Britain at War 2016-06

THE DAY SUSSEX DIED: A REGIMENT DECIMATED 1916

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BRITAIN’S BEST SELLING MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY

PEGGY HARLAND Girl Guide Blitz Heroine: 1940

ATLANTIC SCOURGE! Condors over the Convoys

PLUS:

Battle of Jutland Centenary Churchill on Western Front Mohawks over Burma

COLD WAR TWIN DISASTER

JUNE 2016 ISSUE 110

THE SCOOTER RAID THE ROYAL NAVY v BOLSHEVIK FLEET

UK £4.60

The Tragic Loss of HMS Truculent and Lancaster SW363

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From the Editor... T

HIS SUMMER, quite rightly, the focus of commemorations during the centenary period of the First World War will fall on the awful scale of Allied losses suffered at The Battle of the Somme. Without a doubt, it was the most cataclysmic of battles and one which still has a direct and indirect impact on Britain and her Commonwealth to this day. However, the scale of those truly dreadful losses somewhat eclipses other casualties - like those, for instance, which were suffered by the Royal Sussex Regiment on the very eve of battle. In this issue we take a somewhat harrowing and thought provoking look at the disaster which befell men of that regiment in an operation designed to mislead the German Army as to the true intentions of the forces facing them. In particular, the losses among three of the Royal Sussex Regiment’s volunteer battalions, which had been raised across the county of Sussex by Lt Col Lowther as the ‘Southdowns’, and, inevitably, nicknamed ‘Lowther’s Lambs’. When things went badly for those battalions on 30 June 1916 it saw, among the hundreds of casualties, whole communities being devastated. In some cases, families lost several members and tiny villages, and even the bigger towns, saw swathes of men, often school chums, pals and relatives, cut down in their prime as men who had all joined together, died together. As a man of Sussex, I grew up hearing many tales relating to the losses from those who knew the men and from those who served with them and survived. Certainly, it might be argued, ‘Lowther’s Lambs’ were also the sacrificial lambs. Britain at War salutes and remembers them.

Andy Saunders (Editor) EDITORIAL

Editor: Andy Saunders Assistant Editor: John Ash Editorial Correspondents: Geoff Simpson, Alex Bowers, Mark Khan, Rob Pritchard Australasia Correspondent: Ken Wright ‘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)

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Art Editor: Dan Jarman

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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. The average sale for the period Jan-Dec 2015 was 10,843, print and digital copies monthly.

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FEATURES 34 Tit for Tat

In our cover story, Chris Goss describes the RAF’s efforts to combat the ‘Scourge of the Atlantic’ and a climatic action between a Whitley and a Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condor.

42 Limping Home - Part Two

Chris Goss shares more from his collection of photographs showing German aircraft which barely made it home following Blitz missions over Britain during 1940 and 1941.

44 Every Picture Tells a Story

Paul Kendall tells the story of a number of the men pictured together prior to the daring St George’s Day raid on the port of Zeebrugge in 1918.

54 Skimming to Victory

Steve Snelling charts the story of the Royal Navy’s torpedo boat raiders in one of their most courageous, skilled and yet virtually unknown operations when they attacked the potent Bolshevik fleet in Russia.

64 The Manipur Mohawks

Although bordering on obsolescence, the Mohawks of 155 Squadron RAF put up a more than creditable performance against the Japanese. Andrew Thomas tells their story.

82 A Plucky Young Girl

Andy Saunders tells how rescue efforts earned George Medals for the emergency services and a Girl Guides' Gilt Cross for a young girl buried under the rubble after a raid on Eastbourne in 1940.

91 A Short War

A faded photograph from the First World War reveals the story behind a British aircraft loss and the fate of its young crew.

92 Do Your Duty...

Joshua Dine looks at the story of Britain’s iconic chocolate and confectionary company during the First World War.

98 Doomed: HMS Queen Mary at Jutland Peter Hart looks at the Battle of Jutland, with a focus on the Royal Navy’s HMS Queen Mary and the catastrophic fate that befell her during the 1916 battle with the German High Seas Fleet.

Contents ISSUE 110 JUNE 2016

54 Skimming to Victory 4

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64 The Manipur Mohawks

Editor’s Choice FREE BOOK!

Claim your FREE Shot Down in Flames book when you subscribe to Britain at War. See pages 22 and 23 for more details.

24 The Day Sussex Died

Paul Reed details the harrowing tragedy which engulfed the Royal Sussex Regiment on the eve of the Battle of the Somme, an event which had a profound and lasting impact right across the regiment’s home county.

REGULARS 10 News

News, restorations, discoveries and events from around the World.

18 Image of War

Clearing a legacy: The efforts to remove a once mighty 50,000 ton relic of the Second World War which was destroyed by pinpoint accuracy and world-leading innovation.

20 Fieldpost

Your letters, input and feedback.

50 Recon Report

June’s ‘Book of the Month’, a photographic history of the USAAF’s 56th Fighter Group.

62 War Posters

Our series looking at wartime posters continues with Phil Jarman examining the work of Joyce Denny and her recruiting poster for the Women’s Royal Naval Service.

72 Hunters Turned Saviours

John Ash describes the Cold War disaster which befell HMS Truculent as she sailed off the Kent Coast in January 1950, along with the fate of the sub-hunting Lancaster sent to her aid.

COVER STORY

Over an Atlantic Convoy on 17 July 1941 a Whitley of 502 Sqn, piloted by Wg Cdr Don Shore, engaged a Fw 200 Condor of 3/KG40 in aerial combat. The Condor was damaged but returned safely to base, although the Whitley was shot down into the sea. All of the crew survived. See ‘Tit for Tat’ on page 34 of this issue. (ILLUSTRATION BY PIOTR FORKASIEWICZ – [email protected], WHITLEY MODEL IS BY ADAM TOOBY)

80 First World War Diary

Our monthly look at the key events of the First World War reaches June 1916 as Lord Kitchener departs on his last journey and rebellion erupts in the Middle East.

89 War Memorials

In our regular series in conjunction with War Memorials Trust we travel to East Kent to look at Elham’s monument to its war dead.

108 Great War Gallantry

We continue our monthly look at awards for gallantry announced in The London Gazette, including another ‘Hero of the Month’ selected by Lord Ashcroft.

114 The First World War in Objects

Our object from The Great War this month is the Mercantile Marine Medal.

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NEWS FEATURE 6 In Winston’s Footsteps

We report on the sentimental journey along the Western Front by Randolph Churchill, the legendary Prime Minister’s great grandson, completed with Nigel Dewar Gibb the son of Churchill’s Adjutant. www.britainatwar.com

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NEWS FEATURE |

Randolph Churchill Follows In Winston’s Footsteps

RANDOLPH CHURCHILL

FOLLOWS IN WINSTON'S FOOTSTEPS The great grandson of Winston Churchill, along with Nigel Dewar Gibb, the son of Churchill’s Adjutant, have recently visited the sector of the Western Front along where their forbears had served during the First World War as James Grech reports. EVEN AS a child, Winston had wanted to be a soldier and as a young man sought every opportunity he could to experience warfare, which included the great cavalry charge at Omdurman and his famous exploits on the run from the enemy in the Boer War. When he lost his place in the War Cabinet in 1915, after the Dardanelles Campaign, it was typical of Winston that his thoughts turned to the army and the British Expeditionary Force.

He had no interest in a ‘soft’ job at General HQ, although one was offered him. Winston wanted to be in the thick of the action, and was granted command of a front line battalion, the 6th (Service) Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. It very soon became apparent to the men of this predominantly Lowland battalion that their new Lieutenant Colonel was not the spoiled aristocrat they had imagined.

NO MAN’S LAND

Winston enjoyed the thrills of expeditions of highly dangerous patrols into No Man’s Land at night, which he frequently undertook, but for those who had to accompany him it could be a scary experience. Lieutenant Hakewill Smith remembered these expeditions: ‘He would often go into no-man’s-land. It was a nerve-racking experience to go with him. He would call out in his loud, gruff voice – far too loud it seemed to us – “You go that way, I will go this … Come here, I have found a gap in the German wire. Come over here at once!” He

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Randolph Churchill Follows In Winston’s Footsteps

was like a baby elephant out in no-man’s-land at night. He never fell when a shell went off; he never ducked when a bullet went past with its loud crack. He used to say, after watching me duck: “It’s no damn use ducking; the bullet has gone a long way past you by now.”’ Winston actually made no less than 36 forays into No Man’s Land in the space of a few months. An article in the Royal Scots Fusiliers’ regimental magazine, written by Corporal John McGuire, describes one of these forays. McGuire was in charge of bombers and scouts and was awarded the Military Medal for a single-handed attack on a German machine-gun post. One evening Winston asked McGuire if he felt like ‘going out tonight?’ Of course, the NCO could not refuse: ‘I strapped on a revolver and two mills bombs, and at midnight Winnie turned up with his adjutant. He wore his trench helmet, trench coat and Sam Browne belt with revolver. We topped the parapet and slipped through a gap in the barbed wire known only to scouts. Ten yards further on I lay down on the second line of trench concertina wire enabling the other two to cross. From there we crawled on our stomachs across muddy ground punched with shell holes. Near the German lines we settled in a hole and listened to the Germans talking. After two hours we crawled home. This was the pattern for all

our trips. While we were out our own side never fired, but the Germans, worried by the silence, sent up Verey lights and followed up with heavy machine-gun strafing. I often thought we’d “had it” but Churchill showed no fear. He would smile and say, “They know I’m here, McGuire, they know I’m here.”’

CALCULATED AND FEARLESS

According to historian Sir Martin Gilbert, Winston did not put himself in danger merely for the fun of it. He wanted to show his men that he would share their risks alongside them. He was not only a politician but also a member of one of the country’s leading families and such persons were not to be seen crawling around in No Man’s Land. That Churchill was prepared to do this, and clearly enjoy it, was a revelation to the common men of which the battalion was composed. ‘In war,’ Churchill later mused, ‘chance casts aside all veils and disguises and presents herself nakedly from moment to moment as the direct arbiter over all persons and events. Starting out in the morning, you leave your matches behind you. Before you have gone a hundred yards, you return to get them and thus miss the shell which arrived for your express benefit from ten miles away, and are no doubt shocked to find how nearly you missed the appointed rendezvous.

| NEWS FEATURE

ABOVE: Lieutenant-Colonel Winston Churchill pictured in uniform, sporting his characteristic blue French Army helmet, during the winter of 1915-1916. ABOVE LEFT: Nigel Dewar Gibb (on the left) and Randolph Churchill at the launch of With Winston Churchill At the Front in the Plugstreet 14-18 Experience. MIDDLE LEFT: Lieutenant-Colonel Winston Churchill and Captain Dewar Gibb pictured during the former’s time as Commanding Officer of the 6th (Service) Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1916. (NIGEL DEWAR GIBB) FAR LEFT: Captain Dewar Gibb, middle row on the right, pictured with other officers of the 6th (Service) Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers in 1916. Captain Bryce Ramsey in on his right. (NIGEL

DEWAR GIBB)

You stay behind an extra half-minute to pay some civility to a foreign officer who has unexpectedly presented himself; another man takes your place in walking up the communications trench. Crash! He is no more. You may walk to the right or the left of a particular tree, and it makes the difference whether you rise to command an Army Corps or are sent home crippled or paralysed for life.’  www.britainatwar.com

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NEWS FEATURE |

Randolph Churchill Follows In Winston’s Footsteps Winston again realised, as he had done in his youth, that he was unafraid of bullets and shells. When one morning the trenches were bombarded, he wrote that it did not cause him any sense of anxiety or apprehension, ‘nor does the approach of a shell quicken my pulse, or try my nerves or make me bob about as do so many’. This was a feature of Winston’s character which he found puzzling. He seemed not to fear danger as others did and was at a loss to explain this.

SMILING AT DANGER

ABOVE: On 3 February 1916, whilst Churchill was partaking of coffee and port wine with Jock McDavid, who was at the time the battalion’s Adjutant, the torch was hit by a shell splinter. Winston told his wife about this in a letter the following day, declaring that ‘the only serious loss is my milux lamp’. In reality Winston had a very narrow escape, as McDavid later revealed: ‘A piece of shrapnel almost split the battery holder in two … It was less than two inches from his right wrist. If it had been any nearer it certainly would have taken off his wrist.’ McDavid was not as fortunate as his battalion commander, as he was hit on a finger and had to return to the UK for treatment. As a result, Winston invited Dewar Gibb to take over McDavid’s role, and within days the new Adjutant resolved to write a memoir of his time with Winston Churchill at the front. (COURTESY OF THE NATIONAL TRUST, CHARTWELL HOUSE) Following his resignation from the Government after the disastrous Gallipoli career campaign, Winston Churchill’s political was stalled. Never one to give in, Churchill enemy. determined to continue fighting the Reserve, Already a Major in the Territorial to Lieutenant Churchill was offered promotion a battalion Colonel and, with it, command of 1916 he on the Western Front. In January (Service) took up his new post with the 6th to Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. Soon Captain become the battalion’s adjutant, with Dewar Gibb formed a close relationship few Churchill that lasted far beyond their the Western weeks together in the trenches of Front in 1916. Dewar Under the pseudonym Captain X, of his and Gibb subsequently wrote an account with amusing Churchill’s time together. Packed anecdotes and fascinating detail, Dewar to proved Churchill that Gibb’s story shows – be a caring and compassionate commander Far from though one who was utterly fearless. by the time universally popular on his arrival, by his men. Churchill departed he was adored own Supplemented by many of Churchill’s and letters, the observations of other soldiers, most the of one additional narrative, this is Churchill unusual and absorbing accounts of that has ever been told.

With Winston Churchill At the Front has been published by Frontline Books. For more information or to order a copy, please visit: www. frontline-books.com

age and until was one of the foremost men of his navy on earth. had commanded the most powerful of following at heart. As a youth he had dreamt and as great ancestor, the Duke of Marlborough, So when he ned the Army at the first opportunity. Winston became ure of the Dardanelles campaign, a soldier once more.

ever comnced that no more popular officer a soldier he was hard-working, persevering to have e is a man who is apparently always behind him none in his old regiment, but left admirers, l always be his loyal partisans and under the d of having served in the Great War man.’ one who is beyond question a great Major Andrew Dewar Gibb

Perhaps the way Winston looked at the world and faced its dangers is best revealed in a little talk he had with his officers before moving up to the front-line trenches: ‘Don’t be careless about yourselves – on the other hand not too careful. Keep a special pair of boots to sleep in and only get them muddy in a real emergency. Use alcohol in moderation but don’t have a great parade of bottles in your dugouts. Live well but do not flaunt it. Laugh a little, and teach your men to laugh – get good humour under fire – war is a game that is played with a smile. If you can’t smile, grin. If you can’t grin, keep out of the way ‘til you can.’

VISITING PLUGSTREET

During his four months in the trenches, the men quickly grew to love their new commander and his Adjutant, Major Andrew Dewar Gibb, subsequently wrote a memoir detailing their time together. Packed full with fascinating and amusing anecdotes and recollections, this memoir has been re-published for the first time since 1924. At the same time it has been expanded with the addition of further material, such as letters Winston wrote from the trenches to his wife, Clementine. With Winston Churchill At the Front was launched during an impressive ceremony in the Plugstreet 14-18 Experience, at Ploegsteert, on Saturday, 16 April 2016. Present at the event was Winston’s great-grandson, Randolph Churchill, Andrew Dewar Gibb’s son, Nigel, and many other dignitaries.

uk £19.99 • us $00.00

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Scan the QR code foR moRe titleS fRom Pen & SwoRd

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08/03/2016 10:42

ABOVE: The men of the 6th (Service) Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers marching down to Port Glasgow during their departure from the city en route to the Western Front. (NIGEL DEWAR GIBB)

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ABOVE: Two officers of the 6th (Service) Battalion, Royal Scots Fusiliers. Captain Dewar Gibb is on the left, whilst standing to his left is Captain Bryce Ramsey. (NIGEL DEWAR GIBB)

As part of the launch, both Randolph and Nigel were taken on a tour of the Plugstreet sector and shown many of the locations where their ancestors served and which feature in the new book. ‘It has been a wonderful and moving experience to be able to follow in the very footsteps of my great-grandfather when he served in the trenches as a humble battalion commander 100 years ago,’ said Randolph. ‘Thanks to this beautifully crafted book, based around the experiences of the man who acted as his adjutant, I have been able to relive those little-known days in the very words of Winston and a man who served alongside him. It is truly remarkable to stand in the exact spot where Winston had his headquarters at Plugstreet and to be here with the son of his adjutant. I can only thank Frontline Books for producing such an outstanding testament to my great-grandfather, enabling me to trace his movements during his time here in Belgium, as a soldier fighting on the front line.’

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Wing Commander Arthur Aldridge

WING COMMANDER Arthur Aldridge, two-time DFC recipient, was born on 23 August 1920 in Italy. He moved to Britain in 1929 and attended school in Ramsgate before going to Oxford. His studies were interrupted by war and he quickly volunteered. Completing his training, he joined 217 Sqn and flew Beaufort torpedo bombers from the unit’s Cornish base, St Eval. His first missions involved mining the Bay of Biscay, particularly the ports of Brest and Lorient, before he relocated to Manston to operate off the Dutch coastline. Aldridge took off with two other Beauforts to attack a convoy off the Hook of Holland on 9 December 1941. They carried four 500lb bombs each, the water being too shallow for torpedoes. They attacked the well-protected convoy scoring hits on the 8,800 ton support ship Madrid. One Beaufort

was downed and, during his run, Aldridge clipped a wing on a mast and barely limped home. Sinking Madrid and nursing his heavily damaged aircraft home earnt Aldridge his first DFC. The squadron moved to Thorney Island in February 1942, as intelligence suggested Scharnhorst, Gneisenau, and Prinz

Eugen might attempt to breach the Channel. They did, and were quite unharmed by their dash. The British were caught unawares and, battling horrendous weather, their response was calamitous. Attacks by Swordfish and MTBs were smashed. That said, Aldridge and five other Beauforts made an attack run and escaped - though their torpedoes missed. En route to Ceylon that June, 217 Sqn stopped on the besieged island of Malta. The situation had deteriorated and the formation was tasked with attacking Axis shipping. On 15 June intelligence suggested the Italian navy stood ready to ambush a vital convoy (Operation Vigorous) to Malta, and eight 217 Sqn Beauforts were ordered to attack. Seven took off and followed the planned route, the eighth, delayed, flown by Aldridge, made up time flying

the shortest route. Arriving before the squadron, Aldridge spotted the fleet and opted to attack alone. He released his torpedo 800 yards from the 10,500 ton heavy cruiser Trento. His torpedo hit home, immobilising the vessel, which was soon finished by the submarine HMS Umbra. A week later, Aldridge led part of a nine Beaufort flight tasked with hitting two merchant ships. He attacked the 7,700-ton Reichenfels, releasing his torpedo 750 yards out. Flying at a height of 80ft, his Beaufort was hit, and he and another crewmember wounded. Limping home, he saw a Beaufort under attack from a fighter and engaged, forcing it away. His brave acts, together with his crippling hit on Reichenfels which forced her abandonment, earned him the Bar to his DFC. One of the RAF’s most successful Beaufort pilots, Arthur Aldridge DFC & Bar, dies aged 95.

BULLETIN BOARD

ABOVE & RIGHT: Wing Commander Arthur Aldridge and a Beaufort of 217 Sqn.

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THE NAMES of 46 First World War servicemen are set to be added to a memorial in Horsforth, West Yorkshire. Local historians and volunteers from Horsforth Museum have worked on a 6-year project to uncover the names of those missing from the town memorial which already lists the names of more than 200 soldiers who lost their lives from the town. Researchers believe the rush to return to normal life after the conflict might have led to omissions. Amanda Sheehan, grand-niece to one of those missing from the memorial, said: “He gave his life for the freedom of this country and it’ll be thrilling that he’ll be remembered.” The renovated plaque is expected to be unveiled before Armistice Day 2016.

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CONCERNS HAVE arisen on the Channel Island of Alderney that a new electricity cable connecting the island with both the UK and France could potentially disturb war graves of Jewish prisoners from the Second World War. The link, known as ‘FAB’ (France, Alderney, Britain) would eventually carry exported renewable electricity to the mainland countries generated by a proposed tidal stream power plant in Alderney’s waters. Rabbi Abraham Ginsberg is working alongside historians and residents to ensure that their concerns are fully addressed before construction on the project begins in 2018. The company involved has stated that they understand the sensitive nature of the area and it's history and are undertaking comprehensive research of historical records and a range of site surveys.

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‘Bats in the Belfry’ at Greenwich

ON A behind-the-scenes visit to the old Royal Naval College, arranged by ‘Discover Greenwich’, Britain at War magazine discovered a variety of pieces of Second World War graffiti carved into the woodwork high up in one of the college’s famous twin domes. One of these fascinating examples of wartime graffiti had been left there by a pair of Royal Navy Midshipmen who had evidently been ordered to the top of the dome to act as lookouts during the V1 Flying Bomb (or Doddlebug) campaign in the summer of 1944. The inscription discovered by the Editor reads: ‘Mid (A) S Ellis Mid (A) J Grieve July 1944 Two bats in the belfry looking for doodlebugs’ Underneath, the pair have scribbled: ‘The Doodle’s here, the Doodle’s

there, the bloody Doodle’s everywhere.’ Alongside, Mid (A) A C Dooley has scratched: ‘A Doodling Dooley – June 1944’ Meanwhile, and either tonguein-cheek or perhaps in deadly earnest, two more personnel named Collet and Burslam have scratched their own inscription, declaring: ‘Preparing to die for their country.’ These fascinating reminders of wartime life are in an area of the buildings not normally accessed by members of the public and the ‘vandalism’ of 1944 has now become an intriguing and historic record in its own right. However, the question remains: who were Ellis, Grieve, Dooley, Collet and Burslem? And what was their story? The editorial team would be pleased to hear from anyone who may be able to fill in any elements of the so-far hidden story.

ABOVE: The graffiti discovered at Greenwich from the 1944 flying-bomb period. (ROBYN SAUNDERS)

Sopwith Pup – First Engine Runs AT THE workshops of Retrotec Ltd in East Sussex the engine of the newly reconstructed Sopwith Pup N6161 (G-ELRT) was run successfully for the first time on 19 April.

The aircraft, which is due for completion and its first-flight in 2016, has been constructed using traditional skills and high-quality precision engineering. The build is

PLACES TO VISIT

ABOVE: George Taylor swings the propeller to start the rotary Le Rhone engine on 19 April 2016 – a milestone moment in the construction of N6161.

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Tankfest The Tank Museum, Bovington Camp: 25-26 June Rare and unique vehicles such as Tiger 131 are given the chance to churn up some dust in this fantastic showcase of heavy metal in action. Book as early as you can as tickets have almost sold out! See The Tank Museum website for more details: tankmuseum.org/whats-on/events/bovevt53277

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The Night Before the Somme Imperial War Museum London: 30 June - 8pm until midnight Take this opportunity to see this iconic Battle of the Somme film, tour the galleries, and watch a range of artistic performances after-hours.

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based around the data plate for the original N6161. The original aircraft, a machine of 9 Squadron which had only been delivered on 22 January 1917, was captured by the Germans on 1 February 1917 and has a fascinating history which will be reflected in the colour scheme the Pup will eventually wear. Sopwith Pup N6161 was forceddown on the beach at Bredene by German pilot Karl Meyer in a Rumpler 681 floatplane and the Pup’s pilot, George Elliott, taken POW during a fighter escort to a Sopwith 1 ½ Strutter engaged on a photo reconnaissance sortie. The Pup was test-flown by the Germans and ultimately wore German

crosses painted over the British roundels. Among the German pilots who flew N6161 was Karl Meyer himself although he was later killed testing another aircraft. The main data plate from N6161, however, had been retained by Meyer and this ultimately found its way into the hands of the enthusiast who has commissioned the build of the Pup reconstruction. Initially, the Pup will wear British markings but it is later intended that the aircraft will have German crosses painted over the roundels in a faithful replication of N6161’s period in enemy hands ahead of the centenary of its capture in 2017.

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Dublin Western Front Association Branch At 14.30 on Saturday 18 June, Bill Fulton will present his lecture ‘The Royal Newfoundland Regiment’ to the Dublin Branch of the Western Front in Association in the Museum of Decorative Arts & History Lecture Theatre, Collins Barracks, Benburb Street, Dublin 7. All welcome - €3 donation appreciated.

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1940s Wartime Weekend Various locations inc: Loughborough Central and Quorn & Woodhouse. 3-5 June Great Central Railway will be hosting a variety of events such as flypasts, re-enactments, music and a memorial poppy drop at various themed locations at stations along their line. www.gcrailway.co.uk/wartime/displays-and-stations/

Advertorial

Hospital for Heroes

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00 years since the Battle of the Somme, we remember Avenue House as a VAD hospital during WWI and as the RAF Central Hospital from 1919. The treatment of casualties is being illustrated with personal accounts, including the amazing story of one highly decorated airmen of the Royal Flying Corps.

Avenue House in the centre of Finchley, North London, is the principle building of Stephens House & Gardens. Within the basement of the house is a temporary exhibition offering a fascinating insight into how the house gave service on the home front during and after the First World War. Throughout the summer of 2016 it will be possible to experience the sights, sounds and smells of this highly interesting period in the history of the home of Henry ‘Inky’ Stephens proprietor of the world renowned Stephens’ Ink Company. Stephens’ Ink was used to sign the Treaty of Versailles in 1919 bringing an official end to the hostilities of WWI. During WWI many private houses were used as hospitals to cope with the large number of casualties. Avenue House was requisitioned in 1916 and in 1919 it became the Central Hospital of the Royal Air Force which it remained until 1925. Temporary wartime hospitals were generally staffed by Voluntary Aid Detachment nurses.

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The exhibition has on display original VAD uniforms and other interesting ephemera relating to Bunty and Anne Bradbury who both served in the VAD during WWI, while volunteering Anne met a severely wounded Royal Flying Corps airman called Hervey Rhodes, whom she was to marry in 1925. Hervey is the grandfather of Adam Sutcliffe who has generously loaned the items; The exhibition will also feature the wartime experiences of Hervey who served in the Royal Flying Corps as an observer/gunner with No. 12 Squadron flying the RE 8. Rhodes and his pilot South African Lt Croye Pithey, claimed as a crew a total of five enemy aircraft destroyed and a five more claimed ‘out of control’. Rhodes won the Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar. Entry to the exhibition is free to enter and donations to the work of the Avenue House Estate Trust will be most welcome. The exhibition is at: Stephens House & Gardens Avenue House, 17 East End Road, Finchley London, N3 3QE Opening times: Tues, Weds, Thurs 14:00 - 16:30 Sat, Sun 12:00 - 16:30 Due to the authentic nature and location of this exhibition it is not possible to make it fully accessible to those with restricted mobility. Admission is free but donations are very welcome.

12/05/2016 11:22

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Siren Marks Nottingham Blitz

THE CHILLING sound of an air raid siren cut through the silence around Nottingham’s Galleries of Justice marking the 75th anniversary of the Nottingham Blitz. The efforts of firefighters formed a focus of the commemorations, in which twelve firefighters and rescue personnel, instrumental in the efforts to save Nottingham, were killed. Vintage fire engines were lined up outside the Galleries and prior to the remembrance service, the ear-piercing tones of the siren came from the rooftop. The Nottingham Blitz took place on 8-9 May 1941, involving 100 German bombers and their explosive payload set nearly 100 fires. At least 159 (over 200 if outer areas are included) were killed. Several churches and chapels were damaged or destroyed and also hit was the University

College, where 45 were killed, and the Co-op bakery, which killed 49 employees and Home Guardsmen. The largest and oldest church in Nottingham, St Mary’s, was hit by an incendiary. However, despite the intensity of the raid, the city was spared. Thanks to the innovative Chief Constable Athelstan Popkess, Nottingham was prepared with a well-established ARP network and a detailed response plan from local fire services. The heroism of both responders and the public prevented a number of fires from raging out of control. Radio counter-measures also diverted some of the raiders away from targets such as the Rolls Royce factory, and a nearby ‘Starfish’ site, a burning decoy, confused the Luftwaffe into

ABOVE: Damage to Nottingham’s University College. (PICTURE THE PAST)

dropping bombs harmlessly onto open farmland. With thanks to ‘Picture the Past’ for their assistance with this piece. Picture the Past is a not-for-profit

project that aims to make historic images from library and museum collections across Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire available at www. picturethepast.org.uk

HMS Illustrious Museum Plans Sink LONG-SERVING FORMER Royal Navy ‘Harrier Carrier’ HMS Illustrious is set to be scrapped and recycled after attempts to preserve her have failed. Decommissioned in 2014 after 32 years’ service, the aircraft-turned-helicopter carrier has been offered for sale by the Ministry of Defence’s Disposal Services Authority (DSA), the body responsible for disposing of surplus British military equipment. Her sister ships, Invincible and Ark Royal, have already been scrapped.

ABOVE: Illustrious on Loch Long prior to deploying to the Arctic, February 2012. (PEPE HOGAN/MOD)

14 www.britainatwar.com

Illustrious, nicknamed ‘Lusty’, was rushed to the Falklands in 1982 to take over from her sister HMS Invincible immediately after the conflict, before the Royal Air Force could deploy Phantom jets as part of a permanent defensive deployment. Sailing 900,000 miles in her career, she supported British operations during both Gulf Wars, Bosnia, Lebanon, and provided assistance to the people of the Philippines after Typhoon Hayain. While a credible offer to preserve her would be taken seriously, and

the notice of sale states: “The Authority” to commit to a sale as a result of this notice and this process may be discontinued at any time should a Government to Government sale or heritage option be forthcoming”, her fate seems certain after bids from cities such as Hull, Portsmouth, and Southampton fell through. A sale to the Gibraltarian government also ran aground earlier this year. The option to sell ‘Lusty’ to a foreign military, where she would return to service, also has problems.

The ship would need extensive work to refit her for service and to make her compatible to other navies, such an expense may torpedo any attempt to sell her on. The MoD told Britain at War: “We have done all we can for over two years to find a home for the former HMS Illustrious in the UK, and regrettably no suitable bidder has come forward. While it is a difficult decision, we have announced an open competition for the recycling of HMS Illustrious, while remaining open to heritage options.”

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

Guest Vehicles At Tankfest

PLACES TO VISIT

EVERY YEAR at Tankfest, The Tank Museum displays some of the finest armour from its collection at its Bovington Camp base in Dorset. What makes the day extra special is the guest armour which Tankfest visitors don’t usually have an opportunity to see on any ordinary day at the museum. Among the highlights for this year’s event on 25 – 26 June will be an M18 Hellcat, Stuart M5A1 and a Leopard 2 battle tank from Holland. The Stuart M5A1 was produced by the Americans during the Second World War and supplied to British and Commonwealth forces. They were fast, reliable and popular with their crews but were outclassed, in terms of firepower and protection, by the German tanks of 1944. This particular Stuart was believed to have been used by the British Army during the War as an artillery tractor. It was restored to its current condition in the early 1980’s and has since undertaken numerous

tours on the European continent. The M18 Hellcat Tank Destroyer appearing at this year’s Tankfest, was believed to have served in Italy and possibly Africa during the Second World War. Due to its light weight, the M18 was the fastest tank during the war able to reach speeds of up to 50 mph. The Leopard 2A4 appearing at Tankfest will come from the Historic Collection of the Royal Dutch Army, in cooperation with the National Military Museum of The Netherlands. The Leopard 2A4 was in service with the German and Dutch Army from the late 1980’s until 2000. Leopard 2’s, developed by the West German Army, have seen action in Kosovo and Afghanistan. The M4 Sherman tanks ‘Lucy Sue’ and ‘Old Phyllis’, who starred alongside the Museum’s ‘Fury’ tank in Brad Pitt’s recent War Movie of the same name, will also be in attendance as well as three Second World War half-tracks. The Tank Museum are also

offering the chance to ride in Tiger of Tankfest, giving even more people the chance to experience 131 at this year’s Tankfest event. this awe-inspiring machine firstTiger tank 131 is the only one of its kind in the world still in working hand. ‘Tiger 131 is our most famous exhibit,’ added David. ‘We order and the museum is giving are hoping that this auction and Tiger fans the chance to bid for raffle will attract a good deal of a seat in its most famous exhibit attention from Tiger enthusiasts in a special charity auction. The around the world, allowing us lucky winner will take their seat on 25 June at Tankfest, where over to raise much needed funds to support the Museum and ensure 19,000 visitors are expected to that the Tiger can be kept in gather to witness the best display working order for years to come.’ of historic armour in the world. For details of the ‘Tiger 131’ Museum spokesman David Willey raffle go to: tankmuseum.org/yearsaid; ‘Not only will they be able news/bovnews53605 to attend Tankfest, the winning bidder will actually be able to ride in Tiger 131 itself’. The Museum hopes that the auction, being held for ten days on eBay from Friday Britain at War Magazine is pleased 6 May, will raise several and proud to support Tankfest on thousand pounds for the 25-26 June 2016, the biggest display of historic moving armour in the world. Museum’s Endowment Tickets are expected to sell out in the Fund. The Museum next few weeks. Visitors hoping to will also be holding a attend the event are encouraged to buy separate raffle with first their tickets in advance, online, where prize as a ride in the they can also save 10% on the ticket Tiger 131, on the Sunday price. See The Tank Museum website for more details:- tankmuseum.org/ whats-on/events/bovevt53277

TICKETS AVAILABLE:

,

Sussex Branch Amanda-Jane Grimshaw will talk about Brighton’s Royal Pavilion as a WW1 military hospital on 10 June at 19:30. Venue: 1st Floor Lecture Room, Lewes Town Hall, East Sussex, BN7 2QS. Contact: [email protected] Tel: 07884 430787. All welcome.

Staffs (North) & Cheshire (South) Branch Dr Alan Whitehead’s talk ‘Medicine on the Somme’ will be at 19:00 on 13 June at Newcastle Methodist Church, Merrial Street, Newcastle under Lyme, ST5 6DP. Contact: [email protected] Tel: 01782 256754. All welcome.

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Wessex Branch A little-known aspect of WW1, ‘The Battle Police’, will be discussed by Jeremy Green in his talk on 11 June starting at 14:30. Venue: Pimperne Village Hall, Newfield Road, Pimperne, Dorset, DT11 8UZ. Contact: cambrai@eastcote. go-plus.net Tel: 01929 553060. Open to all.

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Kent (North West) Branch ‘Learning to fight a Modern War: British Infantry on the Somme’, a talk by Taff Gillingham, will start at 19:30 on 23 June at Royal British Legion (Petts Wood), Queensway, Orpington, Kent BR5 1DH. Contact: Tel: 0208 4026587. [email protected] Open to all.

Britain at War Magazine is pleased to support the Western Front Association in listing a monthly selection of WFA events around the country. For more information, go to: http://www.westernfrontassociation.com/

16 www.britainatwar.com

Wartime Events

IMAGE OF WAR

SALVAGING THE TIRPITZ Sanne Strait, Norway 31 December 1948

Two young boys play around the crater caused by one of the Tallboy bombs dropped by 617 Squadron Lancasters to sink the Tirpitz on 12 November 1944. The backdrop is of the upturned hull of Tirpitz which is undergoing salvage work on 31 December 1948 in the Sanne Strait near Håkøy Island not far from Tromsø. (1940 MEDIA LTD.)

18 www.britainatwar.com

www.britainatwar.com 19

FIELD POST

Our Letter of the Month is sponsored by Pen & Sword Books

'Britain at War' Magazine, PO Box 380, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 9JA | [email protected]

LETTER OF THE MONTH

Easter Rising Bravery Dear Sir - My great uncle, Richard Cooper, served and was decorated for the Easter Rising in April 1916 and I therefore read with great interest Rob Pritchard’s article, Battle for Dublin, Issue 109, April 2016. Uncle Richard enlisted in the 2/8th Notts & Derbys (The Sherwood Foresters) in 1914 as the Bandmaster and on the 26 April 1916 ‘B’ company were led by a Lt Daffen and 2/Lt Browne. They were assigned to cross Mount Street Bridge and capture Clanwilliam House, but having crossed the bridge they were both shot and killed at the north west corner, the accuracy of rebel fire practically wiping out ‘B’ Company with all its officers, with the Sergeant Major and all Sergeants killed or wounded. But ‘B’ Company, commanded by Bandmaster Cooper, held the line of the Canal from the Bridge to Grand Canal Street from where fire was coming. He strengthened the position by building a barricade

composed of pieces of turf taken from a nearby stack and for his actions was awarded the DCM. Of the 17 DCMs awarded, 10 went to the Notts & Derbys. In the London Gazette listing of 3 March 1917, his citation simply reads: ‘For conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty. On several occasions he collected small bodies of men without a leader and took them forward. Later he led an attack with great gallantry. He was wounded.’  His wound was in the leg, although in total the Battalion lost two officers and ten other ranks killed and six officers and 63 other ranks wounded. On the 18 February 1917, the King visited the Battalion on Salisbury Plain prior to them leaving for France, and it was here that medals for Dublin were pinned on recipients - including my Uncle Richard. His background was to say the least strange. He was born in 1890 in the USA and, as a 12-month-oldbaby, and despite them having six

children of their own, he was adopted by my Great Grandfather and mother who were living in the Rhonda, South Wales. Unlike many men at that time in that area he does not appear to have gone down the mines, or if he did it was only for a short time when he ventured out into the music world, as did his step brother, my Grandfather William. I never met him, but after research I found out he died in 1954 in London. For many years I and all of the family were told that, being a bandsman, he had also been a stretcher bearer and that was how he had won the DCM. My later research, of course, proved that to be wrong. Alan Cooper, Hailsham, East Sussex By email.

ABOVE: Bandmaster Richard Cooper.

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 20 www.britainatwar.com

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

FIELD POST

'Britain at War' Magazine, PO Box 380, Hastings, East Sussex, TN34 9JA | [email protected]

Lost Property? or Maybe Left ‘Luggage’? Dear Sir - On pages 54 and 55 of the April 2016 edition of Britain at War (Issue 108) the photograph in your fascinating ‘Image of War’ series is said to show the lost-property department at London’s Waterloo Station on 15 January 1942 and depicts a number of apparently ‘lost’ rifles. But is this really what is depicted here? Whilst the caption may be true, it was certainly the case that at many railway stations during The Second World War temporary left-luggage cloakrooms were set up where members of the armed services were able to leave items for a period of up to 24 hours. This included weapons, but apparently did not include the facility to leave greatcoats! Items could be left at these facilities free of charge, and I very strongly suspect that this is what is depicted in your photograph.

In a book called Britain’s Railways at War 1939-1945 by Alan Earnshaw (Atlantic Transport Publishers) there is a photograph taken at Fenchurch Street Railway Station on 22 October 1942 showing the inside of one of these leftluggage rooms as a young soldier hands over his rifle for safe keeping. I thought perhaps your readers may like to consider this alternative explanation of the photograph in question? Robin Bird, Oldbury, West Midlands.

Note: The Editorial Team had, in fact, puzzled over this photograph before we went to press and wondered why and how so many soldiers had

seemingly lost their rifles! It would certainly appear likely that Mr Bird’s alternative explanation could be correct. Editor.

The Battle For Dublin – Boland’s Mill & Bakery Dear Sir - My compliments on two great articles dealing with the 1916 Easter Rising in your April 2016 edition (Issue 108) which I was very pleased indeed to see covered. You are to be congratulated for running these pieces on important and yet often neglected aspects of The First World War. However, there are just two small points I

would like to make regarding Rob Pritchard’s ‘The Battle for Dublin' – just in case some other readers write in! There was actually nowhere called the South Dublin Bakery. I take it that Rob may have meant Boland’s Mill & Bakery. The South Dublin Union, now St. James’ Hospital, was also occupied and the scene of  some very severe fighting. Readers may also have been left with the

impression that Sheehy-Skeffington and the two civilians were shot by Capt. Bowen-Colthurst in Beggar’s Bush Barracks. In fact, they were shot in Portobello Barracks, now Cathal Brugha Barracks, in Rathmines. I hope this correction of detail will be helpful and of interest to your readers. James Scannell, Eire. By email.

ABOVE: Portobello Barracks square in Dublin, Ireland.

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THE DAY SUSSEX DIED Royal Sussex Regiment

The Day Su The scale of losses at the Battle of The Somme in July 1916 eclipsed anything that had gone before, and those experienced by the Royal Sussex Regiment on the very eve of that battle paled into comparative insignificance, although those losses had a profound impact on communities the length and breadth of their home county as Paul Reed records. 24 www.britainatwar.com

I

N 1914 Sussex was a largely rural county with few large towns, dominated by Chichester in the west, Brighton in the centre and Hastings to the east. Other towns like Eastbourne and Worthing had grown in popularity as seaside resorts during the Edwardian period, but most of Sussex was a mix of villages and hamlets where life had barely changed in centuries, the rural landscape dominated by the

rolling chalk uplands of the South Downs. The advent of war in August 1914 had already seen many Territorial units making camp at locations across the South Downs, but, with mobilisation, the Depot of the Royal Sussex Regiment at Chichester was swamped with men returning to the regular army from the Reserve. Of the two regular battalions, one was in India and the other at Woking already making preparations to

THE DAY SUSSEX DIED Royal Sussex Regiment

ussex Die depart overseas with the British Expeditionary Force. The three Territorial battalions were also mobilised but were under strength and unlikely to be used beyond home shores. The much lauded phrase of 1914 was that the war would be ‘over by Christmas’ but Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War, did not subscribe to this popular view. He knew that in any protracted conflict the regulars and territorials would

dwindle and need to be supplemented by volunteers. So, in August 1914, he called for 100,000 men to join ‘Kitchener’s Army’ as it was soon dubbed. In Sussex, a 7th or ‘Service’ Battalion of the Royal Sussex Regiment was raised at Chichester on 12 August 1914. Using old soldiers from the Depot, new recruits were encouraged to enlist. The regiment was in for a bit of a surprise: ‘... the scene for the following fortnight almost baffles description.

A depot filled beyond capacity with recruits and more arriving every few hours... all joyfully expecting to be immediately issued with a rifle and bayonet and sent to France.’ The 7th Battalion was quickly raised, an 8th following. The majority of men who joined were from the west or central parts of Sussex and unlike other parts of Britain, where local or ‘Pals’ battalions had been formed, there was nothing like this in Sussex representing the whole county. 

ABOVE: Bath Parade at Cooden Camp: still in civilian clothing, the volunteers of the 11th Battalion among the tents of the early camp at Cooden.

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THE DAY SUSSEX DIED Royal Sussex Regiment

ABOVE: Eastbourne men at Cooden Camp: taken soon after enlistment, this shows men from the Eastbourne company in typical civilian dress worn by those who joined in September 1914. RIGHT: Now in uniform, these men of the Southdowns battalions have been issued with 1914 Pattern Leather equipment which the battalions took to France in 1916.

26 www.britainatwar.com

THE DAY SUSSEX DIED Royal Sussex Regiment

One man who strove to change this was Lt Col Claude Lowther MP. Lowther was the MP for Westmoreland and Cumberland but lived in Herstmonceux Castle, East Sussex. Having fought with the Mounted Infantry during the Boer War, and recommended for a VC, his initial idea was to form a mounted unit of Sussex men, but cavalry was not required by the War Office who wanted infantry. So, in September 1914, he sent out a call across Sussex: Men of Sussex: You will not be separated! Together you will train! Together you will fight! Together you will die if needs be, But Together, pray God, you may return!

LOWTHER’S LAMBS

In the space of 56 hours, starting on 7 September, Lowther brought together 1,100 men to join what was initially the 9th Bn Royal Sussex Regiment, soon to become the 11th Bn, which he called the ‘South Down Battalion’. As the unit grew it became known as simply ‘The Southdowns’. The press quickly dubbed them ‘Lowther’s Lambs’ and interest in joining among the men of Sussex went beyond a

single battalion. Thus, in October, the 12th was raised, and in November the 13th Bn, with a Reserve Battalion in 1915. With so many men in uniform the problems of housing, clothing and equipping them, then feeding and paying them quickly became apparent. Essentially, Lowther had raised a private army and it would take a mammoth effort to prepare it for war. At first, men were billeted with the people of Bexhill and Hastings but this quickly became impossible with the numbers enlisting and a special camp was constructed at Cooden. Tents were first available, then huge wooden huts were built, nearby buildings requisitioned and even a swimming pool constructed. Like most volunteer units, the Southdowns’ had little to do initially except drill and parade. The three battalions were formalised into the 11th, 12th and 13th (South Down) Battalions Royal Sussex Regiment, keeping recruits together in specific companies; men from Eastbourne served together, lads from Worthing were not split up and even those from specific villages serving alongside each other. By the summer of 1915 Lowther needed to hand over the battalions to the

War Office. Very young and very old soldiers were discharged, new commanders appointed and the battalions moved out of their own county to Detling, Kent, followed by a move to Aldershot for more structured training and then to Witley Camp, near Guildford - a huge wooden hutted site like Cooden, but with more of a military feel to it. Marcus Banfield of the 13th Battalion preferred it to Kent: ‘Witley Camp is situated in a beautiful spot... The huts are of wood, are fairly water-tight and quite comfortable. For the first time we have a separate mess room, which is rather nice.’ It was clear that final preparations for active service were in hand. Training moved up another pace. While they had to endure another winter in uniform, but still not on active service, by early 1916 the last elements of ‘Kitchener’s Army’ were being sent to France for the big offensive later that year. Ron Short of 11th Bn remembered the news finally arriving one March morning: ‘Col Grisewood called the men on parade and told us we were going to France. Everyone cheered. This was it; we were finally at war!’ 

TOP LEFT: Recruits at Cooden still in civilian dress before the issue of uniforms. ABOVE LEFT: Gales struck the huts used by the Southdowns during the winter of 1914/15 causing much damage. TOP RIGHT: A much photographed tent at Cooden. This image is signed by the occupants and from this we know only two of these faces survived the war.

www.britainatwar.com 27

THE DAY SUSSEX DIED Royal Sussex Regiment

TOP & ABOVE: Christmas dinner at Cooden: the range of soldiers, old and new, are visible here as the NCO wears the medals of one the Victorian ‘small wars’. MIDDLE: Digging the Thames defences near Detling.

THE MOVE TO FRANCE

On a series of cold March mornings in 1916, troop ships carrying men of the South Downs battalions docked at Le Havre. Following disembarkation, they moved by train to Rouen and from here to the town of Estaires, Northern France. Only a few miles from the front line, it demonstrated the first visible signs of war to the men in the three battalions: buildings damaged by shell fire, and war graves in wayside cemeteries. Attached to regular army units in the 8th Division, who had been in this sector since November

28 www.britainatwar.com

1914, they took over trenches in the Fleurbaix sector. The ground was flat and boggy, the trenches a mixture of breastworks built up above ground and trench works dug into the damp soil. Here, they lost their first man on 12 March 1916; Pte David Thomas Dunk from Bexhill on Sea. An original South Down man, he was shot by sniper while serving with the 11th Bn. A move to the Givenchy sector saw the men’s first experience of going out into No Man’s Land as they worked on their front line positions patrolling the ground between the trenches close

to an area speckled with mine craters called ‘The Duck’s Bill’. In late May 1916 they moved to the Cuinchy sector, just south of the La Bassée Canal. Cuichy was dominated by a huge brick works and towers of undelivered bricks were piled up in around the village, becoming part of the local defences on both sides. Towering above the battlefield, the Brickstacks, as the flat piece of land between Bethune and La Bassee came to be known, saw numerous minor actions and by 1916, evenly distributed on both sides of the British and German trenches, the bricks

THE DAY SUSSEX DIED Royal Sussex Regiment

were being tunnelled into, dugouts established and sniper and machine gun posts set in the summit of each pile. Neither side could move in the open without being seen, or without loss. Consequently, fighting went underground and both sides tunnelled beneath the battlefield regularly blowing huge charges of explosive. The 11th Bn had a taste of this at 08.45 on 4 June when a mine exploded 25 yds from their front line. Pte Albert Turner of Rotherfield recalled: ‘... I shall never forget it. The trench trembled like jelly and then up she

went like one immense black cloud. Tons of earth and stones were thrown into the air and came down on top of us. We were all buried, and there were groans and cries all round. Dick Mitchell and myself were in the same bay and buried up to our armpits, but managed after a long struggle to get out. One poor little chap in the next bay had his neck broken by falling earth, and numbers of others had to be dug out.’ Several hours later, British tunnellers exploded their own charge under German lines north of the La Bassée

Canal. And so this strange form of warfare continued.

PREPARATIONS FOR RICHEBOURG

Into the second half of June 1916 there were many rumours of a large offensive about to take place on the Somme. Speculation arose as to whether the Southdowns would take part, until final orders arrived showing that they would play a role, but in one of several diversionary attacks to take place on the eve of the great offensive. 

TOP LEFT: As the summer of 1915 approached, most men of the Southdowns were in khaki Service Dres. ABOVE: A patriotic postcard which almost every man in the Southdowns purchased during the winter of 1914/15.

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THE DAY SUSSEX DIED Royal Sussex Regiment

But there was no change in plan. Instead, Grisewood was sacked and sent home and the 11th Bn relegated to a support role. Preparations began at once, the Southdowns taken to a training area near Bethune to prepare before a return to the trenches for the attack.

THE DAY SUSSEX DIED

ABOVE: An unknown soldier of the Southdowns battalions 1917, quite possibly a survivor of 30 June 1916. TOP MIDDLE: German issue Prisoner of War Card filled in by a Southdown soldier captured at Richebourg.

BELOW: Witley Camp: the Southdowns moved to here from Aldershot, into a large semipermanent hutted camp.

The idea was to confuse the Germans as to where the real battlefront was, the Southdowns assault to be on German positions at Richebourg L’Avoue, Pas de Calais, known by the British as ‘The Boar’s Head’. In fact, the 2nd and 1/5th (Cinque Ports) Bns, Royal Sussex Regiment, suffered heavy losses here in the Battle of Aubers Ridge on 9 May 1915. Exactly the same ground where the new attack would take place. Orders for the attack around the Boar’s Head caused surprise and concern among the Southdowns’ officers. It was now 23 June 1916 and the operation was planned for the 30th; less than a week to prepare and train and hardly time to make ready for such a large enterprise, especially since the men had never been in action before. Opposition was resigned, but one who would not keep quiet was Lt Col Harman Joseph Grisewood, CO of 11th Bn. His objections were simple; lack of planning, training and knowledge of the ground would result in a massacre. Southdowns veteran Bob Short remembered the rumour going round that Grisewood told the Brigadier: ‘I’m not sacrificing my battalion as gun-fodder’.

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At 02.50 on 30 June, the scheduled bombardment began and shells dropped on German positions around Boar’s Head. Zero Hour was at 03.05, the 13th Bn attacking on the left and 12th on the right, with ‘D’ Coy of the 11th in support; assault battalions to take the positions either side of Boar’s Head, straighten the line a little, and hopefully draw German attention away from the Somme. But as the men left their trenches the leading waves came under terrific machine-gun and rifle fire. Pte Jim Smith of the 13th Bn recalled, ‘…talk about Dante’s ‘Inferno’, it was never in it with our affair.’ In the darkness, men in the first waves were raked by fire but the Germans were firing blind and very soon the first Southdowns had reached the enemy front line. In most cases, the wire had been cut or damaged enough to allow access. Certainly, the 12th Bn got into the front line fairly quickly and it was here the real battle began. The Germans reacted, trying to evict the Southdowns who had made it into their trenches. Officer casualties were already very high, and it was left to men like Coy Sgt Major Nelson Victor Carter to step in. Carter was CSM to ‘A’ Coy, 12th Bn, but had arrived with the fourth wave of the attack. Armed only with a pistol he took on and silenced a German machine-gun team, leading the assault down some of the communication trenches. As the morning wore on it was clear that holding on indefinitely was going to be impossible. The objectives were out of reach.

No Man’s Land was now being swept with German shell fire and many wounded men were caught in the barrage and killed. The 11th Bn men suffered as they attempted to move across. One of the few officers left in the German trenches was Captain H T K Robinson who decided withdrawal was the only option. He made sure all the wounded were carried out, and one of those who helped was CSM Carter, a regular soldier from Hailsham. Robinson recalled: ‘I next saw him about an hour later. I had been wounded and was lying in our trench... [Carter] repeatedly went over the parapet - I saw him going over alone - and carried in our wounded men from No Man’s Land. He brought them in on his back, and he could not have done this had he not possessed exceptional physical strength as well as courage… it was going over for the sixth or seventh time that he was shot through the chest. I saw him fall just outside the trench; somebody told me that he got back just inside our trench, but I do not know for certain.’ One veteran told a similar story, stating that Carter had gone out once more to rescue a friend from Eastbourne who was calling out for help. Carrying him across his broad shoulders, Carter fell as a German sniper caught him on the parapet. His body was dragged in, and buried just behind the lines that evening. He was later awarded a posthumous VC. By now it was late morning and the German bombardment was easing off, but in the space of a few hours the men of the Southdowns battalions lay dead, dying or wounded in their hundreds. It was a disaster. As the battalion roll calls were made, the full horror became apparent. In the 12th, few remained to take the call. The CO had been wounded in the attack, and all his company commanders casualties, with six officers dead, seven wounded and three POW. Losses among other ranks were fearful; 136 men killed in action

THE DAY SUSSEX DIED Royal Sussex Regiment

or died of wounds. The 13th fared little better, Lt Col Draffen reporting ‘... our losses were heavy’. Contemporary sources showing nine officers killed and nine wounded. Among the men, 169 were killed or died of wounds. ‘D’ Company of the 11th also suffered badly. It’s commander, Captain Eric Cassels, was wounded, along with two fellow officers. Two Subalterns of ‘D’ Coy had died. Among them, 2nd Lt Francis Grisewood, Colonel Grisewood’s younger brother, in what was a bitter validation of the Colonel’s anxiety. Total casualties were

15 officers and 364 other ranks dead and 21 officers and 728 other ranks wounded; nearly 1,100 Southdowners.

SAD TESTIMONY

These figures belie the full human tragedy of Richebourg. In 1919, the HMSO published Soldiers Died in the Great War 1914-19, volume 40 covering the Royal Sussex Regiment. This source shows where each casualty was born and enlisted and an analysis of the effect of the casualties at Richebourg on the county of Sussex can be made. Of the other ranks killed in action on

30 June 1916, Soldiers Died shows that 70% were born in Sussex, the majority of the others residents of Sussex. It is also possible to ascertain that 77 towns, villages and parishes were affected by fatalities; the greatest number from Brighton and Eastbourne. The latter is not surprising, considering there were several companies of Eastbourne men in the 12th Bn. As the source does not confirm where men were living, the figure may be nearer 100 communities affected by the dead alone. With over 700 wounded, there were few places in Sussex unaffected. 

TOP RIGHT: In the huts at Cooden. It seemed the Southdowns would always be based in Sussex, but having been taken over by the War Office a move was imminent. ABOVE: Entrench at Cooden: civilian dress has been replaced by Kitchener’s Blues as these men of the 11th Battalion practice trench digging.

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



THE DAY SUSSEX DIED Royal Sussex Regiment

ABOVE: Officers of the 11th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment in France 1916. TOP RIGHT: Memorial to Lt-Col H.T.K. Robinson DSO who recommended Nelson Victor Carter for the Victoria Cross. BELOW: ‘A’ Company, 12th Battalion Royal Sussex Regiment (2nd Southdowns) at Witley 1916. Nelson Victor Carter VC is seated in the front row.

Among the dead were dozens of tragic stories. Corporal Percy Parsons of the 13th Battalion who had dodged the sick parade to ensure his part in the attack had died on the German wire. Lance Corporal Frederick Chandler of the 12th Battalion had written to his parents in Eastbourne claiming he would ‘... get one in for Fritz’ to avenge his brother Stewart who had died at sea in 1915. Chandler was killed in the early stages of the attack. Private Harry Mercer had enlisted in the 11th Battalion at Hastings aged only sixteen; he died after a year and a half in uniform. Private James Honeyset of the 13th Battalion was killed at Richebourg. Aged 36, he was a veteran of the Boer War; his brother killed alongside him. Elsewhere, five other pairs of brothers

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lay dead on the battlefield. The Blaker family of Worthing, the Burton family, the Bottings of Balcombe, the Bristows of Wiston and the Sumners of Crawley all had double bereavements. The Jackson family from Amberley joined them when, on 3 July, both sons died of wounds within hours of each other. Worse, the Pannell family from Worthing had three sons in the 12th Bn and one in the 13th; William and Charles died with the 12th, Alfred with the 13th and the fourth son POW. After the war, none of their graves could be found, their names listed together on the Loos Memorial; a sad testimony to one family’s supreme sacrifice. For Sussex, this was one day in a long war. For the Southdowns, nearly

two years of fighting lay ahead but the events of the next day, 1 July 1916, and terrible casualties on the Somme, dwarfed events at Richebourg to such an extent that by the 1980s it was a story few had heard of. Except, of course, the veterans. Despite all the later actions the Southdowns battalions took part in, Richebourg dominated in terms of human tragedy and the sheer horror of modern war. The veterans never forgot Richebourg, even though they might try. Many years later one of them, Albert Banfield, regularly wrote to me on 30 June each year ‘in memory of the comrades I lost’. He once concluded: ‘It was a terrible waste of all those fine men. In many ways it was the Day Sussex Died.’ 

the

Great War 1914-18:

understood

Locally raised ‘Pals’ battalions such as Lowther’s Lambs have become a symbol of the sacrifices made in the Great War. The men, from all levels of society, joined, trained and served together. Many never came home. Were they victims of a futile war or is now the time to reconsider the factors behind their voluntary enlistment?

Western Front F_P.indd 1

The Great War is a fascinating subject, with a complex blend of military, social, science, political and economic history. To learn more about the raising of Kitchener’s ‘New Army’ Battalions including and the social factors and operational histories of these units join us at The Western Front Association.

18/04/2016 10:19

TIT FOR TAT - COMBATING THE CONDOR Battling Over The Atlantic

Tit For Tat Combating The Condor

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TIT FOR TAT - COMBATING THE CONDOR Battling Over The Atlantic

The Focke Wulf Fw 200 Condor made itself known to the British during the invasion of Norway in April 1940 and with few aircraft available to the only combat unit, Kampfgeschwader 40 (KG 40), air combats were few and far between. Chris Goss tells the story of the early air war between the RAF and the Condor culminating in the first Condor air combat success on 17 July 1941.

O

N 25 May 1940, Oblt Hellmuth Schöpke and his crew from1./KG 40 became the first Condor crew to be shot down by enemy aircraft when Fg Off Herman Grant-Ede, flying a Gloster Gladiator of 263 Sqn, intercepted their Condor near Narvik in Norway. The bomber was forced to crash-land in the sea near Dyrøy Island where Schopke and one of his crew were captured. One other crewman was killed but two others evaded capture. Ede

had never seen a Condor before and thought his victim was a Ju 90 transport. He recorded two combats, the first stating: ‘Red Section took off at 0905 for a defensive patrol of HarstadSkaanland area. Anti-aircraft bursts showed position of enemy aircraft (e/a) which was pursued and jettisoned its bombs four miles south-east of Lemminvaer. Eight large bombs were observed to drop from outer engines. Speed 250 to 350 attack No 1 used at

1,000 yds two short bursts fired no hits. Enemy aircraft using tracer from single gun on top rear turret. E/a was low wing fourengined monoplane with dirty green camouflage and single rudder. E/a dived to sea level and escaped seawards due to superior speed." Even though he was credited with shooting this aircraft down, by his own admission, he only fired twice, didn't hit it, and it got away. The second combat 50 minutes later was more conclusive: 

ABOVE: Fw 200 C-3 of I./KG 40, BordeauxMérignac, 1941.

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TIT FOR TAT - COMBATING THE CONDOR Battling Over The Atlantic BELOW RIGHT: This is believed to be the first F8+EH to serve with 1/KG 40.  On 31 July 1940, Fw 200 C-2 Wk Nr 0023 coded F8+EH arrived on 1/ KG 40 which is believed to have been a replacement for this Fw 200 C-1 Wk Nr 0007 F8+EH which was shot down by Flak into the North Sea off Hartlepool  during a minelaying mission on the night of 20 July 1940. Hptm Roman Steszyn (St Kap), Fw Willi Meyer, Gefr Silverius  Zraunig and Gefr Josef Perl were all killed with Fw Herbert Külken and Fw Karl Nicolai taken prisoner. BELOW: On 28 May 1940, Fw 200 C-1 coded F8+AH of 1./KG 40 is believed to have forcelanded at Gardemoen in Norway; it is thought that this is that aircraft being towed away by two Panzer IIs. Note the newly adopted KG 40 ‘World in a Ring’ badge.

"...on return from previous combat, AA fire observed over Harstadt at about 1025. E/a seen going south five miles east of Hartsadt. Red 1 approached with back to sun and e/a engaged 10 miles south-east of Harstadt. Return tracer from single upper turret gun silenced after first burst. After several more bursts white smoke came from engines and trail of white smoke from port wing root. E/a's speed 250-300 dirty green camouflage with black cross on white ground either side of fuselage. Return fire was observed again just before ammunition ran out. E/a was going down towards sea when combat finished."

INCONCLUSIVE COMBATS

At the end of the Norwegian campaign, I./KG 40 lost one more Condor to RAF fighters. On 29 May 1940, Lt Otto Freytag was shot down by Plt Off Neville Banks of 46 Sqn, the incident resulting in the deaths of Freytag and his crew, although Banks would be killed later that same day. It was already clear, however, that the Condor had proved its worth but following the Norway Campaign they still remained few in number. By the start of January 1941, I./KG 40 only had 12 aircraft and, of those, a number were always unserviceable and combats between I/KG 40 and the RAF remained infrequent.

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THE FIRST RECORDED COASTAL

Command Condor engagement was by Sunderland N9027/DA-J of 210 Sqn, captained by Flt Lt Peter Parry-Jones, 130 miles off Bloody Foreland on 14 August 1940, the Condor scoring hits on the Sunderland's starboard wing and fuel tank, forcing it to return to base. Just over a month later, Sunderland P9603, coded H, of 10 Sqn RAAF, captained by Flt Lt Ivan Podger, reported an inconclusive combat off the Irish Coast at 08 11 on 25 September 1940. On 11 October another inconclusive combat, this time with an Avro Anson N9908, coded P, of 48 Sqn flown by Sgt Wood (the aircraft reported by the Germans as a Blenheim) credited with driving the Condor away from a convoy. On 3 December it was the turn of a Saro Lerwick, L7264 of 209 Sqn, flown by Fg Off Nelson, to have an inconclusive combat 260 miles north-west of Ireland. Surprisingly, even the German crew accurately recognised their unusual assailant as a Lerwick! The first reported air-to-air combat of 1941 occurred on 11 January between Sunderland L5805 of 201 Sqn, captained by Flt Lt Donald Lindsay, and a Condor north-west of Rockall, the Sunderland claiming to have damaged the Condor. Then, on 29 January 1941, a combat between a Fw 200 C-3 flown by Oblt Erich Adam

TIT FOR TAT - COMBATING THE CONDOR Battling Over The Atlantic LEFT: Fw 200 C-3 of I./KG 40, BordeauxMérignac, 1941. BELOW: Oblt Erich Adam (left) of 2./KG 40. 2nd from right is Hptm Fritz Fliegel.  The event is the award of the Iron Cross to him and his crew on returning to Mërignac having been shot down, forced-landing in Portugal on 8 February 1941.

of 2/KG 40 and Sunderland L2163 of 210 Sqn, flown by Fg Off Barry Aikman, resulted in the Sunderland's Rear Gunner, Sgt Reg Williamson, being wounded and Lt Alfred Winter, the Radio Operator on the Condor, mortally wounded in the head. The Sunderland used its machine guns, the Condor machine guns and 20 mm cannon although it was hit 15 times, damaging the starboard outer engine and navigational equipment. Its gunners reported hitting the Sunderland which was last seen with a dark stripe of smoke after it.

DIVED INTO SEA IN FLAMES

March 1941 saw the first combat between a mainland based Fighter Command squadron and a Condor when two Hurricanes of 3 Sqn damaged one off Sumburgh, Shetland Islands, on 2 March 1941. Plt Off Doug Robertson recorded: "...when flying over sea 30 miles east of Sumburgh, I sighted one Fw 200 flying only a few feet over the sea and at the same time heard Red 1 (Plt Off John Crabb) give the TallyHo. I followed Red 1 into the attack

flying astern and slightly above him. Immediately Red 1 broke from his first attack, I fired a three second burst from dead astern and observed tracer entering the fuselage of e/a. I broke away as Red 1 was delivering his starboard attack. I climbed to the right and delivered a diving beam attack from 200 feet above, firing a one second burst. I had to break this attack as Red 1 was firing from the opposite beam. I then delivered another astern attack firing a six second burst from approximately 200 yds range. Again tracer seen to enter e/a. During all these attacks, I experienced no return fire..." The Fw 200 C-3 in question forcelanded at Varhaug south of Stavanger; the only casualty being meteorologist Karl Schwalb who was injured. At last, April 1941 saw the first confirmed air-to-air kill on the 16th of the month when Flt Lt Bill Riley and WO Donaldson in a Beaufighter of 252 Sqn shot down the Fw 200 C-3 flown by Oblt Hermann Richter of 1./KG 40 off Blacksod Bay, the German crew all reported as missing. Riley's terse report reads as follows:  www.britainatwar.com 37

TIT FOR TAT - COMBATING THE CONDOR Battling Over The Atlantic

losing quantities of oil. LAC Griffin crawled out into the wing and found two large holes in the bottom of the oil tank. He returned to the hull, obtained tools, plugs, and a two-gallon tin of oil and a small preserved fruit tin. He returned to the wing, plugged up the holes, pierced the top of the tank and managed to keep a continuous supply of oil poured into the tank to counteract the loss through leakage. LAC Griffin made four journeys into the wing, each time with a two-gallon tin of oil. In all, he was two hours in

ABOVE: Beaufighter of 252 Sqn, 1941. RIGHT: Planning another mission. In the background is Hptm Edmund Daser of 1./ KG 40 and with the ruler is Hptm Fritz Fliegel, Gruppen Kommandeur of I./KG 40.  Both would be awarded the Knights Cross but Fliegel was killed in action on 18 July 1941.        BELOW: A convoy is stalked by a Condor.

“At the end of the patrol an enemy aircraft was sighted at 1420 hrs on a course of 210 degrees. Identified as a Condor. I started my attack from the beam quarter, finishing up astern. Fire was opened at 300 yards and continued in short bursts to point blank range when astern. The Condor replied with the midship gun. The Condor caught fire at the rear port wing root, both engines appearing unserviceable. The Condor swung to the left, straightened out, then dived into the sea in flames at an angle of 45 degrees. No survivors and very little wreckage were seen. The Condor was painted entirely green, with crosses silhouetted in white. No lower gondola observed.”

TENACITY OF PURPOSE

The last day of June 1941 saw another running combat between a Condor and Sunderland with Lt Rudolf Feldt of KG 40’s 3 Staffel the commander of the German aircraft and Fg Off Athol 'Attie' Wearne, 10 Sqn RAAF, Captain

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of Sunderland P9600. Yet again, both aircraft shot at each other, resulting in Ofw Werner Sieth being wounded with damage to the oil and fuel tanks of the Sunderland and resulteing in an exceptional act of bravery as the DFM citation for Leading Aircraftman Milton Griffin shows: For personal bravery, tenacity of purpose and devotion to duty whilst employed as a member of Sunderland aircraft crew. On 30 June, 1941, LAC Griffin was first fitter in Sunderland "E"/10 when the aircraft was attacked by a Focke Wulf 200 south-west of Ushant. The combat was indecisive. A later report was received that the enemy aircraft was making for Brest in order to land wounded. After the engagement, it was found that the port outer engine of the Sunderland was

the wing nursing the engine in intense heat, right alongside the engine and in a very cramped position. In view of the intensity of the enemy fire, it is considered that LAC Griffin's act contributed materially to the safe return of the aircraft to base. From now on, encounters between Condors and the RAF began to increase and 3 Staffel crews encountered Coastal Command at least nine times during June 1941, albeit that the RAF only logged two encounters. However, the first recorded combat of July 1941 resulted in both aircraft being damaged, one more so than the other.

TIT FOR TAT - COMBATING THE CONDOR Battling Over The Atlantic

THREE BURSTS OF TRACER

At 0205 on 17 July 1941, Fw 200 C-3, Wk Nr 0063, coded F8+CL, of 3./ KG 40 lifted off from Cognac, France, on a combined weather and armed reconnaissance over the Atlantic. At the controls were Oblt Rudolf Heindl, with his second pilot Uffz Edgar Siegmund. The rest of the crew were Oblt Hans Jordens (radio operator), Uffz Karl Reichl (radio operator), Fw Hans Singer (flight engineer), Fw Walter Pflugbeil (observer) and meteorologist Regierungs-Rat Von Hartel. Just after 0800, and flying just 50 feet above the sea, the Condor came across Convoy OB346 sailing northwards off the west of Ireland, the crew noting there were 36 freighters of up to 10,000 BRT, four destroyers and five patrol boats as well as an Armstrong Whitworth Whitley. This was Z6635,

YG-Q, of 502 Sqn crewed by Wg Cdr Don Shore (Captain), Fg Off Arthur Brock, Plt Off John Macleod, Sgt S Larmour and Sgt Basil Henson. The Whitley immediately turned towards the Condor to investigate: "At 0810 hrs while on anti-submarine escort an aircraft was sighted on the starboard bow flying across the head of Convoy OB346 on a northerly then westerly course at a height of approximately 50 feet. The aircraft was not identified, but was taken to be a Hudson on patrol. A shallow dive was made on the same course to intercept and identify. The letter of the day was sent and answered incorrectly. "Q/502 Sqn at once closed in and came up astern at 500 yds range. The aircraft was then identified as a Fw 200. Q/502 proceeded to close from astern and on the port side of e/a closing range at 1450 knots. E/a commenced to climb. At 250 to 300

yds, captain instructed 2nd Pilot on the front gun to open fire. The first three bursts of tracer appeared to pass the port side of the aircraft. At 200 to 300 yds, e/a commenced to fire with tracer from a position on top of the fuselage after of the main plane. Q/502 was unable to close the range and instructions were given to the 2nd pilot to continue firing. He then fired a series of short bursts and tracer appeared to enter the e/a amidships on the port side. E/a then opened fire from a second position on the port side of the fuselage while maintaining fire with his top gun. Four black objects were then seen approaching. These passed underneath and were followed by explosions, three in the cockpit (one between the Captain's legs) and one in the fuselage by the pyrotechnics. The explosions caused injury by shrapnel to the Captain's arm and a fire was started among the pyrotechnics. 

ABOVE: A Short Sunderland, many of which had running battles with Condors. BELOW: Believed to be the Whitley of 502 Sqn shot down on 17 July 1941.

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TIT FOR TAT - COMBATING THE CONDOR Battling Over The Atlantic RIGHT: As Allied aircraft improved, combats with Condors became very one sided. The last moments of Lt Ernst Rabolt and his crew from 7./ KG 40.

BELOW: A Focke-Wulf 200 Condor is abandoned by its crew, having been shot down by a 233 Squadron Hudson on 23 July 1941 whilst shadowing a convoy. Six airmen were picked up by one of the Royal Navy convoy escorts.

The navigator went aft and with the second Radio Operator successfully extinguished the fire. One enemy bullet entered the front turret through the Perspex close to the 2nd Pilot's head, the 2nd Pilot continued to fire bursts at e/a which appeared to enter e/a amidships. At this time the pilot was endeavouring to gain on e/a in order to bring rear guns to bear without having to turn away and so rapidly widen the range. E/a then entered cloud... "...at 0816 hrs the starboard engine of Q/502 began to show signs of overheating and the Captain decided to break off combat and turn back towards convoy. At 0820 hrs, the starboard engine then began to overheat rapidly, petrol pressure dropped and a slight fire started round the engine with the escape of glycol. With the leading escort vessel of the convoy four to five miles ahead, and at a height 1,000 feet, the starboard engine lost further power and Captain gave the order "Prepare to land in the sea!". After the starboard engine had stopped and height could not be maintained, bombs and pyrotechnics were jettisoned.

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Aircraft still lost height and SOS was signalled to leading vessel by Aldis lamp. The aircraft struck the water 800 to 1,000 yds from the leading escort vessel at 0825 hrs. Dinghies were launched and crew held on until rescued. Before sinking, the aircraft was found to have several bullet holes along the starboard side of the fuselage and there were six bullet holes in one of the dinghies..." Apart from Hans Jordens and Karl

Reichel, both killed on 5 December 1941, all members of both crews survived the war. As the Battle of the Atlantic escalated, so combats between Allied aircraft and the Condors of KG 40 increased, but the results invariably ended in the destruction of the Condor. However, although the Germans didn't claim it, by July 1941 the score was one-all; a score that would quickly increase in the Allies' favour. 

The Memorial Pegasus museum

is dedicated to the men of 6th British Airborne Division. The 1st liberators to arrive in Normandy on June 6th 1944. Archive films, a guided visit and many interesting and authentic objects enable the visitors to relive this momentous time. The original Pegasus Bridge is on display in the park of the museum along with a full size copy of a wartime Horsa glider.

Open everyday from February to Mid - December Only five minutes drive from the Brittany Ferries Terminal at Caen/Ouistreham

Tel: +33 (0) 231 781944 Fax: +33 (0) 231 781942 Memorial Pegasus Avenue du Major Howard 14860 RanvilleNormandy • France www.memorial-pegasus.org

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LIMPING HOME… Blitz Photo Album

Limping Home… PART TWO

During the Blitz of 1940 and 1941 a great many Luftwaffe bombers managed to return to their bases in France and Belgium with varying degrees of fighter or flak-damage, or else simply low or out of fuel. These were losses and casualties that were unseen and unknown to the British authorities, but very often the crashes and landing mishaps were recorded on film by Luftwaffe air and ground crew members. Chris Goss looks at a selection of images of German bombers that just about managed to make it back home.

A Do 17 Z of 5/KG 2 coded U5+AN which has taxied into a bomb crater at Cambrai-Sud on returning from an attack on London on the night of 27 October 1940. The crew were Uffz Ernst Fröhlich, Lt Karl Manowarda, Ofw Helmut Petraschke and Uffz Ernst Geselle. Fröhlich and Manowarda were both taken POW on 15 May 1944 and Geselle was killed on 25 June 1942.

Camouflage of this He 111 H would indicate it to be from III/KG 55 but positive identification as to whether it is a Dreux-based aircraft (I/KG 55), Chartres (II/KG 55) or Villacoublay (III/KG 55) has not been possible. Extensive damage to the starboard wing is in evidence, but this was most likely caused during the crash-landing.

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This must be one of the first photos of a German bomber which crashlanded during the Blitz. This Ju 88 A-1, Wk Nr 8105 coded 4D+KM of 4/KG 30 was badly damaged during the first major attack on London on 7 September 1940. Pilot Uffz Nikolaus Hästle managed to crashland at Hardinghem near Boulogne but died from his injuries shortly afterwards. He was the only crew casualty.

LIMPING HOME… Blitz Photo Album

Despite the huge hole in its wing, this He 111 P-2, Wk Nr 1620 of Stab/KG 27, flown by Fw Herbert Richter, was damaged by a night fighter, possibly from 307 Sqn, when attacking Liverpool and managed to crash-land at St Malo in France at 0120 hrs on 13 March 1941. Richter together with Fw Karl Gutsmann, Fw Wilhelm Dreyer and Fw Otto Dörnte were all wounded.

Another crash-landed Junkers 88 at Schiphol sometime during the Blitz. This aircraft is from 7/KG 30 (formerly 7/KG 4) whose bat and crescent moon emblem can be seen on the nose of this battered and mud-spattered aircraft.

Intercepted by Spitfires of 91 Sqn at 1525 hrs on 24 March 1941, this reconnaissance Ju 88 A-5 Wk Nr 495 of 3(F)/11 was crash-landed by its pilot, Ofw Gerhard Lilienthal, on the beach at Calais. Both Lilienthal and his radio operator, Ofw Johann Reinicken, were wounded.

During an attack on London at breakfast time on 24 Sep 40, II/KG 77 was intercepted by Spitfires of 92 Sqn. Ju 88 A-1 Wk Nr 7120 coded 3Z+KM of 4/ KG 77 landed back at Laon-Couvron with 30% combat damage and Ju 88 A-1 Wk Nr 7107 coded 3Z+FN landed at St Armand with 35% damage.

The German bomber unit KG55 suffered a very high casualty rate during the Blitz, although this damaged He 111 has managed to make it back to France and crash land with minimal damage and no injuries to the crew.

Not so lucky were the crew of this KG55 Heinkel 111 which has crashed into a wood near Paris and burned out. There were no survivors.

Although it is difficult to see any details on this blacked-out Do 17 Z of 9/KG 3 (5K and the last letter T are just visible) this bomber has crash-landed back in ‘friendly’ territory, presumably on its base at St Trond, Belgium, during the winter of 1940-41. The unit badge has also been blacked out.

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EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY Zeebrugge Raid 1918

BELOW RIGHT: Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig inspecting some of the men who took part in the raid on Zeebrugge. (HISTORIC

MILITARY PRESS)

BELOW: This unique photograph of men of the Royal Navy Landing Party was taken during training for the Zeebrugge Raid. (AUTHOR)

On 23 April 1918, the Royal Navy undertook a daring raid upon the German-held port of Zeebrugge. During training before the attack some of the raiders were photographed together. Paul Kendall has identified a number of those men and discovered what happened to them on that memorable St George's Day.

T

HERE WAS no immediate sign of an end to the war and Allied shipping was suffering at the hands of the U-boats and torpedo boats of the Germans’ Flanders Flotilla which was based at Bruges and reached the sea through the port of Zeebrugge. Vice-Admiral Roger Keyes therefore devised an audacious plan to sink ships in the entrance of the Bruges canal at Zeebrugge and so block the Flanders Flotilla’s route into the English Channel. As it was certain to be a highly dangerous mission, a call went out through the fleet for volunteers, but they were not told of the nature of the operation. Leading Seaman W. Childs recalled: ‘One of our officers sent for me … and he asked me if I would like to go with him on a secret “stunt”. Before asking me, he wished to know if I was married, engaged, or

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if there was anyone dependent on me. To these I replied in the negative (not having contemplated “suicide” just then). Of course, naturally I questioned him closely as to what kind of “stunt” we were to be involved in, but being sworn to secrecy he could give me no information at all, except that if we came back alive, we should be pretty lucky.’ Childs was among the sailors assigned to the party designated to assault the harbour Mole and was despatched to HMS Hindustan, a depot battleship, berthed in Chatham Dockyard, where they began their training.

During their training for the Zeebrugge Raid, some members of the Royal Navy Landing Party were photographed together. A number of the men have been identified. They

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY Zeebrugge Raid 1918

include Able Seaman William Botley, standing far left, and Leading Seaman Charles Guenigault, third from left. Further along the line is Able Seaman Charles Pooley (sixth from left) and Leading Seaman Leonard Ellams (ninth from left). Standing to Ellam’s right is Able Seaman Walter Taylor, with Able Seaman Hubert Hullier standing directly behind him. Able Seaman Edward Tolra stands fifth from right, whilst to his left is Leading Seaman Dalmorton Rudd from the Royal Australian Navy.

JUMPING INTO DANGER

The seaman assault party put together for the Zeebrugge Raid comprised of eight officers and 200 men. Most of these men sailed aboard the cruiser HMS Vindictive and came under a torrent of machine-gun and shellfire as they approached Zeebrugge’s mole. It was just after midnight on 23 April when Vindictive berthed alongside the Mole. Eighteen wooden brows, or gangplanks, were attached to her port side, but only two had survived ABOVE: LieutenantCommander Arthur Harrison VC, photographed years before the Zeebrugge Raid when he was serving as a Lieutenant. He earnt two caps for the England Rugby team prior to the war when he played against France and Ireland. He was aged 32 when he was killed during the attack on the Mole Battery at Zeebrugge. Able Seaman Eves made a brave attempt to bring his body back to Vindictive, but he was shot and remained on the Mole until he was captured. (AUTHOR)

the journey, the remainder being destroyed by hostile fire or crushed between the vessel and the Mole. Once these brows were lowered into position the raiding party, led by Lieutenant-Commander Arthur Harrison, braved the German fire to land upon the Mole. They were to cover the assault parties of Royal Marines as they also landed and then attack the Mole battery to ensure that they did not fire upon the blockships entering the harbour as they headed for their scuttling positions. Able Seaman Charles Pooley, who appears in the photograph, spent the first hour of his twenty-first 

ABOVE: Some of HMS Vindictive’s crew pictured with one of the flame-throwers fitted to the warship for the attack. (HISTORIC

MILITARY PRESS)

LEFT: Leading Seaman Dalmorton Rudd, awarded a Distinguished Service Medal for his role in the Raid. (CHERYL LANGFORD)

www.britainatwar.com 45

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY Zeebrugge Raid 1918

ABOVE: The attack on Zeebrugge underway on St George’s Day, 1918. In this stylised image, HMS Vindictive is depicted alongside the Mole. (HISTORIC

MILITARY PRESS)

birthday on the Mole. Carrying detonators, Pooley was one of the first sailors to jump onto the Mole before the gangways were lowered; as he landed he injured his ankle. Armed with a cutlass and revolver, carrying fuzes and explosives round his neck, he was involved in the demolition of cranes and ammunition dumps on the Mole: ‘It was safer on the Mole than on the ship. The hottest time we had was when the Germans shelled us with 15 or 17-inch guns as we got away from the Mole.’ Also captured by the photographer in his training, Able Seaman Walter Taylor recalled that ‘on the order being given to land, I with [Leading Seaman Charles] Guenigault, and men of No.1 Section of “A” Company, advanced

up the ramp when a shell burst in our vicinity; Guenigault fell and a second later I myself was knocked unconscious, and I am therefore, unable to state definitely whether Guenigault was killed or wounded.’ Stoker Petty Officer Thomas Haw was able to provide a little more information about the fate of Guenigault: ‘I spoke to this man as he started to go up the brow, I watched him get to the top and then throw his hands up and disappear. I then had to go to my station on the forward grappling iron, after which being stretcher party I went to have a look for him but could not find him, he must have fallen between the Mole and the ship.’

VC ACTION

The survivors of the Royal Navy landing party launched an attack upon the Mole Battery. These sailors accomplished the objective of creating a diversion to assist the other landing parties composed of Royal Marines, as Lieutenant-Commander Harrison’s

ABOVE: Another view of the battered HMS Vindictive after the Zeebrugge Raid. (US LIBRARY

OF CONGRESS)

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ABOVE: Able Seaman Charles Guenigault belonged to the Royal Naval team that assaulted the Mole. Eyewitnesses stated that Able Seaman Charles Guenigault was killed just as he ascended one of the remaining brows onto the Mole. Guenigault’s identity disc and ring were recovered from a body, causing him to be registered as missing. Nearly a year had passed after the Zeebrugge Raid before the authorities confirmed to Guenigault’s father that his son’s remains had in fact been buried in St. James’s Cemetery, Dover. (AUTHOR)

EVERY PICTURE TELLS A STORY Zeebrugge Raid 1918

ABOVE: A commemorative plaque to the Zeebrugge Raid which can be seen in the port itself. (COURTESY OF MARC RYCKAERT)

posthumous citation for the Victoria Cross recorded: ‘Immediately before coming alongside the Mole Lieut.Commander Harrison was struck on the head by a fragment of shell which broke his jaw and knocked him senseless. Recovering consciousness, he proceeded onto the Mole and took over command of his party, who were attacking the seaward end of the Mole. The silencing of the guns on the Mole head was of the first importance, and though in a position fully exposed to the enemy’s machinegun fire Lieut. Commander

of the expedition i.e. the blocking of the Zeebrugge-Bruges Canal.’ Able Seaman Walter Taylor recounted his experience on the Mole to his son years later. He remembered running towards a pillbox and coming under fire. The man running next to him was killed by a shot in the head. He then took cover behind a wall or some sand bags, which was covered with barbed wire. It was from this position that he opened fire upon the Germans defending the Mole garrison. After fifty minutes, Captain Alfred Carpenter of Vindictive made the decision to sound the recall, before his

opened his eyes saw someone covering his body with a blanket. The man who did this had presumed that Walter was dead. Being thirsty Walter pulled the cover from his face and called to the man who was kneeling over another wounded sailor. As he asked for water, the man tending to the other sailor was startled and surprised to see Walter alive. Walter only wanted water, but he was given some rum or brandy. With German shore batteries firing upon the Mole there was a sense of urgency for Carpenter to manoeuvre Vindictive away and head home. Able Seaman Pooley recalled: ‘When the Vindictive steered off from the Mole we did not wait to take in the grappling hooks, and pulled away with us a large piece of the Mole. I brought home a small piece and some pieces of shrapnel.’ Although the blockships were not scuttled in their intended positions, the Zeebrugge Raid was deemed as a partial success because the Flanders Flotilla was only able to pass through the canal at high tide for several weeks. 

ABOVE: For many years located near the bridge at the end of the De Smet-De Naeyer Avenue in Ostend, but since 2014 repositioned on the eastern jetty of Ostend Harbour, is this relic of the attack on Zeebrugge – the bows of HMS Vindictive. (COURTESY OF

MARC RYCKAERT)

BELOW LEFT: The deck of HMS Vindictive at Dover after the raid. Note the remnants of the brows that were used to land upon the Mole.

(AUTHOR)

THE ZEEBRUGGE RAID 1918: READERS’ OFFER Harrison gathered his men together and led them to the attack. He was killed at the head of his men, all of whom were either killed or wounded. Lieut.-Commander Harrison, though already severely wounded and undoubtedly in great pain, displayed indomitable resolution of the highest order in pressing his attack, knowing as he did that any delay in silencing the guns might jeopardise the main object

ship was blasted out of the water or was grounded due to the falling tide.

GOING HOME

When the recall was sounded, Walter Taylor remembered running towards the gangplanks and then nothing. He was wounded and lost consciousness. He became aware of regaining consciousness and feeling a warm sensation on the left side of his face. He

The bitter fighting of the Zeebrugge Raid is revealed by historian Paul Kendall in his new book The Zeebrugge Raid 1918, the latest title in Frontline Book’s ‘Voices From The Past’ series. The operation resulted in more than 500 British casualties from the 1,700 men who took part. Events that day also led to the awarding of eight Victoria Crosses. To receive a 25% discount plus free UK P&P, readers can telephone the order hotline on 01226 734222 quoting the special offer code 114343. For more information or to order online, using the same code, please visit: www.frontline-books.com

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Victory 1940 presents a pictorial chronology of the legendary Battle of Britain, when the might of the Luftwaffe was defeated for the first time, by Churchill’s ‘Few’. The history of the battle has been recounted many times, but this publication offers a new and exclusive approach, through John Dibbs’ razorsharp contemporary imagery of restored Battle of Britain warbirds, combined with previously unpublished archive material. Hardback, 228 pages.

Legendary Vulcan pilot Tony Blackman describes in layman’s terms and with statistical back-up what it was like to tame the first prototypes and to master the unusual characteristics necessitated by the Vulcan’s shape. Tony puts the developments, demonstrations at Farnborough, incidents and accidents in their political and historical context, but as his story is a highly personal one, we also get true sense of the way he felt whilst he was flying the aircraft. His words, descriptions and hitherto largely unpublished photographs will make people feel as he did the excitement of handling such an incredibly powerful monster always in the knowledge that he had to be in complete charge at all time as the monster could and did bite back. Softback, 224 pages.

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In 1919, two WWI flying aces climbed into the open cockpit of a converted Vicker’s Vimy, and embarked on the world’s first non-stop transatlantic flight. Sixteen gruelling hours later they touched down on the west coast of Ireland and entered the history books. This drama documentary which tells the story of unlikely pair of heroes. They formed a bond of friendship that was tested to its limits during their perilous journey. Region-free DVD, Running time 59 minutes

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The year 1916 will always be remembered for the Battle of the Somme. Overshadowing the fighting in the Middle East and East Africa, the Irish Easter uprising and even the greatest naval engagement in history at Jutland, it is the Somme that has come to epitomise everything that was both heroic and hopeless in the world’s first global conflict. 132 pages, special magazine.

Enter the cockpit of the iconic British Cold War Nuclear bomber, the Avro Vulcan. Legendary RAF pilot Flt Lt Martin Withers, who commanded Vulcan 607 on the first strike to take the Falklands in 1982, provides detailed commentary throughout this DVD, taking viewers through every aspect of the Vulcan’s cockpit and flight operations procedure. With on-board footage from airshows as well as air-to-air flights. Region-free DVD, Running time 70 minutes.

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Vietnam Special

Tony Johnson was shot down in his Wellington bomber on his third operational mission. Captured shortly after he was interrogated in Dulag Luft before being sent to Stalag Luft 1 on the Baltic where he stayed from April to September 1944. As the noose tightened on Germany, Tony and his fellow kriegies were kept on the move. Softback, 208 pages.

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Vietnam - the Air War over South East Asia provides a detailed overview of the aircraft, tactics and politics employed during the Vietnam War.Packed with rare and hitherto unseen photographs this publication traces the history of the war from the late-1940s to the US withdrawal in 1975. With details presented in an easy to follow chronological format this 100-page publication is a musthave for those interested in one of the most controversial air wars of all time. 110 page, special magazine.

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Shot Down in Flames On 12 August 1940, during the Battle of Britain, in an engagement with Dornier Do 17s, Geoffrey Page was shot down into the English Channel, suffering severe burns. This eloquently written and critically acclaimed autobiography tells of his wartime exploits in the air and on the ground. This is a fascinating account of the courage and bravery of ‘The Few’, and of Geoffrey’s later life and achievements, most particularly in the creation of The Battle of Britain memorial. Softback, 256 pages.

Code: B496

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O N LY £ 1 2 . 4 9 Spitfire 80 Special In this 80th anniversary year, the publishers of FlyPast magazine present a special 100-page tribute to Britain’s greatest fighter and possibly the best known combat aircraft in the world. Using extensive archive images, the best of aviation writers and researchers salute the Spitfire’s incredible heritage. 100 pages, Magazine Special.

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Eagle’s War book HMS Eagle was already old when war was declared in September 1939 and her new Swordfish biplanes were soon flying escort to vital Australian troop convoys in the wastes of the Indian Ocean. When the war moved to the Mediterranean, Eagle’s meagre air group bolstered by a few Sea Gladiator biplanes. Softback, 192 pages.

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During WWII, on one raid alone, Nuremburg March 1944, more Bomber Command airmen lost their lives than were lost in the Battle of Britain. These were ordinary men who became part of extraordinary events. Their story, vivdly recreated here, is special. The crew’s tour starts with Bomber Command’s Main Offensive in late 1943, continuing through D-Day and the invasion of Western Europe. One day though, they are shot down over Belgium, to become, in turn, prisoner, evader, casualty. 224 pages, Softback.

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RECONNAISSANCE REPORT |

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

Zemke’s Wolfpack

A Photographic Odyssey of the 56th Fighter Group During The Second World War Nigel Julian and Peter Randall

Publisher: Fighting High Publications www.fightinghigh.com ISBN: 978 0 9926207 8 3 Hardback: 208 pages RRP: £29.95

B

THIS HAS been a book which is long overdue but has certainly been more than well worth the wait. It will appeal to those with a thirst for detailed knowledge of the operations of the 8th Air Force from Britain during the Second World War. Authors Nigel Julian and Peter Randall have a well-established track record in the field of research and writing on the subject, but this work on the famous 56th Fighter Group is truly masterful and one that is an absolute must for the bookshelves of those who study the subject. Not only will this book fascinate and inform those who study this aspect of USAAF history, but it will also prove a valuable reference work for both modellers and re-enactors. Such is the quality of the almost 200 pages of images, some in colour, that it is hard to believe that many

50 www.britainatwar.com

of these photographs are almost 75 years old. Additionally, the quality of picture reproduction, and the production quality of the book, generally, is truly superb and lives up to the extremely high standards already set by Fighting High Publications. Quite apart from the highly visual impact of the book, however, this work is not just a plethora of pictures but it also traces the fascinating story of the 56th Fighter Group, a unit who retained the P-47 Thunderbolt throughout the war and certainly justified its famous nickname ‘Zemke’s Wolfpack’, honouring its original wartime leader, Hubert ‘Hub’ Zemke. It is true to say that Zemke instilled an aggressive attitude to fighting tactics and his lead was followed by the unit’s

subsequent wartime commanders, Dave Schilling and Lucien Dade. Unsurprisingly, the 56th became the 8th Air Force’s highest scoring group in terms of victories scored in the air and the authors have produced a really superb record of the unit’s history. Not only is the story told exceedingly well, but the choice and range of photographs used throughout the book can only be described as stunning. Every aspect of life on the unit is portrayed, and although the aircraft and pilots are the ‘stars’ it is pleasing that the part played by ground crews and by support staff – as well as aspects of R&R – are all well covered. Of all the books recently published on elements of 8th Air Force history this volume stands head and shoulders above most

of the others and will surely become a ‘classic’ publication which is also likely to end up as a collector’s item in years to come. Britain at War Magazine had absolutely no hesitation in awarding this work ‘Book of The Month’ almost as soon as we opened it in our office. It will certainly not disappoint, and is very highly recommended. One day, it would be nice to see comparable volumes, like this one, covering the histories of other notable 8th Air Force fighter and bomber units. But, for now, this book takes pride of place in our office’s bookshelf section dealing with 8th Air Force history. If we were to award such accolades, then our review would certainly come with a gold star! REVIEWED BY ANDY SAUNDERS.

Illustrations  References/Notes Appendices  Index 

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RECONNAISSANCE REPORT |

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

Fritz and The Truth Tommy About Across the Barbed Wire Rudolf Peter Doyle and Hess Robin Schäfer

JULY 2016 ISSUE

ON SALE FROM 30 JUNE 2016

James DouglasPublisher: The History Press Hamilton         

www.thehistorypress.co.uk Publisher: Frontline Books ISBN: 978-0-7509-5684-0 www.frontline-books.com Hardback: 288 pages ISBN:£20.00 978-1-47387-616-3 RRP: Hardback: 346 pages RRP: £19.99

B

ON THE evening of 10 May 1941, one of the most unusual flights in history began when the Deputy Führer, Rudolph Hess, set off from AugsburgHaunstetten in a speciallyadapted Messerschmitt Bf 110. His intended destination was Dungavel House, the summer residence of the Duke of Hamilton. The reasons for Hess’ flight have been the subject of numerous books proposing every imaginable theory. With this new, extended and updated edition of James Douglas-Hamilton’s original book, it is safe to say that the puzzle of Hess’ flight has finally been solved. Despite the many conspiracy theories, the plausible and the fantastic alike, the truth is far less complicated, but even more intriguing, than the contrived imaginings of many authors. To put the record straight, once and for all: there was no plot by British aristocrats, or members of the Royal Family, to welcome Hitler into Britain with open arms, and there was no secret arrangement to bring Hess to this country. So, having unequivocally dismissed such preposterous ideas, why then did Hess risk everything by flying to Britain, not knowing what kind of reception he would receive? To answer this, we must look firstly at what we know about Hess. As James Douglas-Hamilton points out, Hess was a staunch Nazi who, after the failed Putsch in Munich in 1923, had acted as Hitler’s secretary in Landsberg Prison, taking down much of the text of his hate-filled credo Mein Kampf. Hess was the man who read out over the telephone the names of those who were to be taken out to be shot dead in Munich during the ‘Night of the

52

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Long Knives’. It was Hess who had brought in all the anti-Semitic legislation in 1933, thereby discriminating against all those who were of Jewish origin in Germany. This was no man who sought to escape Nazi Germany or to bring peace to Europe – this was someone who believed that Germans were the master race and that Germany should dominate, if not the world, at least Europe. But Hess could see Germany heading for disaster. In Mein Kampf Hitler had stressed that, after the experience of the First World War, never again should Germany fight a war on two fronts; and as Hitler was set on attacking the Soviet Union, it was essential that peace should first be made with Britain. As all Hitler’s previous appeals to Britain had been ignored, Hess believed that it rested with him to try and persuade the authorities in Britain to help Germany in its fight against Bolshevism. Hess, though, miscalculated the mood of the British. Interesting as all this may be, the really fascinating element in this remarkable book is the link to the German Resistance, and, more specifically, Hess’ close links with one of the men executed following the July 1944 assassination attempt on Hitler. In a new and expanded edition of his book, drawing on wartime documents and reports (including many which were only declassified just in time to be included) James DouglasHamilton, the son of the Duke of Hamilton, has revealed the truth about Hess and, in doing so, produced one of the most absorbing books I have read for a long time. REVIEWED BY ROBERT MITCHELL

Illustrations  References/Notes Appendices  Index 



BATTLE OF THE SOMME 1916 – 2016 To mark the centenary of the Battle of The Somme in July 1916, military historians Rob Schäfer and Peter Doyle take a unique look at the battle through the eyes of those who were there and present a fascinating and evocative selection of images from the perspective of British and German combatants in our special supplement issue.

LOW LEVEL TO BREMEN

With orders to press on regardless, a force of 15 Blenheim bombers mounted one of the most daring low-level strikes of the Second World War against the heavily defended German port of Bremen 75 years ago. Steve Snelling tells the story of Operation Wreckage and a costly daylight air campaign which Churchill compared to the Charge of the Light Brigade.

SOMME SUCCESS

Continuing our focus on the Battle of the Somme, Imperial War Museum Historian Peter Hart takes a look at the role of the Royal Flying Corps which saw that organisation step forward into the limelight as a vital ingredient in the complex recipe that two years later would mature into the ‘All Arms Battle’ that won the war. The Battle of the Somme saw the RFC ‘come of age’. It also saw a notable combat between Manfred von Illustrations  References/Notes  Richthofen and Major Lanoe Hawker VC. Index Appendices

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

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12/05/2016 10:30

SKIMMING TO VICTORY Battling The Bolsheviks: 1919

G N I M SKIM Y R O T TO VIC

54 www.britainatwar.com

SKIMMING TO VICTORY Battling The Bolsheviks: 1919

They were the heroes of an ‘undeclared war’. Steve Snelling charts the extraordinary story of the torpedo boat raiders who took on the might of the Bolshevik Baltic fleet in a little-known action hailed as one of the most ‘daring and skilful’ operations ever mounted by the Royal Navy.

T

HE FORTS loomed large and menacing in the chill of a summer’s night as the coastal motor boats closed Kronstadt at a rate of 20 knots. One towering bastion was followed by a chain of smaller fortifications guarding all the approaches into Petrograd Bay. To 24-year-old Lieutenant Gordon Steele they seemed to “rise right out of the sea” and appeared “perilously close together”. From the spray-spattered bridge of CMB 88 he could only make out two other craft from the eight that were skimming their way ever nearer their objective. Only minutes earlier, he had been overcome by a feeling of sleepiness. But not now. The thought that at “any instant those high black objects might break into flashes of gunfire” was more than enough to keep him wide awake.

Given the noise of their engines, the “large sheets of flames” spitting from the boats’ exhausts and the “interminably long time” it took to pass the forts, they were “liable to be spotted any minute”. In those fearful moments, “the seconds seemed like hours”. As Steele wrote: “It appeared outside all possibility that they would not see us.” He took a firm grip on his twin Lewis gun and pointed it at the still silent fortress as they sped beneath its gunfestooned walls. “Not that it would be much use,” he thought, “but it gave one confidence.” It was 0050 on August 18, 1919, nine months after the Armistice, seven weeks since the Treaty of Versailles had sealed Germany’s defeat and now a force of fewer than 50 men was only minutes away from delivering a stunning blow to another enemy fleet in Britain’s undeclared war with Bolshevik Russia. 

MAIN PICTURE: Charge into Kronstadt: an artist’s vivid impression of Operation RK as Coastal Motor Boats took on the might of the Bolsheviks’ Baltic Fleet.

www.britainatwar.com 55

SKIMMING TO VICTORY Battling The Bolsheviks: 1919 RIGHT: An airborne shot of a 40ft CMB, thought to be Augustus Agar’s boat which was diverted from spy-running to help guide the Kronstadt raiders.

BELOW: Kronstadt raider: Bill Bremner, one of the most distinguished of all CMB commanders.

BELOW: High speed raider: an original Thornycroft Coastal Motor Boat is put through its paces.

‘THRILLED AND HONOURED’

Operation RK, a daring attempt to neutralise the Russian Revolutionary fleet in its home port, was the highlight of a little-known campaign waged by the Royal Navy in the Baltic against the embryonic Soviet Republic. The brainchild of RearAdmiral Walter Cowan, who named it after his friend Sir Roger Keyes of Zeebrugge raid fame, the ‘Scooter Raid’, as it was dubbed by the press, was inspired by a singular feat of daring performed by a 29-year-old junior officer. In a spectacular diversion from his clandestine role as a spy-runner for the British Secret Service, Lieutenant Gus Agar braved destroyers and mines on the night of June 16-17, 1919 to take CMB 4A into Kronstadt Bay and torpedo and sink the Bolshevik cruiser Oleg and his exploit, which earned him a Victoria Cross, was enough to convince Cowan that in the high-speed, shallow draught coastal motor boat he had the perfect weapon to penetrate Kronstadt’s immense defences and cripple the Revolutionary fleet in a single swoop. It was an extraordinary undertaking. In almost two years’ of war service, the craft that had been jointly conceived by officers from the Harwich Force and designers at Thornycroft, had never been tested in its primary role: skimming over minefields at highspeed to attack an enemy fleet in its own anchorage. With only two ‘special service’ CMBs available in the Baltic, Cowan was given a flotilla of eight 55-foot CMBs which was reduced to seven during a gruelling tow from their home base at Osea Island, Essex, to Biorko Sound in the Gulf of Finland.

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The raiding force, composed of torpedo boat veterans and youthful volunteers on their first mission, was an impressive one. It included Lieutenant Bill Bremner one of the three CMB ‘originals’, as well as two of the leading exponents of torpedo warfare - Lieutenant Archibald ‘Mossy’ Dayrell-Reed DSO and Bar and Lieutenant Russell ‘Beans’ McBean DSC. Among other notable figures in the party were force leader, Commander Claude Dobson DSO, who had overcome a spell of combat fatigue, and Gordon Steele, Dayrell-Reed’s second-in-command.

Both had given valiant service as submariners and submarine-hunters. To Dobson’s seven crews was added one more: Agar, whose courageous strike had inspired the raid, was “thrilled and honoured” to be invited to guide the flotilla into Kronstadt. Fearful that delay could compromise the operation, Cowan allowed just one week for vital engine overhauls with an extra day for rehearsals. Detailed planning was squeezed into rather less time, so that by mid-August, within a fortnight of the CMBs’ arrival, everything was ready.

SKIMMING TO VICTORY Battling The Bolsheviks: 1919

“We got into our ‘glad rags’ - tin-hats, Gieves’ waistcoats, sweaters - or just whatever we thought would give us the best chance in the adventure.”

‘PRESS ON’

Two days of rain and murk frustrated the CMB crews before 17 August dawned fine and clear. Cowan immediately ordered an attack the same night. Before embarking from Biorko the raiders were given a rousing send-off. “After dinner,” wrote Gordon Steele, “we got into our ‘glad rags’ - tin-hats, Gieves’ waistcoats, sweaters - or just whatever we thought would give us the best chance in the adventure.” Dobson’s plan, based on aerial photographs and a flight he and Bremner made over Kronstadt, had been closely worked out.

Lieutenant Laurence Napier’s CMB 24A having accounted for the guard ship Gavriel, Bremner in CMB 79A was then to lead the way into the harbour basin. As well as carrying net cutters and gun cotton charges to cut a path through any boom, he was to attack the submarine depot ship Pamiat Azova. Following him in, McBean’s CMB 31BD, with Dobson on board, was to go for the Andrei Pervozvanni and Dayrell-Reed’s CMB 88BD the Petropavlovsk. After a short pause, the next wave of attackers were to roar in, with Acting Lieutenant Commander Frank Brade’s CMB 62BD, Sub-

Lieutenant Frank Howard’s CMB 86BD and Sub-Lieutenant Edward Bodley’s CMB 72A adding to the destruction by finishing off the battleships assigned to McBean and Dayrell-Reed and attacking the cruiser Rurik and nearby dry dock. Meanwhile, Agar, in CMB 7A, having guided the boats past the forts, was to patrol off the harbour “waiting to attack any ship that came out”. The operation was co-ordinated with a simultaneous bombing raid by nine aircraft that was intended “to make the Bolsheviks look up into the air and divert their attention from the real attack”. It was a sound plan that soon went awry. When the CMBs left Biorko at 2200, they were already behind schedule as a result of engine trouble in some boats. Darkness and difficulties with navigation added to their problems and, with signalling between the boats “strictly forbidden” it was soon “impossible” for the raid leader “to see how many boats were keeping in company”. Reaching the rendezvous at Inonemi Point 10 minutes early, Dobson paused till midnight for more of his boats to catch up before pressing on with five CMBs in sight. Between there and Kronstadt the force became further separated. While two boats, including Napier’s CMB 24A, followed the 

ABOVE: Victim: The Bolshevik cruiser Oleg which was sunk by Agar off Kronstadt in June 1919. LEFT: Ship-busters: Lieutenant Augustus Agar, centre, and the crew of CMB 4, SubLieutenant John Hampsheir, left, and Chief Motor Mechanic Hugh Beeley, whose destruction of the cruiser Oleg triggered the raid on Kronstadt.

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SKIMMING TO VICTORY Battling The Bolsheviks: 1919

‘ENORMOUS EXPLOSION’

ABOVE: Among the officers who manned the first 12 boats at Queenborough were many future Kronstadt raiders, including Lieutenant Commander Archibald Dayrell-Reed, back row far right; Lieutenant Russell McBean, fifth left on second row from back; Lieutenant Bill Bremner, fifth left on second row from front; Acting Lieutenant Commander Frank Brade, third left on front row.

prescribed course, three boats, guided by a Finnish smuggler aboard Dobson’s craft, took a different route which put the main body ahead of those boats intended to arrive first. Passing the eerily silent forts with only McBean’s and Bremner’s boats for company, Steele in CMB 88BD suddenly felt “slightly less safe”, but at the same time “knew it was too late to slow down for the remainder”. Dobson knew it too. With his boats running late, and the air attack “in full swing”, he “determined to press on” with the boats he had “rather than wait on the off-chance of being able to pick up stragglers”. Reaching the Petrograd Channel, Bremner took over the lead. The final approach was difficult. “The background,” wrote Bremner, “was a dark mass of workshops and storehouses against

MIDDLE: Commander Claude Dobson aboard CMB 31BD on arrival at Biorko Sound. The letters ‘BD’ denoted the type of engines - twin Green 12 cylinder. BELOW: The Bolshevik battle-cruiser Andrei Pervozvanni.

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which the ships’ outlines could not be seen but masts could just be made out against the sky.” More perturbing was the discovery that Gavriel was still standing guard, although thankfully with no crew visible on deck. Resisting the temptation to attack, Bremner made a detour, passing unobserved through the open entrance before turning into the basin. Moments later, he “slipped” his torpedo into the Pamiat Azova and had the grim satisfaction of seeing her keel over “like a pack of cards”. Steele heard the “familiar bump and dull thud” of the explosion and saw “a high column of water” indicating Bremner’s success. It was followed by “dead silence”. There were still “no signs of life” as CMBs 31BD and 88BD entered the harbour. But the peace did not last.

As McBean’s boat raced into Kronstadt her machine-guns raked the docks. Not long after, according to Steele, Bremner’s gunners opened up on “all round her”. With his fingers poised on the trigger, Steele held fire as DayrellReed took CMB 88BD in. “Almost in an instant,” wrote Steele, “several clacks were heard, small splashes were seen on both sides of the boat [and] uncanny whistling sounds were heard that took one’s breath away.” Things happened fast after that. Instinctively ducking, Steele looked up to see splashes “everywhere in the harbour” before realising that his boat was on a collision course with a hospital ship. “I turned round and was just going to say to Reed ‘Where on earth are you going to?’ when I noticed that although still standing up and grasping the wheel, his head was resting on the ‘conning tower’ in a pool of blood.” Steele’s reaction was instant. Taking hold of his comatose skipper, he laid him down, took the wheel and put the helm hard over in an attempt to get back on course behind CMB 31A.

SKIMMING TO VICTORY Battling The Bolsheviks: 1919

“We were quite close to the battleship Andrei Pervozvanni now and I knew in a few seconds it would be too late,” he wrote. “I throttled the engines as far back as I could and was just going to fire a torpedo when ‘31’ turned right round to go out of the harbour.” As McBean cut across his bows, he waited and then, immediately after she passed, pulled the lever to fire his boat’s starboard torpedo. “It went off the stern, shaking the boat, but I had too much to do to watch the run,” he wrote. “I put the wheel ‘hard over’ and slewed her away from the battleship, pointing her nose somewhere at the

battle cruiser only a few yards (perhaps 100) off and gave the order to [Sub Lieutenant Norman] Morley - ‘Fire port torpedo’. “Almost as he did so, I heard two crashes, saw two columns of water rise alongside the battleship and knew that one of Dobson’s and my first torpedo had found their mark.” Turning the wheel as far as he could as his boat sped away, he narrowly missed two lighters moored alongside the hospital ship he’d nearly hit on the way in. “Whilst we were turning the most enormous explosion was heard,” he wrote, “the boat gave the most awful shake and the water was in an upheaval all round. I looked over my shoulder and saw that our second torpedo was the cause of all this and one could literally see the side of the battle cruiser crumble in the smoke of the explosion. A shower of fine yellow picric [an acid] was thrown from the bursting ‘warhead’ over the stern of the boat, stained and spattered it with a yellow colour, which we could not get out afterwards.” Having cleared the lighters, Steele ‘opened out’ the engines and the boat shot ahead before making a sharp turn to exit the harbour and catch up with McBean’s CMB 31A. Drawing away, he glanced back to see the harbour “lit up” by a “column of flame from one of the ships we had hit”.

‘SUCCESSFUL ENTERPRISE’

CMB 88BD’s contribution to Operation RK ended with her spraying the Gavriel and nearby buildings with machinegun fire. Her parting shot, however, merely marked the beginning of the Bolsheviks’ fight back. By the time Steele departed, his work done and his skipper fading fast, things were, as Bremner put it, “starting to hum”. The Gavriel had finally “woken up” and was “blazing away with her 4-inch gun and machine-guns. The tide then rapidly turned against the raiders. Howard’s boat, delayed by engine trouble, finally broke down before reaching the harbour and Bodley’s CMB 72A, another late arrival, had her torpedo firing gear shot away and was unable to launch his attack. Worse was to follow. As Brade’s CMB 62BD rushed into the harbour, he failed to notice CMB 79A in his path. Despite Bremner’s efforts to avert a collision, he struck her a fatal blow. With the two boats locked together, Bremner’s crew scrambled onto Brade’s less damaged boat which then proceeded to push the wreckage out of the harbour where things went from bad to worse. An attempt to scuttle CMB 79A merely succeeded in setting fire to petrol spewing from her ruptured tanks. Thus illuminated, they 

TOP LEFT: An aerial photograph of the main basin at Kronstadt taken on the afternoon of August 17, 1919 showing the priority targets. TOP RIGHT: Lieutenant Gordon Steele VC, right, with Lieutenant Percy Dean VC, one of the motor launch commanders at Zeebrugge, at the 1920 royal garden party for recipients of the Victoria Cross. ABOVE RIGHT: Claude Dobson, right, meets King George V and Queen Mary in May, 1917 during a visit to Barrow in Furness where he was preparing to take command of the submarine K10.

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SKIMMING TO VICTORY Battling The Bolsheviks: 1919 RIGHT: Three of the 55ft CMBs tied up alongside the Vindictive in Biorko Sound in October 1919. They include, on the left, Gordon Steele’s CMB 88BD displaying a mock-up VC on the wind screen. BELOW: Bill Bremner, centre, is welcomed home in February 1920 after almost six months in captivity. He later transferred to MI6. BOTTOM: The submarine depot ship Pamiat Azova in Kronstadt harbour following Bremner’s torpedo strike.

quickly came under shell fire from the Gavriel, and Bremner, who had already been wounded three times, was hit again. Between them, Brade and Bremner decided it was time to “settle accounts” with the guard ship. Sweeping round, Brade ran in to release his two torpedoes at a range of 200-300 yards. But they had hardly launched their second torpedo when they hit further trouble. As they turned away, Bremner observed “a fountain of water went up from the fly-wheel, the ignition shorted and the boat came to rest off the beam of the Gavriel”. They were not unduly worried. With other boats close by, they imagined they would soon be rescued. But it didn’t work out that way. The torpedoes ran under the Gavriel to detonate harmlessly, the guard ship responding with five direct hits on the stranded CMB. Only three men, including an 11-times wounded Bremner, survived to join Laurence Napier’s crew in captivity. They too had fallen victim to Gavriel, the very ship they had been tasked with destroying as a prelude to the main assault.

Operation RK was effectively over, though Agar, having spent an uneventful night patrolling off the harbour entrance, later returned to fire a torpedo into the military harbour before returning home. Of Dobson’s seven boats, four made it back to Biorko Sound, including Howard’s boat which was towed part of the way by Bodley’s CMB 72A, leaving 17 men, almost half the force, missing. It was a high price to pay, but the results far out-weighed the losses. At a cost of three torpedo boats the raiders had sunk two battle-cruisers and a submarine depot ship. And while the shallowness of the water meant the warships would eventually be salvaged, they no longer represented a threat to the British fleet or to the seaward flank of any land advance. A shower of honours followed. They were headed by two VCs to Dobson,

the raid leader, and Steele, whose coolness and bravery ensured that both priority targets were crippled. McBean, Bodley and Agar were among six men awarded the DSO. The same award went to Bremner on his release from captivity, though Agar for one regarded his display “the most outstanding feat of all”. For his part, Bremner regarded the results of the raid “disappointing” since the dry dock had not been put out of action and both battle-cruisers were subsequently docked and repaired. But others disagreed. Admiral Sir Charles Madden summed up the mood in a note to the Admiralty. “This successful enterprise will rank among the most daring and skilfully executed of the Naval Operations of the War,” he wrote, adding: “On no other occasions during hostilities has so small a force inflicted so much damage on the enemy.” 

“This successful enterprise will rank among the most daring and skilfully executed of the Naval Operations of the War,”

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y

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

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ART OF PERSUASION Joyce Dennys

dramatic artwork

launches the wrns MAIN PICTURE: The dramatic pose of the figure in WRNS uniform beckons potential volunteers to respond and sign up for the new branch of the Royal Navy. RIGHT: A group of Wrens are demobbed at the end of World War 1. BELOW: Henrietta’s War proved highly popular with readers of the fictitious letters between Henrietta and friend Robert, a serving soldier, during World War 2.

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ULTI-TALENTED Joyce Dennys, described as an artist, illustrator, actress and feminist writer, gave the fledgling Women’s Royal Naval Service an image to capture the imagination of potential volunteers. Born into a military family in 1893, Dennys moved to the small seaside town of Budleigh Salterton, East Devon, with her parents following her father’s retirement from the Indian Army in 1904, and began a life-long association with the resort. Undertaking formal Art School training in Exeter and London, Dennys returned to Budleigh Salterton as a nurse serving with the VAD following the outbreak of war in 1914. Not forgetting her art training, and using keen observation skills, Joyce captured in caricature form the characters and personalities who were both her colleagues and the people in her care, these images collated and published in 1916. In France, Belgium and on the high seas the armed forces began to suffer the consequences of a war of attrition and huge losses of personnel; thus, the Royal Navy looked to women to fill vital noncombatant roles within the service. As an accomplished artist, Dennys was commissioned to help launch this pioneering initiative and release men to pursue active engagement with the fleet for the remainder of the conflict.

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A true all-rounder, Joyce Dennys made an invaluable contribution to wartime recruitment and is this month’s poster artist in focus. Phil Jarman looks at how her artwork changed the contribution of women during The First World War.

Following a successful advertising campaign, 3,000 women launched the WRNS in November 1917, the numbers doubling before the end of hostilities in 1918. Many volunteers were employed in clerical and support roles, but saw a far more active role during the 1939-45 conflict. Women went on to work in operations centres, intelligence, communications, interpreting, as radar operators, plotters, mechanics, drivers and pilots for in-shore craft. The WRNS remained active until 1997 before being integrated within the Royal Navy where it is now common for women to be employed across the fleet in the same roles as their male colleagues. One of the posters created by Dennys to launch the concept of the WRNS possesses the style and attributes of the poster artists and illustrators of the Art Nouveau period. Almost theatrical in pose, the striking image of the woman in the distinctive WRNS uniform, appears to call out to potential volunteers from a point on a cliff top, with a lighthouse in

the background and the flora of the coastline in the foreground. The style is reminiscent of the theatre posters of the late Victorian and Edwardian era, typical of the work of Jules Cheret and Toulouse-Lautrec. The limited palette of three colours for the main image is supplemented by a dash of red to highlight the femininity of the Wren featured, adding a touch of glamour as she is wearing lipstick. Strong typography spells out the abbreviation of the WRNS and details of where to apply are at the foot of the design. Between the wars, Dennys recorded life in Budleigh Salterton in a series of paintings and prints capturing the residents and visitors to the coast, but her art took second place to her duties as a wife to the local General Practitioner. Following the outbreak of hostilities in 1939, Dennys began writing a fictitious journal containing letters to and from Henrietta to a friend Robert, a serving soldier, detailing the amusing aspects of wartime life in a small coastal town, these letters were published in Sketch and titled, ‘News from the Home Front’. Proving highly popular with avid readers, the complete collection of letters was later published in book form as Henrietta’s War. Dennys painted and exhibited into old age, with Budleigh Salterton, its inhabitants and surroundings featuring prominently. Her collection and works are still proudly exhibited in the Town’s Council Offices.

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THE MANIPUR MOHAWKS Fighting Over The Jungle

Although outclassed elsewhere, over the Arakan and Imphal the nimble Curtiss Mohawks of 155 Sqn helped hold the fort against superior Japanese forces as Andrew Thomas explains.

THE MANIPUR

MOHAWKS 64 www.britainatwar.com

THE MANIPUR MOHAWKS Fighting Over The Jungle

I

N 1941 the RAF had no fighters in India and in the absence of more potent types a total of 86 ex-French Hawk 75A-4s were delivered. By the time that 5 Sqn had received its first aircraft (designated the Mohawk IV by the RAF) on 29 December the Japanese were pushing into Burma and by March 1942 it was declared operational for the fighter defence of Calcutta. The day that 5 Sqn achieved the first confirmed Mohawk victory on 20

August, 155 Sqn, based at St Thomas Mount near Madras, received its first Mohawk delivery. It was commanded by Sqn Ldr Donald ‘Dimsie’ Stones: ‘My target date for the Squadron’s operational status receded due to maintenance problems, but I was able to report that we should be operational by the end of September, or early October.’ As Flight Commanders he had two experienced pilots: Flt Lts Denis ‘Wuntho’ Winton and Peter Rathie. 

ABOVE: Mohawk IV BS734/A named Joe Soap II by Fg Off Tim Meyer and carries beneath the wings racks of small bombs used for target marking, a role the manoeuvrable Mohawk excelled at.

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THE MANIPUR MOHAWKS Fighting Over The Jungle

ABOVE: One of the successful pilots on the Mohawk was No 155 Sqn’s CO, Sqn Ldr ‘Porky’ Jefferies who led the unit with distinction over Burma for most of 1943. (VIA AUTHOR)

TOP: No 155 Sqn’s badge showing their battle honour for Manipur – the Indian State in which Imphal sat. (A

MANDALAY DEBUT

At the beginning of October, 5 Sqn returned south to Agartala in Bengal, east of Dacca, for bomber escort and fighter patrols over the Arakan peninsula. Soon afterwards, 155 Sqn moved to Alipore, Calcutta, flying its first offensive sortie on 30 October. Stones noted: ‘I was to take our 13 serviceable Mohawks up to Imphal for a ground strafing attack on the Japanese airfield at Shwebo, Burma, about 200 miles south east of Imphal, on the banks of the great Irrawaddy river, just north of Mandalay.’ The

H WITTERIDGE)

RIGHT: Originally recruited into the Northumberland Fusiliers, Newcastleborn Fg Off Tony Dunford shot down an Oscar on 9 November 1943 and subsequently received a DFC. (VIA J LINN)

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following morning, they headed out across the misty jungle-clad mountains of Manipur province: ‘As we descended we could see a wide plain below us, beyond which lay our target. I caught sight of Shwebo township and took the squadron down to the airfield which I could see ahead. It was deserted apart from one twin-engine transport aircraft [a Kawasaki Ki 56 ‘Thalia’ developed from the Lockheed 14 Electra - author] on the parking area. Plt Off Meyer, wide to port of me, destroyed this with an accurate burst.’

The rest of the formation then attacked various airfield facilities causing significant damage. However, on return, Stones was ordered to Madras where an Army Provost Officer, with whom he had clashed, had started court martial proceedings against him. He was severely reprimanded, having to revert to Flt Lt for using bad language to the Provost Officer - or, as he later referred to him: ‘…that jumped-up policeman!’ Thus, 155 Sqn lost its able and experienced CO and Rathie took over temporary command until Sqn Ldr Charles G StD Jeffries (nicknamed ‘Porky’) arrived.

PART OF RUDDER SHOT AWAY

Soon afterwards, 155 joined 5 Sqn to form 169 Wing with Sqn Ldr Bill Pitt-Brown as Wing Leader. Ground attacks and escorts followed, and on 8 November Rathie led three other Mohawks in a strafe on boats up the Kaladan River. Further action came on the morning of the 10th when eight of 155’s Mohawks escorted Blenheims

THE MANIPUR MOHAWKS Fighting Over The Jungle

in a bombing attack on Akyab docks. Over the target they encountered over a dozen Ki 43 Oscars of the JAAFs elite 64th Sentai led by Capt Haruyasi Maruo - themselves on an escort mission. The Oscars destroyed a Blenheim, and two of the escorting Mohawks. These, flown by Fg Off John Dawson-Squibb (AX898) and Plt Off Roy McClumpha (BB929), who were both killed, fell victim to one of the JAAF’s rising stars, Lt Saburo Nakamura. Having been attacked by four Mohawks, he rapidly turned the tables on them. A third Mohawk had part of its rudder shot away and landed at Chittagong. On the credit side, Plt Off Tommy Buddle shot down an Oscar when it suddenly made a right hand elliptical turn and fired, but missed, giving Buddle a close-range shot, the fighter crashing into the sea. He had shot down the commander of the Sentai’s 1st Chutai, Capt Haruyasu Maruo whose inexperienced wingman, Sgt Kuribayashi, had lost sight of him leaving his tail exposed. A second Oscar was shared between Flt Lt Peter Rathie and the air gunner of one of

the Blenhiems to give 155 Sqn its first victories, whilst Plt Off Alan Haley, an Australian, was credited with another for his fourth victory. With 5 Sqn scoring on an afternoon mission, it had been a successful day for the Mohawk Wing. Interestingly, after this first major combat, the pilots had found their Mohawks could actually turn inside the highly manoeuvrable Oscars. 5 Sqn’s Sgt Stuart Garnett recalled: ‘The manoeuvrability was good and it was found that if the speed was kept up – 180 to 200 mph – the aircraft could turn well with the 01 Oscars. A high speed stall was practically unknown’. Two weeks later, 155 Sqn moved to Agartala alongside 5 Sqn, and on the 5th ‘A’ Flight of 155 detached to Chittagong and in mid-afternoon, scrambled to intercept a raid with fighter escort. The Mohawks were vectored in from ahead and below and were soon involved in a general melee. Peter Rathie wrote afterwards in his combat report: ‘The 01 had its belly towards and was going down. I dived after him. He

turned and saw me and went into a left hand turn. He turned three times to the left and I turned inside him giving him several squirts. He then climbed straight and I climbed gaining on him and gave another squirt. He did a sort of spin stall, so I waited above ‘till he came out of it. Then I dived on him and gave another squirt. I was able to keep inside all the time and continued firing. I closed to 30 yards and gave him the rest of my ammunition in one long burst.’ He had shot down Capt Masuzo Ohtani (64th Sentai) and damaged a second Oscar, as had Plt Off MacDonald. The Mohawks certainly did not have it their own way. Fg Off Tony Dunford: ‘At about 1600, 27 Sally bombers and 12 Oscar fighters turned up and we scrambled to intercept. Dogfights developed with the Oscars and I caught a packet from the Nip while shooting at another. Managed to make Chittagong and I went upside down breaking both wrists and getting knocked out.’ He was out of action for three months. 

ABOVE: Three Mohawk IVs of 155 Sqn near Agartala in August 1943 when they were seeing much action in the ground attack role. The nearest aircraft (BS798/B) was flown on 9 November by Fg Off Harry Bishop who witnessed the Mohawk’s final victory. In the lead is BT470/F that was shot down in error by a Hurricane in the same action. (H BISHOP)

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THE MANIPUR MOHAWKS Fighting Over The Jungle

ABOVE: 155 Sqn personnel at Imphal Main, late 1943.

(A H WITTERIDGE)

BELOW LEFT: CO Sqn Ldr ‘Dimsie’ Stones was a Malta veteran. (D WINTON VIA J S LINN)

BELOW RIGHT: Henry Nicholls claimed six victories over Malaya.

(NICHOLLS VIA C H THOMAS)

SHOT DOWN AND KILLED

The limited offensive down the Arakan peninsula had Maungdaw and Buithidaung as initial objectives and further sweeps continued. On the 11th Rathie led Sgt Henry Nichols with two others to escort four Hurricanes on a low level attack on Akyab. The offensive led to a marked increase in Japanese air activity whilst the RAF continued to mount attacks on various targets, including Akyab, right through Christmas as Plt Off Harry Bishop noted for the 28th: ‘Eight of our Mohawks, plus a dozen from No 5, took off from Chittagong at 1200 to act as escort to 12 Blenheims on a raid on Magwe. They bombed from 12,000 ft. There was light flak. I saw the bombs burst among the

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hangars and aircraft that were there. We met no enemy aircraft and we were back to base by 1500 hours.’ No 155 Sqn continued to be active into 1943 often flying in very poor weather and the year began badly. Over the Chindwin River on New Year’s Day Plt Off Alan Haley (in BK584), led by the CO,was shot down and killed by Japanese anti aircraft fire. Jeffries led an escort the next day, often detaching north to Imphal for missions. During the month, in spite of much RAF activity, there was little sign of the JAAF, whose modus operandi seemed to be a few days of considerable effort, withdrawing and then suddenly reappearing in strength. The only encounter by the RAF during the final week of January fell to Mohawks when on the 28th both Squadrons combined in a sweep to Akyab. A solitary Oscar dived on the formation from above. It was chased by ‘Porky’ Jeffries who gave

THE MANIPUR MOHAWKS Fighting Over The Jungle

it a burst of 400 rounds from 70 yards after which the Oscar continued down. Initially credited as damaged, Group HQ later upgraded it to destroyed. 5 Sqn’s Flt Lt Courtney-Clarke saw it: ‘I see Clipper Leader get one Jap, otherwise it was a ‘stooge’ trip.’ This was Jeffries’ only claim flying the Mohawk, and the following day he led 155 north in a permanent move in support of Wingate’s first Chindit expedition when they concentrated on ground attack work. ‘A’ Flight operated from Imphal whilst the rest of the Squadron was further west at Rajyeswurpur.

CHINDIT SUPPORT

At Imphal Peter Rathie’s ‘A’ Flight was briefed that they were to support the Chindits directly with ground attacks and interdicting Japanese supply lines. Such as on 4 February

when Fg Off Jack Brinnand and F/ Sgt Freeman on a roving patrol well beyond the Chindwin strafed a train near Kyaikthin leaving the locomotive spewing steam. For days later Harry Bishop (flying ‘B’) and Plt Off Tommy Buddle swept down the railway from Pintha to Shwebo shooting up rolling stock, engines and other transport, though Buddle narrowly escaped injury when anti aircraft fire destroyed the gunsight immediately in front of his face! At the end of the month the rest of the Squadron moved forward to Imphal to increase support to Wingate’s men, the support sorties continuing through March and into April. The Squadron’s first encounter with enemy aircraft in the north did not take place until 20 April. During the afternoon ten Mohawks scrambled against about 20 enemy aircraft

LEFT: During 155’s first encounter with the JAAF on 10 November 1942 Plt Off Tommy Buddle shot down the highly experienced 1st Chutai leader Capt Haruyasu Maruo. (YASUHO IZAWA)

approaching from the south. Only Red and Yellow sections made contact, the latter led by Fg Off MacGregor though his No 2, F/Sgt ‘Junior’ Freeman fell away with a smoking engine and was never seen again. The other Mohawks attacked the Ki 21 Sally bombers, one of which Rathie damaged and MacGregor made several attacks on another and saw smoke pour from its engines, claiming it as ‘probable’. The escorting Oscars then arrived and a series of vicious dogfights began with MacGregor making a diving attack on an Oscar which spun in from about 3,000 feet, claimed as ‘probable’. An Oscar attacked Rathie and the latter fired several bursts, the last from just 20 yards, hitting the engine and cockpit and it went down to be claimed as another ‘probable’. 

MIDDLE: Fg Off Harry Bishop snaps Fg Of Ray Weir in BJ545/C on a strafing mission over central Burma against Japanese positions during November 1943. On 2 November Sqn Ldr Jefferies had flown it on the final mission of his long tour with 155 Sqn. (H BISHOP)

BELOW: Mohawk IV AR674/H is flown over Agartala by Fg Off ‘Babe’ Hunter in the summer of 1943.

(A DUNFORD VIA J S LINN)

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THE MANIPUR MOHAWKS Fighting Over The Jungle TOP MIDDLE: Airframe fitter LAC ‘Spud’ Murphy sits on Mohawk IV AR656/X at Imphal in 1943. (J W JENNINGS)

BELOW RIGHT: On the right chatting to a visiting VIP is Sqn Ldr Denis Winton who was 155’s CO for its last few weeks with the Mohawk and who had previously been OC ‘B’ Flight. (D WINTON)

BELOW: No 155 Sqn’s main protagonists over Burma were the nimble Nakajima Ki 43 Oscars of ther JAAF elite 64th Sentai. (YASUHO IZAWA)

Eventually, both pilots managed to disengage and escape, though Rathie’s No 2, Sgt J Simpson was also missing and later found dead in the wreckage of his aircraft. It had been a day of mixed fortunes.

PLUME OF BLACK SMOKE

The following morning, 155 had another unequal battle against an incoming raid on Imphal during which Fg Off Tim Meyer, who hailed from Trinidad and is remembered as a superb pilot, attacked an Oscar at 25,000 ft. He got in a series of bursts and was gratified to see pieces fly off the wings and the engine issue a long plume of black smoke. By then on his own, and about 15 miles east of Imphal, he ran into four more Oscars at 15,000 ft and sharply evading their fire hit one all over the wings, reporting that it seemed to ‘stop dead in mid-air’. Before jockeying with the others, and making his escape, he claimed a ‘damaged.’ That was in the event No 155’s last combat with the JAAF for some months. Peter Rathie was then replaced by Flt Lt J V ‘Basher’ Marshall, described by one of his men as: ‘…. a most courteous and charming fellow – not the usual type of fighter chap.’ No 155 carried out its first bombing mission two days later, when carrying 20lb bombs underwing, the CO and Denis Winton attacking Japanese artillery at Sanmyo diving from 4,000 ft. At the end of the month a series of attacks managed to destroy a major bridge at Hpaungzeik. With the withdrawal of the Chindit force, at the end of June the Squadron returned to

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Agartala from where it continued to fly roving “Rhubarb’ patrols beyond the Chindwin and in escorts to Vengeance dive bombers. Its bombing and strafing attacks on the Japanese in central Burma, though, were often aborted due to the monsoon. Typical sorties were those of 29 July when Harry Bishop and ‘Babe’ Hunter bombed enemy bunkers on Kennedy Peak through 8/10 cloud whilst in 19 August Sqn Ldr Jeffries led five to the Mawlaik area in heavy cloud making dive attacks from 1500 feet with at least 14 direct hits on buildings. 155 returned north to Imphal in early September, the CO leading the first sortie on the 20th – a ‘Rhubarb’ to the landing grounds at Wuntho and Kawlin which were thoroughly worked over. Another sortie was on 24 September when

THE MANIPUR MOHAWKS Fighting Over The Jungle

Jefferies led eleven aircraft on an armed recce up the Chindwin River, a later report indicating that about 50 enemy troops had been killed. On 9 October Jeffries flew as a pathfinder for an attack by Hurricanes of 258 Sqn on Webula marking with small smoke bombs carried underneath the wings. Two days he led another strike on Japanese troops, repeated on the following day. This was the pattern for the next few weeks. However, on 9 November for the first time in months, No 155 came across the enemy in the air when early in the day two aircraft tried to intercept a high flying Ki 46 Dinah reconnaissance aircraft; a second scramble later on was also abortive. They were, however, the precursors to a raid and at lunchtime 16 Ki 21 Sally bombers with an escort of half a dozen Oscars attacked the Imphal strip. Four Mohawks scrambled and attempted to cut off the homeward bound bombers. Fg Off Tony Dunford, who was flying AR677/V with Fg Off Edwards as

No 2, scrambled and headed north to gain height. Joining with two more Mohawks they attempted to cut off the homeward bound bombers. Dunford’s combat report takes up the story: ‘Our sections then parted, mine climbing for height. Approximately 10 miles east of Palel I saw 4 radial engined aircraft and assumed them Mohawks. Approaching, I saw them break which indicated that they were enemy. I was about 4,000 feet above them, one turned to starboard and I identified it as an ‘01’. I called to my No 2 ‘Look out – 9 o’clock – going in now’. I dived onto the ‘01’ giving him a 3 second deflection burst from the quarter. He then dived vertically and I followed him. He soon pulled out and I straightened and came up astern of him at about 500 yards. I gave full throttle but was overtaking him only slowly. I opened fire with a 6 second burst at about 300 yards, observing the de Wilde ammunition striking all over his wings. He took no evasive action and I gave him another 7 to 9 seconds from a fine quarter following which he momentarily straightened up, then turned on his back and dived vertically with smoke streaming from his engine. I looked around and seeing no aircraft following me I followed him down but found my guns empty. Fg Off Bishop (BS798/B) confirms seeing the ‘01’ crash into the ground and explode after diving away from me. I therefore claim the destruction of that aircraft”’ The RAF Mohawk’s last victim was probably Cpl Kitaoka of the 50th Sentai, north east of Palel, where the wreck was later found. A ‘Sally’ shot down by anti-aircraft guns fell in the same

area. However, Bishop’s No 2, Sgt Bill Tester in BT470/F, was engaged by a Hurricane of 34 Sqn who mistook the radial-engined Mohawk for a Japanese and shot it down, fortunately without injury to the pilot. Four days later ‘Porky’ Jeffries handed command to Sqn Ldr Denis Winton, the squadron diary noting that it had been Jeffries’ fourth operational tour and that: ‘…his great experience, keenness and qualities of leadership did much to raise the efficiency of the Squadron to a high standard.’ Winton described his predecessor thus: ‘Short and stocky with fair hair, a round face with blue eyes and a permanent sort of crooked, twisted smile as though waiting to make a funny story. I am not surprised that he was never shot down. I don’t think the enemy had an opportunity to see him. He was a great character, a marvellous chap.’ No 155 Squadron continued on operations with its weary Mohawks until the beginning of January 1944 when they were replaced by the Spitfire VIII, but those who flew it remembered the little Curtiss with real affection. 

ABOVE: Ground crew sit on the tail of Mohawk IV BS736/P during engine runs at Chittagong in mod 1943. It has yellow wingtips as an identification feature. (VIA AUTHOR)

LEFT: OC A Flight of 155 Sqn was Flt Lt Peter Rathie who was the RAF most successful Mohawk pilot but was killed soon after leaving the unit. (D WINTON VIA J LINN)

BELOW: A native of Trinidad, Fg Off Tim Meyer had a successful tour with 155 Sqn. (T MEYER)

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HUNTERS TURNED SAVIOURS

The Twin Fates of HMS Truculent & Lancaster SW363

HUNTERS TURNED

SAVIOURS 72 www.britainatwar.com

HUNTERS TURNED SAVIOURS

The Twin Fates of HMS Truculent & Lancaster SW363

LEFT: A RAF Maritime Patrol Lancaster III of 236 OCU returns from excercise, 1948. (BRITAIN AT WAR ARCHIVE/KEY COLLECTION)

12 January 1950: Dozens perish in icy waters off Kent in their escape from a floundering submarine. In response, divers were to be flown to Manston by Lancaster SW363. John Ash describes what happened to HMS Truculent and the rescuers’ emergency transport.

I

T WAS a cold night off the Kent coast, the moon was out and visibility decent. For HMS Truculent it should have marked a Truculent, return to routine. The T-class boat had just completed trials after her refit and was sailing to Sheerness, Kent. In addition to her normal complement, 18 dock workers were on board.

ACTION STATIONS

The submarine, commissioned New Year’s Eve, 1942, had enjoyed a successful career. At 14.20 hours on 4 June 1943, on her fourth patrol in as many months, Truculent sighted a Type VIIC U-boat, U-308, off the Faroes. She fired six torpedoes and struck U-308 twice. The sinking was confirmed after Truculent sighted oil and debris. U-308, on her first patrol, sank with all hands.

In September, Truculent was involved in Operation Source – the raid on German warships in Norway. The attack involved six submarines and six X-craft and the aim was to disable or sink the battleships Tirpitz and Scharnhorst, both sited in Kåfjord, and the heavy cruiser Lützow, sitting in Langfjord. The X-craft were towed into the area by the conventional submarines, Truculent towed X6, tasked with hitting Tirpitz. Although two craft, X9 and X8 were lost en route, the daring raid took place on 22 September. X6 and X7 successfully attacked Tirpitz, but were spotted and abandoned. Tirpitz was disabled until April 1944. Truculent waited for the return of her parasite craft, but left after the rendezvous was missed. 

LEFT: T-Class submarine HMS Truclent, May 1946. (ROYAL NAVY SUBMARINE MUSEUM (RNSM))

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HUNTERS TURNED SAVIOURS

The Twin Fates of HMS Truculent & Lancaster SW363

TOP LEFT: The crew of Truculent display her 'kills' on a traditional Jolly Roger flag. The fourth man from the left in the front row is her wartime captain, Robert Alexander, who reached the rank of Lt Cdr. TOP RIGHT: Truculent alongside a depot ship in Holy Loch.

Truculent later transferred to the Pacific theatre and furthered her career. On 15 February 1944, she sighted a large merchant ship leaving Sumatra’s Sabang Harbour. Despite a considerable escort, Truculent attacked and scored a hit, but could not confirm a ‘kill’. That evening, she surfaced and used her 4-inch gun to sink a small coaster. Evading patrols and a substantial counterattack, she also sank the Japanese cargo ship Yasushima Maru on 29 March. Three months later, on 26 June, Truculent engaged and sank the ‘Hell Ship’ Harugiku Maru, which was sailing in a well-protected convoy. Originally the Dutch ship Van

Waerwijck, Harugiku Maru had been captured and pressed into service. She sailed without correct markings, open to legitimate attack, but carried 730 Prisoners of War. There was no way of knowing what she contained. At 11.14 hours two hits were recorded and she sank with the loss of approximately 180 people. Four small vessels were also claimed by Truculent, the small ship Mantai, and three junks, one, Tongkang Penang, sunk by ramming. Additionally, her mines damaged the minelayer Hatsutaka.

"it was a cold, dark night, the sky pricked with brightly shining stars." RIGHT: Truculent alongside the well-armed depot ship HMS Adamant, which supported the nine T-class boats of 4th Submarine Flotilla in the Far East from April 1943 to April 1945.

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A HEFTY VOLUME

On 12 January 1950 the submarine was traversing a narrow part of the Thames Estuary on the surface after her postrefit trials. At 19.00 hours she spotted what appeared to be the lights of a stationary ship. Altering course, despite every calm effort to avoid a collision, she instead hit the ship. The craft was the Swedish tanker SS Divina sailing between Purfleet and Ipswich, and they collided near Red Sand Sea Fort, off Herne Bay and Whitstable. As Divina was carrying an explosive cargo, she displayed an unusual array of lights, two red, one green, which confused Truculent’s crew and led to the perception the ship was further away than she was. Leading Seaman (and Arctic Convoy veteran) Fred Henley, 91, still living at the time of writing, reflected: “When the order came from the bridge to bring up the Manual of Seamanship, I was a bit surprised. I had never known anybody to want that particular textbook – a pretty hefty volume – before. Certainly not our captain, Lieutenant Charles Bowers, a highly experienced submarine officer who had been Mentioned in Dispatches. “It was a strange order but, after rummaging through the chart cabinet, I found a copy of the manual. It was just before 1900 hours on the Control Room clock when I left to climb the conning tower ladder to the bridge. I handed the manual to young SubLieutenant Frew – it was his first submarine posting – and watched as he leafed through the pages, opened it, and handed it to the navigation officer. “It was a cold, dark night, the sky pricked with brightly shining stars. I

HUNTERS TURNED SAVIOURS

The Twin Fates of HMS Truculent & Lancaster SW363

didn’t see the tanker ploughing inexorably towards us. I took a last, grateful gulp of fresh air and turned to go down the ladder from the conning tower. I had hardly grasped the rungs when I heard the Captain issue a stream of urgent orders. He didn’t raise his voice but I knew that, somehow, Truculent and all aboard were in deep trouble.”

SHOOK US FROM STEM TO STERN

Although Truculent was nearly double the weight of the 600 tonne tanker, Divina had a strengthened hull to deal with Arctic conditions and the submarine came off worse by far. She sustained a tear down her starboard side and sank immediately. Seventy-nine were on board, Bowers, Henley and three others were thrown clear by the impact. Clarence Downs, the only English crewman on Divina, said: “There was a crunching sound forward and the ship lost way with a jerk. When the crew emerged on deck they found that the ship’s floodlights had illuminated the surrounding water. There was then no sign of the submarine, and at first we who had been below did not know what the trouble was.”

He continued: “On instructions from the Captain we launched the ship’s lifeboat to help the men who were shouting in the water. Some of those picked up were wearing lifebelts. None was fully dressed, and all were affected by oil from the submarine which had entered their eyes.” The men were transferred to the frigate Cowdray the following morning. Divina’s Captain, Carl Hommerberg, said: “Both the pilot and myself were on the bridge when the collision came. It was dark but clear, and we saw the submarine ahead and gave warning of our approach. The crash came with an impact that shook us from stem to stern, and we saw the submarine sink immediately – in one minute.”

SHE WENT DOWN LIKE A STONE

Back on Truculent: “I had no means of knowing that the officers on the bridge had been puzzled by the arrangement of lights on an approaching ship and had sent for the seamanship manual to check them,” said Henley: “As events were to prove, the manual did not help either them or HMS Truculent – but it certainly saved my life.”

Fifteen survivors were picked up by Divina,, a nearby Dutch merchant ship, SS Almdijk (formerly the escort carrier HMS Hunter), and Southend lifeboat. Henley was in the water for an hour before being rescued: “There was a sickening lurch and, in seconds, we sank like a stone to the seabed 80 feet below. The conning tower was flooded and I knew that somehow I had to get clear. I managed to squirm round the periscope standards and, remembering my crash drill, breathed out as hard as I could. I found myself on the surface, swimming aimlessly in the darkness. The water was icy cold. I could hear men calling for help but couldn’t see them. I lost all sense of time. I was almost past caring when a boat from the Dutch freighter, Almdijk, picked me up. It turned out that I had been in the water for over an hour.” 

TOP LEFT: Truculent in the English Channel, 1949. (RNSM)

TOP RIGHT: The fate of HMS Truculent was big news, espeically locally. ABOVE: Truculent's captain at the time of the accident, Lieutenant Charles Bowers.

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HUNTERS TURNED SAVIOURS

The Twin Fates of HMS Truculent & Lancaster SW363

TOP LEFT: Some of the rescue vessels which came to the stricken submarines aid. TOP RIGHT: The damaged bow of the Divina. BELOW: The Ausdauer (l) and Energie (r) raise the sunken Truculent. (RNSM)

The sinking was headline news, with papers reporting: ‘She went down like a stone.’ The transmission of code word ‘Sub-smash’ meant all available warships were readied for deployment - some arrived within hours. Chathambased destroyer HMS Zest arrived the following day. Margate lifeboat stood ready to recover drifting bodies and a number of ships used ASDIC or similar to locate Truculent. Destroyer HMS Finisterre prepared her decompression chamber for survivors who may have surfaced too quickly. Doug Tustin, from Zest, reflected: “A merchant ship signalled they had observed two bodies floating on the surface so we sailed to that area, lowered the Whaler and retrieved the bodies. More senior members of the ship’s company were instructed to go out in the whaler to retrieve the bodies and eventually we found

‘She went down like a stone.’

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six… We only had two stretchers on the ship so we had to use safari camp beds to put the other bodies on. They were then covered with flags. The sun was shining in the afternoon and I can distinctly remember seeing their eyes, which were open, shining through the flags.”

TRIUMPH INTO CATASTROPHE

Hopes of finding more survivors were high, radio messages suggested Truculent sank with hatches closed and she carried enough escape apparatus for the whole crew. As a naval spokesperson said to newspapers: “There is no reason to be pessimistic about any men who may be in the vessel alive.” The sound of propellers above the submarine signalled to those inside that help had arrived. Their escape went ahead, perfectly. Truculent’s Truculent

crew and contractors got out, proving the effectiveness of the Royal Navy’s safety equipment and training. It is here the gallantry of Lieutenant Frederick Joseph Hindes and Chief Engine Room Artificer Frances Walter Hine must be mentioned. According to their Albert Medal announcement, Hindes had taken command of the survivors and organised their escape, maintaining a calm atmosphere and ensuring those on board were either in the engine room or after end of the vessel. Taking charge of those in the after end, it was when preparing the escape hatch he was sucked out and never seen again. All others from there escaped clear. In the engine room, Hine took command after the men had been divided and performed faultlessly, paying particular attention to weaker swimmers and new men. Survivors

HUNTERS TURNED SAVIOURS

The Twin Fates of HMS Truculent & Lancaster SW363 told of the masterful manner Hine conducted the escape, and how he maintained high spirits. The announcement ended with: “The conduct of all who went down in the submarine was in full accord with the great traditions of the Royal Navy but the splendid example set by Lieutenant Hindes and Chief ERA Hine was beyond praise.” The escape was successful, but unbeknownst to the crew the ship they heard had passed, completely unaware of the incident. As the crew surfaced, one by one, they’d see no lights and no waiting boats. They had escaped too soon. Triumph turned to catastrophe as the ebbing tide swept many out into the North Sea, icy waters, exposure, and exhaustion took their toll. Hine was the last man to leave the submarine and the last man to see him was a civilian contractor, who said he escaped

successfully but drifted away. The eagerness to escape can be explained by a similar incident in 1939, with HMS Thetis, where the crew waited until they were too weak.

FIVE MORE MEN

Still thinking men were trapped on Truculent, divers were urgently requested, beginning another chain of events leading to the loss of five RAF personnel the same night. The distress call went far and wide, all units able to assist, even RAF and Army, were contacted. Although the Royal Navy’s dedicated submarine salvage vessel, HMS Reclaim, was undergoing refit, her dive teams set out from Portsmouth by road. More divers were assembled at RAF Leuchars, Scotland. The need for them pressing, urgent air transport to Kent was sought. Ironically, it was an anti-submarine training squadron that was tasked

with the flight to RAF Manston – a reversal for the sub hunters. Lancaster SW363, of 236 OCU, RAF Kinloss, was ordered to move the divers. The unit usually trained crews for Lancaster GR.3 and Neptune MR.1 maritime patrol/anti-submarine aircraft, they would be the first to introduce crews to the Shackleton. Lancaster SW363 had recently returned from a training mission, but was quickly turned around and given a fresh, experienced crew. As Squadron Leader Alan Craig recalled: “I was advised by Wing Commander Holgate that the Station Commander had excused my further attendance at the table since the OCU had been ordered to stand-by a crew to fly on a special sortie. He asked me to choose a crew for a possible flight in a Lancaster from Kinloss to Manston via Leuchars. I left the Dining Room and warned the officer in charge 

BELOW LEFT: Ausdauer (l) and Energie (r) prepare to salvage the Truculent. BELOW RIGHT: A view of HMS Implacable from a 236 OCU Lancaster monitoring the carrier while on fleet exercise, 1948. (BRITAIN AT WAR ARCHIVE/

KEY COLLECTION)

BOTTOM: Another 236 OCU Lancaster, this time carrying a life boat. (BRITAIN AT WAR ARCHIVE/KEY COLLECTION)

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HUNTERS TURNED SAVIOURS

The Twin Fates of HMS Truculent & Lancaster SW363

ABOVE: Readying for anything, 236 OCU Lancasters are being prepared for a major exercise. BELOW: SW363's wrecked props. (TNA)

night flying to prepare an aircraft, and started to consider the selection of a crew.” He continued: “We were then informed that the purpose of the flight was to ferry 12 naval divers and their equipment from Leuchars to Manston for rescue work in connection with HMS Truculent. There were many volunteers to form the crew of the aircraft.”

Five men were selected, Flt Lt Leslie Harris DFC, Flt Lt Richard Williams, Flt Lt Alfred Stephens, Sig 1 Ernest Geal, and Nav 2 John Cunningham. Craig reflected: “The crew members had been selected because of their ability, experience and fitness to carry out this particular flight. About this time information was received from Wg Cdr Holgate that the aircraft should take off as soon as possible. The crew dispersed to prepare themselves for the flight.” Meanwhile, the aircraft was being prepared. However, a problem was uncovered, as ACI Leslie Kennard recalled: “At approximately 22.10 hrs I was working in the Hangar, and was called to the duty NCO’s office and instructed by Sgt Middleton to refuel Lancaster SW363.” He continued: “After the tanks were topped up I replaced and locked the filler caps, but on replacing the filler cap of No.1 Port Tank, I found that the locking nut was unserviceable, I reported this to Sgt Middleton who examined the lock nut. Sgt

"There were many volunteers to form the crew of the aircraft.”

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Middleton gave me a plain nut to screw on top of the lock nut, which I did. I do not remember replacing the split pin, Sgt Middleton supervised the fitting of the plain nut.” After this repair, Lancaster SW363 set off on her long journey. Unfortunately, she suffered a mid-air engine fire, crashing immediately after take-off. She had attempted a ‘wheels-up’ landing 2 miles south-west of Kinloss. Alan Craig busily attended to arrangements for the special flight, but went to see the aircraft off, witnessing the crash: “As I opened the

HUNTERS TURNED SAVIOURS

The Twin Fates of HMS Truculent & Lancaster SW363

off-duty officers had been drinking. However, the Board of Inquiry examined mess returns and concluded alcohol played no part in the accident.

SALVAGE

door of my car, I heard the aircraft engines ‘rev up’, and reflected as to whether the engines were being test run, or being opened up for takeoff. In a few seconds it was clear to me that the aircraft was taking off… I saw the aircraft clear the first trees by about 50ft, and climb steadily away in a perfectly normal manner. I last observed the aircraft at between three and four hundred feet before getting into my car. “As I was turning away from the Mess, my attention was attracted by a steady and increasing ‘bright yellow orange glow’ in the sky. I stopped the car, opened the door, and got out, whilst continuing to watch the glow. Almost immediately I heard the engines ‘whine’ as though going into ‘fine pitch’ under increased power. Within two or three seconds there was a cut in noise as if the engines had been throttled fully back, or cut. Approximately three seconds afterwards I saw an explosion of flame and smoke, and heard after a few seconds the noise of the crash.”

One crew member survived the initial crash, but died in the ambulance minutes after his rescue, as recollected by Flt Lt William Howie: ‘At about 23.50 I saw a light in the sky after hearing an aircraft take off. I phoned air traffic control and had permission to take the crash ambulance to the crash… We were summoned first to Flt Lt Harris who was severely injured but still alive, we carried him into the ambulance where he died three minutes later, from multiple injuries and shock. We then saw Flt Lt Stevens and Williams who were lying forward and slightly to the right of the main wreckage, both were dead. Flt Lt Stevens died from multiple injuries, and Flt Lt Williams from severe burns. Signaller I Geal who was lying slightly to the rear of the main wreckage was also dead from multiple injuries. Navigator II Cunningham was found next morning under the port mainplane. I consider that he was killed at the time of the crash, and died from a fractured skull and other injuries.” The crew had been selected for their competence and had the experience to complete their task, although, when the call came through all of the then

After the tragic accident in Scotland and the dark realisation many of the crew had drowned after escaping from Truculent, divers reached the submarine and found her completely flooded. Three months later, the body of Edward Austin, a senior dockyard worker, came ashore in Herne Bay and the submarine was raised and towed to Cheyne Spit, Isle of Sheppey, and deliberately beached. Work began to analyse her and salvage teams made a grim discovery, recovering ten bodies. It is thought they died during the collision. Truculent was then taken to dry dock in Sheerness for further examination. The disaster, one of the worst that befell the Royal Navy in the post-war era, led to the introduction of the ‘Truculent Light’ to ensure British submarines remained visible in such circumstances. An investigation cleared the Divina of much of the blame, but Truculent’s Captain, Lieutenant Bowers, was reprimanded for negligently hazarding his command. The investigation looking into the crash of SW363 was unable to establish any definite cause, although both the urgent repair of the filler cap and the fact the previous crew reported a strong smell of fumes all points to a leak. 

TOP: Workers at Cheyne Spit analyse the Truculent. LEFT: The few - some of the men who survived the incident. MIDDLE: A scar on the landscape, SW363's crash site. (TNA) MIDDLE BOTTOM: A handwritten letter from Lt. Charles Bowers offering the sympathies of him and his wife to the mother of a man lost in the accident. OPPOSITE BOTTOM: The wreckage of Lancaster SW363. (TNA)

Fred Henley quotes kindly provided by David Henley and Mike Kemble. We thank the Royal Navy Submarine Museum for their cooperation. For details about visiting The National Museum of the Royal Navy’s Gosport-based Royal Navy Submarine Museum see www.nmrn.org.uk Tickets can also include entry to a further 10 attractions at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard including HMS Victory, Mary Rose, HMS Warrior 1860, a Harbour Tour, HMS M.33, the Eastney-based Royal Marines Museum and Gosport’s Explosion Museum of Naval Firepower. See www.historicdockyard.co.uk

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FIRST WORLD WAR DIARY THE SEEDS of revolt are sown in the Middle East as the Arabs stir and begin their struggle against Ottoman rule while on the Western Front the ground begins to shake. German troops win some hard fought gains at Verdun, the Canadians endure a ferocious battle, and a terrifying bombardment for a future operation begins. Lord Kitchener, immortalised by the legendary posters of his face, dies – was it assassination?

WESTERN FRONT

1 June: To the delight of Canadian troops and the displeasure of Sir Sam Hughes, Canada’s Minister of Militia and Defence, British weapons begin to replace Canadian and American guns in the Canadian Corps. 2 June: The Battle of Mont Sorrel begins. Canadian troops, led by Lieutenant-General Byng, are attacked by elements of three German divisions led by Crown Prince Rupprecht. His aim was to divert British troops from the Somme, where a build-up had been observed, and seize the high ground. Training in mock Canadian trenches, German troops launched their attack after a heavy bombardment and mine detonations. The barrage killed Major-General Mercer and wounded Brigadier-General Seymour Williams, 90% of a Canadian forward reconnaissance btn became casualties. German troops advanced 1,200 yards but failed to press the initiative and move on nearby Ypres. Byng’s 3 June counterattack regained 1000 yards and plugged a gap in the line.

WESTERN FRONT

2 June: The assault on Fort Vaux begins. The fort, which endured 8,000 shells a day since the Battle of Verdun began, was attacked by thousands of German troops. The 600 defenders, led by Major Raynal, fought gallantly despite having no artillery, repulsing numerous assaults and only surrendering after running out of water even ordering the bombing of their fort. In five days, the Germans sustained 2,700 casualties advancing 65 metres through the tunnels - the defenders lost 20 men. As a mark of respect, Crown Prince Wilhelm presented Major Raynal with a sword. 13 June: After several days of bombardment and after Haig allocated reinforcements to Byng, an attack by Major-General Arthur Currie retakes most of the ground around Mont Sorrel within an hour. Later, two German attacks are repulsed. The battle of Mont Sorrel claims nearly 6,000 German casualties and 8,000 Allied. 22 June: Verdun: 116,000 Diphosgene gas shells (able to defeat masks of the time) are fired at French artillery positions around Verdun, temporarily silencing them and causing 1,600 casualties. The following day a German attack created a salient, overrunning Forts Thiaumont and Froidterre as well as the villages of Fleury and Chapelle Sainte-Fine, the latter becoming the furthest point of German advance in the Battle of Verdun, some 3 miles from the city. Chapelle Sainte-Fine and Fort Thiaumont were soon retaken while Fleury would change hands 16 times over the next two months. 24 June: Anglo-French artillery begins its preliminary bombardment along the Somme.

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JUNE 1916 WORLD MAP WAR AT SEA

5 June: HMS Hampshire sinks off Orkney after striking a mine laid by U-75. The appalling conditions meant the ship’s boats were smashed by heavy seas as they were lowered and of her passengers and crew only 12 survive. Among the dead are Lord Kitchener and his staff. Fritz Joubert Duquesne, a prominent Boer and German spy, later claimed to have been undercover and to have signalled a U-boat as the ship left Scapa Flow – more likely a propaganda coup than act of espionage, it is nevertheless fascinating, especially as Duquesne was decorated with the Iron Cross.

EASTERN FRONT

4 June: Russian General Aleksei Brusilov begins his offensive, arguably among the bloodiest in history (with casualties estimated as high as 2 million) and among the most effective of the war. A result of the December 1915 Chantilly Agreement to attack the Central Powers simultaneously throughout summer 1916, this Russian effort focused on Galicia. Brusilov amassed 55 divisions along a 300 mile front, covering their preparations and covertly advancing to within metres of the first Austro-Hungarian line. His offensive began with a very short, but accurate and heavy, hurricane bombardment and he used shock troops to attack weak points. The initial attack was very successful.

EASTERN FRONT

8 June: Russian troops take Lutsk, almost capturing Archduke Josef Ferdinand. By now, Brusilov has captured 200,000 troops. Although the offensive continued until late September, the Russians were becoming overextended. They smashed the AustroHungarians and diverted German troops away from the Western Front, but German forces remained intact. Estimates vary, but Russia sustained some 440,000 dead/ wounded, Austria-Hungary lost a million men, 400,000 of them taken prisoner, and Germany sustained some 350,000 casualties. Brusilov’s offensive represented an improvement in Russian warfighting, but was ultimately only a distraction for Russian attacks elsewhere – which failed – Brusilov never had the assets to seriously alter the conduct of the war.

MIDDLE EAST

5 June: The Arab Revolt begins. Sherif of Mecca, Hussein bin Ali, later declared independence on 8 June. His aim is to create a unified Arab state. 10 June: Arab forces siege Medina. This lasts until January 1919, one of the longest sieges in history. Meanwhile, the month long Battle of Mecca begins with Sherif bin Ali firing a shot into the air. His supporters fought the Ottoman garrison to a stalemate, and won eventual victory with the assistance of two AngloEgyptian Army artillery pieces.

EAST AFRICA

8 June: Bismarckburg, near Lake Tanganyika, is captured by British/Rhodesian troops led by General Northey, but they find that the garrison had fled.

EAST AFRICA

13 June: Troops commanded by Jan Smuts capture Wilhelmstal, six days later Handeni is also captured. Within a month, non-battle casualties outweigh battle casualties by as much as 30 to 1 as disease thinned every unit. Perhaps the most extreme example is 2nd Rhodesian Regiment, who lost 36 men in battle, but had over 3,000 cases of Malaria, 7,500 cases of other sickness, and by December would only have 30 fit men from an original paper strength of 530 men (not including replacements). On average, a 2RR soldier was hospitalised twice and reported sick ten times. www.britainatwar.com 81

A PLUCKY YOUNG GIRL

Gilt Cross Bravery in Wartime Eastbourne

A Plucky

Young

Girl

When German bombs demolished houses and business premises in Eastbourne during September 1940 the aftermath saw exemplary heroism from the rescuers of those trapped in the wrecked buildings and extraordinary fortitude from those buried in the rubble, resulting in multiple awards for brave conduct, as Andy Saunders explains.

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A PLUCKY YOUNG GIRL

Gilt Cross Bravery in Wartime Eastbourne

I

T IS primarily London which comes to mind when one considers the Blitz of 1940, but the nation’s provincial towns and cities also took it on the chin. Indeed, the south east corner of Britain very soon earned itself an unenviable and dubious distinction as ‘Hellfire Corner’, and the coastal resort of Eastbourne the most bombed and raided town in the region. Such sobriquets and unfortunate ‘claims to fame’ were doubtless useful to the newspapers of the period, anxious to feed an informationhungry public a supply of morale boosting propaganda and to give some impetus to the slogan ‘Britain Can Take It!’ Certainly, the events in Eastbourne across 28 and 29 September 1940 ticked all of those boxes.

SEVERAL PEOPLE TRAPPED Shortly after 6pm on the afternoon of 28 September a telephone message came into the ARP Control Centre in the basement of Eastbourne’s Town Hall and was hastily scribbled down by the ARP Controller’s Clerk before being transmitted to the Regional Controller at Tunbridge Wells. That message read: ‘Express Report. At 17.50 hrs today two enemy planes dropped several HE in the centre of town. Stop. Damage to garage, house property and railway line. Stop. Several People trapped. Stop.’ The matter-of-fact terseness of the message, however, rather belied the true nature of the drama which was then unfolding in the Cavendish Place area of the town which, according to the local newspaper report of events, had been ‘turned

into a battlefield’. It was surely an entirely accurate description of the scene which met those arriving on the spot; smashed and burning buildings, the cries of those trapped or injured, bodies strewn in the debris, a strong smell of gas and water from a smashed water main cascading into a cellar where others were known to be buried. Meanwhile, just a few yards away, lay a large unexploded bomb. The danger presented by the device, however, had to simply be ignored as did the danger from fire and gas, from live electric cables and from the risk of further collapse of the bombed structures and the precarious and mountainous piles of rubble. After all, there were people trapped and they needed to be rescued. 

FAR LEFT: Peggy Harland. BELOW: The scene of devastation at Cavendish Place, Eastbourne, on 28 September 1940. At this stage, Peggy Harland was still buried under the debris.

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A PLUCKY YOUNG GIRL

Gilt Cross Bravery in Wartime Eastbourne BELOW: The 1st (Stone Cross) Girl Guides with Peggy Harland second from left, back row. BELOW RIGHT: The official Casualty Return for the Cavendish Place incident. BOTTOM: Rescue workers at the scene of the Cavendish Place bombing.

STRIPPED TO THE SHIRT

Going about his duties in Bourne Street, Police Constable Collingham was near to one of the town’s Police Boxes and stood in the middle of the street blowing his whistle as an impromptu air raid warning when bombs exploded on a nearby house, the blast picking him up and hurling him many yards into the centre of Langney Road. Remarkably, Collingham was unharmed – just shaken and winded. Very quickly, once he had come to his senses, he realised that the main bomb damage had occured a couple of streets away and he quickly rushed to the scene. There, he found the properties at 65 to 71 Cavendish Place had been completely destroyed and all surrounding properties damaged to some degree or another.

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At once, and realising the focus of attention needed to be at the demolished buildings, Collingham climbed onto the debris and began tearing at it with his bare hands in order to get at those entombed inside, despite being badly shaken from his recent lucky escape. Inspector Albert Wells later reported of Collingham: ‘I should like to draw attention to the admirable way in which he was performing his duty at the scene of the disaster at Cavendish Place upon my arrival there some time later. He was stripped to the shirt, assisting in the attempt to recover those buried in the debris.’ Later, witnesses talked of Collingham’s dogged and relentless efforts at the scene - although it quickly became apparent that only the ARP’s heavy rescue squad stood much hope of getting out those trapped beneath.

FELL INTO CELLAR

Finishing work at George Sapsford & Co, Market Gardeners, in nearby Westham that Saturday lunchtime, seventeen-year-old Peggy Harland had gone into Eastbourne to look for a new winter coat and was visiting her friends the Wilkinson family at 69 Cavendish Place when, at precisely 17.38, a raider (some reports say two aircraft) dropped up to six bombs*. One of them scored a direct hit on No.69, killing Myrtle Wilkinson (32) and neighbours Stanley (33) and Olive Giles (30) outright. Meanwhile, however, Carl Wilkinson was trapped up to his waist in the darkness of the cellar where he had fallen with his injured aunt, Annie Durden, and mother, Emily, alongside him. Before long, the family were further threatened by rising water with Carl later describing how it was ‘up to his chin’ although, unknown

A PLUCKY YOUNG GIRL

Gilt Cross Bravery in Wartime Eastbourne

TRAPPED BY HER LEGS

After some hours, the Wilkinson family (all except Myrtle) were extricated from the debris, although Peggy remained trapped. Although she had already been located by the rescue party, efforts were re-doubled to release her from underneath

to him, the Fire Brigade above were desperately pumping the water to keep the level down before the mains could be turned off. Meanwhile, Carl shouted for help and repeatedly tapped SOS onto a piece of pipe as his mother, unable to call out, also tapped out SOS onto a piece of tin using her false teeth. Nearby, in the darkness and trapped beneath a heavy beam, lay young Peggy – above the water level but surrounded by swirling dust in the darkness and the pungent reek of escaping gas. Above her, the rubble creaked and groaned alarmingly and muffled sounds added to the sense of horror. She could not move, and now had no feeling in her lower legs.

the beam positioned across her legs. However, despite the best efforts of her rescuers who tunnelled and chiselled away at concrete for hours, she could not be freed. What followed is best told through an entry in the London Gazette of 17 January 1941 which saw an OBE awarded to Chief Fire Officer Sidney Phillips and George Medals to Alfred Blackmer, Edwin May, Francis Stevens and Ernest Turney of Eastbourne’s Rescue Party: ‘As a result of a raid by enemy aircraft three houses were completely destroyed and seven persons were buried under the wreckage. The efforts of the Fire Brigade were a great contributing factor to the ultimate release of five of the persons trapped. Chief Officer Phillips acted with much energy and resource, making many excursions under the wreckage, directing operations and generally encouraging his men. Rescue and other services were immediately in action at the scene but some time later an unexploded HE bomb was discovered 200 ft away. In consequence, volunteers were called for. 

ABOVE: The damage at the junction of Tideswell Road and Cavendish Place, Eastbourne, on 28 September 1940. Two delayed action bombs exploded nearby at 07.54 and 18.15 hours on 29 September. MIDDLE LEFT: One of the ARP incident reports. NEAR LEFT: The initial ARP Warden’s Report Form.

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A PLUCKY YOUNG GIRL

Gilt Cross Bravery in Wartime Eastbourne

ABOVE: The Girl Guide Gilt Cross. RIGHT: Peggy Harland’s Grave at Westham, East Sussex.

Blackmer, May, Turney and Stevens were among those to volunteer. Blackmer, Stevens and Turney were concerned in the work of penetrating the wall of a cellar, through a matchboard refrigerator lined with cork, and then through another 12-inch concrete wall. This work was carried out in dangerous conditions, in a very confined space and with the constant peril of heavy falling debris. Through these efforts, three of the persons trapped were rescued. May laboured unceasingly throughout the night in a most gallant manner. Blackmer and Turney were overcome with cold and the effects of escaping gas and had to be taken to the Depot. Some time later, however, they returned to work and gave strenuous aid to the task of releasing a young girl who was pinned down by timber and debris, a weight which six jacks had failed to move. After heavy toil, the timber was at last lifted. The whole of this courageous action was carried out in appalling conditions. In their efforts, which greatly contributed to the rescue of five of the seven persons, these men laboured in an atmosphere rendered foul by escaping gas in a cellar filling with water. Further, they worked for a great part of the

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*Note: An unidentified Hurricane pilot of 605 Squadron intercepted a Junkers 88 over Eastbourne at 18.00 hrs on this date, claiming it as ‘damaged’. Local reports spoke of ‘Spitfires’ intercepting the raider. Whilst the German unit or crew cannot be identified it can be safely concluded that the attacker was certainly a Junkers 88.

period with the knowledge that there was a delayed action bomb 200 ft away.’

AMPUTATION UNDER THE DEBRIS

Unable to free the young Peggy, and with some members of the rescue party injured when the delayed action bomb finally exploded, a desperate decision was made by her rescuers to amputate her legs in order to get her out and, consequently, Dr Roy Barron and Laurence Snowball (Surgeon) crawled into the debris to perform the grim task some 23 hours after she had first become trapped. Dr Barron administered morphine and an anaesthetic, whilst Mr Snowball performed the tricky procedure in the cramped, dark and dusty conditions as pieces of debris continued to fall and settle all around them. Despite her terrible situation and extreme pain, Peggy strove to keep all of her rescuers cheerful, later described by Laurence Snowball: ‘Throughout all of this Peggy was remarkable despite great pain and stress, the initial darkness and sense of despair. She remained a very brave young lady. She had more pluck than any person I have ever known.’ Sadly, Peggy died of her injuries later on 29 September with the cause of death being multiple injuries, shock and ‘crush syndrome’. For her family, the blow was further compounded by news just filtering through to them that her 21-year-old brother, Robert, had been killed at Dunkirk with the the 7th

Bn, Royal Sussex Regiment, although no trace of his body was ever found. In 1941 Peggy Harland was recommended for the award of the Girl Guides Gilt Cross by Dame Alice Godman, the Girl Guides County Commissioner for Sussex. The gilt medal, with its green ribbon, was the first of its kind to be awarded posthumously and recognised her valour and fortitude during her terrible last hours. A depiction of the medal appears on her gravestone at Westham in East Sussex, along with a tribute to her brother. Meanwhile, a further nine members of the rescue, emergency and rescue services received commendations for their bravery and resilience. Not among them, however, was PC Collingham who had bravely instigated the rescue efforts, although all of those present were of one mind; the real hero of the whole tragic episode was a young Girl Guide. 

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War Memorials Trust

Protecting our war memorials together

There are an estimated 100,000 war memorials in the UK. While many are treasured and looked after up to 10,000 are suffering from ageing, weathering or vandalism. War Memorials Trust is a charity which works to protect and conserve all war memorials in the UK by offering advice and grants for repair and conservation works. By becoming a War Memorials Trust member today at www.warmemorials.org/join for the special introductory rate of £15 you can help us to ensure that those commemorated on our war memorials are not forgotten. Registered Charity Commission Number: 1062255

www.warmemorials.org Fenton, Staffordshire (WM113) © War Memorials Trust, 2011

WAR MEMORIALS TRUST Elham War Memorial



Elham War Memorial

T

HE VILLAGE of Elham (pronounced “Eelham”) near Folkestone, Kent, came to some prominence during the Battle of Britain. The village was the home of a dump, now covered by modern houses, for wrecked German aircraft and a good many incidents in the Battle took place within and around its boundaries. There was, for example, the loss of Sergeant Malcolm ‘Mabel’ Gray of 72 Squadron on 5 September 1940. His Spitfire crashed in Elham Park Wood. Two brothers who were working nearby tried to pull the pilot from the flames but were unsuccessful and 20-year-old Gray was buried in a family grave at Fulford, Yorkshire. The Elham war memorial stands in the village at the northern end of the High Street. Some local casualties are commemorated in St Mary’s Church rather than on the war memorial, the memorial having names that do not appear in the church. As with most memorials, later research has led to queries over given names, as well as uncovering people who are not included, but appear to qualify to be honoured. For example, Private Douglas Frank Clayson, Mechanical Transport, Army Service Corps appears on the memorial, but in the church he is listed as ‘D G Clayson’. He lost his life, aged nineteen, on 6 March 1918 and is at buried Lijssenthoek Military Cemetery, Poperinge.

The terrible destruction wrought on families by the Great War is all too clear in this attractive east Kent village. Three sons of John and Ellen Ellender of Oast Cottages, Ottinge, a hamlet near Elham, are listed on the memorial. Gunner Albert Ellender of the Royal Garrison Artillery, a farm worker before he joined up, died of disease on 2 July 1916 and is buried in Baghdad (North Gate) War Cemetery. His brother Ernest, a Private in The Buffs (East Kent Regiment) and also a farm worker in civilian life, died of heat stroke on 17 July 1917 and is buried in the same cemetery as Albert. Private Henry Ellender, serving with The Queen’s (Royal West Surrey Regiment), lost his life on 15 September 1916. He is remembered on the Thiepval Memorial. However, the situation for the tragic Ellender family was even worse than this. The local website, www. elham.co.uk, notes that there was a fourth brother who died after military service but is not recorded on the war memorial, or at the church. This was Robert Hugh Ellender who had worked as a waggoner on farms and served in the Buffs as a Private. He became unable to work due to arthritis, dying at Lyminge Workhouse Hospital on 16 March 1916. He is buried in Folkestone (Cheriton Road) Cemetery, also known as Folkestone Old Cemetery. His mother had died giving birth to him and his father passed away in 1923. Among the Second World War casualties commemorated on the memorial is Leading Seaman Frank Hoskins, DSM, who was one of those killed when the Royal Navy destroyer, HMS Martin was torpedoed by a U-boat, blew up and sank on 10 November 1942. At the time, the ship was part of the escort for Force ‘H’ in the Operation Torch landings in North Africa. Martin’s service had included acting as an escort for the PQ 18 and PQ 14 convoys.

BELOW: The Elham War Memorial. BOTTOM LEFT: Bill May on the left, Sidney Pegdan on the right.

Britain at War is collaborating with War Memorials Trust in a series of articles. War Memorials Trust works for the protection and conservation of war memorials in the UK and provides advice and information as well as running grant schemes for the repair and conservation of war memorials. WMT are a registered charity relying entirely on voluntary contributions to undertake our work. www.warmemorials.org Email: [email protected] www.britainatwar.com 89

P L T EA IC K SE B ET N O O A U SM T D G E V H U T A T S H N I T A C N B T E E

TFC Legends 2016 A4 Advert 4-16_TFC 2012 A4 Poster 12/04/2016 14:18 Page 1

A SHORT WAR

British Air Loss Behind The Lines: 1916

A SHORT WAR... Chris Goss looks at the background story behind another fascinating First World War image.



A

IR MECHANIC First Class (AM1) William Henry Cox was born in Derby in 1896 to Frederick and Georgina Cox of 25 Breedon Hill Road. Going to France as an observer, on 12 October 1915 Cox joined 13 Sqn which arrived at St Omer on 19 October. Two days, later the Sqn moved to Vert Galand and it was from here that Cox would be killed in action less than three months later, after his alltoo-short war. Early in the afternoon of 5 December 1915, Cox and his pilot, Lt. Arthur Richard Howe Browne (born 7 March 1894, at Burnie, Tasmania, Australia, the son of Arthur R. Browne), took off in BE2c, 2049. Just after 14.00, the BE2c was intercepted by a Fokker Eindecker EIII monoplane flown by Ltn Gustav Leffers of Kampfeinsitzer Kommando (KEK), which was based near Achiet-leGrand between Cambrai and Bapaume. Attacking from behind, the British aircraft was quickly shot down with the death of both crew who were buried by the Germans at Achiet-le-Grand (Extension) Cemetery.

BE2c serial 2049 was the first air combat victory for Leffers who was born in Wilhelmshaven in 1895, the son of a naval engineer. After school, he joined the Holland America shipping line as Engineer Candidate but, on the outbreak of war, he joined the German Army assigned to a field telegraph battalion, shortly afterwards transferring to be a pilot. After training, he was posted to Feld Flieger Abteilung 32 (FFA 32) in February 1915, flying from Velu/Bertincourt. Starting as a noncommissioned Gefreiter, Leffers rose quickly through the ranks and on 25 July was commissioned as a Leutnant Der Reserve due to his excellent reconnaissance skills on the LVG B aircraft. On 24 September, Leffers was sent for training on single-seater aircraft at Mannheim, returning to FFA 32 on 5 November and joining KEK Bertincourt, the fighter section of FFA 32. On 5 December he was flying serial 84/15 when he shot down his first aircraft, that of Browne and Cox. By March 1916 Leffers had four air

victories. His fourth, on 13 March, was especially hair-raising when he just escaped a midair collision with a BE2c, scraping his landing wheels across his opponent’s upper wing before turning in behind and shooting it down. KEK Bertincourt eventually became the famed Jasta 1 in August 1916 and Leffers scored another five times with this unit. He received the Royal House Order of Hohenzollern after his sixth victory on 31 August (a Martinsyde of 27 Sqn), and the Pour le Merite or Blue Max in November after his eighth kill (an FE2b of 11 Sqn on 17 October). 11 November 1916 saw his 9th and last kill, a DH2 of 29 Sqn. On 27 December, Leffers was shot down and killed in combat with FE2bs of 11 Sqn, probably by Capt. John Quested and Lt. Harold Dicksee. His Albatross DII serial 1757/16 crashed near Cerisy, his body later buried in his home city of Wilhelmshaven. In turn, Quested and Dicksee’s aircraft was badly damaged by Offizierstellvertreter Wilhelm Cymera, Quested managing to land behind British Lines. Both British officers survived the war. 

BELOW: The wreck of BE2c serial number 2049.



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‘DO YOUR DUTY…..’ Cadbury's At War

'DO YOUR DUTY....'

When war broke out in 1914 not a single company in Britain remained unaffected, one way or another, by the dreadful conflict that followed. Joshua Dine looks at one of the country’s leading confectionary companies at war.

BELOW: A large body of Cadbury employees enlisted on outbreak of war. These are men who have joined the 6th Warwickshire Regiment. Many others joined ‘Pals’ regiments in Birmingham.

W

HEN JOHN Cadbury opened a grocer’s shop at 93 Bull Street, Birmingham, in 1824 where he sold cocoa and drinking chocolate it was the beginning of the famous Cadbury chocolate empire. Throughout the years Cadbury was innovative in introducing new chocolate products, ranging from cocoa essence in 1866, the first Easter egg in 1875 and in 1905 the very well-known Cadbury Dairy Milk brand. But, to an extent, luxuries like chocolate had to take second-

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place when war came in 1914. By now, George and his brother Richard Cadbury were already running the factory having taken it over from their father John Cadbury in 1861. As the family were of the Quaker faith they believed that fighting was wrong but accepted that everyone should follow their conscience. The Cadbury family ethos was ‘Do your duty whatever it may be’ and they actively helped employees fighting overseas and gave aid to wounded servicemen brought back to England.

THE FAMILY AT WAR

Once war began, the Cadbury family wanted to play their part as best as they could although Laurence Cadbury, George’s eldest son, was not prepared to fight, but, intent on playing a role, became a founding member of the Friends' Ambulance Unit for Quakers and conscientious objectors. He served in the unit from 7 September 1914 to 2 March 1919, travelling around the Western Front in his three-litre Prince Henry Vauxhall, known as ‘The Beetle’, which he had brought with him from England. It is estimated that

‘DO YOUR DUTY…..’ Cadbury's At War

250,000 sick and wounded soldiers were carried by FAU convoys and some 21 FAU members died whilst serving. For his service, Laurence was awarded the Croix-de-Guerre and OBE. Major Egbert Cadbury, Laurence’s brother and youngest son of George, was a family member who did see action and joined the Royal Navy in 1914, serving on a mine-sweeper. Then, during 1915, he joined the RNAS, serving at Great Yarmouth. On 28 November 1916 he brought down Zeppelin L21 over the North Sea and later, ably assisted by his Observer,

Captain Robert Leckie, brought down Zeppelin L70 on 5 August 1918. He was ultimately awarded the DSC and DFC. Egbert wrote of sighting the Zeppelin and the rush to get to the air station: ‘I roared down to the station in an ever-ready Ford, seized a scarf, goggles and helmet, tore off my streamline coat, and, semi-clothed, with a disreputable jacket under my arm, sprinted as hard as ever nature would let me, and took a running jump into the pilot’s seat.’ Meanwhile, Marion Janet Cadbury, affectionately known as Mollie,

the second daughter of George and Elizabeth, trained as a Voluntary Aid Detachment nurse (VAD) in Birmingham, but as the authorities would not allow VADs to go to France, Mollie instead went under the auspices of the Belgian Red Cross to St. Pierre Hospital, Dunkirk.

ABOVE: Female employees at Cadbury package chocolate products and books for the troops.

CADBURY HOSPITALS

The Cadbury family handed over three of their properties to the British Red Cross to be turned into hospitals and convalescent homes for sick and wounded servicemen. These properties included ‘The Beeches’ 

In November 1914 Cadbury Bros addressed its employees: 'We feel that it is the duty of every one of us to be willing to sacrifice our own immediate interests on behalf of our country. Some have felt it their duty to go to the front, but it is not less incumbent upon those who, for conscientious or other reasons, cannot let their patriotism take this form, to bear their share’.' www.britainatwar.com 93

ABOVE: Comforts for Soldiers were an important feature of Army life and the YMCA was one such provider. Inevitably, Cadbury products would feature prominently at such establishments! BELOW LEFT: The Cadbury family gave over a number of properties for use as convalescent hospitals for sick and wounded soldiers between 1914 and 1919. BELOW RIGHT: Laurence Cadbury of the Friends' Ambulance Unit.

and ‘Fircroft’, the management of both hospitals earning the highest accolades from the War Office with Matron Rose of ‘Fircroft’ decorated by HM The King with the Royal Red Cross. In December 1914 Cadbury handed over ‘Froome Bank’ to be to be used as a convalescent home for soldiers. Also, in 1915, a number of Bournville girls voluntarily undertook the washing and laundry work for soldier-patients at the ‘Fircroft’ and ‘Beeches’ hospitals.

CHANGES TO ‘THE FACTORY IN THE GARDEN’ When war began, the Government placed huge orders for Bournville Cocoa and Dairy Milk to be sent to soldiers at the front line. Also, Cadbury sent out 30,000 parcels to its employees and other soldiers and

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to its workers who had been injured. These parcels were sent twice a year and contained a 1lb bar of chocolate, books, clothes, letters and cocoa. In 1915 the Milk Tray brand was launched which was to be more affordable as certain ingredients were in short supply, although the ability to source raw ingredients was becoming increasingly difficult. By 1917 German U boats were sinking many of the vessels importing sugar and cocoa and more than 50% of ships carrying these goods were sunk. Cadbury were thus forced to adapt their recipe of Cadbury Dairy Milk, but in 1917 decided to stop producing it altogether until the end of the war because of the shortages of sugar and cocoa. Additionally, over 20,000 gallons of milk was needed weekly

to produce Dairy Milk chocolate and it was decided that all of this milk, each week, would instead be donated and sent into the poorer parts of Birmingham. By 1917, and apart from chocolate products, parts of the factory were now making biscuits, drying vegetables and fruit pulping whilst the milk processing plants were adapted to produce condensed milk, butter, milk powder and cheese. However, Cadbury continued with chocolate production at a reduced rate, affecting employees working on piece-rates. As a result, emergency financial provision was established for those whose earnings fell and provided financial assistance to dependents of employees who had enlisted and for widows or dependents of men killed in action.

‘DO YOUR DUTY…..’ Cadbury's At War

BOURNVILLE WORKERS ON ACTIVE SERVICE

During the war, 2,148 Cadbury employees, male and female, served in the forces. Of these, 218 died on active service and over 70 men were decorated with gallantry medals and other awards. On the Home Front, employees of Cadbury performed other tasks as well as going about their normal work. Women employees, known as ‘The Cadbury Angels’, were knitting scarves, hats and socks for men on the front line and raising money for the war effort. By the end of the war, Bournville workers had raised over £8,000 - a substantial sum at that time. Additionally, in December 1914 the girls of the Stock Office had equipped 58 crew of HM Torpedo Boats with

woollen scarves, whilst others in the factory packed chocolate, cocoa, knitted clothes and books to be sent out to the soldiers.

BOURNVILLLE WORKS MAGAZINE

During the war the Bournville Works Magazine was sent to all serving Bournville men and formed a continuous link with the factory. Serving employees were encouraged to send letters to Bournville, one un-named soldier writing of his gift of chocolate: ‘I received it in the trenches on Christmas Day, where I was up to my neck in water. I soon found time to get out of it quick to see what was waiting for me.’ 

ABOVE & LEFT: Egbert Cadbury, Zeppelin Destroyer! Egbert did not follow the Cadbury family’s strict Quaker adherence to the opposition of armed conflict and instead joined up and became a successful RNAS pilot. Above pictured during his Second World War service.

BELOW: Although there are no obvious Cadbury products on view, the range of tins along the back wall look to include Cadbury’s Cocoa in this First World War canteen.

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‘DO YOUR DUTY…..’ Cadburys At War

ABOVE: HM King George V shakes the hand of Egbert Cadbury DSC DFC. BELOW LEFT: New Year Message from Cadbury, 1917, to its employees at the front. At Bournville, the Cadbury village, the war effort was a community effort. Here, the children of Cadbury workers are also reported as doing their bit!

BOTTOM RIGHT: The Cadbury War Memorial at Bournville.

Meanwhile, others wrote: ‘I received the chocolates safely yesterday. They happened to come just as I was having a bit of an argument with a London fellow. He had a box of cocoa, and I had some of our essence. He would have it that his cocoa was put through finer sieves than ours, which of course I told him was nonsense. I should know. But of course, when the Magazine arrived that settled it. He had a glance through it, and then with a taste of chocolate I changed his mind.’ Private W.A. Cooker , R.A.M.C. 1915 ‘We were just wondering what to have for tea when two of our fellows received parcels, the one containing cake, and myself your chocolate; we had a splendid tea of both. It has been raining for a couple of days here, and we are surrounded in mud about six inches deep.’ Private Foale, Royal Warwicks 1915 Another letter was sent from Pte W.H. Withington, 2nd Batt. Royal Welsh Fusiliers, 19th Infantry Brigade

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who enlisted in 1914. Published in March 1915 it refers to the famous ‘Christmas Truce’. One wonders if it might even have inspired the Sainsbury’s TV advert featuring the truce and a bar of chocolate! ‘We spent Christmas in the trenches. Rather a peculiar incident occurred that day. A couple of the enemy, bolder than the rest, approached unarmed to beyond their own barbed wire, and shouted greetings to us, and asking us to come across and speak to them. Various little souvenirs were exchanged to commemorate the extraordinary occurrence. At dusk we parted and went to our respective trenches. The remainder of the day was spent in sitting around fires telling tales and singing songs, the sentries joining in the chorus. Since Christmas nothing of any importance has occurred in our vicinity. Wishing you and all fellowworkers at Bournville a Prosperous New Year.’ Sadly, in February 1916, the magazine reported: ‘We regret to record the death of Pte W.H.

Withington, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, who died from wounds received in action on the Western front on 4 January’. Always caring more about its employees than profits, Cadbury promised all who had left to fight that they could have their jobs back if they wanted them. Many had been injured, and the Works War Relief Committee helped find new ways they could return to work, or to different jobs within the factory which would best suit them. When employees returned, George Cadbury personally welcomed them home. Of the war, he expressed a view universally shared: ‘May we all do our utmost in our hearts and homes to encourage that peaceful spirt which will make war impossible.’ Sadly, within very few years, the world and Cadbury’s would again be at war. My grateful thanks goes to Colin Pitt, Cadbury World Education & Heritage Centre Manager, for assistance with information and photographs for this article. 

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DOOMED: QUEEN MARY Battle of Jutland

DOOMED QUEEN AT

MARY

JUTLAND

To mark the centenary of the Battle of Jutland, Imperial War Museum historian Peter Hart examines the dramatic loss of HMS Queen Mary with over 1,200 of her crew in the cold waters of the North Sea. MAIN PICTURE: HMS Queen Mary being launched at Palmers Shipyard, Jarrow-onTyne, on 20 March 1912. Queen Mary was the last battlecruiser built by the British prior to the outbreak of war in 1914. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

I

N 1916, Admiral Reinhard Scheer brought a fresh mind, and a good deal of vigour, to the task of finding a more dynamic role for the German High Seas Fleet in the Great War. A straight battle with the Grand Fleet was still to be avoided at all costs. Instead Scheer sought to provoke Admiral Sir John Jellicoe into rash action by exerting increased pressure using a combination of submarines, mines, tip and run raids on the English east coast and attacks on Scandinavian convoys. He meant to seize upon the wild confusions of an encounter battle to attain a temporary local superiority to erode British superiority in dreadnoughts. His plan for what became the Battle of Jutland was simple; battlecruisers under the command of Admiral Franz von Hipper would raid the

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Scandinavian convoy in an effort to engage British battlecruisers under Vice Admiral Sir David Beatty and draw them inexorably to their doom at the hands of the main body of the High Seas Fleet lurking in the Dogger Bank area. But Scheer’s plans were fatally flawed. The Germans had not realised that their signals were being decoded by the Admiralty. The success of British intelligence can be judged by the fact that Jellicoe and Beatty were at sea well before Scheer had even left harbour. The total forces at Scheer’s disposal were 16 dreadnoughts, 8 pre-dreadnoughts, 5 battlecruisers, 11 light cruisers and 61 destroyers. With the utter failure of the U-Boat trap placed outside British ports, Scheer faced the full might of the Grand Fleet: 28 dreadnoughts, 9 battlecruisers, 8 cruisers, 26 light cruisers and 73 destroyers. 

DOOMED: QUEEN MARY Battle of Jutland

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DOOMED: QUEEN MARY Battle of Jutland BELOW LEFT: Commander of the British battlecruisers, Vice Admiral David Beatty. (HISTORIC MILITARY PRESS)

BELOW MIDDLE: Commander of the High Seas Fleet, Admiral Reinhard Scheer. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

BELOW RIGHT: Commander of the Grand Fleet, Admiral John Jellicoe. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

When the British and German battlecruiser fleets sighted each other at around 14.10 on 31 May 1916, Hipper duly attempted to lead Beatty towards Scheer to the south. The six British and five German battlecruisers fell into opposing lines and firing commenced. In the initial confusion, the Fifth Battle Squadron of superdreadnoughts, which had been meant to reinforce Beatty, was left nearly 10 miles behind. The battlecruisers would fight alone. Amongst the British 1st Battlecruiser Squadron was the magnificent Queen Mary, sister ship to Beatty’s flagship, Lion. Her story stands for all the horrors that would ensue when the two fleets met. Built in 1913, she was armed with eight 13.5” guns propelling her huge shells accurately up to 24,000 yards and could reach about 27 knots. However, her armour was not adequate to withstand heavy shells. As with all the battlecruisers her speed was intended to make up for that absence of proper armour protection.

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As the first salvoes rang out that afternoon, Petty Officer Ernest Francis was watching like a hawk to make sure that his gunners did not miss a beat in the tattoo of gunfire drummed out from ‘X’ Turret aboard the Queen Mary. "We had started on the great game. The gun’s crew were absolutely perfect, inclined to be a little swift in loading, but I gave them a yell and pointed out to them that I wanted a steady stride, and after that everything went like clockwork." In these opening minutes, only the Queen Mary, widely considered the crack gunnery ship of the Battlecruiser Fleet, managed to score any hits on the German ships. Kapitan zur See Moritz von Egidy watched as two of the 13.5” shells crashed down on the Seydlitz. "We had not gone unscathed. The first hit was a shell that struck No. Six 6” casemate on the starboard side, killing everybody except the Padre who, on his way to his battle-station down below, wanted to take a look at the men and at the British, too."

The second hit knocked out 'C' Turret. This proved a critical test of the new German flash control modifications introduced in response to harsh lessons meted out at the Battle of Dogger Bank. Urgent reports were passed up to von Egidy. "'No answer from 'C' turret. Smoke and gas pouring out of the voice pipes from ‘C’ turret.’ That sounded like the time of Dogger Bank. Then it had been 'C' and 'D' turrets. A shell had burst outside, making only a small hole, but a red-hot piece of steel had ignited a cartridge, the flash setting fire to 13,000 pounds of cordite. 190 men had been killed, and the two turrets had been put out of action. This time only one cartridge caught fire, the flash did not reach the magazines, and so we lost only 20 dead or severely burned, and only one turret was put out of action." Overall, the German battlecruisers got their range right far quicker than their British counterparts, and after a few minutes Indefatigable was destroyed in a terrible explosion. Then it was

DOOMED: QUEEN MARY Battle of Jutland

five against five, with the superdreadnoughts still desperately trying to catch up. Things got worse when severe damage to Lion caused her to temporarily pull out of line, after which both Seydlitz and Derlinger commenced firing hard at Queen Mary. The theory that speed could be her protection was to literally be tested to destruction by the two German battlecruisers. A crunching blow landed amidships of Queen Mary where Midshipman Jocelyn Storey witnessed the effects from inside 'Q' Turret. "'Q' Turret was hit by a heavy shell and the right gun put out of action. We continued firing with the left gun for two or three minutes and then a most awful explosion took place which broke the ship in half by the foremast. Our left gun broke off outside the turret and the rear end fell into the working chamber; the right gun also slid down. The turret was filled with flying metal and several men were killed. A lot of cordite caught fire below me and blazed up and several people were gassed."

Still more German salvoes crashed down on the Queen Mary and one shell burst through to detonate the magazine of one of the forward 'A' or 'B' Turrets. For a moment Petty Officer Ernest Francis had the illusion of silence caused by a mixture of temporary deafness and mind-numbing shock. "Everything in the ship went as quiet as a church, the floor of the turret was bulged up and the guns were absolutely useless. I must mention here that there was not a sign of excitement. One man turned to me and said, 'What do you think has happened?' I said 'Steady everyone, I will speak to Mr Ewart.' I went back to the cabinet and said 'What do you think has happened, Sir?' He said 'God only knows!'" Francis was ordered to check on the state of the 4” Secondary Battery but did not get far before he realised that the game was up. "I put my head through the hole in the roof of the turret and I nearly fell through again. The after 4” Battery was

smashed right out of all recognition and then I noticed that the ship had an awful list to port. I dropped back inside and told Lieutenant Ewart the state of affairs. He said 'Francis, we can do no more than give them a chance, clear the turret!'" The scramble to escape from deep inside the turrets was desperate, but some had a personal courage that led far beyond the call of duty - as Francis witnessed "Petty Officer Stares was the last I saw coming up from the working chamber and he told me it was no use as the water was right up the trunk leading from the shell room, so the bottom of the ship must have been out of her. Then I said 'Why didn’t you come up?' He simply said 'There was no order to leave the turret'. I went through the cabinet and out through the top and Lieutenant Ewart was following me; suddenly, he stopped and went back into the turret. I believe he went back because he thought there was someone left inside." 

BELOW: Warships of I and II squadrons of the Imperial German Navy’s High Seas Fleet in Kiel. (NARA)

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DOOMED: QUEEN MARY Battle of Jutland

ABOVE: Vying for supremacy: The Royal Navy at the Battle of Jutland. (WW1

IMAGES)

BELOW LEFT: The Grand Fleet sails to battle. BELOW RIGHT: HMS Queen Mary (WW1

IMAGES)

By this time the ship was in its death throes and lurched right over to port, the decks having become steep walls. "Men getting off the ladder went sliding down to port. I got on to the bottom rung of the ladder and could not by my own efforts reach the stanchions lying on the deck from the ships side, starboard side. I knew if I let go that I should go sliding down to port like some of the others must have done – and probably get smashed up sliding down. Two of my turret’s crew, seeing my difficulty, came to my assistance." Once he got to the ship’s side Francis found many men were hesitating before leaping into the cold water. "I called out to them ‘Come on, you chaps, who’s coming for a swim?’ Someone answered ‘She will float for a long time yet!’ But something, I

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don’t pretend to understand what it was, seemed to be urging me to get away, so I clambered up over the slimy bilge keel and fell off into the water, followed I should think by about five more men." The men’s last glimpses of the stricken giant that had been their home were through masses of billowing black smoke and falling debris. From the perspective of Commander Georg von Hase aboard SMS Derlinger this grotesque funeral pyre marked a stunning triumph. "A vivid red flame shot up from her forepart. Then came an explosion forward which was followed by a much heavier explosion amidships, black debris of the ship flew into the air, and immediately afterwards the whole ship blew up with a terrific explosion. A gigantic cloud of smoke

rose, the masts collapsed inwards, the smoke cloud hid everything and rose higher and higher and higher. Finally, nothing but a thick, black cloud of smoke remained where the ship had been. At its base the smoke column only covered a small area, but it widened towards the summit and looked like a monstrous black pine." Kapitan zur See Moritz von Egidy noticed the sheer professionalism of the German gunnery personnel aboard the Seydlitz. "The spectacle was overwhelming, there was a moment of complete silence, then the calm voice of a gunnery observer announced ‘Queen Mary blowing up’ at once followed by the order ‘Shift target to the right’ given by the gunnery officer in the same matter-of-fact tone as at gunnery practice."

DOOMED: QUEEN MARY Battle of Jutland

The final cataclysmic explosions probably killed most of the struggling men as crushing shock waves passed through the water. Francis was engulfed as debris tumbled down. "The air seemed full of fragments and flying pieces, a large piece seemed to be right above my head and acting on an impulse I dipped under to avoid being struck and stayed under as long as I could and then came on top again. Coming behind me I heard a rush of water, which looked very much like surf breaking on a beach and I realised it was the suction or backwash from the ship which had just gone. I hardly had time to fill my lungs with air when it was on me. I felt it was no use struggling against it, so I let myself go for a moment or two, then I struck out, but I felt it was a losing game and remarked to myself mentally ‘What’s the use of struggling – you’re

done!’ and actually eased my efforts to reach the top, when a small voice seemed to say ‘Dig out!’ I started afresh and something bumped against me. I grasped it and afterwards found it was a large hammock; it undoubtedly pulled me to the top, more dead than alive." Men clung to whatever wreckage they could find. It may have been summer, but Midshipman Peregrine Dearden found the North Sea was still bitterly cold. "The surface of the water was simply covered with oil fuel which tasted and smelt horrible. I smothered myself all over with it, which I think really saved my life, as the water was really frightfully cold. I should say that about fifty hands went over the side, but about half of them were killed during the second explosion. Most of the remainder of us held out on two or three spars and other wreckage on the

surface. Shortly afterwards several of our destroyers came up but only one stopped." The destroyer was Laurel. Able Seaman Albert Hickson was at action stations on her forward 4” gun. "We turned to port and under very heavy fire started to pick up survivors. This was extremely difficult, because in addition to the very heavy shelling the sea was a mass of wreckage and all sorts of ships parts, wood and masses of bits of boats and decking. We lowered our whaler but the wreckage was so thick we could not force the boat through it. We abandoned the boat and somehow we were hauled aboard. Then nearly all our gun’s crew and the upper deck hands were hanging over the side on enders, lines and nets trying to get the survivors aboard. This was made so very difficult because they were all soaked in oil 

TOP: Battle of Jutland medallion. BELOW LEFT: HMS Indefatigable prior to the battle. (WW1 IMAGES)

BELOW RIGHT: Beatty, as depicted in a French magazine in 1918, aboard HMS Queen Elizabeth and overseeing the surrender of the German fleet.

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DOOMED: QUEEN MARY Battle of Jutland

and we could not hold on to them for very long, especially as we were steaming ahead so as not to present a sitting target to the enemy. We picked up eleven survivors - all except one were in a very bad state." Midshipmen Jocelyn Storey and John Lloyd Owen were two of the lucky few picked up by the Laurel. Inevitably, some of the scattered survivors suffered the mortification of being abandoned to their fate as Laurel moved away. Among them was Midshipman Peregrine Deardon. "It nearly drove one frantic when she steamed off when I was only about 25 yards away from her. She would not even leave her whaler behind to pick up the remaining 15 or 20 of us in the water, although I shouted to them to do so. It was terrible seeing everyone else collapse and drown. I had not the strength to help any of them." The few remaining survivors of Queen Mary fought their last lonely battle. One by one they began to expire as their physical and mental strength BELOW: The Imperial German Navy’s battleship Schleswig-Holstein fires a salvo during the Battle of Jutland on 31 May 1916. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

drained away. The combined effects of wounds, shock and insidious cold wracked their bodies until the waves offered nothing but an end to suffering. Francis felt totally isolated. "When I came to my senses again I was half way off the spar, but managed to get back again. I was very sick, and full up with oil fuel. My eyes were blocked completely with it and I couldn’t see. I suppose the oil had got a bit dry and crusted. I managed, by turning back the sleeve of my Jersey, which was thick with oil, to expose a part of the sleeve of my flannel and managed to wipe the thick oil off my face and eyes, which were aching awfully. Then I looked round and I believed that I was the only one left out of that fine ship’s company." Francis was extremely fortunate and was found clinging to flotsam by the destroyer Petard on her return from an audacious torpedo attack on the German line. "I got up on the spar to wave to them, the swell rolled the spar over and I

fell off. I was nearly exhausted again getting back. The destroyer came up and a line was thrown on me, which needless to say, I grabbed hold of for all I was worth and was quickly hauled up on to the decks of the destroyer. The first words I heard spoken were English, not German and I must have managed to convince them that I was English. I remembered no more until I came to and found I was lying on what seemed to be a leather settee. Someone was telling me I was all right and not to struggle. I could not see the faces around me so concluded I was blind, but did not feel that it mattered much my thoughts flew to the fine crew that had gone under." The battle had scarcely started, yet it was all over for Queen Mary and her crew. Of the ship’s company of 1,286 men, there were just 20 survivors. The rest, as is usually the way of naval warfare, were not wounded or missing – just dead. Within a short while Invincible would join her two sisters at the bottom of the North Sea. 

ABOVE LEFT: HMS Lion surrounded by waterspouts from enemy gunfire as HMS Queen Mary explodes. (HISTORIC

MILITARY PRESS)

ABOVE RIGHT: Taken from the deck of Inflexible, the next ship astern, this picture shows the massive plume of smoke caused when Invincible exploded during the Battle of Jutland after she was hit five times by shells from the German battlecruisers Derfflinger and Lützow. (HISTORIC

MILITARY PRESS)

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DOOMED: QUEEN MARY Battle of Jutland

TOP LEFT: The German battlecruiser Seydlitz burns in the Battle of Jutland, 31 May 1916. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

TOP RIGHT: Lord Kitchener and Admiral Jellicoe on HMS Iron Duke at Scapa Flow after Battle of Jutland. (WW1

IMAGES)

MIDDLE: A 1917 cartoon 'The Rival Toasts' depicting Jellicoe, heralding victory for the rest of the conflict, and Hipper, heralding victory for the day. (HELD BY THE BRITISH LIBRARY)

BELOW: The bow and stern of Invincible sticking out of the water as she sinks. The destroyer Badger is desperately searching for survivors.

It was evident that battlecruiser armour was too thin and illdistributed, that flash precautions were inadequate, cordite charges too vulnerable and gun-loading drills unwisely put speed ahead of safety. Once a turret was penetrated, a flash would roar right down to the magazine and the ship was doomed. Such a fate awaited another battlecruiser 25-years later when the ‘mighty’ Hood blew up on 14 May 1941. As survivors struggled in the sea, the battle went on without them. Beatty and the Battlecruiser Fleet ran south until they encountered the High Seas Fleet. Scheer seemed to have his chance of cutting off a significant portion of the Grand Fleet. Yet the Fifth Battle Squadron finally proved their worth by arriving just in time to cover Beatty’s retreat as they all ran north towards the waiting arms of Jellicoe and the Grand Fleet rushing down from Scapa Flow. The two separate fleet actions that ensued were all too brief, but nevertheless damaging to the Germans. Soon, their only realistic option was escape. Jellicoe had avoided risk of exposing his precious ships to destroyer torpedo attacks, but had also skilfully managed to place himself across Scheer’s line of retreat. In the confusion of the night fighting,

(HISTORIC MILITARY PRESS)

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the High Seas Fleet managed to smash their way through the rear of Jellicoe’s line and escape to victory – at least as far as the Germans were concerned. A century has passed and the sacrifice of the men of Queen Mary is now remembered mainly because of the dramatic photograph that still startles in its evocation of naval destruction. But their courage and sacrifice surely deserves our respect and acknowledgement just as much as all those who lost their lives on the Western Front. The reality of the Battle of Jutland has been obscured by clouds of arcane debate emitted by naval experts. It is salutary to

remember the scale of casualties at Jutland. There were nearly 7,000 British casualties of which 6,094 were killed, the Germans losing around 2,550 dead. Death came quickly in the grey wastes of the North Sea for thousands of men who perished in their ships, blown to pieces in an instant. Others were less fortunate. Trapped behind locked doors and hatches in airtight chambers they died, slowly and alone in Stygian darkness, as their doomed ships slipped beneath the waves. Few battles in British naval history compare with Jutland for the sheer scale of fighting and losses inflicted in such a short time. 

HAPPY FATHER’S DAY

y FATHER’S DAY, 2016 - SUNDAY 19TH JUNE



 June 2016 FLYPAST 107

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GREAT WAR GALLANTRY

June 1916

GREAT WAR GALLANTRY June 1916

Throughout the First World War, the many announcements of British and Commonwealth gallantry awards appeared in the various issues of The London Gazette. As part of our major monthly series covering the period of the Great War commemorations, we examine some of the actions involved and summarise all of the awards announced in June 1916. RIGHT: Chatta Singh VC meeting General Maharaj Shri Rajendrasinhji Jadeja in 1953. (COURTESY OF RAMA DEVI, DAUGHTER OF CHATTA SINGH)

BELOW: Sepoy Chatta Singh assisting the badly wounded LieutenantColonel Thomas during the Battle of the Wadi, 13 January 1916.

T

HERE WERE two Victoria Crosses announced in The London Gazette during June 1916, both for acts of gallantry undertaken during the Mesopotamian Campaign. That awarded to Captain (later Brigadier) John Alexander Sinton is detailed by Lord Ashcroft in this issue; the other was presented to Sepoy (later Lance Naik) Chatta Singh. Singh’s unit, the 9th Bhopal Infantry, was part of the force sent to relieve Kut-al-Amara. At the instigation of the British C-in-C of the Mesopotamian Expeditionary Force, Sir John Nixon, on 13 January 1916 General Fenton Aylmer, commander of the Tigris Corps, launched an attack against Ottoman defensive

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positions on the banks of the Wadi River. The Wadi was the steep-sided valley of a stream that ran from the north into the Tigris six miles upstream towards Kut-al-Amara from Sheikh Sa’ad. As the attack progressed, the 9th Bhopal Infantry found themselves facing stiff Turkish resistance. The Historical Record of the 4th Battalion, 16th Punjab Regiment reveals what followed as Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas, ‘C’ Company commander, went forwards towards ‘B’ Company: ‘The enemy fire had increased in intensity in order to prevent ‘C’ Company’s forward movement to fill the gap on the left of ‘B’ Company.

When about 40 yards from ‘B’ Company, Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas was shot down. Seeing his Commanding Officer lying wounded, Sepoy Chatta Singh rushed forward and bandaged the wound. The spot where Colonel Thomas fell was bare and as flat as a billiard table. Less than 200 yards away the enemy continued to direct a heavy fire

GREAT WAR GALLANTRY June 1916

towards them. After bandaging Colonel Thomas’ wound, Chatta Singh heroically placed himself in such a position that his body acted a shield to his Commanding Officer. In this position the gallant sepoy dug for some hours, and slowly but surely constructed a bullet-proof cover for them both. Colonel Thomas’ left leg was shattered half-way between the knee and the ankle, and at times the pain drew from him groans that could be heard by his men during lulls in the fighting. Chatta Singh’s efforts to comfort and reassure his Commanding Officer could be heard. Further aid was impossible before nightfall, for any attempt to carry Colonel Thomas to safety during

daylight would have meant destruction of the whole party. When eventually Colonel Thomas was rescued he was nearly delirious through pain and loss of blood, but, in spite of this, he did not forget to impress on his rescuers the great and unselfish gallantry of Chatta Singh.’ Like his regiment, Singh was a veteran of the fighting at Ypres and Neuve Chapelle, after which his unit was deployed to Mesopotamia. Singh retired as Havildar, returning to his home village where he died on 23 March 1961. On 22 September 2006 an ‘interesting contemporary wearing copy’ of Chatta Singh’s VC was sold by the auctioneers Dix Noonan Webb for £520. As well as his name and rank, this copy carried the date ‘8th Mar. 1916’. As DNW state: ‘It would seem likely that the date engraved on the reverse refers to an unofficial award ceremony “in the field”’. A number of other awards announced in June 1916 were the result of a naval action – more specifically the engagement between the armed merchant cruiser HMS Alcantara and the German raider Greif

Fregattenkapitän Rudolf Tietze) (Fregattenkapitän on 29 February 1916. From the moment Britain’s declaration of war took effect, one of the most important duties that fell upon the Royal Navy was the blockade of the North Sea. The southern end, marked by the Strait of Dover, was easy enough to guard; away in the north, however, the problem was more difficult, the passage between the Shetland Islands and Norway having a width of 200 miles. It was necessary to close this passage not only against goods entering and leaving Germany by sea, but also the irruption of enemy raiders threatening trade routes. To maintain the blockade, the Royal Navy introduced a number of armed merchant cruisers such as HMS Alcantara. 

TOP: The liner Alcantara pictured prior to being requisitioned by the Admiralty for service as an armed merchant cruiser. (STATE LIBRARY OF QUEENSLAND)

BELOW: The raider Greif, discussed as the Norwegian Rena, opens fire on the armed merchant cruiser HMS Alcantara and its cutter, 29 February 1916.

(ALL IMAGES HISTORIC MILITARY PRESS UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE)

GALLANTRY AWARDS GAZETTED IN JUNE 1916 Victoria Cross Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Service Cross Military Cross Distinguished Flying Cross* Air Force Cross* Distinguished Conduct Medal Conspicuous Gallantry Medal Distinguished Service Medal Military Medal Distinguished Flying Medal* Air Force Medal* Total

2 430 22 929 676 1 42 1209 3311

* Indicates an award that has not yet been instituted. Mentions in Despatches are not included.

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GREAT WAR GALLANTRY

June 1916

RUNNING TOTAL OF

GALLANTRY AWARDS AS OF THE END OF JUNE 1916 Victoria Cross Distinguished Service Order Distinguished Service Cross Military Cross Distinguished Flying Cross Air Force Cross Distinguished Conduct Medal Conspicuous Gallantry Medal Distinguished Service Medal Military Medal Distinguished Flying Medal Air Force Medal Total BELOW: A stylised illustration showing a large explosion tearing through Greif, sending the raid to the bottom. The swift end to the voyage of the Greif led to the German Admiralty suspending commerce raiding and renewed emphasis on submarine warfare.

170 1973 263 3639 6417 37 942 1211 14652

Originally built for service as a liner with the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, Alcantara was requisitioned by the Admiralty in April 1915. By the time conversion work had been completed, she was armed with eight 6-inch guns, two 6-pounder anti-aircraft guns and depth charges. The morning of 29 February saw Alcantara, commanded by Captain Thomas Erskine Wardle, patrolling between the Shetlands and Faroes. She was then signalled to intercept an alleged disguised enemy merchant ship steaming northwards. At 08.45 hours a ship was subsequently sighted and initially

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identified as the Norwegian Rena. Wardle later wrote an account of what followed: ‘When 4,000 off the stranger I altered course to port to keep this distance off while signalling her. It could then be seen that she was flying Norwegian colours, and had Norwegian flags painted on her side with the name “RENA” … In response to my signals the stranger signalled that she was from Rio de Janeiro to Trondghem. These particulars, her size and course, all agreed with Lloyds confidential list of ships … ‘I determined to put an armed guard on board. While getting the guard ready, I reduced to 14 knots, and kept clear of stranger’s stern. At 9.35, “Andes” signalled “That is the suspicious vessel”. ‘At 9.40, the boat was being swung out, and I was closing stranger on the port quarter when I noticed her ensign staff drop over the stern, and men clearing away a gun on the poop. At the same moment stranger fired a shell at our bridge, which put the tellmotor steering gear, engine room telegraph, and all telephones on the bridge out of action, besides killing and wounding men. The flaps with flags on her sides were let down, and she fought under no flag. I at once gave the order full speed, and open fire.’ ‘The enemy at once went ahead and turned to starboard,’ continued Wardle, ‘firing high explosive shell, some of them very short, but several hits were made near the water line amidships, penetrating the No.1 stokehold bunkers which were half

Amongst the DSOs announced in June 1916 was that of Lieutenant-Colonel William Antrobus Griesbach, seen here whilst serving with the 19th Alberta Dragoons. His award, whilst he was CO of the 49th Battalion (Edmonton Regiment), Canadian Expeditionary Force, was ‘for conspicuous gallantry and skill in the handling of his battalion during a heavy bombardment and subsequent attack by the enemy. On another occasion by his prompt action and fine example he was largely responsible for the rescue of several men who had been buried by shell fire.’

empty, and the engine room. At 10.02, the enemy fired a torpedo which passed under our stern, starboard helm being used to avert it.’ The Royal Navy gunners also returned fire. ‘The first round from our after 6” – port, hit the ammunition of the after gun of enemy and put it out of action … At 10.15 enemy was badly on fire by the bridge … At 10.22 boats were noticed leaving the enemy who was enveloped in a cloud of smoke. I ordered cease firing. H.M. Ship was beginning to list to starboard, and then suddenly listed to port.’ With little option, Wardle eventually gave the order to abandon ship. The cruiser HMS Comus and destroyer HMS Munster arrived to pick up survivors. At 11.08 hours Alcantara sank. By this time Greif was well ablaze and, at 13.00 hours, slipped beneath the waves. Of the 321 officers and men on board Greif, five officers and 115 men were rescued by British ships. The remainder went down with their ship. Alcantara’s losses amounted to five officers and 69 men. For their part in the action, Captain Wardle and Engineer Lieutenant-Commander Charles A.N. Williams RNR (in charge of the engine-room) were both awarded the DSO, while Acting Lieutenant John Howell-Price RNR the DSC – all of which were gazetted in June 1916. Lieutenant-Commander Frank M. Main RNR was promoted to Commander, whilst Midshipman Hardress W. D’Arcy-Evans transferred into the to the Royal Navy. 

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SEAL MILITARY The Museum is home to a vast collection of Wartime Memorabilia including Aircraft Artefacts, Women’s Land Army and a Bomb Disposal Display to mention a few.

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1940s Events

LORD ASHCROFT'S "HERO OF THE MONTH"

Brigadier John Alexander Sinton

Brigadier

John Alexander LORD ASHCROFT'S "HERO OF THE MONTH"

Sinton

ENDURANCE

AGGRESSION • BOLDNESS INITIATIVE • LEADERSHIP • SACRIFICE • SKILL

The many Victoria Crosses and George Crosses in the Lord Ashcroft Gallery at the Imperial War Museum in London are displayed under one of seven different qualities of bravery. Whilst Brigadier John Alexander Sinton’s award is not part of the collection, Lord Ashcroft feels that it falls within the category of endurance: “Endurance is the opposite of Aggression. It is all about ‘cold courage’, about knowing the cost and being prepared to pay it. It involves mental and physical resilience, not giving in and rising above the pain. It is almost infinite.” ABOVE RIGHT: Brigadier John Alexander Sinton VC, OBE, FRS. BELOW RIGHT: Two members of the Dogras during the First World War. The 37th Dogras could trace its origins to 1887, when the unit was raised as the 37th (Dogra) Bengal Infantry.

J

OHN ALEXANDER Sinton was born in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, on 2 December 1884. The third of seven children to his Ulster parents, Walter and Isabella Sinton, he and his family returned to Ulster from Canada in 1890, when John was just five years old. He was initially educated at Nicholson Memorial School in Lisburn and the Royal Belfast Academical Institution.

(COURTESY OF

THE AUSTRALIAN WAR MEMORIAL; B00709)

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Sinton matriculated from the Royal College of Ireland and entered the Arts School of Queen’s College, Belfast, before being accepted to the Medical School of Queen’s College and, later, the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. He was incredibly bright and graduated with first class honours in medicine, surgery and obstetrics in 1908, aged twenty-three. In 1911, and by then having held several senior hospital positions, he entered the Indian Medical Service as a lieutenant having been top in the entrance exam. At the outbreak of the Great War in August 1914, Sinton was already on active service in India as the regimental medical officer with the Movable Column, Kurram Valley, North-West Frontier. Later, he joined the Mesopotamia Expeditionary Force. He was

VC, OBE, FRS promoted to captain on 21 June 1915, serving as regimental medical officer to the 37th Dogras of the Indian Expeditionary Force. In early 1916, Sinton, by now aged thirtyone, was in Mesopotamia (now Iraq) serving with the Dogras against the Turkish forces when he showed outstanding bravery on three separate occasions (not four as detailed in his citation). He was severely wounded in battle on 21 January while treating the wounded and his actions led to the award of the VC on 21 June 1916 when his citation stated: “For most conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty. Although shot through both arms and through the side, he refused to go to the hospital, and remained, as long as daylight lasted, attending to his duties under very heavy fire. “In three previous actions Capt. Sinton displayed the utmost bravery.” Sinton was evacuated to India for medical treatment. After making a good recovery, he received his VC on 31 January 1918 from Lord Chelmsford, the Viceroy of India, in an investiture in New Delhi. Sinton remained on active service in various theatres of war until 1920. During this period, he was Mentioned in Despatches more than once for services on the North-West Frontier and was decorated with other awards.

LORD ASHCROFT'S "HERO OF THE MONTH" Brigadier John Alexander Sinton

VICTORIA CROSS HEROES Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is a businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. His five books on gallantry include Victoria Cross Heroes. For more information, please visit: www.victoriacrossheroes.com Lord Ashcroft’s VC and GC collection is on public display at Imperial War Museum, London. For more information visit: www.iwm.org. uk/heroes uk/heroes. For details about his VC collection, visit: www. lordashcroftmedals.com For more information on Lord Ashcroft’s work, visit: www.lordashcroft.com. Follow him on Twitter: @LordAshcroft

In 1919, he was promoted to brevet major and, in the same year, he was conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Medicine by Queen’s University in recognition of his treatment of the wounded in the field. He was promoted to temporary major in 1920 and received the OBE (Military). At this point in his career, Sinton started specialising in the treatment of malaria and soon became recognised as the foremost authority on malarial and parasitical diseases. In 1923 he was made a full major and he also married Eadith Martin, the daughter of an indigo planter. The couple went on to have one daughter, Eleanor, born in December 1924. In 1927, Sinton became the first Director of the Malarial Survey of India. Over the next decade, he held several senior positions and was promoted to lieutenant-colonel. He retired from the Indian Medical Services in August 1938 and was appointed Manson Fellow of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, as well as an advisor on malaria to the Ministry of Health. However, after the outbreak of the Second World War, he was

recalled to India in 1939 and posted Quartermaster to a military hospital. In 1940, he was demobbed, only to be recalled again and appointed Consultant Malariogilist to the East African Forces, later extended to cover all Middle East Forces. His measures aimed at prevention and control meant that he was credited with ensuring that incidence of malaria in the Middle East was minimal. Sinton was retired a second time in 1944, only to be once more recalled later the same year as Consultant Malariogilist to the War Office after serious outbreaks of the disease as the troops moved to Sicily and Italy. In late 1944, and by now an honorary brigadier and sixty years old, he finally succeeded in retiring to his estate near Cookstown, Co. Tyrone. During a distinguished military career, Sinton, in common with other officers who were awarded the VC during the Great War, had also been awarded the Russian Order of St George. After his retirement, Sinton received many more prestigious medical decorations and accolades, including becoming a Fellow of the Royal Society for his research into the problems of malaria. In 1953, he became a

magistrate (JP), Deputy Lieutenant and High Sheriff of Tyrone. He was also a member of the National Arbitration Tribunal of Northern Ireland. By now, however, Sinton’s health was in decline. He died at his home at Slaghtfreedan Lodge, near Lough Fea, Cookstown, on 25 March 1956, aged seventy-one. He was buried with full military honours on 28 March at Creggan Presbyterian Church cemetery in Cookstown. In an obituary in the British Medical Journal, Colonel H.W. Mulligan said of him: “Sinton had an exceptionally quick, receptive, and retentive brain, but his greatness sprang not so much from his unusual intellectual gifts as from the simple qualities of absolute integrity and tremendous industry.” He had left his mark on the world as an exceptional doctor, malariologist and soldier, combining great academic skills with outstanding courage. Sinton’s widow, Eadith, died on 1 October 1978, some twenty-two years after her husband, and is buried in the same grave at Creggan Presbyterian Church. Sinton’s VC is not part of my medal collection. Instead, it is on display at the Army Medical Services Museum at Mytchett, Surrey. 

TOP LEFT: British troops “on the long march through torrid heat” in Mesopotamia.

(HISTORIC MILITARY PRESS)

BELOW: Ottoman troops mustering before moving forward to the front during the First World War. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

www.britainatwar.com 113

The First W

rld War in Objects

MERCANTILE MARINE WAR

MEDAL

AT THE outbreak of war in 1914, Britain’s merchant fleet was the largest in the world. By the time of the Armistice, more than 3,000 British-flagged merchant and fishing vessels had been sunk and nearly 15,000 merchant seamen had lost their lives. Such was the vital contribution that these vessels and sailors made to the Allied victory that King George V granted them the title ‘Merchant Navy’. Welcome though the King’s action was, there were others who felt that more should be done. On 26 February 1919, for example, Dr Bouverie McDonald, the MP for Wallasey, asked ‘what tangible recognition will be made to the officers and men of the British Mercantile Marine … in respect of their services in safeguarding the nation’s food supply during the War?’ By way of reply, Mr Bridgeman, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Trade, gave little detail other than to say: ‘A medal will be awarded in recognition of the services rendered during the War by the members of the Mercantile Marine.’ It fell to Sir Auckland Geddes, the President of the Board of Trade, to expand a little further on 4 August the same year: ‘Officers and men of the Mercantile Marine are eligible to receive the Mercantile Marine War Medal in special recognition of the peculiarly valuable services they rendered to the national and Allied cause. The grant of this medal will be strictly confined to merchant officers and seamen, and will not be extended to any other class of persons. This decision is based on a desire specially to honour the British Mercantile Marine by the grant to them of a medal officially accorded precedence over the Victory Medal.’ The criteria for an award of the Mercantile Marine War Medal outlined by Sir Auckland Geddes was detailed in an announcement in The Times on 1 August 1919: ‘The King has also granted a mercantile marine war medal to the persons … who are qualified for the British War Medal [in

effect meaning having served at sea for not less than six months between 4 August 1914, and 11 November 1918], and who, in addition, can supply such evidence as may be approved by the authorities referred to in that paragraph of having served at sea on at least one voyage through a danger zone. For this purpose a voyage through a danger zone means: ‘(a) A voyage on a ship which entered or cleared a United Kingdom port, or a French port, or a Mediterranean port; (b) Such other voyages in other parts of the world as shall be specified in a further notice.’ The same report added that ‘Officers, men, and women referred to in this announcement who, while serving at sea, were captured by the enemy, or lost their lives through enemy action or were precluded by disablement through enemy action from further service at sea, before being able to complete their qualifying service … will be deemed to have qualified.’ The obverse of the circular bronze medal shows the uncrowned left-facing profile of King George V by Sir Bertram Mackennal. The design on the reverse consists of a laurel wreath around a depiction of a merchant ship on a stormy sea with an enemy U-boat and a sailing ship to the right. The green and red colours on the ribbon represent the starboard and port running lights of a ship, the centre white line a masthead steaming light. A total of 133,135 Mercantile Marine War Medals were eventually awarded.

ABOVE LEFT & RIGHT: The Mercantile Marine War Medal with an original issue packet. Recipients also received the British War Medal and these two medals are the typical issue for the Mercantile Marine. (HISTORIC MILITARY PRESS)

ABOVE: An Allied convoy pictured during an Atlantic crossing in 1916 or 1917. Service in coastal trades – fishermen, lightships, pilots and so on – also qualified for the award of the Mercantile Marine War Medal. (US LIBRARY OF CONGRESS)

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