. This engine had a chin air intake and this visually altered the lines of the Bf 109’s airframe. Its armament consisted of two 20mm Hispano-Suiza 404/408 cannon and two Oerlikon, or Pilatus, eight-packs of 80mm rockets. The Buchón remained in service with the Spanish Air Force until 27 December 1965. This ensured that a number of the type were available, after undergoing cosmetic alterations to make them resemble the Bf 109-E of 1940 more closely, just as work began on the film.  Wilson “Connie” Edwards, a Texan who was one of the film’s pilots, eventually acquired the Buchóns from the film company in lieu of payment for his services. At the same time, he also purchased Spitfire Mk.IX MH415. This is the

BELOW: Four of the Hispano Aviación HA-1112 M1L Buchóns, which, from the collection of Wilson “Connie” Edwards, have been offered for sale through Platinum Fighter Sales. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF PLATINUM FIGHTER SALES UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

18 AUGUST 2014

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“Battle Of Britain” Aircraft Revealed

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ABOVE & BOTH BELOW: All of the Buchóns retain the colour schemes applied during the filming of Battle of Britain.

Spitfire that is now being offered for sale along with its Battle of Britain film stable mates. All of the aircraft were shipped back to Edwards’ ranch at Big Spring, Texas, where MH415 was flown briefly before being placed into long-term storage along with the Buchóns. It was in this state that the aircraft remained for nearly forty years. The public emergence of this unique collection of aircraft has come about following the announcement that all seven are being offered for sale via the US-based historic aircraft brokers, Platinum Fighter Sales. Apart from the Spitfire, which was re-painted after arrival in the USA, the “Messerschmitts” retain their original film markings – albeit covered in a patina of dust and grime from their long term storage. Amongst Edwards’ gathering of six Buchóns is a wholly unique two-seater variant. This is an aeroplane that had actually been flown during the period of the filming of Battle of Britain by none other than Luftwaffe Ace Adolf Galland – at least on one occasion with Bob Stanford-Tuck travelling as passenger (both men having been technical www.britainatwar.com

advisers to the film production company). Having last been flown in 1968, upon completion of the filming, it was disassembled and shipped to Texas where it has been in storage for forty-five years.  Unlike the Spanish “Messerschmitts”, Edwards’ Spitfire does have an operational history. Originally ordered from Vickers Armstrong Ltd on 28 May 1942, as a Mk.V, MH415 was built in the summer of 1943, at the Castle Bromwich aircraft factory, as an LFIXb with a Rolls-Royce Merlin 66 engine. Platinum Fighter Sales’ website details a little more of its history: “MH415 was delivered to No.129 (Mysore) Squadron at Hornchurch in August 1943, where it was issued with the squadron codes DV-G and became the regular mount of the CO, Sqn Ldr Gonay. In the thick of the fighting from day one, 415 and Gonay led the squadron regularly on Ramrods, Circus and Sweeps before 415 transferred to No.222 (Natal) Squadron in October 1943 where she continued to participate in further Ramrods, Circus and Rodeos in company with famed squadron mate MH434.  “On 2 January 1944, MH415 transferred to the

Air Fighting Development Unit at RAF Wittering, where the she stayed until late September before transferring to No.126 Squadron at Bradwell Bay, Essex. The aircraft must have suffered some damage that is not recorded in its records, for in early January 1945 it was transferred to Vickers Armstrong at Oxford for repairs and modifications. These were soon completed and MH415 was on its way to No.6 MU [Maintenance Unit] Brize Norton for storage. On 6th February it was on the move again, this time to de Havilland at Witney in Oxfordshire for an overhaul. This was 

BOTH ABOVE: The unique Hispano Aviación HA-1112 M4L, a two-seat trainer version of the Messerschmitt Bf-109G2.

AUGUST 2014 19

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“Battle Of Britain” Aircraft Revealed

completed by late May and a move to No.9 MU Cosford was made for further storage.” Whilst it was operated by 222 Squadron, MH415 was flown by Flight Lieutenant Henry P. Lardner-Burke when he was credited with the destruction of a Focke-Wulf Fw 190 over Mardyck on 19 August 1943, with another damaged. Later, on 5 September 1943, MH415 destroyed another Fw 190 and on, 8 September, LarderBurke claimed a part share in the destruction of a Messerschmitt Bf109-F. Post-war, MH415 was sold to the Royal Netherlands Air Force and then, again, to the Belgian Air Force in 1953. From there, the aircraft passed into civilian ownership in Belgium. In 1961 it was leased for use in the filming of The Longest Day. For this role, the aircraft was painted in camouflage colours and flown with 340 (Ile de France) Squadron codes of “GW-B”. In September 1961 the aircraft caused a stir by appearing at the RAF Battle of Britain air display at Biggin Hill, where it was flown by Pierre Laureys, a French Second World War Spitfire pilot. Finally, in 1966, it was acquired by Group Captain Mahaddie. At one stage, this Spitfire was fitted with strobe lights in the machine-gun ports and went on to be flown for a total of 125 hours during filming. Having arrived in the United States in January 1969, MH415 was soon delivered to Edwards’ ranch at Big Spring, Texas, and registered as N415MH. It was repainted and the 222 Squadron codes “ZD-E” were applied. The aircraft flew a total of thirty-six hours in America. Last airborne in 1973, MH415 is described by Platinum Fighter Sales as “a time capsule”.

ABOVE: Two of the Buchóns used during the filming of Battle of Britain. (BATTLE OF BRITAIN INTERNATIONAL LTD)

Speaking of the sale of the collection, Edwards has said that he has come to a stage in his life where he recognises that there is no longer any point in retaining this stored hoard of historic aircraft. He also explained that a trigger for the sale was the recent death of his only son in a road traffic accident. Platinum

ABOVE: The cockpit of MH415 – an image which illustrates why this aircraft has been described as “a time capsule”.

Fighters have valued the five single-seat Buchóns at between $800,000 and $1,100,000, and MH415 at $2,500,000. Topping the bill, though, is the unique two-seater which has a price tag of $3,000,000. Contemplating the dust-covered and time-worn finish on all these aircraft, long hidden away in a Texas hangar, it is certainly tempting to look upon them as “barn-finds”. In truth, of course, they are not, the historic aviation fraternity having long known of their existence. All the same, their public emergence now, after so many years, will surely be a welcome move for the many devotees of Battle of Britain, many of whom will no doubt be surprised to discover that so many of the original film aircraft survive – and together in one place. Indeed, their sale may well tempt a good few of them to indulge in purchases of lottery tickets! • For more information, please visit Platinum Fighter Sales website: www.platinumfighters.com

ABOVE: Wilson “Connie” Edwards' Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IXb MH415.

20 AUGUST 2014

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LETTER OF THE MONTH

The German Schlieffen-Moltke Plan of 1914

SIR – I know that your magazine is dedicated mainly to the British and Empire/ Commonwealth efforts during the conflicts of the twentieth century. It is understandable, therefore, that the enemy, whosoever it might be, is not always the focus of your attention. Having read in recent issues some of the coverage relating to the centenaries of the First World War, I feel it would help your readers to understand the events of August 1914 far better if they had an appreciation of the so-called Schlieffen-Moltke Plan which is referred to so frequently but rarely spelt out in any detail. Alfred von Schlieffen, was appointed Chief of the German General Staff in February 1891. In peacetime his principal responsibility was the formulation of strategy and the supervision of the annual war plan which provided detailed instructions for the mobilization, deployment and initial moves of the army in the event of war. These moves were always directed at France and Russia and took the form of paper-based war games but which also involved a ride along either the French or Russian frontier to put the moves into geographical context. The plan that von Schlieffen inherited was little

changed from that devised by one of his predecessors, Moltke the Elder, in the years following the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1. After only two years in power, von Schlieffen completely changed Moltke’s plan. The latter had chosen to divide the Army into two forces, with one third facing the Russians and the remaining two-thirds facing the French. This, in von Schlieffen’s view, would only lead to a protracted war on two fronts. Instead, he believed that if he concentrated the bulk of the Army against one enemy, leaving just a small force to delay the other enemy, he could bring the war to a rapid conclusion. This was because the great weight of the main German force would be able to overwhelm one enemy. Then, when this had been achieved, the internal German rail network would be able to transfer the victorious part of the Army to the other front and overwhelm that enemy also. This policy took advantage of what is known in military strategy as interior lines, and turned the disadvantage of fighting on two fronts into an advantage using Germany’s inner position. As the antiquated Russian Army would be slow to deploy and even slower to move as the country’s railways were poorly developed, the main attack would be delivered against France. Speed was the essential part of the plan. France would have to be knocked out quickly before the vast

Russian Army could become fully operational and effective. If a great deal of time was spent attacking the French border fortresses, von Schlieffen’s plan was likely to fall apart. So this was discounted. If the Germans pushed through Belgium instead, there were still powerful border fortresses to deal with but that route offered one distinct advantage, as von Schlieffen himself explained: “The [railway] line Meuse-Sambre is on the direct line between Berlin and Paris. If it is possible at any point to establish a connection between the French and German rail networks then it is through the use of the Belgium rail system.” In his 1905 war plan, von Schlieffen implemented his new scheme. In this, it would be the cavalry which would advance ahead of the right wing of the German forces and capture the crucial railway line between Aachen and Liège. Dutch as well as Belgian territory would have to be violated for the German forces to be able to swing sufficiently far to the right. In this assessment, it was assumed that the French on the Belgian border would remain on the defensive. The speed that was necessary for the plan to work meant passing rapidly through Belgium. Time could not be lost in protracted sieges of the fortresses. Von Schlieffen, therefore, stated that large numbers

of reserves would need to called up who could take over such duties leaving the regulars to do the real fighting and push on to Paris. Von Schlieffen retired at the end of that year, handing over to the nephew of Moltke the Elder, Helmuth von Moltke (Moltke the Younger), who was unquestionably a disciple of his predecessor. His main change to the plan when he took over was with violating Dutch territory as this would simply mean creating another enemy with the potential that the Dutch would resist, causing delay – and that, of course ran counter to requirements of the plan. Moltke also saw Holland as a country through which supplies could be imported directly to the advancing armies instead of all the way back from Germany. Consequently, he did not want to alienate the Dutch. The other change to von Schlieffen’s plan made by Moltke was in that rather than have all the forces except a single army concentrated on the right wing, he switched a second army to the left. That, in very brief outline, is the basis of the German plan for the First World War. It failed, as we know, because the Belgians held up the Germans longer than anticipated and that other body came into the equation and spoilt all von Schlieffen’s and Moltke’s schemes, the British forces. W. Wright. By email.

The German advance into Belgium and France pictured underway during August 1914. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

The author of the Letter of the Month may select a book of their choice (maximum value £25) from the extensive range of titles available at www.pen-and-sword.co.uk 22 AUGUST 2014

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Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz’s Baton SIR – I was intrigued to read about Admiral Karl Dönitz's baton in the Shropshire Regimental Museum at Shrewsbury Castle. The reason for my interest is that I know that Field Marshal Werner von Blomberg’s baton is held at the National Museum of American History in Washington. What is interesting is that it is decorated differently than that of Karl Dönitz. I assumed that a baton was a baton,

but it seems that Hitler had a number of different batons produced. Von Blomberg’s baton is a slightly lighter shade of blue and does not have the anchors which are shown on the photo of Dönitz’s baton in your magazine. What is surprising is the Nazi symbol is also different. Von Blomberg’s has the eagle with a simple swastika on top, whereas, the swastika on Dönitz’s baton is surrounded by oak leaves. H. James. By email.

Information Appeal

SIR – I wonder if your readers might be able to assist me in identifying the individuals in the attached caricature drawing of a number of RAF pilots during the Second World War. The drawing had been in the possession of the late Flight Lieutenant Cecil Austin, who died several years ago. Cecil was an Ulsterman who joined the RAFVR in 1941. He had his first flight, in a Tiger Moth, when at No 4 EFTS, Brough, in January, 1941.  Cecil continued his training at Nos. 17 and 15 SFT Schools before going to No.56 OTU at Sutton Bridge. His first operational squadron was 504 Squadron at Chilbolton, to which he was posted in August 1941. He left 504 Squadron at Ballyhalbert in mid-December 1941 when hospitalised due to a

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serious leg injury sustained when clay pigeon shooting.  This accident put paid to his flying career for the next nine months and he did not return to flying until August 1942 when he was posted to 286 Squadron at Zeals. Between then and May 1945, he was, at different times, with Nos. 286, 290 and 289 squadrons.  Cecil was in England for almost all of his time in hospital, though the exact location is, at present, unknown. I wish I knew the precise hospital he was taken to in England, as I suspect it was there that he met the men caricatured. Ernie Cromie. Ed – If anyone can help Ernie, then he can be emailed at: [email protected]. Letters can be sent to the editorial address on page 3 and we will forward them on.

Churchill’s D-Day Visit

SIR – I liked the article in your July edition concerning Churchill’s visit to the D-Day beaches. The author referred in the article to Field Marshal Alanbrooke’s observations of the day, which appear in his diary (Alex Danchev and Daniel Todman, War Diaries 1939-1945). Readers might be interested in reading the rest of what Alanbrooke had to say: “Monty met us on the beach with a team of jeeps which we got into and drove off on the CourseullesBayeau road, to about ½ way to the latter place. There we found Monty’s HQ and he gave us an explanation on the map of his dispositions and plans. All as usual wonderfully clear and concise. We then had lunch with him and my thoughts wandered off to 4 years ago when I was at Le Mans and Laval waiting for Monty and his 3rd Division to join me. I knew then that it would not be long before I was kicked out of France if I was not killed or taken prisoner, but if anybody had told me then that in 4 years time I should return with Winston and Smuts to lunch with Monty commanding a new invasion force I should have found it hard to believe it.

“After lunch we drove round to Bimbo Dempsey’s HQ. I was astonished how little affected the country had been by the German occupation and 5 years of war. All the crops were good, the country fairly clear of weeds, and plenty of fat cattle, horses, chickens, etc. (As usual Winston described the situation in his inimitable way when driving with me. He said, ‘We are surrounded by fat cattle lying in luscious pastures with their paws crossed!’ This is just the impression they gave one. And the French population did not seem in any way pleased to see us arrive as a victorious country to liberate France. They had been quite content as they were, and we were bringing war and desolation to the country.” What is interesting here is that Churchill in his History of the Second World War saw, or chose to portray, the attitude of the local French people quite differently, saying that “The inhabitants seemed quite buoyant and well-nourished and waved enthusiastically.” Maybe it was not their hands they were waving but their fists they were shaking? Ron Downey. By email.

Sergeant James Allen Ward VC SIR – Following on from the “RAF on the Air” feature in Issue 86 (June), I wonder if the following piece of information is of interest? When the award of the Victoria Cross to Sergeant James Allen Ward was announced, the 22-year-old Wellington co-pilot was summonsed to meet Winston Churchill. On seeing the shy young hero the great man

said: “You must feel very humble and awkward in my presence?” In reply, Ward could only croak “Yes, Sir.” With great compassion and evident admiration Churchill replied, “Then you can imagine how humble and awkward I feel in yours”. Greatness indeed. Ward’s was but a brief glory, for he was lost over Hamburg on 15 September 1941.  Andrew Thomas. By email. AUGUST 2014 23

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Conwy and D-Day’s Mulberry Harbours

SIR – Following on from your recent coverage of the various D-Day related sites in the United Kingdom, I thought that the attached might be of interest? Not very well known outside the local area is a stone and plaque at Conwy, North Wales, commemorating the construction of Mulberry Harbour components. It is sited next to the Beacons Car Park, close to Conwy Marina, where the Mulberry Restaurant and Bar and the Mulberry Stores also mark the wartime events. Mulberry, of course, was the codename for the project to build parts for two harbours which would be floated to northern France in support of a future invasion. The actual proposer of the idea of the Mulberry harbour is still disputed, but among those who are known to have suggested something along these lines is Hugh Iorys Hughes (1902-1977), a Welsh civil engineer who submitted initial plans on the idea to the War Office, Professor J.D. Bernal, and ViceAdmiral John Hughes-Hallett. There is, however, strong evidence that the chief proponent was Hughes. Though he was London-based, Hughes originated

from Bangor, about fifteen miles south-west of Conwy. He foresaw that the Allies would need to build harbours from prefabricated components on beaches because the established French ports were virtually impregnable, as the Dieppe raid had proved. Although others had suggested a similar idea, they lacked Hughes’ engineering knowledge to prove its feasibility. Senior officials were alerted to his concept by his brother, a Royal Navy commander. The beach and sand dune area known as Morfa, fringing the River Conwy estuary just north of the town, was selected to be used in the construction of Mulberry components. It was soon transformed into a vast building site and from 1942 onwards almost 1,000 men worked here. Among them was Olev Kerensky, son of a former prime minister of Russia, who supervised the building process. With his mother he had fled from Leningrad at the age of 10 and entered the UK on a false passport! Three giant caissons, code-named Hippos, were constructed. Some components were fabricated in other places and transported to Morfa Conwy for assembly. As

ABOVE: The memorial commemorating Conwy’s part in the preparations for Operation Overlord. (COURTESY OF DAVID SMITH)

preparations for the D-Day landings intensified in 1943, thousands more men around Britain were diverted to the project, constructing more than 200 caissons in various parts of the country. Hughes’ three Hippo caissons were towed to a site in Rigg Bay near Garlieston in southern Scotland for testing with other connecting components, including Croc roadways. This revealed a number of problems, notably unexpected pitching and yawing, which Hughes was able to solve. The Morfa site later saw the building of Pierheads and Buffer

ramps. Pierheads were located at the seaward end of the roadways. Each stood on four legs called Spuds with a platform that could be raised and lowered with the tide by means of electric winches. Twenty-three were planned for, of which eight were spares. Buffers were the approach span from the floating roadway to the beach. Once completed, the floating sections from here and other parts of the UK were towed to assembly areas off Selsey in West Sussex and Dungeness in Kent until their final journey across the Channel. David Smith. By email.

BELOW: A view of Conwy Morfa, in the foreground, this being the area selected for the construction of the Mulberry prototypes. The image was taken from the mountain of Morfa. There is a caravan site in the foreground with a golf course beyond. The marina is in the far centre and the memorial is about 200 metres left of it close to the estuary shore. Interestingly, notes David Smith, “I have just learned from a contact in Prague that a Blackburn Botha, W5304 of No.10 Air Observers School, force-landed intact on the narrow beach in the foreground on 19 December 1941. It was on a training flight from RAF Dumfries when the weather clamped down and their wireless failed. The pilot was Polish and two of the trainees were Czechs. One of the latter recalls that they narrowly missed the cliffs which drop in the foreground. It must have been flown out or dismantled as it remained in service until 1943 when most Bothas were withdrawn from use and replaced by the far more reliable Anson.”

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DORNIERS OVER WALES The Battle of Britain

E

SSENTIALLY A Dornier Do 17-equipped unit, Küstenfliegergruppe 606 was used to operating over the sea or against coastal targets. Leutnant zur See Werner Techand, a naval officer, explains why most of the observers on the crews of these Do 17s were Kriegsmarine personnel: “I was based with 606 from 3 October to 18 December 1940. I then had to return to the Navy where we were needed for U-boats [he would serve on U-135 and later command U-731, surviving the war]. Our job was that of Observers and without exception we were commanders of the bombers because of our knowledge of navigation over the sea.

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MAIN PICTURE: A Dornier Do 17 Z-5 of Küstenfliegergruppe 606 pictured preparing to take-off on another mission. Note the bulges on the side of the aircraft’s nose which contained floatation devices to aid the crew in the event that they were forced to ditch. (ALL IMAGES

COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR UNLESS

STATED OTHERWISE)

“Most of my time with 606, we were acting as Pathfinders for attacks on such cities as Liverpool, Bristol and London. This meant we took off at dusk across the Channel to mark the target with incendiaries. Our navigational equipment in the Do 17 Z was very primitive and, added to the inexperience of the crew and the defences over England, this resulted in a heavy loss of life and aircraft.” Based at Brest in Northern France, it was logical that Küstenfliegergruppe 606’s targets tended to be to the west of Britain. For example, at dawn on 3 October 1940, Major Joachim Hahn, the Gruppen Kommandeur of 606, took off together with the aircraft flown by Hauptmann Werner Lassmann of 2/606 and Hauptmann Heinrich Golcher

of 3/606. Their target was the Coastal Command airfield of St Eval in Cornwall. Hahn was a big exponent of low-level formation attacks. This, therefore, is exactly what the raiders did at 08.05 hours from an altitude of just thirty metres. The results were described as good. The following day, a similar attack was carried out against the airfield at Penrhos in Gwynedd, Wales. Again, the raid was deemed to be successful and included attacking a freighter in Caernarvon Bay on the way home. However, despite encountering only light anti-aircraft and machine-gun fire, one of the Do 17s was damaged. It subsequently crashed into the sea just off the Normandy coast, killing Oberleutnant zur See Paul Vollbrecht and his crew. 

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DORNIERS OVER WALES The Battle of Britain

Dorniers Over Wales The combats of the Battle of Britain are generally associated with Kent, Sussex and the other counties of southern England. However, as Chris Goss relates, as the Battle of Britain progressed more German bombers started to operate by night and against targets other than London and the South East.

RIGHT: The unit badge of Küstenfliegergruppe 606. Though our illustration is not in colour, in reality the chest, beak and tail of this cockerel would have been black, the head yellow and the remainder in red. The cockerel was chosen by the virtue of the fact that the surname of the Gruppen Kommandeur, Oberstleutnant Joachim Hahn, is an immature interpretation of the German word for cockerel. Hahn commanded Küstenfliegergruppe 606 from 29 July 1940 until 3 June 1942.

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DORNIERS OVER WALES ????????????????????????????

TWILIGHT ATTACK

The days that followed saw more conventional targets being attacked. For example, on the night of 10 October 1940, thirteen Do 17s attacked Liverpool, Speke (aiming for the Rootes aircraft factory) and Crewe (targeting Rolls-Royce). At the same time, three Do 17s again bombed RAF Penrhos, one Do 17 attacked Pembroke Dock and a final bomber targeted Plymouth. This time they returned almost unscathed. This, though, would not be the case the following evening.

The attack by 1 and 2/606 on 11 October was described as a Dämmerungsangriff – a twilight attack. Six Do 17s, three each from 1 and 2/606, lifted off between 19.10 hours and 20.00 hours German time. Five of the bombers were laden with six 50kg bombs and 300 incendiaries each, whilst the sixth was carrying ten 50kg bombs and sixty incendiary bombs. The target for this last aircraft would be Birkenhead, whilst the others were instructed to attack aircraft factories at Crewe and Speke. The three aircraft from 1/606 were flown by the Staffel Kapitän, Hauptmann Wolfgang Lenschow, Feldwebel Heinrich Arpert and Oberfeldwebel Willi Hagen; only one of the 2/606 pilots has been identified. He was Oberleutnant FriedrichWilhelm Richter. Contrary to the previous night’s missions, as the six German aircraft approached the Isle of Anglesey the RAF was waiting. Pilot Officer Tommy Williams of 611 (West Lancashire) Squadron later recalled: “The Germans started night bombing Merseyside and they used to send in a few aircraft just before dark to lay incendiaries and markers at last light. Our function was to intercept these aircraft by making a sweep out to Anglesey and back and then landing just after last light anywhere we could.”

TOP LEFT: One of 611 (West Lancashire) Squadron Spitfires, Mk.I L1033, pictured running up its engines at RAF Digby in 1939. (ALDON

FERGUSON/611 SQUADRON)

LEFT: Leutnant zur See Jürgen von Krause was the Observer in one of the Dornier Do 17s shot down on 11 October 1940. BELOW LEFT: Two 611 Squadron pilots who were involved in the events of 11 October 1940 – on the left is Flight Lieutenant Jack Leather, with Flying Officer Douglas “Dirty” Watkins on the right.(ALDON FERGUSON/611

At 18.00 hours, 611 Squadron was warned that three aircraft were near the Scilly Isles and that if they kept on the same track that they would be over Holyhead at 18.30 hours at 14,000 feet. Nine of 611 Squadron’s Spitfires were scrambled from RAF Ternhill, becoming airborne between 17.35 hours and 17.45 hours. At 18.20 hours, the RAF pilots spotted three aircraft twelve miles away approaching from the south-west. With the Spitfires 3,000 feet above the enemy, it was a perfect position to attack them. The first to enter the fray was Yellow Section’s Flying Officer Douglas “Dirty” Watkins and Pilot Officer Tommy Williams – the Spitfire flown by Flying Officer Ian Hay had been forced to return to base with engine trouble. Watkins and Williams were then followed by Red Section, consisting of Flight Lieutenant Jack Leather, Flying Officer Phil Pollard and Pilot Officer Jim Sutton. Blue Section, composed of Flying Officer Barrie Heath, Sergeant Ken Pattison and Sergeant Bob Angus, was patrolling further north. What happened next is related by the Observer in Heinrich Arpert’s bomber, Leutnant zur See Jürgen von Krause:

SQUADRON)

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DORNIERS OVER WALES ????????????????????????????

BELOW: The crew of a Küstenfliegergruppe 606 Dornier 17 Z-5 pictured in front of their aircraft. Once again, note the bulge on the nose.

“The Spitfires attacked just before and after the target. My Do 17 had dropped back a little behind the formation and logically it was our aircraft that was attacked first. I remember that a number of hits caused problems with one of our engines. Consequently, we lost contact with our formation, turned out to sea and descended in a dive – but two Spitfires stayed close.”

THE WILDS OF NORTH WALES Exactly which RAF pilots attacked which raider is hard to ascertain with some certainty as some of the 611 Squadron claims were a little optimistic. For their part, Barrie Heath and Tommy Williams stated that the Do 17s they accounted for came down in the sea fifty miles out from Holyhead. Jack Leather, meanwhile, stated Red Section had destroyed two aircraft, one crashing ten miles south of Caernarvon, the other coming down near Capel Curig; in the case of the latter two engines were seen to be on fire with two crew baling out. This last aircraft was the Do 17 flown by Willi Hagen. Badly damaged and apparently on fire, Feldwebel Willi Staas,

TOP RIGHT: Another view of a 611 Squadron Spitfire at dispersal in 1939. (ALDON FERGUSON/611 SQUADRON)

RIGHT: The only one of the 2/606 pilots involved in the raid on 11 October to be identified is Oberleutnant Friedrich-Wilhelm Richter. BELOW RIGHT: Two of the three 611 Squadron pilots in this photograph were involved in the interception of the Do 17s over Wales. They are Pilot Officer Jim Sutton (left) and Pilot Officer Tommy Williams, (centre). (ALDON

the radio operator, and Unteroffizier Heinz Johannsen, the engineer, baled out. Unfortunately, the latter was found dead at Deiniolen, seven miles east of Caernarvon, with an unopened parachute. Hans Staas landed at Marthalyn (believed to be Mart of Llyn) and was quickly captured. However, whilst it was believed at the time that their Do 17 had crashed “somewhere in the wilds of North Wales”, and that the remaining two crew members, Willi Hagen and Oberleutnant zur See Karl-Franz Heine, were missing. Post-war research has revealed that Hagen and Heine had somehow managed to get their crippled Do 17 back to land at Brest. The bomber showed many signs of the combat with 611 Squadron and, sadly, where Heinz Johannsen had struck the tail as he abandoned the aircraft. One of the Red Section pilots, Flying Officer Pollard, later described his part in the action, during which he flew as Red 2: “Attacked two Do 17 or 17Zs flying in a north-easterly direction towards Bangor. Attacked the starboard aircraft first with Red Leader [and] Red 3 – Two No.1 attacks carried out on this aircraft. It lost height rapidly with starboard engine stopped – fell below the clouds towards the foot of the hills about ten miles south of Caernarvon.

“Attacked the port aircraft above the clouds with Red Leader & Red 3. After two attacks on this aircraft closing to 60 yards, 2 of the crew baled out and the aircraft did a right hand gliding turn. Lost height rapidly with both engines on fire – it crashed at Capel-Curig.” Pollard landed back at Ternhill at 19.00 hours.

DITCHED Meanwhile, back out to sea, “Dirty” Watkins and Tommy Williams had watched as the Do 17 they had attacked ditched at 18.35 hours. They reported 

FERGUSON/611 SQUADRON)

ABOVE: Three of 611 Squadron’s Spitfires pictured at readiness at RAF Digby. (ALDON FERGUSON/611 SQUADRON)

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AUGUST 2014 29

seeing at least two of the crew get into a dinghy. Shortly afterwards, Williams had to turn for home: “As I was breaking away from the second attack, there was an explosion in the cockpit and it subsequently appeared that I had been hit by an explosive bullet on the underside of the rudder bar. I started to bale out but then realised that the engine was still working and so I got back in and opened up the engine to maximum to obtain the maximum height before it failed on the assumption that I had been hit either in the oil cooler or in the radiator. However, the aircraft continued to function.” Jürgen von Krause said that, of the two Spitfires attacking them, they had hit one but then their remaining engine seized up so they had to ditch: “The aircraft sank immediately and we were lucky to get out just in time. After some time I found our dinghy which I was able to inflate and a few hours later we were picked up by a Dutch patrol boat which took us to Holyhead.” Three of the crew were in fact picked up by the patrol boat Amsterdam; the pilot, Heinrich Arpert probably went down with the aircraft. RAF reports state that the German crew had ditched sixteen miles off Bardsey Island at 19.15 hours, the location almost, but not quite, matching where Watkins’ and Williams’ victim crashed. This, though, would have been twenty minutes after the two RAF pilots had landed. As it transpired, Jack Leather and Red Section’s kill seemingly crashed ten miles south of Caernarvon even though Red Section made no mention

of seeing anyone in a dinghy. The only other possibility is that the victim was the 2/606 Do 17 flown by Oberleutnant Friedrich Wilhelm Richter, as his body was washed ashore on Anglesey on 7 November 1940, whilst the bodies of two of his crew, Leutnant Horst Felber and Gefreiter Walter Hoppmann, were washed ashore in Ireland on 26 October 1940. The body of the other crew member, Unteroffizier Jürgen Weber, was never found.

EVASIVE ACTION Meanwhile further north, it was Blue Section’s time to get involved. They spotted two Do 17s approaching from the south-west and by the time they were in a position to attack, both were in a shallow dive headed for Speke, getting into position over Hoylake. The bombers then broke left and right. One of them then apparently unloaded its bombs on Hoylake, whilst the other

ABOVE LEFT and RIGHT: The battered 1/606 Dornier Do 17 flown by Oberfeldwebel Willi Hagen pictured after its return to Brest minus two members of its crew – Feldwebel Willi Staas, the radio operator, and Unteroffizier Heinz Johannsen – who had baled out over Wales. Note how some of the markings have been painted over. ABOVE LEFT: Flight Lieutenant Jack Leather also appears in this picture of 611 Squadron pilots at readiness in 1940 – he is seated in the foreground. Behind him is another of the squadron’s pilots airborne on 11 October, Flying Officer Phil Pollard. (ALDON

headed south-east of Flint where a single Hurricane joined in the chase. Two sections of 312 (Czech) Squadron had been ordered to patrol from Chester to Point of Ayr. However, two Czech pilots from Yellow Section lost their leader, Flight Lieutenant Harry Comerford, who then attacked a lone Do 17 over Mold at 18.31 hours, chasing it all the way to Llangollen where he lost it in cloud. Meanwhile, the remainder of Yellow Section had joined with 611’s Red Section and attacked another lone Do 17 between Prestatyn and Chester and a chaotic if not inconclusive combat ensued with the Do 17 pilot taking violent but effective evasive action. Two Hurricanes suffered stoppages to their machine-guns and the Hurricane flown by Pilot Officer Josef Jaske suffered bullet damage to his aircraft’s fabric, main and tail spars and elevator and ailerons. All returned with very little else to show for their efforts. The end result of these engagements was two Do 17s shot down and one which returned very badly damaged; six German aircrew were killed or missing and four taken prisoner. On the RAF

FERGUSON/611 SQUADRON)

KILLED IN ACTION THE TWO crewmen who managed to return to Brest with their badly damaged Dornier Do 17 were destined not to survive the war. Willi Hagen, by now decorated with the German Cross in Gold and recipient of the Honour Goblet, was killed over Malta on 19 April 1942. He was posthumously promoted to Oberleutnant. Oberleutnant zur See Karl-Franz Heine returned to serve on U-boats. He was killed on 18 August 1943 whilst commanding U-403 which was sunk south-west of Dakar by a Lockheed Hudson of 200 Squadron and a Vickers Wellington of 697 Squadron.

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side, losses did occur but not until after the combat. Sergeant Bob Angus became lost and was fatally injured crash-landing just outside Kidderminster. Tommy Williams was luckier. “I must have been hit by more than two bullets,” he recalled. “The explosive one had broken the main undercarriage and shattered the emergency system and a number of electrical connections. The other one had shot away the pitot head and I was therefore without an airspeed indicator. The third went through the rear spar, obviously an armour piercing bullet, which struck the rear spar, splaying it out and jamming the left aileron. Fortunately it also severed the control cable between the ailerons otherwise they would have both jammed.”

OFF TO THE MEDITERRANEAN The Do 17s of Küstenfliegergruppe 606 (soon to be renamed Kampfgruppe 606 as they switched to more land as opposed to coastal targets) would appear in the skies of Wales for a few more weeks before it was withdrawn to Germany to convert to the

ABOVE: The wreckage of one of the last Küstenfliegergruppe 606 losses of 1940. This aircraft, a Dornier Do 17 from 1/606, flew into the ground in Cornwall on 9 November 1940, killing Oberfeldwebel Walter Seifert and his crew.

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ABOVE RIGHT: It was the damage seen here that indicated that Unteroffizier Heinz Johannsen had struck the tail of his aircraft after he had baled out. RIGHT: One of the 312 (Czech) Squadron pilots involved in the engagements on 11 October 1940 was Pilot Officer Alois Vasatko. Serving as the Exeter Wing Leader, Vasatko would be killed in action on 23 June 1942 when his Spitfire collided with a Focke-Wulf Fw 190.

Junkers Ju 88. It would then return to France to carry on where it had left off, carrying out a mix of bombing attacks again shipping and land targets before, at the end of 1941, it moved to the Mediterranean, never again to be seen over Wales. Though Küstenfliegergruppe 606 had departed for the Continent, the skies of North Wales were to continue to be visited with Luftwaffe aircraft passing through, to, or back from, targets elsewhere in the UK. One such incident was on the night of 13 April 1941, when 3/KG 28 headed for the Vickers Armstrong docks at Barrowin-Furness, with the target being the aircraft carrier HMS Victorious. Leutnant Lothar Horras managed to reach the docks and release his payload but was hit by anti-aircraft fire on his third pass over the target. The compass and one of transmitters on board the Heinkel He 111 were put out of action. As they headed back for France the crew debated their safest course of action. “We were trying to gain height but since the main compass was out of action and we were navigating with the auxiliary compass, we were not making for the open sea but Anglesey and the Welsh mountains,” recalled Gefreiter Hans Schlender. “All was quiet on board. I had an altimeter and had noticed that we had reached 1,000 metres ... Just then we heard from the cockpit, ‘Did you notice anything just now?’ ‘What was it?’ Well, yes, something had whizzed past – it must have been the first mountain peak we had skimmed. We were flying in the clouds – visibility zero. Next thing there was a bang, fire and deadly silence.” Lothar Horras continued the story: “I just missed the first peak and then hit the second. Since the Beobachter [observer] and myself were not strapped in, we flew straight through the cockpit, and when I came to I was right in front of a huge fire. My Beobachter had found me and dragged me out from under the engine – most of my injuries came from the engine.” Though three men had survived the crash they were stranded deep in the

Welsh mountains.”We realised that we were high up in the mountains above the clouds and in all probability the crash had not been noticed,” Kurt Achlender explained. “I suggested that I go down and try to get help – the others didn’t really want to be left alone, but I said it had to be done or we would all starve to death ... “By an incredible stroke of luck, I found the right way down. After a while I saw a small river bed and a house with smoke rising from the chimney. It was light by now so I waded through the river and after throwing away my gun in order not to appear too aggressive, I knocked at the door. “The door was opened by an elderly lady whom I told in very broken English that I was a German airman. She called her husband and they offered me a cup of tea.” The husband went off to call the authorities and after a short time a policeman arrived followed a little later by a ‘Tommy’. “He looked around, gave me a friendly smile and said, ‘Where is the German?’ He looked again, realised it was me, placed the rifle in the corner, came up to me and said, ‘Shake hands!”. So it is true. In Wales, they really do keep a welcome in the hillside and a welcome in the vales.  AUGUST 2014 31

IMAGE OF WAR HMS Delhi Attacked

HMS DELHI 20 November 1942

ATTACKED AT ALGIERS LAID DOWN on 29 October 1917, and launched on 23 August 1918, the D-Type Light Cruiser HMS Delhi was the first Royal Navy ship to carry this name. As the Second World War progressed, Delhi’s ’s service increasingly became one of the offshore support for assorted Allied landings – namely those in North Africa, Sicily, Salerno and Anzio. That support was to provide anti-aircraft cover. It was for this reason that Delhi underwent a refit at the US Navy Yard at Brooklyn for conversion to an Anti-Aircraft Cruiser. As part of this work, the two forward and two after 6-inch gun mountings were replaced by US Navy 5-inch mountings (though the No.3 midships’ 6-inch mounting was retained). Additional weapons were fitted for close range defence against aircraft. The bridge structure was also modified and tripod masts were fitted, whilst additional preparations were made to install British radar equipment (the latter being fitted at HM Dockyard Devonport in late February 1942). The guns installed on HMS Delhi had originally been destined for the destroyer USS Edison. These particular weapons had been hand-picked by Edison’s first commanding officer, Lieutenant Commander Albert Murdaugh, who had previously been posted to the Naval Gun Factory at Washington, DC. Much to Murdaugh’s displeasure, President Roosevelt personally ordered that these guns were to be fitted to Delhi, which was the only Royal Navy ship to be fitted with US destroyer type guns and mountings. Perhaps as a result of having these hand-picked guns, the gunnery officer on HMS Delhi subsequently reported that during gunnery

trials in February and March 1942 these weapons were able to fire twenty-five rounds per minute with the ready-use ammunition stored in the handling rooms and fifteen rounds per minute with the normal supply from the magazines. On 6 November 1942, HMS Delhi sailed from Gibraltar as part of the escort for a convoy heading to Oran during Operation Torch. Three days later, Delhi was instructed to take passage to Algiers where it would be used to bolster the Allied anti-aircraft defences. During the night of 20/21 November, Axis aircraft, predominantly from the Regia Aeronautica Italiana Italiana, bombed the harbour and Maison Blanche airfield at Algiers. Several aircraft at the latter were destroyed, whilst a number of ships were hit – including HMS Delhi which was under way in Algiers Bay. One of those on board was Robert Carlisle: “We proceeded to Algiers to provide ack ack cover for American troop ships. At this stage Delhi was coming under heavy attack but around 2.00am, there was a lull.” One of his colleagues suggested going to the ammunition house and he passed through a door leading to the stern of the ship. However, as Carlisle followed him, he saw the door literally split down the middle. There was a “tremendous explosion and the entire stern section of the ship was blown away”. The bomb that hit the quarterdeck had destroyed HMS Delhi’s stern structure – as is evident in the image seen here taken in the aftermath of the attack (note the men stood on the lower decks of the cruiser). Though the cruiser’s fighting efficiency was seriously impaired, it remained on patrol, albeit with reduced speed capability and limited steering. Fifty-nine of the ship’s crew lost their lives. (HMP)

IMAGE OF

WAR

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CENTENARIAN GREAT ESCAPER Pilot Officer Paul Royle

CENTENARIAN

GREAT ESCAPER One of the survivors of the famous Great Escape in 1944 reached the age of 100 in January 2014. Somewhat surprisingly, Paul Royle had never received his Second World War medals. Charles Page was able to interview him about the escape and present him with the medals he had earned seventy years ago.

O

N THE moonless night of Friday, 24 March 1944, the Great Escapers gathered in Hut 104 at Stalag Luft III. Tension was high as they waited for the tunnel to be opened. The men were well prepared, with their escape clothing, maps, compasses, forged passes, and rations. However, it was found that the tunnel was ten feet short of the tree line, and a new exit plan had to be improvised. In the event, only seventy-six men were able to escape. The German-speakers

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planned to catch trains at nearby Sagan station, while the “hard-assers” would slog through the snow. But it was a huge challenge to reach safety from the depths of Silesia, near the Polish border. Pilot Officer Paul Gordon Royle was given the 54th place for the escape, and teamed up with Flight Lieutenant Edgar “Hunk” Humphreys. However, there were sand falls in the tunnel, and the tunnel exit was difficult to open up. Royle finally entered the tunnel, known as “Harry” at around 03.30 hours.

MAIN PICTURE: A future Great Escaper, Pilot Officer Paul Royle, can be seen standing far right in this group photograph of Australian prisoners of war at Stalag Luft I. (COURTESY OF PAUL ROYLE)

“When my turn came,” he recalled, “I hopped on the trolley and was dragged along on that through the tunnel”. At the end of the claustrophobic tunnel, he climbed the thirty-foot ladder until he could smell the pine forest and see the wide starlit sky. Two tugs on the rope signalled all clear, and Royle made quickly for the pine trees and away from the glare of the camp lights. He was soon joined by Humphreys, and the pair headed south along a dirt road, intending to cross into Czechoslovakia and then Switzerland. 

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CENTENARIAN GREAT ESCAPER ????????? ?????????????? Paul Royale

ABOVE: Australian RAF recruits at Adastral House, Kingsway, London. Paul Royle is on the left wearing the overcoat and hat. (COURTESY OF PAUL ROYLE)

SHOT DOWN Paul Gordon Royle was born on 17 January 1914, in Perth, Western Australia. “After leaving Hale School, I had a job helping to check airfields,” Paul told the author, “and flew in the De Havilland DH4 biplane and the fourengine DH86 Dragon Rapide”. In 1938, with war clouds gathering, an RAF recruiting team visited Australia, and after a medical and interview, Paul was selected for pilot training. Paul completed his training and was awarded his coveted Wings, being posted to No.2 School of Army Cooperation at Andover, where he converted on to the twinengine Bristol Blenheim. On 10 May 1940 the German Army invaded France and the Low Countries. The British and French armies were forced to retreat, and the RAF began taking heavy casualties. Replacements were urgently needed and Royle was

ABOVE: Paul Royle, in flying suit on the right, at RAF Andover during 1940. (COURTESY OF PAUL ROYLE)

posted to 53 Squadron, which was operating Blenheims in northern France. He arrived in France on 15 May, and made his way to Poix airfield, where 53 Squadron was based. On the day he arrived, a Blenheim on a photo mission was shot down by an RAF Hurricane, and, as it blew up, unknowing British troops cheered from below. Then on 16 May, the squadron lost two more aircraft. One of them was damaged by British anti-aircraft fire, and then finished off by a Hurricane. That made ten Blenheims lost so far in May, with several more damaged. As recorded in the operations book, the squadron was ordered not to carry out any more photo-reconnaissance flights “due to the failure of fighter aircraft to recognise friendly aircraft after the firing of recognition signals”. On 17 May, Royle, along with his navigator Sergeant Woods and air gunner Malkin, were sent on their first operation. The Germans had broken through the Ardennes, and three Blenheim crews were tasked with a reconnaissance flight. BELOW: A Hawker Audax at No.9 Flying Training School, Hullavington. Paul Royle is pictured second from right. (COURTESY OF PAUL ROYLE) ABOVE LEFT: Paul Royle in an Avro Anson trainer during his time at RAF Hullavington. (COURTESY OF PAUL ROYLE)

34 AUGUST 2014

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CENTENARIAN GREAT ESCAPER ????????? ?????????????? Paul Royale

BELOW: Bristol Blenheim Mk.IV L4842. This aircraft was lost on 17 May 1940, while flying on the same mission as Pilot Officer Paul Royle’s. (COURTESY OF THE AVIATION HERITAGE MUSEUM OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA)

ABOVE: Paul Royle with de Havilland DH-82A Tiger Moth at No.7 Elementary Flying School, Desford, Leicestershire. This aircraft was blown away and damaged in a gale at RAF Weston Zoyland, Somerset in October 1944. (COURTESY OF PAUL ROYLE)

was blood everywhere, and dead and dying soldiers. All around was death and destruction. It was an absolute shambles. I held onto a British Army subaltern, but he died in my arms.” Sergeant Woods was taken to a hospital, and later repatriated to the UK under a prisoner exchange. Meanwhile, Royle was transported to Dulag Luft, a Luftwaffe camp near Oberursel near Frankfurt. Its main purposes were the collection and interrogation of PoWs. On arrival, Paul 

The three Blenheims took off at 08.10 hours and headed north-east. However, Royle found that both the intercom and the air gunner’s turret were not functioning, and made a quick return to the airfield. The problems were soon fixed, and Royle took off again, though the other two Blenheims were now well ahead. He hedge-hopped the Blenheim all the way, skirted the barrage balloons at Cambrai, and soon came across leading elements of the German Army. By now, Messerschmitt Bf 109s had already shot down one of the preceding Blenheims and damaged the other. They soon spotted Paul’s Blenheim and pounced on their easy prey. As the Bf 109s closed in, the slower Blenheim stood little chance. There was only the one forward firing .303-inch machine-gun on the port wing, and the air gunner in his upper turret had just the one .303 Vickers machine-gun. Within seconds, tracers whipped past the cockpit, and machine-gun bullets and 20mm cannon shells ripped through the Blenheim. The aircraft was mortally damaged; Sergeant Woods was seriously www.britainatwar.com

wounded, and Royle was hit in the right arm by splinters. “The navigator was sitting close by,” he recalled, “and there was blood all over the place”.

STALAG LUFT III Royle crash-landed his aircraft in a field near the French village of Fontaine-auPire, seven miles south-east of Cambrai. Somehow he got the navigator and himself out through the overhead hatch, and some farm workers took the crew to the nearby farmhouse. As air gunner Malkin was unscathed, it was decided that he should return to Allied lines, while the injured pilot would look after the badly wounded Woods. An advanced German column arrived on 18 May, and Royle and Woods were taken prisoner, along with some French Army soldiers. It was a bizarre scene, observed Royle: “Some of the French officers were wearing their Mess kit, as if they had been captured while having dinner in the Officers’ Mess.” Soon afterwards, captured British Army soldiers were brought in. “There

ABOVE: Paul Royle pictured after award of his “Wings” at RAF Hullavington in 1940.

(COURTESY OF PAUL ROYLE)

AUGUST 2014 35

CENTENARIAN GREAT ESCAPER Pilot Officer Paul Royle

ABOVE: Paul Royle’s prisoner of war identity tag with his PoW number of 2269. This was issued to him at Oflag IIA, near Prenzlau, in June 1940. The perforations enable the tag to be split in half in the event of death.

ABOVE: The telegram sent to Mrs G. Royle in Perth, Western Australia, advising that her son had been posted as missing on operations. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES AUSTRALIA; A705, 166/36/396)

was searched and his uniform replaced with overalls. He was then placed in solitary confinement and fed a diet of black bread, rancid fish, and mint tea. He was also given a bogus Red Cross form, which he ignored. The interrogations lasted for several days, after which he was released into the main compound. Royle was soon moved to Stalag Luft I, at Barth, near the Baltic Sea. There he took an active part in tunnelling, but without success. After a year he was transferred to Stalag Luft III at Sagan (now Zagan, Poland). The camp was surrounded by a double barbed wire fence, with guard towers, searchlights, and hundfuhrers (guard dog handlers). A morning and evening roll call

was held, and huts regularly inspected. By 1944, Stalag Luft III held almost 11,000 PoWs of many Allied nationalities, including a large number of Americans. Though the PoWs made the best of their captivity, there was a strong urge to escape. It was a cat and mouse game, as the German tunnel searchers, known as “ferrets”, constantly checked the camp grounds and the huts. The PoWs were well organised, though, and a system of “duty pilots” logged guards and “ferrets” in and out of camp areas, while “stooges” warned of hut inspections.

ABOVE: Aircraft models made out of paper by Paul Royle during his time in Stalag Luft III. A Bristol Blenheim in 53 Squadron markings, the squadron code being PZ (which was used between September 1939 and February 1943), can be seen at the rear. (COURTESY OF PAUL ROYLE)

Escape projects were co-ordinated by the Escape Committee which was headed by Squadron Leader Roger Bushell, also known as Big X. To outwit the German guards, the PoWs built three tunnels – “Tom”, “Dick” and “Harry”. Dick was eventually used to dispose of the sand from Harry. The entrance to Harry was under the stove in Hut 104, which was always kept lit.

THE ESCAPE As part of the construction of Harry, Royle’s task was to help spread the spoil generated by the excavations.

BELOW: Pilot Officer Paul Royle (second from right) with roommates at Stalag Luft I, near Barth on the Baltic coast. (COURTESY OF PAUL ROYLE)

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BELOW RIGHT: A copy of the letter sent to Mrs G. Royle advising her that her son had been confirmed as a PoW in Germany. (NATIONAL

CENTENARIAN GREAT ESCAPER Pilot Officer Paul Royle

ARCHIVES AUSTRALIA; A705, 166/36/396)

BELOW: Hauptman Hans Pieber leading a parole outing at Stalag Luft I. (COURTESY OF PAUL ROYLE)

Underneath his normal clothing, he wore trouser bags made from cut off long johns. These were pinned at the bottom and filled up with sand. When he reached a suitable area in the camp, he would pull on draw strings to unpin the long johns and release the sand. Because of their waddling gait, the men were known as “penguins”. Royle recalls that “you had to pick an area with the same colour of the tunnel dirt, or the guards would have noticed”. Over 600 men were involved in the Great Escape. Many Americans assisted in the ambitious project, but were moved to the southern compound just before the escape. One of the most active Americans, tail gunner Flight Lieutenant George Harsh RCAF, was a convicted murderer who had been pardoned after saving the life of a fellow prisoner before the war. He was made camp security officer. Tunnel Harry was 330 feet long and took eleven months to dig. It was a logistical masterpiece, with 4,000 bed boards for shoring, electric lighting, and an air ventilation duct made from Klim milk powder tins. Wooden rails were laid along the tunnel, and the tunnellers and later the escapers, moved along on wooden trolleys. Besides the tunnellers and penguins, there were forgers, tailors, mapmakers, and compass makers. When all was ready, the escape was set for the night of 24 March 1944. The 220 PoWs in their escape garb waited expectantly in Hut 104. “I was given number 54 for the escape,” continued Royle. “One of the men had to change numbers and so Edgar Humphreys became number 55, and we decided to team up.” However, there were sand falls in the tunnel, and the tunnel exit was difficult to open up. Paul finally entered Harry www.britainatwar.com

around 03.30 hours: “When my turn came, I hopped on the trolley and was dragged along on that through the tunnel. This was the first time I had been in the tunnel. You had to lie flat on the trolley, and avoid bumping into the shoring. Some of the men had too much baggage and knocked the boards down, causing sandfalls. I was hauled to the first stop called ‘Piccadilly Circus’, changed to another trolley and was then hauled to ‘Leicester Square’ and then to the exit shaft.” Unlike most of the escapers, Royle had a long background in mining: “I wasn’t worried at all in the tunnel. You had other thoughts in your mind you see. I just wanted to get out. But it was good to get to the end, and you could smell the pine

BELOW: Flight Lieutenant Paul Royle’s Prisoner of War record card, giving his date and place of capture. His father is listed as one R. Ewart, but this was in fact his uncle, Ewart Royle, who was a bank manager in England. (COURTESY

OF PAUL ROYLE)

trees. The exit ladder went straight up, almost thirty feet, but we were all quite fit and I had no trouble climbing up. At the top, I looked up at the stars, and then back at the watchtower and the barbed wire. I felt exhilarated at being outside the camp. But we were short of the tree line, and I had to wait for the all clear signal, which was two tugs on the rope. Then I ran for the pine trees and waited for Edgar. After he joined me, we made our way through the forest. 

AUGUST 2014 37

CENTENARIAN GREAT ESCAPER Pilot Officer Paul Royle

We wanted to get away from the camp as quickly as possible. All we saw were great heaps of snow and pine trees. We found the dirt road which would take us south. I don’t really know what our plan was, except we would head for Switzerland I suppose, but I think it was about 600 kilometres away. I don’t think we had much chance, especially in that weather, but we were glad to be out.”

and watery soup”. Every now and again, the guards would take someone away to be interrogated by the Gestapo. Within days, most of the PoWs, including Edgar Humphreys, had been driven away in black cars and shot by Gestapo agents. Soon, it was Royle’s turn to leave and he was escorted to the Gorlitz Gestapo building for interrogation. After returning to the jail, he was placed in a different cell, and a large ‘S’ for Sagan was marked on CAPTURE the cell door. The next day, he and several Due to several delays, only seventy-six others were taken back to Stalag Luft III PoWs escaped before the tunnel was by three Luftwaffe guards. discovered at 04.50 hours by a patrolling Once back in Stalag Luft III, Royle was guard. By then, Paul Royle and Edgar placed in solitary for three weeks. On Humphreys were well clear of the camp, his release he was met by Paul Brickhill, and heading south. who interviewed him about his escape. “We walked through the night and Brickhill was captured after his Spitfire then found a place in the bushes to hide had been shot down in North Africa. for the day. We ate some rations and After the war he made the escape famous tried to make some tea using a small with his book The Great Escape. portable stove. It was hard to sleep in the The events at Stalag Luft III represented freezing cold. the largest mass escape from a German "The next night we moved off through PoW camp in the war. An enraged Hitler the snow, heading south. After we initially ordered the seventy-three had been walking a while, the ground recaptured prisoners to be executed, dropped away, and I’ll never forget our though this was subsequently changed surprise as we looked down on a six lane to fifty. The selection of those to be killed SS-Gruppenführer Arthur autobahn [Berlin to Breslau]. We lay low was made by SS-Gruppenführer for a few minutes, to make sure there were no guards posted. Then, as there was no traffic, we ran across as quickly as possible, feeling quite exposed. “After entering a small village, we were stopped by three men of the Landwacht [German auxiliary police]. One of them pointed a shotgun gun at us. Then a soldier and a policeman came, and we were taken by police car to Tiefenfurt jail.” Along with other recaptured Great Escapers, they were duly taken further south to Gorlitz jail. “It was a dreadful place”, Royle recalled, “old and dirty, with three or four to a cell, no blankets, and meals were only two slices of black bread 38 AUGUST 2014

TOP LEFT: The message advising Mrs G. Royle her son was now interned in Stalag Luft III. (NATIONAL ARCHIVES AUSTRALIA; A705, 166/36/396)

ABOVE: The actual map used by Paul Royle during the Great Escape. He has marked a blue cross for Stalag Luft III, half way between Berlin and Breslau. The back of the map (top right) shows it to be of German origin. BELOW: The memorial to the fifty men executed after the Great Escape which can be seen near the site of Stalag Luft III. Edgar Humphreys' name can be seen on the left column of the right hand panel.

Nebe, who flipped through the PoW records whilst making his decisions. The young, the old, or those with children, were mostly spared. Dick Churchill and Robert Nelson were spared because of their names and The Dodger because of his age and relationship to Winston Churchill. Pop Green was spared, as was the perennial escaper, Harry “Wings” Day. Royle was one of the fortunate twentythree spared: “Edgar and myself were together when we were recaptured and behaved in the same manner. There’s no reason why one should live and not the other. I don’t know why I was spared. It didn’t make any sense.” Of the fifty victims, there were twenty-two Britons, six Canadians, six Poles, five Australians, two New Zealanders, two Norwegians, two South Africans, and one each from Lithuania, Belgium, France, Greece, and Czechoslovakia. Most of the PoWs, including Squadron Leader Roger Bushell (Big X), were driven to a lonely roadside, shot in the back of the head, and later cremated. The ashes were returned to Stalag Luft III, and a memorial was built by the PoWs. After the war, the urns were moved to a cemetery in Poznan, Poland.

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CENTENARIAN GREAT ESCAPER ????????? ?????????????? Paul Royale

FAR RIGHT: Paul Royle with the letter he received from the Queen to mark his 100th birthday. (AUTHOR) BELOW: The memorial stone at Zagan which marks the spot where the exit from tunnel Harry was opened – and where Royle and Humphreys emerged into freedom, albeit temporarily, on the night of 24-25 March 1944. Last seen alive on 31 March 1944, Humphreys was executed by the Gestapo officers Lux and Wilhelm Scharpwinkel. He was cremated at Liegnitz.

Only three escapers – two Norwegians and a Dutchman – made it back to the UK, but the escape caused a massive diversion of German manpower. After the war, many of the Gestapo agents involved in the killings were hanged or imprisoned. Others were killed during the war, and some captured by the Russians. Nebe was hanged with piano wire from a meat hook, for involvement in the plot to kill Hitler.

LIBERATION After the Great Escape, the PoWs at Stalag Luft III were advised to await liberation by Allied forces. By late January 1945, the Russians were just sixteen miles away, and the camp was evacuated. Royle was in a group of about 3,000 prisoners which was marched away to the west. The PoW column was herded by armed guards and hundfuhrers, along a road clogged with bedraggled refugees, horse drawn carts, vehicles, and tanks. At night,

the column took shelter in sheds and barns. Conditions were appalling, with freezing cold, snow, and lack of food. Dysentery and typhus were rife; many were affected by frostbite, and some died by the wayside. Tragically, some PoWs were killed by friendly fire from strafing Allied aircraft. After several days, Royle’s group straggled into Spremberg train station, where it was crammed into squalid railway carriages for onward journey. On 4 February 1945, they arrived at Bremen and transferred to Marlag und Milag Nord Nord, a PoW camp for Royal Navy and Merchant Navy seamen. However, on 2 April, they were marched east, away from the advancing Allies. By 9 April, they were in Tarmstedt, where some Red Cross parcels were supplied. At last, liberation arrived, as Royle’s diary for 2 May records: “Armoured recco vehicle Joan-Ann arrived at camp 1300 hrs, driver from Cheshire Rgt 11th Armoured Div.” Two days later, they were transported by British 2nd Army trucks to Borghorst, where they stayed in a factory. Then on 8 May they were taken to Rheine airfield, where Operation Exodus was underway, and Lancasters were shuttling PoWs back to Britain.

Royle was soon aboard a Lancaster and after a two hour flight, during which the White Cliffs of Dover slipped under the nose, the aircraft landed at RAF Dunsfold in Surrey. Royle and the others were given a welcome home meal and then put on a special train to RAF Cosford, and for the first time in five years, he slept in a bed with white sheets. After delousing, medicals, and processing, the former PoWs were re-kitted, and given extended leave. Royle arrived in London on 9 May, one day after VE Day. After taking his discharge from the RAF, he completed a course at the Royal School of Mines. Then in August 1946, Royle and his new wife, Georgina, sailed back to Fremantle on Stirling Castle. Also on board were some 700 war brides and the English cricket team. Paul Royle made a career in mining and engineering, and was involved in many important projects in the UK and around the world, retiring to Perth in 1980 with his second wife Pamela. He celebrated his 100th birthday on 17 January 2014. He received his message from the Queen, and author Charles Page presented him with the war medals that he earned seventy years ago. Paul Royle and Richard Churchill are thought to be the only survivors of the seventy-six Great Escapers.  AUGUST 2014 39

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THE RAF ON THE AIR Squadron Leader Ernest Esau DFC, RAAF

 





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 

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During the Second World War, RAF personnel regularly described their activities on the radio for listeners of the BBC. These broadcasts described their experiences in their own words and in effect provided the human stories behind the official communiqués. Each month we present one of these narratives, an account selected from over 280 broadcasts which were, at the time, given anonymously.

T 10 PART

HOUGH JUNE 1944 saw the first German V-1s being launched against the UK, they were followed, some weeks later, by the beginning of the V-2 rocket campaign. As Andrew Thomas reveals, some fighter squadrons found themselves helping to tackle the threat. In a talk first broadcast on Thursday, 16 April 1945, Squadron Leader Ernest Esau DFC, RAAF explained the part that he and his fellow pilots of 453 Squadron RAAF played.

“When the first rocket-bomb – ‘flying gas main’, the security conscious public called it – landed in Southern England, we’d already begun our job against them,” Esau noted. “You probably know something about the rockets now, although nothing was published in the days when they were landing in this country. It’s driven by a special kind of highly inflammable fuel. It travels faster than sound so you never hear it coming, and it travels fifty-sixty miles up, more or less vertically from its firing point,

and then dives down to again to earth. “To see the trail when a rocket went up was an amazing sight,” Esau noted. “I’ve seen several as I was approaching the Dutch coast. I first noticed a trail starting at about 8,000 feet, a practically vertical trail – it soared right up to a fantastic height, and it grew at an incredible speed and then it gradually leaned over towards England. “Sometimes I saw the rocket itself. It looked rather like a small black speck; there was no flame about it, or if there

MAIN PICTURE: The aircraft which 453 Squadron RAAF went into battle against the V-2 with – the Spitfire XVI. This particular example, SM256/FU-W (pictured at RAF Hawkinge in early 1945), flew anti-V-2 operations through the winter of 1944-1945. (COURTESY OF JOHN BENNETT)

42 AUGUST 2014

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BELOW: Squadron Leader Ernest Esau DFC, Officer Commanding 453 Squadron RAAF.

was, I couldn’t see it in the daytime. It was such a tiny black speck but it left behind a fantastically broad white fluffy trail, and that gradually dispersed with the wind, and disappeared … “It was quite obvious that the only thing the air force could do against such a weapon was to prevent it from being fired – the rocket bomb couldn’t be intercepted in the air as the flying bomb had been, by fighters, flak and balloons. So Bomber Command attacked the places where rockets and rocket fuel were manufactured; [the] Tactical Air Force attacked transport to prevent them being brought up to the firing points; and towards the end, squadrons of Fighter Command joined in with

TAF, but at first Fighter Command concentrated on attacking the sites to prevent the Germans establishing any fixed programme of operating. “The sites were very small and extremely mobile so we kept up continuous patrols during the hours of daylight. We aimed to create such disorder and panic that no permanent firing site could be established, no regular supplies delivered, no regular firing programme followed. But it wasn’t a case of having a certain number of sites to eliminate and the job was finished, they were so mobile that they sprung up unobtrusively like mushrooms overnight. The sites were centred round The

(RAAF)

ABOVE: Another of 453 Squadron’s Spitfire LF XVIs, SM348 FU-G, at Steeple Morden on 31 May 1945. The squadron remained in Britain for several months after the end of the war before deploying to join the Allied occupation forces in Germany on 29 August.

(VIA ALFRED PRICE)

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Hague – capital of Holland. This city is surrounded by large woods; they give excellent cover and the Germans made use of them to camouflage their activities. Every site was camouflaged – none of us ever saw one, but we were so carefully briefed that we could pinpoint the target easily, on the basis of photoreconnaissance and other information … “Every attack we made was different, of course, but the general procedure was always the same. Before we left base, we were very carefully briefed for a particular target, and when we’d finished our general reconnaissance of the area we checked up on our information about the target. 

AUGUST 2014 43

THE RAF ON THE AIR Squadron Leader Ernest Esau DFC, RAAF RIGHT: A Spitfire XVI taxying in after another mission. Of the Spitfire, Squadron Leader Ernest Esau DFC stated in his broadcast that it was “the finest all-round performer we have produced – the Mosquito boys wouldn’t agree with that but still”. (VIA ALFRED PRICE)

ABOVE: The white stream of a V-2 rocket trail photographed early one morning, in the border area between Holland and Germany, during December 1944. (HMP)

“Then the leader got ready for his bombing run, and began to talk up, giving the approximate time when he was coming down – and the time gradually worked down to about a thirty-second warning, and the last order was ‘Going down now’. Then everybody peeled off after him in a very steep power dive from 9,000 feet down to 3,000. We got a good view of the target in that dive and were able to aim our bombs. “Everyone followed the leader in and attacked in rapid succession, and then we’d use the tremendous speed gained in the dive to zoom climb and to gain height. The pull-out followed by the vertical climb usually resulted in blackout lasting

ten to fifteen seconds – during that time the aircraft flew itself, but I always felt quite normal when I came to, and I never heard anyone complain. “Before we became interested in what the Germans were doing with these rockets they didn’t bother to shoot up much flak if we passed over The Hague area. But once we began to reconnoitre and harass them they sent up everything they had the minute we

came in sight. The flak is really designed to put you off your aim as well as to shoot you down, and I must say that all the members of our Wing ‘pressed on regardless’ – to use an RAF expression – and in spite of the really murderous flak there were very few losses on my squadron. “Although a Spitfire is a single-seater aircraft we kept close contact with each other by means of R/T. This had to be kept down to an absolute minimum, but during the more tense moments of an attack we did say some silly things – and they helped us. ‘Hell of a lot of flak coming up Leader’, one pilot might say and I’d answer: ‘Yes, I can see it.’ Or, ‘Look out Boss, they’re after us’. I knew that well enough, but it helped both when I replied: ‘Yeah, don’t let it worry you.’ “The whole rocket site area was always under an alert when we went there, so we never saw any life there at all, and that was terribly depressing. All the streets were bare; it looked as though no one had lived there for hundreds of years. It was very seldom that we saw even an odd car or transport. In other places there was quite a bit of traffic, and some shipping, but here, nothing at all. There was nothing on the water either, not even a rowing boat.

“Up north of The Hague there’s still a large building with the usual very big circle with a Red Cross in the middle, the international marking for a hospital. The Germans used the woods adjoining this building as a rocket site so we were faced with a problem of hitting the site without hitting the hospital. We attacked the site several times with good results, the majority of bombs falling in exactly the right place, with no damage to the hospital. “Another place they used to fire rockets from was a long wood almost in the centre of town – it’s probably a public garden. There was a canal running across it and several roads through it. The problem here was to plaster the wood without doing any damage to the built up area around. There are some film studios in The Hague, very large film studios. The Germans were storing stuff in there – liquid oxygen – and filling up some V-2s. So we attacked it with a dozen aircraft and burnt it to the ground; we hit it at eleven in the morning, and it was still burning at seven that night. “In the five months the V-2s held our interest the squadron did over 1,000 sorties. March was the biggest month – March was a terrific month – flying conditions were good and the ground crew worked flat out.” 

ABOVE: Spitfire XVIs of 453 Squadron RAAF, including SM184 FU-D and TB743 FU-K, lined up at RAF Hawkinge in May 1945 soon after its attacks against V-2 sites had ended. Indeed, on 2 May 1945, the squadron escorted the aircraft that returned Queen Wilhelmina to The Netherlands after three years in exile in the UK. This was 453 Squadron’s last mission of the war; Germany surrendered six days later. (JOHN BENNETT)

44 AUGUST 2014

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"OUR LOSSES: NIL" Attack on Brooklands

“OUR LOSSES: N On 3 September 1940, Herman Goering informed his senior officers that that Fighter Command was on its knees. The Luftwaffe, he told them, was on the brink of victory. The following day mass attacks were delivered against southern Britain. But, as Frank Phillipson describes, the result was not what the German Reichsmarschall expected.

O

N THE morning of 4 September 1940, seventy German bombers protected by 200 Messerschmitt Bf 109s attacked the Kent and Sussex coasts. Then, just after midday a formation of 300 German aircraft crossed the Channel and again attacked the southeast coast. Under cover of these raids, fourteen bomb-carrying Messerschmitt Bf 110s of Erprobungsgruppe 210 (EprGr. 210), closely escorted by about twenty-five Bf 110s of V(Z) Gruppe, Lehrgeschwader 1 (V(Z)/LG1), avoided detection and headed further west and then north.

46 AUGUST 2014

MAIN PICTURE BELOW: One of the many Luftwaffe losses on Wednesday, 4 September 1940. This Messerschmitt Bf 110 of ZG2 came down in a field near Shoreham. (WW2IMAGES)

They passed over Guildford just after 13.00 hours and then most likely flew east-north-east along the railway line over Clandon and Effingham Junction to Cobham. They then approached their designated target of the Vickers Armstrong aircraft factory which, producing Wellington bombers, was located at Brooklands in Surrey. The Hawker aircraft factory at Brooklands, which was manufacturing Hawker Hurricanes, was not the target briefed to be attacked that day.

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: NIL” Brooklands was protected by heavy and light anti-aircraft guns, as well as Parachute and Cable (PAC) devices that could be launched up into the path of any low-flying aircraft. The site was camouflaged with paint, netting and dummy houses. What could not be disguised was the main railway line running along the northern boundary with its distinctive Y-shaped junction with the line to Chertsey. Brooklands at this time did not have the protection of barrage balloons. It was a fine day and many workers were outside on their lunch break. No air-raid warning was sounded as Fighter Command’s plotting system had been overwhelmed by the sheer number of raids with the aircraft attacking Brooklands not yet plotted from Observer Corps reports. This was later explained by Dowding: “The situation of the Operations Room table represented something approaching saturation point at the time, and

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that owing to this and the time lag which is inseparable from teleprinter operation, the plots on the Command and Group tables were indefinite and for all practical purposes faded out in the neighbourhood of Horsham. This resulted in air raid warning not being given and some of the guns failing to fire.” EprGr. 210 split in two, with one group attacking from the south and the other from the east. At 13.14 hours they dived in on their low-level pinpoint attack, opening fire with their cannon and machine-guns. While EprGr. 210 attacked, the Bf 110 fighters of V(Z)/LG1 flew protective cover above. After each of the EprGr. 210 aircraft had dropped its two 500kg bombs the raiders flew off, initially north-

ABOVE: Another view of the ZG2 loss near Shoreham. (WW2IMAGES)

LEFT: The Commanding Officer of V(Z)/ LG1, Hauptmann Horst Liensberger in a staff car. It was Liensberger’s unit which provided the escort for the Bf 110s tasked with bombing the Vickers Armstrong aircraft factory at Brooklands. (COURTESY OF CHRIS GOSS)

westwards. They then escaped at speed and at low-level back to France with no losses to any of the thirteen aircraft. At Brooklands, caught off guard, no one was in air-raid shelters and the defences failed to come into action – one source says that at least one heavy anti-aircraft gun opened fire. Bombs reportedly hit a pre-war motor-racing grandstand and a repair hanger. An air-raid shelter where a number of women were eating their lunches received a direct hit killing all of the occupants. The main damage and loss of life was caused by a bomb that came through the main factory roof and exploded on the ground floor. Other bombs fell wide of the target some landing on St George’s Hill south of the factory. At least eighty-seven people were killed and 419 injured. 

AUGUST 2014 47

"OUR LOSSES: NIL" Attack on Brooklands LEFT: One of the engines from the Bf 110 that crashed at Broom House, Long Reach, West Horsley, pictured after its recovery. (COURTESY OF BROOKLANDS MUSEUM)

Though unable to respond rapidly to the developing attack, Keith Park, Air Officer Commanding No.11 Group, decided to put a “stop” on the avenue of approach to Goodwood. As a result at 13.00 hours, nine Hurricanes of 253 Squadron were ordered to take off from RAF Kenley and patrol above the airfield and over nearby Croydon airfield. Visibility was not particularly good due to a haze, but the sky was cloudless. Ten minutes later the returning fighters of V(Z)/LG1 were spotted by the Hurricanes led by Flight Lieutenant William Cambridge. “Turned formation 90 degrees to starboard bringing it into a very shallow vic and squadron dived to attack out of sun,” Cambridge wrote in his subsequent Combat Report. “The enemy were then flying in sections of vic and the formation was broken up. No enemy evasive tactics were observed or escort seen. Attack delivered from 12,000 feet onto enemy who were at about 6,000 feet.” It seems that the Germans were caught by surprise as the Luftwaffe pilots did not adopt their normal defensive formation – which was to form a circle each covering the tail of the aircraft in front. Cambridge picked his target and attacked from the side and above firing all his ammunition from 450 yards to point blank range. The Bf

48 AUGUST 2014

RIGHT: This building in the High Street in Ripley was the doctor’s surgery (Malabar House) to which Unteroffizier Joachim Jäckel was taken to have his wounds treated. (AUTHOR)

BELOW: One of the aircraft lost by EprGr. 210 during its operations over the United Kingdom. This particular aircraft, a Bf 110D of Stab/ EprGr. 210, was shot down by Flight Lieutenant Humphrey a’Beckett Russell of 32 Squadron on 15 August 1940, crash landing at School Farm, Hooe. The crew were taken prisoner.

(COURTESY OF CHRIS GOSS)

110’s port engine caught fire and the aircraft stalled, turned to port and dived crashing in flames about fifty yards north of a farmhouse (actually Broom House, Long Reach, West Horsley). Cambridge stated that he had experienced some machine-gun fire from the rear gunner but this had soon been silenced. The rear gunner, Unteroffizier Joachim Jäckel, baled out wounded and parachuted down on Bridge End Farm, Ockham, where he was taken prisoner by members of the Home Guard who were gathering in the harvest. The pilot, Feldwebel Karl Röhring, was killed in the crash where the aircraft burned and exploded. Another Bf 110 from V(Z)/LG1 shot down by the 253 Squadron Hurricanes. This crashed and burned out at Upper Common, Netley Heath, West Horsley, on the North Downs. The pilot, Oberleutnant Michel Junge, and his gunner, Unteroffizier Karl Bremser, were both killed. The rest of V(Z)/LG1 escaped towards the coast. However, two more of their aircraft failed to return, having crashed in the Channel; another landed at its base damaged and with a wounded radio operator. At Bridge End Farm, Ockham, Bill Shere, the farmer’s son who was twelve-years-old at the time, watched

the Bf 110s dive down on Brooklands and the smoke rising from the attack. He also saw the Hurricanes descend on the German fighters, as well as Joachim Jäckel in his parachute seeming to “rush down” and land south of Ockham Lane. Cecil Bradford, the gardener of Bridge End House and a member of the Ockham Home Guard, was the first to get to the airmen. William Gregory, the estate manager at Ockham Park, administered first aid to the wounded man. Canadian troops from the Ockham Park Estate (where they were stationed) also rushed to the downed airman and it was said they wanted to “finish him off”. Eventually, Jäckel was taken by Canadian troops, together with Police Constable Parrott of Ripley, in a car to the surgery of Dr Ralli Creet at Malabar House, opposite the church and school in Ripley High Street. Joan Chandler (nee Hatcher) recalls looking through the school railings and seeing the injured airman brought to the surgery. There was a large crowd present and she says that the man looked petrified. Jäckel, who had cuts to his face and head, broke both arms. With a bullet wound in one arm and another in his left foot, he was suffering from shock. He was put at ease by the village schoolmaster who spoke German.

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"OUR LOSSES: NIL" Attack on Brooklands

Dr Creet described Jäckel as being about 22-years-old with some sort of decoration on his tunic and that he sat almost silently all the time he was in the surgery. While Jäckel was being treated the crowd grew outside the surgery. When he was carried to a car escorted by the police and military, some women booed and Bev Jackman recalls that many spat on him, which she thought was awful. One of Jäckel’s boots was picked up and taken round the village, getting it filled with donations for a fete being held to raise funds for an air-raid shelter for the local school and also for troop comforts. Near Broom House three men had been working about twenty yards from where the aircraft crashed. George Hone, G. Finch and E. Jarvis all ducked for cover, though Hone was hit by a fragment though not seriously hurt. The trio had to remain in cover for half an hour while the aircraft continued to burn and explode. Bill Shere also visited the crash site. This he describes as just a hole in the ground with wreckage and the human remains of the pilot strewn all around and in the trees. The Bf 110 that crashed on Upper Common set light to woodland to

which the fire brigade was called. The crash was near a tented encampment of the Canadian West Nova Scotia Regiment. Its War Diary records that its soldiers had to guard the wreckage and the dead occupants. Oscar Muller, who was aged sixteen at the time and a pupil at Guildford’s Royal Grammar School, tells of how he and a friend, having heard about the crash, rode up and along the North Downs on their bicycles to Upper Common. It was near dusk when they came across the aircraft remains, still being guarded by the Canadians. One of the soldiers asked if they had come looking for a souvenir of the crash. Using the bayonet fixed to the end of his rifle, he lifted up in front of them the “back bone” of one of the airmen. This vividly brought the war home to the two boys. Brian Mitchiner, then a schoolboy living in Netley Gardens, Gomshall, was friendly with the Canadian soldiers. They showed him a finger in a matchbox which they told him came from one of the German airmen. John Chandler was ten years of age at the time and lived in Green Dene, Horsley. He recalls that at some point he was shown a piece of skull that had

ABOVE LEFT: A Bf 110 of V(Z)/LG1 running up its engines in preparation for a mission over southern Britain during the Battle of Britain. (COURTESY OF CHRIS GOSS)

ABOVE RIGHT: The graves of three of the Luftwaffe airmen lost on 4 September 1940, in Brookwood Cemetery. (AUTHOR)

BELOW: A Messerschmitt Bf 110 of V(Z)/ LG1 pictured at its base in France.

(COURTESY OF CHRIS GOSS)

been shaped into a swastika. The bone looked very new and he was also told it came from one of the airmen. Joy Stevens (nee Harris) was 17 during the Battle of Britain and lived at Hyde Farm, Ockham. At a dance a few days after the crash a German flying helmet was passed around with a piece of skull with skin and hair still inside. The whole incident was, she remarks, “terribly gruesome”. The three dead German airmen were buried together at Brookwood Military Cemetery. In his speech to his officers on 3 September 1940, Goering had said that the RAF’s communications were “in disarray”. Although this was not true, the German attack on Brookwood did indicate its deficiencies. So, after an RAF review into the events of 4 September, a change in tactics was announced. Instructions were issued stating that in the event of the plotting system becoming saturated, “gun defences were to act independently and to go into action without further warning against hostile aircraft”. Despite the failings of Fighter Command’s communications, the Germans had suffered heavy losses on 4 September, typified by the summary of that day’s action in Flight Lieutenant Cambridge’s report: “Enemy casualties: 6 M.E. Jaguars [a Bf 110] destroyed, 1 M.E. Jaguar damaged. Our losses: Nil.” 

“One of the soldiers asked if they had come looking for a souvenir of the crash. Using the bayonet fixed to the end of his rifle, he lifted up in, front of them, the “back bone” of one of the airmen. This vividly brought the war home to the two boys.” www.britainatwar.com

AUGUST 2014 49

Save in a Fire What I Would

Geoff Simpson asks a top curator or trustee which single item in their collections they would reach for in the event of a disaster.

FIRST WORLD WAR CASUALTY'S ENGAGEMENT RING Scapa Flow Visitor Centre & Museum, Lyness, Orkney

THIS MONTH’S artefact has already been saved in one remarkable set of circumstances and is now set to be saved again should a disaster strike at the Scapa Flow Visitor Centre & Museum. Jude Callister, Acting Custodian, explains her choice: “On Saturday, 12 January 1918, the M-class destroyers HMS Opal and HMS Narborough left Scapa Flow to carry out a ‘Dark Night’ Patrol, in the company of the light cruiser HMS Boadicea. The weather rapidly deteriorated, and in a fierce blizzard and worsening seas the destroyers were given permission to return to base. In blinding snow, HMS Opal,, swiftly followed by HMS Narborough, Narborough sailed straight into the cliffs of Hesta Head, South Ronaldsay, both ships breaking up within fifteen minutes. The only survivor, Able Seaman William Sissons, clung to the cliffs for thirty-six hours before the weather abated sufficiently for a search party to find him. “In 2007 a group of amateur divers were exploring the wreck

site when one of them, Peter Brady, saw something shining amongst the rocks. This turned out to be a gold ring, inscribed on the inside with words ‘To Stanley from Flo – 6 March 1916’. “One of HMS Opal’s crew, Engine Room Artificer Ernest Stanley Cubiss, had married Florence Foster on 28 June 1917; the gift of this ring had probably marked their engagement. The divers traced members of Stanley’s family, including his nephew and Florence’s son from her second marriage, and the families decided to donate the ring, together with other items relating to Stanley and Flo, to Orkney Arts, Museums and Heritage Service. They are now on display at the Scapa Flow Visitor Centre & Museum.” Ernest Stanley Cubiss was 25 years old and came from Keighley in Yorkshire. An obituary of him appeared in The Keighlian. It stated: “Ernest S. Cubiss attended School from 1905 to 1907. In 1907 he was successful in the competitive examination held by the Admiralty for boys in Secondary Schools who wish to become

LEFT: The ring once worn by Engine Room Artificer Ernest Stanley Cubiss. ABOVE: The Scapa Flow Visitor Centre & Museum. Note the propeller from HMS Hampshire which can be seen on the right.

engineers in the Royal Navy. He went as an artificer to Portsmouth, and there received four years’ train ing. He was fully qualified when the war broke out, and served as chief petty officer on board a destroyer. He was very successful in his work, and had been recommended for promotion; but was unfortunately drowned on January 12th, 1918 (after the ships struck the cliffs) ... No help was possible, and although an attempt was made to lower a boat, it broke away. One single survivor managed to swim ashore, and after living for 36 hours on sodden biscuits and snow, was picked up by a trawler.”

HMS Opal was less than three years old at the time of her loss, having been launched on 11 September 1915. She had been built in Sunderland by William Doxford & Sons and had taken part in the Battle of Jutland. Ernest Cubiss is also reported to have been present at the Battle. The Scapa Flow Visitor Centre & Museum is situated at Lyness on the island of Hoy in a former naval pump house, a short walk from the ferry terminal. Amongst its features are a propeller and other artefacts from HMS Hampshire, lost off Orkney in 1916, with Lord Kitchener amongst the casualties. 

THE SCAPA FLOW VISITOR CENTRE & MUSEUM ABOVE: A view of Hesta Head, also known as the Clett of Crura, on South Ronaldsay, this being the area where HMS Opal ran aground and was wrecked. (COURTESY OF

KIRSTY SMITH; WWW.GEOGRAPH.ORG.UK)

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AUGUST 2014

UNTIL SEPTEMBER, the opening times for the visitor centre and museum are 9.00am to 4.00pm, Monday to Sunday. During October it will be open between 9.00am and 4.30pm, from Monday to Saturday. During 2014, free guided walks take place at 11.00am every Thursday around the remains of the Lyness Naval Base. For more information, visit: www.scapaflow.co.uk

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1914-2014 The First World War Centenary

A WORLD AT WAR:

THE EVENTS OF AUGUST 57 THE TICKING CLOCK In the days leading up to the declaration of war in August 1914, the British Cabinet was faced with the most difficult of all decisions. What transpired over the course of those days was recorded by one of the Cabinet ministers, the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill.

62 THE WRONG DECLARATION OF WAR Told by a Foreign Office official, this is the story of the terrible mistake that was made when, in the anxious moments of the evening of 4 August 1914, the German Ambassador was handed a premature British declaration of war.

64 THE BEGINNING OF MANY SORROWS It was not only in cities such as London and Paris that large crowds gathered to mark, or even celebrate, the declaration of war at the start of August 1914. As the world drifted into war, one newspaper correspondent was sent from London to Germany to report on events as they unfolded in the first week of August 1914.

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1914

68 THE FIRST CASUALTY OF WAR Unveiled with due pomp and ceremony on 20 August 1939 is a memorial near Mons in Belgium that commemorates the first shot fired by a British soldier in the First World War. During this clash of arms between British and German cavalry it is usually stated that a number of Germans were either wounded or possibly killed. It would appear, however, that the dramatic tale of that first combat has been somewhat embellished. Jon Cooksey explains.

72 IN THE ARMS OF THE ANGELS One of the most enduring myths of the First World War is that of the heavenly figures who appeared during the retreat from Mons. Taking the form of archers, their arrows stopped the Germans in their tracks. But what really happened?

79 WW1 SUBMARINE WRECK SURVEYED Almost 100 years after it was scuttled, the wreck of HMAS AE2 has become the subject of a new project.

AUGUST 2014 55

1914-2014 The First World War Centenary

T

HE CABINET met at 11.00 hours on Sunday, 2 August 1914, to discuss the stance that Britain should adopt following the movement of German forces into Luxembourg a few hours earlier. For the previous few days tension had been mounting amidst a flood of urgent messages between London, Paris and Berlin. Sir Edward Grey, the Foreign Secretary, had indicated that Britain would remain neutral “so long as German troops remain on the defensive and do not cross [the] French frontier, and French troops abstain from crossing [the] German frontier”.1

Whilst the Cabinet had agreed unanimously with the messages sent by Sir Edward Grey, which was understood to mean that the British Army and Royal Navy would uphold French neutrality, there was, according to Churchill, “an invincible refusal” on the part of the majority of the Cabinet “to contemplate British intervention by force of arms should the Foreign Secretary’s efforts fail and a European war begin”.2 That determination by most Cabinet members not to be dragged into war meant that if war seemed impossible to prevent, the Government would break apart at a time when unanimity was of

MAIN PICTURE: Warships of the Royal Navy’s Grand Fleet at sea at the beginning of the First World War. (MARY EVANS/

ROBERT HUNT COLLECTION)

unparalleled importance. “Thus,” wrote Churchill, “as the terrific week wore on and the explosion became inevitable, it seemed probable that a rupture of the political organisation by which the country had so long been governed was also rapidly approaching. I lived this week entirely in the official circle, seeing scarcely anyone but my colleagues of the Cabinet or of the Admiralty, and moving only to and fro across the Horse Guards between Admiralty House and Downing Street.” Cabinet collective responsibility was a long-established constitutional convention of British Government 

THE TICKING

CLOCK

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In the days leading up to the declaration of war in August 1914, the British Cabinet was faced with the most difficult of all decisions. What transpired over the course of those days was recorded by one of the Cabinet ministers, the First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill.

AUGUST 2014 57

The First World War Centenary 1914 1914-2014 2014 which still remains true to this day. Individual members who are unwilling to accept collective responsibility have no choice but to resign. With Britain on the brink of war it seemed that the Government was about to collapse.

CRIMINAL MADNESS Churchill decided that he dare not wait for this disaster to unfold, which might well stymie decision making and leave Britain in a state of paralysis. “Each day as the telegrams arrived showing the darkening scene of Europe, and the Cabinets ended in growing tension,” Churchill continued, “I pulled the various levers which successively brought our naval organisation into full preparedness”. This might seem a logical move to make under the circumstances but, as Churchill was only too aware, mobilizing the fleet in this way was alarmist and threatening and might have the effect of tipping Britain into war whether the country wanted it or not. It also involved considerable expense and if the measure proved unnecessary he would have to justify his decision to the House of Commons. “That assembly,” Churchill explained, “once delivered from the peril, would certainly proceed upon the assumption that the British participation in a Continental war would have been criminal madness”. Churchill knew that he was risking political suicide if Britain did not go to war, but he felt that he dare not wait. At the next Cabinet he demanded

ABOVE: Naval reforms inaugurated by Lord Fisher included the establishment of a Naval Reserve which could be added to the strength of the fleet whenever was necessary. On 2 August 1914, all these reserves were called up, and by the next day the whole fleet had been mobilised. In this photograph, reservists, coastguards and liberty-men are on their way to join their ships at Portsmouth. (MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY) BELOW: King George V's Proclamation calling for men for the Royal Naval Reserve, Royal Fleet Reserve, and for officers and men of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve. (MARY EVANS/

ROBERT HUNT COLLECTION)

the immediate calling out of the Fleet Reserve. Churchill’s argument was that the Imperial German Navy was mobilizing and that Britain must do the same. His colleagues did not share this view. Mobilisation only affected the older warships as the rest of the fleet was already fully prepared for war.

NO LEGAL AUTHORITY On Saturday, 1 August, Churchill dined alone at the Admiralty, reading copies of the, almost continuous, stream of telegrams that were being passed between Vienna, St Petersburg, Berlin, Paris and London. Up to that point no shots had been fired and there was still a hope of peace. With the British and German navies armed and ready Churchill wondered just how long these forces could remain at sea without

clashing, and therefore precipitating war. “I had hardly achieved this thought when another Foreign Office box came in,” Churchill recalled. “I opened it and read ‘Germany has declared war on Russia’. There was no more to be said.” He walked across Horse Guards Parade and entered 10 Downing Street by the garden gate. There he found Prime Minister Asquith in his drawing-room along with Edward Grey, Lord Haldane, the former Minister of War and then current Lord Chancellor, and the Marquis of Crewe, the Lord Privy Seal. “I said that I intended to instantly mobilize the Fleet notwithstanding the Cabinet decision, and that I would take full responsibility to the Cabinet the next morning. The Prime Minister, who felt himself bound to the Cabinet, said not a single word, but I was clear from his look

MAIN PICTURE: A contemporary painting depicting Royal Navy warships in Scapa Flow being tended by picket boats and trawlers in the summer of 1914. By the outbreak of war, the navies of Russia, France and Britain had a strength of 331,000 men and fortythree large naval vessels, whilst those of Germany and Austria-Hungary were 95,000 and twenty-one respectively. Of all sides, it was the Royal Navy that dominated, with 209,000 men and twenty-nine large naval vessels. (HMP)

58 AUGUST 2014

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1914-2014 2014 The First World War Centenary that he was quite content.” Churchill had no legal authority for calling out the Naval Reserves as the country was not officially at war but he believed that the men would respond regardless. Fortunately, the next day the Cabinet ratified Churchill’s action and the Royal Proclamation was issued some hours later. That Sunday the Cabinet sat almost continuously and, as Asquith recorded, “a good ¾ of our party are for absolute non-intervention at any price”. He also assured the German ambassador that “we had no desire to intervene”. According to Churchill, the “grief and horror” of so many of his colleagues was painful to witness. The first sitting of the day (almost unheard of on a Sunday) was from 11.00 until 14.00 hours. Up until lunch time it appeared as if the majority of members would resign rather than vote for war. Finally agreement was achieved on a limited commitment, which Churchill relayed to his Commanders-in-Chief: “Today, August 2, at 2.20 the following note was handed to the French and German Ambassadors. The British Government would not allow the passage of German ships through the English Channel or the North Sea in order to attack the coasts or shipping of France. Be prepared to meet surprise attacks.” Events, though, were moving evermore rapidly. That evening the Germans delivered an ultimatum to Belgium demanding the right of free passage across its territory. It added: “Should Belgium oppose the German troops, and in particular should she throw difficulties in the way of their march by a resistance of the fortresses on the Meuse, or by destroying railways, roads, tunnels, or other similar works, Germany will, to

been made on what would be said to Germany or of sending any troops to France. Nevertheless, it still looked as if there would be numerous resignations. It was now time, though, for the Foreign Secretary to deliver his speech to Parliament and the Cabinet broke up to walk across to the Commons. “I did not know which of our colleagues had resigned,” Churchill later wrote, “or what the composition of a War Government would be”. It was amidst this state of uncertainty that Sir Edward Grey stood up to deliver what was possibly the most important speech of his political career. After bringing MPs up to date with events, Grey presented his, and by default, the Cabinet’s view: “I ask the House from the point of view of British interests to consider what may be at stake ... For us, with a powerful fleet, which we believe able to protect our commerce, to protect our shores, and protect our interests if we are engaged in war, we shall suffer but little more than we shall suffer if we stand aside. her regret, be compelled to consider Belgium as an enemy.” The next day, Bank Holiday Monday, Leopold, King of the Belgians, appealed to the UK to fulfil its promise to uphold Belgian neutrality. According to Churchill, this was the decisive act.

THE ECONOMIC ARGUMENT The Cabinet met again that Monday. Asquith and Grey tried to persuade their Cabinet colleagues to accept that war was inevitable and Grey had obtained a general agreement on the wording of the speech he was going to deliver to the House of Commons later in the day. Formal sanction for the mobilization of both the Royal Navy and Army had been completed, but no decision had

ABOVE: At the outbreak of the First World War, Vice-Admiral Sir John R. Jellicoe was appointed to the supreme command of the Home Fleets. King George V sent him this message to pass on to the fleet. (MARY

EVANS/GRENVILLE

COLLINS POSTCARD COLLECTION)

ABOVE RIGHT: At about the same time that the British armed forces were being mobilized, the same was happening in France, as this poster carrying the French order, dated 2 August 1914, testifies. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

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“We are going to suffer, I am afraid, terribly in this war, whether we are in it or whether we stand aside. Foreign trade is going to stop, not because the trade routes are closed, but because there is no other trade at the other end. Continental nations engaged in war, all their populations, all their energies, all their wealth, engaged in a desperate struggle, cannot carry on the trade with us that they are carrying on in times of peace, whether we are parties to the war or whether we are not.”3 The economic argument won the House over. Grey and the Cabinet, received the support of the Commons. Churchill and Grey were too restless to remain seated in the Commons and  AUGUST 2014 59

The First World War Centenary 1914 1914-2014 2014 BELOW: The traditional summer camps of many British Army regiments and units adopted a greater significance in the summer of 1914, with some still training together when mobilization came. (HMP)

they went outside. “What happens now?” Winston asked the Foreign Secretary. “Now,” Grey replied, “we shall send an ultimatum to stop the invasion of Belgium within twenty-four hours”. Some Ministers were so anxious to avoid war that they still clung to the hope that the Kaiser would respond favourably. “All through the tense discussions of the Cabinet one had in mind another great debate which must begin when these were concluded ... the nation, the Dominions, would have to be convinced, that the cause was good. That the argument was overwhelming,

ABOVE: On 16 July 1914, the Fleet was mobilized for the Review held by King George V at Spithead on 18-20 July, and Naval Reservists were called up for their annual fortnight at sea. Before that fortnight elapsed, the UK was at war, and many of the reservists, such as those seen here leaving Waterloo Station to join their ships, did not see their homes again, except for brief periods of leave, until the Armistice. (HMP)

that the response would be worthy,” mused Churchill. “But it seemed that an enormous political task awaited us, and I saw in the mind’s eye not only the crowded House of Commons, but formidable assemblies of the people throughout the land requiring full and swift justification of the flaming action taken in their name.”

OPEN FIRE

ABOVE: That the Royal Navy was in a high state of readiness at the outbreak of war was due to two men – Winston Churchill, First Lord of the Admiralty, and Prince Louis of Battenberg, First Sea Lord (seen here). Born in Austria, brought up in both Italy and Germany, and a German prince, Prince Louis of Battenberg enlisted in the Royal Navy at the age of 14. He was appointed First Sea Lord, the professional head of the British naval service, in 1912. With war clouds gathering, he immediately took steps to ready the British fleet for action. Despite the extent of his achievements, his background as a German prince forced his retirement once the war began. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

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Once the ultimatum had been sent to Berlin, Churchill sent a second message from the Admiralty to all ships: “The war telegram will be issued at midnight authorizing you to commence hostilities against Germany, but in view of our ultimatum they may decide to open fire at any moment. You must be ready for this.” Churchill said that after the intensity of the previous few days, there now followed a few hours of relative calm. All the decisions had been taken; everything now depended on Germany and no-one seriously believed that the Kaiser would call a halt to his armies that were already bearing down on Belgium. “As far as we had been able to foresee the event, all our preparations were made. Mobilization was complete. Every ship was in its station: every man at his post. All over the world, every British captain and admiral was on guard. It only remained to give the signal.”

THE TICKING CLOCK “In the War Room of the Admiralty, where I sat waiting,” remembered Churchill, “one could hear the ticking clock tick. From Parliament Street came the murmurs of the crowd; but they sounded distant and the world seemed very still ... The minutes passed

slowly. Once more now in the march of centuries, Old England was to stand forth in battle against the mightiest thrones and dominions. Once more in defence of the liberties of Europe and the common right, must she enter upon a voyage of great toil and hazard across waters uncharted, towards coasts unknown.” Waiting for the reply from Berlin felt, to Churchill, like waiting for an election result. “The turmoil of the contest seemed finished; the votes were being counted, and in a few hours the announcement would be made. One could only wait; but for what result?” At last, the hands of the clock moved to 23.00 hours. The deadline had been reached. “The windows of the Admiralty were thrown wide open in the warm night air. Under the roof from which Nelson had received his orders were gathered a small group of Admirals and Captains and a cluster of clerks, pencil in hand, waiting. Along the Mall from the direction of the Palace the sound of an immense concourse singing ‘God Save the King’ floated in. On this deep wave broke the chimes of Big Ben; and, as the first stroke of the hour boomed out, a rustle of movement swept across the room”. The telegram which read ‘Commence hostilities against Germany’ was flashed to Royal Navy ships and establishments across the globe. The world was at war. 

NOTES 1. 2. 3.

Sean McMeekin, July 1914, Countdown to War (Icon Books, London, 2013), p.348. Ian Hammerton [Ed.], The Great War... I Was There, Part One, pp.14-16. Ian Hammerton, A Popular History of the Great War (Amalgamated Press, London), Vol.1, pp.57-8.

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I

N EXPECTATION of the Germans declining to respond to Britain’s demand that they should not breach Belgium neutrality, a letter had been prepared by the Foreign Office to be handed to the German Ambassador, Prince Lichnowsky, once the deadline of midnight European time (11.00 hours in the UK) had passed. This letter read: “Your Excellency, The result of the communication made at Berlin having been that His Majesty’s Ambassador has had to ask for his passports, I have the honour to inform Your Excellency that in accordance with the terms of the notification made to the German

replying to Britain’s ultimatum. In other words, Germany had not declared war on Britain at all. “The Foreign Office was appalled by this intimation,” recalled one of its members of staff. “Immediate enquiries were made as to how the previous information had been received to the effect that Germany had taken the initiative in declaring war. It was ascertained that this information was based on an intercepted wireless message by which German shipping was warned that war with England was imminent. It was the Admiralty that had made the mistake.”1

RIGHT: Prince Lichnowsky, described in the original caption as a “dejected and broken man”, is pictured here in St James’s Park having just been informed of the British ultimatum to Germany. (HMP)

THE WRONG

DECLARATION

OF WAR Government today, His Majesty’s Government consider that a state of war exists between the two countries as from today 11 o’clock p.m. etc.” The warning telegrams had also been prepared in advance to be sent out to all the countries of the Empire. Everyone was working at full pressure when at 21.40 hours one of the private secretaries dashed into the room to say that Germany had declared war on Britain! The letter to Lichnowsky had to be hurriedly changed to read, “The German Empire having declared war upon Great Britain, I have the honour etc.” The letter, along with the relevant passports was taken to the German Ambassador by Mr Lancelot Oliphant, an assistant in the Foreign Office’s Eastern Department. He duly delivered the letter, arriving back at the Foreign Office at 22.15 hours. A few minutes later a telegram was received in the Foreign Office which had been sent en clair from Sir Edward Goschen, the British Ambassador in Berlin. The letter reported that the German Chancellor had informed Sir Goschem that Germany would not be 62 AUGUST 2014

LEFT: As Foreign Secretary, Sir Edward Grey, pictured here in 1914, headed the department which was responsible for the incorrect letter being delivered to Prince Lichnowsky. Grey served as Foreign Secretary from 1905 to 1916, the longest continuous tenure of any person in that office.

The Foreign Office then realised, “with acute horror”, that it had handed Prince Lichnowsky an incorrect declaration of war. It was decided that the letter must be retrieved at all costs. So embarrassed were the senior figures in the Foreign Office, they sent their youngest member of staff off to the German Embassy. Poor young Harold Nicholson rang the bell of the German Embassy, asking to see Lichnowsky. When he was granted an audience, Nicholson found that although the envelope had been opened, the Ambassador had not read the letter as he had assumed he knew only too well what it would say. Nicholson was able to explain that a ‘slight’ error had been made and that he needed to take the letter back. Fortunately Lichnowsky allowed Nicholson to return with the letter. Later that day, the correct declaration of war was duly handed to the German Ambassador. 

(US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

NOTES 1.

These are the words of Harold Nicholson (later the Honourable Harold Nicholson, MP for Leicester West) who retrieved the incorrect letter from Lichnowsky; see Sir John Hammerton, I Was There, Part One, pp.9-10.

ABOVE: Following Britain’s declaration of war on Germany, Prince Lichnowsky, the German Ambassador to London, is pictured leaving the embassy en route back to Germany. (© ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS LTD/MARY EVANS)

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The First World War Centenary 1914 1914-2014 2014

THE BEGINNING OF M It was not only in cities such as London and Paris that large crowds gathered to mark, or even celebrate, the declaration of war at the start of August 1914. As the world drifted into war, one newspaper correspondent was sent from London to Germany to report on events as they unfolded in the first week of August 1914. This is an account of his experiences during those few turbulent days.

O

N THE evening of 31 July 1914, a correspondent from the Daily News set off for Berlin. When he reached Germany, Henry Woodd Nevinson, a veteran reporter from the Boer War, encountered trains full of men and scribbled on the side were the words, “Nach Paris” (“To Paris”), “Nach Petersburg”, but, as yet there were no signs saying “Nach London”. In the streets the crowds were cheering and singing, for they knew that their country was going to war. On 1 August, war was declared on Russia. No-one knew exactly how Britain and France would react, nor what awaited Nevinson. “For two days I waited and watched,” he reported.

“Up and down the wide road of ‘Unter den Linden’ crowds paced incessantly by day and night, singing the German war songs ... So the interminable crowds went past, a-tiptoe for war, because they had never known it.” Most of that cheering crowd knew only of the last German war in 1871 through the memoirs of old soldiers. That war had seen the rise of the German Empire, and the defeat of France, and was proudly etched in the patriotic minds of

all Germans. To many, war was seen as a positive and glorious experience; because they had never known it. “Sometimes a company of infantry, sometimes a squadron of horse went down the road westward, wearing the new grey uniforms in place of the familiar ‘Prussian blue’. They passed to probable death amid cheering, handshaking, gifts of flowers and food.” Nevinson also saw the Kaiser in full uniform being swept down the road in an official motor car, his chauffeur clearing the milling crowds with repeated blasts of his horn. The crowds cheered the Kaiser even though they knew that he was not in favour of war and called himself “Friedens-Kaiser” or the Peace-Kaiser. So the greatest clamour was reserved for the Crown Prince who was known to be at variance with his father. He longed for war and a chance to prove his military mettle on the battlefield. “Him the people cheered,” wrote the British correspondent, “for they had never known war”. LEFT: The headlines of the extra edition of the Berliner Tageblatt newspaper which announced the commencement of war with the United Kingdom, referred to in this instance as just England.

BELOW: Crown Prince Wilhelm, the eldest son of the Kaiser, is cheered by a large crowd as he leaves the Imperial Palace in Berlin in an open top car following the German declaration of war on Russia, 1 August 1914. Europe was sliding inexorably towards global conflict. (© ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS LTD/MARY EVANS)

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1914-2014 The First World War Centenary

MANY SORROWS

RUMOURS OF CONFLICT It seemed to Henry Nevinson that the passing of almost every minute brought fresh rumours, which “whirled” through the “maddened” German capital. “Every hour a new edition of the papers appeared. All day long, and far through the night into the next day, I went backwards and forward to the telegraph office, trying to send home all the descriptive news I could.” His reports were censored and just how many of his reports actually got through, Nevinson never learnt. Soon, however, the telegram network to the UK was closed down – an ominous sign. “On the morning of the fatal 4th, I drove to the Schloss, where the Deputies of the Reichstag were gathered to hear the Kaiser’s address. Refused permission to enter, I waited outside, and gathered only rumours of the speech that declared the unity of all Germany and all German parties in face of the common peril.” A few hours later, Theobald von Bethmann-Hollweg, the German Chancellor, announced in the Reichstag, that under the plea of necessity the neutrality of Belgium had been violated. “Then I knew,” Nevinson recalled, “that the long-dreaded moment had come.” Nevinson also learnt the British Ambassador, Sir Edward Goshen, had demanded his passport and that war had been declared. www.britainatwar.com

The mood in the German capital had now changed considerably. Nevinson was turned out of one hotel as a “dangerous foreigner”, an establishment which ironically was called “The Bristol”. Seeking alternative accommodation, he made his way to another hotel, the Adlon. There he sat down for his evening meal. “While I was dining I heard the yells of a crowd shouting outside our Embassy in the neighbouring street, and breaking the windows with loud crashes. Soon the noise came nearer, and in front of the

ABOVE LEFT: German troops mobilizing in Berlin during August 1914.

(BUNDESARCHIV, BILD 183-R25206/CC-BY-SA)

ABOVE RIGHT: A picture of Henry Woodd Nevinson taken in 1915. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

hotel entrance I could distinguish shouts for the English correspondents to be brought out. “The wild outcries were chiefly directed at a prominent American correspondent who, in support of his London paper’s policy, had been sending messages far from conciliatory. He and my colleague, who was acting with me for the Daily News, were given up to the police by the hotel director, and as I was passing into the front hall to see 

ABOVE: A German troop train moving men towards the front in August 1914. Note the chalked slogans on the side of wagons – similar to those observed by Henry Woodd Nevinson. (BUNDESARCHIV, BILD 146II-740/TELLGMANN, OSCAR/CC-BY-SA)

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The First World War Centenary 1914 1914-2014 2014 what was happening, he pointed me out as well. Two of the armed police seized me at once and dragged me out, holding an enormous revolver at each ear. ‘If you try to run away,’ they kept shouting, ‘we will shoot you like a dog!’ To which I kept repeating in answer that, under such circumstances, I was not such a pure fool as to try to run away.” Nevinson was, sensibly, doing all he could to placate the over-excited police, to convince them that he would follow their instructions and to demonstrate that he was no threat to them. It did not work. “During this conversation they flung me into the mob, who savagely set upon me with sticks, fists and umbrellas. But I did not pay much attention to their onslaughts, for I had often suffered worse at Suffrage demonstrations.”

A DAY OF MANY SORROWS At this point two German policemen extricated Nevinson and a Dutch correspondent from the crowd and then bundled the pair into a taxi. The two

armed policemen sat either side of the Daily News reporter with their revolvers still pointing at his head, as the taxi took the party to the central police station. “There our treatment became more courteous, and after we had made our statements and shown our passports, we were dismissed, with a note insuring protection. But a scrap of paper seemed insufficient insurance against the fury of a mob inflamed, as German, British, French, and all mobs then were, by the raging patriotism of war, I demanded to be sent back protected as I had come. “So back in a taxi I was sent, though protected by only one policeman, who kept his revolver in a more respectful position, and conveyed me to the back door of the hotel, uttering mystic words at intervals when we had to pass through the cordons of cavalry drawn up for the defence of our Embassy.” Eventually the taxi reached the hotel Adlon where the director was very apologetic, wringing Nevinson’s hand as he uttered protestations of sympathy

ABOVE: A depiction of the mob attacking the British Embassy in Berlin on the night of 4 August 1914. (HMP) LEFT: Newly mobilised German soldiers in one of Berlin’s railway stations at about the time of the outbreak of war in August 1914.

(BUNDESARCHIV,

BILD 183-R19231/ CC-BY-SA)

BELOW: A large crowd has gathered in front of the Berliner Stadtschloss, or City Palace, whilst they wait for the impending annoucement of mobilization, 1 August 1914.

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and regret in equal measure. He explained that he had pointed Nevinson out to the police because he had allowed “his patriotism to supersede his reason”. He said that in that moment he had charged Nevinson with “instigating the war”, which he admitted was “absurd”. The chamber maid was also “much moved”. She refused to be comforted because her three brothers and her lover were already on the march to war. “So, imitating to myself the saying of the herald who proclaimed the beginning of the long war between Athens and Sparta – ‘This day sees the beginning of many sorrows for the most civilised peoples of the world’.” In similarly dramatic words, the Kaiser had declared: “Remember, the German people are the chosen of God. On me, the German Emperor, the spirit of God has descended. I am His sword, His weapon, and His vice-regent. Woe to the disobedient and death to cowards and unbelievers.” The war was now going to run its course.

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1914-2014 1914 2014 The First World War Centenary LEFT: The German advance continues – enemy troops pictured marching through the Place Charles Rogier, Brussels, on 20 August 1914, the very day that they entered the Belgian capital. Richard Harding Davis was an American reporter who noted the following in the hours before the German arrival: “The boulevards fell suddenly empty. There was not a house that was not closely shuttered. Along the route by which we now knew the Germans were advancing, it was as though the plague stalked.” The Belgians had taken the decision to not defend the city and the Germans marched through unhindered.

(US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

BELOW: The mobilization of the German armed forces underway in Berlin – in this case reservists are pictured being transported by truck. (BUNDESARCHIV,

BILD 183-R22572/CC-BY-SA 3.0)

ESCAPE FROM BERLIN Nevinson slept as best he could under the circumstances and the next morning he went around the city to buy a few things he needed. “All was quiet, and life seemed to be going on much as usual but for the excited crowds gathered round the newspaper offices, and the removal of all English and French names from the shops and banks.” Nevinson also saw that even the sacred name of Thomas Cook had disappeared. That evening Nevinson received an invitation from Goschen to join him at the British Embassy, which had been barricaded against the Berlin mob. The reporter readily accepted the offer as the Adlon was already being cleared so that it could be used to accommodate German officers. Nevinson spent the night at the Embassy, as the British staff made their final preparations for leaving Berlin in the morning. “Before dawn on August 6 a string of motors was waiting outside the Embassy, sent by the Kaiser’s orders to convey the Ambassador and his staff to a local railway station, a few miles away from Berlin. Again by the courtesy of Sir Edward Goschen, a few of us correspondents were invited to join the staff, and I hardly realised at the time from what a hideous destiny that invitation preserved me. I supposed I should have been shut up in the Ruhleben [an internment camp for British civilians during the war] or some similar camp for four and a half years.” For the next twenty-four hours the train carried the British ambassadorial party through northern Germany to the Dutch border. “On the way we passed or were impeded by uncounted vans decorated with boughs of trees and crammed with reservists going www.britainatwar.com

BELOW: An example of the safe conduct passes issued to some of the British correspondents in Berlin during the end of July and early August 1914. This particular document was that given to Frederic William Wile, a newspaper columnist and editorial writer who, stationed in Berlin, served as a reporter for the Chicago Daily News and the London Daily Mail.

to the Belgian front ... at every station they were met by bands of Red Cross girls bringing coffee, wine, and food. “At all of the larger stations, too, the news of our train’s approach had been signalled, and to cheer us on our way

RIGHT: Sir Edward Goshen, the British Ambassador in Berlin, and his wife board the SS St. Petersburg en route to London, 7 August 1914. (HMP)

all the old men, boys, and women of the place had flocked down with any musical instrument they could collect, and, standing thick on the platform, they played for us ‘Deutschland, Deutschland’ predominating. They played with the persistence of the ‘German bands’ known to me in childhood. Sometimes, to impress their patriotism more distinctly upon us, they brought their instruments close up to the carriage windows, and the shifting tubes of the trombones came right into the carriage. “Silent and unmoved, as an Englishman should, sat Sir Edward Goschen, looking steadily in front of him, with hands on his knees, making as though no sight or sound had reached his senses.” Nevinson watched the excited crowds and later recalled how even more animated the people were than during his journey to Berlin less than a week earlier. He also noticed a change in the writing scribbled on the sides of the wagons carrying the men to the front. As well as “Nach Paris”, “Nach Petersburg”, were now written the words “Nach London”.  AUGUST 2014 67

The First World War Centenary 1914 1914-2014 2014

Men and horses of a British cavalry unit, in this case the 2nd Dragoon Guards (Queen’s Bays), a sister unit to the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, pictured near the front early in the war. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

THE FIRST

CASUALTY OF WAR Unveiled on 20 August 1939, there is a memorial near Mons that commemorates the first shot fired by a British soldier on Continental Europe in the First World War. During a clash between British and German cavalry it is usually stated that this very location was the spot where that first shot was fired and that a number of Germans were either wounded or possibly killed. It would appear, however, that the dramatic tale of that first combat has been embellished. Jon Cooksey explains. 68 AUGUST 2014

T

HE LEADING units of the British Expeditionary Force landed in France on Friday, 7 August 1914. Three days earlier German forces, divided into five armies, had invaded Belgium and France. The main German thrust was delivered by General von Kluck’s 1st Army which was to advance through Liège, sweep past Brussels and Mons and down into northern France. But von Kluck met unexpectedly stiff resistance from the ring of forts built to protect Liège and defend the bridges over the River Meuse. Whilst the Germans were fighting their way through Liège, the BEF moved into Belgium to counter the German advance. Though the original plan of operations was for a joint Franco-British attack, the French had already suffered major

reverses and the wisest course of action for the BEF was to adopt a defensive stance until the situation stabilised. The delay to von Kluck’s march at Liège meant that the 1st Army did not reach Brussels until 20 August and this gave the BEF the chance to establish a series of hurried defensive positions before the Germans were upon them. The place selected for the British stand centred on the Belgian town of Mons. On the morning of 23 August 1914, the BEF took up defensive positions along the Mons-Condé Canal. Though it was known that the enemy were advancing in strength towards Mons it was the responsibility of the Cavalry Division – the “eyes and ears” of the Army – to find out exactly when the Germans would arrive. www.britainatwar.com

1914-2014 1914 2014 The First World War Centenary LEFT: A map which details the locations of the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards’ encounters on 22 August 1914. The small red circle indicates the spot where their charge began, whilst the large red circle is the actual location of Thomas’ first shot. (AUTHOR) BELOW: Men of the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards take up positions near Mons, August 1914. (IWM; Q83507)

It was on 15 August 1914, that the men and horses of the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards, part of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade in the Cavalry Division, left their barracks at Tidworth. By noon the same day they had all embarked on the troopship HMT Winnifrian, arriving at Boulogne the following afternoon. After a few days, on the 19th, they reached their camp at Hauport. Just three days later the Dragoons would earn themselves a place in history.

FIRST SIGHT OF THE ENEMY On 22 August 1914, the 2nd Cavalry Brigade had pushed patrols northwards towards Nimy and eastwards towards Obourg – both routes led to Brussels, the direction from which it was known

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that the Germans were advancing. Major Tom Bridges’ ‘C’ Squadron of the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards was leading the patrol as “Contact Squadron”. Roving British patrols had already sighted small parties of German cavalry in the area, whilst local intelligence suggested as many as 400,000 German troops were “pouring south on every road from Brussels”. Uneasy at seeing so many young civilian men cycling to the north, Bridges decided to move his squadron towards Casteau Camp and, he remarked, “a wood on a hill I had noted”, to investigate reports that 2,500 German cavalry were gathered near the village of Soignies, six miles to the north-east. “From this point,” Bridges decided, “I hoped to ambush the enemy’s advance

BOTTOM: The point from which Captain Hornby’s charge started, heading up the road away from camera, pictured prior to the outbreak of war. (AUTHOR)

guard and get some prisoners but when daylight came and the country was still bare I decided to move up the main road until we found the enemy”. By about 06.30 hours on a bright morning, “flooded with the loveliest sunshine, its level rays making the haystacks … stand out boldly with their long black shadows to the west”, the squadron had reached a staggered crossroads and had begun watering its horses. They had just finished when excited reports came in that a patrol of four or five German Uhlans (to the British all German cavalry were Uhlans) had crested the brow of a hill further along the road. They were riding down the chaussée towards Mons unaware that ‘C’ Squadron was concealed around the crossroads. The German cavalrymen – a reconnaissance patrol of 4/Kürassier Regiment von Driesen under the command of Leutnant Lothar Graf von und zu Hoensbroech – had left its overnight bivouacs in Soignies less than two hours earlier as its parent 9th Cavalry Division had prepared to resume its westward march. They were, perhaps, not anticipating trouble. 

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The First World War Centenary 1914 1914-2014 1914-2014 2014 LEFT: The area where the first shot memorial now stands pictured during the years prior to the First World War. Note the cobbles.

The German regimental history records that the friendly behaviour of the residents of Soignies had left a “good impression” on the enemy troopers. It adds that the provisioning of “good food and shelter” had served to maintain “high spirits” amongst the Germans. What happened next was to dispel any feelings of complacency which may have been fostered.

HOT PURSUIT Back at the staggered junction, Major Bridges barked his orders amidst a flurry of activity: “4th Troop, dismounted ready for action; 1st Troop, behind, draw swords ready to go!” As the Dragoons waited, the enemy moved into sight. “I saw a troop of Uhlans [sic] coming leisurely down the road, the officer in front smoking a cigar”, recalled Corporal Drummer (later Sergeant) Ernest Thomas, some twenty years after the war. “We were anxiously watching their movements when … they halted, as if they had smelt a rat. They had seen us!” Bridges called out to second-in-

command, Captain Charles Beck Hornby, “Now’s your chance, Charles – after them with the sword”. Hornby ordered No.1 Troop to charge. The road suddenly became filled with some sixty snorting, charging horses being urged on by dragoons in their saddles with drawn swords, hurtling up the slope, four and five abreast. The air was filled with the sound of the swelling, rolling thunder of their hooves on the stone cobbles and the angry jangle of bridles and equipment. The pungent odour of sweating horse hung on the air as Hornby’s command swept headlong, up and over the brow of the hill and on down the slope on the other side in hot pursuit of Graf von und zu Hoensbroech’s patrol which was soon in full flight. Hornby’s men pursued the Germans – the later had also been joined by some half a dozen lancers from a picket guard of 13/Uhlan Regiment – down the road into the village of Casteau. It was there that the Dragoons caught up with some of the enemy. A number of individual skirmishes took place; some Germans

RIGHT: The man who fired the first shot of the First World War in Europe – Trooper Ernest Thomas, of ‘C’ Squadron, 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards – seen here with his wife and children during one of his periods of wartime leave. Thomas went on to be promoted sergeant in the field at Messines on 5 November 1915, was Mentioned in Despatches and received the Military Medal. He transferred to the Machine Gun Corps in 1916 and survived the war, serving again with his old regiment until 1923. Leutnant Lothar Graf von und zu Hoensbroech, the commander of the German cavalry patrol and the first German officer to make contact with British forces, also survived the war and later transferred into the Reichswehr as a Rittmeister. (HMP)

dropping their unwieldy lances whilst trying to manoeuvre in the confusing clash of bodies of man and beast. “The chase went on for a mile”, recalled Trooper Ted Worrell, “but we were better mounted and caught up with them on the outskirts of Soignies [sic] and there was a proper old melee. Captain Hornby ran his sword through one Jerry and Sgt. Major Sharpe got another. There was a fair old noise what with the clatter of hooves and a lot of shouting. The Jerries couldn’t manage their long lances at close quarters and several threw them away and tried to surrender but we weren’t in no mood to take prisoners and we downed a lot of them.” With more British Dragoons arriving to swell the numbers the rest of the Germans raced back through Casteau for a further half a mile to a point opposite a château owned by the prominent Belgian family of Donnay de Casteau. Having pursued the German cavalry to this point, Captain Hornby’s men now ran up against a larger force of Germans from the main body of their 9th Cavalry

ABOVE: This lodge and the red brick wall are all that remains of what was one of two châteaux in Casteau owned by the family of Donnay de Casteau. It was to this spot that Captain Hornby’s men of ‘C’ Squadron of the 4th (Royal Irish) Dragoon Guards pursued the German cavalry and where Thomas fired the first shot. On the façade of the lodge is a plaque recording the fact that on 12 May 1940, two days after the Germans launched their Blitzkrieg, the long-since demolished Château de Casteau played host to the first inter-Allied conference presided over by the King of the Belgians. (AUTHOR)

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1914-2014 The First World War Centenary

Division astride the gently rising main road up ahead. With the German cavalrymen now beginning to turn and dismount, the whole force began to fire on the British. Their shots sent up little puffs of hay, like smoke, as they struck the haystacks in the fields. The Dragoons could charge no further. “Bullets were flying past us and all round us,” continued Thomas, “and possibly because I was rather noted for my quick movements and athletic ability in those days, I was first in action. I could see a German cavalry officer some four hundred yards away standing mounted in full view of me, gesticulating to the left and to the right as he disposed of his dismounted men and ordered them to take up their firing positions to engage us. “Immediately I saw him I took aim, pulled the trigger and automatically, almost as it seemed instantaneously, he fell to the ground … Whether he was killed or not is a matter I do not think was ever cleared up or ever became capable of proof.” After a brief exchange of fire it became clear within minutes that the British were up against a much larger force and so the order to disengage, retrieve the horses and retire towards Mons was given. The British Expeditionary Force’s first combat of the war was over. The Dragoons’ arrival at HQ created much excitement. “We did not quite know what would happen when we got up against the German cavalry of which there were great masses all trained to shock action”, wrote Major Bridges. “But Hornby had solved the problem for us, and when Uhlan prisoners, captured Prussian horses and a stack of lances in a buggy were brought in by the Squadron Sergeant-Major past the whole Cavalry Division, there was no further doubt and ‘C’ Squadron was greeted with a wellwww.britainatwar.com

ABOVE: The “First Shot Memorial” near Mons, though it is located more than a mile from the actual spot were Thomas opened fire. The memorial was unveiled on Sunday, 20 August 1939. Amongst those present were the widow of Corporal Thomas and their daughter, as well as Major, as he was by then (having been promoted on 5 August 1915), Charles Hornby. Just two weeks later to the day war was again declared on Germany. (AUTHOR) RIGHT: Just visible in the foreground on the left is the corner of the so-called “First Shot Memorial". On the building on the opposite side of road, just visible mounted on the wall to the right of Assitant Editor John Grehan, is what has become known as the “Last Shot Memorial”. It marks the spot where, at 11.00 hours on 11 November 1918, forward troops of the 116th Canadian Infantry Battalion welcomed the cease-fire. (HMP)

deserved cheer on its return.” Drummer Ernest Thomas was applauded as being the first member of the British Army to fire a shot in anger on the European mainland since the Waterloo campaign almost 100 years earlier. British casualties were light, with no-one killed and only one man, Private Page, grazed in two places. The Dragoons

our cavalry from the first over that of the German cavalry”. Recent research has revealed that Thomas' famous "first shot" was actually fired more than a mile to the northeast of the site of the memorial erected to mark the incident, and the various accounts regarding what happened, such as that of Hornby, do not necessarily tie in. Of the statement that German prisoners were taken there is no doubt. Captain Arthur Osburn, the medical officer of the 4th Dragoon Guards, later recalled treating several “young Bavarian ploughboys in German uniforms” for wounds near the Bois la Haut. Osburn, though, was mistaken, for there were no Bavarian troops in the German 9th Cavalry Division hailing, as it did, from Westphalia. The 4/Kürassier regimental history records that, following its first

also had two horses killed and three wounded. However, the question of German casualties during this action has always remained nebulous. Thomas certainly thought he had at least shot and wounded a German officer and British accounts talk of getting “in with the sword”, and “sabring several and dismounting many”. Captain Hornby is credited with being the first British officer to “draw blood” in the war, as supported by Trooper Worrell’s account and as then later put forward by his immediate superior Major Tom Bridges. It was a feat for which, in addition to his leadership, Hornby later received the Distinguished Service Order. The squadron was congratulated in an “Operational Order” by de Lisle who declared that the “spirited” action of the Irish established “the moral superiority of

encounter with the British patrol, it “lost four men, among them Gefreiter Schuer, who managed to escape, reaching the division by nightfall. The other three were caught by the English, who could draw on fresher horses. During the patrol only one horse was harmed.” There is no mention whatsoever in the German sources of any man – be they officer or otherwise – being killed or seriously wounded during this first contact. Did the story of drawing “first blood” during the “first shot” encounter at Casteau simply become the first in many oft-repeated myths of a very long and myth laden war? It is understandable that in the excitement of the moment, the results of this first action were confused or misinterpreted. As has been stated so many times before, the first casualty of war is truth.  AUGUST 2014 71

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MAIN PICTURE: Marcel Gillis’ well-known painting depicting the Angels of Mons. (© COLLECTIONS COMMUNALES DE LA VILLE DE MONS) FAR RIGHT: The 9th Lancers arriving at Mons, Friday, 21 August 1914. These men were reputedly the first British troops to arrive at Mons, and “were the vanguard of the millions of men who were to follow them to the front during the four years of war”. (HMP)

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1914-2014 The First World War Centenary

IN THE ARMS OF

THE ANGELS One of the most enduring myths of the First World War is that of the heavenly figures who appeared during the retreat from Mons. Taking the form of archers – presumed to be ghosts of the renowned bowmen of England who had so decisively won the Battle of Agincourt – their arrows stopped the Germans in their tracks. The Angels at Mons became part of the folklore of the conflict; but what really happened?

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HE BRITISH Expeditionary Force which marched into Belgium in August 1914 was regarded as the finest and best trained army ever to have left the UK’s shores. Yet, when it found itself overwhelmed by German troops, and its French allies had withdrawn, this fine army was faced with the possibility of destruction. However, the BEF survived relatively intact and was able to retreat to safety and even hold back the advancing German army. Was this remarkable escape entirely down to the training of the men, or their stubborn courage? Or were there other forces at play? That is certainly what some men described, as Brigadier-General John Charteris explained in a letter on 5 September 1914 (Charteris was part of the intelligence branch of the BEF and travelled to France on the outbreak of war): “Then there is the story of the ‘Angels of Mons’ going strong through the 2nd Corps, of how the angel of the Lord on the traditional white horse, and clad all in white with flaming sword, faced the advancing Germans at Mons and forbade their further progress. Men’s nerves and imagination play weird pranks in these strenuous times. All the same the angel at Mons interests me. I cannot find out how the legend arose.”

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A CRITICAL MOMENT A few days later, on 29 September, the following story appeared in London’s The Evening News. Entitled ‘The Bowman’, it was written by Arthur Machen: “It was during the Retreat of the Eighty Thousand, and the authority of the Censorship is sufficient excuse for not being more explicit. But it was on the most awful day of that awful time, on the day when ruin and disaster came so near ... On this dreadful day, then, when three hundred thousand men in  arms with all their artillery swelled AUGUST 2014 73

The First World War Centenary 1914 1914-2014 19142014 like a flood against the little English company, there was one point above all other points in our battle line that was for a time in awful danger, not merely of defeat, but of utter annihilation. With the permission of the Censorship and of the military expert, this corner may, perhaps, be described as a salient, and if this angle were crushed and broken, then the English force as a whole would be shattered, the Allied left would be turned, and Sedan would inevitably follow ... “There was no hope at all. They shook hands, some of them. One man improvised a new version of the battlesong, ‘Good-bye, good-bye to Tipperary,’ ending with ‘And we shan’t get there’. And they all went on firing steadily. The officers pointed out that such an opportunity for high-class, fancy shooting might never occur again; the Germans dropped line after line ... And

the few machine guns did their best. But everybody knew it was of no use. The dead grey bodies lay in companies and battalions, as others came on and on and on, and they swarmed and stirred and advanced from beyond and beyond.”

A CLOUD OF ARROWS

ABOVE: A commemorative coloured cotton print depicting an image of the “Angel of Mons” appearing to men of the British Expeditionary Force. (©DAVID COHEN FINE

ART/MARY EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY)

BOTTOM: On the eve of what was the BEF’s first major action of the war, men of ‘A’ Company, 4th Royal Fusiliers rest in the Grand Place at Mons after a tiring march forward. (HMP)

LEFT: The same view today. (COURTESY OF

JERRY MURLAND)

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Just when all appeared lost, something seemingly miraculous then occurred. “The roar of the battle died down ...,” continued Machen, “and a shout louder than a thunder-peal crying, ‘Array, array, array!’ ... Beyond the trench, a long line of shapes, with a shining about them. They were like men who drew the bow, and with another shout their cloud of arrows flew singing and tingling through the air towards the German hosts. “’Look,’ a man cried to one of his mates ... ‘D’ye see them? They’re not going down in dozens, nor in ’undreds; it’s thousands, it is. Look! look! There’s a regiment gone while I’m talking to ye’ ... The singing arrows fled so swift and thick that they darkened the air; the heathen horde melted from before them.” The salient had been saved. It was from this story in the newspaper that the legend grew. Soon many men claimed that they knew of people that had seen the angelic archers, supposedly the reincarnation of the English bowmen of Agincourt, though who the people were that actually saw the angels often went un-named. Once established in the minds of the men, however, the angels refused to go away. The following account was published in London, in the Roman Catholic newspaper The Universe, on 30

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1914-2014 The First World War Centenary April 1915: “A party of about thirty men and an officer was cut off in a trench, when the officer said to his men, ‘Look here, we must either stay here and be caught like rats in a trap, or make a sortie against the enemy. We haven’t much of a chance, but personally I don’t want to be caught here.’ The men all agreed with him, and with a yell of ‘St. George for England!’ they dashed out into the open. “The officer tells how, as they ran on, he became aware of a large company of men with bows and arrows going along with them, and even leading them on against the enemy’s trenches, and afterwards when he was talking to a German prisoner, the man asked him who was the officer on a great white horse who led them, for although he was such a conspicuous figure, they had none of them been able to hit him. I must also add that the German dead appeared to have

no wounds on them. The officer who told the story (adds the writer of the letter) was a friend of ours. He did not see St. George on the white horse, but he saw the Archers with his own eyes.”

EYE-WITNESS ACCOUNTS The following was published in the Litchfield Mercury on 25 June 1915: “A Hereford clergyman has just received from a relative at Cheltenham a letter giving an account of an extraordinary incident in the British retreat from Mons, when our brave troops were in imminent peril of defeat and annihilation, owing to the great superior numbers of the enemy, a great vision of angels appeared and stood in the way of the advancing host, which turned and fled. The letter is as follows: “‘Last Sunday I met Miss Marrable, daughter of the well-known Canon Marrable, and she told me she knew the officers, both of whom had themselves www.britainatwar.com

seen the angels who saved the left wing from the Germans when they came right upon them during our retreat from Mons. They expected annihilation, as they were almost helpless, when, to their amazement, the Germans stood like dazed men, never so much as touched their guns nor stirred, till we had turned and escaped by some crossroads. “‘One of Miss Marrable’s friends, who was not a religious man, told her that he saw a troop of angels between us and the enemy, and he has been a changed man ever since. The other man she met in London last week, and she asked him if he had heard of the wonderful story of the angels. He said he had seen them himself, as while he and his company were retreating they heard the German cavalry tearing after them. They ran for a place where

they thought that a stand might be made with some hopes of safety, but before they could reach it the German cavalry were upon them, and so they turned round and faced the enemy, expecting instant death – when, to their wonder, they saw between them and the enemy a whole troop of angels, and the horses of the Germans turned round, terrified out of their senses, and regularly stampeded, the men tugging at their bridles, while the poor horses tore away in any direction from our men. He swore he saw the angels, whom the horses saw plainly enough, if not the German soldiers, and this gave our men time to reach the little fort or whatever the shelter was, and save themselves.’”

SOMETHING STARTLING The Liverpool Echo of Thursday, 12 August 1915, went even further, by stating that the “Angel of Mons” story now had “confirmation”.

ABOVE: Private Carter of ‘D’ Company, 4th Battalion, Middlesex Regiment, pictured on sentry duty at Mons on Saturday, 22 August 1914. This image was taken at 17.00 hours that day, barely hours after the first cavalry units had arrived in the city. The sentry is, the original caption informs us, an “Old Contemptible”. Under the heading “Was he the first sentry at Mons”, we are informed that the picture was taken at the crossing of the Mons-Beaumont and Mons-Binche roads, a spot known as La Bascule. (HMP)

“Lance Corporal –, who is forbidden to give his name, and is at present in hospital waiting to undergo an operation, told a Daily Mail representative the following: ‘I was with my battalion in the retreat from Mons on or about August 28. The German cavalry were expected to make a charge, and we were waiting to fire and scatter them to enable the French cavalry, which were on our right, to make a dash forward. However, the German aeroplanes discovered our position, and we remain where we were. 

ABOVE LEFT: British troops on the move during the fighting around Mons in 1914. (HMP) RIGHT: Published in January 1916, this advertisement was for Phyllis Campbell’s account of the vision of the “Angels at Mons”. (MARY EVANS

PICTURE LIBRARY)

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The First World War Centenary 1914 1914-2014 2014 few yards away, showed us the sky. I could see quite plainly in mid-air a strange light, which seemed to be quite distinctly outlined, and was not a reflection of the moon, nor were there any clouds in the neighbourhood. The light became brighter, and I could see quite distinctly three shapes, one in the centre having what looked like outspread wings. The other two were not so large, but were quite plainly distinct from the centre one. They appeared to have a long loose, hanging garment of a golden tint, and they were about the German line facing us. “‘We stood watching them for about three quarters of an hour. All the men with me saw them, and other men came up from other groups, who also told us that they had seen the same thing. I am not a believer in such things, but I have not the slightest doubt that we really did see what I now tell you.’”

LEFT: One of those who staunchly supported the story of the “Angels of Mons” was the British author and journalist Edward Harold Begbie. When Arthur Machen began to try and limit the hyperbole surrounding the story, Begbie, seen here, published his book On the Side of the Angels: A Reply to Arthur Machen in 1915, critising Machen for claiming they derived from his story “The Bowmen”. (MARY

EVANS PICTURE LIBRARY)

Lancashire General Advertiser of 4 October 1915: “When he was at the front he met many men who were convinced of its truth. It was difficult, he remarked, to get first-hand evidence, as most of the men who had been in the retreat had since been killed, and though some people had dismissed the story as absurd without caring to investigate it, he did not think it right to make light of the testimony. The question was of the first importance, since it dealt with a possible mode of divine intervention.”

THE EVIDENCE The historian A.J.P. Taylor was so impressed by such “evidence” that he felt confident referring to Mons, in his 1963 history of the First World War, as the only battle where “supernatural intervention was observed, more or less reliably, on the British side”.1 Others have also accepted that there

“‘The weather was very hot and clear, and between eight and nine o’clock in the evening I was standing with a party of nine other men on duty, and some distance on either side there were parties of ten on guard. Immediately behind us half of my battalion was on the edge of a wood resting. “‘An officer suddenly came up to us in a state of great anxiety, and asked us if we had seen anything startling. He hurried away from my ten to the next party of ten. “‘When he had got out of sight I, who was the non-commissioned officer in charge, ordered two men to go forward out of the way of the trees in order to find out what the officer meant. The two men returned reporting that they could see no sign of any Germans. At that time we thought that the officer must be expecting a surprise attack.

STRANGE LIGHT IN THE SKY “‘Immediately afterwards, the officer came back, and taking me and some others a

SIGNED AFFIDAVIT Another of the “witnesses” was one Private Robert Cleaver of the 1st Cheshire Regiment, who was in hospital in Birkenhead. Geo. S. Hazelhurst., one of his Majesty’s justices of the peace acting in and for the county of Flint, travelled to meet him, and obtained the following affidavit: “I, Robert Cleaver, (No.10515), a private in the 1st Cheshire Regiment, of his Majesty’s Army, make oath and say as follows: That I personally was at Mons and saw the vision of angels with my own eyes – Robert Cleaver.” This, and other accounts seemed to serve as confirmation of the heavenly event and it prompted the Reverend R.J. Campbell, to make a number of observations, as reported in the Manchester Courier and 76 AUGUST 2014

ABOVE: Wounded British soldiers, injured during the Battle of Mons, are pictured following their evacuation to the UK. Often it is men such as these who are quoted as describing seeing the “Angels of Mons”. (US LIBRARY

OF CONGRESS)

LEFT: British soldiers about to open fire on the advancing Germans in Belgium, August 1914. (HMP)

was an unusual occurrence during the retreat: “The most prosaic explanation is that the Angel was no more than a misinterpretation of odd cloud formations seen by weary troops. The only thing that most theories agree on is that something strange happened during the retreat from Mons in August 1914 and that this was witnessed by British (and possibly German) troops.”2 Of course, there were many who thought the whole thing quite ridiculous, as this correspondent to the Evening Telegraph of Tuesday, 23 November 1915, makes clear, at the same time, de-bunking Private Cleaver’s affidavit: “It is simply amazing to find grown people, supposedly educated, talking such a lot of nonsense as that reported by you www.britainatwar.com

1914-2014 The First World War Centenary

ABOVE: British troops facing the German onslaught in 1914. (HMP)

from a speech made at Blairgowrie by Lady Griselda Cheape. No sane person believes this ‘Angel’ yarn, and conclusive evidence as to the kind of person who usually disseminates such piffle is supplied by a London daily on September 2 last as follows: ‘A certain private swore on oath before Mr Hazelhurst, JP, Birkenhead – ‘I personally was at Mons and saw the vision of angels with my own eyes.’ “Having some doubt in the matter Mr Hazelhurst wrote to the Records Office of this man’s regiment only to find that he had been deliberately lying, had never been at Mons, and, in fact, was not in France till long after the Battle of Mons. Further, no responsible person, officer or private, has publically come forward and made any assertion of such a thing, and never will.”

ABOVE & BELOW: Located on the outskirts of Mons, on the busy junction between two roads, the N90 and the N40, stands this memorial to the first and last battles fought by forces of the British Empire in the First World War – both of which were at Mons. (HMP)

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As Machen also wrote in John Hammerton’s “I Was There” compilation, “Then there were all sorts of confirmatory allegations, quotations, asseverations and citations; many anecdotes ... Many of these matters were attested and confirmed by ‘A Nurse,’ ‘Miss M.,’ ‘A Doctor,’ ‘A Clergyman,’ and a host of such nameless witnesses. “It was strong evidence, as I say. Or rather, it would have been strong evidence but for one circumstance – there was not one word of truth in it.”3

FACT OR FICTION

It was a wonderful story. Angels had come down to save the British Army. If any should doubt that the war was a just one, this was confirmation that God was on their side. The whole thing, however, was merely a figment of Arthur Machen’s imagination and was only taken up by the men after ALL MAKE BELIEVE his short story was published on 29 What are we then to make of the Angels September. That said, the date of General of Mons? As the first documented account Charteris’ letter was 5 September? How was written by Arthur Machen, what did could Charteris have heard about a story he say about the article he wrote? at the beginning of the month when it “It was in The Weekly Dispatch that I was not published until more than three saw the awful account of the retreat from weeks later? Was the entire episode Mons. I no longer recollect the details; really just a figment of Arthur Machen’s but I have not forgotten the impression imagination, or did something truly that was then on my mind, I seemed to inexplicable occur at some stage in the see a furnace of torment and death and retreat from Mons?  agony and terror seven times heated, and in the midst of the burning was the NOTES 1. A.J.P. Taylor, The First World War (An Illustrated British Army. In the midst of the flame, History), p.29. consumed by it and yet aureoled in it, 2. Steve MacGregor provides a highly detailed scattered like ashes and yet triumphant, examination of the Angels of Mons in “Smoke martyred and for ever glorious. So I saw without fire: A re-examination of the Angel of our men with a shining about them, so I Mons.” See: militaryhistoryonline.com took these thoughts with me to church, 3. John Hammerton, (Ed.) “I Was There!” The Human Story of the Great War of 1914-1918, and, I am sorry to say, was making up a (The Waverley Book Company Ltd., London), story in my head while the deacon was vol.1, pp.86-7. singing the Gospel.” AUGUST 2014 77

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WW1 AUSTRALIAN

SUBMARINE

WRECK IS SURVEYED A

LMOST 100 years after it was scuttled in the First World War, a project to record, preserve and tell the story of the wreck of an Australian submarine HMAS AE2, laying at the bottom of Turkey’s Sea of Marmara, is underway. Just before the Allied landings at Gallipoli on the morning of 25 April 1915, the Royal Australian Navy submarine AE2 set out to force a passage through the Dardanelles Strait into the Sea of Marmara. The intention then was for

its crew, in the words of the Chief of Staff, to “generally run amok”, amongst Turkish shipping and troop movements. Though an Australian submarine, AE2 was commanded by an Irishman, Lieutenant Commander Henry Hugh Gordon Dacre Stoker.

UNDER ATTACK At 02.30 hours on the morning of 25 April 1915, Stoker weighed anchor and set out on the attempt to run the Dardanelles Strait. His plan was basically simple – ABOVE: The forward torpedo tube on AE2. The submarine was fitted with four eighteen-inch torpedo tubes. LEFT: The light attached to a drop camera can be seen lighting up the interior of the hull of AE2. (ALL IMAGES

COURTESY OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

LEFT: The starboard ballast pump suction and discharge pressure gauges on AE2.

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travel as far as possible on the surface to conserve his limited battery power, and dive during daylight or when he reached the minefields that guarded the Strait. That night AE2 proceeded along at seven knots in the centre of the Strait. Suddenly they were spotted by a Turkish searchlight at Kephez and shells began to rain down. Stoker quickly submerged and passed a harrowing hour slowly creeping under the minefield. He could hear the mooring wires of the mines scraping the sides of AE2. Though AE2 cleared the minefield, the Turks were fully aware of the submarine’s presence; it was soon under attack. Stoker fired a torpedo which missed a cruiser but it struck and damaged one of the hunting destroyers. Submerged and trying to escape the destroyers’ attempts to ram his vessel, Stoker hit the bottom hard before rising back up to a depth of ten feet, right under the guns of a shore-based fort. The position was perilous. By now, AE2 had grounded with almost half of its structure out of the water. Luckily it was so close to the shore that the Turkish guns on land could not be depressed enough to hit the submarine, and after a short time the efforts of the crew to refloat AE2 were successful.  AUGUST 2014 79

The First World War Centenary 1914 1914-2014 2014 Stoker and his crew resumed their mission pursued by Turkish warships. Whenever they raised the periscope, the Turkish ships attempted to ram. Stoker decided to rest AE2 on the bottom until dark. For sixteen hours Stoker and his crew sat in darkness and silence at a depth of eighty feet. AE2 then resumed its journey into the Sea of Marmara, attacking any Turkish ship he could find. This he continued to do until the morning of the 30th. At around 10.00 hours on that day he attempted to surface the submarine which, for some unaccountable reason, suddenly went out of control and began rapidly to rise. The submarine broached the surface about 100 yards from a patrol boat which opened fire. Stoker again attempted to dive, but AE2 suddenly began to plunge into the depths out of control. Stoker arrested the descent, but now AE2 rushed back towards the surface where, hit by shells from the attacking boat, it was holed in several places. AE2 was doomed. Stoker ordered the submarine to be scuttled. All the crew survived and were taken prisoner.

ABOVE: The Royal Australian Navy submarines HMAS AE2 and AE1 (the latter on the far right) pictured in Sydney Harbour circa 1914. At the time of her loss, AE2 had logged some 35,000 nautical miles, mostly under war conditions. (AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL; H11559)

RIGHT: An open hatch on AE2. One of two submarines ordered for the fledgling Royal Australian Navy, AE2 was built in the UK by Vickers Armstrong. It was commissioned into the RAN in 1914.

Together with Stoker they spent the next three-and-a-half years as prisoners of war. Stoker escaped twice but was recaptured and endured numerous hardships in Turkish prisons.

ABOVE: A view inside the conning tower of AE2 and, in particular, the flag locker which was found to contain a pair of plimsolls.

ABOVE: A fish is pictured emerging from an open hatch on the wreck of AE2.

ABOVE: HMAS AE2’s forward periscope pedestal.

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THE WRECK OF HMAS AE2 The wreck of AE2 was discovered in the Sea of Marmara, at a depth of seventythree metres, by Turkish maritime historian Selçuk Kolay in 1998. Named “Silent ANZAC”, the new project is a joint Australian and Turkish initiative. It is led by a team from the AE2 Commemorative Foundation and Submarine Institute of Australia. The team comprises sixteen Australians, nineteen Turks and two Americans and includes scientists, divers, academics, maritime archaeologists, film makers, submariners and historians. A number of new and innovative solutions to support the current expedition have been developed by Australia’s Defence Science and Technology Organisation, including a high-definition camera and sophisticated lighting system. This camera has been used to inspect the wreck and successfully survey its entire length, including AE2’s forward and aft hydroplanes, rudder and tops of her propellers. A protection system has also been installed around the wreck to

control corrosion along with a marker buoy to protect it from shipping, anchors and fishing nets. Project leader and Chair of the AE2 Commemorative Foundation, Rear Admiral Peter Briggs AO CSC (Ret’d), said the submarine is in amazingly good condition. One of the most significant discoveries made by the project team was a portable wireless telegraph pole and antenna wire, the existence of which had long been the subject of discussion of military historians. “It is most likely that it was this telegraph which transmitted the message to Army headquarters that AE2 had torpedoed an Ottoman gunboat at Çanakkale,” noted Rear Admiral Briggs. “We can see the original paint, signalman’s sand shoes – plimsolls – still stowed in the flag locker in the conning tower,” he added, “along with the flags and what we believe was the battle ensign used by the Submarine’s Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander, Henry ‘Dacre’ Stoker, ninety-nine years ago. “The Turkish Government will ensure ongoing maintenance of the buoy laid over AE2 – to protect her from further damage – acknowledging the importance of preserving this shared piece of Turkey’s and Australia’s maritime military heritage.”  www.britainatwar.com

Harry Daniels was a larger than life hero who came back from the dead to add a Military Cross to his Victoria Cross earned at Neuve Chapelle and to represent his country at the Antwerp Olympics. Steve Snelling chronicles a real-life ripping yarn. MAIN PICTURE: “Dan VC” – Sergeant Harry Daniels pictured after his homecoming. In a letter to his local newspaper written shortly before his visit to Norwich, he played down his heroism. “What I did was only my duty,” he wrote, “as any man who is a Britisher at heart would do the same if placed in the same position as Noble and I were. What individual man would not risk his life to save many at a critical time like this.”

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HE HEADLINE was unequivocal and the shock almost palpable. It fairly leapt from the page – “Norwich VC Killed in Action: Lieut. Daniels Falls at the Front.” The grim news hardly seemed credible. Barely four months had passed since crowds had lined the city’s streets to hail the homecoming of Norfolk’s first great hero of the war. Civic dignitaries had queued to salute him and thousands of his fellow citizens had cheered themselves hoarse in honour of his battlefield exploits. 

(ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

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HARRY DANIELS VC Back From the Dead MAIN PICTURE: The capture of the German trenches at Neuve Chapelle. C.M. Sheldon’s graphic painting depicts, in typically patriotic fashion, the initial success on 10 March 1915.

Now, after all the eulogies, there only remained the last rites to be read. “It is painful to the whole of the citizens of Norwich to learn, according to a telegram received,” ran the newspaper article, “that Lieutenant Harry Daniels VC has been killed in action”. His deeds were recounted, his rise through the ranks re-stated and his tumultuous welcome home revisited. “And so,” it concluded in a rare display of emotion, “this brilliant and fascinating life history has come to a close. As for

the sentiments of Norwich, it can be truthfully said that they are sorrowful almost to the point of tears.”1 With its intoxicating mix of pride and grieving, the report seemed to catch the public mood. A charmed life that read like real-life ripping yarn had been cut cruelly short. Or so it seemed.

 A BOY CALLED “SPITFIRE” Even as a boy, Harry Daniels’ life had never lacked any drama. Born the thirteenth of sixteen children to struggling baker William Daniels and his wife, Elizabeth, he grew up in the school of hard knocks. He was just four when his mother died, a tragedy that was followed shortly after by the untimely death of his father. Some of the children were old enough to fend for themselves, but for the six youngest the grief at losing their parents in quick succession was followed by the heartbreak of

LEFT: The newspaper headline which prompted an outpouring of grief in his native Norfolk in late September 1915.

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HARRY DANIELS VC Back From the Dead separation, and Harry and two more of his brothers found themselves enrolled in a Norwich boys’ home. Such blows might have broken lesser spirits, but not Harry. No amount of discipline could tame his adventurous nature. Nicknamed “Spitfire”, he was as daring as he was irrepressible. Twice he absconded, before being boarded out and apprenticed as a carpenter, but such humdrum work scarcely satisfied his thirst for adventure. Aged 18, and with his apprenticeship unfinished, he quit and followed one of his brothers into the army.  BOTH LEFT: The cigarette card hero. Harry Daniels’ portrait and impressions of his VC action adorned a myriad of so-called "faggies". Virtually every brand of cigarette produced its own war-related series of cards and few heroes figured more prominently than the eversmiling Daniels.

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AUGUST 2014 85

HARRY DANIELS VC Back From the Dead It proved a turning point. In the space of eleven years, most of which was spent on garrison duty in India, he rose from rifleman to senior warrant officer in the 2nd Battalion, the Rifle Brigade. It was, by any standards, a meteoric rise – a rise helped in no small measure by his sociability and sporting prowess. A fine gymnast, he was a champion lightweight and welterweight boxer who was equally at home on the stage as a leading member of the battalion’s drama club as he was in the ring.

A BORN LEADER The winter of 1914-15 found Harry Daniels and the 2nd Rifle Brigade occupying a straggle of water-logged trenches in the Laventie sector of northern France as part of the recently formed 25th Brigade. The latter had been sent across the Channel in November 1914 to reinforce the beleaguered British Expeditionary Force. By then, the 29-year-old Daniels, who had left Bombay in September a sergeant and been promoted company quartermaster sergeant while at sea, was company sergeant major in ‘D’ Company, where his name was fast becoming a byword for courage among officers and men alike. To Lieutenant R.C. Mansel, he was a “born leader” who was “lighthearted and very brave, and terrified me out of my life”. “In a fight,” he reckoned, “he was everything a young officer could want”.2 Another officer remembered Daniels as an inspiring presence whether in or out of action. “A more fearless man you could never meet,” he wrote. “He strolls about the trenches with his hands in his pockets yelling at everybody who does not take proper care of himself, but he seems to consider himself specially privileged to take all the risks there are.”3 It was at Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 that Daniels scaled the peak of valour and, according to Mansel, was “in his element”

ABOVE: This portrayal of the gallantry displayed by CSM Harry Daniels and Acting Corporal “Tom” Noble shows the moment when Noble was fatally wounded as they were frantically attempting to cut a path through their own wire ahead of a delayed and ultimately disastrous attack on a German position bristling with machine-guns. ABOVE RIGHT: Acting Corporal Cecil “Tom” Noble VC. Bournemouthborn Noble had enlisted in the Rifle Brigade in 1910 and was a close friend of Daniels.

as the fighting raged all around him. “Three more unhappy and miserable days I cannot imagine,” he later wrote. “But Daniels never lost his smile, never was downhearted, and the whole time was on his toes.”4 He had need to be, for the furious battle fought in and about this nondescript village represented not only his battalion’s first major action of the war but the British Army’s first serious attempt to break the stalemate since the autumn struggles around Ypres had ended in entrenched deadlock from the Belgian Channel coast to the French border with Switzerland. Lying midway between Armentières and Béthune, Neuve Chapelle was located astride the crooked Rue Tilleloy in a kink in the German defences. Three lines of enemy trenches within 100-300 yards of the British positions were cut across the dead flat ground that was intersected by ditches which were knee to waist-deep with water. The British plan was to pinch out this weakly-held salient and, if everything went according to plan, seize the strategically-important Aubers ridge beyond. From there the Allies could

advance on Lille, a key industrial town and communications hub some twelve miles behind the German front line. A lightning thirty-five-minute bombardment of the enemy’s trenches and barbed wire entanglements signalled the start of an assault by elements of 4 Corps and Indian Corps along a two-mile front on the morning of 10 March 1915. At first all went well. In 25th Brigade’s sector, men of the 2nd Royal Berkshires and 2nd Lincolnshires led the way at 08.05 hours, quickly capturing a front line that had been pulverised by the artillery. The 2nd Rifle Brigade, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Reginald Stephens, and the 2nd Royal Irish Rifles followed on. By 08.50 hours the riflemen had pushed into the ruins of the village where they soon effected a link-up with troops from the neighbouring 2/39th Garwhal Rifles and 2/3rd Gurkhas. From the shell-scarred main street, scouts and bombers fanned out as far as the next enemy position, dubbed the Smith-Dorrien Trench after the British general commanding II Corps, which was swiftly occupied by ‘B’ Company, 2nd Rifle Brigade.

BELOW: Harry Daniels and his wife were the star attraction at the Hippodrome Theatre in Norwich. The couple took to the stage to receive the applause of a packed audience. Daniels, who had been a leading figure in his battalion’s amateur theatrical club, was in his element in the role of the “happy warrior”.

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HARRY DANIELS VC Back From the Dead BELOW: Noble is buried in Longuenesse (St. Omer) Souvenir Cemetery (Plot I, Row A, Grave 57). He is commemorated in his home town with a road named after him and a blue plaque over his childhood home in Capstone Road.

(COURTESY OF THE COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION)

Up till then, resistance had been “weak” to the point of “half-hearted”. In the words of the regimental historian, it was “the resistance of men who were dazed with surprise”. A bag of fifty prisoners was made amid the wreckage of Neuve Chapelle. More importantly, there was no sign of any enemy troops in front of the attackers. For a few precious moments, it appeared as if the way to Aubers ridge was clear and that a breakthrough had been made. “It seemed a golden opportunity,” added the regimental historian; he was not alone in such thoughts.  

DYING TO GET ON With some of his men consolidating and others edging closer to the now stationary barrage, Lieutenant Colonel Stephens sent word back to Brigade HQ, asking to be www.britainatwar.com

allowed to continue the pursuit into open country. But it was not to be. The assault by neighbouring units of 23rd Brigade on the left had run into difficulties. So, instead of exploiting success and cutting off the enemy troops holding out in the front line, the decision was taken to persist with the plan of a broad front advance following a renewal of the artillery bombardment. Till then, Stephens was told to sit tight. It was a galling order. “There was nothing to stop us,” wrote one Rifle Brigade officer, “and the troops were … dying to get on”. Shortly, they would be “dying” quite literally because of the failure to act sooner. For as the same officer observed: “The delay cost us dear later.”5 Instead of pushing forward, the battalion spent the rest of the day strengthening its position. These became, in turn, targets for shelling as an enemy which had been in disarray a few hours earlier was afforded time to recover its grip. By late

ABOVE: Having recovered from his wounds received at Neuve Chapelle, Harry Daniels was treated to a civic reception in Norwich. He is pictured here preparing to leave the Guildhall in the State Coach normally used for visiting members of the Royal family. He was presented with an illuminated address and later a purse of gold sovereigns. LEFT: CSM Harry Daniels VC. Born in the Norfolk market town of Wymondham, Daniels grew up in a Norwich boys’ home before enlisting in the Rifle Brigade on 31 January 1903.

BELOW: Daniels was fêted everywhere he went in the city. Crowds lined the streets to cheer him.

afternoon, when the depleted units of 23rd Brigade caught up, it was too dark to continue the advance. A day which had begun so promisingly petered out in disappointment. All told, the 2nd Rifle Brigade had suffered 116 casualties, the overwhelming majority of them during the wasted hours of waiting for the order to push on that never came. But heavy as the losses were, they were to get a lot worse before the fighting around Neuve Chapelle drew to a close.  

STREWN WITH DEAD After a quiet night, 11 March opened to the sound of renewed gunfire as enemy artillery added to the destruction in the village. While the British sat and waited, the Germans had been busy. Reports reached Stephens that the enemy troops facing him had spent the night digging a new trench, parallel to the edge of the Bois de Biez. Set roughly midway between the wood and the Rue des Layes, it represented the new German front line and a fresh barrier between the British and any breakout. The rest of the day passed in a mixture of confusion and inactivity. Orders were followed by counter-orders and still nothing happened. The day ended with no movement from either side. Then new orders reached Stephens’ HQ at around 01.00 hours on 12 March: the 2nd Battalion Rifle Brigade was to be formed up, ready to attack at 07.00 hours. The riflemen were still in the process of preparing for the assault when, at around 04.45 hours, the Germans launched their own counter-attack along the whole length of the British position. The fighting swayed back and forth, but the enemy made no headway against the riflemen. “When daylight came,” Stephens wrote, “the ground in front of us was strewn with their dead and there were a great number close to the enemy’s new trench showing that we had caught the enemy’s supports and reserves as they were forming up.”6  AUGUST 2014 87

HARRY DANIELS VC Back From the Dead

The scene was set for a day of courage and carnage marked by folly and futility on both sides.  

“HUMANLY IMPOSSIBLE” The repulse of the German attack was followed by a second failed assault at 09.00 hours. This was “dispersed”, according to Stephens, before the enemy “could get far from his trenches”. The Germans’ double failure achieved nothing beyond throwing the already muddled British plans into even greater disarray. Having delayed the originally planned attack from 07.30 hours to 10.30 hours, British commanders ordered a further postponement till 12.30 hours – half an hour before the Indian Corps was due to make its own assault. Attempts to co-ordinate the two attacks were to no avail as were Stephens’ protests about the line of advance which was hampered by a series of water-filled dykes. The result was a predictable disaster. The regimental historian recorded: “No sooner had the leading lines left the trenches than they were met by a tornado of cross-fire not only from machine guns and rifles in the new trench, but from the field guns north of the Bois du Biez; from machine guns in the hamlet in front of the wood; and from the strong point near the bridge on

ABOVE: As a local hero, Harry Daniels was the target for autograph hunters as this picture illustrates. Daniels, meanwhile, used his new-found celebrity status to encourage more men to volunteer for war service. RIGHT: An artist’s impression of the actions of Corporal William Anderson, of the 2nd Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards) at Neuve Chapelle – for which he would also be awarded the Victoria Cross. BELOW: The dead lie scattered across No Man’s Land of the Neuve Chapelle following the British attacks in March 1915. (MARY EVANS/ROBERT HUNT COLLECTION)

the Neuve Chapelle-La Russe road.” Barely a handful of men managed to reach the empty and abandoned Smith-Dorrien Trench as the leading line “withered away”. Stephens was appalled. Faced with what the regimental historian called “the obvious impossibility of anything human surviving in such conditions”, he ordered a halt to the attack. It proved, however, only a pause in the bloodletting. For having opposed all of Stephens’ proposals for attack when there was a chance of success, the High Command now insisted that the foredoomed assault be renewed when there was absolutely no hope of achieving anything. The orders passed to 2nd Rifle

Brigade at 16.00 hours could not have been clearer: a second attack was to be made at 17.15 hours “regardless of loss”. With ‘A’ and ‘B’ Companies already shattered in the first assault, it was the turn of ‘C’ and ‘D’ Companies to attempt a task that Stephens knew to be “humanly impossible”. The officers and men knew it too. They had already seen their comrades hopelessly slaughtered and now they were preparing to repeat the exercise across the same ground against an enemy line well prepared and bristling with machine-guns. What seemed like a decision bordering on madness was even worse than that for Harry Daniels and the men of ‘D’ Company on the right. Ahead of them, barely fifteen yards from their own parapet, was a tangle of uncut barbed wire – their own – which would have to be negotiated in clear view of the Germans facing them. With time running out, Lieutenant Mansel, who had been elevated by casualties to temporary company commander, decided to take desperate measures. He told Daniels to detail a party of men to go out ahead of the main assault and cut lanes through the wire.  

SITTING TARGETS Orders were orders, but not even a consummate professional such as Daniels could bring himself to carry it out. “It had got to be done,” he later acknowledged. “What could I do? I could not tell men 88 AUGUST 2014

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Valour At Neuve Chapelle

that what they had to go and face was almost certain death. What I always say is, if there’s anything to be done, don’t talk about it, but get on with it.”7 That is precisely what he did. Turning to his close friend, acting Corporal Cecil “Tom” Noble, Daniels simply said: “Come on Tom; get some nippers.” With that, the pair of them clambered out of their trench before dashing headlong for the wire. Amazingly, they escaped unscathed the hail of fire directed at them, but still their task seemed impossible. The wire, its height ranging from a few inches to almost five feet, spread nearly thirty yards towards the enemy trench. Daniels and Noble, however, set about the job with a will. “Lying in all positions,” recalled Daniels, “we cut the wire [despite] a very heavy machine gun fire”.8 Working frantically as bullets tore the ground around them, the pair seemed oblivious of everything but their task. It was a race against time, with their very survival hinging on sheer willpower and the speed at which they could wield their heavy duty steel cutters. For a few moments their luck held until suddenly Daniels was knocked back. “I

stopped one,” he said later. “A bullet passed clean through my left thigh. Then I heard Tom make a noise and I called out, ‘What’s up, Tom?’” “I’ve stopped one,” Noble groaned faintly. Despite being hit in the chest, the 23-year-old corporal hauled himself back up, picked up his cutters and set about the wire until he fell back exhausted. According to Daniels, he did this “again and again … until he grew so feeble that he at last sank upon the ground insensible.” By then, the two wounded heroes had succeeded against all the odds in making a narrow path through the wire. It was hardly enough and certainly not enough to alter the outcome of the attack. Leading the way past the gallant pair, Lieutenant Mansel had covered only a few yards before he fell seriously wounded. Shortly afterwards, with only a handful of ‘C’ Company in the SmithDorrien Trench, and with ‘D’ Company held up in No Man’s Land, Stephens took the courageous decision to stop the attack once more. What the regimental historian described as “a disastrous day of squandered heroism” had ended, as Stephens had anticipated, by merely incurring even heavier losses for no gains. In all, 258 officers and men had been killed or wounded during the two forlorn assaults. The roll of honour included ‘C’ Company’s Corporal Tom Noble who succumbed to his wounds the following day. That Harry Daniels did not join him on the list was something of a minor miracle. With bullets flying around him, he managed to crawl into a shallow shellhole. “It was not big enough to cover me,” he later recalled, “so I put my head into the hole with my buttocks towards the enemy”. He remained in this bizarre

THE INTENSITY of the fighting at Neuve Chapelle in March 1915 was reflected in the award of no fewer than nine Victoria Crosses, five of them posthumously, to the British and Indian troops engaged. As well as the medals earned by CSM Harry Daniels and Acting Corporal “Tom” Noble, the nation’s highest distinction for battlefield bravery went to:  

Rifleman Gobar Sing Negi

2nd Battalion, 39th Garhwal Rifles During the initial assault on 10 March 1915, he led a bayonet party into the enemy trenches and, as the first man round each traverse, he was instrumental in driving the defenders back but was unfortunately killed later in the day.  

Private William Buckingham

2nd Battalion, Leicestershire Regiment Between 10 and 12 March, Buckingham repeatedly risked his life rescuing wounded men “whilst exposed to heavy fire”. He was subsequently killed in action on the Somme the following year.  

Private Jacob Rivers

1st Battalion, Notts & Derby Regiment With the enemy massing on his unit’s flank, Private Rivers, on his own initiative, crept to within a few yards, hurling grenades and forcing them to pull back. His actions on 12 March saved a critical situation at the cost of his life.  

Corporal William Anderson

2nd Battalion, Yorkshire Regiment When a large party of Germans forced their way into his battalion's trenches on 12 March, Corporal Anderson immediately counter-attacked with three men armed with grenades; when they fell wounded he fought on alone until the situation was restored. He was killed the next day.  

Private Edward Barber

1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards Dashing ahead of his party of bombers during an attack on 12 March, Barber single-handedly forced the surrender of a “very great number” of enemy troops confronting his unit. He was killed before his award was announced.  

Lance Corporal Wilfred Fuller

1st Battalion, Grenadier Guards During the same action as Barber’s, Fuller chased after a party of Germans trying to escape along a communication trench and succeeded in bombing them into submission. His solo haul amounted to almost fifty prisoners.  

Captain Charles Foss

2nd Battalion, Bedfordshire Regiment Following the failure of a counter-attack to recapture a lost trench on 12 March, Captain Foss launched an assault with eight men and successfully wrested control of the position, resulting in the capture of fifty-two men. CENTRE LEFT: Harry Daniels and his wife, Kathleen (nee Perry), a soldier’s daughter, who he married in Calcutta on 21 January 1914. LEFT: Norwich Boys’ Home most celebrated ‘old boy’ poses with the board of guardians and the ‘class of 1915’. After the early deaths of his parents, Daniels had spent five years in the Home (1894-1899) and received most of his education there. For all the smiles, his time there was a turbulent one.

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position, feigning death and fearing unconsciousness, for almost four hours. Only when the guns fell silent and the battlefield was cloaked in darkness did he risk moving. “Then,” he said, “I dragged myself to our trenches and safety”.9  

ROOM FOR HOPE The attacks around Neuve Chapelle continued for another day, but the 2nd Rifle Brigade’s contribution was effectively over, though the survivors remained on the ground they had captured, being shelled and sniped, for another week. By then, Harry Daniels had already been evacuated. He was still recovering from his wound at Hammersmith Infirmary on 28 April 1915, when he learned via a newspaper report that he and Noble had both been awarded the Victoria Cross “for most conspicuous bravery”.10  AUGUST 2014 89

HARRY DANIELS VC Back From the Dead

Less than two months later Daniels was well enough to return to Norwich. It was the first time he had visited the city in eleven years and “Dan VC”, as he was quickly dubbed, was fêted wherever he went. In a letter to the local press, he described himself as “a thoroughbred Norfolk man” and appeared as proud of his roots as the citizens were of him. All of which made his seeming demise, just three months later, all the more shocking. Contrary to all the headlines, however, Harry’s luck had not run out. Nor would it. Just three days after his obituary was published, the same newspapers ran new stories. Under the headline “The Reported Death of Lieut Daniels VC: Room for Hope”, one article told of postcards having been received by family and friends stating that far from being dead he was, in fact, “quite well”. The next day, the original story was fully retracted following an announcement by the Press Association which stated: “We are requested to contradict the report of the death of Lieutenant Daniels VC.” Harry Daniels was, indeed, very much alive. Having rejoined his old battalion as a newly commissioned second lieutenant on 27 September 1915, he quickly made

a name for himself as a patrol leader venturing out into No Man’s Land. His unit War Diary for 3 February 1916, for example, reported a daring reconnaissance made of the German positions. Consequently, by the end of March that year he had added a Military Cross to his Victoria Cross “for conspicuous and consistent gallantry”. Two acts of bravery were cited in the award of the MC. The first related to a patrol in which he carried a wounded man back to safety from the edge of the enemy’s wire across 300 yards of fireswept ground, whilst the second was an incident when he volunteered to lead a patrol to recover a corporal thought to have been wounded. The rest of Harry’s war service was marked by more courage and good fortune. Wounded slightly on 14 June 1916, and more seriously on the first day of the battle of the Somme when 2nd Rifle Brigade suffered heavy losses from shelling, he maintained his good humour, writing from hospital: “They did not give me much chance this time as I was caught before I got over the top of the parapet … I was wild to know that I could not go on.”11 Along with the wound stripes came two Mentions in Despatches

ABOVE LEFT: Call to arms. A public notice published in the local press warning volunteer special constables to be ready to parade in honour of Harry Daniels. The hero of Neuve Chapelle was given a public send-off from Thorpe Railway Station that was almost on a par with his welcome. ABOVE RIGHT: Harry Daniels’ hero’s welcome home to Norfolk was characterised by a series of public and private events staged in his honour. This garden party was typical of the many gatherings that provided the local press with ample picture opportunities. Daniels, who was “only too proud to think I am a thoroughbred Norfolk”, was evidently only too happy to oblige. LEFT: While back home in Norwich, Harry Daniels found time to attend a family christening. The picture shows him proudly wearing his Victoria Cross which was a fixture on his chest throughout his visit.

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as the imperturbable and seemingly indestructible “Dan VC” ended the war a captain. His war injuries, which included a broken right forearm, did not prevent him from continuing a distinguished sporting career which climaxed in 1920 when the man who came back from the dead represented Britain as a boxer at the Antwerp Olympics. The hero of Neuve Chapelle soldiered on until 1942. When he finally retired he was a lieutenant colonel and chief recruiting officer in the north-west of England. Not bad for a humble lad from a Norwich orphanage who enlisted as a private soldier. Remarkably, that was not the end of it. Restless as ever, Daniels then embarked on a second career as a much revered manager of the Grand Theatre and Opera House in Leeds, a position he held until his death in 1953, aged 69. To the end, he remained the same old “Dan VC”, living on his wits and forever following his instincts. “Act as soon as I think” was the way he put it to a journalist late in his life. “Sometimes sorry after, sometimes not. Depends. Helps sometimes – quick decisions and all that. I often wish I was different – like my wife.12 “Cool, calm collected. Looks before she leaps. Wish I could be the same. But I’m not. Impulsive – born in me.” 

NOTES 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Eastern Evening News, 28 September 1915. Obituary, The Rifle Brigade Chronicle, 1953 Eastern Daily Press, 19 July 1916. Rifle Brigade Chronicle, op. cit. Unnamed officer, 2nd Rifle Brigade, published in the Regimental History. 6. Lieutenant Colonel Reginald Stephens, “Report on Operations at Neuve Chapelle, March 10-14, 1915”, written on 18 March 1915. 7. Harry Daniels, “Our Norwich VC”, an interview published in Fisher’s Almanac and Annual, 1915. 8. Ibid. 9. Ibid. 10. The awards were published in a supplement to The London Gazette of 27 April 1915, No.29146. 11. Eastern Evening News, 15 July 1916. 12. Quoted in a Leeds newspaper, published shortly after Harry Daniels’ death in 1953.

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KICKING OFF THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME 1 July 1916

When the whistles blew on the morning of 1 July 1916, the men of the 8th Battalion East Surrey Regiment charged towards the German trenches at Montauban dribbling footballs ahead of them. The balls had been purchased by Captain Wilfred Nevill. Whilst Nevill did not survive the battle, some of the footballs did.

“F

ROM MIDNIGHT on, the enemy shelled our front line and the assembly trenches mostly with 10.5cm and 15cm shells, knocking in the trenches in several places and several small dugouts, causing a total of thirteen casualties, three killed and ten being wounded.” These were the opening words of the War Diary of the 8th Battalion East Surrey Regiment on the morning of 1 July 1916. From around 05.00 hours the German artillery scaled back its bombardment for an hour or so but then, at 06.30 hours, the enemy gunners redoubled their efforts all along the sector held by East Surreys. By this time the battalion’s

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company commanders had reported that they were in position and that all the necessary stores had been issued. At 07.15 hours personnel from the Battalion Headquarters left their dugouts to watch the 8th East Surreys mount its attack on the first day of the Battle of the Somme.

THE GALLANT CAPTAIN At 07.27 hours the battalion started to move out to its wire. One of its officers carried with him a bottle of champagne that he promised to share with one or two of his comrades beyond the German front line. Another, Captain Wilfred Percy Nevill, the commander of ‘B’ Company, had purchased four footballs; one for each of his platoons.1 Nevill was 

MAIN PICTURE: A postcard which, entitled “The Surrey’s Play the Game”, was drawn by R. Caton Woodville to depict the 8th Battalion East Surrey Regiment in No Man’s Land on 1 July 1916. It was published on 27 July 1916. (SURREY HISTORY CENTRE; ESR/25/ NEVI/3)

LEFT: Captain Wilfred “Billie” Nevill pictured in the trenches prior to the first day of the Battle of the Somme. (SURREY

HISTORY CENTRE; ESR/25/NEVI/1)

AUGUST 2014 93

KICKING OFF THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME 1 July 1916 described as “a young officer who liked to stand on the fire-step each evening and shout insults at the Germans”.2 It would seem that Nevill was concerned as to how his men would react during the assault on 1 July, for they had never taken part in an attack before. It was whilst on leave in the UK in May 1916, that Nevill brought the footballs. Once back in the trenches, he offered a prize to the first platoon to kick its football up to the German trenches on the day of the attack. What happened that day was reported in the Daily Telegraph: “The captain of one of the companies had provided four footballs, one for each platoon, urging them to keep up a

RIGHT and BOTTOM: Cheering the re-inflated football. After they were recovered from the battlefield, it was noted that “neither of the balls appeared to have been punctured but they were scarred by barbed wire and the lettering has disappeared”. During a ceremony at Kingston Barracks on 21 July 1916, the regiment celebrated the return of at least one of the footballs, seen here below being inflated. (BOTH

COURTESY OF THE SURREY HISTORY CENTRE)

LEFT: One of the footballs purchased by Captain Wilfred Nevill pictured after its use on the Somme battlefield. (SURREY HISTORY

CENTRE; ESR/1/25/3)

94 AUGUST 2014

dribbling competition all the way over the mile and a quarter of ground they had to traverse. As the company formed on emerging from the trench, the platoon commanders kicked off, and the match against Death commenced.”3 Another account states that “one football was kicked off by Capt Nevill and the other by Pte A.A. Fursey of No.6 Platoon as the company ‘went over the top’.”4 Private L.S. Price, 8th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment, was a witness: “As the gun-fire died away I saw an infantryman climb onto the parapet into No Man’s Land, beckoning others to follow. As he did so he kicked off a football; a good kick, the ball rose and travelled well towards the German line. That seemed to be the signal to advance.”5

According to the battalion’s War Diary, “Captain Nevill [was then] strolling quietly ahead of them, giving an occasional order to keep the dressing square on to the line of advance. This Company took four footballs out with them which they were seen to dribble forward into the smoke of our intense bombardment on the Hun front line. “The first part of ‘B’ Company’s advance was made with very few casualties, but when the barrage lifted to the second Hun trench, a very heavy rifle and machine gun fire started from our front and left, the latter coming apparently from the craters and the high ground immediately behind them. “At 7.50am the Adjutant reported that the Battalion was in the German trenches. Hand to hand fighting went on for a

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KICKING OFF THE BATTLE OF THE SOMME 1 July 1916 with hoarse cries of encouragement or defiance, until they disappeared in the dense smother behind which the Germans were shooting.” At 07.50 hours it was reported that the battalion was in the German trenches, though hand-tohand fighting went on for a long time.

THE EUROPEAN CUP-TIE FINAL

ABOVE: Colonel Treeby, the Kingston depot’s Commanding Officer, displaying the ball to the assembled ranks. (SURREY HISTORY

CENTRE; ESR/1/12/12)

long time in the German Trenches and news received that both Captains Flatau and Pearce had been killed and later it was known that Captain Nevill, Lieuts Soames, Musgrove, and 2/Lieuts Kelly and Evans had also been killed.”6 The 8th East Surreys were part of the 55th Brigade in the 18th Division of Major General Frederick Ivor Maxse’s XIII Corps which was on the right of the British line next to the French Army. The front line of XIII Corps extended from the small commune of Maricourt to beyond Carnoy. It lay near the bottom of the northern slope of the valley between the Maricourt and Montauban ridges, in which the village of Carnoy was situ ated. The German front line was higher up on the same slope. The ground over which the divisions of XIII Corps had to advance was therefore a long gentle slope up to the German positions which were held by about nine battalions of the 12th, 28th Reserve and 10th Bavarian Divisions. The German defences consisted of a front of several www.britainatwar.com

trenches, with a recently dug reserve line, Dublin Trench – Train Alley – Pommiers Trench, 700 to 1,000 yards behind it. A communication trench (called Montauban Alley) ran from Montauban to Mametz on the reverse slope of Caterpillar Valley, formed a further retrenchment. The second position, some 3,000 yards behind the first, extended past Maurepas to Guillemont, Longueval and the two Bazentins. The third position was under construction. The front system was strengthened by numerous strong points formed as a rule by isolating a sector of the trenches by means of all-round wire and trenchblocks. Among these self-contained defences were Glatz and Pommiers Redoubts, and “The Castle”. The village of Montauban had been put in a state of defence, and on its southern side outside its perimeter ran a continuous trench. “The gallant captain himself fell early in the charge,” continued the Daily Telegraph report, “and men began to drop rapidly under the hail of machine-gun bullets. But still the footballs were booted onwards,

LEFT: When he wrote to Wilfred Nevill’s sister, Second Lieutenant C.W. Alcock said: “As you probably know, we found him on the following Monday and he was buried in the Soldiers’ Cemetery at Carnoy.” Captain Wilfred Nevill’s grave can be seen at plot E. 28. in Carnoy Military Cemetery. (COURTESY OF THE COMMONWEALTH WAR GRAVES COMMISSION)

When the bombs and bayonets had done their work, and the enemy had been driven out of the trenches, the Surrey men looked for their footballs, and recovered two of them in the captured traverses. The following legend had been written on one: “The Great European Cup-Tie Final. East Surreys v Bavarians. Kick off at zero.” On the other in large letters was the comment, “NO REFEREE”, which, according to Second Lieutenant C.W. Alcock, was Captain Nevill’s way of telling the men “they needn’t treat the Hun too gently”. Following the opening of the Battle of the Somme, Alcock wrote to Wilfred Nevill’s sister: “Five minutes before ‘zero’ hour (7.30 am) your brother strolled up in his usual calm way and we shared a last joke before going over. The Company went over the top very well, with Soames and your brother kicking off with the Company footballs. “We had to face a very heavy rifle and machine gun fire + nearing the front German trench, the lines slackened pace slightly. Seeing this Wilfred dashed in front with a bomb in his hand, + was immediately shot through the head, almost side by side with Soames and Sgt Major Wells.” Captain C. Thorne, who took over ‘B’ Company after Nevill’s death, duly wrote to the mother of one of the East Surreys killed on 1 July: “Pollard then went on with the rest who, thank God, successfully captured the trench and finished off all the Germans in it. This took place in the attack on Montauban. You may have seen a lot in the newspapers about the East Surrey’s charge with the footballs. That was the charge. Captain Nevill (who was killed) himself kicked off one of the two footballs which the company dribbled across, and you will be proud to hear it was actually your son who kicked off the other one on that historic day the memory of which will live for ever in the records of the Regiment, and indeed of the British Nation.” 

NOTES 1.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

There is some uncertainty surrounding the number of footballs that Nevill actually purchased, some accounts stating that it was in fact only two. See: www.exploringsurreyspast.org.uk Martin Middlebrook, 1 July 1916: The First Day on the Somme (Penguin, London, 1984), p.86-7. Daily Telegraph, 12 July 1916. A regimental letter, RHQ/QS/69, dated 13 June 1966. Martin Middlebrook, ibid, p.124. Martin Mace and John Grehan, Slaughter on the Somme 1 July 1916 (Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2013), p.451-7.

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DATES THAT SHAPED T

 CLOSING THE GAP

The Falaise Gap was finally closed on SUNDAY, 20 AUGUST 1944. 1944 No-one is quite sure how many German troops escaped from the “Pocket”. The enemy’s losses are equally uncertain, though it is often stated that between 80,000 and 100,000 troops were caught in the encirclement, of who 10,000–15,000 were killed. General Eisenhower is recorded as saying: “The battlefield at Falaise was unquestionably one of the greatest ‘killing fields’ of any of the war areas. Forty-eight hours after the closing of the gap I was conducted through it on foot, to encounter scenes that could be described only by Dante. It was literally possible to walk for hundreds of yards at a time, stepping on nothing but dead and decaying flesh.” The scale of the German losses is evidenced by the fate of the 12th SS-Panzer Division. With close to 20,000 men and 150 tanks before the Normandy campaign, after Falaise it was reduced to 300 men and ten tanks having lost 94% of its armour, nearly all of its artillery and 70% of its vehicles. Here Eisenhower is pictured inspecting the wreckage of a German tank (captioned as a Tiger II) near Chambois. (CONSEIL RÉGIONAL DE BASSE-NORMANDIE/US NATIONAL ARCHIVES)

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1

Following the start of an uprising against German forces in Warsaw by the Polish Home Army, the Chiefs of Staff despatch a signal to Air Marshal Slessor, Air Commander in Chief Mediterranean Allied Air Forces and Commander in Chief RAF Mediterranean and Middle East, requesting that he comply with Polish appeals for assistance if operationally practicable. Supply dropping operations began on this night, and continued until 22 September.

2

The first combat mission by an Arado Ar 234, the world’s first operational jet-bomber took place. A reconnaissance flight over the Allied beachhead in Normandy, it provided the German high command with the first aerial photographs that revealed the scale of the Allied landings. Flown by Leutnant Erich Sommer, the Ar 234 V7 prototype’s two Rb 50/30 cameras took a photograph every eleven seconds. This was the first jet aircraft reconnaissance mission in aviation history.

3

The Education Act received Royal Assent on this date. One of the act’s most important steps was the introduction, after the war, of a national system of free secondary education for all children up to 15 years of age in England and Wales; it raised the school leaving age to 15 (though the stated intention that it should be 16 was not effected until 1972). The Act also provided for free meals and milk in schools.

7

The Germans launched their last major offensive in Normandy. Ordered by Hitler, the aims of Operation Lüttich were to to eliminate the gains made by the US First Army and to isolate elements of the US Third which had advanced into Brittany. However, by 13 August the offensive had ground to a halt, with German troops being driven out of Mortain. The Panzer divisions involved lost over 150 of their tanks to Allied counterattacks and air strikes, nearly 50 per cent of those committed.

8

A photo reconnaissance de Havilland Mosquito PR.Mk.IX, LR433 of 540 Squadron, was shot down over Ohlstadt, south-west of Munich, by a Messerschmitt Me 262 flown by Leutnant Joachim Weber of 9./JG7. This was the first confirmed combat victory by a jet-powered fighter.

15

The Allied landings in the south of France, Operation Dragoon, began on this date with a drop by British and US airborne and glider forces and amphibious landings on a number of beaches on the thirty-five mile stretch of coastline between Toulon and Cannes.

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D THE WAR 22

The Fleet Air Arm launched a series of strikes against Tirpitz under the codename Operation Goodwood. The first two attacks, Goodwood I and II, were made on the 22nd with no hits being made. Goodwood III came two days later. German records state: “The attack on 24 August 1944 was undoubtedly the heaviest and most determined so far. The English [sic] showed great skill and dexterity in flying.” The final raid in the series – Goodwood IV – occurred on 29 August; it marked the end of the Fleet Air Arm’s effort against the German warship.

23

In an operation organised by the Balkan Air Force, Dakotas of 267 Squadron, the USAAF’s 60th Troop Carrier Group, and the Soviet Air Force evacuated over 1,000 wounded Yugoslav partisans from a landing strip at Brezna in Yugoslavia. The escorting fighters included the North American Mustangs of 213 Squadron.

24

A small force from No.10 (Inter-Allied) Commando carried out Operation Rumford, the intention being to capture the German-held Île d’Yeu located just off the Vendée coast of Western France. The landing was successful, though it was found that the island had already been evacuated by enemy troops.

27

At 13.30 hours, RAF Typhoons attacked a force of warships at sea off Cap d’Antifer on the French coast east of the Normandy beachheads. The warships were in fact Royal Navy minesweepers from the 1st Minesweeping Flotilla. Two, HMS Hussar and HMS Britomart, were sunk and a third, HMS Salamander, was damaged to such an extent that it was declared a constructive total loss. The attack, the result of errors within the Royal Navy’s command, led to the deaths of eighty-six sailors, whilst a further 124 were injured (though these figures vary according to source). The events on this day are described as the most serious “friendly fire” incident involving Royal Navy vessels during the war.

30

Operation Overlord officially ended with the withdrawal of the last German unit across the River Seine.

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AUGUST 1944

Key Moments and Events that affected Britain in WW2

 A RAPID ADVANCE

Within just twelve days of the start of Operation Dragoon, the vital naval base of Toulon was liberated by French troops on TUESDAY, 22 AUGUST 1944. Its fall came after two intensive naval bombardments by Allied warships. One account stated: “Two battleships and six cruisers formed a strong naval force which yesterday again bombarded Toulon [the previous bombardment had been on 18 August]. They fired a total of 1,400 rounds into the fortifications and shipping. The bombardment began after a haze had lifted in the mid-morning. Some retaliatory fire came from the shore. E-boats, after dark, tried to attack the naval forces, but were driven off, one being sunk and another driven ashore in flames.” It is part of Toulon’s defences that is pictured here after the port was liberated. Two days later, Marseilles, France’s second largest city and biggest port, was captured by French Forces of the Interior and American troops. “They received a delirious welcome from the citizens who took the troops to their homes,” recalled one reporter. “There were wild scenes in the streets … the city is reverting to normal.” The advances in the south of France continued as the US 36th Division moved north to Grenoble, which was liberated on 23 August, whilst Lyons was liberated on 3 September, an impressive seventy-seven days ahead of schedule. The French 2nd Corps, commanded by General de Lattre de Tassigny, liberated Avignon and then moved north up the River Rhône to Dijon, which was liberated on 11 September. As they advanced, the French troops seemingly heeded their commander’s request – “Don’t crush the vineyards”. (NARA)

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"PLENTY OF MIGS ALL AROUND" Wing Commander Brian Spragg

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ESPITE THE fact that British personnel were heavily involved in the fighting on the ground during the Korean War, for the RAF it was an entirely different picture. Whilst the UK government did not base any RAF squadrons in Korea, twenty-one RAF fighter pilots saw action whilst on exchange with the United States Air Force.1 Between them, they were credited with seven “kills” for the loss of four pilots.2 A further twenty-one RAF pilots also flew with the USAF in a variety of other roles, such as on reconnaissance, transport and communication duties. In addition, there were two RAF squadrons of flying boats based in Japan conducting maritime reconnaissance, whilst two flights of Army Cooperation aircraft flew in support of artillery spotting and reconnaissance. The first four RAF fighter pilots to be attached to the USAF, drawn from the RAF’s Central Fighter Establishment (CFE), departed the UK on 3 February 1952, arriving at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport on the 11th. After reporting to the headquarters of the USAF’s Far East Air Force and Air Vice Marshal C.A. Bouchier, the Air Advisor at the British Embassy in the Japanese capital, this team flew on to Seoul on 13 February. The four men in the party were led by Wing Commander Johnny Baldwin, DSO, DFC, AFC, a Second World veteran who

ABOVE: A group photograph of personnel at the Air Fighting Development Squadron in front of a pair of Gloster Meteors in 1951. Flight Lieutenant Brian Spragg, DFC is seated third from the right in the second row.

had already claimed sixteen enemy aircraft. The remaining three pilots were Squadron Leader W. “Paddy” Harbison who was another veteran, having originally enlisted in the RAF in 1941; Flight Lieutenant Rex Knight, who, despite joining the RAF in 1944, did not experience his first combat until Korea; and Flight Lieutenant Brian Spragg, DFC. The CFE pilots were to describe their “experiences and the tactics employed by American F-86s in air combat with Russian MiG-15s in North West Korea”.3 For the US fighter squadrons as a whole,

as Harbison later commented, “the air operations at Kimpo and Suwon were aimed at gaining and holding air superiority to enable the fighter bombers to operate unopposed”.4 Once they had arrived in theatre, the four were split into two pairs. Baldwin and Knight were posted to the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wing at Suwon, this unit being led by Colonel Gabby Gabreski, a Second World War Republic P-47 Thunderbolt Ace. Spragg and Harbison joined the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing which was commanded by Colonel Harrison Thyng. Thyng was another

MAIN PICTURE: Two of the aircraft operated by the Air Fighting Development Squadron at RAF West Raynham during Flight Lieutenant Brian Spragg, DFC’s time with it.

In the final instalment in his series of articles detailing the remarkable RAF career of Wing Commander Brian Spragg, inspired by the entries in his flying log books, Mark Hillier examines this pilot’s role as a jet fighter pilot in the Korean War. 98 AUGUST 2014

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"PLENTY OF MIGS ALL AROUND" Wing Commander Brian Spragg DFC LEFT: Flight Lieutenant Brian Spragg, DFC, seen here kneeling in the centre of the front row, pictured during his time at the Air Fighting Development Squadron in front of a North American F-86 Sabre, the type of aircraft he would soon be flying in combat over the Korean Peninsula. This photograph was taken at RAF West Raynham, Norfolk, in 1950. The entries in Spragg’s flying log books reveal that he had flown this jet, FU-926, on at least three occasions, the dates in question being 18 October 1950, 7 November 1950 and 12 January 1951. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE AUTHOR UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

piston-engine fighter Ace who had flown Spitfires as the Commanding Officer of the 309th Fighter Squadron during the Second World War. For his part, Spragg was sent to the 334th Fighter Squadron then based at the airfield at Kimpo which had the designation K-16. The 334th had been in Korea since November 1950, flying the North American F-86 Sabre. This series of postings resulted in the first occasions in which RAF pilots were involved in jet versus jet combats. One account, published in November 1952, was based on the early experiences  of Baldwin’s small team: “200 miles

ABOVE: Three North American F-86 Sabres pictured in the skies over Korea. The type established its reputation as the primary air-to-air jet fighter used by the Americans in the Korean War. While earlier straight-winged jets such as the F-80 and F-84 initially achieved air victories, when the swept-wing Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 appeared in November 1950, it outperformed all UN-based aircraft. In response, three squadrons of F-86s were rushed to the Far East in December that year. (US AIR FORCE)

MIGS ALL AROUND" www.britainatwar.com

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"PLENTY OF MIGS ALL AROUND" Wing Commander Brian Spragg DFC

KOREAN WAR DOGFIGHTERS

This pair of colour profiles show the two main jet fighters used in the Korean War in relation to the experiences of Flight Lieutenant Brian Spragg, DFC. Spragg first flew a USAF North American F-86 Sabre, the top aircraft seen here, in Korea on 6 February 1952. That was a F-86 of the 334th Fighter Squadron, which in turn was part of the 4th Fighter Interceptor Wing. By the end of the Korean War, the pilots of the 334th Fighter Squadron had been credited with 142 kills. Six of the unit’s pilots achieved Ace status. The 334th remained in Korea until 8 December 1957. Some of its better known personalities included Major James Jabara (acknowledged as the first US jet Ace in history), Captain Manuel J. “Pete” Fernandez (the third highestscoring US pilot of the conflict), Major George A. Davis (a Medal of Honor recipient), Major Frederick “Boots” Blesse (at the time of his return to the United States in October 1952, he was America’s leading jet Ace), and future astronaut Captain Gus Grissom. The main jet fighter encountered by the pilots of the 334th Fighter Squadron was the Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15. The example seen here is in North Korean markings. (CLAVEWORK GARPHICS)

ABOVE: The entries in Flight Lieutenant Brian Spragg, DFC’s flying log book covering the period 16 to 29 February 1952. It was on the right hand page that he made the entry: “Plenty of MiGs – all around 2 off us. One firing 50 feet behind which spun down.” The signature on the left is that of Major James Martin, CO of the 334th Fighter Squadron.

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"PLENTY OF MIGS ALL AROUND" Wing Commander Brian Spragg DFC from base, deep in the heart of enemy territory, the RAF pilot, flying his Sabre jet, peered intently at the snowbound hills of North Korea 30,000 feet below. He saw ahead the dark snake of the Yalu River as it wriggled into the Yellow Sea. Beyond, the dark-edged coastline bending westwards to merge into the sprawling land-mass of Manchuria. “He was in ‘MiG Valley’. It was five a.m. and barely light. Shifting his gaze, he looked upwards into the blue-black sky. Nothing. But wait ... there, 10,000 feet above, he saw them ... suspicious streamers of white ribbon. Contrails! “Suddenly, drowning the whine of his jet engine, an urgent excited voice sounded shrilly in his earphones: ‘Bandits!’ ‘Six o’clock high!’ “The Sabre pilot pressed open his throttle and whipped his mount into a vertical, twisting turn. As he shot a glance upwards, he saw in the spot where a moment before there had been nothing, a red-nosed MiG screaming head-on towards him. But the warning had come in time. “The RAF pilot climbed steeply away, catching a glimpse as he went, of a silver streak and a cannon puff as the MiG passed by. Then the sky was empty again with only a plume of smoke two miles below. But the pilot’s wing-man had not been so lucky. As he glanced down he saw the twisting, diving shape of the wing-man’s machine. He had

he could. Then, from out of his pocket, he pulled a tiny box. It was a miniature transmitting and receiving radio set which could be operated continuously for 24 hours. With its aid he was soon in touch with base, giving details of his position. “An hour or so later the pilot heard the steady whisking drone of a helicopter. He ran out into the open, spreading his parachute on the ground to show his position. A few minutes later, with a fighter standing guard overhead against possible enemy fire, he was sitting beside the pilot under the Perspex dome of the helicopter. An hour and a half later he was back at base ready for another mission.”5 In his flying log book, Brian Spragg notes that on 3 March 1952, he provided ABOVE: A series of gun camera images showing the fate of a North Korean MiG-15 over Korea, April 1953. (UNITED STATES ARMY HERITAGE AND EDUCATION CENTER)

ABOVE RIGHT: Some of the entries in Flight Lieutenant Brian Spragg, DFC’s log book – these covering the events of 1 to 14 April 1952.

markings. This particular ABOVE: A Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-15 in North Korean Air Force ld Senior Lieutenant Kum Sok 21-year-o pilot, its when forces UN by captured was aircraft Air Base near Seoul, on No of the North Korean Air Force, defected. He landed at Kimpo in the National Museum of the 21 September 1953. It has survived and is today on display United States Air Force. (US AIR FORCE MUSEUM)

LEFT: Flight Lieutenant Brian Spragg, DFC pictured in his flying gear in front of a USAF F-86 Sabre during the period of the Korean War.

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bought it. But no. As he watched he saw his friend’s parachute blossom out into a small white mushroom. A tiny figure dangling below ... “The wing-man watched the Korean landscape float lazily up to meet him. He pulled on his harness to spill out some air as he drifted dangerously close to a river. Then, relaxing as best he could, he hit the ground with a thud and rolled over. “He was more than a hundred miles inside enemy territory and his way back to safety was blocked by hundreds of thousands of hostile troops. For all he knew a dozen pairs of enemy eyes might be watching him now. “The business end of a Communist gun might at this minute be pointing straight at his head. The pilot gathered up his parachute and hid himself as best

“cover for a downed pilot in the Sinanju area”. Was this the airmen referred to in the above account? In fact, Spragg’s logbook covering the period of the Korean War is full of entries one would not necessarily expect of an RAF pilot. These comments include the one he made on 27 February when he had taken off at the controls of a F-86A-5 (number 313). On this date he wrote: “Plenty of MiGs – all around 2 off us. One firing 50 feet behind which spun down.” The USAF and RAF F-86 pilots undertook patrols almost on a daily basis. At the time there were about 150 F-86s stationed in Korea at any one time, and as a result they were heavily outnumbered by the North Korean MiGs, which were believed to be over 800 in strength. This imbalance is borne out by Spragg’s log  AUGUST 2014 101

"PLENTY OF MIGS ALL AROUND" Wing Commander Brian Spragg DFC LEFT: Further entries in Flight Lieutenant Brian Spragg, DFC’s flying log book. RIGHT: A letter of commendation for Flight Lieutenant Brian Spragg which was written by the CO of the 4th Fighter Interceptor Group in 1952. Spragg’s last sortie whilst attached to the USAF during the Korean War was on 26 April 1952.

book, in which comments such as “lots of MiGs”, “turned on 3 but got bounced by several” and “ran into 18 MiGs, initially chased 3 separate pairs, couldn’t close” can all be found. Indeed, on 23 April, Spragg was instructed to undertake a reconnaissance sortie of the MiG units’ bases deep in enemy territory. On his return he noted that he had “counted about 160 MiGs on all three, some flak at the furthest one”! The MiG-15s were under radar control and would come up to meet the F-86s as they approached the border area. That said, unless the situation was favourable to them, the enemy pilots would often decline to engage the Allied fighters. In such circumstances, noted Spragg, they would fly by in a “MiG train” – i.e. in a trail formation – without making any attempt to attack. Squadron Leader “Paddy” Harbison later described some of his views of the MiG pilots, noting that whilst many were timid some were far more aggressive: “When you met an aggressive MiG pilot he could be very good indeed, and it would be a mistake to hold them all in contempt. I was very nearly shot down once, but I got away with it. I was pursued from some thirty five thousand feet down to the deck level with a MiG on my tail firing all the way, and the only time he left was when he had run out of ammunition, but he couldn’t pull enough G to get

deflection enough to hit.”6 Another of the RAF exchange pilots who was flying the F-86 in 1953 was Colin Downes. He later described one sortie on 18 June 1953, when he was part of a full group sweep in Yalu area, having taken off at 08.00 hours. Downes was flying as wingman to Captain Lonnie Moore of the USAF. They entered the area referred to as MiG Alley7 at 45,000 feet and a speed of Mach 0.9. Shortly after crossing the Yalu River, Downes spotted four MiG-15s below. Moore and Downes, who were alone as the rest of their formation had called “Bingo” with low fuel, went into a high speed dive. The pair pulled up behind two MiGs at around 3,000 feet, at which point they opened fire.

ABOVE: Despite his many tangles with MiG-15s, Spragg could not claim any kills or damaged aircraft. However, like many of his fellow RAF officers attached to the USAF at that time he was recognized for his leadership and efforts with the award of the American Air Medal, the citation for which is seen here.

“I saw some strikes around the aircraft as Moore closed rapidly to 100 yards still firing,” Downes later recalled. “The stream of bullets [sic] must have gone straight up the tailpipe of the MiG for several pieces came away, followed quickly by the cockpit canopy as the pilot ejected at 1,500 feet.”8 By this time the F-86s were both over the enemy base. “Then the whole airfield,” continued Downes, “seemed to light up as if it was a flashing Christmas tree as the AA guns opened up on us. I headed for the deck as the black puffs appeared everywhere and had a bumpy ride as I flashed through them at full throttle hugging the ground.” Almost immediately he spotted an enemy jet ahead. “I started to track the MiG … easing up behind him to around 1,000 feet. In the turbulence with my flying helmet bobbing against the canopy while trying to rubber-neck looking for MiGs, it was difficult to keep the gun sight pipper on the unsteady target ahead. In my anxiety to open fire and get out of the area before more reinforcements, I opened fire too soon at 400 yards range. I saw strikes around the fuselage as the MiG broke to his left …

BELOW: The F-86 was not the only US aircraft flown by Spragg during his RAF service. He is the pilot of one of the US Navy Douglas F3D Skynights seen in this picture. Spragg flew this twin-engine, mid-wing jet fighter during Sparrow Missile trials at Point Mugu in California in November 1953.

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"PLENTY OF MIGS ALL AROUND" Wing Commander Brian Spragg DFC “[I] opened fire again. A red cricket ball passed close to the top of the canopy and looking back I saw the underside of a MiG with flashes around the nose intake. I pulled left as hard as I could in a maximum G turn lowering the nose to increase speed, and as I did so another red cricket ball passed slowly ahead of me.” Downes was now sandwiched between two enemy fighters and in deep trouble. He knew that the MiG had a superior climb advantage, so he opened the throttle and pulled hard: “With a thumping G-suit and my flying helmet weighing like a sandbag on my head as it pushed my goggles down over my eyes, I strained to look back at the MiG following me. At around 7-8 G a few hundred feet above the ground and rat racing around the hill towering above us, the MiG pilot, following me without a G suit, should have been feeling even greater strain.”

The MiG following him eventually slammed into the ground from what was probably a high speed stall. Downes had outwitted his opponent; he escaped south, heading for the coast. Among some of the more successful RAF fighter pilots in Korea was Flight Lieutenant Graham S. Hulse, with two MiG-15 kills – though he was killed in action on 13 March 1952. Flight Lieutenant John Nicholls, for his part, completed 100 missions in six months with No.335 Fighter Interception Squadron USAF, which was based at Seoul. He shot down a MiG on his penultimate mission in Korea in December 1952, having previously damaged three others. Group Captain “Dickie” Dickinson was awarded an American DFC for accounting for two MiG-15s in 1953, whilst Flight Lieutenant www.britainatwar.com

ABOVE: A surviving North American F-86 Sabre in the markings of a Korean War example – markings that would have been familiar with Flight Lieutenant (later Wing Commander) Brian Spragg, DFC. Spragg completed his tour in Korea without being shot down or suffering damage to any of his aircraft.

Daniel, who flew with 334 FIS at Kimpo, was credited with damaging two MiGs during his six-month tour in 1952. The combats were not, however, all one-sided. The MiG pilots also achieved some success, including some of the RAF pilots attached to the USAF. This included Wing Commander J. Baldwin DSO, DFC who was posted missing after a photo reconnaissance mission, his 13th sortie in the theatre, on 15 March 1952; it was at this point that Squadron Leader Harbison took charge of the CFE team. Similarly, Flight Lieutenant John King did not return from a flight on 4 June 1953. In total four RAF pilots were classed as missing, presumed killed, whilst flying with the USAF in Korea. Brian Spragg undertook a total of fifty combat sorties on the F-86, carrying out sorties such as fighter cover for downed

ABOVE: Wing Commander Brian Spragg’s set of dress medals, with the Distinguished Flying Cross at the lefthand end, the US Air Medal at the other. Instituted in 1942, the Air Medal is “awarded for meritorious achievement while participating in aerial flight”.

US pilots, escort to the slower Lockheed RF80 Shooting Star, photo reconnaissance missions and air patrols. His log book reveals that these flights lasted on average for 1½ hours, the longest being 1¾ (for which long range tanks were fitted). Like many pilots in Korea, Spragg was to experience numerous encounters with the MiG-15. When Harbison compared the type against the F-86 in his CFE report, he stated: “The F-86 is a robust and reliable aeroplane. It is extremely well liked and trusted by the pilots who fly it. Its record in Korea speaks for itself. It is fighting another good aeroplane, the Mig.15, which at altitude enjoys certain distinct tactical advantages. That the F-86 has been able to achieve so marked a superiority over the Mig in air combat is due to the higher quality of the human material manning it, a combination of aggressiveness, sound tactical thinking and the ability of its pilots to fly and fight the F-86 to its maximum limits.” 

NOTES 1. 2.

3. 4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

Quoted on the RAF Museum website: www.rafmuseum.org A further six RAF pilots lost their lives in the Korean War whilst serving with 77 Squadron Royal Australian Air Force, which was equipped with the Gloster Meteor which was employed on ground support sorties. “The F.86 v The MIG 15”, a report by Squadron Leader W. Harbison of the Central Fighter Establishment. Jacob Neufeld and George M. Vatson (Ed), Coalition Air Warfare in the Korean War, 1950-53, Air Force Historical Foundation Symposium, 7-8 May 2002. “Dog Fights in the Stratosphere”, The Royal Air Force Review, November 1952, Volume 8, No.2, pp.16-7. Richard P. Hallion, Silver Wings, Golden Valour, The USAF Remembers Korea, (CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012). MiG Alley was the name given by Allied pilots to the north-western portion of North Korea, where the Yalu River empties into the Yellow Sea. Colin Downes, By The Skin of My Teeth (Pen & Sword, Barnsley, 2005).

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LORD ASHCROFT’S “HERO OF THE MONTH” Warrant Officer Kim Hughes GC

LORD ASHCROFT’S “HERO OF THE MONTH”

Warrant Officer

Kim Hughes

MAIN PICTURE: A member of a British Explosive Ordnance Disposal team tentatively brushes away the dust from a suspect object, possibly an Improvised Explosive Device, beneath the surface of a road near Garmsir, Afghanistan. (© CROWN/MOD

COPYRIGHT, 2014)

K

IM HUGHES was one of two bomb disposal experts, both staff sergeants serving with the Royal Logistic Corps (RLC), to be awarded the George Cross in March 2010 – but there the similarities end. For although Hughes survived an unbelievably demanding tour of duty in Afghanistan, his comrade and friend, Staff Sergeant Olaf ‘”Oz” Schmid, did not: he was tragically killed, aged 30, on 31 October 2009 while dealing with a complex Improvised Explosive Device (IED) left in an alleyway in Sangin, Helmand Province. Kim Spencer Hughes was born in Munster, Germany, on 12 September 1979. He was the middle of three children and the son of an Army

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serviceman who was a staff sergeant in the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers (REME). As a boy, Hughes was brought up in Weston-Super-Mare, Avon, and, later Telford, Shropshire. He attended William Reynolds Junior School and Thomas Telford School for his secondary education, both in the Shropshire town. He left school at sixteen to join the RLC but was initially unsettled in the Army and left after less than a year. However, he quickly decided that “civvy street” was not for him and, after a year doing manual work, rejoined the Army at eighteen – and never looked back. After working as a RLC driver as a private for three years, he trained to be a driver with a bomb disposal team. However, he then successfully

Jon Enoch/eyevine

GC

applied to become an Ammunition Technician, training for three years and being promoted to Lance Corporal. He then served three tours in Northern Ireland, two in Bosnia, one in Iraq and two in Afghanistan. He went to Helmand Province, Afghanistan, in April 2009 as a staff sergeant working as a high threat Improvised Explosive Device Disposal (IEDD) operator. He took part in Operation Panther’s Claw and worked closely with the Danish Battle Group. By August, Hughes was working alongside the Royal Engineers Search Team (REST) and was tasked with providing close support to the 2 Rifles Battle Group during an operation to clear a route south west of Sangin. www.britainatwar.com

LORD ASHCROFT’S “HERO OF THE MONTH” Warrant Officer Kim Hughes GC

ABOVE: Italian troops, members of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, disposing of an IED which had been planted on a roadside near a Coalition base. (ISAF) TOP RIGHT: Detectors pictured being used to discover possible hidden IEDs in Afghanistan. (© CROWN/MOD COPYRIGHT, 2014)

As part of the preparations for the operation on 16 August 2009, a part of ‘A’ Company 2 Rifles deployed early to secure an emergency Helicopter Landing Site (HLS) and to isolate enemy compounds to the south of the route. During these preparations, a serviceman initiated a Victim Operated Improvised Explosive Device (VOIED) and was seriously wounded. As the casualty was being recovered, one of the stretcher bearers initiated a second VOIED which resulted in two people being killed outright and four others being very seriously injured (one of whom later died

from his wounds). It became clear that the area was effectively an IED minefield being over-watched by the enemy. Hughes and his team were called to what the Army described as a “harrowing and chaotic situation”. Their task was to recover casualties and bodies, and they knew speed was of the essence if further lives were not to be lost. To save time, Hughes did not wait to put on protective clothing. Instead, he immediately set about clearing a path to the injured servicemen, while providing constant reassurance that help was on its way. ABOVE: Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes, The Royal Logistic Corps, is decorated with the George Cross, for services in Afghanistan, by The Queen at Buckingham Palace on Wednesday, 9 June 2010. (JOHNNY GREEN/PA)

LEFT: Staff Sergeant Kim Hughes holds up the George Cross he received.

(JOHNNY GREEN/PA)

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When Hughes reached the first injured soldier, he discovered another VOIED within a metre of the casualty. This threatened the lives of all the casualties and, of course, Hughes himself. Hughes did not know the power source of the device but he did know the servicemen needed urgent medical help. So he carried out a “manual neutralisation” of the device knowing that any error would be instantly fatal. He had, in effect, carried out a “Category A” action which should only be attempted in two circumstances: a hostage scenario where explosives have been strapped to an innocent individual and a “mass casualty” scenario where not taking action would be certain to  result in further casualties. Both AUGUST 2014 105

LORD ASHCROFT’S “HERO OF THE MONTH” Warrant Officer Kim Hughes GC

scenarios place the emphasis on saving other people’s lives, if necessary at the expense of the operator. Hughes had, by any standards, been responsible for an exceptional act of gallantry. With shots now keeping the enemy at bay, Hughes calmly turned his attention to the remaining casualties and to retrieving the dead: servicemen will never knowingly leave the bodies of comrades to the Taliban who have been known to carry out unspeakable acts on the corpses of Western service personnel. As he cleared a path, Hughes discovered two further VOIEDs. Twice more, he carried out highly risky “manual neutralisations”. By this selfless action, he enabled all the casualties to be extracted and the bodies recovered. Yet even this was not the end of Hughes’s courage. The REST had detected a further four VOIEDs in the immediate area. Hughes set about disposing of them too – just as he had done to more than eighty similar devices over the previous five months of his tour of duty.

ABOVE: A Royal Logistic Corps Explosive Ordnance Disposal team, part of ISAF’s forces in Afghanistan, remotely detonate a suspect explosive device using the Wheelbarrow Mk.8b Bomb Disposal Robot. Able to cross almost any terrain at a speed of up to 6mph, the “barrow” can climb stairs and with an all up weight of 300kg, is more than capable of pushing a saloon car with its brakes applied. (©

CROWN/MOD COPYRIGHT, 2014)

The award of the George Cross was announced on 18 March 2010 – one day ahead of when it was formally published in The London Gazette – when the citation ended: “Dealing with any form of IED is dangerous [but] to deal with 7 VOIEDs linked in a single circuit, in a mass casualty scenario, using manual neutralisation techniques once, never mind 3 times, is the single most outstanding act of explosive ordnance ever recorded in Afghanistan. That he did it without the security of specialist clothing serves even more to demonstrate his outstanding gallantry. Hughes is unequivocally deserving of the highest level of public recognition.” After the news of his GC and his courage was made public, Hughes said that the thought of being killed had not entered his head. “You are always thinking one step ahead. Thinking you are going to die doesn’t cross your mind. You just crack on and get on with it.” Colonel Stuart Archer and Major Peter Norton, both awarded the GC for gallantry, were present as the Ministry of Defence announced the awards for Hughes and a posthumous award for “Oz” Schmid. Hughes received his decoration from the Queen at an investiture at Buckingham Palace that June. After the ceremony, he said of his GC: “When you do your training, you don’t think you’ll get recognition like this. We’re just out there doing our job: to get this is outstanding. I accept it on behalf of all the other operators in Afghanistan.” His mother, Frances, brother, Sergeant Lee Hughes, and sister in law, Emma Hughes, joined him at the investiture.

BELOW: The prevalence of IEDs in Afghanistan led to the development of a number of specialist pieces of equipment or vehicles – such as the British Army Trojan armoured engineer vehicle seen here (©

CROWN/MOD COPYRIGHT, 2014)

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LORD ASHCROFT’S “HERO OF THE MONTH” Warrant Officer Kim Hughes GC In an interview at the Marlborough Barracks in Warwickshire, for my book George Cross Heroes, Hughes disclosed to me that on his previous day “on the ground” – three weeks before the incident for which he was primarily awarded the GC – he had been injured in an explosion working with the Danish Battle Group. A VOIED initiated directly under Hughes as he sat in an armoured personnel carrier. He was knocked unconscious, injured his leg, had a perforated ear drum and suffered concussion, the latter resulting in a period of rest and recuperation being brought forward after he was evacuated in a US Black Hawk (call sign Pedro) helicopter to Camp Bastion. His first day back “on the ground” was when his eleven-man team came across the terrible scenes of dead and injured servicemen on 16 August 2009 near Sangin. “We had gone out on patrol from FOB [Forward Operating Base] Jackson with 2 Rifles. It was just before first light and we had been briefed that we had to clear a route. Guys were patrolling forward when the first explosion took place. We were about 100 metres back at the time. My search team then got a request to clear a HLS [Helicopter Landing Site] but once they had done that a second explosion took place within five to ten minutes. We heard there were

ABOVE: Troops of 2nd Battalion The Rifles come to a halt after a suspected IED is detected during a patrol near Patrol Base Wishton in Sangin, Afghanistan.

(© CROWN/MOD

COPYRIGHT, 2014)

GEORGE CROSS HEROES LORD ASHCROFT KCMG PC is a Conservative peer, businessman, philanthropist and author. The story of Hughes’ life appears in his book George Cross Heroes. For more information visit: www. georgecrossheroes.com Lord Ashcroft’s VC and GC collection is on public display at IWM, London. For more information visit: www. iwm.org.uk/heroes iwm.org.uk/heroes. For details about his VC collection, visit: www. lordashcroftmedals.com For more information on Lord Ashcroft’s work, visit www. lordashcroft.com lordashcroft.com. Follow him on Twitter: @LordAshcroft

casualties and we got called forward. “As soon as we got there, I went forward with two [IED] searchers leaving the rest of the team behind. I just had my body armour and helmet on. Straight away I could see a fallen soldier who was dead. Then I could see the carnage – bodies and soldiers all over the place and a young female medic was screaming. The two searchers then started finding the devices [unexploded IEDs] initially three in close proximity to the injured soldiers. For me, it was just a case of cracking on and rendering the devices safe. When there is a Category ‘A’ www.britainatwar.com

RIGHT: A photographer captures the moment that a coalition vehicle (from the US Wisconsin Army National Guard) was struck by an IED in eastern Afghanistan. No one was hurt in the blast and the vehicle was able to drive away.

situation – a grave and immediate threat to life – you just have to get on with it. There wasn’t the time to get a bomb suit on or send a robot down the road. The priority was to get the casualties out. “I was faced with a device and I had to make an assessment of how it worked. With our metal detection equipment and a little bit of fingertip searching, I was able to uncover parts of the device to see the key components and then make the assessment. “I tackled them one by one: each had a main charge of about twenty kilos. I made each one safe with a set of ‘snips’ [wire cutters]. To be brutally honest, if I had got something wrong I wouldn’t have known about it, which in a sick sort of way is the beauty of it. The search team then found another two devices and I found another two, so I dealt with seven in all. I only had to spend a couple of minutes or so on each one. The whole task was completed in about forty-five minutes. Eventually, we learnt that all seven devices were linked to one circuit, which we hadn’t seen before.” Hughes said that the Taliban tactic of using IEDs was hard to combat. “We are fighting

an enemy we can’t see. When we move on from an area, they move back in and place IEDs but that is the nature of the beast over there. The part that keeps me going is that I am achieving something by helping the Battle Group and the troops out on the ground. To see the faces of the troops when you rock up is great – it’s like the cavalry has arrived. They are very appreciative of what we do. But there are down days too – notably when we lost four of our [bomb disposal] guys in fifteen months. We are all very, very close and so it’s hard to lose mates – people who feel like family. It’s horrendous really.” Hughes, who has since been promoted to Warrant Officer Class 1, is now 34 years old and is still serving in the Army. He is currently about to end a second tour of Afghanistan where, in his role as Senior Ammunition Technician (SAT) for Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) and Search, he is responsible for training both UK and international high threat Improvised Explosive Device Disposal Teams. 

(PHOTOGRAPH

BY M/SGT CHRIS HAYLETT; ISAF)

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THE RAF'S FIRST JET "KILL" Flying Officer T. "Dixie" Dean 

    



  The Gloster Meteor was first used in action, against a V-1 flying bomb, on 27 July 1944, although on this occasion the pilot was unsuccessful. The Meteor’s first “kill”, and the first combat victory of an Allied jet fighter, was achieved by Flying Officer T. “Dixie” Dean seventy years ago on 4 August 1944. Andy Saunders investigates the events surrounding that engagement.

B

Y EARLY August 1944 the German V-1 flying bomb assault against London and the southeast was in full swing. Although RAF Fighter Command had very much mastered the skills and techniques for dealing with the weapons, so its inventory was bolstered by the introduction into service of the Gloster Meteor jet-fighter in July of that same year. The first squadron to be equipped with the new aircraft was 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron operating from RAF Manston in Kent, right at the heart of what became known as “DoodleBug Alley”. Given the squadron’s base it was only natural that the unit should immediately be thrown into the defensive fighter line that was put up constantly during that summer to counter the flying bomb threat. 

By the renowned artist Mark Postlethwaite GAvA, this painting depicts the moment that Flying Officer Thomas Derek “Dixie” Dean achieved a piece of aviation history by achieving the first combat victory by an Allied jet fighter during the Second World War. Here he is manoeuvring his Meteor, Mk.I EE216, alongside the flying bomb so that he could “tip” it, sending it crashing to the ground. (COURTESY OF MARK POSTLETHWAITE GAVA; WWW.POSART.COM)

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THE RAF'S FIRST JET "KILL" Flying Officer T. "Dixie" Dean Although 616 Squadron flew its first Meteor-equipped anti-V-1 patrol on Thursday, 27 July 1944, it was a little over a week later that the squadron’s Meteors scored their first success. All through the preceding week there had been a number of close-calls as 616’s Meteors came close to achieving victory several times, but it was on Friday, 4 August that what has sometimes been called the first successful jet-on-jet encounter occurred. (Whilst the Meteor was a jet-engine aeroplane the V-1 was powered by a ram-jet propulsion unit; the first true jet-on-jet encounter did not occur until the Korean War). That morning, a summer haze and poor visibility had prevented any success by the patrolling Meteor pilots. Doubtless, this was doubly frustrating given that the previous day, 3 August, had seen the climax of the V-1, or Diver, attacks with an astonishing 316 missiles launched from France – of which 220 of them reached British soil. Thus, not only was the “hunting” for the RAF’s fighter pilots at its peak but, also, the need to intercept them became ever more pressing. By the afternoon of the 4th, however, the weather situation had improved. As a result, when Flying Officer Thomas Derek “Dixie” Dean and Flying Officer “Jock” Rodger were scrambled from Manston during the mid-afternoon there seemed reasonable prospects for an engagement.

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RIGHT: One of 616 (South Yorkshire) Squadron’s Gloster Meteors pictured at RAF Manston in the summer of 1944. This particular aircraft, EE219 coded YQ-D, was flown by Flying Officer McKenzie on the first Meteor operational sortie on 27 July 1944. (COURTESY OF T.R. ALONBY)

BELOW: Flying Officer T. “Dixie” Dean, pictured in the cockpit of his Meteor. (COURTESY OF

G.R. PITCHFORK)

THE PLAN OF ATTACK The modus operandi for the Meteor pilots on their anti-Diver patrols was to operate in a pair and loiter above the anticipated approach route for the weapons – but at a higher altitude than the 1,000 to 3,000 feet at which the V-1s generally

appeared. Once an incoming missile had been spotted against the countryside below, often sighted after guns and other defences in the anti-aircraft belt had provided a clue of where to look, the jet pilots would then get into an attacking position, open up the throttles and go into a dive, trading height for speed. This would often be a speed in excess of 400mph although, in actual fact, the maximum speed of the Meteor I was 415mph; coincidentally, the cruising speed of the V-1 was also 415mph. That said, the missiles routinely came in at speeds between 380 and 400 mph but it was preferable, if not essential, for the Meteor pilots to have the advantage of speed in their diving interceptions. Such was the case when Dixie Dean, call sign Hugo 24, spotted his quarry. He takes up the story in his Combat Report:

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THE RAF'S FIRST JET "KILL" Flying Officer T. "Dixie" Dean

READY FOR MORE

ABOVE: Wing Commander Andrew McDowall was the Officer Commanding 616 Squadron at the time of its deployment against the flying bombs in August 1944. He would be the first RAF squadron commanding officer to bring Allied jet fighters to the Continent while serving with the Second Tactical Air Force. McDowall’s sole victory whilst flying the Meteor came on 24 April 1945, when he destroyed a Junkers Ju 88 on the ground at a Luftwaffe airfield in Germany. (COURTESY OF ANDREW THOMAS)

SHORTLY AFTER Flying Officer “Dixie” Dean’s victory on 4 August 1944, another of 616 Squadron’s pilots also achieved success in his Meteor. This time, as Flying Officer J.K. “Jock” Rodger, call sign Hugo 18, recounted in his combat report, the cannon on his aircraft functioned correctly: “Under ‘Kingsley 11 Control’ I was ‘scrambled’ and vectored to patrol in vicinity of Ashford/Tenterden. Divers were reported to be coming in at 3,000 feet between Tenterden and coast. At 16.40 hours I sighted a Diver near Tenterden flying on a course of 318° at 3,000 feet, estimated speed 340mph. “I immediately attacked from dead astern and fired a 2 seconds burst at range of 300 yards. I observed hits and saw petrol and/or oil streaming out of Diver which continued to fly straight and level. I fired another 2 seconds burst from my 4 cannon still from 300 yards. Both Meteor and Diver were flying at 340mph. The Diver then went down and I saw it explode on ground about 5 miles North West of Tenterden.” Rodger timed the explosion as having been at 16.55 hours. This was the V-1 that fell at Biddenden causing damage to a number of cottages but resulting in no casualties. Buoyed by these first two successes, the following entry was made in the 616 Squadron Operations Record Book at the end of 4 August: “The Squadron, now thrilled at the first two kills, is ready for more.”

“On return to Manston I was informed that the ROC [Royal Observer Corps] had confirmed one Diver had crashed at the position given by me. This is the first pilotless aircraft to be destroyed by a jet propelled aircraft.” The fact that the four 20mm HispanoSuiza HS.404 cannon on Dean’s Meteor, EE216, failed to fire was not unusual – the other aircraft and pilots on the squadron had been experiencing similar problems for some days. After all, here was the cutting edge technology of the RAF. It was not only the jamming cannon that had prevented 616 Squadron achieving its first kill. On 3 August, for example, Flight Lieutenant Michael Graves had been denied its first V-1 victory when a Mustang flew between him and his target. Graves had already fired a two-second burst at a range of between 400 and 500 yards. As no results were observed he closed again for a second attack but was thwarted in his efforts 

ABOVE: One of 616 Squadron’s Meteors, EE227 coded YQ-Y, scrambles from RAF Manston during August 1944. The squadron flew standing patrols throughout the V-1 campaign, with two aircraft airborne at all times when conditions permitted. (COURTESY OF M. PAYNE)

“At 15.45 hours I was ‘scrambled’ (under Kinsley 11 Control) for Anti Diver patrol between Ashford and Roberstbridge. Flying at 4,500 ft at 340 mph indicated air speed I saw one Diver four to five miles south east of Tenterden flying at 1,000 feet on a course of 330°, estimated speed of 365 mph (16.16 hours). From two and a half miles behind the Diver I dived down from 4,500 feet at 470 mph. “Closing in to attack I found my four x 20mm guns would not fire owing to a technical trouble now being investigated. I then flew my Meteor alongside the Diver for approximately twenty to thirty seconds. Gradually I manoeuvred my wing tip a few inches under the wing of the Diver, then pulling my aircraft upwards and sharply I turned the Diver over onto its back and sent it diving to earth at approximately four miles south of Tonbridge [sic.] www.britainatwar.com

BELOW: Another view of Meteor EE219, though this picture was taken some months after the V-1 campaign in May 1945 when 616 Squadron was stationed at Lübeck. EE219 was also flown by the squadron’s CO, Wing Commander Andrew McDowall between 18.25 hours and 19.10 hours on 27 July 1944. It was McDowall’s second operational sortie on the Meteor. (COURTESY OF T.R. ALONBY)

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THE RAF'S FIRST JET "KILL" Flying Officer T. "Dixie" Dean

LEFT: Taken from the gun camera on a 616 Squadron Gloster Meteor, this remarkable series of images shows the fate of one of the V-1s the squadron brought down.

(COURTESY OF ANDY SAUNDERS)

when the Mustang nipped in front of him and shot the V-1 down. Almost certainly, the Mustang in question was a Brenzett-based machine of either Nos. 129, 306 or 315 squadrons who all made V-1 claims that day. Dean’s success was the result of improvisation, making use of the tried and tested method of tipping the wings of the V-1s, thus toppling their gyroscopic control and causing the bomb to crash. In fact, engagement of a V-1 by cannon fire was a distinctly hazardous occupation given that the missiles often tended to explode violently in mid-air when hit. The result was that the pursuing aircraft would fly into the maelstrom of any explosion with all the attendant dangers to aircraft and pilots. In the case of the Meteor, there were factors that presented perhaps greater risks. For instance, the pilot was pretty much sitting in the nose of the aircraft without the protection, such as it was, afforded by the engine of, say, the Spitfire, Tempest or Mustang. Additionally, the twin jet engines were highly susceptible to the ingestion of debris which could effectively destroy them if the high-revving turbine blades were struck by even the smallest fragment of exploding V-1. Furthermore the Meteors were potentially flying at extremely high speeds, and directly into the debris field!

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“AN AEROPLANE WITHOUT PROPELLERS” Despite such attendant risks, no less than eleven other V-1s were brought down by the Meteors of 616 Squadron by “conventional” cannon attacks. As it turned out, Dixie Dean became the top Meteor pilot V-1 scorer, being credited with three in total. Apart from the others claimed as destroyed by 616 Squadron alone, three others were shared with other aircraft and another three were recorded as damaged. It was thus the case that in the short period that the Meteor had been operational before the V-1 attacks ceased once launch sites in France had been overrun, the new jet fighter certainly proved its worth. Its appearance, though, as “an aeroplane without propellers”, was almost as much a shock to the British public as had been the earlier manifestation of the V-1. On the ground at Headcorn in Kent on that August Friday afternoon, farm workers at Tong Farm could hardly believe what they could see heading towards them.

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THE RAF'S FIRST JET "KILL" Flying Officer T. "Dixie" Dean

LEFT: A Gloster Meteor Mk.I of 616 Squadron pictured in flight over the Kent countryside between West Hougham and Dover, 10 August 1944. (COURTESYOF ANDREW THOMAS)

By now, the V-1s had almost become commonplace. Already, several had exploded violently around the parish and their passage overhead, often with fighters in hot pursuit, had become a daily spectacle. However, as they trudged back up to the farm buildings alongside their cart, two of the workers at Tong Farm were suddenly transfixed. The sound of an approaching V-1 made them hesitate and check its passage and progress towards them. Was there a need to take cover? Such cover as existed was limited anyway, with open fields on either side of them and only oak trees lining the lane. In any event, they had to be mindful of the cart-horse and the men steadied and held the startled animal as they hoped the danger would pass. It did not. As they watched, a strange whistling howl rose above the reverberating throb of the V-1 as a sleek aircraft, the like of which the pair had never seen, sliced down through the sky behind

ABOVE: Preserved for future generations, this is the wing tip of Flying Officer “Dixie” Dean’s Gloster Meteor, EE216. (IWM; EPH4609)

the flying bomb before seemingly going into formation alongside it. The men had never seen such an odd aircraft, and although they could not really tell that it had no propellers it was its noise, shape and speed that was remarkable. At first, it seemed that this might be some other new fiendish German weapon but whilst they wondered, it

ABOVE: Groundcrew from 616 Squadron pictured on front of one of its Meteors. (COURTESY

OF ANDREW THOMAS)

was all over. In seconds, the strange aircraft, head-on to them, slid one wing under the flying bomb and jerked suddenly upwards. The pair of “aircraft” had just cleared Headcorn village, but now the flying bomb was headed downwards – and straight towards them. For the pair of farm hands, there was no time to duck or take cover. With a monumental blast that threw the men from their feet, the V-1 struck the field alongside them after clipping a tall oak tree by the lane. The heat of the explosion and the fall of debris and fragments all around stunned both men. Remarkably, only one of them had a slightly injured leg and the cart-horse was unharmed and amazingly calm. By some stroke of good fortune, and though they were less than 100 yards from the detonation, the blast seemed to carry away in more of a westerly direction where it shattered windows and lifted tiles 

LEFT: A stunning shot of EE222 which, coded YQ-G, was flown by Wing Commander Andrew McDowall on 27 July 1944, 616 Squadron’s first day on operations whilst flying the Meteor. It was an uneventful patrol for McDowall. The same could not be said for the events of 29 August 1944, when, again flown by McDowall, this aircraft crashed on take-off south of Manston. Note the Wing Commander’s pennant just forward of the cockpit. (COURTESY OF T.R. ALLONBY)

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THE RAF'S FIRST JET "KILL" Flying Officer T. "Dixie" Dean from the farm house and barns several hundred yards away. Local farmer Mr Day, rushing to the scene of the blast and also wearing the hat of ARP Warden, busied himself organising firefighting to extinguish a blazing field where his crop of barley was now well alight. Assuming that his two farm workers were dead, he was astonished to see them emerge from the mass of torn tree limbs, foliage and scattered clods of soil. But now another problem presented itself. Rushing from the farmhouse, a messenger had been sent at full pelt to find Mr Day: “Come quickly! Mrs Day has gone into labour!” Indeed, the shock of the violent blast had seemingly triggered Mrs Day’s delivery and as he raced back to his battered farm, Farmer Day found that his wife had presented him with a baby daughter. It had certainly been a day to remember. Quite apart from the fact that those on the ground recalled the odd spectacle of the new jet fighter engaging the flying bomb, we also have the Ministry of Home Security’s No.12 South East Region’s report that records the fall of a V-1 at Headcorn at 16.25 hours. This timing matches almost perfectly the likely time for the fall of Dixie Dean’s claim. That said, the narrative of his combat report talks about the flying bomb’s impact being “four miles south of Tonbridge”. In fact, Headcorn is some fifteen miles due east of Tonbridge. Further adding to the confusion, we do have a V-1 recorded by the Ministry of Home Security as exploding at Wadhurst, and although this is reported as having been at 15.25 hours, the local

ABOVE: The author examines the so-called “Doodlebug Tree” which can still be seen at Tong Farm near Headcorn in Kent. (AUTHOR)

ABOVE: Stark evidence of the fate of the first RAF victory by an RAF jet fighter is still visible at Tong Farm near Headcorn. (AUTHOR)

BELOW: Pieces of wreckage from the V-1 shot down by Flying Officer T. “Dixie” Dean at Headcorn on 4 August 1944. (AUTHOR)

Police and ARP accounts both give the time of its fall as 16.25 hours. Again this matches with the time of Dean’s claim and its location (about six or seven miles south of Tonbridge). However, other factors point definitively at Dean’s “kill” falling at Tong Farm, for not only do we have those on the ground who recalled the pursuing Meteor but, additionally, when Dean first saw the V-1 it was south-east of Tenterden and on a bearing of 330°. On this basis, therefore, the course takes the V-1 almost directly on a path over Headcorn; the location at Wadhurst would be way off-track. Similarly, another V-1 came down at Hadlow, four miles north-east of Tonbridge, at the same time; 16.25 hours. Once again, however, its position relative to the patrol line of Dean and the reported track of the V-1 makes it an unlikely contender. On the balance of probabilities, the V-1 that impacted on Tong Farm, just on the northern outskirts of Headcorn, was almost certainly a world-first and the first “kill” by an RAF jet fighter.

THE PHYSICAL EVIDENCE As to other evidence of the V-1’s fate, there is plenty that is still tangible at the crash site 114 AUGUST 2014

itself. Remarkably, the oak tree that took the brunt of the blast still stands and thrives. At least, one half does. One side, shattered and torn by the explosion and peppered by fragments, still stands as a stark reminder of this historic event. Although this part of the tree is to all intents and purposes entirely dead, it refuses to succumb to successive winter storms. Stripped of its bark, the dead trunk is peppered with holes where fragments have buried themselves deep into the wood. When metal detectors run across the trunk they bleep and whistle their signal of the buried metal, and in the surrounding fields scattered fragments still litter the soil although the blast crater itself has long been filled in. In many ways, Tong Farm had a lucky escape that day and it is perhaps not surprising that the “Doodlebug Tree” is regarded with some affection by the Day family who still farm there. Susan Day now lives in the United States, but regards this as “her” tree, and one with which she understandably has some affinity. Whenever visiting the UK, she calls at the farm to see the tree and sometimes telephones to enquire as to its welfare. But for fate or fluke, and slightly different circumstances or different timings by mere seconds, the bomb might well have fallen onto the farmhouse where she was just being born. For Dixie Dean this would have been an awful outcome to what was certainly a historic event in the history of air warfare.  www.britainatwar.com

The Britain at War team scout out the latest items of interest



THIS IS a revised edition of the 2011 publication, one of the features of which is the claim that the Royal Flying Corps made a significant contribution to the deployment of the British Expeditionary Force in August 1914. Indeed, the author, Terrence Finnegan, states that, “without ... employing aerial reconnaissance roles, the German advance on Mons and subsequently Paris would have resulted in drastically different outcomes – possibly defeat”. What Terrence Finnegan regards as possibly the most significant day in RFC reconnaissance history was 22 August 1914. British cavalry had been on the move in Belgium since 20 August and had pushed as far as Binche, some sixteen miles east of Mons, without encountering the enemy. The RFC had spotted elements of the German Army heading through Louvain to the south-west of Brussels, but was unable to estimate the strength of the forces as they stretched beyond the visual distance. The next day the weather was unsuitable for the aircraft to operate (there was a ground mist), but they were soon back in the air, as Field Marshal Sir John French’s Director for Intelligence recalled: “He [BrigadierGeneral David Henderson in command of the RFC in the field] consequently sent out a reconnaissance on the 22nd, whether one or more machines I do not remember, but he certainly let me know that day that a long column, correctly estimated at one corps, had been seen moving along the Brussels-Ninhove road, which on reaching Ninhove had bent southwestwards towards Grammont. Putting two and two together we came to the

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conclusion that this was the II Corps and the report showed very clearly that our position on the Mons Canal was likely to be outflanked.” Lieutenant Edward Spears, the British liaison officer at the French V Army headquarters, appreciated just what this meant: “It [the German column] was bound to outflank us. Now we knew. No possible doubt could subsist. The German manoeuvre stood fully revealed.” This critical information was taken to French by Henderson. According to Terrence Finnegan this information was probably the most fruitful of the whole war. It enabled the British forces, Terrence Finnegan argues, “to keep ahead of the German manoeuvres and averted a catastrophe”. This to a degree was confirmed by French, who wrote: “The intelligence reports which constantly arrived, with the results of cavalry and aircraft reconnaissance ... left us in no doubt as to the direction of the German advance ... This was our first practical experience in the use of aircraft for reconnaissance purposes ... The number of our aeroplanes was then limited and their power of observation were not as developed or accurate as they afterward became. Nevertheless, they kept close touch with the enemy, and their reports proved of the greatest value.” Another benefit brought to the BEF from the use of aircraft in reconnaissance, French explained, was that it relieved the cavalry of that function. “There can be no doubt indeed,” he wrote, “that, even then [in August 1914] the presence and cooperation of aircraft saved the very frequent use of small cavalry patrols and detached supports. This enabled

| RECONNAISSANCE REPORT

the latter arm to save horse flesh and concentrate their power more on actual combat and fighting and to this is greatly due the marked success which attended the operations of the cavalry during the Battle of Mons and the subsequent retreat.” Shooting the Front details how aerial reconnaissance developed over the course of the war. Its effect on each of the major battles is described in chronological order, enabling the reader to follow the course of the war as well as the evolution in the sophistication of aerial reconnaissance and the vital role it played. This included spotting for artillery. The range of artillery had greatly increased and visual observation from the ground had ceased to be highly effective. All that changed with the advent of aerial reconnaissance. Not only did aerial photographs provide artillery commanders with precise targets, the aircraft could also report on the accuracy of the artillery bombardments. Of course taking photographs is one thing, interpreting the images produced is another altogether, and the author devotes due space to this topic. He also describes the aircraft and the cameras that were used. It was, in fact, the photographic equipment available at the time which limited the effectiveness of aerial reconnaissance. The importance of aerial photography has probably been overlooked amid the graphic accounts of the conditions and the fighting of the First World War. This is no longer the case, thanks to this exceptional book. REVIEWED BY JOHN GREHAN.

BOOK OF THE MONTH

SHOOTING THE FRONT Allied Aerial Reconnaissance in the First World War Terrence J. Finnegan

Publisher: The History Press; www.thehistorypress.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-7524-9954-3 Softback. 408 pages RRP: £19.99 Illustrations  References/Notes Appendices  Index 



AUGUST 2014 117

RECONNAISSANCE REPORT |

The Britain at War team scout out the latest items of interest ORGANISATION TODT From Autobahns to the Atlantic Wall Edited by John Christopher

Office in Whitehall, from Scapa Flow to Yarmouth, this is some of Britain’s Great

report, this in-depth

War sites listed geographically. Publisher: Spellmount; www.thehistorypress.co.uk ISBN: 978-0-7524-9962-8 Softback. 224 pages RRP: £14.99

military works across Germany and

Unlike the unsatisfactory end of the Great War, in which the German armed forces believed that they had not been defeated but had been betrayed by their politicians, the Battle of Waterloo ended the Napoleon Wars decisively and emphatically. For more than twenty years Europe had been torn apart by war. Dynasties had crumbled, new states had been created and a generation had lost its young men. All that ended in one great cataclysmic battle on a ridge of low heights to the south of Brussels. The battle had everything. Massed cavalry charges, heroic last stands, catastrophic errors and the final attack by Napoleon’s incomparable, seemingly unbeatable, Imperial Guard. The Commemorative Anthology is based around three of the great Waterloo texts, one British, one Prussian and one French. Interspersed throughout the text are letters, reports

WW1 CENTENARY FIRST DAY COVER



FOUNDED IN 2000, Buckingham Covers is a renowned first day cover company which produces high quality collectables. Their most recent limited edition is a cover marking the centenary of the beginning of the First World War.

118 AUGUST 2014

The cover features six First World War stamps due to be issued by Royal Mail on 28 July 2014, including the iconic poppy design, synonymous with the war-torn fields of the Western Front. It also includes a specially-designed London postmark. The illustration features a 1917-dated recruitment poster, highlighting how recruits were exposed to pressure and guilt in an effort to convince them to enlist. This cover is only £13.95 plus £1.95 P&P. For more information or to place an order simply telephone 01303 278137, or email [email protected] and quote BC510.

health facilities. From Aldershot – the

British Government

for the construction of all of the major



complexes and numerous medical and home of the British Army – to the War

the Organisation Todt was responsible

and recollections from both sides and all nationalities. There are over 200 prints, maps, diagrams and facsimile documents, including original hand-coloured material from publisher’s proofs. Amongst the most remarkable of these are eight of Siborne’s famous anaglyptograph maps, produced with Bate’s patented engraving. This technique brings the contours of each map into relief when it is aligned to a light source – producing nineteenth century 3D! The larger maps are reproduced in full size and are therefore presented in a separate portfolio. The text is printed on a speciallymade acid-free archival paper, with the maps being reproduced on similar, but heavier stock, to ensure its longevity. That day, 18 June 1815, is the single most documented, discussed and analysed day in history. The books and journals dedicated to the battle number in their thousands – yet never, in 200 years, has there been a publication as magnificent as this, aptly-named, Extraordinary Edition. Released in a limited edition of 1,815 copies, of which 200 are exemplary, for more information please visit: www.extraordinaryeditions.com

barrage across the Channel, large factory

confidential wartime

Organisation Todt. Founded by Fritz Todt,

THOUGH THE attention of publishers and the media is currently focused upon the First World War centenaries, the spotlight will turn soon to another memorable commemoration – the bicentenary of the Battle of Waterloo.

that even involved an anti-submarine

 BASED ON a

dossier details the inner workings of

WATERLOO 1815 – A COMMEMORATIVE ANTHOLOGY

and a new kind of transport system

Occupied Europe, from the bunkers and structures of defences of the Siegfried Line and Atlantic Wall, to the U-Boat pens and V-1 flying bomb and V-2 rocket sites – as well as the Reichsautobahns. When

THE D-DAY KIT-BAG

The Ultimate Guide to the Allied Assault on Europe Martin Robson

Fritz Todt died in a flying accident in 1942

 THIS BOOK

he was succeeded by Albert Speer. Publisher: Amberley; www.amberley-books.com ISBN: 978-1-4456-3856-0 Softback. 256 pages RRP: £19.99

examines D-Day

LUFTWAFFE CRASH ARCHIVE Volume 4: 10th September 1940 to 27th September 1940 Nigel Parker

 VOLUME FOUR of Nigel Parker’s expanding and excellent Luftwaffe crash archive series continues to bring together details from the official RAF intelligence and interrogation reports, combining them into a guide to every enemy aircraft that was brought down over the United Kingdom during the Second World War. This volume contains

predominantly through more than 200 key objects, selected for their importance to the outcome and events of Operation Overlord and often arranged as the complete kit of many of the participants. Key artefacts include uniforms and personal mementoes of Generals Eisenhower, Montgomery, Patton, and Bradley; the blueprints of the Mulberry harbours; objects and equipment of the US Rangers on Omaha Beach and British Airborne troops at Pegasus Bridge; as well as those of every major combatant army. Publisher: Conway; www.conwaypublishing.com ISBN: 978-1-84486-232-0 Hardback. 160 pages RRP: £16.99

YPRES 1914: LANGEMARCK Jack Sheldon and Nigel Cave

two of the busiest days of the Battle

 ALTHOUGH FOUGHT

of Britain, 15 and 27 September – as

over a relatively small

revealed by the detailed and informative

area and short time

entries contained within it, all of which

span, the fighting

are accompanied by a large selection of

around Ypres in 1914

images. Publisher: Red Kite; www.redkitebooks.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-906592-16-5 Softback, A4. 125 pages RRP: £25.00

was chaotic and the

OUR LAND AT WAR

Britain’s Key First World War Sites Nick Bosanquet

stakes were extremely high. Authors Nigel Cave and Jack Sheldon combine their respective expertise to tell the story of the men – British, French, Indian and German – who fought over the unremarkable undulating ground that was to become firmly placed in British national conscience ever

OUR LAND at War investigates the way

afterwards. This book in Pen & Sword’s

in which Britain was

well-known Battleground Europe series

transformed from a

also provides a series of four tours

society at peace into a

around the battle sites. Publisher: Pen & Sword; www.pen-and-sword.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-78159-199-4 Softback. 208 pages RRP: £12.99

national war machine during the First World War. The war created a new world of vast hutted camps

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The Britain at War team scout out the latest items of interest

MOSQUITO DOWN!

COURAGE OF COWARDS

The Extraordinary Memoir of a Second World War Bomber Command Pilot on the Run in Germany and Holland

Famous Royal Air Force Fighter Station: An Authorised History

Frank Dell

Reginald Byron and David Coxon

 FRANK DELL’S



WE ALL have our opinions about conscientious objection and it is certainly the case that our views on this subject have changed considerably over the decades. During the First World War there were degrees of conscientious objection and differing reasons, be they religious or humanitarian, but what is undeniable is that a number in the war demonstrated that they were as brave as any man can be. This book, though, is not just about such men, it is also about those who adamantly refused to take part in any aspect of the war.

The latter were termed “absolutists”.

If a man took the “alternativist” stance and joined the RAMC, the Non-Combatant Corps or the Friends Ambulance Unit, they often provided necessary, even invaluable, services and their moral stance was generally accepted, though frequently ridiculed. It was a different story for the absolutists. James Landers was a devout Christian who was determined to live his life according to the teachings of the Bible. He applied for absolute exemption from military service on religious grounds, but this was denied. Nevertheless, James knew that if he was imprisoned for his beliefs he would receive no pay. He therefore compromised his beliefs, eventually joining the Army Service Corps. When James was put on guard duty for the first time, the sergeant explained what was expected of him: “And if you are approached by anyone, anyone at all mind, you should ask ‘Halt, who goes there, friend or foe?’ Alright?” James shook his head, “No, I don’t think I can say that”. The sergeant stared at him blankly for a moment or two, not comprehending. “What do you mean, you can’t say that?” “Because, when the Lord knew him that came to Him to betray Him, he said ‘Friend, whom seek ye?’ so that is what I shall say if I am approached.” “Will you now?” the sergeant replied,

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believing that James was trying to wind him up. In the end the exasperated NCO left James to his own devices. At the beginning of 1918 the law was changed allowing those men ‘under punishment’ to continue to receive their pay. James decided to revert to his absolutist stance and told his Sergeant that he would no longer obey any military orders. “Aw, come on lad! Don’t do this!” the NCO said. “You’re a good lad at heart, a bit odd maybe, but there’s no harm in you. You know they’ll throw you in prison don’t you?” James still refused, and was duly sent to Wormwood Scrubs, where, as was usual with conscientious objectors, he was put initially in solitary confinement. He was released from prison on 18 June 1919. Though he was a trained electrician he found work hard to come by as many job adverts stated “No COs need apply”. As his sister Mary said to James, “Having principles is fair enough, but principles won’t put bread on the table will they?” One is left wondering how someone who had displayed such determination not to be involved in the war effort in any way would succumb just to provide money for his mother. Whilst one would applaud any move that helped his poor old mother, it does possibly indicate that such beliefs as those held by Landers were not so absolute as objectors liked to portray. Everyone, it seems, has his price. REVIEWED BY ROBERT MITCHELL.

Publisher: Pen & Sword www.pen-and-sword.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-78159-295-3 Hardback. 134 pages RRP: £16.99 Illustrations  Appendices 

References/Notes Index 



Hardback. 224 pages RRP: £19.99

RAILROAD OF DEATH

The Original, Classic Account of the ‘River Kwai’ Railway John Coast

experience as a Second World War pilot with the RAF’s Light Night Striking Force took a dramatic turn when his Mosquito was shot down over Germany on the night of 14/15 October 1944. In Mosquito Down! Frank recounts his escape from the disintegrating aircraft, his descent by parachute, and how, battered and bruised, he finds himself in a field adjacent to a German V-2 rocket launch pad. Determined to avoid capture Frank crosses Germany and eventually finds refuge in Holland with a Dutch Resistance group. Publisher: Fighting High; www.fightinghigh.com ISBN: 978-0-99262-072-1 Hardback. 181 pages RRP: £19.95

 INITIALLY PUBLISHED in 1946, Railroad of Death was one of the first accounts of forced labour on the Burma Railway. John Coast was an officer in the Norfolk Regiment who was taken prisoner at the Fall of Singapore. He took notes and concealed them from the Japanese for nearly three years, but he lost the lot when he was forced to bury them. Coast had to write the book all over again while on the voyage home. The new edition includes an index and list of newly identified individuals mentioned in the book. Publisher: Myrmidon Books; www.myrmidonbooks.com ISBN: 978-1-905802-93-7 Paperback. 397 pages RRP: £12.99

THE NORMANDY BATTLEFIELDS

FIVE CAME BACK

Leo Marriott and Simon Forty

Mark Harris

D-Day and The Bridgehead

 THIS BOOK details what

can be seen on the ground today using a mixture of media to provide an overview of the campaign. Maps old and new highlight what has survived and what has not; then-and-now photography allows comparisons with the images taken at the time particularly the aerial views and computer artwork which provides details of things that can’t be seen today. The book describes the area from Cherbourg to Le Havre by way of the key D-Day locations, providing a handbook for the visitor and an overview for the armchair traveller. Publisher: Casemate; www.casematepublishers.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-61200-231-6

A Story of Hollywood and the Second World War  FEW INDUSTRY professionals played a bigger role in the war than America’s most legendary directors: John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens. Between them they were on the scene for almost every major moment of America’s war, and in every branch of service – army, navy, and air force; Atlantic and Pacific; from Midway to North Africa; from Normandy to the fall of Paris and the liberation of the death camps. Mark Harris looks at the ways in which the war changed the history of film forever. Publisher: Canongate; www.canongate.tv ISBN: 978-1-84767-855-3 Hardback. 511 pages RRP: £30.00

75th ANNIVERSARY SPITFIRE WATCH THE 75th Anniversary Spitfire Mechanical Watch is endorsed by the Douglas Bader Foundation and limited to just 4,999 editions. Showcasing an exposed working mechanism in addition to a Spitfire design accented in rose gold-plating and a leather strap, this edition is etched on the reverse with Group Captain Douglas Baders’ signature. The watch face measures 1.62 inches (4 cm) in diameter (including casing) and the strap measures 7 inches (18 cm) in length x 0.75 inches (2 cm) in width. The timepiece is available for just five interest-free instalments of £27.99 – that’s only £139.95 (P&P included) – and a Certificate of Authenticity is also included free. For more information, please telephone 0333 003 0019 or visit: www.bradford.co.uk

AUGUST 2014 119

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The Britain at War team scout out the latest items of interest

MARCHING TO THE SOUND OF GUNFIRE

SEPTEMBER 2014 ISSUE

ON SALE FROM 28 AUGUST 2014

North-West Europe 1944-1945

THE HIDDEN SECRET OF THE HUMBIE HEINKEL

Patrick Delaforce



PATRICK DELAFORCE introduces his latest publication by stating that it is a book about the young men that did the fighting, told by themselves. True to his word, the author takes the reader from the beaches of Normandy to the Rhine and the Baltic through the personal accounts of those that had to undertake the unpleasant, but often exciting, business of fighting. Amongst the operations during the

During the Second World War, around 1,200 enemy aircraft were brought down over the British Isles. Each aircraft was minutely examined by RAF Intelligence Officers and any captured aircrew were interrogated in order to elicit technical and operational information. Occasionally, real breakthroughs were made in terms of the detail that was obtained. In the case of the very first enemy aircraft to come down intact on the British mainland in 1939 a highly significant discovery was made – albeit, as Andy explains, that it had been hidden in plain sight and was initially overlooked.

•

came under intense rifle and medium machine-gun fire from a farm building and was pinned down. The Platoon Commander began to reorganise the

march to Berlin, was the advance

platoon when Private Stokes, without

into northern Germany undertaken

waiting for any orders, got up and,

by the 1st Canadian Army with

firing from the hip, dashed through the

General Horrock’s XXX Corps under its

enemy fire and was seen to disappear

command. The British and Canadians

inside the farm building. The enemy

had the job of rolling up the German

fire stopped and Private Stokes

line from the north to meet up with

reappeared with twelve prisoners.

the US 9th Army coming up from the

During this operation he was wounded

south. Included was the 1st Battalion

in the neck.”

Gordon Highlanders, whose acting CO was Major Martin Lindsay. Lindsay describes an action on the

Stokes, however, refused to leave the platoon to be treated. On approaching the second objective the

west of the Reichwald near Del Hel.

platoon came under heavy fire from

‘A’ Company had failed to take the

a house on the left. Again, without

objective, which was a strongpoint

waiting for orders, Stokes rushed the

astride the main road to Mook-

house by himself, once more firing

Gennep, so Lindsay put himself at the

from the hip. He was seen to drop his

head of ‘D’ Company, handing control

rifle and fall to the ground wounded.

of the battalion to the commander

Astonishingly, a few moments later, he

of ‘D’ Company: “We climbed up the

got to his feet again, picked up his rifle

face of a steep ridge and the four

and continued to move forward as the

platoons deployed, two in front, two

enemy’s fire poured all around him.

behind facing west. But the wood was

As before, Stokes broke into the house

a jungle, so many branches and trees

and reappeared with another five

having been felled by our shelling.

prisoners. He then charged another

We might well have been in darkest

German position, but was cut down

Africa. Every hundred yards took us

never to rise again. Little wonder

about 15 minutes. The confusion was

that Stokes was awarded the Victoria

indescribable. All we could do was

Cross, but sadly posthumously.

to push on slowly, climbing over tree

These are just a couple of examples

trunks and braches or crawling under

of an assembly of intriguing and

them.” By the end of the day all four

readable accounts with which every

of ‘D’ Company’s officers were dead or

page of this book is filled.

wounded, but the vital Mook-Gennep road had been cleared. With heavy fighting came acts of great courage, and one such was that of Private Stokes of the 2nd King’s Shropshire Light Infantry. This incident took place as the battalion fought for possession of Kervenheim: “During the advance the platoon [17th Platoon]

120 AUGUST 2014

HEROES IN DISGUISE

result It was a sea duel between the bravest of the brave that would Pour a and side British the on Crosses Victoria two in the award of an le Mérite on the German side. Steve Snelling tells the story of epic battle fought by a British Q-ship (some of the crew of which are seen here) and an enemy U-boat during the First World War.

TEN DAYS IN THE LINE

It was at the height of the Battle of Monte Cassino when, during March 1944, Second Lieutenant (later Major) Peter Laughton’s platoon, part of the 2nd Battalion Queen’s Own Cameron Highlanders, found itself occupying front line positions on Snakeshead Ridge not far from the Monastery itself. The ridge was an important feature, for it offered the Allies a secondary route towards Monte Cassino without having to make a head-on assault from the monastery’s base. However, the Snakeshead still heavily favoured the enemy – as Major Laughton himself describes.

•

LEFT BEHIND

g the The events surrounding the Battle of France in 1940, includin retreat from Dunkirk, was a costly time for the Royal Air Force. Chris Goss presents a selection of images depicting some of those RAF fighters that were shot down or abandoned during this period.

REVIEWED BY ALEXANDER NICOLL

Publisher: Grub Street; www.grubstreet.co.uk ISBN: 978-1-909166-19-6 Hardback. 328 pages RRP: £25.00 Illustrations  Appendices 

References/Notes Index 



www.britainatwar.com

THE SEIGE OF FORT DUFFERIN The Fourteenth Army at Mandalay

T R O F F O E G I E S THE

N I R E F F U D T

HE IMPERIAL Japanese Army was no longer considered invincible. At Imphal and Kohima the Japanese had been beaten and driven back, suffering acute losses. In early 1945, General Sir William Slim, in command of the British and Commonwealth Fourteenth Army, intended to follow up these successes with an assault upon the old Burmese capital of Mandalay before advancing upon the main objective of Rangoon.

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General Kimura, the commander of the Japanese forces in Burma, knew that Mandalay was the key to the defence of central Burma. His objective was therefore to concentrate the greatest force he could from his depleted divisions to prevent the Fourteenth Army crossing the River Irrawaddy and advancing on Mandalay. Slim’s men, in the form of 33 Corps, broke through the Japanese positions on the banks of the Irrawaddy and stood poised on their bridgeheads to the north and west of Mandalay ready to strike. The 19th Indian Division – the “Dagger Division” – commanded by Major General Peter Rees, having extended its bridgeheads some forty miles north of the city, was “straining at the leash” for a dash down the east bank to Mandalay. “The crisis of the great battle was at hand,” explained Slim. “Kimura’s gaze was fixed on Mandalay and its neighbourhood, his troops faced north and were marching hard to meet us there.” With his attention focused on 

The Fourteenth Army was on the offensive, driving the Japanese back through Burma. In its way stood the ancient Burmese capital of Mandalay and its powerfully-built, Fort Dufferin. Its capture would see very heavy fighting, a report of which was later compiled by one of the men involved and is presented here by James Luto. ABOVE: A 5.5-inch gun of 19th Indian Division in action against the walls of Fort Dufferin near Mandalay, during March 1945. Eventually, after some twelve days of siege, and through the effects of this barrage, as well as the attentions of the British and American air forces, breaches were finally punched through the red sandstone walls. In fact, no less than twenty-five holes had been blasted open. (ALL IMAGES COURTESY OF THE JAMES LUTO COLLECTION UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

LEFT: The divisional insignia of the 19th Indian Division, more commonly known as the “Dagger Division”, which was commanded by Major General Peter Rees.

AUGUST 2014 121

THE SEIGE OF FORT DUFFERIN The Fourteenth Army at Mandalay

ABOVE: An infantryman of 98 Indian Infantry Brigade advances through a burning village during the advance on Mandalay.

Mandalay, 4 Corps would strike Kimura’s rear at Mektila. In this manner, 4 Corps would be the anvil, in Slim’s words, upon which the hammer of 33 Corps would strike, flattening the Japanese with its blows.

MANDALAY The former capital city of Burma was held by the Japanese 15th Division with a preponderance of men from the 60 Regiment and 3 Battalion, 58 Regiment. The Japanese defensive plan for Mandalay, under the command of Colonel Yamamoto, was to hold the city with the main defence line being the double canal line north of Mandalay Hill stretching from the river on the west to the Mandalay canal in the east. The fields to the north of the canal were flooded to form a tank obstacle. The nature of the task facing Rees was outlined by General Slim in his official despatch: “Mandalay contains two areas of tactical importance: Mandalay Hill and Fort Dufferin. The former is a great rock feature, covered with pagodas and Buddhist monasteries, which rises some 750 feet above the surrounding paddy

122 AUGUST 2014

fields, completely dominating the city from the north-east. Fort Dufferin lies southwest of Mandalay Hill and about two miles from the river. It is encircled by a moat about 80 yards wide, while its 20-foot walls are backed with an earth embankment some 72 feet thick at the base.” The fort was a great rectangular, walled enclosure, containing one-and-a-quarter square miles of parkland, dotted with official residences, barracks, and other buildings including the ancient wooden Royal Palace of Theebaw, the last Burmese king, with its upturned eaves rich with carving, vermilion and gilding. Galleries and loopholes ran round the walls and, with the exception of the railway entrances, all gateways through the walls were built as “S” bends so that the outer gates were backed by almost the entire thickness of the walls and earthen ramp. The attack on Mandalay Hill was launched by Brigadier Charles Ian Jerrard’s 98 Brigade early on 9 March 1945. The attackers suffered heavily, especially in terms of officers, for the enemy fought to the bitter end. Indeed,

TOP LEFT: A 3-inch mortar detachment of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Berkshire Regiment, in action during the fighting for Mandalay. RIGHT: General Sir Oliver Leese, Commanderin-Chief Allied Land Forces South East Asia (ALFSEA), watching the attack on Fort Dufferin from Mandalay Hill.

the last Japanese defenders were killed by means of petrol drums, which were set on fire and rolled down into the tunnel they were holding. After three days of street fighting in Mandalay, by 12 March the Hill had been cleared of the enemy. The 13th was instructed to be a period of rest and re-organization in preparation for the attack upon Fort Dufferin the following day.

BELOW: The attack on Mandalay, and Fort Dufferin, as pictured from the heights of Mandalay Hill. The original caption states that the smoke is from the burning Sultan’s Palace.

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THE SEIGE OF FORT DUFFERIN The Fourteenth Army at Mandalay

ABOVE: An early photograph of Fort Dufferin at Mandalay. The size of the complex, not only in terms of its walls and the 75-yard wide moat, is all too evident. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

LEFT: A map of Fort Dufferin which, from the papers of Brigadier Charles Ian Jerrard, 98 Brigade’s Commanding Officer, shows the positions of the main buildings within the complex.

THE ATTACK The assault upon the Fort was to start at 14.00 hours with an attack on the road and railway line about 1,000 yards south-west of the south-west corner of the Fort. The attack was to go in before dark. Because of the short warning it was decided to rely on surprise. The artillery was not to register until five minutes before the attack and the troops were to rush straight in after the artillery concentrations. “This proved extremely successful,” ran the words of a report on the attack compiled by the Officer Commanding 2nd Battalion Royal Berkshire Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel H du Pre Finch. “As soon as they saw the troops charging, the Japanese lost their heads and ran away and left us in possession of five Artillery guns (1 x 105mm, 2 x 75mm www.britainatwar.com

and 2 x 47mm) and a medium machinegun. Two Companies consolidated this position at once. “The orders for next day were that at 10.00 hours we were to move eastwards along the road, which runs parallel with the Fort about 1,000 yards from it. We were to block the roads running south from the Fort so as to prevent the Japanese evacuating their Motor Transport [M.T.] from it. We had in support a Field Regiment, a Medium Battery, a Mortar Battery, a Troop of Tanks and a Company MMG [Medium Machine-Gun]. “Leaving one Company to protect our Line of Communication … we started off. The enemy must have expected our attack to continue southward because we found most of the opposition at right angles to our advance on that flank. We gave orders to ignore this resistance and to continue eastwards. This was successful. On one or two occasions the Japanese threatened to cut the Battalion in half but by use of the Tanks we  BELOW: A contemporary drawing of the offensive against Fort Dufferin underway.

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THE SEIGE OF FORT DUFFERIN The Fourteenth Army managed to beat down their fire and they then started to melt away. “At the railway level crossing opposite the south-west corner of the Fort the Japs were organizing a hasty resistance, but thanks to our rather rapid advance they were not ready for us. As soon as our guns opened on them, and the leading Company closed in, they ran for it, and left us with another captured Artillery gun. We also captured a Japanese officer hiding in the crypt of the Roman Catholic Cathedral, the only un-wounded capture we made in the campaign. One Company started to consolidate this position at once.

ROOM 66 ONE OF those attached to the 19th Indian Division during the fighting at Mandalay was Major Cyril Greening, of the 459th Forward Airfield Engineers. A surveyor by trade, Greening had been instructed to inspect Fort Dufferin and he duly arrived four days after the siege had ended. His most over-riding memory of the Fort was the sight and smell emanating from the bodies of the Japanese defenders. Even those who had slipped away during the siege had little success, either falling prey to the men of the 19th Indian Division, who were lying in wait, or drowning in the moat – where their bodies still remained, bloated and slowly decomposing. During his visit, Greening entered a number of the buildings around, and within, the Fort. Like so many soldiers, he decided that he would gather up a few souvenirs to swap or take home. In one such room he found the floor covered in booklets. Not able to read Japanese, he picked up a few that looked the most interesting. It was then that the wooden sign on the door (above right), which looked important, caught his eye. This was soon unscrewed and in his pocket. Cyril would often wonder what intriguing message the door sign held. Had the room been occupied by the Fort’s Japanese commander? Could it have been the office of the dreaded Kempeitai, (the Japanese equivalent of the Gestapo)? With time this intrigue became too much. Cyril made contact with the author, who in turn made enquiries with a Japanese speaking friend. At last the long awaited answer to Cyril’s 60-year old question arrived. The inscription on that all important door sign that had so captured his imagination back in 1945: “Room 66”!

“After this things became much more difficult. On the left of the road was a nasty built up area full of snipers. On the right of the road a strip of scrub about 70 yards wide and on the right again a large open parade ground; it was then about 13.50 hours. The leading Company kept on through the scrub but by this time the Japs had had time to get ready and were in position along the road running north from the Government Farm. “We got the tanks up and tried the same tactics as before. But this time it was a failure. The troops were met by a hail of fire and one tank received a direct hit and brewed up. Our other tanks were driven off. We got the crew out of the tank which was on fire. At the same time the enemy started coming in on the right flank. We hastily moved our only remaining Company (50 strong) to that side and the enemy attack evaporated. “We were not very sure what the Japanese reaction would be to our move to cut them off. They seemed to be all-round us if we continued the attack we would, by night-fall, be strung out in three localities widely separated and not properly dug TOP: Mandalay Hill was assaulted and captured by men of the 98th Indian Infantry Brigade, part of the 19th Indian Division. ABOVE RIGHT: A Fort Dufferin relic brought home after the war by Major Cyril Greening. The piece of rice paper, perhaps like the wooden door sign, looks more intriguing than it actually is. The inscription simply instructs you to “Put Ashtray Here”! BELOW: A pillar of dense black smoke hangs over Government House, which was located in the north of the Fort Dufferin complex (see the map on page 123), during the fighting in March 1945.

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SEIGE OF FORT DUFFERIN The Fourteenth Army

ABOVE: Street fighting in Mandalay. The original caption states: “Fanatical Jap resistance at Mandalay is broken by houseto-house fighting as [the] Allies advance steadily into the city.” The poor quality of the image is due to the fact that the picture was flown from Burma to Colombo, from where “it was radioed” to London for use in the Allied press. ABOVE: British or Indian Army personnel crossing a wooden bridge whilst making their way into Fort Dufferin immediately after its capture.

in. If we were to consolidate by nightfall we must do it at once. We therefore decided to make certain of our gains and make the railway crossing area a threeCompany-strong point and to go for the Government Farm road next day. This, the enemy allowed us to do with no more interruption than spasmodic but unpleasant shelling.” General Slim described the attack on Fort Dufferin as being like a scene from the Siege of Delhi during the Indian Mutiny. Medium calibre guns were brought up within 500 yards to breach the walls, rafts and scaling ladders prepared, storming parties detailed, and an attempt made to enter through the huge pipes that ran into the moat. “The CRE [Commander Royal Engineers] was determined that the Japs would run an armoured train out of the

Fort that night,” continued Finch, “so we prepared a massive block across the railway line. Nothing happened.”

“All roads out of the fort available for Japanese M.T. were now blocked and we had accomplished our task. On this day the Company we had left protecting our L of C was relieved by another Battalion and we dug in with Battalion Headquarters and two Companies at the level crossing and the other two Companies at the Government Farm cross roads. “In the evening the Divisional Commander General Pete Rees sent the Battalion a message of congratulations on its success. That night a Japanese officer with a party of about 10 men marched straight up the road to the level crossing and started to study his map. Unfortunately instead of shooting, our men there threw a grenade at them. They had time to scatter and sustained few casualties. “The 16th was a quiet day except for incessant sniping into the Government Farm cross roads, but in the afternoon an order came from Brigade that if it was at all possible the Fort must be attacked from all sides that night. Our side was to be the south side. Scaling ladders and boats would be issued if we would say what we wanted. We put in a demand but no ladders or boats ever appeared. I think what Brigade really required of us was a diversion and had they told us so in plain words we could have done a good one. 

BELOW: One of the few Japanese soldiers captured during the fighting for Fort Dufferin and Mandalay. The original caption states that he is an officer, though it is not clear if he was the individual found hiding in the crypt of the Roman Catholic Cathedral.

THE CRUMP OF THE SHELLS “We kept the Government Farm road under artillery harassing fire that night and prevented the evacuation of the Jap gun. This was eventually captured at a later date. The only other incident that night was a Jap banzai charge by an officer and 8 men. This was easily held off. This secured the objective.

RIGHT: The pennant flown on the Jeep which Brigadier Charles Ian Jerrard, 98 Brigade’s Commanding Officer, used to enter Fort Dufferin after its capture. The author would like to thank Richard and Janet Bow for allowing access to the late Brigadier Jerrard's extensive archive.

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THE SEIGE OF FORT DUFFERIN The Fourteenth Army

“As it was we pushed several patrols out towards the moat to see if we could find any place which offered us a chance. We met so many Jap parties, however, that it was clearly impossible to attempt an unprepared attack without boats with the enemy prepared for it, so we withdrew.” High above the fort, on Mandalay Hill, Captain Howard Kitchin, an Indian Army Observer, was watching the action on the 16th: “Several hundred feet below me one of the many battles for Mandalay was laid out like a huge sand model. From a viewpoint on Mandalay Hill Monastery veranda I could see every detail of the battle 600 yards away. Ahead was the red walled fort with its deep blue cool looking moat and the scores of buildings, which are Government house and the offices and palace of King Thebaw, set in square parkland. “All around the fort was Mandalay, brown and silent. There was no movement, just a column of blue smoke rising hundreds of feet from some buildings away to the southwest where infantry were reported to have blown a Jap ammunition dump.

TOP LEFT: Taken inside the city of Mandalay, this photograph shows the effects of the Allied aerial and artillery bombardments. ABOVE: The North Gate of Fort Dufferin pictured in the immediate aftermath of its fall to Allied troops. The soldier standing second from the left is a member of the Madras Sappers, which had been brought in to help open the large metal gates in the background.

“Just before noon there were heavy crumps of medium shelling in the target area near to the rifle range and the racecourse. After five minutes shelling, Ponyi Shaung, in which Japanese were reported to have dug positions, was a sheet of flames. An oil dump was also hit. “Even high up above the battle ground, flat as a billiard table, we could feel the heat from the huge orange tongues of fire, the blast of shell bursts. Then smoke shells bounced across the objective, three British-manned tanks moved from the eastern edge of the dusty and sun baked racecourse. “They edged forward until the leading tank was within 400 yards. The 75s blasted at the burning house and men of the Frontier Force Regiment followed up, carefully spaced behind each tank ready to consolidate the gains. “Japanese machine-guns clattered but I did not see anyone hit. Blasting shook the whole monastery and as the tanks got closer to the foot of the hill we found ourselves above the direct line

of fire. Shell splinters pinged against the concrete buttress of the monastery buildings. “Within a couple of hours an area stretching to the north-eastern tip of the fort wall was cleared. Later that afternoon Thunderbolts dive-bombed Government house and the jail area where Japanese bunkers were sighted.” The 500lb bombs, like the 5.5-inch shells, had little effect upon the walls of the fort, only damaging the outer face. The massive bank of earth behind the brick face remained un-breached. Attempts were then made by North American B-25 Mitchell bombers, flying low, to drop 2,000lb bombs on the waters of the moat so that they would bounce, Dambuster-style, into the walls. These efforts were once again met with limited success.

ATTACKING THE FORT One of those present during the attacks on Fort Dufferin recorded this account which was subsequently broadcast on the BBC. The speaker was Major General Peter Rees himself: “Let’s get under cover.

MAIN PICTURE: A stretch of the walls of Fort Dufferin, or Mandalay Palace as it is now known, as they are today. It was the moat in the foreground that proved such an obstacle to the attackers in March 1945. (SHUTTERSTOCK)

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THE SEIGE OF FORT DUFFERIN The Fourteenth Army at Mandalay

The Frontier Force are attacking Mandalay Fort now. You can probably hear the noise of the shelling, mortaring, shooting. I’m fairly close to the walls myself, standing, looking half round a concrete wall. Our chaps are advancing steadily, bunching a little more than I’d like to see them. They’re going very well. The tanks are advancing, firing very hard at the walls. You can see where our medium guns, firing direct, have made breaches in the walls of the fort. You can see the bullets flicking the ground just ahead of me. I think actually they’re our own tank bullets. The tank Besa’s co-axial firing just ahead of the infantry, smothering the operation. I can see one of our infantry running across now, just near the fort wall. “I’ll get my glasses on. I can see the breach, but there’s a big moat, this side. I can now see some of our leading infantry. They’ve just doubled to behind a concrete shelter which the sappers have built before the war, because we’re standing now in the sapper lines just north of Mandalay Fort … “Tremendous lot of noise going on. A whole lot of smoke now – near the wall

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ABOVE: This time photographed from inside Fort Dufferin, this is another view of the North Gate. Note the sheer size of the walls in the sectio n on the left.

ABOVE LEFT: Major General T.W. Rees, commanding 19th Indian Division (centre of picture facing the camera with a scarf around his neck), talks to some of his troops in Mandalay, 19 March 1945.

itself, which is a very good thing for our infantry. I’m not quite sure which of the firing is the enemy firing. I can see some of our infantry running round the tanks. Not always a wise thing to stand near a tank. Now I can see more of our infantry going across now, they’re running across near the tanks, they’re in slouch hats, Australian hats, Gurkha hats, very clear to see.”

ACCURATE SNIPING “On the 17th, in order to try to neutralize the sniping from the built up area on to our Company positions at Government Farm cross roads,” added Finch, “we withdrew the Company secretly during the morning and shelled the area for a quarter hour, and then re-occupied it,” continued Colonel Finch. “There was an improvement as far as sniping was concerned but the Japs turned a 70mm gun on the area in revenge. The

18th was a quiet day. We heard that we would be relieved by the Rajputana Rifles next morning. During the day Colonel Yamamoto received orders from Japanese Burma Area Command to cut his way out of Mandalay. “The night was quiet until 03.00 hours on the 19th, at this time the Japs made a determined effort to overrun the Government Farm cross-roads position. The attack was a failure: 24 dead Japanese were picked up next day. We had one casualty. “At day light, on calling Company Advanced Parties into Battalion Headquarters in readiness for the relief, we discovered to our annoyance and at the loss of one Company Sergeant Major W. White, that during the night a party of Japs had got into a house 800 yards south of the Government Farm crossroads. From here they could bring 

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THE SEIGE OF FORT DUFFERIN The Fourteenth Army

With the Japanese having evacuated the fort as ordered, the 1/15 Punjab Regiment entered the complex at 13.30 hours on 20 March 1945. The siege of Fort Dufferin was over.

THE END OF THE SIEGE

accurate sniping fire on to the Company area and they also prevented any one moving between that area, and the Battalion Headquarters area. We had no anti-tank guns with which to knock down the house which was right out in the open, and, therefore, difficult to assault without severe casualties. We had, therefore, to obtain assistance from the tanks. “These arrived at the same time as the Rajputana Rifles and the relief took place as a counter-attack on to Government Farm cross-roads. When the tanks started shooting into the house about a dozen Japs ran out. Every one shot at them, including a burly Sikh machine-gunner who, in order to get a better field of fire, stood up with both gun and tripod. I should like to say that all the Japs were killed but as a fact very few were. They ran very fast. “Our relief was now complete and we withdrew. Since the commencement of the Mandalay fighting we reckoned to have killed 10 Japanese officers and 265 Other Ranks and to have captured 9 M.M.Gs and 10 artillery pieces. We ourselves suffered 4 officer and 100 Other Ranks casualties. “On the morning of the 20th a heavy airstrike was conducted by 10th USAAF with 1,000lb bombs on the North East corner of the Fort; this was watched by the 128 AUGUST 2014

TOP LEFT: This green booklet, again a relic picked up by Major Cyril Greening, is nothing more sinister than a medical hygiene booklet. ABOVE: A panoramic drawing of the North Gate at Fort Dufferin which, dated 22 May 1945, shows some of the damage and breaches to the complex’s walls. TOP RIGHT: Days of grim fighting for Fort Dufferin – the last Japanese stronghold in Burma – ended with a bloodless occupation on 21 March 1945. The enemy had had enough; the Japanese troops had pulled out under cover of darkness the previous night.

C-in-C and Corps Commander. One stick of bombs missed the fort by 1,000 yards and landed in the Worcester Regiment area killing 7 British Ordinary Ranks and 6 Mules! Shortly after this raid five Burmans with a white flag and a union flag came out of the North Gate of the Fort and reported that the Japanese had moved out during the night.” It transpired that the Japanese had crept through the drains from the moat into the southern part of the city. Many of these were intercepted by the British and Commonwealth troops, others hid in deserted houses but were hunted down over the course of the next few days. Only a handful escaped into open country.

Inside Fort Dufferin large dumps of enemy stores and ammunition were found abandoned, adding further to the weakened state of the Japanese forces. By the end of the Mandalay campaign the Japanese 15th Division had been completely broken as a fighting force, having lost 6,000 men. The main battle for Burma was now over and the columns of the Fourteenth Army swept down the road to Rangoon in pursuit of a demoralised enemy. Such was the significance of the capture of Mandalay, General Slim held a formal ceremony to mark its occupation by the Fourteenth Army. With all the corps and divisional commanders present, Slim himself hoisted the Union Flag above the ruins of the city and the sad sight of the smouldering remains of Theebaw, another victim of the battle of Mandalay. 

FIGHTING WITH THE FOURTEENTH ARMY IN BURMA

Original War Summaries of the Battle Against Japan 1943-1945 THE FOURTEENTH Army, often referred to as the “Forgotten Army”, was made up from units that came from all corners of the Commonwealth and was composed of divisions from East and West Africa as well as the United Kingdom and India. It was not only the largest of the Commonwealth armies but was also the largest single army in the world with around half a million men under its command. After the defeat of the Japanese these divisions compiled a summary of its actions and it is these unique documents that, compiled by James Luto, the author of this article, form the basis of this new book. Published by Pen & Sword, for more information, please visit: www.pen-and-sword.co.uk

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The First W

rld War in Objects

THE GUN WHICH FIRED THE FIRST SHOT OF THE WAR AT SEA

MAIN PICTURE: On loan from the Imperial War Museum, the QF 4-inch Mk.IV gun and pedestal mount pictured here is on display at the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard. It is part of the ‘HMS – Hear My Story’ exhibition which tells the stories of the men, women and ships of the Royal Navy over the past 100 years. (HMP)

AT 23.00 hours Greenwich Mean Time on Tuesday, 4 August 1914, Britain declared war on Germany. At that time the destroyers HMS Lance and HMS Landrail, as part of the 3rd Destroyer Flotilla based at Harwich, were on patrol. These Laforey-class destroyers were amongst the newest ships in the Royal Navy. Capable of a maximum speed of twenty-nine knots, they were each armed with three Quick Firing (QF) 4-inch Mk.IV guns, one QF 2-pounder Mk.II, and two, twin 21-inch torpedo tubes. ABOVE: A manufacturer’s plate on HMS Lance’s Anticipating trouble from the Germans, the Royal gun. The 4-inch gun was semi-automatic, with Navy was out in the North Sea in considerable the recoil opening the breech and ejecting the force. As part of this presence, the 3rd Flotilla, cartridge. Insertion of a new cartridge closed the under the command of Captain C.H. Fox in the breech and the gun was then ready to fire again. scout cruiser HMS Amphion, was as sea heading Thus a rate of fire of between fifteen and twenty towards the Dutch coast. rounds per minute could be obtained by a trained crew. (COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE Captain Fox had not gone far before he encountered the first sign of enemy activity. A lone ROYAL NAVY) trawler informed him that a suspicious vessel was BELOW: A drawing depicting the destroyers HMS “throwing things overboard twenty miles northLance and HMS Landrail during their pursuit of the minelayer Königin Luise on 5 August 1914. (HMP) east of the Outer Gabbard”. The Outer Gabbard

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NO.1 is slightly to the north of Felixstowe. While the 3rd Flotilla spread out to commence searching, Lance and Landrail were sent directly to the point identified by the trawler. At around 10.25 hours on 5 August, they sighted a ship which upon closer investigation was found to be the German minelayer Königin Luise, a former steam ferry that had converted to undertake its new role. She had sailed from Emden the previous day with orders to lay mines off the Thames Estuary. Though Königin Luise could carry 200 mines, she was no match for the two destroyers and as soon as she spotted them approaching she turned and ran. “As they [the British warships] rushed forward,” stated one contemporary account, “the steamer began to put on speed, and she was soon running for all she was worth. A warning shot was fired, summoning her to stop. But as she failed to do so ... the destroyers opened fire.” Königin Luise tried to escape into neutral waters to the south-east through the minefield she had just laid. Lance and Landrail continued to pursue, being joined by Amphion. By noon the minelayer had been scuttled by her crew. So ended the first naval engagement of the First World War; but which of the two destroyers had been the one that fired the very first shot of the war at sea? A letter from an unidentified sailor published in the Liverpool Echo on 3 September 1914, provides the answer: “I don’t know if you read about the sinking of the mine-layer Konigin Luise. I noticed that our ship’s name was not mentioned, although the foremost gun’s crew of ours got in the first shot. I am sight-setter at the foremost gun. We chased her for two hours, and fired on her for thirtyfive minutes, and as she was sinking the remainder of our flotilla came up and finished her off.” The unnamed ship was HMS Lance. www.britainatwar.com