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‘ONCE NAVY, ALWAYS NAVY’

Dunkirk steamer re-opens WARTIME minesweeper Medway Queen reopens to visitors this month while work on preserving the paddle steamer continues. Built in 1924, the pleasure steamer plied her trade mainly in the Thames Estuary and on the River Medway until the outbreak of war, when she was requisitioned by the Admiralty and as HMS Medway Queen became part of the 10th Minesweeping Flotilla, based at Dover. In the summer of 1940 she played a crucial role in the evacuation of Allied troops from Dunkirk, plucking some 7,000 men from the beaches and port in seven crossings, shooting down three aircraft in the process. After the war she resumed her pleasure steamer duties until the early 1960s, when she narrowly escaped scrapping (the Belgian breakers yard realised her significance and refused to break her up). After serving as a nightclub she fell into disrepair until the 1980s, when efforts began to preserve and renovate her. With the help of the Heritage Lottery Fund and the European Regional Development Fund her hull was rebuilt in Bristol – work was completed in 2013 – and she is now moored at Gillingham Pier. She will be open to visitors on Saturdays from February 11 – see www.medwayqueen.co.uk/ for details. The Medway Queen Preservation Society is also seeking more volunteers to help with technical and administrative tasks – again, details are on the website.

Hood loco rededicated A RAILWAY locomotive which bears the name of an iconic Royal Navy ship has been rededicated following a three-year refit. Diesel HMS Hood is one of four surviving Class 50 locos from the late 1960s that are maintained and run by enthusiasts on the Severn Valley Railway, based in Kidderminster. Members of the HMS Hood Association were invited to the ceremony – the association has been affiliated with the engine since 1981. The other three locomotives are Ark Royal, Defiance and Exeter.

Last survivor of Royal Oak sinking dies THERE are now no living links with one of the Navy’s greatest tragedies of World War 2 after the last survivor of the sinking of battleship Royal Oak, Arthur Smith, died. The ship was sunk in the Royal Navy’s wartime base of Scapa Flow in Orkney; German submarine U-47 slipped through the defences in the dead of night in October 1939 and torpedoed the battleship at anchor. The Royal Oak sank in just 13 minutes, taking 833 men down with her – including 134 boy seamen, prompting a national outcry at the heavy loss of lives. Seaman Arthur Smith would more than

likely have joined them, entombed in the sunken ship, but the 17-year-old was on watch manning an anti-aircraft gun. As Royal Oak increasingly listed to starboard, Mr Smith chose to dive into the cold waters of Scapa; he was subsequently picked up by a rescue craft. Mr Smith, who lived in Middlesex, died on Sunday December 10 aged 94. Despite the distance from Orkney, he regularly attended commemorations at Scapa, including the dedication of the Royal Oak memorial, into his 90s. He was also proud of his links with the

former training establishment for boys in HMS St Vincent; of the 134 boys lost in the Royal Oak tragedy, 125 had passed through the now-defunct Gosport establishment. Due to his regular presence at the remembrance events at Scapa, Mr Smith built up a close relationship with many members of the RN’s Northern Diving Group, who are given the honour of changing the White Ensign on Royal Oak’s wreck – an official war grave. As a result, four divers made the lengthy journey from Faslane to South West Middlesex Crematorium in Hanworth for Mr Smith’s funeral.

Navy mourns death of celebrated pilot

2016 ENDED for Naval aviation as it began – with the loss of one of its greatest heroes. After the passing of legendary test pilot Eric ‘Winkle’ Brown early in the year, the Fleet Air Arm community now mourns for Lt Cdr John ‘Jock’ Moffat – the man who helped bring about the destruction of the Bismarck. Jock was a pilot in the attack that resulted in a torpedo jamming the rudder of Hitler’s flagship at dusk on May 26 1941. Despite every effort by its crew, the battleship steamed in circles until the guns of the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet arrived the next morning to finish Bismarck off – and avenge the loss of the world-famous battlecruiser Hood, which the German leviathan had blown up three days earlier. The air strike carried out by the Swordfish of HMS Victorious and Ark Royal at last light on May 26 had been Britain’s last hope of slowing or stopping the Bismarck before it reached the relative safety of waters off France. With his crew of observer Sub Lt ‘Dusty’ Miller and telegraphist/air gunner Albert Hayman, a 21-year-old Jock Moffat took off in Swordfish L9726 from the deck of Ark Royal and made for Bismarck, fighting against driving rain, low cloud and a Force 9 gale. He flew in at 50 feet, barely skimming the surface of the waves, in a hail of bullets and shells, to get the best possible angle of attack on the ship and, at 9.05pm, dropped his torpedo.

No one can be certain whether Jock’s torpedo was that one that damaged the warship’s steering gear, but individual glory was the last thing on the airmen’s minds as they struggled against the enemy and Mother Nature. “When Churchill gave the order to sink the Bismarck, we knew we just had to stop her trail of devastation at all costs,” said Jock. “We dived in through the murk, into a lethal storm of shells and bullets. “Bismarck’s guns erupted and in the hail of hot bullets and tracer, I couldn’t see any of the other Swordfish. “I thought the closer we were to the water the better chance we had of surviving so we flew in bouncing off the tops of the waves – and it worked. “The great thing about the Swordfish was that the bullets just went straight through. After all, it was only made of canvas. “It was like David and Goliath.” John William Charlton Moffat was born in Kelso in June 1919, joining the Navy as a reservist in 1938. After qualifying as a pilot, he was posted to Ark Royal with 759 Naval Air Squadron – one of four squadrons he served with in a Fleet Air Arm career spanning eight years. After returning to civvy street in 1946, Jock trained as a hotel manager and remained with the profession for decades. He maintained his love for aviation – he took up flying again

Push for monument funding

in his 60s and flew into his early 90s – and was an avid supporter of the RN Historic Flight, raising nearly £20,000 to keep one of its Swordfish airborne as a tribute to wartime fliers. Jock was royally hosted by modern-day naval aviators,

invited to anniversary events, welcomed aboard subsequent Ark Royals, and he returned the compliment by inviting Fleet Air Arm personnel to his home in Scotland. He leaves two daughters, Pat and Jan.

THE Royal Navy’s mine warfare and diving community is in the final stages of a winter fundraising campaign to help complete an ambitious memorial at their spiritual home. They are two-thirds of the way towards the £340,000 target needed to erect the Vernon monument in Portsmouth, but are hoping a crowdfunding splurge over the festive season and New Year – encouraging many people to donate a small amount – will raise at least £50,000 towards the goal. The bronze memorial – pictured above in an artist’s impression – depicts a diver dealing with a moored mine, both of which are mounted on a plinth. It was designed by Australianborn sculptor Les Johnson, who has previously sculpted memorials for firefighters, miners and Battle of Britain fighter group commander Keith Park. The aim is to site the striking monument in Vernon Creek – once a berth for minehunters based at HMS Vernon, the home of mine warfare and diving for more than seven decades until the mid-1990s, now a water feature in the middle of the Gunwharf Quays leisure/ shopping complex. It’s taken half-a-dozen years for the project to reach this stage. The cash raised by this latest push will help to pay for the plinth supporting the statue under the water. There will also be a large-scale fundraising event in the capital. You can make a crowdfunding donation until February 8 here: www.crowdfunder. co.uk/vernon-mine-warfareand-diving-monument?_ fssl=1&project_preview=1 And you can follow progress with the memorial at www. vernon-monument.org or at twitter.com/VernonMonument

The plan was for the commandoes, led by Maj Herbert George ‘Blondie’ Hasler, to stealthily paddle into the port and destroy enemy shipping. Of the six canoes deployed, one was found to be damaged, leaving five boats, manned by ten men. Each cockle had a small supply of limpet mines and each Marine a pistol and fighting knife. Only two of the cockles reached Bordeaux. The other three vessels either capsized in strong tides and high winds or were captured, the commandos being executed by the Germans. On the night of December 11, the remaining Royal Marines placed their mines and escaped. The subsequent explosions damaged five enemy ships, spreading alarm and panic. The two crews reached land and separated, heading for neutral Spain and eventually a return passage to the UK. However, after two days, two

commandos – Cpl Laver and Mne Wills – were arrested, transferred to Paris and eventually executed. The remaining pair – Maj Hasler and Mne Sparks – were hidden by the French Resistance and later spirited over the Pyrenees into Spain. They eventually reached the UK, via Gibraltar, in April 1943. The marines had paid a deadly price for the successful raid. Sir Winston Churchill estimated that their sacrifice had shortened the War by as much as six months and provided a vital morale boost to a besieged Great Britain. Writing about the mission, Lord Mountbatten said: “Of the many brave and dashing raids carried out by the men of Combined Operations Command none was more courageous or imaginative than Operation Frankton.” There was even a film made of the Commandos’ exploits – the 1955 Cockleshell Heroes.

l Wreaths lie in front of the HMS Tuna plaque at the Frankton memorial in Aquitaine, France

l Lt Cdr Jock Moffat with a Swordfish of the Royal Navy Historic Flight at Yeovilton

Tributes paid to Op Frankton heroes

ROYAL Navy submariners, Royal Marines and veterans travelled to France to commemorate the anniversary of one of the most daring raids of World War 2. The group were in Bordeaux to remember Operation Frankton which saw commandos deploy from a submarine to attack a captured French port. UK military personnel were joined by French dignitaries, the Naval Attaché, local school children and former members of the French Resistance, to pay their respects at the Frankton memorial in Le Verdon. “Seeing first-hand the sea and terrain that the commandos had to negotiate 74 years ago has really brought home the determination of those involved in the operation,” said Cdr Philip Parvin, who led the Royal Navy contingent at the memorial. “The submarine captain showed incredible guile to get so close undetected and the Royal 40 : FEBRUARY 2017

Marines incredible daring to get to the port and carry out the attack.” He continued: “It was also great to be able to speak with some of the close relatives of the marines involved. To think that we were just one degree of separation from someone who conducted the raid was a genuine privilege.”

On November 30 1942, HMS Tuna left Holy Loch and headed for France with 13 Royal Marines commandos and six collapsible canoes, known as cockles. The submarine arrived at her destination on December 7, deploying the Marines 16km from the Gironde estuary.