199505 VE-Day Supplement by Navy News

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LATE on the night of May 7 1945 - more than .e i. se rer eight hours after man General Alfred JodI signed his country's surrender document ' . British Ire . k, the ig..ters Avondale Park and Sneland were torpedoed by U-2336 within sight of home ' They were the last victims of the U-boat war. The next day the people of London and of cities the length and breadth of the country were dancing in the- streets. - -:

The circumstances of the of Park and Sneland typified the despeA rate nature of the struggle to fl ,*& keep Britain sea lanes open j - a war of survival that had ebbed and flowed for five -years, nine months, five days, 13 hours and one minute.

A whimsical vision of victory winch appeared on the front cover of the June 1945 issue of the naval magazine "The Oiiiybox". a forerunner of Navy News. I-

1 -

loss

Avondale

It was a conflict that had resulted in the destruction of more than 20,000 Allied muchant vessels and more than 250 major warships, quite

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The fountains of Trafalgar Square were a natural

locus for the rejoicing crowds on May 8. iwu span from many hundreds of smaller ships - escorts, minesweepers. landing craft document which would bring steam for victory. It was a toy. and coastal patrol vessels, otis moment a sate moment peace to Europe. - but everyone knew that the Casualties in the war On the dawn of May 8 The against Germany and her celebrations, while sweet, Daily Mirror kept its promise 10 completely disrobe its norwould have to be shortEuropean allies included more thethan 47.000 RN personnel mally - scantily-clad cartoon Britain and her allies had killed theroine uane missing, with almost without. still to resolve a cruel conflict 29.000 members of the Metseems, any fear of prosecuon the other side of the lobe chant Service sharing their where the fighting and sufferfate. Hundreds of thousands of lng were continuing. They people gathered in central braced themselves for what __________ iLondon. splashed otrttheir joy all expected to be the in the fountains, waved flags bloodiest bathes yet the There was much left to do in King." they - a Europe. too Europe thronged outside Buckingham the most saydevastated died in by had Palace to cheer VI Many major George actions and were mourned by age war in history and by murand Prime Minister Winston darous tyranny. In the midst of the whole nation - as in the Churchill. that chaos, would all the Ger. - sinking of the battlecruiser mans surrender as ordered HMS H-nod in which more than S or would fanatical elements of 1,400 perished in a cataclys$ their land, sea and air forces "This is your victory, Churmic there were others who ware casualties of chill told them. "In all our long put up a last'ditch resistance? No one knew for certain. smaller actions, in smaller history we have never seen a ships whose passing amid the greater day than this. The first U-boat to sun-ennews of bigger events elseThe reveries continued der at Portland on May 10 was where made no headlines, followed by a steady stream through a night strangely illuThe destruction of Avondale minated after years of blackof enemy submarines giving Park and Sneland, one mile out. With the darkness sudthemselves up tamely. With a off the Isle of May in the Firth mixture of relief and wariness, denly a memory, bonfires, of Forth, were two such and the Royal Navy's escort ships floodlights searchlights, that went blazed and danced. And in all losses virtually kept their guns loaded and the ports in all the land, ships' unnoticed. All attention was focused on the drying ink of a sirens hooted, letting off " Turn to next page.

lion.---

Anton Hanney

explosion:

'Your

Cheers, tears and then a riot of light!

'Y N EVS Vl Sl. PPl.ltiI NI 1495

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ON VE DAY the nation went wild. Harold ONcill had just arrived at London Bridge station and was swept along by a tremendous crowd of .................. people, With him was his wife and some of his shipmates. dripping wet alter celebrating by playing fire hose's on each other at Queenborough station on the Thames Estuary. After the announcement that morning that the European s WAS over thcy had been given a day's leave from their motor minesweepers. O"Ncill had called for hs wife who loved in Queenborough and they had all headed lot central London 'teryonc danced, sang. huged each other," he recalls "1 he feeling of relief was

'The unconditional surrender of our enemies was the signal for the greatest outburst of joy in the history of Mankind,' - Sir Winston Churchill.

car inching its was through the crowds towards the palace. As the car passed close by he stepped on to the running board and clasped the Prime Minister's hand before a police ho.c edged him genus 4s1dr.

crwticlniing"

Pails of beer Thcs tried to make iheir Avenue hut op SPial'tcshur were presented by a mass ut people tring to dance to the music of' an American arms band on the balcon of the Rainbow Club iticy revellers going h) equipped with of beer, replenishing their giasse's from the buckets as thc went

pails

"Eventually we ended up the Ousen Victoria monument in front of Bucklnghem Palace 'wt*n Royal Family with Winston Churchill appeared on the The crowd balcony. cheered hoarse."

themselves

Crowds gather around N*lsOn, column to speech relayed over loudspeakers.

hair

Churchill

Hugh pentlcv was also in the crowd alter hating absconded from the RN Hospital (Iillingtiant where he A.1% p'otted (lturchill\

trettcd I Ic

licifir.

Harold O'NinH ,,. 'the feeling of relief was overwhelmIng" Mnc Derek Allen was up a lamppost watching tens of thousands of strangers dancing. 5jfling. hugging. kissing and crying with joy. In lisde Park he with essd American soldiers with the stoking huge door., thcs had ripped from their hotel rooms In Plrmouth the celebrations went with a swing until at 9.30 pm the beer ran out in the naval barracks. What followed was reported by the- Daily Es' press the nest mornng. Frustrated aulors smashed J,rscs in the canteen and made

bonfires

an unsuccessful rush to raid the runs locker, shattering windows in the process. An officer who mcd to stop them was jostled aside and a mob of about 150 moved off to sh.ren the detention block in a had to free the inmates. A jeep was overturned and a light with armed guards ensued, The Es' press reported that as a result 4 sailors were hospitalised -

three basing received bayonet sounds and II suffering from ';itnfl Injuries. Fortunat.4y the celebration. were nowhere near as extreme everywhere. But after lOng years of war. of Sifikifigs arid bombings, sitocs arid on occasion officers - were ready to let go the end, sometimes in dramatic fashion, was ERA Robert Murph serving in a Canadian-built Bangor-class minesweeper which on VI Day was bcnhed alongside the battleship HMS Ramillies in Portsmouth harhour. As he and his messmaucs turned in for the night they were disturbed by a lot of shouting from Ranuillies quarterdeck, Apparently a welloiled Canadian lieutenant Eforn the sweeper had got on board the battleship and as an admiral came over the brow the officer greeted bins with the shout: "hello you old basket'." He thumped the horrified flag officer on the back and bel. lowed "We'vc done a - good job heiween us!' The Royal Marines sentries shared the admiral's lack of amusement and within two minutes the over-familiar officer was under open arrest in the wardroom where apparenils he consumed more gin, took a bite out f his glass, chewed up the fragments and swallowed them,

ready as they led their former enemies into Captivity. Meanwhile, naval farces bound for Copenhagen and bases Germany's Baltic approached their task pre-

pared for the possibility of renegade snacks. But herb was no significant defiance of the surrender terms. Germany

was exhausted in soul.

body and

Minefields There was one type of enemy, however, which could not be ordered to yield. The ninefleids were still theta and *1111 potent, covering vast areas of sea and perpetuating the dangers along hundred. of miles of coastline that we. formerly part of Hitters Thousands of mines, each with the power to sink a ship, lay in the path of Bt*lain'i liberating flotillas, The Royal Navy warships anroute to Denmark were still in danger-

ous waters and had to have their way cleared by minesweepers. Although the shooting war

l'ar away in the Admiralty i lands another black corned)' was being played out on board the cruiser IIMS Newfound. land. Lit John Arihur RNVR had retired alter a pleasant evening's celebration when shortly after midnight he was awoken by the cry "Man overboard!" An Australian rating who had been in the sick bay had been fed rum b his shipmates. He quickly became as cheerful as a newt, eventually tottering oft' to the heads where the smell reminded him of the Sydney fen. Forgetful of his geographical position he leapt overboard in an attempt to see his girlfriend Fortunately for him he was rescued before he went Down Under in a way he never intended, Lost Across the globe ,,atiors celebrated in traditional style South Afncans in Scotland. and Scott in South Africa. Ken Campbell. a Rhodesian. was lost and alone in Glasgow The 19-year-old had been separated from his shipmates - but was quickly befriended by a group of dcgantls dressed people who cook him to their Kuihergien home where he was rusatls treated. II recalls that his wealthy boils used their influence to get him srs hours more shore leave from his ship. IIMSAS 7ransvajl, which enabled him to stay overnight Knuckles In Durban Scottish sailor Jimmy Brown of the convoy eseort llMS Le 1 igcr celebrated VE Day early -- on May 7 with his shipmates at a funfair. ending the night in traditional form and well into the small hours. In Belfast, PD Roy Emmungton remembers that it was "blood and knuckles" on VI Night as he and the rest of the men from the four escort groups in harbour outnumbered the girls of the city sis to oneAt IIMS James Cook, the na vigation school at 'iigtinahruaich in the Kyle.. of Hute,

was over in Europe, there would still be losses among the mines. The, minesweeper HMS Prompt was irreparably damaged on May 9; three days liter a mutor gunboat on route from Aberdeen to the Bathe was mined. A motor torpedo boat was sunk by an explosion off Norway on May 19. On June 25 a motor minesweeper was destroyed in Genoa harbour. In July a trawler was blown up by a mine probably laid by U-21$ which had surrendered more than Iwo months before. But there was no longer the whoiesle destruction of wart no more wolf packs, no more droning Doodt.buga or silent V2 rockets that brought mass death ins~ and without warning.- There was still raand there would be tioning for years to come - but the Skies were clear and the task of reconstnactlon could begin. Without the fear of bombs end starvation Bittain could, to use Churchill's words, in' duig. peacefully In its finest investment - putting milk into babies.

'VY SEWS VE SUPPLEMENT 1995

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estab-lishment. Li Kenneth Scott RNVR remembers that in the course of the proceedings spontaneous m.nt broke out with the company Indulging in unscheduled water sports and skylarlilng in boats on Loch Ridden.

Meanwhile,, in the elegant Palm Court atmopherc of (flcnburn Hvdro, there was in

pub

during

the

'JE Day

Beacon

ships

Some of the guests joined in and a bonfire was hi assisted h gallons of petrol. The nest morning the ('0. a strict teetotaller, took his revenge by mak. ing the whole ship's company - officers included - under. take a vigorous PT session at 0800.

fl J

-Rothea and headed straight for the (ilenburn hotel. As the stately cocktail bar of the Victorian edifice became more and more enlivened by noisy, and happy Service men and women, hotel residents either retreated to their rooms and locked themselves in or joined the large, rowdy party.

the commanding Iuiccr LOUHCI that things didn go entirel) to plan when he invited some toeels from the village for refresh. merit, and a tour of the

- won a bright victory at a Scottish hotel. outbreak of civil d,bedicncc Surgeon Lt Eric Morton RNVR of the "Woolworth" carrier FIMS Battkr had gone ashore with many of his shipmates to

As the celebrations continued into the-nigh, a sudden decision wjs made to draw back the hcais curtains after a jovial submariner announced that as the war was oser the blackout was no longer neces" ssr. Eric Morton remembets that to resounding cheers the (ilenbum Fldro became a bcjcon of shining over the town and the Firth of Clyde. This was too much for a special constable who, bent on restoring the rule of law, en-

light

[eyed the s4.cfle and demanded that the tlsdro "Put that light He was met bv deliriously happy defiance. Undaunted, he tried 10 arrest the submariner - which proved a mistake. Surrounded by a determined throng of celebrants his whistle was confiscated followed h his peaked cap. lie was gcnth restrained until he agreed to depart peacefully. "The memo,of that VE night remains clear to this said Morton. "It is day," the sight of a circle of triumphant. singing. cheering. uniformed revellers dancing round an unhappy. dishesetled. hatless and thoroughly offended special constabte who had failed, despite his best cndcavour, to restore a totally unnecessary blackout in a fairly, remote hotel in a Europe no longer at war. Victors was. Our"

Eric

The lights go up again in Piccadilly Circus.

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March of triumph

A Royal Navy contingent passes the rubble that was once Hitters Chancellery after taking part In the Allied victory parade in Berlin.

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Algi

While crowds celebrated at hone

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u o officers nutit me white Ensign over the rMegsmafln, flag on board a German E-boat. She was one of the email vessels the German. operated In the Adriatic end which were taken into the Italian port of Ancone after eurrendr.

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1111

ena

THE DANGERS of war did not end for all when peace broke out in Europe. Apart from the forces still facing a formidable task against the Japanese, there were those in Europe, too, whose celebrations were muted as their ships operated upon mine-filled seas In which U-boats still lurked.

In an emergency hospital bed in Russia there was no

llct commanding officer, Lt dr John (lower. rememben th4i she carried the sobriIlucl lucky Orwell. having steamed I l).000 miles. without serious daitage since she was commit,inned in 1942, Sshe had escorted no fewher than 16 Arctic convoys and in I'43 took part in the Nornandy invasion.

celebration for Telegraphist Harry Carter. Just over a week before he had been seriously wounded when his ship, HMS Goodall. becarne the last British frigate last destroyed during the Arctic convoy action of the war. More than two-thirds at Carter's shipmates had died when Goodall was iorpedoc.I by U-968 on April 29 off the lola Inlet. "The U-boats acre waiting for us." said Jim Raynes, a signalman in the frigate HMS Anguilb. "Ii was very nasty" Ills shock at seeing (ksodall engulfed in a mass of flames was deepened by the fact that just two days earlier the two vessels had fielded football teams to play in the Russian snow.

Courageous After all (hove on board the blazing frigate who could be saved Wrv rescued. Anguilla provided the coup de grace to the stricken ship. Carter and other survivors were picked u in a courageous action by HM

Honeysuckle. "Without their efforts the casualty List would have been much higher." he

recalls. Suffering from burns and broken limbs. Harry Carter spent May 8 flat on his back. being nourished via a feeding cup and having three-hourly injections of penicillin day and night. Meanwhile, the Russians around him did not believe the

Iw I.--

Because of uncertainty as to her the U-boats would surrender peaceably. merchant ships were still sailing in conand when HMS Queen returned to Scapa there c.i %Iill no shore leave for Roy Williams. The carrier was ordered so join the Il-strong escort for one of the fast Arctic convoys comprising 26 merchantntcn

no-

Jim Baynes ... witnessed one of the last tragedies of the European war at sea. war was over - they were not given the news officially, until two days after the British patients were told. There was precious little celebration. either, for PO radar mechanic Roy Williams lie was disappointed to find his the escort earner ElMS ship, Queen, spending the day at sea, covering the naval forces approaching Copenhagen. Days before. HMS Queen had been one of Vice Admiral McGrigor's three escort carriers which undertook one of the last Home Fleet actions of the war on May 4. In a raid on Kilbotn near Narvik, aircraft from the earner group sank Uill and a submarine depot ship. Among the other ships which had taken part in that raid were those of she 17th flotilla, including HMS Orwell which spent a dull VE Day at her buoy in Scapa Flow.

Destroyer

v)I ,

Missed parties

Vt Day was "just another day" to Signalman 'John Stew-arc in the flower-class corvc(tc IIMS Bellwort. Despatched from Gibraltar to Listo receive the surrender of a U-boat, the crew's hopes of shore leave in the Portuguese capital came to nought. HMS Icarus, too, missed the "party of the century" in Mil. ford Haven, Lt Cdt Amonr (Wally) Hammond remembers that the destroyer had to put in to the Haven to refuel while csconing a coastal convoy up the Irish Sea to Liverpool and the Clyde. About an hour before they reached harbour the peace announcement was made. At Mil. ford boozers were being sounded continually and the noise was deaftning- Other

bon

"ships'

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Not a group of lap Germans, but Royal Navy Coastal Forces ratings trying on Some enemy kit for size. Ta, weapons and equipment were piled in after being Unloaded from SwTSndWj vesil" which the enemy had operated In the Adriatic,

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Navy had its work cut out in a sea of dangers

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;

decks

were

tiring rockets and in every case the erc crowded with cheer-

ing sailors. mostly with a bottle in hand."

mates rowed round the harbour late at niht: for what reason ' can't say. On the Patrol 11MS

vessel

As lcanis took on her oil her ship's company were looking forward to joining in the cetebration. Then came the signal them that tinuc

Scabcilc sailor Ron (,ibbcns and his shipmates felt forgo,ten. They had been transferred from 11MS Danac to man the

which told

ncoss would con-

escorted

until

festive merchant chips to return to their consos.

Frustration

seyside celebrated After a dconsolate hill sing-song on the

turned in rest was to be

mall

'A petty officer woke us to tell us that we were going to sea, said Len "hlphick. an AB in the- Mermaid. "A German

Ron Gibbens remembers receiving only one food parcel a cake. which was shared

sighted off the south coast of Ireland and e

were being sent io find her.

Hinton

also

girls waiting."

her Afls. Allan Halfpenny. it:that h was on duty on board :ind Flieecier imild ns

two small bottles of beer.

551

wonder how the, came 10 reach us so quickly irom seemingly there was no splicing of the mainbrace either at the naval airfield of liStS Garuda in Southern India. recalls that

Snitter

"there were no guts Tony

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German E-boats surrender at HMS Hornet, Gosport.

TASKPlan,ORPresent RESOURCE SCHEDULES? and Communicate with the "NEW GENERATION" a ói&1tà'effectively systems..

lost a shipmate in a boat accudent at night.

Action stations The flotilla had been ordered

Occurred and we each recciscu

we might have had and all Faraway in Aiesandria there was frustration, too, in the destroyer HMS R'icests-r. One of

John

miracle

and

sub had been

those lovely

CP'O

Io'cslc. the sailors

"We steamed off into the remainder of Cm night, thinking of the run esisore

-5 -

ing his salute in an otherwise deserted reading room.

carafe

troyer". her chip's company, marooned at anchor while Mci-

brief.

played an imaginary trumpet. another wearing his ingate" hat marched round and round the table, and I stood on it tak-

we sat

Meanwhile in Liverpool. IIMS Mermaid wjs "duiv dc-c-

their

loft forgotten in Colombo, Seabetle. a yacht converted for the Ceylon. "Off duly in in Gulf. the Persian patrol messthere was a celebra' two from For .cars March of beer, bottle tory ji44 they endured the heal. doubling the weekly ratIon. and boredom of chose privation listening to news waters. Fresh waler was for bulletins of the cilebra arid drink. hand-washing only tions at horns and could ung. Men showered in salt not help feeling they were water. Drinking water was somewhat premature obtained by ecalrdlofl in The men of mineswceppn giant terracotta kept on flotillas could be 1oriscn if the upper deck. there was no they shared that sentiment In refrigerator for the ralinga, no HMS TCnbS' of the Ninth M/S soft drinks, no fresh milk, and flotilla ce'lbralions on May vers' little fresh food, most of were subdued They were in their supplies being canned. Norwegian waters to begun the sweepofthousands ofminesa sobering prospect in itself and the day before they had There was no encerlainmenl.

further notte, They turned around glumly and passed the

below. But

\ -

mess-deck fan. port to sound oil her siren as her engines were shut down. "Instead, to celebrate and "Mself and some of ms relieve the boredom an opp

and

from the AdmiraIt

4%5

on the

A wary Oertikon gunner keeps his weapon trained on U-1305 Ris aurrandera in Loch Eriboll north coast of Scotland. rwu ships flares

-h

to dance with, no streets worth speaking of to thncr in, and no

to cross the still hostile North Sea on May I in reparation

for the liberation orsor'iay. Reaching the mouth of the

Bergen.

rd that leads to ship prepared to s the Cit. Suddenly jib

the to

(

who was below

decks beard a ship's klaxon calina hands to action stations. am

ering

%he

upper

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01 theto Kriegsrnanne ofas German outwhiletheadisposition rninetieids end coast KapiLan Kruger points in a British officer Wren acts The naval def"nc.s naval German Norway interpreter. do~~ arrived in Scotland airto meat BrItish officers on board end the battleby Norwegian cruiser HMS Renown, iwu

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AVY NEWS VE SJt'I'IEMENi 19

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My U-boat men. - Six years of U-boat war lie behind us. You have fought like lions. A crushing material superiority has forced us into a narrow area. A continuation of our fight from the remaining bases is no longer possible. - Grand Admiral Karl Doenitz in an order of May 4. 1945 THE SIJKRLNDER or

the

When thE

U-

boats was final confirmation that the convoy battles, which had cost so many lives in the Atlantic. the Arctic and elsewhere. were over. It had been a losing campaign for the (icrmans for at least two years. 32,000 of their submariners perishing in the attempt to strangle Britain.

came in li 11

On May 8 the surviving boats remaining at sea were ordered, under the terms of surrender, to proceed on the surface, report their pennant number and position to Allied radio stations, fly a large black flag. show lights at night and dispose of all ammunition. to They were inatnicted to remote Loch Enboll on the north coast of Scotland. where the ships of the 1st Ficon Group would be waiting for them - -

I-

proceed

The bloc

at Lochalsh where they were decommis WflICd.' be taid One of the Byron ratings sent to hoard U-1009 was ho John Cutsningham. At the time there was a heavy swell and going alongside the submanne in a motor boat was tricky. The boarding parity was ordered to jump for it by the coz'n. Curtain~ obeyed - and found he was the only one of the party on the U-boat. looked towards the conning tower where I saw several men in leather suits, one wearing a white cap 1 later discovered he was the captain (Lt Hi dO,J them as the ml of his party managed to board on the second attempt. The ordered below by the SI txlir. u.hik hoarding ofTicr

First to yield

Following

a -a.

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U1OO9 file. the bacli flag.. sh the chars

of the ft~ HMS

bscon*s the f*rst U-beat to .nt.i a BĂ¸Thsl'u .ntho4ag. after yion.

Germany's

surrender. She a

In fact, the first I-tiuat it) fall into British hands I)ocnit,'s order was (J-249. boarded b AIMS Amethyst 20 miles off the Lizard on May 9 and escorted into Portland harbour Late the neat rnornin. But it was ti-l009. which had surrendried to the Captain-class frigate AIMS Byron. that was the first to enter a Rn- almost three hours tish anchor7berthed, Alan Hope. serving in the Byron. well remembers the tattered black flag flutlering from L3-1009's mast as a apLoch Enboll that morning. 'The object of the surrender operalion was to board and disarm the boats

pro~

man crew were

as they arrived in readiness for their cniual pas.agc south to an anchorage I

deIVIWW

Ger.

I -

lair

Not all Qrmar subm.nrsss surrendered in the (J., Here. suUOn U-bOalmn dssmbarti at WiIhelmhaven watched by a Royal Mann.. s.ntvy. On. of thslr ~era stands on the casthg (left) as they begin their journey to an Allied prison camp.

Admiral Sir Max NO~, C-In-C Western Approaches, inspects U-532 which entere route ft~ Japan. On. of the largest of the U-boats, shi was loaded with a cargo c Admiral ~on is the submarine'* commanding officer.

From pop V

Iswoeopingup. . ._" __tie, k hi' st

i Ittitish

1-siti'scr

iih gulls passing at lull specli moving to a finng position. ready to engage a German warship advancing on the flotilla. 4 -09

Roy Tapping

ago~ d sweap.

took part in

However, the German proved to have no vtoleni intentions and the Tcnb proceeded safely to a berth in Retwhere cheering crowds gm greeted her Shore leave was granted on the lint day and Barlow and his shipmates were amazed to see, after the surrender, armed German soldiers controlling traffic. Both George Barlow and his

shipniatc

Kr.'

t .ipjiny

trmernhc, iih pride the flotilla's marathon sweep that l'ollowed - hailed at the time as a record- Working non-stop for 7$ hours 52 minutes, the ships of the Ninth - Sidmouth, Blackpool. Bangor. Romney. Re and Tenby - covered 607 mules at an average speed of over seven knots. In all the flotilla swept almost 1.000 mines. George Barlow recalls the 'grcat sport" of sinking swept mines by rifle fire. "Wc must have used thousands of rounds of ammunition.' he said. At one point, recalls Roy

I appin I enhs and }langor Were about to IVt&i"CI theit sweeps when they found themselves in the middle of an unknown minefield. By a sharp turn to the east the ships emerged safely. cutting four mines in the process. Although the war was over. Tenbs's sadness was rim. After the siip returned to the UK. eight of her sailors were lost in another boat accident in Ply. mouth harbour. "That I think was our wont day." said Roy Tapping. After that they went on to clear mine-fields laid in the Bristol ('hannel.

1-he vast task of s

e,.i ny

detritus of war Irom t urtipe-ail wale-ri would continue for years. The Germans were believed to have laid 126,001) mines and more

than

obstructions

North-West

32.(Xg)

Europe as well as 100.00(1 mines in - the Mediterranean

The British

laid

total

225.000. As most

kuropcan nations lacked the trained men and vessels to carry out clearance uperat Ions, the enormous task fell Largely to the Royal Navy. The victory was going to be hard work l'or the small ships

- -

HMS Tanby ... triumph and Sadness at the atid of the war.

NEWS VI SUPPLEMENT 1)?

NAVY

wolves ke lambs

,hat the (.ermans were citing it didn'L much of an invitation to join them." Nest morning the U~1 arrived at LA~ where she was taken alongside a depot ship. Htlgcndorf read a to his crew telling them that l=111 kaheir boil, and Cunningham noj.,%%! there were a few tears among the Gcnnans He and Alan Hope made several such journeys - and conducted searches of the U-boats for log books and other documents Some souvenirs found their way on board the frigates. ion. There were yey kaiher suits ---some awful cip.n and writing paper decorated with the German eagle and awaslika with an exhortation to the writer to product cheerful letters for the folks at home.

VII

take

LI For

'Morale Intact'

LJVrpV

9 4,

shack.

Cunningham and another rating led a chain to an upper-deck stanchion and lowered it through the hatches to the control room so that the Germans could make no sudden dive

Food luxuries "As we got under way and they started the diesel engines I couldn't believe the noise" He was amazed when at meal time on the way to Loch~ the Germans lifted up the bilge plates and brought out every conceivable pstrononhic luxury - things that Cunningham hadn't seen for years. "It had been impressed on us not to accept them and we had taken with t hoses of field corned beer. hitcuiis and tins of lea.

Alan hope remembers his crstwhik enemies as "sailors like ourselses - well disciplined, responsive to the orders of their itill motivated to work their ships and with their misrak intact." Between the morning of May 10 and the evening of the 19th. 33 U-boats arrived at the F.nbohl anchorage from where they were escorted to Lochalsh under the White Ensign. On May 22 four of them were escorted by the 21 SI

much officers.

EG to Loch Foyle in Northern Ireland for the ceremonial surrender to the U-

"n(' Western Approaches. kdm.ral Sit Mas Horton. It was the last 4.t nI lh- r

AOVE Q.mii .aiora Nne u P N. guerde on bosid th

ratio-f

LIFT: The rnsu sun*~ gay. many ON psrsoNsal ththr rIrsi chance to gel a v*w from the nv_ othir side - Mi this case in the torpedo room of a vessel which surrendered at WM. .;,

-1 lf

the fba* U-boil siaisndsr U-249. With on thi a.lng subm.Iln. N.s .tongsld. a BrItIsh, ,,Jtlp in Wsymouth B.y.

IL,

I. I

-c--.-

*1 Liver~ after surrendering while an tin, quW**. wolfram and nibber. With

. --

r'Vk' ..:

A White Ensign Ibis from the mast of a U-boil which surrendiced at Loch Ev*botI and r*gb1) 52 U-boils mustered at Lies. haMy, Northern Br~. II was in the ProvInce thet the fonnal ceremOny of surrender was h*d.

WAVY NEWS-VE SUPPLEMENT 1995 Options

The

day

freedom m

sailed

'To bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the operting of the prison to them that are bound' - Isaiah Chapter 6 1.

A Royal Marines sentry makes some Danish friends on the jelly at Copenhagen and (right) Danish sailors chat with inembera of the Resistance In the city. Wino.,, 01 the sun-en. TIered Germans accounts lot the fact that almost everyone in * picture is armed. cc~, CA u an' rio. I I ltI'11L1];II lift

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The definitive story of the Second World War continues in a5 hour special. Narrated by Eric Porter. Featuring: The Two Deaths WAdoll Hitler " The Final Solution -Auschwitz " Warrior " Hitler's Germany.

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WHEN the Germans signed the final surrender document on May 7 their forces in central Europe were broken and in tatters. But elsewhere. in countries and islands on the rim of Itiller's shattered empire. signifilcant units remained virtually inlact. No rway was still occupied and in Denmark the remains of the German surface fitti - including the heavy cruiser Prini Eugen - were seaworthy and armed. In Prague desperate remnants of Army Group (jentic continued fighting "C I',,resislancir and the Rul., .11~ lit M 11. Later that day Ger. man li~Ire" occupying island., in the Aq"n Sea *err the last to la). down their arms. The Channel Islands -- the to be cap. only part of Britain tured by the enemy gate an welcomc to icatx)rnc exultant force-s from the UK on May 9~ On May 12 the fait minelayer 11MS Apollo took Prince 101af of Norway back to (-hlo. members of the %htgi'% company h3vin? been recalled from Ica%c 0 n V. Day.

Arms dump On the island of in the Acifean. Frank flaworth in Motor Launch 837 watched the first meeting between the British repr~niaiii.e and the German commander. How~ was amazed by the htW *~ of Geirman arms and equipment on the island, the dump stretching bait a mile Mo% the )~ In licilland Alex SirAchan was a 19-"ar-old leading .writ. er on the -.mall staff of llic Nrihetlands, Naval Liaison Officer -- a Dutchman. In the w.vcyir winler of 1944-45 ific Germans - acting in regalialion again-.1 a general strike -had cut off fuel and fcxxi stipgo the large area of 11(11rilin and the), still occupied. Et had resulted in a tragic farninc which t.l.kLnii:(1 thousand.. ot

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Dutch lite% within month.. of liberation. The NLO's. staff there given the task of idenfifying landing places for ships to take lifir-say. ing supplies to %be starve rig people. Although a standstill was imposed on movement acrow the lincs until May 10. the urgency of the naval party's rnission sent thern travelling across flolland within ~4 llotjr%

~x Stirmhen ... humani. tarian mission in The Ntd~nds. *'We could not make directly for Rotterdam or The llook as the bridges over the Nlaas were down. so we had to make a I";thy detour via Ntjmcgcn.** said Alen Strachan. -h was an odd experience passing through towns and vib lages guarded by the Wchrmachl. At some checkpoint$ they tuned out lhe ~uard and saluted. while at other% they were sulicn and k)hltfuctit.o. demanding documentation which we did not have.--By evening thereached the (;crnun naval 11 at 7cisI am Rhein. It ~ sit] guarded by the German army. but there was a small adt,3nec rt of Brilish soldiers nearby W in the NLO group managed to scrounge a, meal from %bent. As. a result of s, en. therart),. )Pcration suing -oik the relic m under way quickly. On May r0 Tcfcncr Gull -- an All Oft one of 36 13W landing craft ibat ferried thousand., of tons of emergency suppli" into Rotierdam. They were 1he first Royal Navy vewls to enter Europe's largeil purl since the war began. That task completed. Gull*s craft was one of lbow. used 101

I 1 I m

I I

1 FREEPOST NO STAMP REQUIRED H ill r[ITI irni ri 11111111111 U 1 * NO CLUB N10 COMMITMENT F%2* ~_ W-~ CP*.CM p-~- -------------------------------- j L ---------------

Capi Herberl Williarns of HMS Birmingham fires at a floating mine during the forcing a! the German minefields in the Skeggerak.

NAVY NEWS VE

SUPPLEMENT 1995

Options

.,.

This picture, taken from HMS Birmingham. shows HMS Dido and the tow escorting destroyers making thetr way slowly through the mined Skaggecak to reach PC5r5 D eO%w,r 04 M A C.iv.l

Copenhagen.

''iT

Dane. greet their liberators o. board HMS Birmingham.

German's

former occuacruss the Zuider Worees Lek to'their own countr In some other parts of Europe the political ambitions of the victors made the process of liberation far more complex. In the border city, of Ineste. occupation by Tito's Yugoi.lav partisans had preceded the entry of FIMS Orion. the cruiser sent there from Ancona. John Smith. a tick bay P0 in Orion, recalls that she was delayed by mine barrages on her passage through the Adriatic, not arriving at Triesic until May 12. In HMS Rosaflo of the 19th Flotilla, Stoker Albert Jones quickly realised that the situation ashore was tense, with the Communist ferry

through the town was organised by our Army and included every man who could be spared front our two minesweepers and cruiser - including yours truly "After further negotiations the shoe was on the other loot and it was the partisans who withdrew to a point outside the city...

Copenhagen

A much larger group of Royal Navy ships was despatched to Copenhagen to secure the surrender of the German naval forces there and to link. up with the small numbers of British paratroops who had been dropped as a liberating force. The task group left Britain on May 6 and comprised the cniis.era HMS Birmingham and Dido accompanied by the des. troycTs Zealous. Zephyr. Zest and Zodiac. Substantial minesweeping forces were assigned to the group which was covered to the east by three escort carriers, the cruiser HMS Norfolk and five destroyers. On May K the main force was passing through the Skaggerak with the sweepers ahead and the sun shining on a millpond sea, recalls An hut Rose, a ('P0 Gunner) Instructor at the time. The gun crews were closed up. wary in the knowledge that the Germans could still mount an attack. Their minds were

~sweeping

sartisiani teetering on the

brink of an armed confrontation with the British Iorces. "The ensuing negotiations came to a head very soon with the Yugoslav commandant issuing a 48-hour ultimatum to the riiish commander. de- or manding our withdrawal else "The response w5 swift and decisive to the effect that the YugoiJavs were told where they could shove their ultimatum and we all stood last and waited. The deadline passed and "thing happened. "To emphasite our resolve a big parade

suddenly concentrated by the appearance of Luftwaffe aircraft and all the guns of the task group were trained skyward. The planes departed peaceabLy, but soon after. Roscs confidence was jotted by an intercom warning from B magasine beneath him thaI "somethin was bumping under the ship'. Almost simultaneously the tannoy from the bridge ordered B turret crew to rig the starboard paravane derrick to recover the starboard paravane. But when Rose looked over the starboard side there was no paravane to be seen. Unknown to him it had contacted a mine. but instead of the mine wire being cut it had remained intact and had the paravane under the ship.

With Royal Marines drawn up in the foreground, Capt B. F. :Elkln 01 HMS Dido needs the terms of handover of the German warships in Copenhagen to Krfegsmartne officers assembled on the quarterdeck of the heavy cruiser PTInZ Eugen. ftWM DY C01~ of k a

ship's

pulled

looked

"I over the port ,.ide where I saw, to my petrification, not our parevan, but a barnacle-encrusted, wickedly horned mine gently thumping against the .hlp. .16.." An officer appeared and handed Rose a r(ovcrv pole. ordering him to be suspended bud-first over the side to keep the mine away. "I was afterwards told that my expletives at the time were in accord with the best naval traditions." Grasped at each ankle by an AR, Rose duly dangled over the " Turn to next page

THE

ASSOCIATION ROYAL NAVAL Patron: HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN Patriotism, Comradeship Tel: 0171-352 6754 82 Chelsea Old Manor Street, London 5W3 50J. Reg.Char. 266982 Unity,

Loyalty,

THE SENIOR SERVICE CONNECTION Believing firmly that "welfare is not only money", The Royal Navy Association offers a broad range of support to people with a Royal Navy connection. They help the disabled, look after the needy, cheer up the distressed,

maintain naval traditions, support the Royal Navy, enjoy social activities, reunite shipniates and stand together in unity.

-*-a-

The Association assists King George's Fund for Sailors in raising money towards the Fund's caring work for all seafarers and co-operates closely with The Royal Naval Benevolent Trust in being aware of who needs

help and ensuring it reaches them. They also take time out to remember, with affection and respect, Royal Naval personnel who have given their lives in the defence of their country throughout the long history of the

i.--

4 --

---I-

'Senior Service.'

----

--.,--

IIMS Birmingham moves slowly astern, away from a mine (Snowed) which snared her paravane equipment and bumped down the side at the hull, It was the mine that Arthur Rosa (set) had just attempted to clear by tending it oft with a pole while dangling over~ 116 P'cnia, br 041k Ro

On the side of youth. the Association supports Naval Cadet Forces. some of whose members will go on to become the leaders of the modern 'high tech' navy.

NAVY NEWS VE SUPPLEMENT 1995

The end of a nightmare pr

.7,

Ai. This pencil portrait of Bill Hallett. by one of his fellow prisoners of war, was pasted into his journal and captioned "Mandoline Bill waiting for VE Day". The text below was written on a Christmas greeting postcard he sent home to his relatives in 1942.

And a the sun sinks in the west, There's thot9s of thosel love the best To them, and all, I sincer4y send

The N ut;icall Chub Hh,'ininghani

let us organ ise d in Birmingham? Reunion your

the telephone

1101

happy to quote you for accommodation in a first class hotel plus automatic wcekcnd membership of the most

"The Mount batten Festival of Music 1995"

side, the' teak heading of the' deck edge cutting into his shins. Eventually, much to his relief. the commanding officer. ('apt Herbert Williams. ordered the ship to go slowly astern so that the paravane and mine could be cut away. the delicate operation being performed by P() Jumper Collins and the shtp. wright armed with hand cutters. Eventually all the ships arrived safely at Copenhagen on the 9th. a Royal Marines band playing on the Birmingham's quarterdeck and the vessels dressed overall,

Cheering

I he ,ih,s.crd Bond' 1 /I,'r .t!ojeis .' RoI ,tfrine.c. u,i.der direction of Li Cul Waterer, LRI%M, RM

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Waving girls

On board British Yard Minesweeper 2188. Bill 1)avies was getting his lirst sight of German his BYMS flotilla enmany as tered ('uxhaven. He remembers being intrigued by the spectacle of a U-boat depot ship, its decks crowded with girls cheering and asing tic afterwards !e.t: ned that thc had bee-n

Using their ingenuity, prisoners were able to stage dramatic productions such as this, "The Desert Song', produced in Milag Nord PoW camp in 1943. That year alone, the naval PoW camp averaged more than one show a fortnight, Most popular was "Bandwagon" (five performances) while others included "HMS Pinafore", "Hobson's Choice" and "The Return of Fu Manchu".

LIBERATION

unique Naval club in the country (:,,ruoci " Secretar" The 'autkaI ('lub. Blshopsgale Street, llirminghxm 1115 1FF 'tel: 0121 (3'*75 l0.0Ohr to

member seeing an buildings untouched by the ravages of war. The people were poppin up out of holes in the groun where they were living in cellars and basements with all the bricks and debris around them."

Castle

AHappj,Good New Year, will be.

We will

Shattered remnants of the done a US recce aircraft apWehrmacht were streaming peared overhead. past the castle in retreat. Mean"Things then happened very while, the Navy officers fast. A jeep plus a couple of Mitterfelds, a town phoned tanks and some lorries came about 12 miles away, and to ploughing through the retreattheir excitement found theming Germans and put up a deselves to an speaking fensive line around the base of American. the castle hill." The troops. of a The castle was being US Coloured unit. provided used to hold senior Army fresh bread from their field officer., and fearing that kitchens and turned over provithe German Army would sions to the liberated Rows take them as hostages, the "the likes of which we had not naval trio asked for immeseen for years". diate help. On May 8, STD Ken Royle was with an RN and RM group They were told to lay out - Naval Party. 1 734 - flown bedlinen in an agreed pattern n the roof to facilitate identifiinto Hamburg via Ostend. The .tte'r that 'sas clt was in ruins. "I do not re

the Reich.

Thousands of Royal Nas and Merchant Navy prisoners were held in a camp at Westertimke, between Bremen and Hamburg, named Marlag und Milag Nord. It was from there near the end of the war, that Cdt Roy Price-Fox and i' other RN officers were ira:: ferred to a camp in a castle Schloss Steinberg about miles north-east of Munich a hill overlooking the source the Danube. "We were getting inforr' tion on the progress of Gen. 'Blood-and-Guts' Patton his Second US Army con up from the south." he rcc.t "'Once our guards disappc.r we barricaded ourselves in the castle and kept in touch sith the outside world h means of

Christmas GreeTin,gs, and append, The hope, That nineteen fory-ihree,

Why

FOR THE many thousands of prisoners of war in German hands, the last act in the conflict brought not only the hope of release, but new threats to their survival. Allied bombers and strike aircraft roamed at will over what remained of Germany, strafing anything and anyone on the roads who looked vaguely military. Some of the personnel attacked were not Germans, but prisoners of war being moved by their captors away front camps that were being overrun Tragically many prisoners died in the camps or on the roads as the chaos of war rolled across central Europe to the heart of

CT14 7EH

As the ships entered thc passed the silent guns of the Prinz Eugen and the cruiser Nuernberg. With the bigger ships the Germans had three destroyers, two torpedo boats. ten minesweepers. 13 flak ships, 19 armed trawlers and two armed merchant ships. On the jetties and docksidcs were thousands of cheering Danes. waving flags and chanting "Welcome, welcome". On board the Zodiac it seemed incongruous to AB Eric Collins that their lines were being taken and secured by armed German troops. Despite the apparent tameness of the surrendered enemy. Davy Newell. a leading seaman on board Zest, recalls that the Navy were taking no chances. "We were to be armed going ashore and boats' crews had small depth charges against frogmen."

.From ~1x

1.;

Danes crowd the jetty soon after f-IMS Birmingham (foreground), HMS Dido and four destroyers became th. first Allied ships into Copenhagen. I he welcome by the 1)anes. David Brunton. a sub lieuten- the sailors' three-week sojourn occupied for four years, was ant in Dido. "However, the unin a peaceful capital whose overwhelming. For three weeks derstandably bad atmosphere people treated them as saythe ships remained while the between them and the Danes tours, was a time that few who German vessels' ammunition was such that a British sailor experienced it would forget. was destored. had to be placed in each lori'v Many of them will be returning "It was unloaded and taken to prevent the Germans falling this year with proud affection German in lorries victim to by personnel snipers." tomark their role in Europe's to a hunting lodge inland," said At the end of a bitter conflict, liberation.

Mill

mustered to provide a warm thing which they knew welcome for a U-boat expected expose them to Allied to return from a !ong patrol. of the roads, as well and his s e i v a D a shipmates other uncertainties e r not to seee w h the w mildly surprised accompanying black-booted thel Rcich. o y n storma c troopers. ---All we saw were Helped by much , s like r ourselves o l i a s r Merchant e b m e Navy m held camp. almost 600 RN youn4 lads who had mothers. and s wives t r exceptescaped a e h t e the e round-up w s p b

[CA ugh was na his

nfl

Don Bowra ... a hoi ing he didn't expect

rou-

with Ii ng 'Lathe ont. ing

in root spaces under boards of thc huts, in the ground, in lockers vised cellars and ever pipes. The Germans. no longer had the tim to make a manpower bus search. Meanwhile the R.i

5O the ster me-

0 Shortly after giving his account to Navy News, Don Bowre died a~ 77. The Bill t Hallet s i died r in a 1966. i d

I I

" s--

Duckbo.rds are laid on the wet sand of St Aubin beach to aid unloading from LST 238. PIC*INS by Iz95Sy o Mt. A. Milot

cab

---OUR dear Channel Islands are also to be freed today," Churchill told the VE crowds in g n Trafalgar i - s s a Square. m For five years, Jersey, Guernsey, Alderney and Sark had been the only -.

German

Occupation.

9 OM the amphibious liberation forces reached #m islands, hoisting #m Union Flag from the balcony of the Pomme dOr Hotel - the former Krlegsmar*ne HO in Jersey.

fiteeing of the Channel Islands

St Aubin Amen9 the first vessels to

Legion Poppy Appeal. registered charity No. 2/9279. Post Ow m~ t~ to ~ C~ Lid. PO Box S%. ~~ WV24UT

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the islands was the tank landing ship LST 238, ----------------------------------------------------which sailed from Southamp- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------tononVEDaytoreachStAubin on the 9th. This month the islands will Post ibis coupon to- Sbi. C.ilons Lid PO. Box 536, woav,rh.m4on WV2 4UT be celebrating the 50th anniCREDIT CARD HCTLINE O-' 2'3-3 " of their with y liberation r a s r e v several major events spanning five weeks. reach

'Y NEWS VE SUPPLEMENT 1995 Options

H rw.

E1ECAkti!5E 1M111::1 T V :YIN lit 40 130&Ft~E5i

vt(1r4~ss

The Royal British Legion exists for one single purpose. To answer the calls for help that we receive from over 100,000 ex-servicemen and women every year. People who, It seems, have served their country better than it has served them. We can provide convalescent homes, resettlement and retraining courses, counselling and rehabilitation facilities, pension and legal advice, and even small business loans. But if you don't need our help, we still need yours. You can help by joining the Legion, by helping collect donations from others, or even by making

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