iv THE ZEEBRUGGE RAID ANNIVERSARY SUPPLEMENT, NAVY NEWS, APRIL 2008
marina Continued from page iii
staggered around the converted ferry
shellshocked. The mortar crew were
all dead. In fact, everywhere George
Calverley cast his eyes, there were
dead and dying men. The former
were lined up side-by-side on the
deck; the latter were cared for as best
the survivors could manage.
LIMPING HOME
‘A FRIGHTFUL SHAMBLES’
Battered and scarred, HMS Vindictive
steamed into Dover shortly after 8am.
Her ship’s company immediately
began clearing the dead and wounded.
“We had no time to separate the dead
from the living,” engineer William
Bury recalled. “The upper deck was
a dreadful sight – truncated remains,
sand bags, blackened corpses.”
Ambulances carried the injured away
– more than 200 men in all. For the
dead, there were trucks to carry their
lifeless bodies to Dover’s mortuary.
As Vindictive arrived beneath the
imposing yet reassuring white cliffs
● A German marine guards Sgt Harry Wright and comrades, captured on the Mole
of the Kentish coast, the dozen Royal
Marines seized on the Mole were
the men had left it: the kit bags were The Admiralty communiqué was wounded leading the
lined up against a wall in full view
still piled up at one end. Twenty-four no less disingenuous. “The canal is platoons ashore – and
of hundreds of Germans and Belgian
men had walked out of the room the effectively blocked,” it declared. It Sgt Norman Finch –
forced labourers.
day before. Just 11 returned. “There was at least accurate in admitting that wounded directing the
Harry Wright expected to be
were no jokes, no silly quips in the Zeebrugge had been a bloody affair. guns in Vindictive’s
shot at any moment but instead, his
room that night,” the Royal Marine “Many were killed and more were foretop – received the
captors wheeled out a large camera;
remembered. “On looking around I wounded,” the statement conceded, most votes.
the picture of the tin-hatted English
began to realise how fortunate I had yet throughout “the men were In the wake of
prisoners, some wounded, some
been.” Calverley enjoyed his first magnificent”. It continued: Zeebrugge, the
defiant, all tired, all dirty, all slightly
meal in 24 hours, soaked in a warm Admiralty was
dishevelled, would be reproduced
bath and went to bed. Where every moment had fulsome in its
around the world.
its deed and every deed its praise and lavish in
The marines were led along the GLORIOUS FAILURE
hero, a recital of acts of valour awarding honours.
Mole, over the makeshift bridge of
becomes a mere catalogue. Eight men
planks and wires which spanned the
‘THE MEN MAGNIFICENT’
received the nation’s
gap blown by C3, and into the port.
Britain’s newspapers did not mind. highest award for
“Windows and doors were blown
ENGLISH ‘WHOPPERS’
They recited those acts of valour gallantry: like
in and bricks and mortar were lying
week after week in the spring of 1918. Capt Bamford and
all over the place,” Wright recalled. The men on the Mole bore the brunt
“Instead of being only magnificent Sgt Finch, Capt
“There was not a window anywhere of the casualties at Zeebrugge. In
and not war,” wrote The Observer, Alfred Carpenter
that was not broken.” all, the raid had cost 170 dead, more
“it was magnificent and the soul of earned his
than twice as many wounded, and 45
war,” while the Daily Mail celebrated Victoria Cross by
Ronald Boddie enjoyed a hot bath missing. But to what end?
“an immortal deed”. There were ballot after setting
aboard the depot ship Arrogant in Throughout the morning a
hastily-published propaganda books “a magnificent
Dover, dined on a fine breakfast, succession of RAF bombers flew
– How We Twisted the Dragon’s example”. Another
and dashed off a curt telegram to his above Zeebrugge, dropping bombs
Tail, and The Glory of Zeebrugge ballot winner was
family: Work completed, all well. on German troops and Belgian
and The Vindictive. And there was the “very gallant”
His friend William Bury was forced workers clearing up after the
fulsome praise from the premier, AB Albert McKenzie who continued
already in the bar of the Burlington, a Navy’s raid. Cameras on the aircraft
Lloyd George. “Every child knows to wield his machine-gun “to the
towering yet rather gaudy hotel which whirred and clicked. The flak guns
the story of Zeebrugge, the one naval utmost advantage” despite being
ground, posed for a formal portrait, Belgian king when the Germans
dominated the Dover seafront. surrounding the Mole barked. The
exploit of the war that moved and wounded as he stormed the Mole.
and enjoyed tea served by the wives invaded – a mission which lasted
Perhaps it was the alcohol, or aircraft jinked, then turned out to sea
still moves the imagination of the George Bradford faced “certain
of officers. only as long as the Belgians held
perhaps it was the adrenaline still before returning to base.
nation,” he wrote. “Sir Roger Keyes, death” trying to hook HMS Iris to the
With that, the Zeebrugge raid was out: three weeks. More aptly, he
rushing through his veins, but Bury The films were rushed to dark
the admiral who directed the attack, Mole; he had shown “absolute self-
finally over for George Calverley. He was named the first Director of
made “an unnecessarily rude remark rooms. As the technicians began
had the unmistakable Nelson touch.” sacrifice”. Lt Cdr Arthur Harrison
drew his pay and travel warrant and Combined Operations – largely
to the barmaid”; she gave as good as to develop them, three large forms
The tubthumping was all a bit led an assault party against the
thanks to Zeebrugge. He laid the
she got, sending the officer scurrying became evident in the entrance to the
too much for Pte James Feeney. “To guns at the tip of the Mole “with
headed off on seven days’ leave.
foundations for modern amphibious
“with a flea in his ear”. canal: two at an angle in the neck,
those blessed quill-drivers, I should indomitable resolution and courage
and commando operations, but
Ejected from the Burlington, a third almost perpendicular to the
like to see them on a stunt like that,” of the highest order”; he was killed
Harry Wright spent the rest of the war
quarrelled regularly with fellow
William Bury returned to his ship entrance.
he fumed. while every one of his men was
as a guest of the Kaiser. He returned
senior officers. His tenure lasted less
accompanied by his friend. Vindictive, To the untrained eye it appeared
killed or wounded with him. Richard
to active duty a generation later
than 18 months.
Ronald Boddie remembered, “was a as if the bottle was corked. The
He wasn’t the only one fuming. The Sandford had “eagerly” led HMS
serving in Defensively-Equipped
Keyes spent much the remainder
frightful shambles”. All her crew senior German naval officer, Admiral
men of the Marinekorps Flandern C3 on her “hazardous enterprise” to
Merchant Ships providing protection
of the war on goodwill tours of the
had left her. Only dockyard workers Ludwig von Schröder – Löwe von
bristled. The rather terse communiqué blow up the viaduct. Lastly, Lt Percy
for vessels running the gauntlet of
Americas and Commonwealth. He
were aboard now, hosing down the Flandern, Lion of Flanders – toured
issued by their masters conveyed Dean commanded Motor Launch
the Nazi blockade around the British
died on Boxing Day 1945 aged 73.
blood-stained decks and bulkheads the scene of battle. He was perturbed
little, if anything, of their heroics 282 “in a most magnificent and
Isles.
He is buried at Dover alongside the
and gathering up dozens of blood- by the sight of the blockships, their
that night. Worse still, it failed to heroic manner” to rescue the crews
dead of the Zeebrugge raid.
soaked uniforms which they tossed masts and superstructure peeping
convey the simple fact: for all the of blockships Intrepid and Iphigenia.
Fate was not especially kind to the
six survivors of the raid to receive
in a corner. above the water in the entrance to
bravery, for all the skill, for all the There were scores of other awards:
The living of Zeebrugge continued
the canal.
improvisation of the British, their DSOs, DSCs, DSMs. Dozens of
the Empire’s highest honour. Albert
McKenzie fell victim to the influenza
to gather at the foot of the Mole each
It was mid-afternoon before HMS His fears were soon allayed as
plan had failed. participants received mentions in
epidemic which ravaged the world
year well into the 1980s. Each April
Iris limped into Dover. Two trains two torpedo boats skilfully squeezed
Instead, the world – even the dispatches. There were even 19 Croix
– he died barely a week before
23 they laid wreaths at the monument
– one an ambulance – waited on the between the hulks and headed out
German public – preferred to de Guerre conferred on the heroes of
the Armistice was signed; Richard
to the fallen in front of the Hotel de
quayside. The wounded were taken into the North Sea. A U-boat soon
believe the British faustdicke Lügen Zeebrugge by the French.
Sandford died of typhoid fever
la Victoire. They filed to a nearby
to Chatham’s naval hospital. The followed them.
– whoppers – seethed Vizeadmiral And there were more personal
before the year was out; and Edward
church for a service in both Flemish
uninjured waited for trucks to ferry
Hermann Jacobsen, the official mementoes. Chief Stoker Alfred
and English, then marched outside
them back to barracks in Deal. Four In Room 40, the Admiralty’s famed
chronicler of the Marinekorps Sago was among those whose
Bamford succumbed to a mysterious
where children laid a flower on the
wagons turned up. Only two were cryptology section, the decoders
Flandern.
name went forward in the ballot
illness contracted on active service in
grave of the dead of St George’s Day.
required. listened for tell-tale signals. They
“This web of lies was spun so
from HMS Vindictive for the VC; it
the Far East in 1928. Alfred Carpenter
If the breeze was stiff, the veterans’
George Calverley went straight soon arrived. Barely had Keyes
cleverly that long after the war,
went to Albert McKenzie, but Sago
headed across the Atlantic on a
standard would billow furiously: a
to his barrack room. returned to port than his masters
the English depict the operation
lecture tour before he held a series
was awarded the DSM. Much more
White Ensign adorned with a dragon
It was just as knew the raid had failed.
at Zeebrugge as an exploit and
of staff appointments and commands
treasured, however, was a quart rum
with a twisted tail.
The Admiralty had learned the
shining victory in film, pictures and
at sea, rising to vice admiral. He
measure, with a hole on one side
lessons of Jutland, however. A belated
writing.”
was pressed into action once again
and a large chunk missing from the
and lacklustre communiqué in the
To the public, a picture spoke
in World War 2, this time in charge
other.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
wake of the clash of dreadnoughts
a thousand words. They could see
of a Home Guard detachment in
His family came to know it, in his
had seriously undermined the public
the blockships sunk in the canal’s
Gloucestershire. Percy Dean served,
later life as a publican in Suffolk,
Compiled by Richard Hargreaves.
mood – and faith in the Navy.
entrance.
briefly, as Conservative MP for his
simply as ‘grandad’s mug’. It sat on
With thanks to Katherine Phillips at the
Jutland had been a strategic
It wasn’t just the public who
native Blackburn after the war; he Department of Documents, Imperial
the sideboard, stuffed with pencils.
victory. A costly one, to be sure,
were swayed by the sight of these
died six months before war engulfed War Museum, Capt Christopher Page
For whatever reason, as his shipmates
and one whose effects were not
sunken leviathans. A procession
Europe again. Norman Finch served at the Naval Historical Branch, Paul
filed off the Vindictive in Dover, the
immediately apparent, but a victory
of senior German officers visited
in the Corps on and off for the next Hederer, an expert on Germany in
senior rating grabbed the battered jug
all the same.
Zeebrugge. Most possessed little, if
quarter of a century, passing away in the Great War, Ian Aldred for details
as a reminder of that fateful night.
Zeebrugge had been costly too;
any, knowledge of the sea. They
Portsmouth in 1966. of his grandfather Alfred Sago, and
It wasn’t the only unusual object
it had also been a failure. Telling
could not comprehend how these
Doug Turk of HMS Morecambe
picked up as a keepsake. A chunk of
the public as much, their lordships
steel monsters had penetrated the
Roger Keyes never did bottle up Bay Association for details and
harbour. The blockships should have
wood, shot off CMB 22B as she was
the beast in his lair. Nor too did
reasoned, would do nothing for
photographs of his father and the
been blasted out of the water long
raked by fire off the Mole, landed at
he ever let go of his belief that
British morale, still rocky after the
role of CMB 22B.
before they threatened to block the
Edward Turk’s feet. He held on to it
Kaiser’s spring offensives on the
the raid had imprisoned U-boats In addition, the following books
canal.
– so too a box of matches he’d had
Western Front.
in their concrete den. Ironically have been consulted:
in his pockets, and a ‘certificate for
Instead, the raid at Zeebrugge
it was the other methods he had
wounds and hurts’, signed by his
introduced which truly strangled
Bartz, Karl, Zeebrügge: Der englische
was trumpeted for what it was FOR VALOUR
commanding officer the day after
the Unterseebootsflotille Flandern.
Angriff auf die deutsche U-Boot-Basis
– an heroic deed in the finest
the battle.
Fewer and fewer boats dared to run
Greal, Stephen, Zeebrugge & Ostend
traditions of the Royal Navy
MEMENTOES OF BATTLE
Raids
– and also for what it was not
the gauntlet of the Strait of Dover. In
Holloway, S M, From Trench and Turret
Four days after the raid, George
– an out-and-out success. Years
the six months after the St George’s Jacobsen, Admiral Hermann, Trutzig und
THE TWISTED TAIL Calverley returned to Chatham. A
later, newspapermen, books, even
Day assault, half the boats at Bruges Treu: Kämpfe der Deutschen Marine
band waited in the port’s railway
were destroyed on operations; a
an Flanderns Küste 1914-1918
Keyes himself, would insist the
On the morning of Wednesday
station to welcome the marines home.
dozen fell victim to Keyes’ Dover
Lake, Deborah The Zeebrugge and Ostend
canal had been blocked.
April 24, L/Cpl George Calverley
A large crowd, too, had gathered.
Patrol.
Raids 1918
“They blocked it so neatly, so
As the doors on the carriages
Liddle, Peter, The Sailor’s War 1914-18
effectively, that it will be utterly
mustered for roll call with the rest of Keyes himself would rise to
Marder, Arthur J, From the Dreadnought
his company. He looked up and down
opened, the crowd rushed the train.
useless as a submarine base for many
become Admiral of the Fleet. He
to Scapa Flow, volume 5
months to come,” Vindictive’s Capt
the line. Of the 13 men in his section,
Some wanted to celebrate, most commanded the battle-cruiser force,
Pitt, Barrie, Zeebrugge
Alfred Carpenter proclaimed on his
a mere three were fit for duty. wanted to know what had happened then the Mediterranean Fleet, and
Snelling, Stephen, The Naval VCs of
return to a naval journalist.
With the names taken, the men to their husbands, fathers, brothers. finally Portsmouth Command. He
World War I
were told to vote. Two marines The throng eventually dispersed. rose no higher. The post of First Sea
Thompson, Julian, The Imperial War
would earn the Victoria Cross, one The marines fell in and marched Lord was denied him and in 1931,
Museum Book of the War At Sea 1914-
1918
through Chatham to their barracks, he retired.● Vindictive’s Capt Alfred officer, one from the ranks. It was
Warner, Philip, The Zeebrugge Raid
Carpenter VC poses after the for the survivors to decide. The cheered all the way by onlookers. War saw him recalled to military
Wright, Harry, The Memoirs of Sergeant
raid with the ship’s cat names of Capt Edward Bamford – The men halted on the parade duty. He served as liaison to the Harry Wright
ZZeebrugge.indd 4eebrugge.indd 4 117/3/08 14:42:037/3/08 14:42:03
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