ZEEBRUGGE RAID

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16254, 3 July 1918, Page 8

ZEEBRUGGE RAID

A SPIRITED ACCOUNT. EXPERIENCES OF A CHRIST--1 CHURCH BOY. The following spirited account of the Royal IN aval ruid on Zeebrugge was wj ibten by a CJimtciiuica boy, iaqut. L.evm iUtucxjck, yuau&w son oi iUr and alts A. ix. muiujcjv, 01 inlituortou, where they have resided uuring tUe past 24 years. Lueut. i nii.ncock was boiu in Chi istciiurch, and was educated at (Jurist's College. Jle was lor some time itegistration tilerk at tue Cwei i'ost uince, Cnristcliureh. In pre-war days he was greatly interested m motor-boat racing, and one year he won the motorboat race at Lytteiton with what was then the fastest motor-boat in New Zealand. Lieut. Hancock, when 22 years of age, enlisted in the Royal Navy Auxiliary Patrol Motor-Boat Service, in Christehurch, and left for lingland oil November 2oth, 1916. Wince then he has seen much service, but has taken - part in no operation so full of danger and excitement as the blocking of Zeebrugge, which he so graphically describes in the following lettet. (Explanation .of abbreviations: M.L.'s, motor launches; ' C.M.B.'s, control motor-boats): — To say that the submarines are only a pest would be foolish. They are a deadly menace to our winning chances, and only those whose duty it is hunting them, can know the hardness of the task of locating them in the open sea. One thing we do know, is that their chief base is at Zeebrugge, and on a smaller scale Osteud. With a change of command at Dover came _ Vice-Ad-miral Roger Keyes, who at once caused new and sure measures to be taken against the TJ-boats, the consequence being that the Hun found the English Channel to be no health resort. However, as the modern submarine can go for exceptionally long voyages, it only meant going another route to reach to open seas; therefore the Admiral, who is always in the front line when danger and daring is about, mapped out an operation agrainst Zeebrugp-e and Ostend, which has caused the British people, in fact the people of _the world, even inc'ndine the Germans, to marvel at such an audacious plan and the courage of the men who carried it through. The Admiral decided' that these Tjnses must be blocked so that no submarine can enter or leave the canals which connect them to Germany. Knowing of the powerful batteries defending these ports, bis idea was to make an artificial foe, and under its covor rush ships loaded with concrete right past the enemy forts into the entrances to the canals. Commander Brofck, well known in Enplnnd as an expert and inventor in explosives, .produced an acid whi^h.dropped into bent, mused dense foe-like pmoke. Having the smoke, the next thin'* was the bo«ts to nroduce the smoke. He picked the Mf, nnd C.M/R.'s because of their small size and speed. the M.L.'s and manv Af the C iM.B.'s are commanded hy R.N V.R. offers, not the "Pukka" R N. officer, hut "en whose keen sporting ideals hare led them to join up in a erame thev loved an& nnderstood. Needless to «ny we wem all prond to be among the chosen for a raid wfiich will trn down in historv as one of the most daring in' naval warfare.

About a month before the stunt

came off we were all ready and waiting, but several things had to be i* l our favour, namely, the wiud to take the smoke towards the land, the sea j smooth enough to allow small craft to operate,, the tide to be _ very high to give clearance over the mine-fields, an f i, lastly, the air clear to enable our aircraft to carry out bombing. On April 11th the conditions seemed ideal, Dut upon arrival at our last position before attack, roughly, 15 miles off Zeebrugge, the wind was unfavourable, so we returned to harbour. On the next afternoon we set out once more, but did • not proceed far, as the sea was verv rough. The third try is always luc&y, they say, so on April 22nd we once more set out, wishing all onr chums the very best luck as we knew we were tip against a stiff job. The seemed favourable with the Vxceptinu of the skv for our 'planes; it was decided to carry on without the preparatory air raid. Just before midnight the Admiral signalled "St. George for England," as the 23rd was St. George's Day; Captain Carpenter, of the Vindictive, replied: "I hope we give the Dragon's'' tail a damned good twist." Shortly after, we ran out of i the darkness into light from enemy star-shells, and at once "Full-speed"' was ordered.. These shells lit up. the sea for miles around, and we naturally thought the guns would open up .vny second. Our position took us right past the end of the mole, and we thought it hopeless to expect to attain it. However, just at a critical moment for us a C.M.B. rushed past giving out clouds of smoke and hid us from view. We now had our smoke going, and a dozen M.L.'s closed the shore hiding the Vindictive from the batteries. When we were close in, our division, of which we were leader, turned east and kept the screen going good and hearty. At one® the batteries woke to life, and for the next hour and a half kept up a tremendous fire. Blinded by the smoke and tot sure ofl the positions of smoke-ships, they fired mostlv in vain, although a creeping barrage threatened, at one time, to shake us up a bit. x Three shells landed within fifty yards of our bow. then one alongside our stern, so, as I had noticed the shells, fell in threes, I thought we would jget the next. However, we escaped and were one of the lucky ones. Close behind us followed the Vindictive, Iris, and Daffodil, the first an old cruiser, the others sloops carrying, roughly, about 800 men, all volunteers from the Royal Marine Light Infantry. These ships ran alongside the mole and landed itoe troops, and at once a terrific struggle took place in the fight for the forts and sheds on the mole. ' So as no' reinforcements could come along the mole, one of our old type submarines, filled with expJosive, .was driven under -he piles of a causeway connecting vhe mole with the shore. Her crew of six men got away clear in the dinghy carried for the purpose, and rowed for safety, 'being under fire from the guard on the mole. However, the guard .did not last long, - for with a tremendous explosion the submarine blew up and her work was done. From tales told afterwards the • Germans evidently thought our submarine was off her course, and they would take her crew prisoners and have a nice dew submarine to use. I think if any survived the explosidfa they must have changed thoir minds by now. The night's work was not over yet, and all the time the Vindictive's men were fighting it tvas only a plan to divert the batteries from the entrance of the three block ships. These wore tho next on the programme, and followed by two M.L.s, whose duty was to rescue tho crews, the leader charged the boom, carried away the nets guard- , ing the harbour entrance, and steamed straight for the canal gates. Unluckily tho leading ship got out of con- | trol .with a big wire hawser around her ! propellers,yind her commander was un- ! able to make the entrance of the canal, so, as the others went safely past him, he sank, his ship across the fairway. The other two steamed right into the dockgates, where they were sunk and abandoned by all. The M.L.s now took aboard air the men, and, with about 65 men on one, and 70 odd on the other, they steered for tho entrance through a peiloct hail of fire, and then cut into the Bmoke and safety. Looking back now one marvels how three old cruisers were able to go right t into the stronghold of tho Germans ! and tho crews come out alive within half-an-hour. Meanwhile the big guns were firing all sorts of shells over our heads in the attempt to find us. At 1.40 a.m., 23rd, the recall signal was fired to intimate the work of the night was over. Needless to say, we were not sorry, because j, smoking a hive of bees is risky work, I but nothing compared to smoking out i a 12in battery, in fact, holding the smoke pots right under the muzzlos al- ; most. Just as the time arrived for i the retire we saw through the smoke a I boatload of survivors, at least so they turned out to be. One of our M.L.s' | job was'" to lay a light-buoy off the en- > trance to the harbour to guide the ; block ships in. Just as they were 1 about to drop this overboard ■, three , shells hit them, one in the engine-room, j one in the chart-house, and one right ' in the bridge. Needless to say, she | got bent a bit, but they managed to | launch the dingy, place the wounded men in. leaving one man dead in the sinking boat, and row- off. While in ; the dingr several shells fell alongside, ! but luckily did not hit. It took me at least ten minutes getting theso five or j si: wounded aboard, but luckily we got ; away clear. This fact was proof, I • think, of the good job the Vindictive made of the guns on the mole fort as we had star-shells falling all around us .while we were stopped, but no shells followed. The C.O. of the rescued men turned out to be Lieut.-Commandor Young, one of the best officers, and well liked by all who knew him. His last words were not to be shifted from

tho deck, but we took him down below, only to find he was past our help. I then turned into a Red Cross purs#, and did .my besrt with an officer off the lost M.L., who, strange to say, was with Lieut.-Commander-Young, but not hit, to bathe and bind up the awftil wounds some of the crew had received f We arrived back off Dover about nine o clock, tired and anxious as to tho fate ' • i °ur division, being tho only one be> sides No. 121 to. so far return. Until daylight I was below attending to the • wounded, and when I wont on deck tho only ships in sight were the sister- - ships, Warwick and Whirlwind • The * former destroyer had the Vico-Adminl aboard, and they were both escorting' the heroic Vindictive homo. ■■■■• . With only another M.L. besides fan in sight you can imagine our feelinra w«e somewhat sad, thinking we i £ * rema >ned from 82 M.L.s 17 1 C.M.B.s, and about 20 T.B:Da Hot' ever, as we neared Cover we found ' fi* ®! ostn « * n fron > all points, and when the muster took place only one-' destroyer and two motor launches fail, ed to return, which, considering the ' task set us, was very good indeed. 1 have said nothing about the Ostend • business as I was with the Zeebrueee division, but the two block 'ships at ' Ostend did not do so well as tho one* at Zeebrugge, missing the vital chaa nel. However, it was such a darini - business wo were lucky in getting in J all. Next day we officers were allowed on board the Vindictive, and by the look of her derks she has acted im to 5t r name -i c Ylt h !,er control d«k?hS nway, and fighting top gone, she is certainly a prrm rehc of a, sea fight and the wondorful business is her getting

Neodless to say, I have a few hichly. prized mementpes from her deekß and Renr, and T hope to bring them safely . back to New Zealand with me. -I might mention that we were under : fire, but could hardly return shots witha 3-pr to abont 12iu cruns, but I thinfr we settled a senrehliVht on shorn which nicked lis ui> several times. I know our fanner is some good, and wo fired a number of rounds, after which we ! lost it Aito&tttner.

Porhans onr next- rtunt will he to smoke o"t. the hive of bees hi Helieo . - land! . Perhnns.