GALLANT PART

Wairarapa Times-Age, 6 April 1942, Page 3

GALLANT PART

PLAYED BY MOTOR BOATS AT ST. NAZAIRE NEW ZEALAND OFFICER’S STORY. HOURS SPENT IN INFERNO OF FIRE. (By Telegraph—Press Association— Copyright) LONDON, April 3. • The third officer of a motor-launch which was one of the first to arrive at St. Nazaire and the last to leave was Sub-Lieutenant G. V. Fisher, R.N.Z. V.R., Auckland. The job of the motor-launches was to draw the fire of the shore defences and shoot them up while the commandos were landing. It was Sub-Lieutenant Fisher’s first raid. He was appointed to the launch only a fortnight previously. Sub-Lieutenant Fisher said: “We had a crew of 15 and three officers, none of whom became casualties. My job was to control the fire aft. We had a 35-hour trip to St. Nazaire. “It was roughish before we reached the Bay of Biscay. Members of the crew felt suppressed excitement and cracked jokes about being a little Armada. During the afternoon and early evening we took cat naps, and then went to action stations at 11.30 p.m. “As we approached St. Nazaire, low clouds replaced the starlight. Our first intimation that we were drawing near St. Nazaire was the sight of flak against the R.A.F. bombers. We could see red, green, and yellow tracers shooting up and an occasional flash of anti-aircraft guns, or a sudden mushroom flare from the bombs. “We were right in the spearhead of the flotillas, slightly in front of H.M.S. Campbeltown. “During the next hour we crept into St. Nazaire harbour. Everything was calm, peaceful, and dark as we approached the mole unmolested, the Germans evidently thinking we were their ships. Next minute the blanketing darkness was shattered by a blaz> of searchlights which lit up the whole flotilla, vividly picking out the Campbeltown’s white ensign fluttering from the mast. Then bedlam broke out with the gun thunder. STEERING GEAR DESTROYED.. “We had our steering gear put out of action immediately'' and saw the Campbeltown pass on her way to ram the lock gate. Meantime, we were circling helplessly while putting out a hand-tiller with which to steer. “As we were circling we passed a fellow-launch whose captain cried out cheerfully, ‘Watch ’er, chum!’ to our captain. We got the tiller fixed despite a hot crossfire, then slipped past the lock gate which the destroyer Campbeltown had rammed. “We shot up gun posts and searchlights with our three-pounder and Lewis guns. It was general strafe. Sometimes we would be caught in the rays of the searchlight for a minute which seemed an hour, while the tracers ricochetted from all parts of the launch’s structure, causing many holes above the waterline.” “One incendiary bullet started a fire in the engine-room, but we quickly put it out. We took evasive action the whole time, changing our speed, twisting and dodging. “It was complicated by having to turn right round to bawl instructions to the man working the hand tiller. Meanwhile, the work of the commandos ashore was shown by the terrific explosions above the roar and clatter of guns of every calibre. A German camouflaged merchantman caused one of the biggest explosions when it blew up with a shattering din. EXCHANGE IN PARTING. “We left after two hours of solid firing which we have every reason to believe was very effective, then we crept down harbour, receiving and returning the parting fire from a flakship. We drew its whole fire, being the last launch to leave, but our reply quieted it. “There was an awkward moment when we could not decide whether the launch ahead was an E-boat, but it was one of ours, so we followed it out into the Atlantic’s peaceful and restful silence. “During our return trip we saw a Beaufighter shoot down a German bomber, but unfortunately the Beaufighter collided with the bomber and they both went into the sea. We eventually reached port, and it was the loveliest sight to see England’s shore again.” Sub-Lieutenant Fisher arrived in England in December, 1940, and trained as a rating on H.M.S. Ganges, then went to sea for six months, serving in H.M.S. Sikh during the hunt for the Bismarck. Sub-Lieutenant Fisher was also in the Sikh when she was protecting an important Mediterranean convoy in September, 1941. He was educated at the Seddon Memorial Technical College.