Post by Dave Homewood on Jan 23, 2023 22:23:01 GMT 12
AUCKLAND NAVAL MAN TELLS OF "HELL" AT SEA
Running the gauntlet of the Meditterranean as escort to an aircraft carrier delivering Spitfires to Malta . . . cover destroyer with a huge North African invasion convoy. . . days and nights under air-strafing . . . then the bomb that seemed likely to end all in tragedy, and a heroic fight that saved the ship. All these are elements of a graphic story told in a letter to his people by a New Zealand naval rating, who has now been commissioned as Sub-Lieutenant Don Bridges, R.N.Z.V..R.
Don, a son of Mr. and Mrs. F. G. Bridges, of Takapuna, and an old boy of Mount Albert Grammar, left New Zealand as a candidate for the Fleet Air Arm in August, 1942, but later transferred to the navy. He did his sea duty as a rating and sole New Zealander on a British destroyer, and saw life and death in the process. The story he tells is the story of all those heroic little ships, and the gallant men who man them.
The action opened with his arrival at Gibraltar in October last and the assignment of his ship as escort to the aircraft carrier. They arrived safely and all the Spitfires took off from the carrier and made a landing at Malta, but it was a voyage of constant vigilance. They were well within enemy bomber range and their presence must be known, but they were not attacked.
"At the time we thought this a miracle, but later, when we heard how badly pushed he was in North Africa, we knew the reason for his absence."
Invasion of North Africa
And then North Africa! November 5, "a Guy Fawkes Day to remember." Moorings slipped at 11 p.m. and then, at dawn, the thrilling sight of hundreds of ships . . . warships of all sorts and sizes, aircraft carriers, liners crammed with troops.
"As the day drew on we began to realise the tremendous affair this war is. We were amazed at 4 p.m. to see another huge convoy . . We did not have long to wait, for the captain broadcast to the ship's company, 'You will, no doubt, have guessed by now that this is to be the invasion of North Africa.'"
What a miracle of secrecy the planning must have been, for Sub-Lieutenant Bridges records that out of this huge convoy — "a tremendous target"—the only loss was one troop carrier, all the men being saved.
Unsuspecting, Algiers was brightly lit when it was sighted at 10 p.m., and the occupation was almost without active resistance and that only at the airport and a few coastal batteries: "The first day of the invasion slipped away quickly; it all seemed so unreal to me. Such a walk-over and yet the enemy only an hour's flying time from Algiers. However, at sunset the attack begun. This was our baptism of fire. As long as I live I will never forget that first night. Torpedo bombers were in predominance, dive-bombers were pretty active and the noise was earsplitting. Flares and tracer bullets made the night light as day. My only feeling was of a dull excitement . . . Surely, only crazy idiots could put on a show like this.
"A sudden lurch of the ship and a thorough drenching of salt water brought me back to realities. We had successfully dodged a torpedo on the port beam. We were cheered to see two enemy bombers whirling in flames. Strange to say I felt sorry for the chaps who surely died, a feeling which I lost at a later date."
Dawn and dusk for three days saw repetitions of this attack on a smaller scale, with Bridges at action station as firer of a 4in gun ... "a good spot to be in." Then convoy duty again for the taking of the town of Bougie, where the population again welcomed the invading troops. A place of beauty . . .
"Little did we guess that within 24 hours this heaven would be turned into a veritable hell." They had gone back to Algiers for more ships, and on returning " at about 4 a.m. we were alarmed to see a dull, angry, red glow over Bougie . . . Our fears were confirmed. It was a sorry sight, and made us feel deeply angry and eager for revenge, a revenge we took the following day."
Before breakfast they were at the guns to drive off five Junkers 88's. One plane was hit. Then a reconnaissance plane . . . and a submarine "sneaking outside the bay." At midday "the real fun began" with an attack by six Italian torpedo bombers at a height of 20ft. Every gun in the ship was ablaze. Three of the planes were hit and later crashed in the hills. The others made off. Submarine alerts in the afternoon and then, at night "the most concentrated attack we had had to date. It was so terrible I cannot remember it all. Two torpedoes missed us by inches. .One, in fact, scraped the hull. Three heavy bombs straddled us, sending up high columns of water, many tons of which crashed on the deck, thoroughly soaking us all."
A hectic week was full of such incidents and then came "our most vital job. It proved to be the last for a long time to come, and almost meant 'curtains' for us all."
They were to take one of the leading Allied generals to Phillipville, a small town between Bona and Bougie. He was delivered safely, and the return trip was begun on a night of brilliant moonlight. They were hardly out of the bay when they were attacked. There was a near miss with the first stick of bombs, and though the captain zigzagged the ship at top speed the attack was persistent. It was difficult to pick up the planes in that light, and they couldn't retaliate as that would give their position away.
"This is the first time in my life I have felt like a hunted rat—a most unpleasant sensation," records Bridges. "Frankly I was scared, too. A chap would not be human if he had any other feelings.
"The worst moment had come, for we distinctly heard a plane dive right on us, the whistling bomb—and then confusion. I really prayed hard, not so much to save my skin but that if I was to go my demise would be quick. A tremendous roar and then a deadly quiet. I was dazed when I picked myself up. Most of the gun's crew were in different positions where the force of the explosion had thrown them.
Magazine Afire
"We were profoundly relieved to find all alive and practically unscathed. The bomb had missed us by 5ft and had gone right through three decks and exploded in the sea. Our companions below were not so lucky for the magazine was afire and water was rushing through the gaping hole in the ship's bottom.
"With a great deal of trouble we extricated the wounded and carried them forward to the sick-bay. There was a great danger of the magazine blowing up and taking us all with it. Our only hope was the inrushing water. The water-tight doors were all shut and the damaged and burning portion almost flooded.
"We worked frantically—dumping heavy depth-charges and other movable objects, thereby lightening the afterpart of the ship, which was dangerously low in the water. Our efforts were rewarded, for by midnight, we knew that, without further attack and with the weather so calm we could make Bougie.
"By this time all were exhausted, but none dare think of sleep. The bomb had torn right through our living quarters. On looking round we began to realise how fortunate our gun's crew was, for the bomb had missed the barrel by a hair's breadth. A gaping hole was beside us and the deck was buckled in waves."
Sub-Lieutenant Bridges records that it was a sad ship that limped into Bougie at 4 a.m. . . and they were hardly there when again the planes were over. Again the guns . . . then ambulances alongside and engineers and divers working desperately to patch the hole and pump the water out. Another night and another attack . . .
"For three hours we just pumped shells into the sky." What an ordeal all this must have been can be imagined from the comment . . . "We had not had a decent night's rest for weeks and were living on hard ship's biscuits and watery tea."
At last the temporary repair was completed and they made for Algiers. But the incident was not yet closed. Dirty weather and a torpedo bomber attack on the way, and then, at Algiers, "the city, was bombed the whole night through"
It was getting near the end of the adventure, and Sub-Lieutenant Bridges describes it laconically . . . "Another sleepless night was had by all."
AUCKLAND STAR, 14 JUNE 1943
Running the gauntlet of the Meditterranean as escort to an aircraft carrier delivering Spitfires to Malta . . . cover destroyer with a huge North African invasion convoy. . . days and nights under air-strafing . . . then the bomb that seemed likely to end all in tragedy, and a heroic fight that saved the ship. All these are elements of a graphic story told in a letter to his people by a New Zealand naval rating, who has now been commissioned as Sub-Lieutenant Don Bridges, R.N.Z.V..R.
Don, a son of Mr. and Mrs. F. G. Bridges, of Takapuna, and an old boy of Mount Albert Grammar, left New Zealand as a candidate for the Fleet Air Arm in August, 1942, but later transferred to the navy. He did his sea duty as a rating and sole New Zealander on a British destroyer, and saw life and death in the process. The story he tells is the story of all those heroic little ships, and the gallant men who man them.
The action opened with his arrival at Gibraltar in October last and the assignment of his ship as escort to the aircraft carrier. They arrived safely and all the Spitfires took off from the carrier and made a landing at Malta, but it was a voyage of constant vigilance. They were well within enemy bomber range and their presence must be known, but they were not attacked.
"At the time we thought this a miracle, but later, when we heard how badly pushed he was in North Africa, we knew the reason for his absence."
Invasion of North Africa
And then North Africa! November 5, "a Guy Fawkes Day to remember." Moorings slipped at 11 p.m. and then, at dawn, the thrilling sight of hundreds of ships . . . warships of all sorts and sizes, aircraft carriers, liners crammed with troops.
"As the day drew on we began to realise the tremendous affair this war is. We were amazed at 4 p.m. to see another huge convoy . . We did not have long to wait, for the captain broadcast to the ship's company, 'You will, no doubt, have guessed by now that this is to be the invasion of North Africa.'"
What a miracle of secrecy the planning must have been, for Sub-Lieutenant Bridges records that out of this huge convoy — "a tremendous target"—the only loss was one troop carrier, all the men being saved.
Unsuspecting, Algiers was brightly lit when it was sighted at 10 p.m., and the occupation was almost without active resistance and that only at the airport and a few coastal batteries: "The first day of the invasion slipped away quickly; it all seemed so unreal to me. Such a walk-over and yet the enemy only an hour's flying time from Algiers. However, at sunset the attack begun. This was our baptism of fire. As long as I live I will never forget that first night. Torpedo bombers were in predominance, dive-bombers were pretty active and the noise was earsplitting. Flares and tracer bullets made the night light as day. My only feeling was of a dull excitement . . . Surely, only crazy idiots could put on a show like this.
"A sudden lurch of the ship and a thorough drenching of salt water brought me back to realities. We had successfully dodged a torpedo on the port beam. We were cheered to see two enemy bombers whirling in flames. Strange to say I felt sorry for the chaps who surely died, a feeling which I lost at a later date."
Dawn and dusk for three days saw repetitions of this attack on a smaller scale, with Bridges at action station as firer of a 4in gun ... "a good spot to be in." Then convoy duty again for the taking of the town of Bougie, where the population again welcomed the invading troops. A place of beauty . . .
"Little did we guess that within 24 hours this heaven would be turned into a veritable hell." They had gone back to Algiers for more ships, and on returning " at about 4 a.m. we were alarmed to see a dull, angry, red glow over Bougie . . . Our fears were confirmed. It was a sorry sight, and made us feel deeply angry and eager for revenge, a revenge we took the following day."
Before breakfast they were at the guns to drive off five Junkers 88's. One plane was hit. Then a reconnaissance plane . . . and a submarine "sneaking outside the bay." At midday "the real fun began" with an attack by six Italian torpedo bombers at a height of 20ft. Every gun in the ship was ablaze. Three of the planes were hit and later crashed in the hills. The others made off. Submarine alerts in the afternoon and then, at night "the most concentrated attack we had had to date. It was so terrible I cannot remember it all. Two torpedoes missed us by inches. .One, in fact, scraped the hull. Three heavy bombs straddled us, sending up high columns of water, many tons of which crashed on the deck, thoroughly soaking us all."
A hectic week was full of such incidents and then came "our most vital job. It proved to be the last for a long time to come, and almost meant 'curtains' for us all."
They were to take one of the leading Allied generals to Phillipville, a small town between Bona and Bougie. He was delivered safely, and the return trip was begun on a night of brilliant moonlight. They were hardly out of the bay when they were attacked. There was a near miss with the first stick of bombs, and though the captain zigzagged the ship at top speed the attack was persistent. It was difficult to pick up the planes in that light, and they couldn't retaliate as that would give their position away.
"This is the first time in my life I have felt like a hunted rat—a most unpleasant sensation," records Bridges. "Frankly I was scared, too. A chap would not be human if he had any other feelings.
"The worst moment had come, for we distinctly heard a plane dive right on us, the whistling bomb—and then confusion. I really prayed hard, not so much to save my skin but that if I was to go my demise would be quick. A tremendous roar and then a deadly quiet. I was dazed when I picked myself up. Most of the gun's crew were in different positions where the force of the explosion had thrown them.
Magazine Afire
"We were profoundly relieved to find all alive and practically unscathed. The bomb had missed us by 5ft and had gone right through three decks and exploded in the sea. Our companions below were not so lucky for the magazine was afire and water was rushing through the gaping hole in the ship's bottom.
"With a great deal of trouble we extricated the wounded and carried them forward to the sick-bay. There was a great danger of the magazine blowing up and taking us all with it. Our only hope was the inrushing water. The water-tight doors were all shut and the damaged and burning portion almost flooded.
"We worked frantically—dumping heavy depth-charges and other movable objects, thereby lightening the afterpart of the ship, which was dangerously low in the water. Our efforts were rewarded, for by midnight, we knew that, without further attack and with the weather so calm we could make Bougie.
"By this time all were exhausted, but none dare think of sleep. The bomb had torn right through our living quarters. On looking round we began to realise how fortunate our gun's crew was, for the bomb had missed the barrel by a hair's breadth. A gaping hole was beside us and the deck was buckled in waves."
Sub-Lieutenant Bridges records that it was a sad ship that limped into Bougie at 4 a.m. . . and they were hardly there when again the planes were over. Again the guns . . . then ambulances alongside and engineers and divers working desperately to patch the hole and pump the water out. Another night and another attack . . .
"For three hours we just pumped shells into the sky." What an ordeal all this must have been can be imagined from the comment . . . "We had not had a decent night's rest for weeks and were living on hard ship's biscuits and watery tea."
At last the temporary repair was completed and they made for Algiers. But the incident was not yet closed. Dirty weather and a torpedo bomber attack on the way, and then, at Algiers, "the city, was bombed the whole night through"
It was getting near the end of the adventure, and Sub-Lieutenant Bridges describes it laconically . . . "Another sleepless night was had by all."
AUCKLAND STAR, 14 JUNE 1943
