by Dr John Carroll

Originally published in the White Ensign Magazine 

The Ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend were used by the Imperial German Navy as bases for its submarines and destroyers. These were direct threats to Allied merchant shipping, especially in the English Channel. As shipping losses to submarines increased, finding ways to close these enemy held ports became urgent. Out of desperation, seaborne raids were actively considered. Raids were proposed in late 1917 by Admiral Sir John Jellicoe, but these were not authorised until Vice-Admiral Sir Roger Keyes had adapted plans for a blocking operation which would make it difficult for German ships and submarines to leave Zeebrugge. This raid was finally approved in January 1918, and volunteer personnel were called for from the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet to perform this hazardous task.

All told, 82 officers and 1,698 men signed up to ‘perform hazardous duty’ from across every branch of the Royal Navy. All were given two months of intensive training in trench warfare, assault tactics, bomb throwing, bayonet drill, and in the use of mortars and the Lewis machine gun. Several of those selected were also given some advanced training in demolition. On completion of their training, the men were divided into groups of 200, with each group being assigned a specific task.

The members of the battle cruiser HMAS Australia’s crew, selected from the many volunteers were: Artificer-Engineer William Edgar, Stoker William Bourke, Leading Stoker Reginald Hopkins, Leading Stoker Godfrey Lockard, Stoker Norbert McCrory, Leading Stoker James Strong, Leading Seaman George Bush, Leading Seaman Henry Gillard, Able Seaman Leopold Newland, Leading Seaman Dalmorton Rudd and Able Seaman George Staples.

They faced a significant challenge. At the entrance to Zeebrugge Canal there was a breakwater known as the Mole. On the Mole the Germans had mounted numerous artillery pieces and heavy machine guns. Without a doubt, these would make it very difficult, if not impossible, to send three blockships into the harbour without taking the Mole first. However, therein lay the most difficult part. To take the Mole, men would have to be landed while under fire from the very same artillery and heavy machine guns they were hoping to silence.

The raid began with a diversion against the mile-long Mole. The attack was led by the obsolete Arrogant class cruiser HMS Vindicative, with two requisitioned Mersey River shallow draught ferries - HMS Daffodil and HMS Iris II - in support. These three ships were also accompanied by two obsolete submarines - HMS C1 and HMS C3 - loaded with tons of Amatol in their forward section with which to blow the viaduct, connecting the Mole to the shore. This would, in theory, nullify the efforts of any enemy reinforcements gaining access to the Mole. Vindicative was to land a force of 200 Royal Marines on the Mole, at the entrance to Zeebrugge Canal, and attempt to neutralise the many German gun positions. But, at the time of landing, the wind changed, and the smokescreen designed to hide the old cruiser was blown offshore. As a consequence, as the Marines were landing, they came under heavy and intense fire, suffering many casualties. Vindicative had been spotted by the German gunners and had been forced to land her Marines in a less than suitable location; by doing so this had nullified the cruiser’s 6-inch and 4.7inch guns which could have been used to support the landing force.

The tidal movement also caused some major problems with Vindicative struggling to lie alongside the Mole. Daffodil - which was normally employed as a ferry - realised the problem the cruiser was having, and, with superb seamanship, laid alongside Vindicative and pushed her firmly against the Mole. Gangplanks were then laid from Vindicative to the Mole, and the first of the Seamen Storming Parties - which included five Australians - charged up the makeshift brows and began their assault against the entrenched enemy positions. A few minutes later, Iris II also came alongside, just ahead of Vindicative. But frustration followed the ferry. For the next hour or so, she was unable to come alongside and make fast to the Mole due to heavy seas. Eventually, Iris II was forced to secure port side to on Vindicative to offload her troops. Just as the Marines prepared to disembark, the recall was sounded. Iris II was ordered to cast off and make her way back to Dover.

The initial plan was to storm ashore and take out the main artillery batteries, clearing the way for the three blocking ships to enter Zeebrugge Canal unhindered. However, Vindicative had come alongside some distance from her intended landing point. Now, there were heavy German machine guns and coils of barbed wire between them and the main batteries. There was no way known that the Seaman Storming Parties would ever get through, so their mission became one of holding their ground and drawing much of the enemy fire as a diversion.

HMS C3 played a significant role when it was used to demolish a viaduct connecting the Mole to the shore. After ramming C3 under the viaduct, the crew of five was picked up by a small supporting skiff as rapid German fire was aimed in their general direction. The timed explosive charges blew as planned, destroying 100 feet of the viaduct and severing all communications between the Mole and shore. During the passage from Dover, C3 was on its own throughout. HMS C1 parted her tow and arrived too late to take any further part in the operation. The Commanding Officer of C3 Lieutenant Richard D Stanford, RN, was awarded the Victoria Cross (VC), and his Australian Navigator, Lieutenant John Howell-Price, RNR, was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO).

Just as a large portion of the viaduct exploded and disappeared in a cloud of smoke and debris, the three blockships - loaded with concrete slabs and explosives - consisting of obsolete HM ships, Thetis, Intrepid and Iphigenia, approached Zeebrugge Channel. The lead ship, Thetis, received heavy gunfire and was holed in several places. She was taking on water having been stopped about 600 yards short of her original planned position, and was rapidly sinking. But, in the process, she had cleared several underwater obstacles for the other two ships that followed. Intrepid was positioned in the channel proper, and was turned broadside to before setting off her scuttling charges. Iphigenia followed close behind, and turned broadside to the other side of the channel before she too was scuttled. Most of the crew from both ships were successfully retrieved by naval small craft, then taken out of the harbour where they were transferred to fast motorboats for the return voyage to Dover.

So, now that the operation was almost concluded, the recall was sounded, which must have been a relief for those men from Vindicative and Iris still fighting for their lives on the Mole. While still under heavy fire, the surviving Storming Party sailors and Royal Marines withdrew to the two ships, carrying their wounded with them. Both ships had been subjected to devastating fire during their time alongside the Mole. Vindicative had much of her fighting tops, control tower and guns blasted away. It was a minor miracle that she could still move away under her own steam. Iris II took more fire while withdrawing. Her commanding officer, Commander Valentine Francis Gibbs, RN, was mortally wounded when an enemy shell hit the bridge, causing him to lose control of his ship. Despite his injuries, he continued to issue orders until he succumbed to his wounds.

The Zeebrugge Raid could only be described as a partial success. The harbour and canal were blocked for a very short period of time; the Germans managed to dredge a channel around the blockships, so that submarines were soon able to wend their way through to the open sea. This raid had cost some 214 British lives, 383 wounded, with a further 16 taken prisoner. The Honours and Awards listings for this relatively brief action indicates quite succinctly the ferocity of the fight, with both officers and men being selected by their peers for the ultimate award of the Victoria Cross, under Rule 13 of the Royal Warrant, dated 29th January 1856.

Of the eleven Royal Australian Navy volunteers, one would receive the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC). Three would receive the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM), with one of these men also being awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre. Three would be awarded a Mention in Despatches (MID), with one of these men also being awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre.

William Henry Vaughan Edgar - Artificer Engineer/Engineer Lieutenant - was appointed to HMAS Australia in July 1914 and remained in the ship throughout most of the First World War - with one notable exception. In the van of the attacking flotilla were the obsolete Arrogant class heavy cruiser, HMS Vindicative, and two requisitioned River Mersey shallow draught ferry boats, HMS Iris II and HMS Daffodil. It was the role of Vindicative, Iris II and Daffodil to land Royal Marines and the Seaman Storming Parties on the Mole, and then assist with their rapid withdrawal upon completion of the mission. Iris II transported a company of Royal Marines, with Edgar as officer in charge of her engine room.

While Daffodil acted as a tugboat, pushing Vindicative up against the Mole, Iris II eventually moved alongside Vindicative to land her company of Marines. However, just as the Marines prepared to disembark the recall was sounded, and Iris II was ordered to cast off and return to Dover. A momentary loss of control sent Iris II into the path of the Mole’s defensive batteries. What happened next was best described by Edgar when he wrote:

The German batteries commenced firing, and we had five shells into us in quick succession - killing about 75 men outright, and wounding many more. For eighteen hours the men watched and worked like Trojans without food, and then the shells. One killed around 40 men outright, another about 20, 10 died on the trip back and 102 wounded. The upper deck electric wires were shot away, so we were in darkness trying to get out the dead and wounded all night. There was only one doctor till 05:00 when we met another ship and another one with an assistant came onboard. Shells had gone clean through the deck to explode among the marines and the makeshift sickbay.

Edgar was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions during the raid, the Citation for which reads thus:

In recognition of distinguished service during the operation against Zeebrugge and Ostend on the night of the 22nd and 23rd April 1918. It was due to this officer that HMS Iris was kept going during the action under very heavy fire and, though holed several times, succeeded in returning to base under her own steam. He did valuable work in the engine room and boiler room throughout the operation for a period of seventeen hours without rest. He showed great bravery when the ship was under heavy fire, by coming onto the upper deck and with the help of an engine room artificer turned on the smoke apparatus.

While the citation sets out Edgar’s actions, it does not detail the carnage that would continue to haunt him. Again, Edgar filled in the gaps when he also wrote:

I managed to get the ship back to Dover under her own steam, the next afternoon then I was finished - the strain and horror of the night broke me up. --- Men were dying all night and it was just something awful. If anything happened, the reaction of that awful night absolutely did for me. I was finished - my nerves went to pieces for three days.

Edgar was immediately appointed back to Australia after the raid with a promotion to Engineer Lieutenant, the seniority of which is given as 23 April 1918. ‘For duty at the Royal Australian Naval College, Jervis Bay.’ Edgar was the only member of the RAN to receive the award of the DSC during the First World War.

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The Royal Australian Navy sailors who took part in the Zeebrugge operation were selected from the many volunteers from HMAS Australia who had put themselves forward. Five were chosen from the stoker engine room branch, with another five being selected from the seaman branch. The five stokers were assigned as part of the steaming party of the obsolete Apollo class (1890) minelayer, HMS Thetis, commanded by Commander Ralph Sneyd, RN. Thetis was to be positioned ‘broadside to’ the Zeebrugge channel, then blown up and scuttled as a blockship.

The five seamen were assigned to the obsolete cruiser HMS Vindicative (1897) as members of Seaman Storming Party ‘A’, led by Australian, Lieutenant Commander Bryan Fullerton Adams, RN. They were part of a landing force tasked with taking the breakwater (Mole) from its German defenders, who were stationed in fortified positions to defend Zeebrugge Harbour with artillery and heavy machine guns, which were protected by barbed wire entanglements.

Stoker William John Bourke, O No. 2237, had already taken part in operations against German forces while serving in the light cruiser, HMAS Melbourne, in September 1914. He was part of the Australian Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF) that participated in the Allied occupation of German New Guinea. The ANMEF was also tasked with capturing German wireless and coaling stations in the Pacific - including German New Guinea - to prevent them from being utilised by the then German East Asia Cruiser Squadron. As one of the five stokers who volunteered from HMAS Australia, Bourke was assigned as part of the steaming party manning the blockship, HMS Thetis, which was filled with concrete and explosives. The primary task of Thetis was to be blown up and scuttled, thereby blocking the Zeebrugge Canal, and by doing so, preventing German submarines, destroyers and other vessels from utilising the port.

Leading Stoker Reginald Hopkins, O No. 3135, had previously taken part in operations against German forces while serving in HMAS Australia in September 1914. He was still serving in Australia when he volunteered for hazardous service. Assigned to the blockship HMS Thetis during the Zeebrugge Raid of 22/23 April 1918, his role involved being a member of the steaming party of the blockship. Hopkins, along with his fellow stokers, played a crucial role in this hazardous operation, which was aimed at rendering the German held port unusable as a submarine and destroyer base.

Stoker Godfrey James Lockard, O No. 3123, had previously taken part in operations against German forces while serving in HMAS Australia during the September 1914 operations. While still serving in Australia, he volunteered for hazardous service. Assigned to the blockship HMS Thetis for the Zeebrugge Raid as an active member of the steaming party. He would later write at some length of his experiences:

Eleven Australians took part in the Zeebrugge raid, and we all came out without a scratch. There were five stokers, of whom I was one on the Thetis, which was sunk at the mouth of the Zeebrugge Canal, and five seamen in the Vindicative, which played such an important part in the raid, and which afterwards met a glorious end in being sunk to block Ostend. We set out from our base at half past one on the 22nd, and arrived at Zeebrugge shortly before midnight. Everything depended on the weather and the direction of the wind. Two previous attempts had to be abandoned because of unfavourable conditions, but at least we got an ideal night.

The three ships that were to be sunk at the mouth of Bruges Canal were mast-less, and everything that could be conveniently disposed of had been taken out. The space below was filled with huge blocks of cement, arranged in layers so that they would make a compact wall when the hulls went to the bottom.

A light breeze was blowing, while a slight fog was to our advantage. The enemy probably expected something of the kind, for when we got within range of their guns two star shells found us out. After that we had a lively time. We got our smoke screen out with good effect, for it obscured the view of the enemy gunners, and the shore shooting was erratic. It was of the greatest importance that the wind should not be too strong. The mission of Vindicative was to land a big force on the Mole to destroy the sheds, aerial guns and other defence works erected there.

The Mole, which encloses Zeebrugge Harbour, is about 1½ miles long and 150 to 300 feet wide on the top. It was crowded with defence establishments of all kinds, including a range-finder, which our men destroyed. They also discovered that an 11 inch gun was mounted on the Mole. They did not expect it and was very inconvenient. Another discovery was that there were a number of 11 inch guns in position behind the harbour, so we needed all the protection we could get from the fog and the smoke screen.

Our mission, of course, was to get to the mouth of the channel and there sink the ship in a position that had been selected. Three concrete laden old cruisers were selected for blocking the waterway. Some would think that it would be easy to blow up any obstruction, but it wouldn’t. The silting up there is very heavy, and the dredges had to be kept continually at work to maintain the passage. So, when the channel was obstructed by three big hulls it was calculated that sufficient silt would be deposited in about a week to block the way effectively and to prevent blowing up the sunken hulls. In any case, the blocks of concrete would have to be drilled.

With shells falling all around us, we made straight for the entrance at the end of the Mole. A torpedo net was stretched across the entrance, but that did not offer much obstruction to the ships. We in Thetis had the misfortune to pick up the end of the broken net on one of our propellors, and that caused some delay. Finally, we got rid of the net wreckage from the propellor. But our luck was out. We had not gone far when we struck a sandbank that threatened to put an end to our part in the undertaking. However, we got off, only to strike a second bank.

The guns were pounding away at us all the time. Two ships had already been sunk, and we were manoeuvred into position with our stern pointing at a right angle to the hull of one of the sunken ships, which were lying parallel, with stem and stern almost overlapping. When Thetis came to a standstill the order was given to take to the boats. We had less than a minute in which to do it, but we all got safely away. The electric currents were applied, and the explosion which followed threw up a column of mud and slush, but there was really no danger, except that one might have been hit by a piece of flying debris. In a few minutes Thetis had settled down, and the sand from the channel was beginning to silt over her hull.

The escape had been well arranged. The whole of the crew were to take to the cutter and row out to be picked up by the waiting motor boats. Unfortunately, a shell found our cutter, and wounded several, besides smashing the bows of the boat so badly that it could only be kept afloat with the greatest difficulty. While bailing hard we were able to keep the cutter afloat as we commenced to pull out. Fortunately, we had not gone far before we were picked up.

The rescue was one of the pluckiest things of the whole operation. The motor boats were ordered to wait outside the Mole for us, but the officer in charge decided to disobey orders and make a dash for it. He got right inside to within a hundred yards of Thetis. We were taken aboard - 78 all told - and we reached home port at 10:30.

The Iphigenia, which, with Intrepid and Thetis, were the vessels to be sunk, was under the command of Lieutenant Billyard-Leake, a Tasmanian, and formally a midshipman on HMAS Australia. He was selected at the last moment for this undertaking.

The Vindicitive’s Part

About 300 seamen and 500 Royal Marines took part in the raid which Vice-Admiral Keyes declared was a bigger success than he had ever expected. There were some casualties, but they were remarkably few considering the gunfire we had to encounter. How we got safely through the minefields is a marvel. We sank all the enemy craft in Zeebrugge, and Vindicative made a buffer of one enemy submarine. She jammed the submarine against the wall of the Mole, and that was the last of her.

The part the Vindicative played in the raid was the landing of men onto the Mole to destroy the defence works there. Sixteen special landing stages had been fitted on Vindicative, but owing to a mishap only two of them were available, so the men had to get ashore practically in single file. The machine guns on the top of the Mole increased the difficulties of this undertaking, but there was never any hesitation, and the landing party was entirely successful, doing immense damage among the defence works on the top of the Mole.

During the landing, and while work was in progress, Vindicative was kept in position by two large ferry boats, HM Ships Iris and Daffodil, which, with their engines were able to hold Vindicative against the influences of both wind and tide. Another important part of the operation was the destruction of the viaduct connecting the Mole to the shore. To secure its destruction, an obsolete HM submarine was run up against this structure and exploded.

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Stoker Norbert Joseph McCrory, O No. 1183, had seen service with the Royal Australian Bridging Train (RANBT), and the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in France. He enlisted in the RANBT on 8 July 1915 and saw active service at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli Peninsula, during October-December 1915, and then the Sanai during 1916-17. When the Bridging Train was disbanded in March 1917, McCrory transferred to the 1st AIF and served as a Bombardier with the 6th Field Artillery Brigade in England and France. In September 1917, he was permitted to transfer to the RAN as a stoker, and joined the battle cruiser HMAS Australia, then operating with the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet in the North Sea.

In February 1918 McCrory was one of eleven men from Australia selected to take part in the raid on the captured Belgian port of Zeebrugge on 22/23 April 1918. McCrory was assigned as part of the steaming party of the blockship HMS Thetis, which was filled with concrete and explosives and deliberately scuttled to block the Zeebrugge Canal. His bravery during the raid earned him a Mention in Despatches (MID) and the Belgian Croix de Guerre (Cross of War).

Leading Stoker James Strong, O No. 2536, had also taken part in operations against German forces while serving in the battle cruiser HMAS Australia during September 1914. He too was one of the eleven men selected to take part in the raid on the captured Belgian port of Zeebrugge. Strong and his fellow stokers, all played a crucial role in this hazardous operation.

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Leading Seaman George John Bush, O No. 7018, had been on loan to the RAN from the Royal Navy since 14 October 1912. He had previously served in the light cruiser, HMAS Melbourne, and in 1918 he was serving in the battle cruiser, HMAS Australia. It was while he was serving in Australia that he volunteered for hazardous service, which would eventually see him assigned to the elderly cruiser HMS Vindicative for the raid on the captured Belgian port of Zeebrugge, on the evening of 22/23 April 1918. Bush was part of the landing force serving in Seaman Storming Party ‘A’ Company, which was tasked with taking the Zeebrugge breakwater

- also known as the Mole - a fortified series of strongpoints which were set up to protect the harbour and the submarines and destroyers based therein. For his part in this operation, Bush was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM). The short Citation for which reads thus: For services a s a member of ‘A’ Company, Seaman Storming party, HMS Vindicative, during the operation against Zeebrugge and Ostend on the night of 22nd and 23rd April, 1918. It was also noted in his service documents that Bush had: Participated in a ballot for award of the Victoria Cross, granted for service during the operation against Zeebrugge rendered on the night of 22/23 April 1918 - which took part soon after the raid was completed.

Able Seaman Henry John Gillard, O No. 8517, loaned by the Royal Navy to the RAN on 21 November 1917 for three years. He was posted to HMAS Australia, which was then operating with the Royal Navy’s Home Fleet in the North Sea. In January 1918, Gillard was selected from the many seamen who had volunteered for hazardous service. Following two months of basic infantry training, he was assigned to Seaman Storming Party ‘A’ Company, HMS Vindicative, for the forthcoming Zeebrugge raid. His responsibilities included landing on the Mole and engaging the enemy in combat to neutralise their defences, particularly targeting artillery positions. For his bravery in action, Gillard received a Mention in Despatches (MID), and was also awarded the Belgian Croix de Guerre. It is also noted on his service documents that Gillard had: Participated in a ballot for award of the Victoria Cross granted for service during the operation against Zeebrugge rendered on the night of 22/23 April 1918 - which took part soon after the raid was completed.

Able Seaman Leopold Thomas Newland, O No. 1937. Leo Newland had been due to return to Australia after being at sea for six years, but when the call came for volunteers, he jumped at the chance to perform hazardous service. The key Belgian ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend were used by the German Navy as launching bases for their powerful fleet of submarines. The operation designed to close the ports and neutralise this threat was launched on the evening of 22/23 April 1918. It centred around the sinking of three obsolete cruisers filled with concrete and explosives to block access to the shipping canal. According to official sources of the day, very little went according to plan on the night of the raid. The attacking force was bombarded by German artillery batteries sited on the harbour Mole. Newland, who was now serving in the elderly cruiser HMS Vindicative, as part of Seaman Storming Party ‘A’ Company, had the misfortune of being landed in the wrong position. As a direct consequence, the landing parties suffered heavy casualties and despite their best efforts, they failed to silence the enemy guns.

Although all three blockships were successfully scuttled, only two were sunk at the mouth of the canal. A week or so later, the area was made operational again by dredging alternative routes around the blockships so that submarines could enter and leave Zeebrugge at high tide. Despite this, the British declared the raid a great victory. As propaganda, it probably achieved its aim. Able Seaman Newland is reported as having performed so gallantly during the raid that he was nominated to take part in a ballot for the Victoria Cross. By way of confirmation, it was noted on his service documents that Newland had: Participated in a ballot for award of Victoria Cross granted for service during the operation against Zeebrugge rendered on the night of 22/23 April 1918. And while Newland was unsuccessful in the ballot, he did receive a Mention in Despatches (MID), which reads thus: For services as a member of ‘A’ Company, Seaman Storming Party, HMS Vindicative, during the operations against Zeebrugge and Ostend on the night of 22nd and 23rd April, 1918.

Leading Seaman Dalmorton Joseph Owendale Rudd, O No. 3389. The eleven volunteers who had been selected from the crew of HMAS Australia for a special mission, proceeded to London Depot for reassignment at the start of March 1918. As later recalled by Rudd:

When we got to London Depot, it was only so we could be issued with army gear before we were sent to HMS Hindustan, a King Edward class battleship that had been assigned as a depot and training ship for the volunteers who were to participate in a raid on Zeebrugge. We slept and trained on Hindustan for over a month before the raid.

Many of the sailors were formed into 200-man storming parties and given instruction in trench warfare, assault tactics, bomb throwing and bayonet drill, as well as the use of mortars and Lewis machine guns. The five seamen, including Rudd, were assigned to the obsolete Arrogant class heavy cruiser, HMS Vindicative. The cruiser and the Mersey River ferry HMS Daffodil were to land storming parties on the breakwater - otherwise known as the Mole - to launch diversionary attacks on the German defenders, who were supported by artillery positioned in strategic areas surrounding the port area. Dalmorton Rudd, George Bush and George Staples were assigned to Storming Party A under the command of Lieutenant Commander Bryan Adams [an Australian], to attack German defences on the Mole. Rudd continued:

The storming parties were calm and relaxed in the lead up to the raid. We weighed anchor in the afternoon of 22 April and assembled in the Channel under thickening cloud cover. Drizzling rain began as we neared the Belgian coast, but the wind conditions that would help with a smokescreen remained favourable. At this stage it was relatively quiet and the men were chirpy. But things changed quickly after 23:00 when the British gunboats began bombarding the German coastal defences and British torpedo boats laid a preliminary smokescreen over our path. Other smoke making ships extended the initial screen all the way to the coast.

Then we heard the initial attack by two British motorboats on the Mole while we approached. But all hell broke loose as the Vindicative neared the Mole. The wind changed and blew the smokescreen away and our ship came under heavy fire. There was no time to think. Instinct kicked in and as soon as Vindicative was alongside the Mole, we charged up the gangways and attacked German gun emplacements along the Mole.

The official British Admiralty report highlights the difficulty the storming parties had getting ashore and then fighting the entrenched German defenders:

The men were magnificent. Every officer bears the same testimony. The men landing on the Mole was a perilous business: it involved a passage across the crashing, splintering gangways, a drop over the parapet into the field of fire of the German machine guns which swept its length, and a further drop of some sixteen feet to the surface of the Mole itself.

The official British report of the raid also notes:

...a few of the storming party, including Dalmorton Rudd and Harry Gillard, descended an iron ladder down to Mole and prevented a few of the enemy from reaching the harbour side of the Mole.

This brief statement obscured the full extent of this close skirmish, which included hand-to- hand fighting by Rudd and Gillard which killed several German defenders while under fire from two German destroyers anchored on the landward side of the Mole, and German machine gun fire from as close as 100 yards away. The official accounts do not detail how or when the German casualties occurred, but it is highly likely that Rudd and Gillard accounted for a number of the German defenders who were killed or wounded at Zeebrugge.

The official RAN history acknowledges that the raid was only partially successful when it noted that:

Although the inner harbour and canal were blocked for several weeks, the Germans soon dredged a channel around the sunken block ships allowing destroyers and submarines to pass by, albeit with extreme difficulty.

Rudd and the other four Australians in the Storming Party also became the first RAN sailors to participate in a ballot for the Victoria Cross. The non-commissioned participants in one ballot nominated Able Seaman Albert McKenzie, RN; while the officers in another ballot nominated the Captain of Vindicative, Captain Alfred Carpenter, RN. When asked whether or not Rudd was upset with the outcome of the ballot, he was recorded as saying:

It was no surprise. We were part of a Royal Navy storming party and they had the majority of the votes in the ballot, so the VC went to one of their men and a Royal Navy officer. I have no complaints. They deserved their medals. I was happy enough to have had the opportunity to participate in the raid after no enemy action for nearly four years. Besides, the DSM gave me enough bragging rights when we got back to the flagship. It gave me hero status amongst my shipmates and that was worth a few free drinks down the pub in Union Road!

Able Seaman George Edward Staples, O No. 2858, had also taken part in operations against German forces while serving in the battle cruiser HMAS Australia during September 1914. It was while serving in Australia that he volunteered for the Zeebrugge operation which would then see him serving in the obsolete cruiser, HMS Vindicative, for the raid on the captured

Belgian port. For his part in this operation, Staples was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal (DSM), the short Citation for which reads thus: 

For services as a member of A Company, Seaman Storming Party, HMS Vindicative, during the operations against Zeebrugge and Ostend on the night of 22nd and 23rd of April, 1918. 

Staples was the only South Australian who participated. Staples and his officer were the first to land on the Mole, and when his officer was shot Staples led the bombing party, consolidating the position and allowing the men following to land. In a letter to his mother, Staples gave most of the praise to the men who followed him. It is also recorded on his service documents that Staples had: Participated in a ballot for award of the Victoria Cross granted for service during the operation against Zeebrugge rendered on the night of 22/23 April, 1918.

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Other Australians at Zeebrugge - April 1918

Of the other three Australians known to have served at Zeebrugge, only one appears to have had his service acknowledged by the Royal Australian Navy. The first of these was John Howell-Price, who was born at Five Dock, Sydney, New South Wales, on 16 September 1886.

Howell-Price ran away to sea at the age of 14 and served an apprenticeship as a merchant navy officer on the three masted clipper ships Neotsfield and Yallaroi which eventually led to him obtaining a master mariner’s certificate. He joined the Royal Navy Reserve (RNR) as a temporary Sub-Lieutenant on 24 March 1915. On 20 April, he was appointed to the armed merchant cruiser, HMS Alcantara for duty with prize crews. Howell-Price was promoted to Temporary Acting Lieutenant RNR on 5 June, 1915. On 29 February 1916, Alcantara was lost in action with the German raider SMS Greif in the North Sea. Both ships were sunk during the battle. During the action Howell-Price carried out his duties as damage control officer in the passenger compartments when this part of ship was badly damaged. He later played a leading role in getting the starboard lifeboats away. These actions would earn him the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC).

On 5 April 1916 Howell-Price was appointed to the submarine depot ship HMS Titania for instruction in submarines. In June, he was appointed to HM Submarine G6. On 24 March 1917, he was promoted Lieutenant. On 17 July Howell-Price was appointed to HM Submarine C7 as first lieutenant. He was then briefly appointed to HM Submarine C3 in March 1918 for the Zeebrugge raid, acting as navigator.

At 23:26 on 22 April, HM Submarine C3 slipped from her tug, the destroyer HMS Trident. C3’s crew of six found themselves alone on the dark sea. There was no sign of the picket boat which was to retrieve them once the viaduct had been rammed. There was no sign either of her sister submarine, C1. Both vessels were at least 15 minutes behind C3, which headed towards Zeebrugge at a reasonable 8½ knots. At midnight, as Vindicative steamed at speed for the Mole, C3 was 1½ miles from the viaduct. A minor change of course brought her at right angles to the viaduct piers, with their supporting web of steel braces. A random star shell hung suspended, bathing C3 in its glare. There was a short pause before a shore battery opened fire.

The firing ceased after a few rounds. C3 continued towards the viaduct. A flare then curled upwards, etching C3 in sharp relief. C3 vibrated noticeably as she increased speed to 9 knots in a choppy sea. Searchlights traced their beams in the darkness, first from one end of the viaduct, then from the other. The enemy still held their fire. There was a distinct possibility that the Germans thought the submarine was attempting to slip into Zeebrugge and would be trapped in the viaduct’s cross braces, and that she could possibly be captured intact. Whatever the reason, C3 was not challenged. By the light of star shells and searchlight, Sandford ordered a minor adjustment of course to make sure that C3 hit the viaduct in the best possible position to inflict the most damage possible.

As the point of impact closed, the crew of six scrambled up onto the upper casing of their small vessel. They were: Lieutenants Sandford and Howell-Price, Petty Officer Harmer, ERA Roxborough, Leading Seaman Cleaver, and Stoker Bindall. Bindall gave a first-hand account of the final few minutes when he wrote:

With her engines running smoothly the submarine glided into the shoal waters of Zeebrugge at midnight, the whole crew of six being on deck. The Mole looming up black in the darkness and the Viaduct joining it to the shore was clearly seen. It was a silent and nervy business. She was going at full tilt when we hit the Viaduct. It was a good jolt but you can stand a lot when you hang on tight. We ran right into the middle of the Viaduct and stuck there as intended. I don’t think anybody said a word except ‘We’re here all right.’

Official accounts of the raid on Zeebrugge have suggested that at least two hundred enemy troops were standing on the viaduct, jeering and shouting at C3’s crew as they scrambled to leave their small vessel. The six men of C3 were ready. Sandford had set the fuses. Only as they began to row away in their small skiff was there any enemy reaction. Searchlights came back on and focused on them in their light. At least one on shore machine gun attempted to halt the intruders. Several riflemen at the western end of the viaduct started shooting. Of this latest development, Bindell was to later recall:

We lowered the skiff and stood by while the commander touched off the fuse. We then tumbled into the skiff and pushed off. We had rather a bit of bad luck. The propellor fouled the exhaust pipe and left us with only a couple of oars and two minutes to get away. The lights were on us now and the machine-guns going from the shore. Before we had made 200 yards the submarine went up. We had no doubt about that. There was a tremendous flash, bang, crash and lots of concrete from the Mole fell all around us into the water. Coxswain Harmer and I took the oars first, till I was knocked out. Then Cleaver grabbed the oar and carried on till the coxswain was hit. I was hit again, and Lieutenant Price, lifting me and Harmer into the bows, took the oar and was afterward relieved by Roxborough when Lieutenant Sandford was hit.

The explosion destroyed at least 100 feet of the viaduct, and cut all the power and telephone cables. Searchlights at each end of the viaduct spluttered and died. Contact between the gunners on the Mole and shore was also snuffed out. Gun-fire from the viaduct died away to nothing as the now barely visible skiff made its escape. A short time later, a picket boat commanded by Sandford’s elder brother found the leaking skiff. Gratefully, the crew of C3, four of them wounded, were quickly taken on board, later being transferred to the M class destroyer, HMS Phoebe. For the crew of C3 it had been a very long night.

Howell-Price returned to C7. On 23 July 1918 he was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) for his role in C3 during the Zeebrugge Raid. The short Citation for which reads thus:

His assistance in placing Submarine C3 between the piles of the viaduct before the fuse was lighted and she was abandoned was invaluable. His behaviour in a position of extreme danger was exemplary.

The second Australian known to have served at Zeebrugge was Bryan Fullerton Adams. He was born in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, on 22 July 1887. In the London Evening Mail of 15 August 1902, it was noted that Bryan Fullerton Adams was included in the following notification for Cadetships in the Royal Navy, which reads as follows:

The following are declared by the Civil Service Commissioners to be successful candidates at the competitive examinations held on July 15 and the following days for 77 cadetships in the Royal Navy. Bryan Fullerton Adams 2,354.

Similarly, contained in the Western Morning News (UK) of 1 January 1910, the following notification regarding Royal Navy promotions reads: Sub-Lieutenants to be Lieutenants, Bryan Fullerton Adams: dated 31st December 1909.

Adams was to serve in several ships from 1902 to 1918. Foremost among these was Lion class battle cruiser, HMS Princess Royal, from 9 October 1916 to 1 March 1918. He was promoted Lieutenant-Commander on 31 December 1917, and served as one of the battle cruiser’s gunnery officers. In March 1918, Adams volunteered to serve in the forthcoming raid on Zeebrugge. On completion of land based training, he was appointed to the elderly cruiser HMS Vindicative as officer commanding ‘A’ Company of the Seaman Storming Party.

Adams was the first man to land on the Zeebrugge Mole and remained there throughout the operation, displaying great bravery and strong leadership. Except for Adams, every designated leader was either dead or badly wounded. Only two of the landing ramps had worked. The German batteries had shattered the gangways, which received more damage as the ship rolled against the Mole. Frantic efforts by the ship’s crew finally got two more gangways into operation, but the essential flood of troops was doomed to be no more than a trickle.

Adams was quickly followed by a hastily formed squad from the remnants of ‘A’ and ‘B’ companies, as many of the men in the original assault teams were already dead, dying or wounded. Getting ashore in large numbers was longer an option. Adams then led his depleted party onto the Mole parapet. They were gratified to find it deserted, the after effects of fierce fire from Vindicitive’s foretop. Some determined Royal Marines were using the pom-poms and Lewis guns with considerable effect on the enemy. Adams then turned towards the lighthouse at the end of the Mole. His original task was to silence the guns on the end of the Mole extension before the blockships arrived. He was determined to carry out this objective, even though it meant a 250 yard advance against entrenched positions. Adam’s sailors, advancing along the parapet roadway, approached the fortified zone. They were lit in stark relief by star-shells as black silhouettes against the glare.

The sailors found what cover they could. Adams doubled back to a concrete lookout post. There he found a Petty Officer and several men. The Petty Officer had been wounded even before he had landed. Adams took a brief look at his wounds and ordered him to rejoin Vindicative. The other men were ordered to make their way forward towards the diminishing force facing the Mole barricade. As they moved off, Lieutenant Commander Arthur Harrison joined the group. He had been knocked unconscious during the run in, and had suffered a broken jaw and head wounds. Nevertheless, he insisted on joining the men on the Mole, and sent Adams back for reinforcements before leading the rest forward.

Adams reported to a Major of the Royal Marines who organised the survivors of the Marines 11 and 12 Platoons to support the hard-pressed sailors, while Adams doubled back to join his men. Harrison decided to charge the enemy positions. He and his men had to cover more than 100 yards, devoid of any cover along the parapet. Harrison drew his sword, waved it in the air and pointed towards the German position. With a cheer, the sailors began to charge forward. It was a glorious, valiant effort, but doomed before it began. Harrison’s attempt to storm the German position left every man in his group either dead or wounded. Shortly thereafter, a series of ‘Ks’ in Morse Code was sounded on Daffodil’s siren. This was the signal to recall all men back on board Vindicative. The two senior officers nominally in charge - Captain Halahan of the Royal Marines, and Lieutenant Commander Harrison - having both been killed, it was left to Adams to take charge once more and give the order to retire. Each able bodied man, as far as possible, was charged with helping the wounded men back to the comparative safety of Vindicative.

On 23 July 1918, Special Promotions for Service in Action were announced. Lieut-Cdr. Bryan F Adams, RN: Was in command of ‘A’ Company of the Grand Fleet storming parties. Was amongst the first to land on the Mole, and remained there the whole time, behaving with great coolness and bravery. He was the senior surviving officer of the Grand Fleet contingent at Zeebrugge, consisting of 10 officers of whom 5 were killed and 2 wounded.

Adams was specially promoted to the rank of Commander with a seniority of 23 April, 1918, in recognition of his role in storming the Zeebrugge Mole on that date.

Post War DSO For Conspicuous Courage and Devotion to Duty During the Storming of Zeebrugge Mole on 23rd of April 1918.

For his personal involvement in the above operation Commander Adams was promoted, but subsequent enquiries have established in fact Commander Adams took an important part in the landing that was at first supposed and is therefore strongly recommended for a further reward. As at first reported Commander Adams landed at the same time as his immediate commanding officer the late Commander A L Harrison; as a matter of fact, Lt. Commander Harrison was wounded on board the Vindicative, and did not reach the Mole for some time after Commander Adams had landed. The attack on the seaward end of the Mole, was therefore entirely due to the initiative of Commander Adams, who pressed his attack on which the whole success of the blocking operation might have depended, with a magnificent dash, displaying qualities of personal courage and leadership of the highest order.

In the Supplement to the London Gazette, 31st July, 1919, it was recorded that: ‘The King has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the following honours, awards, decorations and medals to the undermentioned Officers and Men: - To be Companion of the Distinguished Service Order: - Cdr. Bryan Fullerton Adams, RN. For distinguished services during the War.’

*

The third Australian known to have served at Zeebrugge was Edward Whaley Billyard-Leake. He was born on 13 November 1895 in Campbell Town, Tasmania, Australia. Billyard-Leake received his naval training at the Royal Navy’s Training Establishment, HMS Brittania, having joined the Royal Navy on 15 September 1906 as a Colonial Cadet (Australia). He passed out of Brittania on 15 May 1913, having satisfactorily completed his formal training, and was then appointed to the battle cruiser HMAS Australia as a Midshipman. On 1 August 1915, Billyard- Leake was appointed to the newly commissioned Queen Elizabeth class battleship, HMS Warspite. He fought in her at the Battle of Jutland (31 May-1 June 1916) as part of the Royal Navy’s Fifth Battle Squadron.

On 15 March 1917, Billyard-Leake was promoted Lieutenant, adjusted from 15 June. He was appointed for a short period in the super-dreadnought, HMS Canada in September 1917, before being appointed to HMS Dolphin at Fort Blockhouse to undertake training for submarines. He then spent three months in HM Submarine K8 before being appointed on 19 February 1918, to HMS President, additional and temporary, to carry out a specific assignment on the obsolete second class protected cruiser, HMS Iphigenia, as she was scuttled as a block ship during the Zeebrugge Raid. At the time of his appointment to Iphigenia, Billiard-Leake was a very junior Lieutenant, and an extremely youthful one at that. In the thick of desperate conflict, he would be faced with choices that could spell the difference between success or failure of the whole operation, yet in circumstances which could have a bearing on his own future career. He was at the time barely 22 years of age.

The three blockships, HM Ships Thetis, Intrepid and Iphigenia, were timed to round the Mole twenty minutes after the intended arrival of Vindicative, Iris and Daffodil. All had different tasks to perform. Thetis, the leading blockship, was assigned the task of ramming the Lock Gates, the other two were to scuttle themselves by the southern end of the piers. Destroying the Lock Gates would make it almost impossible to fill the Zeebrugge Canal and float any captured vessels therein, while the sunken Intrepid and Iphigenia could be expected to create a barrier of silt, thereby fully obstructing any vessel attempting to traverse the canal.

As Thetis rounded the Mole, she came under very heavy fire and immediately became entangled in anti-submarine netting strung across the harbour entrance, which she then took with her in her forward momentum. However, she was being hit continuously by shells, so much so that both her engines had been put out of action and holing her to such an extent that she began to rapidly sink. One main engine was coaxed back into temporary service, with just enough power to position Thetis in the dredged channel, where the scuttled ship would have the most blocking value. Orders were given to abandon ship, and as Thetis settled, demolition charges blew out her hull below the waterline, just to make sure the blockship could not be readily removed.

Although not in the position originally designated, the sunken Thetis had achieved nearly as much by blocking an important channel, and clearing the way for the two blockships that followed, by demolishing the anti-submarine netting. Moreover, she had drawn most of the German gunfire onto herself, which enabled Intrepid to move up the channel relatively unscathed. But while Thetis was under continuous fire, her own guns replied to the German onslaught as best they could.

While Intrepid was shielded by Thetis to some degree when in the harbour itself, she had previously suffered a hostile welcome from German artillery as the ship approached the Mole. When she forced her way into the canal, the enemy was now aware of the purpose of the three blockships, and concentrated their defensive fire against them with viscous, vengeful intent.

The channel was slightly narrower than had been anticipated, so when Intrepid came to her assigned position, she was not as squarely across the channel as she could have been. To correct this situation under less than favourable conditions, attempts were made by the blockship to square her off, but these efforts proved ineffectual. As a consequence, Intrepid was scuttled on site, with demolition charges making sure her physical remains could not be moved or salvaged for some considerable time.

The third blockship, Iphigenia, was also welcomed to Zeebrugge by German artillery placed as it was at the end of the Mole. She had an awkward few moments when she was caught in the glare of descending flares and two searchlights, but managed to avoid these by vanishing into a smokescreen. She was helped greatly in this situation by the starboard navigation light of Thetis. At the entrance to the canal proper, Iphigenia was struck twice by artillery shells, one of which fractured the steam pipe to her siren, covering the ship with clouds of steam. When entering the canal, she first collided with a barge, and then with the port bow of Intrepid. However, not to be fazed, the Captain, Lieutenant E W Billyard-Leake, swung his ship across the canal, blocking it perfectly. It was then that the crew abandoned ship in the ship’s cutter, just in time to bear witness to the demolition charges blasting the blockship’s hull out below the waterline. Successfully scuttled, it would be after the war before any of the three blockships could be salvaged, but even then only for scrap.

In the Fourth Supplement to the London Gazette of Tuesday 28h July 1918, it was noted that: ‘The King has been graciously pleased to give orders for the following appointment of the undermentioned officer: To be Companions of the Distinguished Service Order.’ The short Citation for which reads thus:

Lieutenant Edward Whaley Billyard-Leake, RN (‘Iphigenia’). Exhibited the greatest bravery, and is deserving of much credit for placing his ship by calculated manoeuvring under heavy fire exactly where he wanted to place her to block the canal, before blowing his charges and leaving the ship.

*

Select Bibliography:

Anon: Hero of Zeebrugge, Australian Stoker’s Graphic Story. Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXVI, Issue 17361, 24 August 1918, page 9

Anon: A Short Ferry Ride to the War, Australian War Memorial, 20 September 2013, https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/short-ferry-ride-war pp.1-6

Atkinson, James J, By Skill and Valour, Spink and Son, 1986 www.dreadnougtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Talk.Bryan_Fullerton_Adams www.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/Edward_Whaley_Billyard-Leakewww.dreadnoughtproject.org/tfs/index.php/John_Howell-Price  Cunningham, Ian J, Work Hard Play Hard, AGPS, 1988

Fourth Supplement to the London Gazette, Tuesday, 28 July, 1918, pp. 8585-8599 Goldrick, James, After Jutland, Seaforth, 2018

Horner, David, John Howell-Price (1886-1937) Australian Dictionary of Biography, Vol.9, 1983. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/howellprice-john-6749

Hadler, Robert, Mutineers, Wilkinson Publishing, 2021

Hough, Richard, The Great War at Sea, 1914-1918, Oxford, 1983

Jose, Arthur W, Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918, Volume IX, The Royal Australian Navy, 11th Edition, Angus & Robertson, 1943.

Lake, Deborah, The Zeebrugge and Ostend Raids 1918, Pen & Sword, 2015 National Archives of Australia (NAA) A6769 Series for Officers, 1911-1970

National Archives of Australia (NAA) A6770 Series for Petty Officers & Men, 1911-1970 Pitt, Barrie, Zeebrugge, St George’s Day, 1918, Cassell, 1958

Purnell, Maria, Stoker Norbert McCrory: Soldier, Sailor & Eyewitness, AWM, 12 January 2021. https://www.awm.gov.au/articles/blog/stoker-norbert-mccrory

Supplement to the London Gazette, 21 July, 1919, p.9833

Virtual War Memorial, N McCrory, MID, https://vwma.tt123.com.au/explore/people/334112 Virtual War Memorial, L T Newland, MID, https://vwma.tt123.com.au/explore/people/802486Virtual War Memorial, G E Staples, DSM, https://vwma.tt123.org.au/explore/people/802487Virtual War Memorial, W H Edgar, DSC, https://vwma.tt123.com.au/explore/people/802481Warner, Phillip, The Zeebrugge Raid, Pen & Sword, 2008

 

RAN Personnel at Zeebrugge 22/23 April 1918

Bourke William John, Stoker. O. No. 2237, Took part in operations in German New Guinea, September 1914, as well as Zeebrugge in HMS Thetis. Serving in HMAS Melbourne for New Guinea Op.

Bush, George John, Leading Seaman. O. No. 7018. ‘Lent from RN’. Participated in a ballot for the award of the Victoria Cross granted for service during the operation against Zeebrugge on the night of 22/23 April 1918. Awarded DSM for service at Zeebrugge. (Reverted to RN). (Seaman Storming Party ‘A’ Company) HMS Vindicative.

Edgar, William, Henry Vaughan, Artificer Engineer/Engineer Lieutenant. Awarded DSC for distinguished service at Zeebrugge, HMS Iris II.

Gillard, Henry John, Able Seaman. O. No. 8517. ‘Lent from RN’. Participated in a ballot for the award of the Victoria Cross granted for service during the operation against Zeebrugge on the night of 22/23 April, 1918. Awarded Mention in Despatches (MID) for service at Zeebrugge. (Reverted to RN). * (Seaman Storming Party ‘A’ Company) HMS Vindicative. Awarded Belgian Croix de Guerre.

Hopkins, Reginald, Leading Stoker. O. No. 3135. Took part in operations in German New Guinea, September 1914, as well as Zeebrugge, HMS Thetis. Serving in HMAS Australia for New Guinea Op.

Lockard, Godfrey James, Stoker. O. No. 3123. Took part in operations in German New Guinea, September 1914, as well as Zeebrugge, HMS Thetis. Serving in HMAS Australia for New Guinea Op.

McCrory, Norbert Joseph, Stoker. O. No. 1183. Awarded Mention in Despatches (MID) for service at Zeebrugge. Awarded Belgian Croix de Guerre. Also served in RANBT, and the AIF as a Gunner in 6th Field Artillery in France. * HMS Thetis.

Newland, Leopold Thomas, Able Seaman. O No. 1937. Participated in a ballot for the award of the Victoria Cross granted for service during the operation against Zeebrugge on the night of 22/23 April 1918. Awarded Mention in Despatches (MID) for service at Zeebrugge. * (Seaman Storming Party ‘A’ Company) HMS Vindicative

Rudd, Dalmorton Joseph Owendale, Leading Seaman. O No. 3389. Participated in a ballot for the award of the Victoria Cross granted for service during the operation at Zeebrugge. Awarded DSM for service at Zeebrugge. (Seaman Storming Party ‘A’ Company). HMS Vindicative

Staples, George Edward, Able Seaman. O No. 2858. Took part in operations in German New Guinea, September 1914. Participated in a ballot for the award of the Victoria Cross granted for service during the operation against Zeebrugge on the night of 22/23 April 1918. Awarded DSM for service at Zeebrugge. (Seaman Storming Party ‘A’ Company) HMS Vindicative.

Strong, James, Leading Stoker. O No. 2536. Took part in operations in German New Guinea, September 1914, as well as Zeebrugge, HMS Thetis. Serving in HMAS Australia for New Guinea Op.