DEFIED THE NAZIS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 250, 16 December 1940, Page 2

DEFIED THE NAZIS

SKIPPER OF 70 REFUSES TOf TAKE TO BOATS WHEN BOMBED SAVES TINY COLLIER Here is a story of courage an<l devotion to duty in a branch of the merchant navj' which is too seldom heard of. I stumbled across it and many another tale of heroism at sea quite accidentally, otherwise it might never have been told, states H, A. Flower in the Daily Telegraph The teller is a distinguished naval officer who, like many of his colleagues, feels that not sufficient acknowledgment is given publicly to the masters and crews of the small coastal cr*»ft.

The 70 years old skipper of a tiny collier started out from a certain port. When near the Thames Estuary—these small craft never see the wide oceans—he was attacked by Nazi planes. One bomb fell in a hold and went through the bottom of the vessel but the veteran skip-t per refused to take to his single boat He and his loyal crew beached the craft at the risk of their lives just as the propeller came out of the water and the collier was on the point of sinking. Between the tides temporary repairs were made on the beach. Arrival in. Port. The crew took the collier off again and discharged the cargo in London port according to orders. Additional repairs were effected at once, and then without an hour's leave, skip-, per and crew left for a northern port for another of the vital jobs of coal-carrying which they have carried out without break for nearly 12 months. The old skipper was urged by his crew and owners to rest for a while at the end of his trip to the north, but he insisted on carrying on. Naval officers who know of the gallant work of the men of the coastal carriers feel that the bravery and devotion to duty of this veteran would have earned him a D.S.O, had he been serving in the Royal Navy. I understand that lie has received the 0.8. E., Civil Division. CreAvs of these small craft, whose only armament is usualy a mach--ine gun, have to fight their ships almost single-handed. They treat a scrap with enemy* aircraft or a Üboat as a mere incident in the daily routine.