NAVAL BOMBARDMENT

Wairarapa Times-Age, 4 June 1940, Page 6

NAVAL BOMBARDMENT

“This was to some extent checked by the bombardment of enemy artillery positions by our naval forces. Naval bombardment also protected the flanks of the withdrawal. The enemy was active with submarines and high-speed motor torpedo-boats. Losses have been inflicted upon both these forces. The operation was rendered more difficult by shallow waters, narrow channels and strong tides. The situation was such that one mistake in handling a ship might have blocked a vital channel, or that part of the Port of Dunkirk which could be used. Nor was the weather entirely in favour of the operations. On two days, fresh north-wes-terly winds raised a surf, making work at beaches slow and difficult. Only on one forenoon did a ground mist curtail enemy air activity. SUCCESS OF SEA & AIR POWER

“A withdrawal of this nature and magnitude, carried out in face of intense and almost continuous air attack, is the most hazardous of all operations. Its success is a triumph of Allied sea and air power in face of the most powerful air forces which the enemy could bring to bear from air bases close at hand. Zeebrugge has been blocked by the sinking of concrete-filled blockships. The sea gates of the canal and the lock working mechanism have been demolished. The lock gates have been blocked. Other ports now in enemy hands have been rendered virtually useless. Fuel stocks have been destroyed.

“The losses sustained by our naval forces have been comparatively small. The loss of the destroyers Grafton, Grenade and Wakeful was announced on May 30. The destroyers. Basilisk, Keith and Havant were also sunk by enemy action. Of more than 170 minor war vessels of his Majesty’s Fleet engaged in the operations, twenty-four have been lost.”

The names of the twenty-four vessels are given.