Kintyre at War 1939 - 1945

Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society's - KINTYRE AT WAR 1939 – 1945 - Text © 2005 Donald Kelly
KINTYRE AT WAR 1939 – 1945

THIS CHRONOLOGY HAS BEEN COMPILED PURELY FOR
EDUCATIONAL AND HISTORICAL RESEARCH PURPOSES
Use the SCROLL BAR on the right of the screen to move through the pages
The principal purpose of this chronology was to properly order the course of wartime events in and
around the Kintyre for the benefit of the many people preparing to host the visit of The Imperial
War Museum's 'Their Past, Your Future' Travelling Exhibition to Campbeltown in
October/November 2005.
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A GLOBAL APPROACH
Hitler's "Thousand Year Reich" lasted but 12 years, 4 months and 8 days and importantly, that
'local events' were not viewed in isolation and, by reason of the fact that much of history and its
teaching nowadays is "dumbed down", the chronology, now here on disc for the benefit of future
historians, covers the whole period from Hitler's appointment, as Chancellor, in 1933, right up to
the time of the Nuremberg War Trials and executions in 1946.
DOORSTEP MYSTERIES
Despite the passing of the years and decades, there is an on-going fascination with stories of
Germany’s U-Boats and there are still many mysteries to be solved about the final moments and
resting place of some which were depth-charged and claimed to have been sunk as a result of the
attacks.
Four years, less four days, after the Campbeltown-based Rescue Tug "Englishman" went missing,
the German submarine "U-482" too disappeared.
Then, more than 50 years later, both wrecks, little more than a mile apart, were proved to be
lying on the west side of Kintyre, off Bellochantuy and the story of their discovery also told here.
LASTING LEGACIES
For future researchers and historians, here too will be found German glossaries, Hitler's speech
declaring War on America and copies of both the German and the Japanese Surrender Documents.
GOING TO WAR - To best profit from this comprehensive resource, one

should first
- PRINT OUT the INDEX which is to be found on PAGE 2 (Sheet 6 of 444)
- USE the SCROLL BAR on the right of the screen to move through the pages
or
- RETURN TO THIS OPENING PAGE
- Click on EDIT / FIND
- Enter subject of interest e.g. U-482 or e.g. Mine
- Click on FIND NEXT - from highlighted entry to entry - to search through

the chronology for any direct or related entries about the subject (s) of interest.
BE AWARE THAT - You may come across some "PAGE SLIPPAGE" in the
course of this disc copy of "Kintyre At War", the technical causes being beyond the
understanding of the writer and the necessary apologies offered here.
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WELCOME
TO
KINTYRE AT WAR
1939 – 1945
THE CHRONOLOGY
BEGINS
ON THE NEXT PAGE
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KINTYRE AT WAR
1939 - 1945
A Chronology of Global and Local Events
From The Reichstag (1933) To Nuremberg (1946)
The Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse and ‘The Dug’s Lugs’ overlooking The North Channel between Scotland and Ireland
Once the coast of France was in German hands, The North Channel
became the main route for trans-Atlantic traffic and, both in 1940 and in
1944-45, the German Kriegsmarine made determined efforts to close it . .
. . . . . . Had they succeeded in 1940, Britain would have lost the war.
Kintyre and Campbeltown’s unique geographical positions made them

focal points for communications and transport and, despite all their
efforts, The German Kriegsmarine failed to close Britain’s vital supply
lines . . . . . . . . .
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SUMMARY OF CONTENTS
Section 2) Introductions - Why War ? 5
Map of WWII Installations etc. Around Kintyre 7
WWII Miscellany of Who's What etc (9) Prelude to War (25) A State of War (30) Who Fought Who (34) What Ifs (37)
Section 3) 1939 39
New Laws (47) The Dogfight (53) Home and Away at War (54) The 'Duchesses' at War (57) Away From The Fleet (58) Weather
Reports (60) Spies on The Move (67) Carradale's U-Boat (67) Other Spies (71) Mines and Mines (72) First Campbeltown Man Killed
(75)
Section 4) 1940 78
Internment and 'The Cafés' (80) Geneva Convention (82) Rationing (83) Campbeltown (89) 'U-33' and H.M.S. 'Gleaner' (90) The
Enigma Machine (94) Paper Enigma Machine (96) Come Viz Me to Ze Casbah (99) Best Face Forward (100) Daylight Saving Time
(102) 'Finished With Engines' (104) War on The Buses (105) The 'Zwarte Zee (III)' (108) Clyde Minefield (108) The 'Maille Breze'
(109) H.M.S. 'Nimrod' (109) The Home Guard (112) Dunkirk (113) Churchill's Famous Speech (117) Taking Leave of Dunkirk (117)
Dunkirk Roll of Honour (119) Glossary of Army Terms (121) Clyde Rescue Tugs (122) U-Boat Positioning Grid System (122) First
Anzac Convoy (126) The 'Arandora Star' and Britain's Gold (126) Interned (127) The Tugs and The Mines (128) The 'Davaar' and The
'Dalriada' (128) More Sinkings (129) The 'Zwarte Zee' and Queen Wilhelmina's Birthday (132) Operation Quickforce (132) Inveraray
(136) The Rescue Tug Base (140) Neil Mitchell and The 'Davaar' (142) The Condors (145) First Campbeltown Air Attack (146) War at
The West Loch (150) Islay's Air War (152) Dickie's of Tarbert (153) Ardrishaig Training Base (155) Road Blocks and Bombing Ranges
(156) The Army (160)
Section 5) 1941 161

The Condors (162) The 'Englishman' (166) The Donegal Air Corridor (169) Irish Neutrality in WWII (169) Campbeltown's Second and
Final Direct Attack (172) Gunther Prien and 'U-47' (176) Women at War (178) 'Shemara' (181) The French Connection (182) Coastal
Command (183) All About Convoys (185) H.M.S. 'Campbeltown' and Convoy OB318 (188) The 'Bismark' (191) Clothes Rationing (194)
From Strabane to Machrihanish (197) From The Fuhrer's Speech (199) Hero's Demise (201) Atlantic Charter (202) Arran's War (202)
The Belgian Count and The Radium Mystery (204) The 'Bustler' Class Tugs (206) Campbeltown Loch's Anti-Submarine Boom (208)
Kitchen Gear (209) The Puffers (210) America's Declaration of War on Japan (211) Hitler's Declaration of War on America (212)
Section 6) 1942 224

Cefoil (225) 'Adept' Aground (228) H.M.S. 'Campbeltown' and Operation Chariot – St. Nazaire (228) Campbeltown Kate (235)
Carradale's 'Medea' (236) Out at The Base (237) The 'Laconia' (240) The 'Queen Mary' and The 'Curaçao' (241) The Southend Spy
(243)
Section 7) 1943 248

H.M.S. 'Vandal' (249) Boys Will Be Boys (252) The 'Dasher' (254) 'Tirpitz' (254) Lili Marlene (256) The Loss of The 'Untamed' (258)
Sylvia Scarlet (260) Quebec Conference (261) The Troop Tenders (262) Water, Water, Everywhere (263) The 'Moncouso' and The
Bombing Range (263) On The Tugs (264) POW's Repatriated (264) Skipness Bombing Range and The 'Betty' (265) An English
Daffodil (266) Accidental Death (267) The 'Growler' (267)
Section 8) 1944 269

The 'Growler' and The 'Coubert' (271) H.M.S. 'Graph'/'U-570' (271) Big Guns (273) Skipness Bombing Range (274) Operation
Fortitude – Thorne's War (275) The Mulberry Harbours (275) The July Plot (278) August Escapes (279) PLUTO (279) Matuschka's
First Patrol (281) Wiring In (285) Fessenden (286) The 'Queens' (289) Big Bang (290)
Section 9) 1945 293

Matuschka's 'U-482' and The 'Englishman' (294) A Brief History of Prussia (305) Matuschka (305) 'U-482' Crew List (307) New
Minefields Laid Between Ireland and Islay (309) H.M.S. 'Sealion' (310) Lost off Gigha (310) Final German Minelaying in The Clyde
(311) Germany Told of Hitler's Death (312) GERMAN SURRENDER DOCUMENTS (314) The End of The U-Boats (325) Victory
(326) JAPANESE SURRENDER DOCUMENTS (328) The 'Aarla' (336) H.M.S. 'Mull of Kintyre' (337) Operation Deadlight (338)
Oops ! (339)
Section 10) 1946 340

The VW at War (341) 'Jairminny Calling' (342) 'Shemara' (342) Mothballed (345) The 'Byron Darnton' (345) The End of Graf von
Matuschka's 'Prinz' (346) Campbeltown's Roll of Honour (347) Official VE-Day June 8, 1946 Victory Celebrations Programme (350)
Stalin's Butler Eugene Yoist (362) Other Tales or Tail Pieces (362) Old Meets New (365) The Eventually Not So Lucky 'Fessenden'
(367) 'For The Fallen' (369)
Section 11) Glossaries 370

Wartime Heritage Trails (370) Kintyre Wartime Aircraft Crashes (374) Glossary of WWII German Military Terms (378) Glossary
of U-Boat Terms (390) Glossary of U-Boat Abbreviations (421) WWII Miscellany of Who's What etc. (432) Acknowledgements (438)
A Note on Picture and Other Credits (438) Copyright Notes (439) Useful References (440) Kintyre Antiquarians and Natural
History Society (440)
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WHY WAR ? - HOW THINGS BEGAN

The American Debt - The 1930's were a decade in which business was increasingly overshadowed by the menace of the
foreign situation leading up to the final catastrophe of a world at war. In the United States, as in Great Britain, economic
collapse led to the collapse of the Government and, in the Presidential Election of 1932, the Republican President, Mr.
Hoover, was defeated and his Democratic opponent, Mr. Franklin Roosevelt, a distant cousin of the President Roosevelt of
the early years of the century, was elected in his place. Mr. Roosevelt came in pledged to the policy of a New Deal - a
phrase taken from Mark Twain's A Yankee at the Court of King Arthur - by which he hoped to set American industry on its
feet again through a policy of lavish Government lending. It was, like the policy of the National Government in Great Britain,
an economic remedy for an economic disease. It met with some success, sufficient to win for President Roosevelt triumphant
re-election in 1936 and, left to itself, it would certainly have met with yet more success. Its programme was in no sort of way
a menace to Great Britain. Indeed, in a world at peace, British recovery and American recovery must necessarily have played
into one another's hands and each have assisted the other. Relations between Great Britain and the United States in these years
were seriously marred only by one grave blunder of the British Government. In order to finance the last war Great Britain had
borrowed money on the American market so that we might in turn finance our Continental Allies. The terms of the repayment
of this debt—terms, as some people thought, unnecessarily onerous—had been settled by Mr. Baldwin when he was
Chancellor of The Exchequer in Mr. Bonar Law's Government in 1923. We borrowed from the Americans £960 millions and
lent to our Continental Allies £1,400 millions. By the debt settlements it was agreed that over a period of sixty-two years we
should repay the Americans in principle and interest a little over £2,000 millions and should receive from our Allies £18½
millions and, throughout the rest of the 1920's payments were punctually made on this settlement. But, with the financial
crisis of 1931 Great Britain defaulted on her payments. It would have been perfectly proper to have reopened negotiations on
the details of the settlement on the plea of changed circumstances but, a unilateral default was a grave blunder. It meant that
Britain earned no admiration in America when shortly afterwards she boasted that she had balanced her Budget at a time when
Budgets were very far from balanced in America. It was a still worse blunder to tell the Americans that they ought to regard
their money as their contribution to a common cause, for such talk but strengthened the dominant American mood of that time
which thought that they had been tricked by British propaganda into fighting an unnecessary war. This foolish language so
strengthened Isolationist feeling in America as to make it impossible for President Roosevelt to play any effective part in the
prevention of war when the threat of it came to the world a few years later.
The German Economic Crisis - There was a third country in which the development was wholly different from that of either
America or Great Britain. The sudden calling-in of American credits imposed a most drastic deflation upon the Germans. The
democratic Parliamentary Government did not feel itself politically strong enough frankly to repudiate its foreign obligations,
nor yet, with its middle class embittered by the memory of the inflation eighteen years before, to suspend the gold standard.
It meekly submitted its people to a deflation far more drastic than any under which the British had suffered and tried to
maintain its exports by throwing its goods on to foreign markets at well below cost price, making the manufacturer recoup
himself by charging an artificially high price at home. This obviously meant that the German at home could buy far less. As a
result, unemployment there rose to the astronomical figure of some ten millions. Economic distress always weakens moderate
politicians and strengthens extremists. This was the more so in a country in which the stablest element in the population, the
middle class, had already been destroyed by inflation. In the late 1920's the moderate, parliamentary, Weimar Republic
seemed to have established itself. But, with the economic collapse the extreme, anti-Parliamentary, parties rapidly gained
ground at the expense of the moderates. There was a race to power between the Communists on the Left and the Nazis on the
Right —a race which the Nazis won. Heir Hitler was established as Chancellor of the German Reich almost to a day at the
same time that President Roosevelt was sworn in as President of the United States.
The Nazi Rise to Power - We can see from this record that it is clearly an over-simplification to say that Germany was
determined on the Second World War from the very moment that she lost the first one. There were certain people in Germany
no doubt who wanted, if not a Second World War, at least a reversal of the verdict of the First World War, to obtain which
they were prepared, if it should prove necessary, to fight. But no one can seriously pretend that such a man as Dr. Bruning,
the last truly Parliamentary Chancellor of the Reich, was of their number. So long as Germany's economic life was reasonably
stable the extremists were not much regarded. It was the economic collapse—caused first by the French occupation of the Ruhr
and then by American misunderstanding of the technique of foreign lending and by British adherence to the gold standard
under conditions in which it could not be worked—which put the German extremists into power. Still less is it true without
qualification to say that the Treaty of Versailles caused the Second World War. The economic clauses of the Treaty of
Versailles were unworkable, but the attempt to work them had been abandoned long before Herr Hitler came into power. The
territorial clauses may have had their faults, but no sane man could pretend that their blemishes were sufficient to cause a
Second World War. Nor, doubtless, is it even true to say without qualification that Hitler and the Nazis wanted a World War.
Even such a man as Hitler does not want a World War for war's sake. He wants certain things and he is prepared to fight a war
if he cannot get them otherwise. What Hitler wanted is clearly set out in Mein Kampf—the domination of Europe, to begin
with and, after that, doubtless the domination of the world. Germany's population, wealth and energy were such that it was
entirely reasonable that hers should be a leading part in the building of European unity.
What made her claims intolerable and what in the end led to war were the methods by which they were advanced, the lack of
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good faith, the complete disregard for the rights of others. As Mr Chamberlain truly said on the day of the outbreak of war,
"It is evil things that We shall be fighting against - brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression and persecution".
The Armament Problem - By the Treaty of Versailles, Germany was disarmed and a promise was given that her
disarmament would be followed by that of the Allies. Naval armaments had been regulated by the decision of the Washington
Conference of 1921 by which the three leading naval Powers - Great Britain, the United States and Japan - agreed that their
naval strength should be in the proportion of 5 : 5 : 3. But there had been no military disarmament. France, baulked first of the
Rhine frontier and then of an Anglo-American promise to defend her against German attack, did not feel that, with a
population only two-thirds that of Germany, she could ever afford to disarm. The year before Hitler came to power in 1932 a
Disarmament Conference had been summoned to try to save the world from a renewed race in armaments, but Hitler declined
to negotiate so long as Germany was still held in an inferior position to other Powers. The Versailles Treaty had already
defined what were defensive and what were offensive armaments. So, if the Powers had been sincere in their protestations
that they were only armed for defence, it would only have been necessary to abolish all offensive armaments. Soon after he
came to power Hitler withdrew Germany both from the Disarmament Conference and from the League. At about the same
time Japan also left the League as a protest against the League's condemnation of its seizure of Manchukuo. Hitler announced
that, although Germany would never accept a position of inferiority to other Powers, yet she would willingly either forgo
armaments altogether or forgo any particular armament, provided only that other Powers led the way in their abolition. Hitler's
first concern was to establish himself firmly in power in Germany, which he did by murdering all who might possibly have
challenged his autocracy in the 'blood-bath' of June, 1934. According to German official admission, seventy-seven people
perished in that massacre - in reality probably about one thousand. His next concern was that the Saar Valley—territory
which under the Peace Treaty was held temporarily by the League of Nations—should be returned to Germany. This it duly
was after a plebiscite in 1935. Then, having no further immediate reason for courting the favour of his neighbours, Hitler
announced German rearmament.
French Failure - France's claim in the post-war years was a claim to military domination of the European Continent and it
was purposeless to put forward such a claim if it was not to be supported. Whatever the juristic niceties, France, if such was
to be her policy, should certainly have struck against Germany at this first moment of German rearmament. She could then
have easily conquered her and, so long as she was clearly destined for victory, she need not have feared that others would not
support her. Instead she attempted to insure herself against Germany by a series of pacts and agreements with other Powers—a
policy which failed as doubt grew whether France under her nerveless regime ever had the intention or would ever have the
courage to strike. She had already, ever since the last war, had alliances with Poland and with the three Powers who formed
what was known as the Little Entente—Czecho-Slovakia, Rumania and Yugoslavia. She attempted to draw more closely her
bonds with Great Britain. Under Laval's leadership relations with Italy were improved and by the Stresa Pact the three
Western Powers - Great Britain, France and Italy - agreed to oppose any unilateral attempt by Germany to change the status
quo by force. While France was afraid of an attack on Alsace-Lorraine, Italy was afraid of an attack on Austria. In 1935
France followed up her rapprochement with Italy by a rapprochement with Russia. A Franco-Soviet Pact of mutual assistance
was signed and Russia joined the League of Nations, which she had hitherto denounced as an assembly of Imperialistic
highwaymen. To Great Britain territorial questions on the Continent and military questions were alike of secondary
importance. Her prime interest was that Germany should not challenge her on the sea. Therefore in 1935 Great Britain signed
a naval agreement with Germany, by which Germany agreed to restrict her naval forces to 35 per cent of those of Great
Britain. It was unfortunate that Great Britain should have signed this pact without consulting her two partners in the Stresa
Pact.
The Abyssinian Question - This omission greatly weakened her hand when in the autumn of that year the Abyssinian crisis
came to a head. Mussolini had overthrown the Parliamentary Government and seized power in Italy in 1922. In the next year
he had truculently attacked the Greek island of Corfu to revenge the murder of an Italian general in the Albanian mountains,
but since then, though he had sometimes indulged in chauvinistic rhetoric, he had always behaved in a surprisingly moderate
and co-operative fashion. But now he was anxious to include within the Italian Empire the Abyssinian Empire of Haile
Selassie—the only remaining independent Power in Africa. A so-called Peace Ballot had recently been taken in Great Britain
by the League of Nations Unions, which had shown, as it appeared, a vast volume of opinion in Great Britain in favour of
what was known as collective security - that is, of the policy by which all Powers join together to suppress an aggressor,
irrespective of the particular Power who is the victim of the aggression - and of the League of Nations. Abyssinia was a
member of the League of Nations. Frontiers had several times been modified before without the League attempting any
effective action - by Poland when she seized Vilna from Lithuania, by Turkey when she seized Smyrna from Greece and the
Dardanelles from international control, by Japan when she seized Manchukuo from China. Nevertheless the supporters of the
League of Nations Union insisted that Abyssinia was a test case, and the British Government did not feel that it could afford to
resist their pressure. It demanded that Italy should be punished for her attack on Abyssinia by the imposition of economic
Sanctions by the League of Nations.
M. Laval - The question was whether the French would support them in this policy. M. Laval, the French Prime Minister,
was no enthusiast for collective security. He judged everything from the effect on the anti-German bloc, which he was then
building up and, so judging it, disliked the choice that was presented to him exceedingly. His calculation was that, if he
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refused to impose Sanctions, he would forfeit the goodwill of Great Britain and, if he imposed them he would forfeit the
goodwill of Italy. On balance and reluctantly, he decided that the goodwill of Great Britain was the more important and
agreed to Sanctions. Sanctions were voted and on the strength of its leadership in the voting of them the National Government
appealed to the people and was again returned to power in the General Election of that autumn. But it was hoped that, if
Sanctions were not imposed too vigorously, it might be possible at some later date to recapture the goodwill of Italy.
Sanctions were therefore imposed, but oil, the one commodity by the lack of which Italy might have been brought to her
knees, was not included among the articles forbidden to her. Germany was not a member of the League of Nations and
therefore there was no call upon her to take a decision on the morality of an invasion of Abyssinia. All that interested her was
the spectacle of the opponents of the revision of Versailles divided and therefore impotent. So in April of 1936 Hitler tore up
the Treaty of Locarno and marched the German troops into the Rhineland, which had been forbidden to her troops by the
Treaty of Versailles.
The Popular Front - Two months later the Italian troops entered Addis Ababa, the capital of Abyssinia and the Emperor
Haile Selassie fled the country. The members of the League of Nations, accepting the fait accompli, withdrew Sanctions, but
Italy was in no mind to forgive those who had shown their desire to hurt her and had only failed in the power to hurt. She left
the League of Nations and found her new alliances in partnership with Germany and Japan in the so-called Anti-Comintem
Pact, forgetting that two years before she had herself sponsored the admission of Russia to the League of Nations. Two
months later, in July, 1936, civil war broke out in Spain. From the first General Franco was supported by the Germans and
the Italians and the Popular Front troops were supported by the Russians. The French Government, by this time a Left-Wing
Government under M. Blum, of itself favoured the Spanish Government side, but was restrained from doing much, partly by
the sharp division of opinion on the merits of the war among Frenchmen and partly by its bias in favour of peace at any price,
which made it extremely reluctant to offend the Germans. The British Government, alone of European Governments, was
genuinely in favour of non-intervention in an internal Spanish quarrel and this policy, though much criticised both at the time
and since, proved itself in the event a wise one. It was owing to the British Government that the Spanish War was prevented
from spreading into a World War and those who thought that if they helped General Franco they would be able to use him as a
puppet to serve their own purposes have been very badly disappointed.
The Anschluss - Yet by 1938 Hitler felt that he was now strong enough to challenge the Versailles frontiers and to move
forward towards the achievement of the domination of Europe. The first step was to unite within the Reich all German-
speaking peoples and therefore in March he occupied Austria and declared its incorporation in the Reich. Mussolini, who in
the post-war world had been the special defender of Austria, was no longer willing to act against Germany. France was
caught in the midst of a Cabinet crisis and was without a Government. Hitler's coup was unopposed.
Czecho-Slovakia - At the time of the invasion of Austria the Czechs had been assured that Germany had no designs against
their country. Yet, as soon as Austria was occupied, the Germans began to clamour against the alleged injustices suffered by
the German-speaking inhabitants of Czecho-Slovakia, the Sudeten Deutsch, as they were called. The whole of the summer of
1938 was occupied with this Czech crisis. The French had an alliance with Czecho-Slovakia and had they been willing to
honour it a European War would have been inevitable had Hitler persisted in his demands. In such a war Great Britain, closely
tied as she then was to France, must have been involved. But, as the summer drew on, the French Government reported to
Mr. Chamberlain that, whatever the wording of treaties, French public opinion was not prepared to fight for Czecho-Slovakia.
There could be no question of Great Britain fighting for Czecho-Slovakia alone. We had no especial treaty obligations to
Czecho-Slovakia, nor had we an army of Continental dimensions with which to defend an entirely inland country. The
Dominions were opposed to any such commitment and to have fought would have been to have split the Empire. So Mr.
Chamberlain, although he could not publish the determination of the French not to fight, had in reality no alternative but to
accept the situation and to win from Hitler such mitigation of terms as might be possible by private appeals. He visited the
German ruler first at Berchtesgaden and then at Godesberg. Finally, just when to the uninformed war appeared to be
inevitable, a Conference of the leaders of the Four Great Powers - Germany, Italy, Great Britain and France - met at
Munich and decided that the Sudeten districts of Czecho-Slovakia should be ceded to Germany. She was also later compelled
to make slight rectifications of her frontiers in favour of Poland and Hungary. Czecho-Slovakia accepted those terms under
protest and was to receive in return a loan and a guarantee of her new frontiers by the four Powers.
The Entry into Prague - Hitler had promised that his Sudeten demands would be the last of his territorial demands in
Europe. If he kept that promise, then Europe's peace might be preserved, but the most optimistic could not have more than a
limited confidence in a 'Hitlerian' promise. All countries pushed on with their armaments programmes and prepared for the
worst while hoping for the best. Up till March of 1939 it was still possible to be hopeful, but in that month Hitler summoned
President Hacha, the President of Czecho-Slovakia, to his presence, compelled from him a capitulation under the threat of an
immediate aerial bombardment of Prague and sent in German troops to occupy all the Czech territory. Slovakia was declared
an independent state in alliance with Germany. A fortnight later Italy, with similar tactics, entered and seized Albania.
The Polish Guarantee - The settlement of Munich was torn up. It was too late to do anything immediately for Czecho-
Slovakia, but on the other hand no one could any longer believe that Hitler would not follow acts of aggression against one
neighbour by acts of aggression against another until all were destroyed or until he himself was stopped by force. Even the
French could no longer believe that their turn would not come before very long. The only possibility was to stop Germany at
5
the next fence. The two countries next threatened were Poland and Rumania. Therefore Great Britain and France guaranteed
their territories against attack. At home Mr Camberlain introduced conscription and all waited to see whether Hitler would
take up the challenge.
War - It soon appeared that the Polish danger was the immediate one. Germany had in 1934 signed a Ten-Year Non-
Aggression Pact with Poland and, until the Czech question was settled, Hitler had always pretended that his relations with
Poland were of the friendliest. But Poland lay between Germany and the Ukraine, into which, according to the teachings of
Mein Kampf, it was necessary for Germany to expand. He therefore suddenly discovered an intolerable grievance in the status
as a free city of the Baltic port of Danzig and in the so-called Polish Corridor, by which the narrow Polish province of
Pomoize, running down to the sea, divided the main territory of Germany from the German province of East Prussia. The
usual catalogue of alleged Polish atrocities was discovered. The world lived through an uneasy summer. It was hoped that the
Germans might be persuaded to caution if only the Western Powers could associate Russia with them in their guarantees of
Polish territory. There were negotiations between Great Britain and Russia, but they were hung up on the Russian demand for
freedom to occupy the territories of the little Baltic republics of Esthonia, Latvia and Lithuania. To this Great Britain would
not agree and Russia, while pretending to continue negotiations with Great Britain, secretly negotiated also with Germany.
On August 21, 1939, a non-aggression pact was signed between Germany and Russia. Stalin had purged his country of all
opposition a few years before by his treason trials, killing almost all the surviving Old Bolsheviks, just as Hitler had purged
Germany by his 'blood-bath'. The last fear and obstacle removed, Germany attacked Poland without declaration of war on
August 31 and three days later, on September 3, 1939, Great Britain and France declared war on Germany.
Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, Hitler's spy chief, himself charged with treason, was hanged on Hitler's orders at Flossenberg
concentration camp in early April 1945 - Canaris himself was essentially 'an anti-Hitler German patriot' who, at the time of
'The General's Plot' to assassinate Hitler in 1938, greatly feared that if Hitler attacked Czechoslovakia, Germany would
embark on an unwinnable war and, had British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain not flown to Germany to meet Hitler,
Canaris would have supported those anti-Hitler Germans who would have killed Hitler - Only Chamberlain's visit saved
Hitler from arrest and removal !
Winston Churchill once wrote that the only thing that ever really frightened him during the war was the U-boat peril - In
saying that, he correctly identified the importance of the threat posed during World War Two by German submarines (the
'Unterseeboot') to the Atlantic lifeline - This lifeline was Britain's 'centre of gravity' - the loss of which would probably have
led to wholesale defeat in the war - Germany’s best hope of defeating Britain lay in winning ‘The Battle of The Atlantic’.
If Germany had prevented merchant ships from carrying food, raw materials, troops and their equipment from North America
to Britain, the outcome of World War Two could have been radically different. Britain might have been starved into
submission, and her armies would not have been equipped with American-built tanks and vehicles.
Moreover, if the Allies had not been able to move ships about the North Atlantic, it would have been impossible to project
British and American land forces ashore in the Mediterranean theatres or on D-Day. Germany's best hope of defeating Britain
lay in winning what Churchill christened ‘The Battle of the Atlantic'.
The only one of the top Germans to recognise the importance of this long drawn-out battle was the German Admiral Karl
Doenitz - Hitler himself could not grasp the battle's significance and Goering never gave it a thought !
Germany had waged a similar campaign in World War One, and in 1917 had come close to defeating Britain. But in spite of
this experience neither side was well prepared in 1939. Germany had underestimated the impact
of U-boats, and was fighting with only 46 operational vessels, using mostly surface vessels - rather than submarines - to prowl
the Atlantic. However, on 3 September 1939, the day Britain declared war on Germany, the British liner “Athenia” was
torpedoed by a U-boat. This marked the beginning of The Second Battle of the Atlantic.
With the fall of France in 1940, five French ports - Lorient, Brest, La Pallice, St. Nazaire and La Baule - became available
to the German U-Boats saving them an enormous amount of time and fuel in making the hazardous 450-mile journey out
through The North Sea to The Atlantic shipping lanes and then another 450-miles back again to reach the safety of home.
6
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8
WWII - Miscellany of Who's What etc.

Ack-Ack Anti-Aircraft guns. They had mixed sex crews and rumours went round that the women
were sexually immoral.
Aliens The name given to foreigners
Anderson Corrugated tin air-raid shelters that people built in their gardens.
A.R.P's Air-Raid Precautions - the whole range of measures taken to protect people from air raids, including gas
masks, blackout, barrage balloons, search lights, Ack-Ack anti-aircraft guns, air-raid sirens, shelters (including Anderson
and Morrison-design domestic shelters, public shelters and The London Underground stations, sandbags, taping windows,
stirrup pumps, incendiary bomb scoops, evacuation, Civil Defence Services (including the Auxiliary Fire Service, 'First
Aiders' and ambulance-men), Royal Observer Corps (listening for bombers at night and looking for planes or doodlebugs
during the day), booklets and cigarette cards giving advice to householders, 'ARP' (Air-Raid Patrol) wardens and the W.V.S.
Atlantic Charter Declaration of Churchill and Roosevelt in August 1941 not to stop fighting until Nazism was destroyed.
A.T.A. Air Transport Auxiliary - flying aircraft from factories to airfields - Over 50% of women pilots flew all
kinds of heavy bombers and fighters.
A.T.S. Auxiliary Territorial Service - women worked on Ack-Ack anti-aircraft guns, search-lights, and radar
control, did sentry duty and serviced trucks and motorbikes.
Austerity fashions It became fashionable to show that you were ‘doing your bit’ to dress smartly, but unostentatiously i.e.
to look plain. This look became known as ‘austerity’ (hard times) fashions.
Beaches British propaganda - e.g. J.B. Priestley in his 'Postscripts' BBC radio programme telling how the British
soldiers had been saved from Dunkirk by small craft and paddle steamers picking up men from the beaches, a testimony to
British bravery and a success, the ‘myth’ of Dunkirk
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Beaverbrook In May 1940, Churchill put Lord Beaverbrook, owner of 'The Daily Express' newspaper, in charge of aircraft
production - there were public 'aluminium appeals' and 'Spitfire funds' - Beaverbrook cut through government red tape and
increased the production by 250% - In 1940, British factories produced 4,283 fighters, compared to Germany’s output of
3,000 fighters.
B.E.F. The British Expeditionary Force, a force of just 158,000 men, was sent to France in 1939
Bevin Boys In 1943, 22,000 ‘Bevin Boys’ were conscripted to work in the mines.
Black Market You could always buy rationed good ‘under the counter’ of ‘off the back of a lorry’ for inflated prices but, it
was illegal.
Blackout People were not allowed to show a light which could help Nazi bombers locate targets. At first people were
charged for lighting a cigarette or shining a torch, later in the war it mainly meant thick black curtains and headlight covers.
Bletchley Park The centre where the British code-breakers deciphered the German codes.
Blitz The German bombing raids on British cities, particularly London - The raid against London started on 7-8
September 1940 and raids continued on all but 10 nights until 12 November - The raids then targeted industrial cities such as
Coventry, on November 14, 1940 and ports such as Portsmouth and Liverpool - Improvements to radar in spring of 1941
allowed the air defences to begin getting the better of the German attackers.
Blitzkrieg The Nazi way of attack - ‘lightning war’ - Paratroopers caused chaos and disrupted enemy
communications behind the lines, then Panzer tanks broke through and advanced rapidly, passing by enemy strong-points,
which became isolated, and were finally mopped up by the Nazi infantry.
Bulge The Nazi counter-attack in the Ardennes which held up the Allied advance into Germany.
Careless Talk …Costs Lives - The brilliantly humorous Ministry of Information poster campaign drawn by Kenneth Bird
(pen name ‘Fougasse’)
Carpet-bombing Random bombing of a whole area, not to attack specific targets/factories etc., but a cause fires, injuries and
damage which would demoralise and distract the British.
Dr Carrot Along with ‘Potato Pete’, two cartoon characters used by Lord Woolton to advertise the benefits of eating
lots of carrots and potatoes, which were not rationed.
Censorship Preventing certain information getting out which it was felt would damage morale - e.g. photos of dead
children, kamikaze pilots, atrocities committed by British troops, or information that would help the enemy e.g. weather
reports - road-signs were removed and soldiers' letters read and parts of them crossed out.
Chamberlain The British Prime Minister who declared war on September 3, 1939.
Churchill Winston Churchill, The British Prime Minister whose speeches helped to motivate Britain and her Allies to
win the war .
Civilian Repair Organisation Beaverbrook set up the Civilian Repair Organisation, which made new planes from the left-
over pieces of planes which had been shot down.
COs Conscientious Objectors - A system of tribunals was set up to which Conscientious Objectors could apply -
many employers refused to give them a job and some 60,000 objectors were sent to prison.
COGS A children’s club which collected things house-to-house like bottle tops, old iron, paper, wool and bones
(used to make explosives and fertiliser).
Conscription The call-up of people to serve the war effort in the armed forced or industry.
Convoy Arranging merchant ships in large groups protected by an aircraft carrier and a number of destroyers -
Sending convoys by different routes made them harder for the U-boats to find.
Coupons People were given ration books with coupons allowing you to buy so much - You could spend them as they
became due, a little every month or you could save them up and get a lot at once - Children couldn't get sweets unless they
had both the money and the coupons
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Coventrate The word was coined after the Coventry air-raid on November 14, 1940, the word is a verb which means to
utterly destroy a whole town.
Cromwell Code-word ‘Cromwell’ – invasion imminent. On 7 September the Nazi bombing raid was so huge that a
false alarm went round the south-east of England: church bells rang and the Home Guard mobilised. One section of coast
identified by the Nazis as a landing ground was defended by a Home Guard platoon with just one machine-gun !
Daily Worker The Communist newspaper closed down in 1941 because it opposed the war.
D-Day The Allied Landings in France on June 6, 1944.
Dig for Victory People were encouraged to grow their own vegetables and keep allotments.
Dowding’s Chicks The nickname for the young fighter pilots who fought the Battle of Britain - In all, the R.A.F. lost 1,173
planes and 510 pilots and gunners killed in the Battle of Britain - Churchill said of them: ‘Never in the field of human conflict
was so much owed by so many to so few.’
Dynamo The operation to take the trapped British Expeditionary Force out of Dunkirk at the end of May 1940 -
345,000 Allied troops were evacuated.
Eisenhower The American General who was the Allied Armies' Commander-in-Chief on D-Day
Emergency Powers Act In May 1940, it gave the government the power to conscript workers into essential industries.
Enigma The German Enigma was a code-system used by the German U-Boats - Deciphering it in the spring of 1940
was vital in giving the Allied navies the edge in the Battle of the Atlantic - In February 1942 however, the German code was
improved, resulting in ‘the Drumbeat Crisis’, shipping losses greater than ever until March 1943 when the German code was
again broken.
E.N.S.A. (ENSA) Entertainment National Service Association - A group of actors and singers who travelled into
the war zones to entertain the troops - many of these, often talented, entertainers became household names on radio and then
television after the war.
Enuresis The proper word for bed-wetting - Many evacuees experienced this problem which, in the days when
washing had to be done by hand and hung out to dry, was a significant inconvenience.
Essential Workers Order In March 1941 it introduced conscription. Under this, women between 20 and 30 became liable
for conscription into war work. Women with children under 14 were exempt but many volunteered anyway, encouraged by the
introduction of day care nurseries.
Evacuees By September 3, 1939, 827,000 children and 535,000 pregnant mothers had been sent out of the towns,
were expected to be bombed, to the safety of the countryside.
F.A.N.Y. First Aid Nursing Yeomanry - driving ambulances and staff cars in battle areas, and doing some nursing on
the front-line.
Fortress Europe Nazi-occupied Europe.
Gas masks Fearing gas attacks, everybody was told to ‘carry your gas mask’ - Post-boxes were painted with yellow
gas-sensitive paint to warn people but gas-attacks never happened and eventually people started using their gas-mask boxes for
their sandwiches.
G.Is American soldiers stationed in Britain in the run-up to 'D-Day' said to be ‘overpaid, oversexed and over here’
- They were called G.Is because their equipment was marked 'G.I.' - 'General Issue’.
Gustav Siegfried Eins The best example of Political Warfare Executive (P.W.E.) ‘black propaganda’ - Run by the
journalist Sefton Delmer, Gustav Siegfried Eins was supposed to be a German wireless presenter who hated the British but
also attacked Hitler - It did the Nazi government so much damage that it was made illegal, punishable by death, for anyone
to listen to the programmes in Germany.
H.Es High Explosives - Big Bombs which exploded.
Hedgehog Along with ‘Squid’, a weapons system which allowed attack ships to catapult depth-charges up to 300 yards
11
in front of the ship.
Hobart’s funnies Specialised vehicles designed specifically for tasks on D-Day, including a bridge-carrying tank and a
floating tank which could be dropped offshore and could ‘swim’ in on its own.
Huff-duff or HF/DF, a system of analysing radio-waves whereby U-boats’ positions could be worked out from the bearings
of their radio transmissions.
Host The families who received evacuees
Hurricane The less well-known British plane, the Hurricane, which first appeared in November 1935, was reliable
and used mainly to shoot down the German Luftwaffe bombers.
Incendiaries Bombs which caused fires.
Internees 60,000 Germans and Austrians and 15,000 Italians were put into three categories - A) High security risk,
B) doubtful cases and C) no risk - most were sent to holding camps, many on the Isle of Man.
The Kitchen Front The flagship of Lord Woolton’s propaganda campaign, a BBC radio programme every morning which
told housewives tricks how to make an interesting meal out of available foodstuffs such as potatoes.
Label Evacuated children from the towns, each given a luggage label with their name on it to tie to their coat,
were sent to the countryside and lined up in the local village or church hall where people went and ‘chose’ which children they
were prepared to have staying them.
L.D.V. 250,000 men volunteered for the Local Defence Volunteers (‘Home Guard’ or ‘Dad’s Army’) on the first
day of recruitment.
Lend-Lease Before it entered the war, the Americans supplied Britain with vital equipment in return for the transfer of
British naval bases, the free use of British patents, and a promise to be repaid after the war. Although essential to continue the
war, it was really a huge rip-off for the 50 old destroyers which formed the basis of the deal, each of the destroyers valued at
$5,000 and 'the deal' therefore worth just $250,000 in total at the time.
Lord Gort The leader of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk
Lord Haw-Haw A renegade British radio news presenter who worked for the Germans and gave a much less sophisticated
black propaganda news programme on German radio which always began ‘Jairmany Calling, Jairmany Calling’ - So
extreme that it was amusing, many British people used to listen to it for 'a bit of a laugh'.
Luftwaffe The German Air Force. The Germans strapped sirens to their Stuka dive-bombers to make them sound all
the more terrifying when they dived.
Maginot Line The French ‘super-trench’ which the French hoped would stop Hitler but, it only stretched from Switzerland
to Luxembourg and the Nazi blitzkrieg simply went over and round it !
Mass Observation The government department which monitored public opinion.
M.O.I. Ministry of Information – controlled all news and propaganda during the war.
Molotovs Nickname for a cluster of incendiary bombs.
Morrison Reinforced steel tables people used in their front rooms to hide under.
Mulberries The floating harbours used for the D-Day landings.
Music While You Work The BBC radio programme which was played continuous live music to factory workers in the
afternoons to keep them cheerful at work, it's signature tune, written by Eric Coates who would later write 'The Dambusters
March', was originally called "Calling All Cars" !
National Service Act When war was declared on September 3, 1939, all men aged between 18 and 40 became legally liable
for call-up under the new National Service (Armed Forces) Act - As casualties in the armed forces rose in 1941, the age limit
had to be raised to 51.
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NAZIS Members of The National Socialist German Workers Party
Newsreels Shown at the movies, closely controlled and very patriotic, cinema newsreels (and listening to the radio)
were the main ways that people got the news of the war.
Nissen The name for the semi-circular, corrugated iron, huts in the internment and POW camps - The Italian
POWs on Orkney turned one of their Nissen huts into a beautifully-decorated Chapel.
Norway Hitler’s invasion of Denmark and Norway in April 1940 brought 'The Phoney War' and Chamberlain’s
government to an end - When Churchill became Prime Minister, Britain tried unsuccessfully to help Norway but the attempt
was a disaster.
Omaha The beach which the Americans found very difficult to capture - The bombers missed the fortifications and,
by chance, the defences had just been reinforced by the crack Nazi 352 division.
Overlord The 'D-Day' operation.
Pacifist Service Units Most Conscientious Objectors worked on farms, in hospitals or in the Pacifist Service Units amongst
the socially deprived - Others risked their lives with the Friends Ambulance Unit on the battlefront.
Panzers Nazi tanks.
Phoney War The period between September 1939 and April 1940, when war had been declared but there was no fighting,
Britain then making war preparations (gas masks, Anderson Shelters, sandbags, Home Guard etc.)
Poland Hitler’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 started World War II. Chamberlain declared war on
September 3, 1939.
Postscripts BBC newscasters only gave the facts without comment – but then JB Priestley would talk after the news in
his 'Postscripts' radio programme giving a pro-British propaganda ‘twist’ to the news people had just heard - This was
brilliant propaganda, because people believed what they heard !
POWs Prisoners of War - There were POW camps at Glenbranter, at the head of Loch Eck and at Cairnbaan, on
the Crinan Canal.
PQ-17 One of the most difficult convoys to Russia, 24 out of its 35 ships were sunk - PQ-18 lost 10 its 39 ships -
In another famous convoy was, HX-84, in November 1940, the armed merchant-cruise HMS "Jervis Bay" was famously
sunk as she tried to protect it from the German "Admiral Scheer".
Propaganda Control of the media to manipulate public opinion to support the government
P.W.E. Political Warfare Executive, the branch of the Ministry of Information which distributed ‘black
propaganda’, propaganda designed to demoralise the enemy.
Radar The technology which could ‘spot’ enemy aircraft flying to bomb Britain - To keep this a secret at first, the
RAF revealed that it was making its pilots eat carrots so that they could see in the dark!
Railings Cut off as part of Beaverbrook’s campaign to collect metal, tragically, because it was all propaganda, the
metal was not really needed.
Rationing Controls to stop prices rising out of control and to control how much people were allowed to buy of scarce
commodities such as petrol (September 1939), butter, sugar, bacon, paper and meat (early 1940) and clothes (June 1941).
Reserved Occupations Certain occupations - such as Customs and Excise officers, Inland Revenue tax inspectors,
engineers and coal miners - were exempt, on the grounds that they were essential to the war effort at home.
Sealion Operation Sealion was Hitler’s plan to invade Britain.
Sectors In July 1937, Air Chief Marshall Dowding was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command - He
reorganised the RAF into four groups, each divided into a number of sectors, each with a main sector airfield and a number of
supporting airfields.
September 15, 1940 - Battle of Britain Day - Having attacked British radar stations and airfields at night for a month, the
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Luftwaffe tried to take total control of the skies - At one point on that eventful day, unknown to the Germans, every
available British plane was in the sky - The Luftwaffe turned back, it had lost The Battle of Britain and, changing tactics,
turned to 'The Blitz' as a means of attack.
Sirens Wailing alarms sounded to warn of an air raid - A different sound signalled the ‘All Clear’
after a raid.
Six inches The amount of bath water you were allowed - to cut down on heating and therefore use of
coal.
Slums Many evacuees came from inner-city slums, areas of very poor housing and social and economic
deprivation, their behaviour shocking many of the host families - At first, people complained but, in the long-term, it
helped people realise that Britain needed a 'Welfare State'.
Sonar After 1942 the US Navy Department developed ‘console sonar’ which could plot accurate bearings using an
echo ‘ping’.
Sorties The word used to describe a call-out of the fighter pilots to fly against a Nazi attack.
SPAM A tinned luncheon meat that people used instead of ham – N.B. they also used British flour
(which was poor quality and grey) instead of American flour (which was white).
Spitfire The Spitfire (March 1936), the fastest plane in the world, was used to destroy the German fighters
which protected the bombers.
Swapshops A clothes exchange, especially popular with women with children.
Treachery Act 1940 Gave the government the right to execute spies, 19 people were executed for spying and treason during
World War II.
U-boats German submarines tried to starve Britain of food and raw materials by sinking merchant shipping - From
January 1942 to March 1943, the U-Boats sank 7 million tons of merchant shipping - 143 ships were sunk in July 1942 and
117 ships in November 1942.
ULTRA The operation to decode Enigma machine signals.
Utility The government mark which guaranteed that an item had been properly made using the minimum of scarce
commodities - People bought utility furniture and clothing.
U.X.B. Unexploded Bomb
VE-Day 'Victory in Europe' Day celebrating the surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945.
VJ-Day 'Victory in Japan' Day celebrating the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945.
W.A.A.F. Women's Auxiliary Air Force - doing sentry duty, manning the radio, directing planes landing and taking-
off - Women pilots were only allowed to deliver new planes to airfields, they were NOT allowed to go into combat.
W.L.A. Women’s Land Army - 80,000 women became 'Land Girls' to help farmers whose labourers had joined up
- 1,000 girls worked as rat-catchers and 6,000, nick-named 'TimberJills', joined the Timber Corps.
Wolf pack Groups of German U-boats which attacked merchant shipping.
Woolton Lord Woolton was the Minister of Food - He ran a brilliant propaganda campaign and became well-loved.
WRNS Women's Royal Naval Service, the 'Wrens', overhauled torpedoes and depth charges, repaired mine
sweepers and, learning Morse Code and semaphore signalling, were employed in communications departments.
W.V.S. Womens’ Voluntary Service - In 1939, 10,000 women a week joined to set up tea canteens in bombed
areas, look after shock victims, help with First Aid and manned 'Incident Enquiry' posts.
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H.M. FORCES DECORATIONS FOR VALOUR
V.C. - The Victoria Cross, the highest and most coveted of all decorations for gallantry awarded for an act of supreme
courage and self-sacrifice. It is a bronze Cross, suspended on a mauve ribbon, bears the design of the Lion and the Crown and
is inscribed with two words - " FOR VALOUR."
G.C. - The George Cross ranks immediately after the Victoria Cross and is a silver Cross suspended on. a blue ribbon, ears
the design of St. George and the Dragon.
D.S.O. - The Distinguished Service Order, awarded to Officers of any of the three services for conspicuous bravery or
distinguished service.
C.C.M. - The Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, awarded to Men and Petty Officers of the Royal Navy and Men and
N.C.O.'s of the Royal Marines.
D.C.M. - The Distinguished Conduct Medal, awarded to N.C.O.'s and Men of the Army.
M.C. - The Military Cross, awarded to Officers of the Army up to the rank of Captain.
M.M. - The Military Medal, awarded to N.C.O.'s and men of the Army.
D.S.C. - The Distinguished Service Cross, awarded to Officers of the Royal Navy up to the rank of Commander.
D.S.M. - The Distinguished Service Medal, awarded to Petty Officers and Men of the Royal Navy, and N.C.O.'s and Men of
the Royal Marines.
D.F.C. - The Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded to Officers of the R.A.F.
D.F.M. - The Distinguished Flying Medal, awarded to N.C.O.'s and Men of the R.A.F.
G.M. - The George Medal is awarded only for actions for which purely military honours are not normally granted.
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16
17
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SEMAPHORE SIGNALLING
Stand with feet apart, and be careful to see that the arms are straight and at their full length, with the sticks of
the flags in a direct line, so that the angles of arms are exactly as indicated - When sending letters that
require both flags at the side, as in the case of letters H.I.O.W.X. and Z, slightly turn the body to the
required side, turning on the opposite toe, so that the position may be comfortable, keep the head turned to
the front as far as possible.
In the first circle, letters A to G, where only one flag is used, the other flag is held at the ready position - For
letters H.O.W.Z. see that the flags do not cover one another - The signs for numerals are the same as letters
A to K, omitting J.
A B C D E F G H I K
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
Before the numerals are sent, the Numerical sign, which is opposite to T, must be given so that the person
receiving will know that numerals are to follow - At the end, to indicate that numerals are finished and that
letters are to follow on, the Alphabetical sign (J) is given - The erase sign, which is the opposite to L, is
sent to erase any word or numerals sent incorrectly.
PROCEDURE SIGNALS.
V.E. Calling up sign A.R. End of message A. General answer
R. Message received J. Alphabetical sign C. Correct
Q. Wait K. Go on AAA. Full Stop

19
A TOURIST'S VIEW OF THE FIRTH OF CLYDE
ANOTHER BIRD'S EYE VIEW

OF
THE FIRTH OF CLYDE
WITH THE COAST OF NORTHERN IRELAND
AND THE NORTH CHANNEL
20
A Bird's Eye View of Kintyre
21
Kintyre Relief Map
22
© 2003 COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO STUART ANDREW, KINTYRE PHOTOGRAPHY,

COLOUR PHOTOGRAPH USED IN CIVIC SOCIETY BOOK OF "CAMPBELTOWN"
A GRIM WEE MAN IN A RAINCOAT
Adolf Hitler
Born : Saturday April 20, 1889
Committed Suicide : Monday April 30, 1945
23
and . . . Man’s Best Friend
Hitler in 1925, just after being released from prison
HITLER'S FATHER - ALOIS SCHICKELGRUBER (1837-1903) - Born in Strones, Austria, he was the
illegitimate son of a Johann Georg Hiedler and his peasant girl friend, Anna Marie Schickelgruber. In May 1842, they
became man and wife but Alois continued to use his mother's name. He was brought up by his father's brother Johann
Hiedler who, in 1876, took steps to legitimize Alois who then started to use the name Hitler. A witness at Alois's
legitimization was a relative by the name of Johann Hüttler and it is possible that Alois used the name after the parish
priest confused the two names Hiedler and Hüttler and wrote 'Hitler' in the registry. By this time Alois was thirty-nine
years old.
After his mother died his father married for the third time on January 7, 1885, to his second cousin, Klara Poelzl (1860-
1908) twenty-three years younger than he. Alois and Klara Hitler became the parents of Adolf Hitler. Klara bore her
husband five children, three of whom died young: Gustav (1885-1887), Ida (1886-1888), Adolf (1889-1945), Edmund
(1894-1900) and Paula (1896-1960).
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PRELUDE TO WAR
1923 - THE AXIS - An alliance of the two countries, Germany and Italy. Benito Mussolini, the dictator of Fascist
Italy, first used the term in 1923 when he wrote 'The axis of European history runs through Berlin.' After his meeting with
Hitler in October, 1936, at Berchtesgaden, he used the term again in a speech at Milan in November when he said "This
vertical line between Rome and Berlin is not a partition but rather an axis round which all European states animated by the will
to collaboration and peace can also collaborate."
1930 - NAZI PARTY - In 1930 there were 129,583 members of the National Socialist German Workers' Party or Nazi
Party for short – Nationalso ZIalstische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei - NSDAP). The word 'Nazi' is an acronym formed from the
first syllable of NAtional and the second syllable of SoZIalstische. By 1933 membership had jumped to 849,009 and in the
early war years this had reached more than five million.
THE ANCIENT SWASTIKA SYMBOL - The Swastika is a very old, sacred symbol from near-prehistoric times and
referred to in Germany as the Hakenkreuz. Traditionally a sign of good fortune and well-being, its name is derived from the
Sanskrit 'su' meaning 'well' and 'asti' meaning 'being'. It is well-known in Hindu and Buddhist cultures. Hitler displayed the
symbol on a red background 'to win over the worker' and it had an hypnotic effect on all those who supported the Nazi
movement. In his book Mein Kampf, Hitler wrote 'In the red we see the social idea of the movement, in the white the
Nationalist idea and in the swastika the vision of the struggle for the victory of the Aryan man.'
The German flag was abolished on March 12, 1933 and replaced with the flag of the Third Reich. On September 15, 1935, the
Swastika was officially incorporated into the Third Reich flag.
(In Ontario, Canada, there is a small town named Swastika. In 1911, two brother's discovered gold at a nearby lake and named
the mine after a visitors good luck charm, a swastika. When World War 11 broke out, Ontario changed the name to 'Winston'
after the British wartime leader. The name change did not please the residents who removed the sign and replaced it with the
original and other signs saying 'To hell with Hitler, we came up with our name first'. The name Swastika, stayed. Today the
town sign says, Swastika, Population 545.
WHY THE THIRD REICH ? - This was the official name for the Nazi period of government from January 1933 to May
1945.
· The First Reich (or 'Empire') was the Holy Roman Empire period of the German Nation begun in A.D. 962 when Otto
the Great was crowned in Rome. This Empire, of course, did indeed last - more or less intact - for around a thousand
years.
· The Second Reich was founded by Otto von Bismarck in 1871. When the Hohenzollern dynasty collapsed in 1918
with the abdication of Emperor William II, the Second Reich came to its end.
· This was followed by the Weimar Republic which lasted from 1918 to 1933.
· In turn, it was followed by Hitler's Third Reich which he regarded as an empire that would also last for a thousand
years. (Hitler had adopted the term 'Third Reich' in the early 1920s after the German writer Arthur Moeller von der
Bruck used it as a title for one of his books.)
Hitler's "Thousand Year Reich" actually ended up lasting for only 12 years, 4 months and 8 days.
25
1933
1933 : Monday, January 30 and Hitler, appointed Chancellor by German President Hindenburg, at last gains supreme
control of the nation - From 7 p.m. till midnight that night, a procession of 25,000 uniformed para-militaries and brown-
shirted youths marches through Berlin to the Chancellery where Hitler leans over a balcony raising his arm in Nazi salute, an
iconic gesture taught to him by one Ernst Hanfstaengl who also composed 'Junge Helden' - 'Young Heroes', one of the tunes
being played as the crowds march through the city.
Hanfstaengl, aged 35 and just returned home after 17 years in America, running the family's fine art business in New York,
first met Hitler in a Munich beer cellar in November 1922 - Quickly establishing a close friendship with Hitler, Hanfstaengl,
a talented musician too, became one of Hitler's 'inner circle' alongside Goering, Himmler, Goebbels and Hess and was very
much instrumental in grooming Hitler for the international stage.
Male American football cheerleaders of the 1920's and 1930's provided the role-model for the Nazi salute
From Hanfstaengl's tales of America, not least the stories of football in college days, Hitler was persuaded to use American
'college-stle' music to rouse emotions at his, otherwise dry, political rallies - The 'Seig Heil' chants and the Nazi saluting
founded on the American model of football cheerleaders, the majority of these in the 1920's and 1930's being men.
The most senior Nazi to visit America after the party took power, Hanfstaengl returned to Germany only to fall from Hitler's
favour and matters came to a head in 1935 after Hanfstaengl had occasion to compile a dossier on one of Hitler's entourage,
Hitler, blind to the evidence, sweeping the file to the floor and banishing Hanfstaengl from his presence.
Then, summoned to Berlin, Hanfstaengl was ordered to fly to Spain to liase with German newspapermen covering the
Spanish Civil War - After take-off, when the pilot told him he was to be parachuted behind enemy lines and it suddenly
dawned that this was almost certainly a death sentence from Hitler.
Crossing south-east Germany, one of the aircraft's engines developed a fault and had to land, Hanfstaengl quietly slipping out
of sight and managing to reach the Swiss border and freedom.
Early in Hitler's career, Germany was divided into 42 districts called Gaue. Each Gau was supervised by a District Leader
(Gauleiter) e.g. the Gauleiter for Berlin was Dr Joeseph Geobbels. Each Gau was subdivided into circuits (Kreise) led by a
26
Kreisleiter (Circuit Leader). Berlin had 10 Kreise and each Kreise was then divided into Local Groups (Ortsgruppe) headed by
an Ortsgruppenleiter of which Berlin had 269. This was further subdivided into Street Cells (Zellen) supervised by the
Zellenleiter, whose duty was to report on all anti-government activities within the families living in that street. German
civilians living abroad were regarded as the 43rd Gau. All Leaders were required to swear unconditional allegiance to their
Führer.
1933 : Mon February 27.
German Reichstag set on fire.
1934 : Wed July 25.
Dolfuss, Austrian Chancellor, murdered by Austrian Nazis.
1934 : Thu August 2.
Death of Hindenburg - Hitler becomes Dictator.
1936 : Sun March 8.
Remilitarisation of Rhineland.
1937 : Wed July 7.
Japanese begin attempted conquest of China - “China Incident”
1938 : Sun March 13.
Austria annexed by Germany.
Hitler inspecting a parade of U-Boats in 1938
1938 : Wed September 28.
British Navy mobilised.
Thu September 29.
Agreement between Chamberlain, Daladier, Hitler and Mussolini.
27
World War Two - Conscription - Compulsory Military Service

Unlike other European countries, Britain had always relied on volunteers to fight in times of war. Conscription had been
introduced in 1916 when more men were needed to fight in the trenches, but it was abandoned when the war ended.
During the 1930s some men still chose to enter the armed forces after leaving school and in 1937 there were 200,000 soldiers
in the British army. The government knew that this was not enough to fight a war with Germany and in April 1939 introduced
the Military Training Act. The terms of the act meant that all men between the ages of 20 and 21 had to register for six months'
military training. At the same time a list of 'reserved occupations' was published. This listed occupations that were essential to
the war effort and stated that those employed in those jobs were exempt from conscription.
Reserved Occupations
Dock Workers - Miners - Farmers - Scientists - Merchant Seamen - Railway Workers

Utility Workers - Water, Gas, Electricity
When war broke out in September 1939, some men volunteered to join the armed services, but Britain could still only raise
875,000 men. Other European countries had kept conscription between the wars and were able to raise much larger armies than
Britain. In October 1939 the British government announced that all men aged between 18 and 41 who were not working in
'reserved occupations' could be called to join the armed services if required. Conscription was by age and in October 1939 men
aged between 20 and 23 were required to register to serve in one of the armed forces. They were allowed to choose between
the army, the navy and the airforce
As the war continued men from the other registered age groups received their 'call-up' papers requiring them to serve in the
armed forces. In 1941 single women aged between 20 and 30 were also conscripted. Women did not take part in the fighting
but were required to take up work in reserved occupations - especially factories and farming - to enable men to be drafted into
the services. - Men who were too old, young or not completely fit joined the Territorial Army, known as 'Dad's Army'.
Conscientious Objectors
Conscientious objectors were men who, for moral or religious reasons felt unable to take part in the war. The government set
up tribunals and those who objected to taking part in the war had to apply for Conscientious Objector status and give their
reasons before a panel of officials. The panel had the authority to grant full exemption from any kind of war work, to grant
exemption from military service only or to dismiss the application. Approximately 60,000 men applied for Conscientious
Objector status. Of those around 18,000 were dismissed.
Hitler in Uniform
28
Chicago Daily Tribune - Friday, September 1, 1939 - Final Edition
NAZI ARMY ORDER
Berlin : Friday, September 1, 1939
“The Polish state has rejected my efforts to establish neighbourly relations and instead has appealed to weapons.
“Germans in Poland are victims of a bloody terror, driven from house and home.
“A series of border violations, unbearable for a great power, show that the Poles are no longer willing to respect the
German border.
“To put an end to these insane incursions, nothing remains but for me to meet force with force from now on.
“The German army will conduct a fight for honour and the right to the life of the resurrected German people with firm
determination.
“I expect that every soldier mindful of the great traditions of the eternal German military will do his duty to the last.
“Remember always that you are representatives of the National Socialist great Germany.
“Long live our people and our reich ! ”
Adolf Hitler
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain
29
"A STATE OF WAR" - THE ULTIMATUM TO BERLIN

A supplement (the third) to the London Gazette of Friday, issued last night, Sunday, September 3,
1939, contains the following announcement from The Privy Council Office -
IT IS NOTIFIED THAT A STATE OF WAR EXISTS BETWEEN HIS MAJESTY AND

GERMANY AS FROM 11 O'CLOCK A.M. TODAY, (SUNDAY) THE 3RD SEPTEMBER,
1939
On the instructions of his Majesty's Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, His Majesty's
Ambassador at Berlin addressed on 1st September a communication to the German Government in
the following terms -
" Early this morning the German Chancellor issued a proclamation to the German Army which
indicated clearly that he was about to attack Poland.
“Information which has reached His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom and the French
Government indicates that German troops have crossed the Polish frontier and that attacks upon
Polish towns are proceeding,
“In these circumstances it appears to the Governments of the United Kingdom and France that by
their action the German Government have created conditions (viz. .. an aggressive act of force
against Poland threatening the independence of Poland) which call for the implementation by the
Governments of the United Kingdom and France of the undertaking to Poland to come to her
assistance.
“I am accordingly to inform Your Excellency that unless the German Government are prepared to
give His Majesty's Government satisfactory assurances that the German Government has
suspended ail aggressive action against Poland and are prepared promptly to withdraw their forces
from Polish territory. His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom will, without hesitation,
fulfil their obligations to Poland."
SECOND COMMUNICATION
At 9 a.m. on 3rd September His Majesty's Ambassador in Berlin addressed a communication to the
German Government in the following terms - "In the communication which I had the honour to
make to you on September 1 informed you, on the instructions of His Majesty's Principal
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, that unless the German Government were prepared to give
His Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom satisfactory assurances has suspended all
aggressive action against Poland and were prepared promptly to withdraw their forces from Polish
territory, His Majesty’s Government in the United Kingdom would, without hesitation, fulfil their
obligations to Poland.
“Although this communication was made more than 24 hours ago, no reply has been received, but
German attacks upon Poland have been continued and intensified. I have accordingly the honour
to inform you that unless not later than 11 a.m. British Summer Time today, 3rd September,
satisfactory assurances to the above effect have been given by the German Government and have
reached His Majesty’s Government in London, a state of war will exist between the two countries
as from that hour”.
No such assurances having been received within the period stated, the German Chargé d’Affaires
in London has been formally notified that a state of war exists between the two countries as from 11
o’clock a.m., 3rd September (1939).
30
HITLER'S RESPONSE TO THE BRITISH ULTIMATUM

The German reply to the British Note calling for the withdrawal of German
troops from Poland and the ultimatum expiring at ll a.m. today was handed
to the British Ambassador today in the form of a memorandum -
"The Reich Government and the German nation refuse to accept, or even to
satisfy demands in the form of an ultimatum.
"For many months there has been a virtual state of war on our eastern
frontier. After the German Government had torn up the Treaty of Versailles,
all friendly settlements were refused to the Government.
"The National-Socialist Government has endeavoured repeatedly since 1933

to remove the worst forms of coercion and violations of its rights contained
in this treaty.
"But for the intervention of the British Government, a settlement

satisfactory to both sides would have been found to the dispute between
Germany and Poland.
"The German Government, profoundly affected by the suffering of the

German population, inhumanly maltreated by the Poles, watched patiently
without adopting a similar aggressive attitude.
"It should have been easy for the British Government to make use of its
great influence in Warsaw to warn the rulers there to give way to justice and
humanity.
"The British Government did not do this. It encouraged the Polish

Government to continue its criminal attitude which endangered European
peace.
"The German Government therefore refuses all efforts to force Germany to

recall the troops which have been sent out for the protection of the Reich
The German Government and nation have not, as Great Britain has, any
intention to rule the world but, they are determined to defend their freedom,
their independence and their life".
HITLER KEPT THE GERMANS IN IGNORANCE OF THE

FACT THAT THEY WERE AT WAR WITH BOTH
FRANCE AND BRITAIN FOR NEARLY A FULL DAY !
31
ONE PENNY SUNDAY 3 SEPTEMBER 1939 SPECIAL EDITION
BRITAIN AT WAR
Premier Tells The Nation By Radio
The nation first learned that it was at War with Germany in a broadcast by the Prime Minister at
11.15 a.m. Mr Chamberlain said "I am speaking to you from the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street.
"This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government an formal note stating
that unless we heard from them by eleven o'clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their
troops from Poland a state of war would exist between us.
"I have to tell you that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at
war with Germany. You can imagine what a bitter blow it is to me that all my long struggle to win peace
has failed. Yet I cannot believe that there is any thing more or anything different that I could have done
that would have been more successful.
"Up to the very last it would have been quite possible to have arranged a peaceful and honourable
settlement between Germany and Poland, but Hitler would not have it. He had evidently made up his
mind to attack Poland whatever happened, and, although he now says he put forward reasonable
proposals which were rejected by the Poles, it is not a true statement.
"The proposals were never shown to the Poles nor to us, and Hitler did not wait to hear comments on
them but, as was announced in a German broadcast on Thursday night, ordered his troops to cross the
Polish frontier.
"His action shows convincingly that there is no chance of expecting that this man would ever give up
his practice of using force to gain his will. He can only be stopped by force, and we and France are to-
day, in fulfilment of our obligations, going to the aid of Poland, who is so bravely resisting this
unprovoked attack upon her people.
"We have a clear conscience. We have done all any country could do to establish peace. The situation,
in which no word given by Germany's ruler could be trusted, and no people or country could feel itself
safe, had become intolerable, and now we have resolved to finish it. I know you will all play your parts
with calmness and courage. At such a moment as this the assurance which we have received from the
Empire are of profound encouragement to us".
The Prime Minister went on to say that the Government had to carry on me work of the nation in the
days of stress that lay ahead, and he appealed to all who were required for service to report for duty in
accordance with their instructions.
The Prime Minister concluded : "Now, May God bless you all, May we defend the right. It is evil
things that we shall be fighting against, brute force, bad faith, injustice, oppression, and persecution, and
against them I am certain that the right will prevail."
A FIERCE THUNDERSTORM EXPLODED OVER CAMPBELTOWN RATTLING DOORS AND WINDOWS AS

CHAMBERLAIN SPOKE - NATURE HERSELF ADDING TO THE TOWNSPEOPLES’ SENSE OF FOREBODING
32
German Charge d'Affaires Dr Kort closes the German Embassy

and shakes hands with his chauffeur
1939 Newspaper Advertisement
33
Who Fought Who ?

Axis Allies Occupied Neutral
Bulgaria Argentina Albania Andorra

Finland Bolivia Belgium Ireland
Germany Brazil Czechoslovakia Liechtenstein
Hungary Canada Denmark Portugal
Italy China Estonia Spain
Japan Chile Ethiopia Sweden
Romania Columbia France Switzerland
Yugoslavia Costa Rica Greece Uruguay
Cuba Luxemburg Vatican City
France Netherlands
India Norway
Iraq Phillipines
Lebanon Poland
Mexico
New Zealand
Paraguay
South Africa
Soviet Union
United Kingdom
United States
The Lineup of Forces in Europe in September 1939

Germany
Wehrmacht (Army)
2,000,000 soldiers in 86 infantry divisions, 6 tank divisions, 8 mechanized divisions.
Kreigsmarine (Navy)
Two battle cruisers, three "pocket battleships," two heavy cruisers, six light cruisers,
34 destroyers, 56 submarines (26 oceangoing).
Luftwaffe (Air Force)

1500 bombers, 1100 fighters
Summary - Germany was not all that ready for war in 1939 - The German Army was extremely well led and trained but its
equipment was not as plentiful as one would think. Though the army pioneered mechanized warfare theories and tactics, it
entered World War II with only a handful of tank and motorized divisions. The vast majority of the army moved, as it had
during World War I, by foot and horse drawn wagon.
As for The Navy its commander Admiral Erich Raeder definitely did not want a war in 1939. The navy was commencing its Z
plan which included the construction of six super battleships and a number of battle cruisers, aircraft carriers and smaller craft.
When the Z plan was completed in 1946 then Germany could challenge Britain for control of the seas, according to the navy.
As it was the navy entered the war with a surface fleet, while modern and well built, was too small to challenge the British
battle fleet. Therefore its capital ships were to used to raid British merchant convoys and tie down significant British naval
forces in the bargain. Germany had too few ocean going submarines in 1939 to be a major threat to the sea lanes.
Although the super battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz and the aircraft carrier Graf Zeppelin were under construction, they were
not enough to make the German surface fleet superior to any other and Germany did not build enough submarines to control
the sea lanes in the Atlantic until it was too late.
The Luftwaffe was an excellent ground support air force and was the most ready for war having saw action in Spain.
However, the requirement that its bombers have dive bombing capability seriously degraded its strategic bombing potential.
34
Hitler's strategy was to fight a quick, hard hitting war using his mobile forces (panzers) to shock and demoralize his
opponents causing their quick collapse. He did not have enough war production or war material to fight a protracted war nor
did he want the heavy casualties such a war would produce. This strategy worked well in Poland, Norway, the Low Countries
and France.
Great Britain
Royal Army
900,000 men (most of whom stationed in India), in 17 infantry divisions, 2 tank divisions.
Royal Navy
12 Battleships, 3 Battle-Cruisers, 6 aircraft carriers (1 modern), 15 heavy cruisers,
49 light cruisers, 184 destroyers, 58 submarines.
Royal Air Force

1300 bombers, 773 fighters.
Summary - Still traumatized by World War I, Britain entered World War II determined not to repeat its previous experience.
The Army, while large, was scattered throughout the British Empire. Only a fraction (250,000) was sent to France with only
one obsolete tank division. While British officers, J. F. C. Fuller and B.H. Lidell Hart pioneered tank tactics and doctrine in
the years right after WW1, the British lost interest in armored warfare by 1939. Britain intended to fight the war primarily
with the Royal Navy and Air Force.
However, The Royal Navy suffered from the inability of Britain to spend the money to build many new ships in the inter war
years. Its battle fleet was composed of World War I designed and built ships except for the battleships Nelson and Rodney
whose design had been compromised by the Washington Naval Treaty.
Its carrier fleet was also composed of World War I battle cruiser conversions except for the brand new Ark Royal. Its naval
aircraft were the worst in the world as the RAF's control of naval aviation retarded British carrier plane development
Its cruiser force was numerous but inferior in quality to the Americans and Japanese with too few heavy
8" gun cruisers. Its destroyers were not designed for anti-submarine warfare where they were needed but for fleet actions,
where they were not. Its submarines were inferior to foreign contemporaries.
Britain was rebuilding some its WW1 battleships and battle cruisers as the war began, but the war halted the modernization
program for all but Warspite, Valiant, Queen Elizabeth and Renown. This was to have disastrous results.
Britain was building 5 new battleships, the King George V class, but financial and material constraints plus treaty restrictions
meant these ships would be under gunned (10"-14" guns ) compared to their German, French, Italian, American and Japanese
rivals whose gun sizes ranged from 15" to 18.'' The building of the Lion class battleships which did have 16" guns was halted
by the war.
As for aircraft carriers, the British were building the Illustrious class, with armored flight decks, but this innovation kept
their aircraft capacity below that of American and Japanese carriers.
As for The RAF, its leaders pioneered the idea that strategic bombing could win a war on the cheap by destroying the enemy's
industrial capacity, cities and will to fight. Yet a penurious Britain neither developed nor built strategic bombers by the start
of World War II. Rather the RAF was primarily a fighter and light bomber force designed to pacify rebellious colonials.
France
Army
2,500,000 soldiers in 66 infantry divisions, 1 tank division.
Navy
5 battleships, 1 aircraft carrier, 19 cruisers, 26 large destroyers, 45 destroyers,
76 submarines.
Air Force
170 bombers, 614 fighters
35
Summary - Just as terrified of war was the French, who entered World War II half heartedly at best - The French Army
was the largest in Western Europe and possessed more and better tanks than the Germans. However the French scattered their
tanks among their infantry divisions, thereby diluting their strike potential. Essentially France intended to fight World War II
behind the Maginot Line, its enormous systems of fortifications in Alsace and Lorraine, and in Belgium alongside the British.
Anything to keep the Germans from reaching France.
The French Army High Command was composed of sclerotic World War I trained generals, who as events were to show
lacked the will, courage and competence to fight a good war. Only Colonel Charles DeGaulle at 49 considered an "infant" by
the french high command had any grasp of 20th century tank warfare.
Only The French Navy, relatively small but modern and well led, was ready for war. It had just completed two modern
battle cruisers the Dunkerque and Strasbourg and was building the super battleships Jean Bart and Richelieu first two of a
four ship class. Its cruiser, destroyers and submarines were the among the fastest and best in the world.
The French Air Force was a collection of obsolete fighters and bombers that gave a very poor account of themselves in the
ensuing war.
Italy
Army
800,000 soldiers in 40 infantry divisions, 2 tank divisions.
Navy
4 battleships, 7 heavy cruisers, 14 light cruisers, 73 destroyers, 106 submarines.
Air Force
500 bombers, 800 fighters.
Summary - Italy did not join the war until 1940, for it was hardly ready to fight in 1939 - Despite Mussolini's boasting,
The Italian armed forces, with the exception of the Navy, were too poorly led and equipped to fight a modern war.
Only The Italian navy seemed capable. Modern with fast innovative warships the Italian fleet could have dominated the
Mediterranean it it had been more courageously led. Composed of four rebuilt WW1 battleships with four ultra modern
Vittorio Veneto class super battleships building and a number of fast and powerful cruisers and destroyers plus the second
largest submarine force in the world, the Italian fleet was on paper a formidable force. However, it so was ill led and used
during World War II that its advantages were never exploited.
Soviet Union
Red Army
5,000,000 men in 103 rifle divisions, 40 tank divisions, 20 motorized divisions,
7 cavalry divisions.
Red Navy
3 battleships, 5 heavy cruisers, 4 light cruisers, 35 destroyers, 212 submarines.
Red Air Force

1500 aircraft.
Summary - The Armed Forces of The Soviet Union were still reeling in 1939 from its decapitation by the Great Purges of
1936-1939. Josef Stalin, the Communist Party boss and ruler of the Soviet Union, eliminated any and all rivals, real or
imagined, in the Communist Party and the armed forces and, as a result, 3 out of 5 Marshals of the Soviet Union including
Mikhail Tuchavesky, the most brilliant military mind of his era, were shot as well as the majority of generals and admirals and
the entire officer corps of the Soviet Union. Only those high ranking officers lucky enough to be serving in the Soviet Far East
far from Stalin's clutches survived to fight World War II. Among them was Georgi Zhukov who defeated the Japanese in an
undeclared war in Mongolia in 1939.
Despite the huge numbers of soldiers, tanks and planes the Soviet armed forces, due to Stalin's purges and his mistaken
strategy in keeping his troops on the frontiers, was capable only of conquering Poland in 1939.
36
IF GERMANY WERE TO WIN THE WAR . . . . .

Adolf Hitler planned to create 'A New Order' - a united Europe ruled by
Nazis for the benefit of Germany.
In the Soviet Union, the Nazis were supposed to destroy the major cities
and reduce the population so that Russia would become an
underpopulated, totally agrarian nation that could be colonised by
Germany's excess population.
Great Britain was to be occupied and ruled by S.S. Colonel Franz Six whose
first move was supposed to have seen the arrest of 2,300 political, religious
and intellectual leaders - The first to have been arrested was Winston
Churchill - All British men between the ages of 17 and 45 were to have
been deported to continental Europe towork in German industry.
Hitler also made tentative plans to occupy America and Canada from the
Atlantic coast westwards to The Rocky Mountains.
and IF JAPAN TOO HAD WON HER WAR . . . . .

She expected to quickly eradicate European and American influence in
Asia and establish herself as political master of that continent.
Expansion of the Japanese Empire predicated a direct annexation of

Manchuria, Korea, Taiwan and the southern and central Pacific islands -
The rest of Asia - China, Indo-China, the Philippines, Thailand,
Indonesia, Malaya, Burma and India - would be controlled through
'puppet governments' belonging to 'The Japanese Greater East Asia Co-
Prosperity Sphere'.
The Japanese intended to use the Greater East Asia association to feed its
expanding industries with raw materials after the war.
Japan also expected to defeat the U.S.S.R. and occupy Siberia and
Mongolia and, at one point, the Japanese tentatively agreed to divide
America and Canada with the Germans after the war was won - Alaska,
Hawaii and the continental west coast of America, west of The Rocky
Mountains, were to go to Japan.
37
THE ROYAL NAVY SHIPS IN 1939
38
1939
January February March
Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
29 30 31 26 27 28 26 27 28 29 30 31
1 New Year's Day 22 Ash Wednesday
April May June

1 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 28 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30
30
2 Palm Sunday
21 Summer Solstice
7 Good Friday
9 Easter
July August September

1 1 2 3 4 5 1 2
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
30 31
October November December

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 1 2
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
29 30 31 26 27 28 29 30 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
21 Winter Solstice
11 Armistice Day 25 Christmas
31 New Year's Eve
39
WAR CLOUDS
1939
1939 : During January - Copies of “The National Service Guide” and ‘List Of Reserved Occupations’ delivered to every
household in the country.
1939 : February - Plans announced for the design and construstion of Anderson air-raid shelters
AIR RAID SHELTERS - During the war, a total of 2,250,000 Anderson air raid shelters were erected in Britain. Named
after its designer, Dr David A. Anderson, they cost seven pounds for those earning over 250 Pounds Sterling per year, free for
those earning less. The Ministry of Home Security ordered that these shelters must be up by June 11, 1940, and that they be
covered by earth to a depth of 15 inches on top and 30 inches on sides and back. In the spring of 1941, the Morison shelter was
introduced, a low steel cage for use indoors. Cost was the same as for the Anderson shelter. When the sides were folded down
the steel top could be used as a table. A total of 38 million gas-masks were also distributed - Stacked in warehouses were
millions of cardboard coffins in expectations of many dead from air raids.
1939 : Thu March 16. Bohemia and Moravia annexed by Hitler and proclaimed a German Protectorate. Wed 22. Memel
ceded to Germany by Lithuania. Tue 28. Anti-Polish press campaign begun by Germany.
40
Achamore House, Gigha
At the end of March 1939, despite all ‘the warnings’, Richard J. Alexander Hamer of Achamore House, Gigha
and a Miss Erika Meier had appeared in Campbeltown Sheriff Court on charges relating to The Aliens Order,
1920 at the end of March 1939. Hamer and Miss Meier were each fined £1 for failing to register her stay on
Gigha from July 1 to October 10, 1938, Miss Meier, her father a consulting engineer in Germany, having
been brought to Gigha to teach German to Hamer's young wife, her father in fact Admiral Dudley de Chair,
former Governor-General of New South Wales.
With Hamer interned at the start of the war, Gigha continued to be managed by his wife and her parents,
Erika Meier, seemingly of no concern to the authorities and her family's whereabouts unknown, also
remained on the island, it sold to the Horlick family in 1944.
1939 : Fri April 7. Italy seizes Albania. Fri 14. First British talks with Russia. Thu 27. Conscription introduced in Britain.
Fri 28. Hitler denounces Anglo-German Naval agreement and Polish Non-Aggression Treaty
and too, in April 1939, The Campbeltown V.A.D. (Voluntary Aid Detachment) were officially inspected at
The Christian Institute and their first aid preparations and ‘gas drill’ found satisfactory.
The National Service Committee met at Lochgilphead to discuss enrolments for Air Raid General
Precautions and the chairman of The Air Raid Defence League wrote letters to the newspapers stressing the
need to recruit Air Raid Wardens, build 'Anderson Shelters' and ensure that adequate rescue measures were
in place.
41
1939 Newspaper Advertisement for Air Rair Syrens
The Territorial Army went on a recruiting drive and men, between the ages of 45 and 51, were being asked to
join National Defence Companies to form 'The Home Guard'.
1939 : Fri May 12. Great Britain signs defensive agreement with Turkey. Mon 22. Italy and Germany sign pact. Tue 23.
France and Turkey sign defensive agreement. Thu 25. Anglo-Polish Treaty signed in London.
1939 : Sat Jun 3. Under the terms of The Military Training Bill, all male residents were required to register at their nearest
Minister of Labour Employment Exchanges and cinemas began showing "The Warning", an official film made by the Air
Raid Precaution Committee.
Keil Hotel, the white building on the hill (left) overlooking Southend
1939 : June - Captain James Taylor, a retired farmer, applied for a liquor licence for his new 28-bedroomed
hotel building at Southend, The Keil Hotel (NGR 676078), but, it would be requisitioned for use as a Royal
Navy hospital, a dedicated generator installed in a specially constructed building at the foot of the drive-way
as the village of Southend had no electricity supply - Keil would not open as a hotel until after the end of the
war.
1939 : Mon July 10. Chamberlain re-affirms British pledge to Poland
42
“Davaar” at Campbeltown “Dalriada” on the Monday morning ‘Death Run’
At the beginning of July 1939, it was announced that the "Davaar" and the "Dalriada", the Campbeltown
steamers which had been in financial trouble for some time and sustained ‘heavy financial losses in the past
two years', would be withdrawn from service with effect from September 30, 1939 - West Coast Motors and
David MacBrayne's then announced plans for bus services to Glasgow in view of their imminent withdrawal,
MacBrayne's proposing to leave Campbeltown daily, including Sundays, at 7 a.m. and reach Glasgow at 1.27
p.m. with the return bus departing from Glasgow at 2.30 p.m. and returning to Campbeltown at 9 p.m.
Their single fare was to be 13 shillings (65p), returns costing 25 shillings (£1.25p). West Coast too put forward
a timetable but did not propose to run Sunday buses.
The rumblings of war growing ever closer, 200 men from Kintyre undertook a fortnight of intensive training
with the 8th Battalion of The Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders at Dreghorn Barracks, near Edinburgh, in
July 1939.
1939 : By August, R.A.F. planes were commonly seen exercising over Campbeltown and, on Saturday,
August 12, 'The Campbeltown Courier' published the names of Campbeltown's fifty-four newly appointed
Air Raid Wardens, the Chief Warden being Charles Mactaggart of Eagle Park and the Deputy Chief Warden
being R. Wallace Greenlees of East Cliff, Campbeltown.
WWII Gas Mask
43
Argyll County Council requisitioned the Albert Halls (they later the fishing net factory), opposite today’s bus
terminus on the Kinloch Road, as the official ARP centre and Campbeltown's supply of gas masks had
arrived, the Kinloch School being used as a distribution centre. That month too, the town's provost, A. D.
McNair, was appointed to The Fish Advisory Committee to control the fish supplies 'in event of war' -
Wed August 23. German – Soviet Pact signed by von Ribbentrop. Fri 25. Japan breaks away from Anti-Comintern Pact.
Sat Aug 26 - An announcement gave the Campbeltown-based steamer services a reprieve until the end of the
year.
1939 : Mon August 28. Holland mobilises. Wed 30. The Cunard liner "Queen Mary"sailed for New York from
Southampton with a large complement of passengers, mainly Americans, returning home from war-threatened Europe - The
liner was laid-up in New York, the majority of her crew sent home to Britain and a substantial security guard put on board as
Nazi agents eyed the huge ship with hopes that they might sabotage or destroy her. Thu 31. British fleet mobilised.
44
A 1939 advert for televisions too !
Pre-War 1939 Advert
45
Pre-War 1939 Prices
Not a mention of Clothes Coupons in 1939
46
WAR
THE FIRST SHOT - The first shot of World War II in Europe was fired from the German battleship Schleswig Holstein
which was on an official visit to Poland and berthed in Danzig harbour. At 4.30 am on September 1, 1939, the ship moved
slowly down the Port Canal and took up position opposite the Westerplatte (an area containing Polish troop barracks and
workshops) and at 4.47 am, the order to "Fire!" was given.
TRIGGER OF THE WAR - The incident which triggered World War II was the fake, simulated attack by the Germans on
their own radio station near Gleiwitz on the Polish border. To make it appear that the attacking force consisted of Poles,
condemned German criminals from a nearby concentration (protective custody) camp were dressed in Polish uniforms then
shot and their bodies placed in strategic positions around the radio station. A Polish-speaking German then did a broadcast
from the station to make it appear that Poland had attacked first.
This was all the excuse Hitler needed to invade Poland, which he did on September 1, 1939, an act which was to develop into a
war embracing almost the entire world and causing the deaths of some 55,014,000 military and civilians. About 85 million
men and women of all nationalities served as combatants in this, the world's first total war, in which more than twice as many
civilians died than did soldiers.
1939 : Fri September 1. Germany invaded Poland at around 4.45 a.m. and overwhelm the country’s army - Tanks,
supported by Stuka dive-bombers, cross the borders in a new form of warfare which becomes known as ‘Blitzkrieg’, lightning
war - Great Britain and France mobilise - Evacuation schemes put into operation in England and Wales to move 1.2 million
people. Sat 2. Compulsory military service begins for all British males aged between 20 and 41. Sun 3. Prime Minister
Neville Chamberlain broadcasts to the nation on radio that Great Britain and France declared war on Germany at 11 a.m.
G.M.T. and in Germany at 5 p.m. that evening - German fleet off Wilhelmshaven photographed from R.A.F. bomber - 1½
million women and children are evacuated from towns and cities into the British countryside -
FIRST ALLIED SHOT - The very first Allied shot of the war in the Far East was actually fired over the bows of the
Australian coaster Woniora (Captain F. N. Smale) from a 6-inch gun emplacement at Point Nepean, guarding the entrance to
Melbourne's Port Phillip Bay. The 823 ton coaster had entered the bay at 9.15 pm on September 3, 1939 after a trip from
Tasmania. Ordered to heave-to for inspection, the coaster gave her identity but continued on without stopping. A 100 lb shell,
fired across her bow, soon changed her captain's mind.
By a remarkable coincidence, this was the actual, same gun that had fired the first shot of World War I when, hours after war
was declared, it fired on the German Norddeutscher Llyod 6,500 ton steamer Pfalz while it attempted to leave Australian
waters on August 5, 1914. The Pfalz was then returned to Williamstown where the crew was detained. The captured vessel
served out the rest of World War I as the Australian troopship HMT Boorara.
FIRST CASUALTIES - One hour and fifty minutes after Britain declared war on Germany, a Bristol Blenheim fighter-
bomber, piloted by Pilot Officer John Noel Isaac of 600 Squadron, crashed on Heading Street in Hendon near London at
12.50pm. John Isaac became the first British subject to die in the Second World War. The first Prisoner Of War was Sergeant
George Booth, an RAF observer with 107 Squadron. He was captured when his Bristol Blenheim was shot down over the
German coast on September 4, 1939.
47
THE STIRRUP PUMP
Ready for use
Fill bucket with water - Place pump in bucket - Hang metal leg over side of bucket - Unfold and place foot on 'stirrup' to
steady the pump in the bucket - Point hose nozzle at fire - Pump handle up and down - Many other uses too, washing
windows, watering garden, hosing out closes !
'Colonel Stirrup'
NEW LAWS BROUGHT INTO FORCE - Mon Sept 4, 1939

AMUSEMENTS : Cinemas, theatres and other places of entertainment are now closer until further notice !
BABIES' MASKS : Anti-gas protective helmets for babies under about two and a half years of age are being produced at the
rate of several thousands a day, and many thousands have been issued to the most vulnerable areas, it is officially stated.
Supplies of respirators for small children between the ages of about two and a half and four are becoming available.
BANKS : Including all savings banks and the Post Office Savings Bank, banks will be closed today so that they can
complete their arrangements for adapting themselves to the emergency - They will open tomorrow for business as usual.
BLACK-OUTS : Don't let bars of light show above dark curtains. Don't let shaded lights show through yellow blinds. Don't
open your front door and let light stream into the street. Penalties for allowing lights to show include imprisonment for three
months, or a fine of £100, or both; or imprisonment for two years, or a fine of £500, or both. Black-outs every night are
from sunset to sunrise. Sunset to night is at 7.40 p.m..
COAL AND LIGHT : The quarterly consumption of coal, gas and electricity by domestic consumers and small industrial
users will be limited to 75% of the quantity consumed in the corresponding quarter of the year ended June 30, 1939. The
48
rationing percentage of 75 per cent will also be applied to the consumption of gas and electricity, but consumers will not be
rationed below 100 therms of gas and 200 units of electricity in a year.
CYCLISTS : Must now carry red rear lamps, hooded and dimmed so that no appreciable light is thrown on the ground
between sunset and sunrise. When an Air Raid warning is sounded must take their cycles off the road and put them where they
will not cause obstruction. A cycle must not be left propped against the kerb and must not be taken into a public shelter.
DOCTORS : Those enrolled under the Ministry of Health emergency service and who have been asked to report
automatically for whole-time duty at a specified hospital at the outset of an emergency should now report accordingly.
HOME PRODUCTION : A campaign is to be launched to increase the home production of food and the Ministry of
Agriculture points out that it will call for larger supplies of tractors, machinery, oil, fertilisers and other requisites.
MILK is to be delivered to householders once a day and in daylight.
Dried milk powder would become a staple-product in both Britain and America during the war years
MORTGAGES : Men called up for active service need not fear that when they return the houses they have built on borrowed
money will lost. Parliament has decreed that so long as interest is paid on borrowed capital there can be no foreclosure.
Interest cannot be increased.
MOTORISTS : Apertures in side-lamps must not exceed 2 inches in diameter and this opening must be covered by two
thicknesses of newspaper. Tissue paper is insufficient. Motorists must also blacken the lamp reflectors inside. The red glass
of rear lamps should be covered with two thicknesses of newspaper. Head-lights must lie covered or painted completely,
49
except for a horizontal slit 2/3 inch wide. The reflector must be blackened and a shield fitted over the the top of the lamp so
that no direcxt ray of light is visible at eye-level 25 yards in front of the car.
PASSPORTS : The validity of all endorsements on existing British passports has been cancelled. Further endorsement is
now required. No one may leave the country without A) an exit permit from The Passport and Permit Office and B) Leave of
the Immigration Officer at the port of departure.
PETS : "THINK TWICE" before you have your dog destroyed, is the advice given by The National A.R.P. for Animals
Committee - They issued this advice yesterday after nearly 7,000 dogs and 5,000 cats were painlessly destroyed in London on
Saturday. There is plenty of animal food in the country and pets are safe in a gas-proof room.
WAR RISKS : From 11 a.m. today, The Board of Trade will carry on the business of insuring cargoes against war risks at
The War Risks Insurance Office which is being opened for the purpose in Lloyd's Building, Leadenhall Street, London E.C..
MEANWHILE
With the declaration of war on Sun September 3, 1939, Campbeltown made preparations for blackouts and
people advised to put adhesive paper 'crosses' on windows to reduce the risk of flying splinters from broken
glass in air raids, the people too being advised not to look out of windows in air raids.
Street corner pavements were 'chequer-painted' to make them more visible and, when a man drowned in
Campbeltown Harbour, a chest-height wire rope, fixed at regular intervals to wooden uprights painted with
luminous paint, was run along the edges of the quays.
People were told not to gather in the streets and the cinemas closed, albeit it temporarily. Hoarding of
foodstuffs was prohibited, The Food (Defence Plans).
Department issued notices concerning emergency bread supplies and overseas mail was to be censored,
though not mail to the colonies and dominions.
Thanks to the persuasions of John Craig of The County Garage, a sphagnum moss collection centre was
instituted in the Kinloch Hall.
More than a 100,000 of these special surgical dressings were soon being sent from all over to Scotland to The
Red Cross in Finland, the depot later moved to John Street.
50
Importantly for The Clyde and our story, September 1939 saw the introduction of the 'Emergency
Regulations for Mariners' which highlighted the setting up of the anti-submarine boom between the Cloch
Lighthouse and Dunoon.
The ill-fated “Athenia” - and her sinking (below)
1939 : Mon September 4. British liner Athenia sunk by the German submarine U-30
51
The Loss of the 'Athenia' on September 3, 1939 - The Second World War commenced at 1100. Donaldson's 'Athenia' had left
Glasgow on 1st September for Montreal, via Liverpool and Belfast. By dinner time on the 3rd the ship was 250 miles West of
Donegal. Aboard her were 1,103 passengers, of whom 311 were U.S. citizens, together with a crew of 315.
At 1945, 'U-30', under the command of Kapitanlieutenant Lemp, torpedoed the 'Athenia' on the port side aft and then
surfaced to shell the radio cabin, demolishing the main mast in the process, it was 1000 next day before the vessel finally sank
and became the first British merchant ship victim of the war. Of those aboard, 28 of the 112 lost were Americans - The
survivors were rescued by the Norwegian 'Knute Nelson', the American-owned 'City of Flint' and the steam yacht 'Southern
Cross' - The 13,581 grt. 'Athenia', a twin screw ship with 6 double reduction geared turbines, built in 1923 by Fairfield S.B.
& Eng Co, Glasgow - she then cost £1,250,000 - carried 1,400 passengers and 315 crew - Her well-known sister ship, the
'Letitia', survived the war.
52
FIRST RAF RAID: A NEAR-DISASTER - The first RAF raid of the war ended in near disaster. The day after war was
declared, RAF Wellington and Blenheim bombers attacked the German naval ports of Wilhelmshaven and Brunsbuttel. Ten
bombers returned to base after failing to find the target. Seven were shot down by German anti-aircraft batteries. Three of the
planes prepared to attack British warships in the North Sea until they discovered their mistake, then went home. Eight bombers
found the target and attacked the battleships Scheer and Hipper and the cruiser Emden, one of the Blenheim bombers crashing
on the ships' deck. By a strange coincidence the pilot's name was Flying Officer H. L. Emden. Seventeen Royal Air Force men
were killed in this raid - The Emden was the only Axis ship to attack the continent of India. It reached the shores of Madras
on the Bay of Bengal and fired its guns at Fort St. George.
FIRST NIGHT BOMBLOAD WAS HARMLESS - The first night of the war, September 3, 1939, a force of ten Whitley
bombers dropped thirteen tons of propaganda leaflets over Hamburg, Bremen and the Ruhr. Later, Berlin and the Baltic ports
were showered with these leaflets. Little opposition was met from enemy defence. As no bombs were being dropped, no doubt
they were anxious not to give way their gun and searchlight positions. On September 30, leaflet-carrying balloons were
launched from France by Britain's No 1 Balloon Unit.
1939 : Mon September 4. Small advanced parties of B.E.F. arrived in France - R.A.F. attacked the German fleet and also
carried out air raid on the Kiel Canal entrance. Wed 6. First German air raid on Britain. Fri 8. Russia mobilises and Russian
troops on Polish border. Sat 9. Battle for Warsaw began
and too that day of Saturday, September 9, 1939, nearly 1,000 children were evacuated from Glasgow to
Campbeltown by steamer. Most of these returned to Glasgow by the end of the month, their return
persuaded by their mothers.
1939 : Sun September 10. Main force of B.E.F. began to arrived at Cherbourg. Mon 11. 158,000 British troops land on
French soil. Wed 13. = New Moon = Vistula crossed by Germans at Annopol. Thu 14. Germans entered Gdynia. Fri 15.
Pnemysl captured by Germans. Sun 17. Stalin’s Russian troops entered Poland and met German troops at Brest Litovsk -
British aircraft carrier Courageous sunk by U-29.
POLES ESCAPE - On September 17, 1939, the Soviet Union invaded the eastern part of Poland while Polish forces were
fully engaged against the German onslaught in the West. After the fall of Poland, remnants of the Polish Army (over 70,000
men) those not taken prisoner by the Soviets, made their way through Romania and Hungary to France where they regrouped
as the Polish 1st Division under General Duch.
When Germany invaded that country, around 24,300 Polish soldiers escaped from France and finally to Britain and reformed
in Scotland as the 1st Polish Army Corps. It was while in Scotland, in 1941, that Polish signals officer, Lt. Jozef Kozacki,
designed the first practical electronic mine-detector called the Mine Detector Polish Mark 1. It was soon mass-produced and
53
500 were issued to the British Army in time for use prior to the Battle of El Alamein in October, 1942. The all Polish RAF 303
Fighter Squadron began operations in Britain in 1940. At the end of the war the squadron was credited with 126 'kills' the
highest score in Fighter Command. Of the 17,000 Polish airmen who served in the RAF, 1,973 gave their lives.
On Friday, September 22, 1939, "U-27" became the first U-Boat victim of the war, sunk south of the Hebrides after
being depth-charged by H.M.S. "Forester" and H.M.S. "Fortune".
1939 : Sun September 24. All-day air raid on Warsaw. Wed 27. Warsaw surrendered.
The School House, Argyll Hotel, cottages and 1825-built Church at Bellochantuy
THE DOGFIGHT
On Wednesday, September 27, 1939, the garage shed opposite and an upstairs skylight window in The
Argyll Arms Hotel at Bellochantuy was hit by stray machine-gun bullets from what was later thought to be a
Fleet Air Arm plane. Skye-born hotel housemaid Nellie Nicholson said she had seen a plane at a terrific
height some twenty minutes or so before anyone heard the gunfire and the hotel proprietor, Dan Smith,
reported that the plane came back some fifteen minutes after the incident and he and Alexander McGuire,
who kept hens across the road from the hotel, had to run for shelter, one of the shell cartridges broke the
upstairs hotel skylight. Donald McIntyre, a gamekeeper, also heard the gunfire and tried to spot the aircraft
with his telescope. Ironically, several hotel residents, including a lady from Greenock with her two grand-
children from Surrey, had chosen to stay in Kintyre to avoid the expected German blitz of Southern England
as hostilities began.
'The Daily Record', the wartime censors seemingly disinterested, carried a report of the incident next day
under the headline 'Amazing Air Attack on Kintyre Hotel' - 'The Campbeltown Courier' that week also
detailed the course of events - and Campbell Stephen, MP for Glasgow's Camlachie ward, raised the matter
in The House of Commons asking Air Minister Sir Kingsley Wood 'if there were any military objectives in the
area' at the time of the so-called 'attack' ? The R.A.F. maintained that neither their own nor any enemy
planes were in the vicinity at the time - the R.N. Air Station at Machrihanish was not then established -
and in any case the authorities were 'plainly' in no position to release any information about the Fleet Air
Arm's activities in the area either !
Given the notion that an enemy aircraft had been involved in the incident, some mistakenly held that this
54
was the first German raid of the war on the British mainland, the first confirmed attack, on The Forth Rail
Bridge, however did not take place until October 16, 1939.
Later on in the war, The Argyll Hotel in Bellochantuy was reported to have been hit again by an aircraft
attack but this is not true for the numerous spent shell casings that were found covering a wide area around
the hotel came in fact from an aircraft from Northern Ireland which was seen unsuccessfully attacking a high
altitude Condor flying over Bellochantuy - Then, after being fired at by a Dutch armed trawler in
Campbeltown Loch, a lone and prowling Heinkel fired a few rounds at Putchecan Farm, near Bellochantuy,
the Heinkel mistaking the farm for a ship because of lights showing from the farm barn but, despite a local
tale, the German Heinkel did not crash !
1939 : Thu Sep 28. = Full Moon = Poland, partitioned, by Russia and Germany - Petrol rationing introduced in Britain.
HOME and AWAY AT WAR

War against Germany was declared on Sunday, September 3, 1939 and the anti-submarine boom between
Dunoon and the Cloch lighthouse was again put in place, as it had been in the previous war and the Clyde
steamer services reduced to a minimum. The steamers’ windows boarded up and the saloon lights on
permanently, all were fitted now with steel wheel-houses, their hulls and superstructures painted grey and
their after decks cleared of their familiar buoyancy apparatus seats to make way for cargo.
Above the boom, the “Lucy Ashton” was assigned the four times daily Craigendoran - Kilcreggan - Hunter’s
Quay - Kirn - Dunoon service, she would make occasional calls at Clynder till 1943 and also be rostered to
make connections at Gourock.
The “Marchioness of Lorne”, based at Kilmun, would operate the Ardnadam - Strone - Blairmore - Kilcreggan
- Gourock - Hunter’s Quay - Kirn - Dunoon service, a complex roster which saw her making three,
essentially, round trips on weekdays, four on Saturdays - The turbine steamer “Queen Mary II” was
assigned to the Gourock - Dunoon run, though, in October 1939, the roster was originally operated from
Hunter’s Quay and included a daily sailing to the Holy Loch and Kilmun.
Below the boom, the turbine steamer “Duchess of Montrose”, also often serving on the Stranraer - Larne run
too till late July 1940, took up the four times daily Rothesay - Wemyss Bay service assisted by the turbine
steamer “Marchioness of Graham” which, although ostensibly operating from Fairlie to Millport and Brodick,
also covered some sailings from Wemyss Bay to Innellan and Rothesay, the turbine steamer “Glen Sannox
(II)” being the mainstay of the Fairlie - Millport - Brodick - Ardrossan service.
An intriguing picture of MacBrayne’s “Saint Columba”, ex- ‘Queen Alexandra (II), at full speed
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The “Saint Columba” which, as the “Queen Alexandra (II)” in World War I had rammed and sunk the
German submarine “U-78” off Cherbourg on Thursday, May 9, 1918, now leaving Wemyss Bay at 9.48 a.m.
daily, covered the Rothesay - Colintraive - Tighnabruiach - Tarbert - Ardrishaig mail service, arriving back in
Wemyss Bay at 5 p.m.. In November 1939, she was requisitioned for use as the Boom Defence headquarters’
ship at Greenock, the now repaired diesel-electric “Lochfyne” taking over the mail run - Wemyss Bay
became the terminus for the Campbeltown company’s “Dalriada” and “Davaar”.
The older Clyde paddle steamers, the “Waverley (III)”, “Marmion”, “Duchess of Fife”, “Duchess of Rothesay”
and “Eagle III”, re-named the “Oriole”, were assigned to the 12th Minesweeping Flotilla at Harwich, its
flagship being the “Queen Empress”.
The newer paddle steamers, the “Juno” “Jupiter” and the “Caledonia”, renamed respectively “Helvellyn”,
“Scawfell” and “Goatfell” and the “Mercury”, under her own name, joined the 11th Minesweeping Flotilla at
Milford Haven.
H.M.S. “Jeannie Deans”, an occasional visitor to Campbeltown in the early days of the war
The “Jeanie Deans” too was sent on mine-sweeping duties serving first as flotilla flagship, based at Irvine and
then to join the 11th Flotilla at Milford Haven - The diesel-electric paddler “Talisman” which, like the
diesel-electric “Lochfyne”, had been out of service, broken down, at the start of the war, was repaired and,
renamed “Aristocrat”, sent south as a Bofors Gun Ship - Both the “King Edward” and the “Duchess of Argyll”
remained above the anti-submarine boom to relieve on the Gourock - Dunoon service and act as troopship-
tenders at The Tail of The Bank.
"Lochfyne" at Gourock
Following the outbreak of war and the re-introduction of an anti-submarine boom between the Cloch and
Dunoon, the Ardrishaig mail service was operated, as in World War I, from Wemyss Bay.
56
The October 1939 rail and steamer timetable finds the outward (inward) timings as Glasgow Central 0835
(1851), Wemyss Bay arrive 0933 (return departure 1750), Wemyss Bay 0948 (1700), Rothesay 1015 (1630),
Colintraive 1040 (1540), Tighnabruiach 1055 (1525), Tarbert 1155 (1425) and Ardrishaig 1240 (1345).
World War II Clyde Steamer Timetables - October 1939 - OUTWARDS

The Anti-Submarine Boom divided services into Northern and Southern sectors
Sunday Services operated only a single return to Dunoon and Wemyss Bay
OUTWARDS - 1 Not Sat Sat
Edinburgh (Waverley Stn.) ----- 9.00 Only
Glasgow (Queen Street ----- 10.33
Stn.)
Glasgow (St. Enoch
Station)
Glasgow (Central Station) 7.40 7.00 7.00 8.35 9.40 10.30 12.50 12.50 13.05
CRAIGENDORAN 6.45 11.25
Helensburgh 11.35
GREENOCK Princes' Pier
GOUROCK 8.05 8.40 11.00 12.00 13.50 14.00
DUNOON 7.25 8.30 10.00 11.20 12.15 12.30 14.20
Kirn 8.25 11.30 12.07 12.25 14.30
Hunter's Quay 11.35 12.20 14.35
Kilcreggan 8.50 10.20 11.52 14.00
Cove 14.12
Blairmore 14.20
Strone 9.10 11.40 14.30 14.40
Ardnadam 11.47 14.37 14.47
KILMUN 9.17 11.55 14.45 14.55
WEMYSS BAY 9.05 9.48 11.45
Innellan 9.20 12.05
Craigmore 9.40 12.25
ROTHESAY 9.50 10.15 12.35
Colintraive 10.40
Tighnabruiach 10.55
TARBERT 11.55
ARDRISHAIG 12.40
OUTWARDS - 2 Sat Not Sat Sat

Edinburgh (Waverley Stn.) 10.00 Only Only 14.25
Glasgow (Queen Street 13.10 16.17
Stn.)
Glasgow (St. Enoch 16.03 16.03
Station)
Glasgow (Central Station) 14.00 13.05 13.30 14.30 17.13 17.20 17.20
Helensburgh
GREENOCK Princes' Pier 17.03 17.03
GOUROCK 14.00 14.50 15.30 18.25 18.25
DUNOON 14.45 15.20 15.55 17.30 18.15 18.45
Kirn 14.35 15.10 16.00 18.08 18.55
Hunter's Quay 15.05 16.05 19.00
Kilcreggan 14.20 14.10 17.18 17.53 18.35
Cove 14.22 17.30 18.47
Blairmore 14.30 17.38 18.55
Strone 19.03
Ardnadam 19.11
KILMUN 19.20
WEMYSS BAY 15.20 18.15
Innellan 15.35 18.30
ROTHESAY 16.05 19.05
Colintraive
Tighnabruiach
TARBERT
ARDRISHAIG
Arran and Millport were served from Fairlie and Ardrossan

The Campbeltown - Carradale - Lochranza steamer operated to Wemyss Bay
57
World War II Clyde Steamer Timetables - October 1939 - INWARDS

The Anti-Submarine Boom divided services into Northern and Southern sectors
Sunday Services operated only a single return to Dunoon and Wemyss Bay
INWARDS -1 Sat
ARDRISHAIG Only
TARBERT
Tighnabruiach
Colintraive
ROTHESAY 7.45 10.40
Innellan 8.10 11.05
WEMYSS BAY 8.25 11.25
KILMUN 7.05 9.20 12.05
Ardnadam 7.12 9.25
Strone 7.20
Blairmore 7.28 12.25
Cove 7.38 12.35
Kilcreggan 7.50 7.52 10.20 12.47 13.25
Hunter's Quay 7.20 9.35
Kirn 7.37 7.25 9.40 13.05 13.10
DUNOON 7.30 7.35 8.40 9.45 13.00 13.05
GOUROCK 8.00 7.57 10.35 13.10 13.25
GREENOCK Princes' Pier 9.05
Helensburgh
Glasgow (Central Station) 8.53 8.53 9.30 11.38 12.31 14.18 14.43
Glasgow (St. Enoch 10.04
Station) (Queen Street
Glasgow 8.58 15.03
Stn.)
Edinburgh (Waverley Stn.) 11.05 17.22
INWARDS - 2 Not Sat Sat Not Not Sat

ARDRISHAIG Sat Only Only Sat Sat Only
13.45
TARBERT 14.25
Tighnabruiach 15.25
Colintraive 15.40
ROTHESAY 14.20 16.30 17.00
Innellan 14.45 17.15
WEMYSS BAY 13.40 15.05 17.00 17.30
KILMUN 13.47 15.05 15.15
Ardnadam 15.55 15.22
Strone 15.30
Blairmore 14.40 15.40 17.40
Cove 15.48
Kilcreggan 14.00 15.15 15.00 16.00 16.05
Hunter's Quay 14.05 15.20 15.50
Kirn 14.15 15.00 15.25 15.45 18.08 17.42
DUNOON 14.35 14.55 15.35 15.35 18.20 17.35
GOUROCK 15.10 ----- ----- ----- 16.25 18.00
GREENOCK Princes’ 16.10 16.15 16.15 16.40
Pier
Helensburgh
CRAIGENDORAN 15.45 15.45 19.00
Glasgow (Central 16.10 16.17 18.51 18.51 19.11
Station) (St. Enoch
Glasgow 17.14 17.25 17.25 18.06
Station) (Queen Street
Glasgow 16.45 19.55
Stn.)
Edinburgh (Waverley 18.25
Stn.)
Arran and Millport were served from Fairlie and Ardrossan
The Campbeltown - Carradale - Lochranza steamer operated to Wemyss Bay
THE “DUCHESSES” AT WAR
58
The “Duchess of Montrose” (here), certificated to carry 400 military personnel and 250 civilian passengers, was
sent to cover the Stranraer to Larne run at the end of September 1939 but, within the month, the Sea
Transport Officer had her sent back to Gourock being persuaded that her ‘sister’, the “Duchess of Hamilton”,
fitted with a bow-rudder might be better suited to the harbours, the “Duchess of Hamilton”, then arriving at
the end of October, would, in addition to carrying troops, cover the mail service for the “Princess Margaret”,
temporarily out of service with engine problems, between December 11 and 13, 1939.
The “Duchess of Hamilton”, a quasi-sister of the “Duchess of Montrose”(above), was overhauled at her builder’s
yard, Harland & Wolff of Belfast in February 1940. Just as well for in April 1940, the 53rd Welsh Division was
moved from South Wales via Stranraer to Northern Ireland, a move involving some 11,000 troops and their
baggage and a precaution against a possible German invasion of neutral Eire - From the middle of the
summer of 1940, continual troop movements after the evacuation of Dunkirk and many personnel going
home on leave, led to both the “Duchess of Hamilton” and the “Duchess of Montrose” working the Stranraer
crossing during June and July 1940.
They were both relieved by the Denny-built Thames excursion motor-ship “Royal Daffodil”, the “Duchess of
Montrose” returning to the Wemyss Bay - Rothesay run at the end of July and the “Duchess of Hamilton”
returning to Gourock in October 1940 being recalled to Stranraer as needed.
A pre-war photograph of the “Dalriada” arriving at Carradale her funnel in post-1937 colours
1939 : Monday, October 2, 1939, shortly before 8 a.m., the “Davaar” left Campbeltown for Greenock’s East
India Harbour to be laid up and leaving the newer “Dalriada”, her funnel and lifeboats all now painted black,
to carry on the service to Carradale, Lochranza and the Wemyss Bay terminus alone.
AWAY FROM THE FLEET
Campbeltown fishing boats landing in Glasgow in 1939
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Once again, Kintyre’s fishermen were called to war, 132 being called up in the course of the war years and 10
of them lost in action. So too the various Government departments requisitioned more than a score of boats
from the local fishing fleets.
From Campbeltown, the herring ring-netters “Ave Maria”, “Golden Dawn”, “Kestrel”, “Kittiwake”,
“Lochfyne”, “Margaret Hamilton”, “Moira”, “Mystical Rose”, “Nobles” and “Silver Grey”; from Carradale, the
ageing Loch Fyne fishing skiff “Annie” and the ring-netters “Alban”, “Florentine”, “Glen Carradale”, “Noss
Head”, “Silver Cloud” and “Watercress” and from Tarbert, the “Mairearad”, “Nancy Glen” and “Village Belle”.
Waterfoot, Carradale in October 1938
Reluctant in the extreme to part with his beloved "Noss Head" and hoping to frustrate the authories more
than a little in their attempts to take her away, her skipper ran her up the burn at Waterfoot on the highest of
spring tides, when their rise and fall is at its highest and there was nothing that the navy could do except wait
patiently for another big spring tide to get her out again - Sadly, the "Noss Head" was never to return as she
went to the west coast of Africa and was reported sunk there a couple of years later.
Within three weeks of the war beginning, the Campbeltown fishermen set up the benevolent Campbeltown
Fisherman’s War Relief Fund and, putting a levy on the gross earnings of all the Campbeltown fishing boats,
the fund, which raised some £6,500 during the war, was well able to make one-off payments to the next-of-
kin of any fisherman killed in action and also made substantial donations to the Provost’s Fund, the POW
Fund and The Red Cross - At the end of the war in 1945, £600 was handed over to a special Welcome Home
Fund for returning servicemen.
1939 : Tue October 10. Empire air-training scheme announced. Fri 13. = New Moon = Sat 14. Royal Oak sunk by U-
47 in Scapa Flow with the loss of 810 lives, the battleship sinking in just 13 minutes. Mon 16. First German air raid on
British Isles (Firth of Forth.
RAF FIGHTER COMMAND'S FIRST KILL - On October 16, 1939, German JU 88s from the island of Sylt, attacked
naval ships in the harbour at Rosyth, Scotland. About to enter dry dock for repairs was the battle cruiser HMS Hood, but the
pilots had strict orders not to attack. A personal order from Hitler stated "Should the Hood already be in dock, no attack is to
be made, I won't have a single civilian killed." After the raid, in which the 9,100 ton cruiser HMS Southampton was damaged,
Spitfires from RAF Turnhouse, near Edinburgh, attacked the departing JUs and one was shot down, hitting the sea off Port
Seton. This was the first enemy plane to be brought down by RAF Fighter Command.
1939 : Sat October 28. = Full Moon = A Heinkel 111, built at the Heinkel-Werke in Oranienburg in October, 1938,
crash-landed at Dumbie, near Dalkeith - Two of the crew survived while two others were killed during the attack, which is
credited to Spitfires of 602 and 603 Squadrons.
1939 : Sat November 4. United States Neutrality Act passed - Jews in Warsaw are forced into ghettos by the German
Gestapo. Wed 8. Bomb explosion in the Bürgerbräkeller in Munich after Hitler’s speech - Germans using magnetic mines.
Sat 11. = New Moon = Mon 13. First bombs on British soil, in the Shetlands, the bombs miss anchored navy ships but
hit a disused crofter’s cottage. Sat 18. German magnetic mines sown from air.
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1939 : Tue November 21. Attention on The North Channel was then brought to a head when Gunther Prien's "U-47"
torpedoed H.M.S. "Royal Oak" at 01.16 am on Saturday, October 14, 1939, in Scapa Flow and The Home Fleet was ordered
to move south from its main anchorage at Scapa to The Clyde - One post-war analysis of the ships’ headings and relative
headings which Prien entered in the U-Boat’s log indicates that, at the supposed time of Prien’s attack, “U-47” was ‘in
theory’ some 1½ miles inland when Prien fired his torpedoes ! It would seem that someone, not for the first or last time, was
re-writing the U-Boat logs.
REPORT FROM OSLO - In November, 1939, a mysterious package was discovered in the office of the British Naval
Attaché in Oslo, Norway. Contained in the package was highly secret information on the latest weapons being developed
within Germany. These documents were passed on to the British Secret Service Office (MI-6) and were deemed authentic. The
documents mentioned Peenamunda where the latest V2s were being developed and tested. Details were given about the 'smart'
bomb Fritz-X, cruise missils, anti-aircraft missils, jet engines and rocket powered planes. This information helped the British to
develop measures to combat these misiles from reaching their target i.e. Electronic Beams etc. To this day, the identity of the
person who delivered the package to the Naval Attaché in Oslo has never been discovered but assumed that he was a high
ranking officer in the Luftwaffe.
Peenemunde was bombed by the RAF on August 17/18, 1943, (Operation Hydra) In its first raid on the island, 560 planes took
part, dropping 1,800 tons of bombs. About 180 German technicians and scientists were killed and around 550 foreign workers,
mostly Polish, lost their lives. The RAF lost 40 planes. The bombing caused the Germans to move the whole rocket research
facility to underground tunnels in the Harz mountains, near Nordhausen. All this took up precious time and by the time full
production was attained, the Allies had landed in Normandy (Operation 'Overlord') Seven days later the first rocket, the V1
'Doodlebug', was fired against London.
WEATHER REPORTS
Germany and France, their fledgling airlines expanding, were the first of all nations to recognise the need for accurate
Atlantic weather reports and, just before the outbreak of war, the French having put a 'met-ship' on station in the North
Atlantic, the Germans, dominant in surface communications with South American countries, positioned their own weather
ship in the South Atlantic.
Until then, weather forecasting dependended on voluntary reports from ships travelling on their ordinary voyages criss-
crossing the seas and the accuracy of many reports was at best questionable.
With the outbreak of war and the U-Boat war intensifying, the French and German weather ships were withdrawn and
ordinary merchant ships, afraid of attack, ceased radio transmissions too - The Allied navies, to support the enormous
numbers of new militaery aircraft being ferried across The Atlantic, established a chain of 'weather ships' in the early 1940's,
their reports being in code and the codes used being broken by the Germans too - In 1946, after the war and air-traffic rapidly
growing, the chain of weather ships, operated multi-nationally by Britain, America, France, The Netherlands and Norway,
continued to play a major role in weather forecasting until the first weather satellites were sent into orbit.
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An early WWII weather observation flight
The general public were mostly unaware of the vital part that the weather played in the effectiveness of the operations carried
out by Bomber Command and other units - In the earlier days of the war, Spitfires were used and the pilots not only had to fly
their machines and take evasive action from enemy planes, but had also to take weather observations at the same time - The
way in which they managed to roll all these jobs into one was to have a specially constructed weather observation plate,
strapped to the right knee, on which was recorded, with the free hand, all the temperature, pressure and humidity readings,
as well as the various cloud formation observations and the checking of the height of cloud bases, etc.
After a while it was found that it was almost impossible to accomplish this one-man job satisfactorily under battle conditions,
so the Spitfire was replaced by the Mosquito IV, which then became the standard aircraft for the flights - Subsequently,
these planes formed part of the famous Pathfinder Force of Bomber Command.
Until these flights began, we had no means of knowing the weather conditions over the target area and this was obviously a
great handicap to our bombers - The Pathfinder reconnaissance planes therefore used to precede the main bomber force and
collect up-to-date information of all the weather conditions in and around the target area - It was the boast of these fine pilots
that within 20 minutes of the first warning ring of the telephone they could be airborne and on their way to report the weather
conditions at any place within 1,000 miles of base - Even since the war the tradition has held that 'The Met Flight takes off in
any weather !'
Now let us see how all these observations that have been collected are dealt with at the Meteorological Office. Each observer
sends in a report for the given hour of the conditions at his station; these are plotted on to the daily weather map with the
utmost speed and accuracy and from the completed map is deduced the forecast for the different districts.
Precision forecasts were at all times essential to Bomber Command to ensure that aircraft arrived over the target exactly at the
appointed time and avoided heavily defended localities - On all major operations, the Upper Air Section at Dunstable
maintained contact with the aircraft throughout the flight, to supply the best possible last-minute estimates of navigational
details, temperature (which affects the reading of the air-speed indicator) and wind at the bombing height over the target, by
means of which the bomb-sights were set.
Knowing as they did that this Central Forecasting Station was the nerve centre of the British Meteorological Service for the
entire northern hemisphere, the Germans did all they could to locate it but never succeeded.
Weather observations over the sea are just as vita! as land records as most of our weather comes from the west, the most
important sea area for observations is the North Atlantic Ocean and we were very much handicapped during the last war by
lack of information from that direction.
Observations were collected by the use of aircraft - The information included as atmospheric pressure, emperature,
humidity, speed and direction of the upper winds, visibility, height of the bases and the tops of clouds, etc. - The 'Met'
flights, as they were called, could carry out weather observations over the North Atlantic and the North Sea - These flights
were flown on a triangular track - The aircraft first flew at a fairly low level in a straight line for several hundred miles,
taking the fullest observations every 50 miles - The second stage was flown at a higher level, at approximately 18,000 feet
and the third stage along the base of the triangular track, on its flight back to the base, was made at a low level again.
Radio balloons were used for exploring those heights that were beyond the reach of aircraft - A small radio transmitter was
attached to a balloon made of rubber and filled with hydrogen, which was sent into the upper air - The balloon rises rapidly
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to a height of about 10 miles sending messages as it goes - These messages are in the form of a single musical note, the note
depending upon the weather element at each level - The signals were received at the base station where they were converted
into the readings of pressure, temperature and humidity while the balloon continues to ascend - When about 10 miles up, the
balloon bursts and the apparatus falls to earth on a small parachute.
During its flight, the balloon is blown along with the wind and, by following its radio signals with direction-finding receivers,
the speed and direction of the upper winds could also be found - The ascents were made four rimes daily from eight stations
in the British Isles.
Just before the end of the war, the average number of weather reports being passed into the Communications Room reached
100,000 every 24 hours - By their devotion to duty in the dull routine of taking down figures (sometimes almost unreadable
through bad atmospheric conditions), these men and women provided the vital data without which successful forecasts for
major air operations would have been impossible.
In the adjoining Transmitting Room were three auto-transmitters - The material to be issued was received on message pads
from the Communications Room and punched out by a perforating machine on a paper tape in Morse code - The tape was
then fcd through the transmitter, the speed of which could be varied, though it was normally set for about 15 groups per
minute, the transmitting aerials themselves were actually some miles away from Dunstable.
The first two transmitters had a long range sent data to Iceland, The Azores, Scandinavia and The Mediterranean countries,
including Egypt - The third transmitter worked point-to-point with Moscow for during most of the war Britain had a complete
interchange of all essential weather information with Russia.
The Teleprinter Room at Dunstable, containing over a hundred teleprinters, was the largest in the world - These teleprinters
were connected to group stations all over the country and over 500 stations could receive the teleprinter broadcast
simultaneously at a steady speed of 60 groups a minute.
Observations were plotted eight times daily over an area from just east of Newfoundland to Russia and from The Azores and
North Africa to Greenland, Iceland and Jan Mayen - In addition, four charts were plotted daily over an area covering the
whole of North America and northwards to Spitzbergen, all available information then plotted on the main charts.
From a small hut on the rolling Bedfordshire Downs near Dunstable, part of the Thunder-storm Location Unit of the Central
Forecasting Station of the British Meteorological Service and one of the most outstanding inventions of British scientists,
observers could watch a thunder-storm going on 2,000 miles away !
Throughout the war, this hut, cleverly camouflaged as a most realistic-looking haystack, was a closely guarded secret -
Atmospheric "crackles" coming from lightning flashes, which are picked up on our ordinary radio sets may do nothing more
than annoy us but, when these same atmospherics are received on specially designed radio direction finders equipped with
television tubes, they become items of far-reaching value in forecasting the weather - There were only four such thunder-
storm locators in existence at the time, the other three were in Scotland, Cornwall and Northern Ireland and they
simultaneously recorded all the main lightning flashes within a radius of 1,500 to 2,000 miles.
The exact bearinu of each flash was given by a scale marked on a television tube and as the four stations were linked by private
telephones, the control station at Dunstable was immediately able to plot the bearing lines on a map - Where these four lines
intersected was the area where the lightning was flashing and that was the area of the thunder-storms.
The spread and direction of movement of the storms could be followed and sometimes it was possible to forecast thunder-
storms over Britain days ahead.
As there is not a single day throughout the year when thunder-storms are not recorded somewhere over Europe or the Atlantic,
understanding the positioning of these storms during the war was of immense value.
When a batch of lightning flashes was shown on the weather map it meant that severe "icing" would be found in that area and
"icing" was capable of bringing down planes as efficiently as any anti-aircraft guns ! It also meant that bombing targets were
obscured by thick cloud, that electrical disturbances would upset the pilots' instruments and that treacherous air currents would
be encountered.
This invention saved hundreds of pilots' lives - At the peak period of the war, about 500 airfields were being so served.
The locators are also of considerable value in peace, particularly for civil aviation, for thunder cannot be heard much over 10
miles away and lightning cannot be seen in the daytime unless it is very near.
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All reports of storms were passed on at once to the Communications Room where they were immediately dealt with - The
Communications Room was the vital centre, a hive of marvellous activity - Inward and outward messages passing
continuously all day and night through the hands of a 'scrutineer', all reports being written in an agreed five-figure code - The
economy in message transmission can be imagined when a single figure indicated the state of weather, another figure the force
of the wind, another the amount of cloud and so on and, during the war, it was necessary for every message to be sent by
cipher and therefore every message had to be enciphered or deciphered before it left the Communications Room, the task
performed by women working at high speed.
It was from here, on the Bedfordshire Downs, that the vital weather forecast for D-Day was issued and led to General
Eisenhower postponing the invasion from June 5 to June 6, 1944 and, for the period just after D-day the Allied Armies in
France were entirely dependent upon this Forecasting Centre at Dunstable for all their meteorological information and any
delays or inaccuracies in ciphering could have had disastrous results.
After the war, a number of former Royal Navy corvettes were converted into Atlantic weather ships
Though wartime weather reports and forecasts were not for broadcast or publication, some countries preserved the records and
the charts which allow us to look at the turn of events as they may have been affected by the weather - The most basic and
useful information stemming from understanding that winds travel anti-clockwise round 'lows' and, conversely, clockwise
around 'highs' - The closer the isobars the higher the wind speed - If, for example, the distance between the isobars is
roughly the same as the distance across The Straits of Dover then the wind is well over gale force !
A high-pressure area, where the barometer is high and the weather mainly fine, is called a 'High' and is shown on the weather
map by the letter 'H' in a closed isobar - This is also known as an 'Anticyclone' - A low-pressure area. where the barometer is
low and the weather unsettled and stormy, is called a 'Low' and is shown on the map by the letter 'L' in a closed isobar - This
is also known as a 'Depression' - An area ot low pressure between two 'Highs' is called a 'Trough' and is in fact in the shape
of a trough or valley on the map - An area of high pressure between two 'Lows is called a 'Ridge' and looks very much like a
mountain ridge on the map.
Winds are created by the movement of air masses from areas of high pressure - fine weather - to areas of low pressure -
rain - In a low-pressure area the increasing atmospheric suction causes the winds to travel around in a circle that is known as
'cyclonic' - In the Northern Hemisphere the motion is counter-clockwise and in the Southern Hemisphere it is clockwise -
On the extreme outward edge of the circular path the wind blows lightly but increases more and more as it turns round the
inward spiral towards the centre.
Within this cyclonic area the atmospheric pressure falls steadily and the barometer drops accordingly - The barometric
pressure therefore, is shown by a number of contour lines passing through a series of points on the particular part of the earth's
surface.
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These contour lines are depicted on a weather map in the same way as topographical contour lines are shown on an ordinary
land ordnance map - The former are known as isobars, derived from the Greek word isn, meaning equal - The isobar on the
weather map shows the points along which the height of the barometer is the same.
We notice on a land ordnance map how the centre of each contour circle is the apex of a hill or mountain - In the same way
on the weather map the contour lines of isobars depict the apex of a 'high' or 'low' pressure system - The difference however is
that whereas on a land map the contour lines are stationary, on a weather map they are always on the move and only show the
position of those contours at any given time - There is therefore, a considerable fascination in tracing on a weather map of
the Northern Hemisphere all the different areas of storm and calm, rain clouds or clear skies.
We are also able to see from the development of these areas, at intervals of a few hours, how any particular storm centre is
building up or decaying, in what direction it seems to be travelling and what is the likelihood of its influence upon our own
particular locality in the immediate future.
The speed of the wind is inversely proportionate to the distance between the isobars - For example, if the isobars are half an
inch apart, the wind speed is double that of when the isobars are one inch apart, provided these are in the same latitude and
the temperature is uniform.
Loooking at the isobar pattern of a 'low' in the sketch above, it will be noticed that round the centre of the storm area (996) the
barometer reading is 1,000 millibars - This isobar is drawn by finding that the reading of 1,000 millibars is reported from the
weather stations A, B, C and D - These are accordingly linked up by the appropriate isobaric contour line - Stations E, F, G
and H show readings a little higher, at 1,004 millibars, and so the next isobar line is drawn in the same way - The same
proccdure is of course followed for all the readings until all the isobar lines are complete, which shows how far the low-
pressure area extends as fairly regular continuous curved lines - Actually, they are not quite so regular as that as there are
obviously intruding fluctuations - even though slight - at the areas between the stations, where no observations are
collected.
Next, the plotting on the weather map the development of a depression and here we are introduced to what is termed a 'front' -
This is the boundary of two opposing air masses, shown on the weather map as a thick black line which signifies the position
of the 'front' on the earth.
When warm winds blow up from the south and meet cold air from the opposite direction, these do not mix together as one
might suppose - Each keeps its own individuality - When the south winds are gaining supremacy, and the cold air is in
retreat, a 'warm front' is produced - As the front approaches a particular locality, light rain begins to fall there and this
increases steadily in intensity unti! the 'front itself arrives - As the 'front' passes away, the barometer begins to rise, the
clouds break and quickly clear and the sun shines out again.
When the north winds gain the upper hand, a 'cold front' is formed - This produces a different type of weather from that of a
'warm front' for whereas the latter gives us a period of fairly steady rain, the former brings sharp and often violent showers,
interspersed with bright sunny intervals - In the summer, it is often associated with thunder-storms and in the winter with hail
or snow squalls.
It will be understood therefore, that the formation of these 'fronts' are stages in the life of a 'depression' or rain area and we can
now follow, with the accompanying diagrams, the process by which a depression is built up.
The first thing that happens is that a slight kink develops along a stationary front - as seen below - Sometimes this will
straighten out again and no bad weather builds up, but more often it grows deeper and expands into a rain area that is called a
'trough', as seen in the second series of sketches below.
As the trough grows deeper, the area of cloud and rain extends - Then, something else begins to happen - The cold front
starts to overtake the warm front and a third type of front develops, an 'Occluded Front'.
The shaded portion is the rain area

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The two fronts meet at an angle, resting over the earth's lower surface in the form of a "V," as shown in the next sketch where
it will be seen that there are now three distinct air masses - a warm air mass above the front, a cold air mass pushing at the left
flank of the cold front and a cool air mass immediately ahead of the warm front.
This is the beginning of the final stage when the cold front starts to lift the warm front and the shape changes from a 'V' to a 'Y'
- The rain area subsides and the central area of low pressure begins to fill up, until the contour lines - isobars - on the
weather map straighten out again and a period of calm, quiet weather returns for a while.
We can now begin to realise that a weather map is not just a deadly dull chart of statistics but a picture showing the violent
upheavals, or the still gentle conditions, of the weather over the different localities - The isobars are no longer plain lines on
a map but fire the imagination as they curve and plunge to depict the areas of storm and calm.
A 'trough' of 'low' pressure A 'ridge' of 'high' pressure
In the map above, the isobar lines are drawn in almost a straight line from north to south over eastern England - This is
because there is a deep 'low' pressure area over the Northern Atlantic, reaching across to the Irish coast and an intense
'anticyclone' - 'high' pressure area - over north-eastern Europe.
This gives an almost direct south-to-north current of air over eastern England, which lies between the two pressure systems
and a more south-westerly current over western England, Wales and Ireland, which lie nearer to the advancing 'low' pressure
area - The north-easterly side of this 'low' bends the isobar lines slightly to the right, thus setting up a south-easterly wind
current over Scotland - It will also be noticed that there arc three separate 'fronts' - two occluded fronts over the British Isles
and one cold front cutting across part of Denmark.
Again, the relation of the distances between the isobars to the velocity of the wind should also be noted as it should be
remembered that the closer the isobar lines the higher the wind velocity - and vice versa - Here the highest winds, shown by
the wind arrows, are seen to be in the Straits of Dover and along the east coast, and on the north-west coast of Ireland.
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The weather appears to be rainy over the northern and eastern half of the British Isles and the whole of Ireland but there is
evidently a temporary improvement over the extreme south-west of the country, confined to Devon and Cornwall, where
partially clear skies are shown.
These weather maps, as will be realised, contain the results of'many hundreds of reports pouring into the Central Forecasting
Office hour by hour - A fresh map was plotted every 3 hours throughout the day and night - showing the weather situation at
midnight, 3 a.m., 6 a.m. and so on - There were also, in addition to these surface weather maps, special supplementary ones
on which are plotted the upper air observations at various levels and these were prepared every 6 hours, from 3 a.m. onwards.
The weather map of the whole of the Northern Hemisphere was necessary in order to make the 24-hour forecasts for the British
Isles, as it is necessary to see exactly what is happening over the Atlantic as well as over the vast wastes of Siberia and the
Mediterranean Sea - A complete picture of the whole is essential.
Considerable international co-operation is therefore required - This is made possible by the International Meteorological
Organisation, which is responsible for co-ordinating arrangements for the exchange of information between the various
countries who all broadcast their weather reports in an agreed code.
It is thus possible for the forecasters in every country to know the existing weather at any station from the Arctic to northern
Africa and from the American continent to central Russia - It is indeed true to say that the collection of weather reports is
independent of political boundaries between nations - except in war-time !
Knowing as they did that this Central Forecasting Station at Dunstable was the nerve centre of the British Meteorological
Service for the entire northern hemisphere, the Germans did all they could to locate it but never succeeded - Thanks to good
meteorological relations during most of the war, Britain too had a complete interchange of all essential weather information
with Russia and was therefore far better able to prosecute her war in Europe.
Though wartime weather reports and forecasts were not for broadcast or publication, some countries preserved the records
and, in the light of the foregoing explanations, the charts here allow us to look at the turn of events as they may have been
affected by the weather.
North Atlantic Weather Chart for November 22, 1939
SPIES ON THE MOVE

Churchill was concerned about The Home Fleet's move for there were, as he wrote, “plenty of Irish traitors
in the Glasgow area and, as telephone communications with Ireland were totally unrestricted and there being
a German Ambassador in Dublin, the arrival of ships would known in Berlin, the ships then unable to return
into The North Sea for 60 hours to oppose the German navy”. The Kriegsmarine were indeed quick to seize
their opportunity and mine-laying U-Boats were soon despatched to the west coast of Scotland.
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The “U-33” which secretly visited Carradale on Wednesday, November 22, 1939 and was later sunk off Pladda by
H.M.S. “Gleaner” in the early hours of Monday, February 12, 1940
Sent to mine The Bristol Channel and then into The North Channel in November 1939, von Dresky’s "U-33"
sank two Fleetwood trawlers, the "William Humphries" and the "Sulby", some 75 miles north-west of
Rathlin Island on the morning of Tuesday, November 21, 1939 in a surface action, five of the crew of the
"Sulby" being killed and then, for reasons of secrecy about her mission and therefore unrecorded in official
German records, headed east into The Clyde.
1939 : Sun November 26. = Full Moon =
CARRADALE’S U-BOAT
On the grey afternoon of Wednesday, November 22, 1939, the winter gale subsiding slowly, a sinister grey
shape was seen emerging from the foam-flecked waters to the south of Carradale, a U-Boat, almost certainly
now identifiable as “U-33”, hidden from the prying eyes of villagers but clearly visible to an eagle-eyed school
bus passenger, most likely on Arran, who seems to have telephoned the navy control room in Greenock at
around 3.45 p.m..
Though The Home Fleet, now after the sinking of the “Royal Oak” in Scapa Flow, were operating from The
Clyde, there was a far more prestigious target there, the new Cunard liner “Queen Elizabeth”. Any news of
her being fuelled for sea and the likelihood of learning any projected date for her departure from John
Brown’s fitting-out basin at Clydebank would certainly have been worth the risk of trying to land specialist
agents near-by.
Fairly obviously there was nothing much anyone could do at the time to stop the U-Boat and, though there
seems to have been no mention of any stranger(s) getting off the bus around or just south of Carradale, the
clocks had changed back to Greenwich Mean Time just days before, on Sunday, November 19 and there was
at least a good hour of daylight left for the U-Boat to send a rubber dinghy in to Torrisdale Bay and bring any
agent(s) back on board before darkness fell.
The U-Boat headed north, up Kilbrannon Sound and then to The Garroch Head, where she lay in wait for
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the inward-bound Irish boat, the “Royal Ulsterman” and followed her up-river towards the anti-submarine
boom between Dunoon and the Cloch Lighthouse.
Anti–submarine boom from The Cloch Lighthouse to Dunoon
At 2055 that night, the wind having died off and in the light of a three-quarter full moon, the crew of H.M.
“Anti-Submarine Boat 4” were lying alongside Dunoon Pier watching the gap at the end of the anti-submarine
boom reaching towards them from the Cloch Lighthouse where Gavin B. Crawford, a volunteer on a log
recovery launch working between Bowling and Glasgow, had stopped to light a cigarette on his way to work.
Gavin’s eye on the river, he watched the inward-bound “Royal Ulsterman” making her way through the boom.
Above Gavin and the Cloch Lighthouse, Joe Reid and Andrew Wilson, members of The Royal Engineers
(Renfrew Fortress), were on searchlight duty at the ‘No 1’ emplacement, it used as a ‘sentry beam’ to light
up the down-river side of the anti-submarine boom, the adjacent ‘No 2’ searchlight carrying out a wider
general search of the area further down. Beside the lights, the Port Glasgow Coastal Battery squad manned
the 6-inch calibre gun-site.
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The telephone rang as the Irish boat passed through the boom and Joe and Andrew were given the order
“Expose Light” on her wake as she had radioed in that she suspected she was being followed in by a U-Boat
and, as the searchlight was switched on, Gavin Crawford, his cigarette glowing, immediately saw the
submarine picked up in the searchlight’s beam.
On the other side of the river, the crew of “Anti-Submarine Boat 4” also saw a dark cylindrical shape about
half-a-mile north, inside the boom, and set off to investigate, they certain that they were looking at a
disappearing submarine conning tower and, rapidly closing, they dropped two groups of three depth-
charges its position.
After the fifth depth-charge had exploded, a long black cigar-shaped object broke to the surface and,
momentarily rolling, sank again. Two more depth-charges were dropped without result and a further, ninth,
depth-charge dropped in the centre of a large oil slick which had appeared on the surface, again without
further result.
At 2145, joined by another launch, they began a search northwards and into The Holy Loch but found
nothing and the, at 2207, the C-in-C put out a signal “Send all available ships to search”.
“Firedrake” and “Foxhound” (who together with “Faulknor” were responsible for sinking the first U-Boat of
the war, “U-39” off St. Kilda on Thursday, September 14, 1939) and “Forester” plus two trawlers, the “Lunar”
and another and a number of small picket-boats quickly responded while “Kingfisher” and “Widgeon”
searched the firth below the anti-submarine boom and south of the Toward Lighthouse minefield. By now
too, the anti-submarine boom gate had been closed, the net’s flotation buoys fouled earlier in the winter
gale.
Inside the boom, eight more depth-charges were dropped on mystery contacts without result, the
“Stonehaven”, chasing about, collided with a merchant ship and the “Foxhound” managed to run herself
aground in the darkness at McInroy’s Point, where Western Ferries’ terminal is today.
Quickly tipped-off about ‘the U-Boat’, John McLaughlan, Greenock correspondent of “The Glasgow
Evening News” phoned the Glasgow office who, in turn, phoned photographer Jimmy Morrison and
reporter Angus Shaw, Angus the last reporter to be hired by the paper’s editor Neil Munro, he retiring in
1927 and best known as author of the ‘Para Handy’ puffer tales.
Together they tried to get corroboration of the U-Boat story but without success and then, as dawn broke,
they found themselves arrested as “spies” when they appeared at the Cloch Lighthouse where they were frog-
marched along the road and interrogated until their credentials were satisfactorily established.
Joe Reid and Andrew Wilson continued to serve on the searchlight establishment until the invasion of
Norway in 1940 and confirm that no ‘U-Boat’ debris was ever recovered and, according to later post-war
searches of German records, there were no U-Boats supposedly operating inside The Clyde that November
night.
As we know, there is no official evidence on either side to confirm or deny these conjectures about any
German agents being in the area at the time but, if true, we can only assume that the agent(s) returned safely
to Germany and put to good use what had been learned from the excursions suggested here.
Whatever the truth of the matter, it was indeed the case in these days that the German authorities were given
to ‘re-write’ patrol records as it suited them politically and it is not impossible that the mystery U-Boat,
almost certainly “U-33”, did in fact come inside The Clyde to land and/or pick up agents.
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“Eye-Spy” - The “Marchioness of Lorne” daily criss-crossing the convoy anchorages above the anti-submarine boom
Vera Chalbur - German Spy
On the morning of September 30, 1940, Germany’s only known woman spy sent to infiltrate Britain in wartime, Vera
Chalbur, her code-name 'Vera Erikson' and her two companions, Karl Drucke and Werner Walti, were arrested at
Portgordon railway station, trying to buy train tickets to London, after their arrival by German seaplane - Drucke and
Walti were executed on August 6, 1941 but Vera Chalbur, whose husband Hans Dierks was part of a team run by
German spymaster Major Nikolaus Ritter - the team ultimately under the control of Admiral Wilhelm Cananaris, head
of the Abwehr, the counter-intelligence division of the German High Command - was freed from Aylesbury jail in
February 1942 and sent to stay with Klop Ustinov, father of Peter Ustinov, the actor, who persuaded her to become a
‘double-agent’ and work for the British.
Admiral Wilhelm Canaris
INVASION WARNING - On November 5, 1939, Colonel Hans Oster, Chief of Staff in the Abwehr (German Military
Intelligence) under Admiral Canaris, warns Colonel Jacobus Sas, the Dutch military attaché in Berlin, that Hitler plans to
invade Holland and Belgium within the next few days. In fact the attack did not take place until the 10th of May, 1940. Both
Oster and Canaris were arrested after the July Plot and hanged on April 9, 1945, at the Flossenburg concentration camp.
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Admiral Wilhelm Canaris, Hitler's spy chief, himself charged with treason, was hanged on Hitler's orders at Flossenberg
concentration camp in early April 1945 - Canaris himself was essentially 'an anti-Hitler German patriot' who, at the time of
'The General's Plot' to assassinate Hitler in 1938, greatly feared that if Hitler attacked Czechoslovakia, Germany would
embark on an unwinnable war and, had British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain not flown to Germany to meet Hitler,
Canaris would have supported those anti-Hitler Germans who would have killed Hitler - Only Chamberlain's visit saved
Hitler from arrest and removal !
Sophisticated and well-travelled, Canaris, appointed head of the Abwehr in 1935, was the only reliable figure close to Hitler
who knew much about the outside world and, well informed about Britain's situation, Canaris, prepared to go to great lengths
to stop any war, established a network of contacts - via Switzerland, The Vatican and Spain - that allowed him to secretly
pass information through to London, Canaris warning London of Hitler's intention to invade Belgium and Holland some ten
days ahead of the attacks whilst, at the same time, sending Hitler exaggerated reports of Britain's readiness for war, Canaris'
reports, that England was far more difficult to invade than it actually being the case at the time, persuading Hitler to abandon
Operation Sealion and the invasion of Britain.
In 1942, still in touch with his network of contacts, Canaris is supposed to have had a meeting with his British opposite
number, Sir Stewart Menzies, in Spain, Hitler by then prepared to reach some form of accommodation with Russia and both
Britain and the anti-Communist Canaris equally worried at any such turn of events - Both Canaris and Menzies were certainly
in the same area at the time of the supposed meeting which, if it did indeed take place, went unrecorded !
In January 1943, when American President Roosevelt announced that "peace can only come with the total elimination of
German and Japanese air power (and that) means unconditional surrender", Canaris warned the Italians against allowing the
German troops any transit rights in Italy and, in July 1944, after being implicated in the bomb-plot to kill Hitler, Canaris was
arrested for treason and then, nine months later, at the very end, executed.
OTHER SPIES
Alphonse Timmerman - A Belgian merchant seaman posing as a refugee, landed from the Glen Line steamer "Ulea" at
Rothesay Dock, Clydebank, on September 1, 1941. His story was that he had escaped across France to Spain where he had
been briefly interned before securing passage on the "Ulea" from Gibraltar. His wallet was found to contain a considerable
sum of money and an envelope discovered in his pocket held secret writing materials. Timmerman was hanged in
Wandsworth Prison on July 7, 1942.
Franciscus Johannes Winter arrived at Gourock on July 31, 1942 on board the "Llanstephan Castle". Like Timmerman before
him, Winter was taken to the interrogation centre at The Royal Victoria Patriotic School in London where, for three months,
he stuck to his story that he wished to join The Free Belgian Forces.
His story was not believed and eventually he admitted it that he been recruited by the Abwehr - the German Secret Service -
to report on shipping movements. He was executed at Wandsworth on January 26, 1943 and too, an unknown Free French
naval officer was arrested at Greenock after reputedly passing shipping information on to the collaborationist Vichy
government, his fate unknown.
While the German spies had some spectacular coups in America, those sent to Britain were poorly trained, the Germans
thinking that they could quickly invade and over-run Britain with German troops.
MI5 claims that all Germany’s British spies were either caught and executed or else, like Vera Chalbur, turned into ‘double
agents’ in what was called Operation Double Cross, the most successful deception ever in the history of espionage - After the
war, in 1948, Vera Chalbur, abandoned to her fate, disappeared into Germany, parts of MI5 have even yet to release their
files on her.
In any event, both "U-32" and "U-33" were sent to mine the approaches to The Clyde in February 1940, ostensibly to target
The Home Fleet and, in particular, H.M.S. "Hood" and though "U-32" returned safely to base, "U-33" was scuttled five miles
south of Arran after being depth-charged by H.M.S. "Gleaner" on the morning of February 12, 1940, that another story.
MINES AND MINES

On the night of Wednesday, November 22, 1939 - just hours after the mysterious submarine, she seemingly "U-33", was
spotted off Carradale - and round about the same time as all the 'shenanigans' were going on at The Tail of The Bank in the
Clyde, a converted German bomber dropped two, very new, magnetic parachute mines on the Thames mudflats, off
Shoeburyness - Exposed to view at low tide and thanks to failures in their arming mechanisms and the skills of a naval mine
disposal team from H.M.S. "Vernon", the mine and torpedo establishment at Portsmouth, the mines were safely recovered
and by the first light of the Saturday morning the mines' workings made clear.
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The Germans had approximately 2,000 mines available at the outbreak of war, most of them of the contact type dating from
WW1
German contact mine
The traditional 'Oropesa' method of clearing moored contact mines
But, almost 200 of the German mines were of a new design. These, 'magnetic mines', were 'influence mines' which did not
require physical contact with the target ships but needed only an outside source of energy supplied from the hull of the ship,
the hull's magnetic in-built properties derived from the steel of which the ship was constructed and, as a result, the magnetic
mines would explode directly under their targets, where the engines and boiler rooms were and where the largest water-tight
spaces would be damaged and causing the greatest possible damage which would result in the ships' probable loss.
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The magnetic mine was not a new innovation - it had been used by the British in 1918 for blockading off the Belgian coast -
but, whilst the theory was known, the mine was not capable of being effectively swept until its secret workings had been
exposed. German scientists had informed Hitter that it would take the British at least two years to find a method of sweeping
this new mine and, since the Germans were unable to sweep magnetic mines themselves, the British would have to sue for an
early peace.
New ideas had to be devised to explode it well clear of its intended target since, as it lay on the sea bed, it could not be swept
by the method used for sweeping the usual contact mine - cutting through the mine's mooring wire, between the mine and its
sinker, so that the mine's own buoyancy brought it to the surface where it could be destroyed by small arms fire.
One method used in the early stages was a sweeping system nicknamed 'The Bosuns Nightmare' - a wire sweep with a
number of magnetic bars attached, the bars hung below the sweep wire which was towed between a pair of minesweepers -
This was very prone to tangling with underwater obstructions and was not really practicable as can be judged by its name.
Yet another method was to use mine destructor barges, the barges fitted with large magnets supplied with power from the
towing vessel - not very practical for, when a mine was destroyed the barge and magnet were also often lost.
Shipping losses continued to mount, with up to six ships a day being sunk and ports reduced to a standstill as ships were unable
to enter or leave due to magnetic mines. Although the channels had been swept by the convenional minesweeping methods the
magnetic mine remained on the sea bed.
However, on the night Wednesday, November 22, 1939, two magnetic mines, dropped by aircraft, landed on the Thames
mudflats off Shoeburyness, the Germans now using converted bombers and suspending the mines from parachutes to slow
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their descents.
The mines were exposed to view at low ude and thanks to a failure in their arming mechanism, some considerable luck and the
bravery of a naval mine disposal team from HMS "Vernon" - The Mine and Torpedo Establishment at Portsmouth - both
mines were made safe and taken by lorry, under cover to H.M.S. "Vernon" where they were examined in detail - By the dawn
of the 25th the analysis was complete and the workings of the mine was laid bare.
By December 1939 the device for sweeping the magnetic mine had been evolved using a 'double longitudinal', or 'double-ell'
(L.L.) sweep consisting of two rubber-coated cables which were towed, floating on the surface, astern of the sweeping vessel
- One cable was 175 yds long and the other 750yds long, a strong electric pulse being discharged through the cables every
few seconds and a magnetic field was created between them - Early trials were promising and further trials carried out with a
pair of tugs.
The 'L.L.' sweep was the most effective answer ever found to the magnetic mine and it was used extensively throughout the
war, being fitted to all new construction and, where possible, to existing minesweepers. Trawlers in these earlv years had
extra power supplied by the addition of up to three hundred 12-volt car batteries stowed in their former fish hold.
Merchant ships also required a means of passive defence and, as a result of research carried out before the war, it was
possible to reverse or partially 'demagnetise' steel ships. Financial restrictions had prevented the earlier ideas being finalised
but, it was known that by fitting coils of electric cables horizontally around the hull near the water line and using power from
the ship's own generating machinery, the polarity would be changed - In the early trials the coils were suspended around the
hull on ropes but their lashings tended to carry away in heavy weather and later the wires were enclosed in steel tubes and
fitted internally - This defence, known as 'degaussing', was a great morale booster and fitted to both merchant and naval
warships, some 1,500 miles of special cables being produced every week to meet demand.
Other, more temporary, methods were also used - These followed the same principle but, instead of using fixed cables,
simply employed a high power cable placed around the hull of ships and energised to reverse the ships' polarity - These
different systems were known as 'wiping' and 'flashing' but neither method was effective for a more than a six month period.
ACOUSTIC MINES
In September 1940 the Axis forces introduced another new weapon, the 'acoustic mine' which too had been produced during
the previous war but never used and again, it was necessary to obtain a sample for examination - Two acoustic mines were
recovered and examined the following month, each had a simple carbon microphone and reed, tuned to vibrate at a frequency
of 240 cycles per second, the noise of the approaching ship built up to maximum when it was over the mine and this was when
the mine was timed to explode, right under the source of the noise.
If these mines required a noise to set them off, the answer was surely simple for a depth charge would provide the noise and
some to spare - However, this did not work and it was found that the mine was actuated by a gradual build up of sound, such
as was produced by the ship's engines and pumps.
The sound therefore had to be projected ahead of the sweeping ship in order to explode the mine at a safe distance and trials
were carried out with road drills - The 'Kango Hammer' was found to be most satisfactory in this field - and a 'hammer box'
with a metal diaphragm was evolved, the box streamed from the ship's side and the hammer started underwater and mines
were safely exploded up to a mile and more away - on one occasion, an acoustic mine, nearly five miles away, was
detonated.
Combinations of both magnetic and acoustic triggers were used in the same mine - 'Clickers' were introduced in order that the
mine did not explode until a certain number of ships had activated it - Minesweepers might sweep ahead of the convoy
wthout result and then for example, after the passing of say the sixth ship, the acoustic mine would explode under the seventh
one and other variations included time delays, the mine lying dormant for a period of hours or days, depending upon its
setting, before going live and doing its work.
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Mines were allowed to fall into our hands which had been booby-trapped in order to kill and maim our scientists and on one
occasion a number of specialists were killed when a mine was on the bench under examination - The BM 1000 mine, a dual
purpose bomb-mine, could be dropped without a parachute.
In June 1944 when the Germans introduced two new acoustic types that the 'Kango' hammer boxes could not sweep, they
mines were countered with an new 'explosive sweep', used for the first time on 'D-Day'.
Pressure / Oyster Mines
On June 14, 1944, the Germans ordered the laying of another new mine type - the 'pressure' or 'Oyster' mine as it was known
- The Germans set great store by them because they were virtually unsweepable Each mine weighing about a ton and
designed to allow for the rise and fall of the sea, operated by the suction created under a moving ship as it moved across the
sea bottom, the pressure change equal to about an inch of water
On the June 19, 1944, just thirteen days after the 'D-Day' landings, the German Air Force dropped two of these mines onto
the beach-head and, safely recovered, they were immediately rushed back to England and two nights later, as a result of their
scientific calculations, The Admiralty were able to issue an order which restricted the speed of ships off the target zonethus
preventing these particular mines going off.
More barrage balloons were flown over the landing beaches in order to increase the height at which the minelaying aircraft
flew, their necessarily increased altitude preventing accurate minelaying and require the aircraft to fly for a longer period in
the range of the warships' guns.
Though the 'D-Day' minesweepers were unable to deal with the pressure mines, they had the satisfaction of destroying 500
other types during that month of June 1944.
WWII Mine Totals
During the Second World War British forces laid 76,000 mines, the Germans laying 120,000 off Western Europe alone - A
total of 577 British ships were sunk by mines - 281 warships and 296 merchant ships and the allied fleets lost another 521
merchant ships - The efforts required to keep our sea lanes open was tremendous, every channel was swept daily regardless
of the weather.
1939 : Tue November 28. Russia denounced, lion-aggression pact with Finland. Wed 29. Diplomatic links between Russia
and Finland severed. Thu 30. Finland invaded by Russia.
The First Campbeltown Man to be Killed in The War

Private Robert McIntyre Paterson of Kirk Close, a despatch rider in the 2nd Argyll and Sutherland
Highlanders, who was killed in a motor-cycle accident in Singapore on December 2, 1939 - By June 1940,
800 Campbeltown men had registered for military service, there were six conscientious objectors.
For most of those who had joined up in the early days of September 1939, the war was already over and they
now largely already captured and prisoners-of-war, posted missing or killed in action as too would be the
case after the actions at St Valery and Dunkirk though The War Office did not release any casualty lists until
the end of July 1940.
1939 : Sun December 3. The first British bombs are dropped on Germany and on Heligoland.
FIRST BOMB DROPPED ON GERMAN SOIL - The first bomb of the war to land on German soil was dropped on
December 3, 1939. A Wellington bomber of 115 Squadron, attacking German shipping in the North Sea, suffered a 'hang up'
when one of its bombs failed to drop. It fell off on the return trip over the island of Heligoland.
1939 : Mon December 11. = New Moon =
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1939 : Tue December 12. Off Kintyre, in thick fog, the 27,500 ton battleship "Barham" collided with the
destroyer H.M.S. "Duchess", 129 men being lost when the destroyer sank some 8½ miles WNW of The Mull
of Kintyre, only one officer and 22 ratings survived to be rescued.
A fortnight later, on December 28, 1939, the "Barham" herself had a lucky escape some 50 miles off The
Butt of Lewis when escorting an inward-bound Canadian troop convoy to The Clyde, Fritz-Julius Lemp, in
"U-30", damaging her with a torpedo but managing to limp into The Clyde for repairs.
Lemp’s “U-30” had of course too was credited with the sinking of the liner "Athenia" on the very first day of
the war but the liner’s sinking has also been attributed by some to the short-sighted von Dresky, captain of
“U-33”, ‘The Carradale U-Boat’, who was also in the area at the time and had seemingly reported attacking
what he thought to be a ‘destroyer’.
The "Barham" herself would later be torpedoed and sunk in The Mediterranean in November 1941, classic
photographs of the great battleship show her spectacularly keeling quickly over and exploding before she
sank.
OCEAN LINERS' CLOSE CALL - On December 17, 1939, five ocean liners carrying 7,450 men of the First Canadian
Division, arrived at Liverpool. Unknown to them, they had narrowly escaped what could have been a major sea disaster. The
passenger liner Samaria, showing no lights, had passed right through the convoy unaware of the convoy's position! It struck the
wireless masts of the escorting carrier HMS Furious on her port side, struck a glancing blow on the port side of the next ship
astern, the liner Aquitania, then passed close down the starboard side of the third and fourth ships sailing in line ahead. If the
Samaria had collided head on with the Furious, the ships following would have all crashed into her.
The Admiral Graf Spee (in the foreground), the battle-cruiser H.M.S. Hood (upper left)
and the battleship H.M.S. Resolution (dark vessel) at The Spithead Naval Review 1937
1939 : Wed December 13. Battle of River Plate - Admiral Graf Spee, engaged by British Navy’s Ajax, Exeter and
Achilles. Sun 17. Captain Hans Langsdorff scuttles the German battleship Admiral Graf Spee off Montevideo harbour at
sunset, in ‘The Twilight of The Gods’. Tue 26. = Full Moon =
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ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE - The German 16,000 ton battleship, damaged during the Battle of the River Plate off the coast of
Uruguay, in which the British cruisers Exeter, Ajax and the New Zealand manned light cruiser Achilles took part, is forced to
take refuge in the neutral port of Montevideo where she was granted only a temporary stay. During the battle, 72 British sailors
were killed and 36 men killed from the Graf Spee. During her war cruise of 77 days, the Graf Spee had sunk nine merchant
ships totalling 50,000 tons. The battleship was scuttled by her crew on the 17th, soon after she left port. The ship was blown up
by her own torpedoes which were rigged to explode after her crew had been taken off. Her commander, Captain Hans
Langsdorff, who never willingly gave the Nazi salute, committed suicide three days later. During her short career the Graf
Spee had sunk nine ships totaling 50,089 tons. These were the steamships Clement, Newton Beach, Ashlea, Huntsman,
Trevanion, Africa Shell, Doric Star, Tairoa, and Streonshalh.
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1940
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 1 2
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
28 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
1 New Year's Day 7 Ash Wednesday 17 Palm Sunday

22 Good Friday
24 Easter
April May June

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 1
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
28 29 30 26 27 28 29 30 31 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30
21 Summer Solstice

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
28 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
27 28 29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 29 30 31
21 Winter Solstice
31 New Year's Eve
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1940
The “Rothesay Castle”
1940 : Friday January 5. Zig-zagging and running at her full speed of 16 knots to avoid U-Boats in the early hours of
the morning of January 5, 1940, the inward-bound Union Castle liner "Rothesay Castle", ran aground on the north-
west corner of Islay, near Nave Island and became a total loss.
Darkened for war, “Dalriada” and “Marchioness of Graham” at Wemyss Bay in January 1940 - On Sunday,
January 7, 1940, an armed yacht collided with the “Dalriada” and the then laid-up “Davaar”, lying at
Greenock, was rushed back into steam to take over the Campbeltown service again the following day.
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1940 : Mon January 8. Rationing is introduced in Britain to allow households to get their weekly ration of 4 oz butter, 12 oz
sugar and 4 oz bacon or uncooked ham. Wed 10. = New Moon = Thu 25. = Full Moon = The 95 ton dredger
"Riant" foundered 3 miles north-west of Gigha.
H.M.S. "Fowey", which, at the end of the war, would have the distinction of towing out the first of the surrendered
German U-Boats for sinking in 'Operation Deadlight' - "U-298", on November 29, 1945 - attacked "U-55" on
January 30, 1940, the U-Boat then being scuttled after a Sunderland of 228 Squadron, under the command of F/Lt.
E. J. Brooks, also bombed her while she lay helpless on the surface trying to recharge her exhausted batteries - This
on record as the first U-Boat sinking of the war involving an aircraft.
The “Rothesay Castle”
1940 : Friday January 5. Zig-zagging and running at her full speed of 16 knots to avoid U-Boats in the early hours of
the morning of January 5, 1940, the inward-bound Union Castle liner "Rothesay Castle", ran aground on the north-
west corner of Islay, near Nave Island and became a total loss.
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Darkened for war, “Dalriada” and “Marchioness of Graham” at Wemyss Bay in January 1940 - On Sunday,
January 7, 1940, an armed yacht collided with the “Dalriada” and the then laid-up “Davaar”, lying at
Greenock, was rushed back into steam to take over the Campbeltown service again the following day.
1940 : Mon January 8. Rationing is introduced in Britain to allow households to get their weekly ration of 4 oz butter, 12 oz
sugar and 4 oz bacon or uncooked ham. Wed 10. = New Moon = Thu 25. = Full Moon = The 95 ton dredger
"Riant" foundered 3 miles north-west of Gigha.
A typical wartime menu
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World War Two - The Geneva Convention - Background

In 1859 a Swiss man, Henry Dunant, was horrified to see thousands of wounded soldiers after a battle being abandoned with
no one to offer them aid or help - Dunant suggested that voluntary relief societies should be set up and trained to care for the
wounded in times of war - He also suggested that there should be an international agreement to protect the wounded from
further attack - In 1864 governments were invited to send representatives to a conference and 16 nations signed a treaty
stating that in future wars they would care for all sick and wounded military personnel, regardless of nationality - Medical
personnel would also be considered neutral in war and they would be identified by a red cross on a white background.
The Geneva Convention - The treaty was called the Geneva Convention. At this point the Convention was only concerned
with wounded soldiers but it soon expanded to include others caught up in warfare who were not actually fighting - The
Second Geneva Convention expanded the first to include those wounded at sea - The main points of these two conventions
are that enemy forces who are wounded, sick or shipwrecked must be treated and cared for. Enemy dead should be collected
quickly and protected from robbery. Medical equipment must not be deliberately destroyed and medical vehicles should not be
attacked or damaged or otherwise prevented from operating - The Third Geneva Convention, drawn up in 1929, covers
military personnel who fall into enemy hands. It states that -
Prisoners of War must be :

Shown respect at all times
Allowed to notify their next of kin and the International Red Cross of their capture.
Allowed to correspond with relatives and to receive relief parcels.
Given adequate food and clothing
Provided with shelter equivalent to those of their captor?s troops
Given medical care
Paid for any work they do
Sent home if seriously ill or wounded provided they agree not to resume active military duties afterwards.
Quickly released and sent home when the war is over.
Prisoners of war must not be :

Forced to give any information except their name, rank and number
Deprived of money or valuables without a receipt and guarantee they will be returned at the time of release
Given individual privileges other than on grounds of health, sex, age or military rank
Held in close confinement e.g. solitary confinement unless they have broken any laws. They can however have their
freedom restricted for security reasons.
Be forced to do military or dangerous or unhealthy work.
Countries that Signed the 1929 Geneva Convention
America Austria Belgium Bolivia Brazil Bulgaria Chile China Colombia Cuba Czechoslovakia
Denmark Dominican Republic Egypt Estonia Finland France Germany Great Britain, Ireland and British
Dominions Greece Hungary Iceland India Italy Latvia Luxembourg Mexico Nicaragua Norway
Netherlands Persia Poland Portugal Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia Siam Spain Sweden Switzerland
Turkey Uruguay Venezuela
Countries that did not sign the 1929 Geneva Convention - USSR - Would only agree to the terms of the Hague
Convention that did not allow prison camps to be inspected, prisoners to receive correspondence, or for notification of
prisoners taken and Japan which, in 1942, did promise to abide by its terms.
1940 Campbeltown Courier Advert

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RATIONING
When rationing was introduced in 1940, the average working-class family earned just £5 per week
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Petrol Coupon
Motor vehicle fuel i.e. petrol was the first item to be rationed starting in late 1939 and although fuel production continued in
Britain throughout the war, much of it reserved for war use. After all the army couldn't drive it's trucks and tanks if it were
short of fuel and the RAF planes used huge amounts, especially the heavy bombers flying long missions over enemy territory.
For motorists, things were restricted yet tolerable at first - The government forced all petrol companies to combine operations
and offer one "pool" petrol - It was rationed but it meant there was enough to survive on - The average motorist was entitled
to petrol for about 200 miles of driving a month - In exchange for coupons and 1s 6d (7.5p) per gallon, motorbike owners
were allowed two gallons - Owners of small cars with engines up to 7 h.p. could have four and, if you owned a larger car,
you could have up to 10 gallons a month - Playwright-composer Ivor Novello was actually jailed for wasting fuel by driving
around in his Rolls-Royce.
Getting around in the day was simple, even though road signs were removed in 1940 to make navigation difficult for invaders,
but driving at night was dangerous because of the compulsory "blackout" - There was a 20 mph speed limit, streetlamps were
switched off and cars could use only one headlamp - with a mask emitting a thin slit of light - Car bumpers were painted
white and white paint was splashed on the edges of every roadside hazard - kerbs, trees and lampposts - On bright moonlit
nights, driving was possible but, it was a nightmare if it was overcast and consequently, the death toll on the roads shot up to
8,272 people in 1939 and peaked at 9,169 in 1941, which included 4,781 pedestrians - almost a third more than in peacetime.
Few new cars were being made and, in July 1940, the government assumed control of all new car stocks - For a year nobody
could buy one but, the rules were later relaxed slightly so people such as doctors could take delivery of a new set of wheels -
Too, there was a new purchase tax of 33.3% on cars costing up to £1,000 - By July 1942, austerity had really begun to bite -
Petrol was no longer available at all, except to a few key workers, and, after rubber-growing Malaya fell to the Japanese, new
tyres were impossible to obtain.
Road signs were back in 1944 and by the time the country was celebrating VE Day, car-maker Armstrong Siddeley had
already put the first all-new British cars on sale, the six-cylinder Whitley and Hurricane, but unless your work was essential
to the community you still couldn't buy one - This was because the new Labour government, elected in 1945, had ordered
manufacturers to export 50% of their output in 1946 to get foreign currency rolling in - In 1948, double purchase tax of
66.6% was levied on £l,000-plus cars, so a £1,270 Daimler DB18 shot up to £1,977 and, the government finally bowed to
pressure and reinstated a third of the petrol ration - Petrol, in 1945, cost 2/- (10 pence) per gallon.
On May 8, 1945, Britons faced austerity measures that would have a huge impact on their lives for 10 more years, but
motorists would never again experience the level of restrictions that six years of war forced upon them.
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Food rationing was begun in January 1940 and with it a Ministry of Food rule that 'no person shall put sugar on the exterior of
a cake after the same has been baked' - Cakes of course were baked but without icing and bakers and confectioners began to
hire out cardboard 'cake covers' for weddings, the 'icing' made from white chalk !
January 1940
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January 1940
Before the outbreak of war the government had imported and stored a large amount of food, but this would only last so long
and the end of the war was not in sight - Every one was issued with a food ration card and had to register to buy their food
from specific shops. The shop was then issued with the relevant amount of food for the number of registered customers.
However as food was in short supply the shops often did not receive enough for all their customers. News that a delivery had
arrived at the shop spread fast and long queues soon formed as everyone was keen to get their share before it was all sold -
The amounts of food items which were allocated to each person varied from time to time through out the war depending on
availability.
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The Typical rations per person per week were: Meat: approx. 6 ounces (150g) Eggs: 1 Fats (butter, margarine and lard): 4
ounces (100g) Cheese: 4 ounces (100g) Bacon: 4 ounces (100g) initially only 2 ounces (50g) Sugar: 8 ounces (200g) initially
12 ounces (300g) Tea: 2 ounces (50g) Sweets: 2 ounces (50g)
Young children and expectant mothers were allowed extra rations, including orange juice and cod liver oil to ensure that they
received the correct vitamins - The foods which were not rationed were in very short supply. So in December 1941 a 'points
scheme' was introduced to control the sale of other types of food. This was to ensure that everyone had the chance to buy the
food when it was in stock, and to stop people buying a lot at once and filling up their cupboards when others had none. SPAM
was almost always available and became the main meat for many families, ingenious recipes were invented to use what was
available - Each person was allowed 16 points per month, controlled by coupons in the ration books. Unlike the rationed
items, you could use the points in any shop. The types of food which were on the points system included : Tinned meat, fish
and fruit, condensed milk, rice and breakfast cereal.
Meat Ration Cards for King George V and The Queen
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Vegetables were not rationed although popular types were sometimes hard to find, especially onions. People were encouraged
to dig up their lawns and flower beds to create "victory gardens" and grow their own vegetables.
The earth covering of the 'Anderson Shelter' was a good place to grow vegetables which grew on the surface such as cabbages,
cauliflowers. In towns and cities parks and playing fields were dug up to grow vegetables. The reliance on vegetables as a
main food type meant that everyone became much healthier.
Fruit was in very short supply, but was not rationed, only fruit which could be grown in Britain was sometimes available,
such as apples, pears, raspberries, black berries and strawberries.
Imported fruit such as bananas, oranges and peaches were not available in the shops. Men returning from over seas duty
would sometimes bring a few home for their families and sometimes they were for sale from sailors in the dockyards, the price
was always high !
Although white flour was in short supply, bread was not rationed during the war, so wartime bread was mainly wholewheat -
Milk was not rationed although the amount available varied.
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CAMPBELTOWN
In January 1940, despite the weather, Campbeltown’s ARP exercised regularly and often used the wood
behind Dalaruan Terrace and the foot of George Street Walk for 'simulations' of 'attacks' and the townsfolk
heard the sound of their air raid siren being tested for the first time and four fishing drifters, the “Coral
Bank”, “Golden Effort”, “Troup Head” and the “Gowan Craig”, arrived in Campbeltown Loch to form a
combined mine search and mine-sweeping patrol between Davaar, Sanda and Ailsa Craig, their Port
Minesweeping Officer, Lieutenant-Commander Melville, taking The Royal Hotel as his headquarters.
Lloyd’s Hotel, Royal Hotel (1906) and Victoria Hall (1888), Campbeltown in the 1920’s
January 1940 also saw the posting of notices at 'Kintyre Airport' - "There are sentries posted around Kintyre
Airport who will challenge any persons approaching the precincts of the airport or outbuildings thereof:; any
persons challenged or persons so challenged must stop and answer immediately; any person who is deaf is
warned to keep clear of this area" (By Order, Officer Commanding Fleet Air Arm, Kintyre).
1940 : Tue February 6. Worried that enemy spies and sympathisers may be listening, the British government launches the
‘Careless Talk Costs Lives’ campaign. Thu 8. = New Moon =
The “Duchess of Fife” arriving at Kilchattan Bay
1940 : On Sunday, February 11. "U-53" torpedoed the "Imperial Transport", a tanker outbound for Trinidad,
near Rockall. Though the tanker’s bow section sank, the crew and the stern section were taken in tow five days later
by the rescue tug "Buccaneer" and taken to Kilchattan Bay on Bute where a newly fabricated bow was later built on to
her.
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U-33 and H.M.S. “GLEANER”
H.M.S. “Gleaner (IV)” which sank “U-33” off Pladda in the early hours of Monday, February 12, 1940
The early hours of Monday, February 12, 1940, saw H.M.S. “Gleaner (IV)” on patrol off Ailsa Craig. At 0250,
a hydrophone effect was picked up and an attack carried out till 0316 when a German U-Boat, “U-33”, she
who who most probably had been seen off Carradale on Wednesday, November 22, 1939, was picked up on
the surface by the ship’s searchlights.
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The U-Boat dived and the “Gleaner (IV)” carried out more depth-charge attacks at 0353 and 0412 causing the
U-Boat’s lights to go out and causing several of the U-Boat’s plates to leak water into the boat.
Preparing Depth Charges on a Royal Navy corvette
A Hedgehog Depth Charge Thrower

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The main ballast pump was started to get of the water coming in through the sprung plates but the pump was
too noisy and quickly stopped in case in was heard by the U-Boat's attacker - But, there was a problem for,
if the main ballast pump wasn't used, the negative buoyancy of the boat would become such that the
submarine wouls not be able to be moved off the sea bottom by just using her engines alone and the pump
was switched on again only to almost immediately fail.
An even noisier auxiliary pump was switched on and the U-Boat's captain, Wilhelm von Dresky, knowing
that he had only just enough compressed air left to make one attempt at surfacing, brought "U-33" to the
surface and ordered her crew to abandon ship at 0522 hours that morning, the "Gleaner" firing off five rounds
and turning to ram the surfacing U-Boat before she realised that the crew was surrendering.
While the U-Boat’s captain was lost, four of her officers and thirteen of her crew survived, out of her
complement of forty-two men, the survivors picked up by the "Gleaner", the Javelin-class destroer H.M.S.
"Kingston" and the armed trawlers "Bohemian Girl" and "Floradora".
On February 16, 1940, the following entry was made in the German's BdU reports - "It seems more and
more likely that U 33 has been lost - Several radio intelligence reports show that she was in action with an
English minesweeper and then surrendered - Assistance was requested to rescue survivors - The English
authorities assumed that mines had been laid - This is not improbable, as these events took place in the
early morning hours - The boat would certainly not have chosen this time to penetrate into the Clyde and
she then at latest would have been on her way out - If she really did lay the mines, the high price paid will
have been worth it".
U-33 Captain Hans von Dresky Max Schiller (and David Hendry)
While Wilhelm von Dresky, the captain of “U-33”, went down with his boat, one of the survivors, the then
18-year old Max Schiller, interned first at a POW camp near Dumfries and then, in 1942, reunited with his
comrades in another, at Bowmanville Camp in Canada, returned to Scotland after the war and married a girl
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he secretly used to court at night when he quietly slipped out every night from the Dumfries POW camp.
In the early 1960’s, visiting the graves of his wartime colleagues in Greenock Cemetery, Max Schiller was
amazed to find his own name on one of the gravestones, the naval authorities apparently having assumed
him to be dead as he had given his ‘dog tag’, as a souvenir, to one of the fisherman who had plucked him
from the sea that night.
Two years before he died, on the 60th anniversary of the sinking of “U-33”, on February 12, 2000, Max
Schiller sailed out of Campbeltown Loch on board H.M.S. “Cromer” to lay a wreath on the waters over the last
resting place of “U-33”, they too accompanied by another German minesweeper on exercise in The Clyde.
A sister-ship of the earlier “Gleaner (III)”, the “Seagull”, was sunk in a collision off Innellan on September 30,
1918 and interestingly, Nathaniel McNair and Sons of Campbeltown - they whose once famed iron and
brass foundry had cast the gas street lamps which brought light to the town’s streets in the 1830’s - were also
timber merchants and their own ship, also named the “Gleaner”, was profitably employed carrying emigrants
from Campbeltown to the Americas then returning to Campbeltown with timber for shipbuilding purposes.
Today’s “Gleaner (V)” is a 45-foot long Hydrographic Survey launch.
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It was later learned that von Dresky, the U-Boat’s captain, had given parts of the U-Boat’s Enigma
encyphering machine to his officers with instructions that they throw them away into the sea, well clear,
once they had abandoned ship but, a search of the rescued U-Boat crew produced three of the machine’s
essential rotor wheels.
Loch Ewe Anti-Submarine Nets, Loops and Mines
The day after the U-Boat’s sinking, H.M.S. “Reclaim”, which had been assisting in repairs to the battleship
H.M.S. “Nelson”, she severely damaged by one of the 18 TMB-type mines laid by “U-31” off the entrance to
Loch Ewe and towed stern-first to The Clyde in November 1939, was able to arrive so quickly over the wreck
of U-33 and have her divers recover some discarded parts from her Enigma coding machine.
The loss of "U-33" was later to prompt German Grand Admiral Raider, in a brave stance against Hitler, to
avow that "As long as I am C-in-C of the navy, I will not allow another U-Boat to attempt the impossible
inside the Clyde".
THE ENIGMA MACHINE
A German Enigma Coding Machine
At first, without an Enigma machine, there wasn't much hope of breaking the German codes and the British had almost given
up trying. In particular, the rotor wiring was unknown until, on July 25, 1939, the Poles handed an Enigma replica over to
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the dumbfounded British during a secret meeting near Pyry and, by the time Hitler invaded Denmark and Norway, on April 9,
1940, Bletchley Park had begun to decoding some of the German signal traffic.
Enigma was pioneered as early as 1923 by Dr Arthur Scherbius, a German engineer and used by businesses to transmit trade
secrets - The London Patent Office granted a patent in 1927 but there was little interest until the outbreak of war when the
British were given two replicas made by the Poles, the fact that the London Patent Office already held much information on
the machines seemingly being unknown to the very people trying to unravel the machine's mysteries !
Its basic principle - substituting letters of the alphabet - was of schoolboy simplicity - The machine would encode or
decode letters typed on its keyboard, flashing up substitute ones on a parallel "lampboard" but, the Enigma used not one
alphabet but permutations of literally billions, changing with each coded letter.
Between the two keyboards are three rotors each with 26 starting positions, these gearing with one another and giving 26 x 26
x 26 possible settings - a permutation of 17,576 alphabets - The turn of a knob could create a further 17,576 and variable
wiring brought the total available to five followed by 92 noughts.
The weak point of the Enigma was the radio transmission of simple six-letter instructions for the daily rotor settings, such as
HSB ZAH - Marian Rejewski, a Polish mathematical genius, calculated that, although there were billions of possibile
alphabets, a set of just six equations enabled a codebreaker to work out which one was being used - He was unwittingly aided
by lazy operators choosing banal keys such as ABC SSS and by the idiosyncrasies of the German language - A 17-letter
German word with the same letter in eighth and ninth positions and another the same in third, tenth and l6th positions was
obviously Obergruppenfuhrer.
Inside of a 3-rotor German Enigma Code Machine showing the stored extra rotors
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Captured German Enigma Code Book Page
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The British were not the only ones who were reading the enemy's messages. The German Beobachtungs-Dienst (B-Dienst,
Observation Service), in conjunction with Entzifferungs-Dienst (E-Dienst, Cryptanalysis Service) were regularly monitoring
British traffic. The Germans picked up and decoded British intentions to occupy Narvik and were able to send a decoy force
which distracted the British until after their own occupation troops had landed.
There were far more serious consequences however for the German raider "Atlantis" had captured three British vessels, the
"City of Baghdad", "Benarty" and, on November 11, 1940, "Automedon", from which they obtained the British merchant
ship codes. With this knowledge their U-boats could be directed to sink ships supplying vital supplies to England.
B-Dienst had another source of information for some American maritime insurance companies shared underwriting costs with
their European counterparts and regularly cabled ship manifests and routes to their offices in Switzerland. The Swiss, in turn,
shared this information with their German co-insurers providing the Germans with every detail of ship sailings and cargoes !
In May, during the battle of France, the British were reading most of the Luftwaffe messages. This intelligence, dubbed
"Ultra," was passed on to the the appropriate authorities, the most eminent of whom was Winston Churchill (who had a
special fondness for it). Knowing what the enemy was about to do was of little use to the Allies, who lacked the means to
counteract it. Advance warning from Ultra that the situation was hopeless did however allow advance planning for the
Dunkirk evacuation. Ultra intelligence was carefully guarded; any tactical information was carefully "sanitized" before being
passed on, generally preceded by "according to a most reliable source". The word "Ultra" was never mentioned.
The British were regularly reading Luftwaffe messages and of particular interest were messages from the
Fliegerverbindungoffiziere, or "Flivos", liaison officers responsible for coordinating air and ground operations. The all
important Kriegsmarine signals ("Dolphin") were still a mystery. "U-33", on a mission to sow mines in the Firth of Clyde, was
depth charged and forced to the surface on Feb 12, 1940 by minesweeper HMS "Gleaner".
The Enigma rotors were given to various crew members, to be thrown into the ocean as they abandoned the sinking sub. In
the excitement, one of the crewmen forgot to jettison his and the British found three rotors in his pants pocket after they had
picked up the survivors.
Eight rotors, numbered I through VIII were in use in Enigma machines but three (VI, VII and VIII) were used exclusively by
the Kriegsmarine. Though VI and VII were recovered in this operation, without rotor VIII, the British were still in the dark as
to Dönitz' messages to and from his U-Boats. Apparently, the British either solved or came into possession of rotor VIII,
although how still remains a mystery to this day.
The naval Enigma used the same number of rotors (three) as the standard Enigma until February 1, 1941, when they added a
fourth rotor. At Dönitz ' insistence this was accomplished by replacing the umkehrwalze with a thinner one. There were two
extra rotors called "beta" and "gamma". The fourth rotor did not rotate automatically in the scrambler, but could be set to one
of 26 positions, one of which (Position "A") converted the machine to a 3-rotor machine, allowing Enigma to send and receive
messages in either the standard mode, or the special Kriegmarine code. The British dubbed these transmissions "Shark".
It took almost a year to break into this key, with ship convoy sinkings rising dramatically. Finally, by the end of the year, the
wiring of the special wheels was solved, by comparing duplicate messages sent in the two systems.
The sinking of “U-33” was of immense importance at the time for a search of her survivors produced three
naval rotor wheels for Germany’s Enigma coding machine. Next day, divers from H.M.S. “Reclaim”
successfully recovered some more parts from the Enigma machine and it was these seizures, rather than the
April 1940 capture of Enigma material from the German patrol-boat “VP2623” at Narvik and then the March
1941 seizures from the German Armed Trawler “Krebbs” and those materials taken from the sinking “U-110”
in May 1941, which greatly boosted the British intelligence departments’ understanding of the Enigma
machines gifted to them by the Poles in August 1939.
The fact that U-33 had any Enigma machine or materials on board at all went against standing orders which
stated that all U-Boats on mine-laying expeditions should remove their most sensitive communications
equipment, such as their Enigma machines and encode their signals using the old-fashioned AFB hand
cipher system - Thanks to the seizures from the crew of “U-33”, Bletchley Park was able to decipher a whole
series of Luftwaffe messages just a month later, their first real breakthrough in the war.
The Enigma machines, named so after Elgar’s ‘Enigma Variations’, used combinations of three or sometimes four rotor
wheels out of a collection of eight and, with the addition of rotating rings attached to these rotors so that they too were
encoded, some 150 million million million substitutions for each letter became possible.
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Though little mentioned, The British Armed Forces used ‘Typex’, an improved version of the commercial Enigma machine
design which had indeed been patented in London in the mid-1920’s and the Americans too had an even more advanced
machine, the Electric Cipher Machine Mk II (ECM) and an another machine, the Combined Cipher Machine, an adaptation
of both the Typex and the ECM systems, was successfully used for inter-Allied traffic and the Germans never solved the
codes for the traffic enciphered on any of these machines.
Thanks to the genius of one Professor William Tutte - Tutte accomplished one of great intellectual feats of the Second World
War - Asked to go to Bletchley Park and with only radio messages to work from, Tutte and his team worked out the design
of the top German teleprinter cipher, Lorenz SZ40, which was used to transmit high-level intelligence.
Unlike the researchers who decoded the Enigma machine, who had a captured model to work with, Tutte's team had to work
out how the machine and its code - named Fish - worked from the text of intercepted radio messages.
The Lorenz machine, named Tunny by the British, was a machine with 12 wheels, attached to a teleprinter. Before the text
was transmitted each character was converted into code - In August 1941 a mistake by a German radio operator gave the team
at Bletchley Park a toe-hold into breaking the code - Two messages were intercepted with the same 12-letter indicator at the
beginning, but with more word spacing and punctuation on one.
By working on these duplicate messages for four months, in what has been described as the greatest intellectual feat in the
Second World War, Tutte deduced that the Tunny machine had one wheel with 41 sprockets and another with 31 and then
went on, with others, to calculate there must be a total of 12 wheels and how they were interconnected.
Tutte and two colleagues then devised algorithms which would break the codes and decipher the messages - These were so
complex however that they could only be carried out by machine - A team of Post Office engineers then built the machine to
do the job - Colossus - arguably the first electronic computer - It provided vital intelligence about Hitler's intentions in the
approach to D-Day in 1944.
COME VIZ ME TO ZE CASBAH

Today's computer-coded military airwave traffic is much harder to detect, let alone decode - Messages hop from frequency to
frequency needing sophisticated beat frequency oscillators (BFO's) to capture them intact.
Though the name of six-times married Hedwig Kiesler is generally unknown, she will undoubtedly be better remembered as
screen goddess Hedy Lamarr, the first woman ever to be seen naked on the film screen !
By the time the film, 'Ecstasy', a Czech film, was released, Lamarr was married to one Fritz Mandl, an Austrian arms'
manufacturer who frequently entertained Hitler in the 1930's - Lamarr absorbed considerable knowledge about German
armaments, most particularly understandings and knowledge about the difficulties of providing secure, unjammable radio
control for torpedoes - Escaping from her marriage to Mandl, she ran off and boarded the liner "Normandie" for America and
on board met MGM film studio boss Louis B. Mayer returning home from Europe - Her name changed to 'Hedy Lamarr', her
first Hollywood hit was 'Algiers' in 1938, with Charles Boyer, who uttered the immortal invitation, 'Come viz me to ze
casbah' !
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With the outbreak of World War II, Lamarr recalled conversations she had overheard when she was married to Mandl and she
began talking to American composer George Antheil about inventing a secure remote control for torpedoes, which could give
Allied submarines a head start over Hitler's U-boats - Her ground-breaking inspiration came as they played the piano
together, shifting key in a jumbled cacophony of notes. The problem was that radio signals were transmitted on one
frequency, which could be intercepted and jammed.
Lamarr realised that, if signals could be broken up and sent over several frequencies at split-second intervals, messages would
be secure - Antheil, experienced in synchronising music, worked out a system of perforated rolls that could jump between 88
frequencies, corresponding to the number of keys on a piano - They called it their "Secret Communication System' and
patented it in 1942 - Lamarr and Antheil placed their technology at the disposal of the U.S. Navy but, the navy didn't seem
interested in pursuing it - Lamarr's patent expired in 1959, she hadn't pursued her invention and nobody seemed interested.
But, just three years later, a more sophisticated version of her technology was used on ships during the Cuban missile crisis of
1962 to protect communications during the naval blockade - Later, it was the basis for the U.S.'s Milstar defence system -
Today, frequency-hopping enables millions all over the world to talk on mobile phones without interference.
Only towards the end of her life did Lamarr received awards recognising her idea - If she'd had the technology to make her
theory work and retained her patent rights, she might have been the wealthiest woman in the world but, she died in virtual
obscurity, her films dismal failures - largely because she couldn't act !
BEST FACE FORWARD
'Woman' magazine cover - October 9, 1943
When hostilities broke out in 1939, the manufacture of lipstick, powders and mascara stopped immediately but, such was the
public outcry, the government had some limited production almost immediately re-started for, as most knew, make-up
boosts morale among both women and men !
Among the most popular, though certainly not always readily available, products were Max Factor's Pancake Foundation -
in six different shades, Revlon's Red Matte Lipstick, Yardley's Lavender Cologne and Chanel's Evening in Paris and Soir de
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Paris Parfu - Revlon too was helping the war effort and making first aid kits and dye markers for The Royal Navy.
At a time when stockings were unavailable - many women using weak mixtures of tea, or even gravy powder, to tan their
legs and draw fake 'stocking seams' with kohl eye pencil and, even on occasion, some going to the extreme of drawing fake
'stocking tops' too - a thick, coloured, foundation creme, 'Cyclax Stockingless Cream', appeared on the market at 5/6d (28
pence) a jar - The wage of the average working family in 1940 but around £5 a week !
Thanks mainly to night-bombing exercises at Balure, there was for a time, a useful supply of parachute silk from the fallen
practice flares, quickly gathered up by some of Tayinloan's teenage boys, for 'recycling' into ladies' underwear, the boys
themselves no doubt getting some token rewards !
Wartime shortages and economies shortened skirts and dresses and even the steel in corsets fell victim to the war - By
banning steel in corsets in WWI, the Americans saved 28,000 tons of steel !
With WWII came the demise of the corset in any case, working girls then often wearing trousers and boiler suits and
consequently opting for brassieres - The bra was less than thirty years old when WWII began and though its 'invention' is
generally credited to one Mary Phelps Jacob, in 1914, there are those who would have it that the bra was actually the creation
of an Austrian gentleman, one Otto Titzling - hence the obvious derivation !
Suspenders themselves are little older than the bra and their original concept was a simple development of the metal clasps
designed, in 1896 by a twenty-or-so-year-old Orcadian, to hold up working 'dungarees' - so women's underwear is
something of a male preserve after all !
1940 : Wed February 14. Finnish advanced posts captured by Russians. Fri 16. 299 British prisoners taken off the German
Naval Auxiliary Altmark by Cossack in Norwegian waters.
1940 : Friday February 16 - January 1940 had seen snowstorms and blizzards, the worst then in living
memory and Campbeltown was cut off completely for at least two days. It was bitterly cold and there was a
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shortage of coal in Campbeltown and, in bad weather, the Shira Steam Shipping Company's 97-foot long
coaster "Hamilton", bound from Ayr to Campbeltown with coal, foundered some two miles off Dippen
Head. The lone survivor of the five-man crew was taken to The Arran War Memorial Hospital.
1940 : Sun February 23. = Full Moon = Mon 26. Finns lose the island fortress of Kolvisto and Finns retreat from
Petsamo.
On Tuesday, February 25, 1940, 'Daylight Savings (Summer) Time' , putting the clocks an hour ahead of
Greenwich Mean Time (G.M.T.), took effect for the whole period through till December 31, 1945 and, from
January 1, 1941 through to December 31, 1945 and yet another extra hour was added on putting time in
Britain 2 hours ahead of G.M.T. throughout the war years - Reports of times of all further events in the war
have to be checked carefully to take account of the consequences of 'the new hours', G.M.T. or + 1 hour or +
2 hours !
DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME - 1916 - 1972 onwards

1916 May 21 Oct 1 1950 Apr 16 Oct 22
1917 Apr 8 Sept 16 1951 Apr 15 Oct 21
1918 Mar 24 Sep 29 1952 Apr 20 Oct 26
1919 Mar 30 Sep 28 1953 Apr 19 Oct 4
1954 Apr 11 Oct 3
1920 Mar 28 Oct 24 1955 Apr 17 Oct 2
1921 Apr 3 Oct 23 1956 Apr 22 Oct 7
1922 Mar 18 Oct 8 1957 Apr 14 Oct 6
1923 Apr 22 Sep 16 1958 Apr 20 Oct 5
1924 Apr 13 Sep 21 1959 Apr 19 Oct 4
1925 Apr 19 Oct 4
1926 Apr 18 Oct 3 1960 Apr 10 Oct 2
1927 Apr 10 Oct 2 1961 Mar 26 Oct 29
1928 Apr 22 Oct 7 1962 Mar 25 Oct 28
1929 Apr 21 Oct 6 1963 Mar 31 Oct 27
1964 Mar 22 Oct 25
1930 Apr 13 Oct 5 1965 Mar 21 Oct 24
1931 Apr 19 Oct 4 1966 Mar 20 Oct 23
1932 Apr 17 Oct 2 1967 Mar 19 Oct 29
1933 Apr 9 Oct 8 Note 1968 Feb 18 Dec 31
1934 Apr 22 Oct 7 Note 1969 Jan 1 Dec 31
1935 Apr 14 Oct 6
1936 Apr 19 Oct 4 Note 1970 Jan 1 Dec 31
1937 Apr 18 Oct 3 Note 1971 Jan 1 Oct 31
1938 Apr 10 Oct 2 1972 3 rd Sun 4th Sun
onwards Mar Oct
1939 Apr 16 Nov 19
1940 Feb 25 Dec 31

1941 Jan 1 Dec 31 Double
1946 Apr 14 Oct 6 Single
1947 Mar 16 Nov 2 Double
1948 Mar 14 Oct 31 Single
1949 Apr 3 Oct 30 Single
1940 : Fri February 28. The “Queen Elizabeth”, despite Cunard’s original proposal to complete her in time for the
company’s centenary in July 1940, sailed down-river in complete secrecy and under the command of Captain J. C. Townley,
on February 28, 1940.
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Four days later, on Sunday, March 3, 1940, without any sea trials, sailed direct across The Atlantic at full speed to New
York, where she arrived undamaged five days later to berth alongside the “Queen Mary” at Pier 90 in the shadow of
Manhattan, “The New York Times” applauding ‘the brave and secret voyage’.
Her 500 crew had signed on for a coastal trip ‘to Southampton’ and those who discovered where they were really going, as
they went down-river from Clydebank and didn’t want to go, missed out on a £30 ‘inconvenience bonus’ and were sailed into
the middle of The Gareloch on a tender to wait until the new
Cunarder was ‘well clear’ of The Clyde.
The Germans of course had their agents reporting the course of events from Clydebank and, to help them along with their
tales, it was made well known that a Southampton harbour pilot was already on board when she left The Clyde and that dock
officials had docking plans for the liner’s arrival in Southampton where cases of real fittings and furnishings were waiting in
sheds. The Luftwaffe, as expected, bombed Southampton on the very night that the new liner should have berthed there.
New York, March 1940, "Queen Elizabeth", just arrived, “Queen Mary”, "Normandie" and “Mauretania”
Both Cunard's three-funnelled "Queen Mary" and two-funnelled "Queen Elizabeth" were refitted as
troopships, the "Queen Mary" at Sydney in April 1940 and the "Queen Elizabeth", here at Singapore in late
1940, Singapore surrendering to the Japanese on February 15, 1942.
1940 : Fri March 1. A BBC survey reveals that two-thirds of the British population listen to ‘Lord Haw-Haw’, Germany’s
propagandist, when he broadcasts on the radio from Hamburg.
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1940 : Sun March 3 - A Swordfish (P 4215) aircraft crashed and exploded killing its crew after a flying
accident 'over Kintyre'.
1940 : Sat March 9. = New Moon = Tue 12. Finland cedes territory and signs ‘Peace with Russia’ and orders issued for
British ships to be fitted with protective devices against magnetic mines.
“FINISHED WITH ENGINES”
“Davaar” at Campbeltown
1940 : Fri March 15. During January 1940, the “Dalriada” had collided with an ‘armed yacht’, some said a
destroyer and, following repairs at Lamont’s yard, she was laid up, where the “Davaar” had been, the
“Davaar” herself now again back on the service and remaining there until Saturday, March 16, 1940 when the
Campbeltown to Wemyss Bay service was finally suspended and withdrawn.
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“Ardyne”
The “Davaar” then being laid up with the “Dalriada” in Greenock and the cargo-passenger steamer “Ardyne”
then continued a cargo only service (till October 31, 1949).
WAR ON THE BUSES

With the final sailing of the old “Davaar” on Friday, March 15, 1940 and the consequent closure of Carradale
Pier, West Coast Motors stepped in to provide a service up the east side of Kintyre and on to Tarbert to
connect with the MacBrayne steamer.
Running daily during July and August of the war years but only on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and
Saturdays otherwise, a West Coast bus left Campbeltown at 10 a.m., to Carradale for 11 a.m. and then on to
Tarbert for 12.20 p.m.. Leaving Tarbert on the return run at 2 p.m., it reached Carradale at 3.20 p.m. and
arrived in Campbeltown at 4.30 p.m..
To compensate for the withdrawal of the steamer-rail service connection to Glasgow, MacBrayne’s were
given the licence to operate a direct bus service from Campbeltown and to 44 Robertson Street, Glasgow.
Leaving at 7 a.m., the bus reached Glasgow at 1.15 p.m. and two hours later, at 3.15 p.m., left on the return
journey to arrive back in Campbeltown at 9.33 p.m. ! The single fare 13/-and the return £1. 3/-. The service
was an “Express Service”, the licence granted only to serve the interests of those who would have travelled between
Campbeltown and Glasgow by steamer and rail and no stops to pick up or set down passengers at intermediate points
along the 138-mile long route was allowed !
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McConnachie’s and West Coast continued, as usual, to offer Tarbert steamer connections and the through
bus-steamer-rail fares to Glasgow were the same as those charged by MacBrayne’s own daily bus service.
The Campbeltown to Tarbert bus fares were then 5/- (25p) single and 9/- (45p) return.
One of McConnachie’s two second-hand Harrington-bodied Leyland Tigers
McConnachie’s weekday bus left Campbeltown at 11 a.m. and reached Tarbert at 1.05 p.m., leaving again at
2.15 p.m. to arrive in Campbeltown at 4.15 p.m.. Because of the war, MacBrayne’s steamer also ran on
Sundays and McConnachie’s Sunday bus left Campbeltown at 12.30 p.m. to arrive in Tarbert at 2.15 p.m., the
steamer-train connection arriving in Glasgow at 7.20 p.m.. The Sunday bus then returned from Tarbert at 5
p.m. to reach Campbeltown at 6.45 p.m..
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The "Davaar" approaching Carradale's original pier
With the final sailing of the old “Davaar” on Friday, March 15, 1940 and the consequent closure of Carradale
Pier, West Coast Motors stepped in to provide a service up the east side of Kintyre and on to Tarbert to
connect with the MacBrayne steamer.
Running daily during July and August of the war years but only on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and
Saturdays otherwise, a West Coast bus left Campbeltown at 10 a.m. for Carradale at 11 a.m. and then on to
Tarbert for 12.20 p.m.. Leaving Tarbert on the return run at 2 p.m., it reached Carradale at 3.20 p.m. and
arrived in Campbeltown at 4.30 p.m..
During July and August, there were buses from Campbeltown to Lochgilphead too at 8.30 a.m. and 3 p.m.,
arriving there at 12 noon and 6.15 p.m.. An 8 a.m. Lochgilphead departure arrived in Campbeltown at 11 a.m.
and too was a 12.45 p.m. departure, after the arrival of MacBrayne’s steamer, from Tarbert to Campbeltown
arriving there at 2.45 p.m..
McConnachie’s 32-seat OWB Bedford SJ 6433 as a caravan at Westport
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During the war years, with some four or five hundred sailors and wrens in the area, the companies took
delivery of a number of “liberty buses”, 32-seat Bedford ‘OWB’s” with ‘utility’ bodies and slatted wooden
seats. Of the four in McConnachie’s 21-strong fleet of buses, SB 6433 ended her days as a caravan on the low
shore just north of the Westport beach, a place she no doubt well knew from ferrying personnel to and from
the Tarbert mail ‘steamer’.
1940 : Sat March 16. James Ibister becomes the first British civilian to be killed when his cottage in Orkney is hit by a
German bomb. Sun 24. = Full Moon =
THE “ZWARTE ZEE (III)”
1940 : Tue April 9. Denmark and Norway invaded by Germany and the Dutch tug "Zwarte Zee", then the
fastest and largest tug in The World, taking the Dutch Royal Family on board and putting a towline on board
an unfinished new Dutch destroyer, the “Isaac Sweers”, sailed from Vlissingen sailed for England - On
August 20, 1940, while lying at Falmouth, she was bombed and partly sunk in a German air raid and was out
of service till February 1941 - Later, she would sail for The Clyde where she would take up duty as a rescue
tug - Based first at Greenock, the "Zwarte Zee" would later move to Campbeltown which, in October 1940,
had seen the establishment of its Rescue Tug Base.
After the end of the war, by a matter of some coincidence, the “Zwarte Zee” was involved in a collision with a
Danish ship on ‘Hogmanay’, December 31, 1951 and had herself to be towed in to St. Nazaire where of
course H.M.S. “Campbeltown” had been sent to destroy the dry-dock gates in March 1942, slightly less than
ten years earlier !
1940 : Sun April 7. = New Moon = Wed 10. Battle of Narvik - First V.C. award of war. Thu 11. British troops landed
in Norway. Sat 13. Second battle of Narvik. Fri 19. British troops land in the Faroe Islands. Mon 22. = Full Moon =
CLYDE MINEFIELD
1940 : On Friday, April 19, The Admiralty announced that mines had been laid across the Firth of Clyde
from the Kintyre coast to the Ayrshire coast. The area, stated the announcement, lay between lines joining
Dunninaham Point to Craignai Point and Rhuad Point to Bennane Head. All vessels wishing to enter or
leave the Clyde must obtain instructions from British or naval or consular authorities at home or abroad
before sailing - As an interim measure, patrols were to be stationed to the southward of the minefield and
would give instructions for sate passage to those vessels who left their part of the departure before the issue of
this notice. The new minefield completely blocked the entrance to the Firth of Clyde. At its northern limit it
is 23 miles across and at its southern limit about 25 miles. The mines run in parallel lines varying from 2 to 5
miles in length.
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THE “MAILLE BREZE”
The French destroyer “Maille Breze” settling ever-steadily in the waters of The Tail of The Bank
1940 : Tue April 30. Just before 3 p.m., in a strong south-west wind, a live torpedo, undergoing a maintenance check on
board the 2,441 ton French destroyer "Maille Breze", lying in the crowded anchorage at The Tail of The Bank, off Greenock,
exploded and set the ship on fire, she sinking and her wreck remaining until 1954 when, on the afternoon of Thursday,
September 16, Steel & Bennie’s tug “Forager”, with the “Campaigner” on stand-by, towed the destroyer’s refloated hull to
Smith & Houston’s yard at Port Glasgow for breaking up.
H.M.S. "Nimrod"
Campbeltown’s Old Grammar School
In April 1940, The Royal Navy had requisitioned the Grammar School as their main instructional and
accommodation centre - The Territorial Army Hall in Argyll Street in turn became a school and, as the
navy's presence in the town expanded, 'Nimrod B' was created and took over accommodation in John Street
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and Princes Street, the Masonic Lodge in St. John Street being used for residential accommodation.
A typical WWII 'Nissen Hut'
The necessary toilets and ablution facilities being provided in one of two 'Nissen' huts beside the not long
completed Rex Cinema, the second hut there being used as a navy engineering workshop and diesel oil tanks
being put up on the Quarry Green - A small signals hut was also rected at the end of The New Quay.
Campbeltown’s Kilkerran Promenade in November 1939
Four houses in the Kilkerran road were requistioned too, 'Stronvaar' becoming a communications centre and,
with part of 'North Park' given over to the navy, the WRENS took over 'Limecraigs' and 'Ardnacraig', as
administrative offices and accommodation units for the shore-based side of the anti-submarine warfare
training centre of H.M.S. "Nimrod".
The newly-built council houses overlooking Kinloch Park were later requisitioned, to relieve congestion at
the Grammar School and they known as "Nimrod B" and a rifle range was set up beside the old 'Bengullion
Laundry', behind and beyond Castlehill - The town's population began to swell towards some 20,000
people.
Three months later, in July 1940, the WVS hall in Bolgam Street was opened as a canteen catering for some
100 military personnel every day and often around some 150 men every night - Soon afterwards a second
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canteen was opened in Argyll Street, near the Episcopal church and a 'Victory Club' opened on Longrow
South, between today's The Bank of Scotland and the chemist's - The Bolgam Street canteen would serve
around 1,000 meals a day, nearly 1,500,000 meals in all during the war years.
The Navy’s main training centre at Portland, H.M.S. "Osprey", was badly damaged in a bombing raid in
August 1940 and H.M.S. "Nimrod" formally commissioned in October 1940. While the Argyll and White Hart
hotels too were taken over and used as officers' messes, only part of the Royal Hotel was requisitioned to
leave, at best minimal, accommodation for civilian visitors to the town.
On the north side of Campbeltown Loch, the Air-Sea Rescue Service commandeered 'Belmount', on the
Low Askomil, for use as their headquarters, the rescue launches operating from Dalintober Pier.
The Navy, already having requistioned the uncompleted Keil Hotel, at Southend, for use as a hospital, they
also requistioned 'Drumore House', on the main Glasgow Road, at the entrance to the town, as a second
hospital - The Fleet Air Arm requistioning the Ugadale Hotel at Machrihanish as their accommodation unit.
1940 : Thu May 2. Work begins on 'The Churchill Barriers' at Scapa Flow, their purpose to seal off the area after the
October 1939 sinking of HMS "Royal Oak" - British troops withdrawn from Norway.
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UNIQUE BRITISH SUBMARINE CAPTURE - The only British submarine to be captured at sea was the HMS Seal. On
May 5, 1940, she was damaged while laying mines in the Kattegat (between Denmark and Sweden). Attempting to reach
Sweden, the badly damaged HMS Seal was spotted by two Arado seaplanes which proceeded to drop bombs around the
wallowing submarine. Realizing that the ship would inevitably be sunk, the captain, Lt. Cmdr. Lonsdale,surrendered by
waving a white sheet from the conning tower. One of the Arados then landed on the water and took the captain on board. A
radio message to a nearby German fishing trawler on submarine patrol, the Franken, soon had the entire crew of HMS Seal on
board as POW's.
1940 : Mon May 6. = New Moon = Wed 8. Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain resigns after losing the confidence of
The House of Commons during a debate over Britain’s failure to defend Norway. Thu 9. First bombs on British mainland
(near Canterbury). Fri 10. Holland, Belgium, and Luxembourg invaded by Germany; first glider-borne troops (by Germans)
- British forces entered Belgium - Mr. Winston Churchill became Prime Minister. British troops landed in Iceland.
BOMBER COMMAND'S UNPLANNED FIRST KILL - In the first British air attack on a mainland German population
center, 36 RAF planes bombed the rail-yards of Monchen Gladbach on May 10, 1940. The raid killed just one person ... an
Englishwoman!
1940 : Sat May 11. National Government formed under Churchill - Germans crossed Albert Canal by undestroyed bridge -
First British bombs on German mainland. Sun 12. R.A.F. bombed Maastricht bridges. Mon 13. Queen Wilhelmina arrives in
London. Tue 14. Rotterdam heavily bombed and captured by the Germans and Holland ceases fighting - Allied troops land
near Narvik - Formation of Home Guard (" Local Defence Volunteers” ) announced.
THE HOME GUARD

On the night of May 14, 1940, Anthony Eden made his first speech as Secretary of State for War - Part of this speech was
asking for volunteers for the LDV - 'We want large numbers of such men in Great Britain who are British subject and
between the ages of seventeen and sixty-five, to come forward now and offer their services in order to make assurance [that an
invasion would be repelled] doubly sure - The name of the new force which is now to be raised will be the Local Defence
Volunteers - This name describes its duties in three words - You will not be paid, but you will receive uniforms and will be
armed - In order to volunteer, what you have to do is give your name at your local police station and then, when we want
you, we will let you know...'
The name was changed from 'Local Defence Volunteers' to 'Home Guard' in July 1940 on the instructions of Winston
Churchill as he felt that the original name was uninspiring - The Government expected 150,000 men to volunteer when
Anthony Eden made his broadcast on May 14, 1940 - Within 24 hours of the broadcast, 250,000 men had put down their
names and by the end of May 1940 the number was between 300,000 and 400,000 - By the end of June, 1940 the number of
volunteers was just under 1½ million - The number peaked at 1.8 million in March 1943 and never fell below 1 million until
the Home Guard was disbanded - Members of the Home Guard were either in reserved occupations, too young or too old to
serve in the normal army - A reserved occupation is a job which was deemed as vital to the war effort.
Home Guard Inspection
Originally all members of the Home Guard were volunteers - In 1942 the National Service Act made it possible for
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compulsory enrolment to be applied in areas where units were below strength - As the age limit for conscription into the
normal army was 18 and the Home Guard was 17, in the latter half of the war conscription of 17 year olds into the Home
Guard was seen as an ideal method of acclimatising youngsters into a military environment before they were called up for
service in the regular army.
A large number of members of the Home Guard were amateurs, having no previous military experience. There was also a
large wealth of experience within the Home Guard in 1940 and 1941 and approximately 40% of volunteers were World War
One veterans - The Home Guard stand-down was on 3rd December 1944. From this date, the Home Guard became an
inactive reserve unit - The Home Guard was disbanded on 31st December 1945 and from that date The Home Guard ceased
to exist.
FELLOW AMERICANS ... LET'S GO HOME ! In May, 1940, the US Ambassador to London, Joseph Kennedy, urged the
4,000 or so Americans living in Britain to pack up and go home. Over seventy responded to this plea by joining the British
Home Guard instead! Called the 1st American Squadron of the Home Guard, it was led by General Wade H. Heyes. Kennedy
was hostile to the whole idea, fearing that they would all be shot as 'francs-tireurs' when the Germans occupied London.
1940 : Wed May 15. Dutch capitulation signed at 11 a.m. French front penetrated. Thu 16. General Giraud captured by
Germans - The ‘Home Guard’ was commissioned. Fri 17. Belgian Government moves to Ostend. Tue 21. = Full Moon
= Thu 23. Boulogne evacuated by British. Fri 24. First British industrial town, Middlesbrough, attacked by German Air
Force - German forces enter Boulogne. Fri 24 – Mon 27. British brigade hold Calais against two German divisions. Sun 26.
DUNKIRK - Operation Dynamo begins to lift the first of the trapped British troops from Dunkirk. Mon 27. Belgian Army
told to capitulate on the order of King Leopold - British forces withdrawn from Flanders and Narvik captured by Allied
forces. Tue 28 Belgian army capitulated at 4 a.m. Wed 29. Ostend, Ypres Lille and other French towns lost to the Germans.
The 51st Highland Division surrenders at St. Valery

after running out of ammunition
DUNKIRK
The British Expeditionary Force being seriously threatened by German thrusts in early May 1940, The
Admiralty took the unusual step of broadcasting a request on the BBC evening news programmes on May 10
for the owners of all small pleasure craft, between 30 and 100 feet in length, to submit details of their vessels
to The Admiralty in the following fourteen days.
The assumption was that the B.E.F. was going to have to be evacuated from France and 'Operation Dynamo'
was officially begun to evacuate the troops on May 26.
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This, arguably the most famous of all Dunkirk pictures, was taken from the bridge of H.M.S. “Oriole”, the Clyde paddle
steamer “Eagle (III)” which had sometimes relieved Williamson- Buchanan’s “Queen Empress” on their seasonal Glasgow to
Campbeltown service, her wartime ‘mate’ a ‘Clyde Steamer’ enthusiast.
There were five flotillas of paddle steamer minesweepers - the 7th based at Granton on the Forth; the 8th based at North
Shields; the 10th at Dover; the 11th on the Clyde and the 12th at Harwich and all, apart from the 11th at Harwich, saw service
at Dunkirk where the beaches were divided into three sectors - Malo Beach nearest to Dunkirk, Bray Beach and La Panne
Beach, to the east.
As a pattern began to emerge, the four Clyde steamers of the 12th flotilla from Harwich, the "Eagle (III)", renamed "Oriole",
in the company of her fellow Clyde paddlers "Waverley (III)", "Marmion" and "Duchess of Fife", moved from their station at
Happisburg Roads, off the Norfolk coast, to coal at Great Yarmouth and then sailed to the mouth of the Thames Estuary to
rendezvous with a motor torpedo-boat to collect their sealed orders, the “Oriole” being ordered to La Panne beach, just east
of Dunkirk.
H.M.S. “Oriole” (Clyde Paddle Steamer “Eagle (III)” deliberately beached at Dunkirk on May 29, 1940
John Rutherford Crosby was brought up with the famous Clyde steamers and had joined the RNVR in April 1939 when he was
granted his commission as a Sub-Lieutenant, in December 1939 he was posted to the paddle-minesweeper HMS "Oriole" then
on East Coast minesweeping duties.
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To his surprise, Crosby found that he knew her well for she, in peacetime role, was none other than Williamson-Buchanan's
old "Eagle (III)” - The "Oriole", received orders to go in to the beach at La Panne, just east of Dunkirk and just over the
Belgian border, on the dark Wednesday morning of May 29, 1940 where she arrived there around 4 a.m., just as dawn broke,
to find columns of troops all over the beach and her skipper, Lt. Edwin Davies RNR, decided to deliberately beach his vessel
on the flooding tide to act as a temporary jetty to help the troops board other small craft acting as ferries between the beach and
bigger, deeper drafted, ships waiting offshore and dropping two 700 cwt kedge anchors astern, Davies took the ship at full
speed on to the beach at La Panne reporting to The Admiralty "Deliberately grounded HMS "Oriole" on Belgian Coast at dawn
on May 29th on my own initiative, object speeding evacuation of troops".
High tide that morning being around 6.30 am and being high and dry on the beach until the next high water in the evening.
High and dry and a potentially 'sitting duck' for the Germans and with nothing to do until the tide began flooding, Crosby
paddled ashore and strolled into Dunkirk itself !
The tide rising and the "Oriole" being used as a temporary pier to enable troops to transfer from the beach to the hoard of small
boats waiting to ferry them out to the other ships waiting in deeper water offshore, Sub-Lieutenant Crosby RNVR, a keen
photographer, took his camera up on to the bridge and captured that fine and famous shot of the troops standing patiently in
line as they waited to cross the ship's decks and board the small boats loading along the port side of the "Oriole".
Although she was afloat again in the early afternoon, "Oriole" held herself on to the beach throughout the afternoon and
evening to make it as easy as possible for the retreating troops to get away on the small boats and around 3,000 troops crossed
her decks as she lay there that day.
Only at dusk, around 9 pm and the tide ebbing fast, did she pull herself off the beach and head to Harwich where she
discharged her load of 576 troops and all the nurses from one of the last field hospitals the following morning and where
Crosby's precious films of the Dunkirk beaches were eagerly seized by waiting pressmen - Long after 'Operation Dynamo'
was completed, Rutherford received a full set of photographs from his films, the photographs forwarded by a grateful
newspaper man.
After only at few hours at Harwich to take on coal, "Oriole" set off and Davies, her skipper, sent a signal to The Admiralty,
"Refloated, no apparent damage. Will complete S232 (forms) when operations permit and am again proceeding to Belgian
Coast and will run aground if such course seems desirable". The Admiralty replied, in the spirit of the occasion, "Your action
fully approved".
Returning again to the beach at La Panne, she loaded 470 troops which she took back to Margate. Now she made her third
crossing, this time to go in alongside the East Mole at Dunkirk itself. Crosby's skipper sent him ashore 'to find 700 troops'.
Crosby found 750 and they were set ashore at Margate on Sunday, June 2.
Here the crew were relieved by the crew from the paddle minesweeper "Plinlimmon", she in fact being P. and A. Campbell's
Bristol Channel paddle steamer "Cambria" and now the "Oriole" set off on another two round trips to Dunkirk, the first
landing another 750 troops at Margate on June 3 and the final trip on the following day retrieving but 50 troops, the
evacuation reaching its conclusion, The Admiralty announced the completion of 'Operation Dynamo' at 1423 hours on June 4,
the remaining French troops having surrendered at 0900 hours. In all, "Oriole", in the course of her five trips, had brought
back 2,587 troops from the Dunkirk beaches.
Though Rutherford Crosby was himself lost at sea in June 1943 when serving aboard the minesweeper HMS "Horatio", off
Bizerta, he had left his copy of his Dunkirk photographs with his sister for safe-keeping and when she died, in the late 1970's,
the photographs were re-discovered when Rutherford Crosby's only son, John, began clearing out his aunt's house at Hunter's
Quay.
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WAVERLEY - The Clyde paddle steamer of 537 tons, taken over at the outbreak of war for service as a minesweeper, was
bombed by German aircraft and sank rapidly off Dunkirk on May 29, 1940 - She was carrying around 600 troops just rescued
from the beaches and, with little time for rescue, she went down with about 350 men.
And, in October 1940, Petty Officer Neil Maclean Speed of Campbeltown’s Burnbank Place was awarded a
DSM for repairing a fractured main steam pipe on the paddle-minesweeper "Gracie Fields" which had been
evacuating 900 troops from Dunkirk when she was hit by a bomb.
1940 - Tue June 4. Dunkirk evacuation, begun on May 27, completed, 211,532 fit men, 13,053 casualties, and 112,546
allied troops embarked at Dunkirk and the beaches by 299 British warships and 420 other vessels - First bombs fall on Paris
and Winston Churchill makes his famous “We shall fight them on the beaches” speech.
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CHURCHILL'S FAMOUS SPEECH

After the Dunkirk evacuation, Churchill delivered his memorable 'WE shall never surrender' speech to the House of Commons.
Later in the day, the speech was broadcast by the BBC to the rest of the world. What the listeners didn't know was that the
speech was read by 37 year old actor Norman Shelley of the BBC repertory staff who impersonated Churchill's voice. Winston
had said "I am rather busy, get an actor to do it."
"We shall not flag nor fail. We shall go on to the end. We shall fight in France and on the seas and oceans; we shall fight with
growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our island whatever the cost may be; we shall fight on
beaches, landing grounds, in fields, in streets and on the hills. We shall never surrender and even if, which I do not for the
moment believe, this island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our empire beyond the seas, armed and
guarded by the British Fleet, will carry on the struggle until in God's good time the New World with all its power and might,
sets forth to the liberation and rescue of the Old".
TAKING LEAVE OF DUNKIRK

The name of Highland Division officer Major Lorne Campbell, he who managed to lead 200 Argylls to safety
at Dunkirk, is today commemorated in the name given to Campbeltown's 'Lorne Campbell Court' housing
development, completed in 1984.
In the summer of 2005, one of its residents, Campbeltown man 86-year old Duncan Hart, who joined the
Cameron Highlanders in early 1940, recounted how the Camerons, too late for action with the British
Expeditionary Force, were sent to Southampton to sail for Cherbourg, the landing thwarted by the weather
and the ship returning that night to Southampton - A second trip next day being thwarted by the fact that
Germans had nearly over-run the peninsula and, it now seemingly pointless to land, this second cross-
channel 'day trip' returned to Southampton where the Camerons were back to Scotland, first to Dumfries,
then to Inverness and then a brief visit home, on leave, to Campbeltown.
After escaping Dunkirk, the 200 Argylls, led out by Major Lorne Campbell, had been given 48-hours home
leave - The dozen-or-so 'boys', feeling more than a little 'peeved' about not getting a longer spell of leave
after their ordeal, turned up for the bus taking them back to depot in Stirling but were reluctant to board
them after such a short leave - The 'stand-off' over leave turned from hours into days and eventually
Campbeltown lawyer and Procurator-Fiscal Archibald Stewart - he who a year later was killed in
Campbeltown's second and final air-raid of the war - looking out for the boys' welfare, managed to
persuade them to go back before the army tried to charge them with 'wilful disobedience', or worse !
Getting back in Stirling, the dozen-or-so dissenting Argylls soon found themselves on another bus,
transferred to The Cameron Highlanders at Bough (pronounced 'Buck') Park in Inverness and off to join
Duncan Hart and his colleagues.
Some weeks later, the Camerons, already prepared to go on overseas duty, were ordered to Liverpool and
found that the dissenting Argylls had also been ordered 'overseas' - To the surprise of all embarking aboard
a ship called the "Beverley", they found themselves joining an outward-bound convoy for Halifax in Nova
Scotia, way from the war zone !
At Halifax, the 'boys' were all transferred to a French ship setting off down the east coast of America to
Bermuda where the Argyll's were put ashore 'to quell a native rebellion', their duty being in fact to secure the
abdicated and uncrowned Edward VIII, now Duke of Windsor and his wife, the former Mrs Simpson.
KIDNAP PLANS - Believing that the Duke of Windsor was pro-German, Hitler sent his SS Intelligence
Chief, Walter Schellenberg, to Spain where the Duke was on holiday. His mission, to lure the Duke back to
Germany with a promise of 50 million Swiss francs. If this failed, he was to be kidnapped. Schellenberg,
thinking that the whole operation was too difficult, hesitated. In the meantime, Britain got wind of the plot
and on August 1, 1940 had the Duke and his wife moved, on board the steamer "Excalibur", to a more secure
haven in the Bahamas, where he spent the rest of the war as Governor.
Remaining on board ship, the Camerons sailed on south, some disembarking at Jamaica and the remainder
going on to Aruba, in the Dutch Indies - More than a year later, both of these groups were picked up and,
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sailing some 60 miles up the Mississippi, the 50 Camerons then rail-roaded across America to New York
where they met up with the Argylls from Bermuda, everyone then taken to a party in a plush New York hotel
where each man was given a half-bottle of whisky, a handful of vouchers for more free drink and a young
lady to keep him company for the night - everything paid for by the widow of the late Scottish-born
philanthropist Andrew Carnegie !
Louise and Andrew Carnegie
After two years in the sun, the 'boys' were going 'home' and to war, Britain, Gibraltar and then to Italy and
the bloody battle for Monte Cassino - Taken prisoner-of-war, Duncan Hart and some of his colleagues
came face-to-face with Mussolini, his medals glittering in the sunlight, driving through the prisoner
columns one day, Mussolini later to be hanged by partisans after German paratroopers daringly rescued him
from imprisonment in a seemingly otherwise impenetrable lair.
Monte Cassino's monastery was completely destroyed in May 1944
On February 15, 1944, U.S. bombers dropped 427 tons of bombs on the mountain top monastery of Monte
Cassino in Italy - The Allied ground forces had requested the strike believing the monastery to be a German
stronghold - No enemy troops had been there at the time but over 300 women and children from the town of
Cassino, who had fled the fighting and taken refuge in the monastery, were killed.
Duncan Hart and his colleagues seemed generally lucky for they were to be guarded by Italians who, by
then, were in any case fed up with the Germans and soon to surrender - Released from their POW camp
after some seven months in captivity, Duncan and his colleagues rejoined the war and the battle up through
Italy.
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UP AND AWA' AGAIN

In July 1940, many across Scotland were generously contributing to bagpipe makers to replace the
instruments left behind in France and The Clyde Fishermen's Association started a fund to buy a Spitfire
fighter aircraft.
DISASTER AT DUNKIRK, JUNE 1940

KILLED IN ACTION
Corporal Hugh C. Mitchell, Kilkevan Cottages - Royal Scots
Bombardier John G. McArthur, 2 Main Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery,
Gunner David Helm, New Quay Head - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Aircraftman First Class Alex Mclnnes, Kirk Street - R.A.F.
Private Robert Paterson, 39 Longrow - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
John Mactaggart Maccallum, 18 Castlepark - Merchant Navy
Private Donald Martin, 13 Glenside - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
WOUNDED
Captain John Moreton Macdonald, Largie Castle, Kintyre - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Private Archd. Reid, Calliburn Farm, Campbeltown - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Pte James Miller, Kilkivan Farm, Machrihanish -Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Rifleman A. Newlands, 14 Longrow - 2nd Cameronians (Scottish Rifles)
Sergeant Angus Maloney, 40 Broad Street - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Gunner Hector McGeachy, 23 Argyll Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
MISSING, BELIEVED WOUNDED

2nd Lieutenant D. H. Macalister Hall, Torrisdale Castle, Carradale - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
MISSING
Captain George Lewis, Feorlin, Longrow - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Lieutenant Hugh Thomson, Ardlussa, Dell Road - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner John Robertson, 18 Lady Mary Row - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner William McCallum, 15 Dalaruan Terrace - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner Angus Mclvor, 15 Dalaruan Terrace - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner James Henderson, 2 Parliament Place - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner John Watson, Queen Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner John McAulay Howell, 4 Glenside - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner C. McCaig, 8 Glenside - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner John McCallum, Mill Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner James Shaw, 37 Glebe Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Lance Bombardier Alex. McKinven, 16 Smith Drive, Castlepark - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner Timothy Fenton, c/o McMillan, 14 Bolgam Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner Dan Galbraith, c/o Mason, Mill Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner W. Brown, Cowdenknowes - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner Duncan McKerral, 13 Parliament Place - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Lance Bombardier Charles Anderson, 26 Broad Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Lance Sergeant William Colville, Kinloch Place - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner Duncan Gilchrist, Kinloch Place - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
R.Q.M.S. Allan McKay, Drill Hall House, Argyll Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
120
MISSING (continued)
Gunner David Finn, 36 Glebe Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner James Morrans McNaughton, 14 Fisher Row - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Sergeant William McCormick, 4 Main Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner Malcolm McGougan Campbell, 4 Park Square - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Bombardier James Mason, 13 Argyll Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner (D.M.) Charles R. Morrison, 1 Park Square - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
W/Bombardier Joseph Wareham Lang, Witchburn Road - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner F. Huie, Millhouse, Knocknaha - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner James Cunningham, Fisher Row - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Lance Bombardier John McAllister, 32 Park Square - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Bombardier A. Mathieson, 16 Bolgam Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner John McCallum, Mill Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Bombardier J. Morrison, 10 Glentorran Place - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner Archibald G. McMillan, 6 Lome Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Sergeant D. Robertson, 6 Park Square - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Sergeant N. McMillan, 47 High Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner Archibald Scally, 10 Glenside - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner James Brown, 16 Parliament Place - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner Thomas Robertson, 24 Broad Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner Peter McLachlan, Trench Point, Low Askomil - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner Gilbert Cook, 19 Glenside - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner James Finn, 11 Dalaruan Terrace - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner James Mclvor, Arthur Seat, Low Askomil - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Driver Dugald MacDonald, Tiree, Low Askomil - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Private Archd. Johnstone, Marchfield, Campbeltown - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Sergeant J. McGeachy, Main Street - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Sergeant Neil Hamilton, Main Street, Bowmore, Islay - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Corporal John Durnan, 27 Kirk Street - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Lance Corporal Peter McCormick, Farm Cottages, A. and B. Mental Hospital, Lochgilphead
(son of Mr and Mrs Peter McCormick, Mafeking Place) - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Private Alexander Blair, 14 Parliament Place - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Private James Murray, Smerby Mill - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Private John Murray, Smerby Mill - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Private George McMillan, 9 Bolgam Street - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Private Duncan McSporran, 8 Barochan Place - King's Own Scottish Borders
Private lan Macpherson, Dalaruan Terrace - 51st Division Ammunition Company, R.A.S.C.
Gunner A. McMillan, 15 Parliament Place - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Sergeant A. McGougan, Hazelburn - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner John Duncan, 14 Broad Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner D. McLean, 24 Parliament Place - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner John Girvan Conley, 24 Cross Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner Hamish Muir Lynn, Achaleek Cottages, by Campbeltown - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
L. Sergeant Charles McGeachy, 23 Argyll Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Bombardier Thomas Blue, 35 Glebe Street - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Gunner John G. McNaughton, 24 Parliament Place - 201st Anti-tank Battery, R.A.
Private Angus Cook, 1 Parliament Place - Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
PRISONER OF WAR
Gunner Alexander Reid Stewart, 13 Castlepark - 140th Field Regiment, R.A,
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A Standard 'Posted Missing' Letter
GLOSSARY OF ARMY TERMS

Army Group ( General or Field Marshal ) - The largest military command deployed by the British Army, comprising two
or more armies and containing 400,000 - 600,000 troops.
Army ( Lieutenant-General ) - A military command controlling several subordinate corps plus supporting forces,
amounting to 100,000 - 200,000 troops.
Corps ( Lieutenant-General ) - A military command controlling two or more divisions and other supporting forces,
amounting to 50,000 - 100,000 troops.
Division ( Major-General ) - An infantry or armoured division, containing 10,000 - 20,000 personnel.
Brigade ( Brigadier ) - A formation that contains several battalions or regiments that amount to 3000 - 6000 personnel,
which exists either independently or else forms part of a division.
Regiment ( Lieutenant-Colonel ) - A unit typically of armoured or artillery forces, amounting to 500 - 900 soldiers, that
equates in status and size to an infantry battalion.
Battalion ( Lieutenant-Colonel ) - A unit usually comprising 500 - 900 soldiers, such as an infantry, engineer or signals
battalion.
Squadron ( Major ) - Typically, a sub-unit of an armoured or 'recce' regiment that equates in status and size to an infantry
company.
Company ( Major ) - A small sub-unit of a battalion - A typical infantry company could contain around 150 - 180 soldiers.
Battery ( Major ) - A small sub-unit, usually of artillery, that forms part of a battalion.
Unit - A small military grouping that ranges in size from a section - of 10 soldiers - up to a battalion or regiment with 500 -
900 personnel.
Formation - A large military grouping that ranges in size from brigade up to army group.
Subordinate - Person of a lower rank in the military chain of command.
1940 : Wed June 5. = New Moon = Hitler proclaims a war of total annihilation against his enemies and Germans
launched new offensive on the Somme and the Aisne.
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THE CLYDE RESCUE TUGS

1940 : Thu June 6. "U-25" had a field day torpedoing both the Armed Merchant Cruiser "Carinthia" and the
inward-bound iron ore carrier "Frances Massey", she some 60 miles west of Islay and next day "U-25" also
torpedoing the "Eros" - The Clyde-based rescue tugs "Brigand", "Marauder" and "Bandit", protected by
the destroyers "Wren" and "Volunteer" and H.M.S. "Gleaner" of "U-33" fame, all en-route for the
"Carinthia", found their hands full indeed. The "Carinthia" herself sank while being towed to The Clyde by
the "Marauder", the only survivor picked up from the "Frances Massey" was her master, her other 35
crewmen being lost and the "Eros" was beached successfully on Tory Island where H.M.S. "Gleaner" was
ordered to stand by in case of 'looting' ! Within the week, on Wednesday June 12, 1940, "U-25" had found a
fourth, the Armed Merchant Cruiser "Scotstoun", she formerly the Anchor Line's "Caledonia".
1940 : Sat June 8. Aircraft carrier H.M.S. Glorious sunk - German armoured forces penetrate French defences near Rouen.
Sun 9. Norwegians ordered to cease hostilities. Mon 10. Mussolini joins with Hitler and Italy declares war on Great Britain
and France as from 11th but the announcement is delayed until the Nazis have destroyed the French Air Force - Evacuation
of Norway announced. Tue 11. French forces retired across Mame. Wed 12. 8,000 men of the 51st Highland Division taken
prisoner after surrendering at St. Valéryen-Coux. Fri 14. Germans entered and captured Paris - Canadian Infantry brigade
landed at Brest. Sat 15. Soviet troops occupy Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.
BIZARRE PROPOSAL - In a last desperate attempt to save France from capitulating and to keep her army fighting,
Churchill and General De Gaule proposed that Britain and France become one united nation ! In a telephone call from London
on June 16, 1940, to the French Premier, Paul Reynaud, the message stated - "The two Governments of the United Kingdom
and the French Republic make the declaration of indissoluble union and unyielding resolution in their common defence of
justice and freedom against subjection to a system which reduces mankind to a life of robots and slaves. The two Governments
declare that France and Great Britain shall no longer be two nations but one Franco-British Union. Every citizen of France will
enjoy immediately citizenship of Great Britain; every British subject will become a citizen of France. All the armed forces of
Great Britain and France will be placed under the direction of a single War Cabinet." The proposal caused an uproar in the
French Cabinet of which Churchill wrote "Rarely has so generous a proposal encountered such a hostile reception." Without
Cabinet support, Reynaud resigned as premier and a new government was formed under Marshal Pétain at 11.30pm on June 16
- Pétain immediately negotiated an armistice with Germany. The former World War I hero of Verdun, Pétain was later tried
and sentenced to death, later commuted to life imprisonment. He died in 1951.
The U-boat Positional Grid System

With the fall of France, five new German U-Boat bases - at Lorient, Brest, La Pallice, St. Nazaire and La
Baule - were quickly established and a grid-reference system devised to direct patrolling boats - The grids
covered the sea areas bounded by Europe, Iceland, Greenland, The Americas – north and south - and
Africa.
U-boats had a novel method for reporting and receiving positional information based on a grid system. This
was easier to use than the conventional latitude/ longitude fix and less liable to error in transmission. Each
area of the world was divided into sectors which were given a 2 letter designation - The sides of each
doubled-lettered main square were approximately 900 kilometres / 486 nautical miles in length.
Take for example, the sinking of a ship was reported as grid reference DG 6397, referring to the sector
designated DG on the main chart (above).
123
Each sector was divided into a 3 x 3 grid (above) - Detail of Sector DG (X=DG 63)
Subdivision of sub-sector DG 63 (X=DG 6397)

which was further divided (above) into another 3 x 3 grid to produce 81 sub-sectors which were given a logical
2 digit number (97). Thus, the position of the ship is seen first as DG, the sub-sectors then similarly further
divided (63) and then (97) to identify the final position of the ship in DG 6397.
Given that the main 'double-lettered' square 'DG' has sides of approximately 900 kilometres / 486 nautical
miles length then square 'DG 63' will have sides of approximately 100 kilometres / 54 nautical miles length.
By further sub-division, 'DG639' will have sides of approximately 11 kilometres / 6 nautical miles length and,
therefore, the sides of 'DG 6397' will be approximately 4,053-feet or 2/3 of a nautical mile long.
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The U-Boat "Quadrants" covering The North Atlantic
125
The U-Boat "Quadrants" covering the waters around Britain
126
THE FIRST ANZAC CONVOY

On Sunday, June 16, 1940, as the Germans pierced Maginot Line and the British offer of an Anglo-French union rejected,
the first Anzac convoy consisting of the liners "Andes", "Aquitania", "Empress of Britain", "Empress of Canada",
"Mauretania" and "Queen Mary", escorted by the battleship "Hood" and the cruisers "Cumberland" and "Shropshire", arrived
in The Clyde.
1940 : Mon June 17. Marshal Petain formed Government, and announced that France had asked for terms - Evacuation of
B.E.F. from France completed. Fri 19. France surrenders.
1940 : Thu June 20 = Full Moon = the rescue tug "Amsterdam", escorted by the destroyer "Atherstone", was sent
on a fruitless trip to the "Empire Conveyor" which had reported being torpedoed some 40 miles west of Iona.
1940 : Wed June 19 – Sat 22. The Royal Navy evacuated 22,656 people of military age, women and children from The
Channel Islands which were abandoned to gathering German Occupation Forces for the duration of hostilities. Fri June 21
France signed armistice with Germany inside the same railway carriage used to sign The Armistice that ended World War I.
Mon 24. Italy surrenders to Germany.
1940 : Tue June 25. Hostilities in France ceased at 12.35 a.m. and now, with the coast of France in German
hands, the German Kriegsmarine made determined efforts to close The North Channel, an attempt they
would again make during 1944-45.
1940 : Thu June 27. Germans reached Spanish frontier. Fri 28. General de Gaulle recognized by British Government as
leader of all Free Frenchmen. Sun 30. Channel Islands occupied by German troops.
The "Arandora Star" and Britain’s Gold
On Monday, July 1, 1940, the liner "Arandora Star" sailed from Liverpool, bound for Quebec with a full load of
passengers which included 90 children being evacuated from Britain - Next day, she fell victim to Gunther Prien's "U-47"
127
about 100 miles off Malin Head and amongst the ships sent to her rescue were the tugs "Englishman" and "Schelde". While
857 survivors were picked up, mainly by the Canadian destroyer "St Laurent", 66 of the children and 755 others on board the
"Arandora Star" died.
That same day, passing the empty lifeboats of the "Arandora Star", £440 million of Britain's gold bullion reserves were
spirited out of The Clyde securely locked aboard the battleship "Revenge", H.M.S. "Bonaventure" and the liners "Monarch of
Bermuda", "Batory" and "Sobieski" - Another £130 million of bullion had been shipped out on June 24, 1940 on board the
cruiser "Emerald" and some "1,800 million of bullion in all would be shipped out through The North Channel, much of it to
the security of the Sun Alliance Building in Vancouver.
1940 - Wed July 3. British attacked and immobilised squadrons of French capital ships at Oran and Mers-el-Kebir. Thu 4.
= New Moon = Italians crossed Sudan border. Fri 5. Vichy Government broke off relations with Great Britain. Mon 8.
British attacked Richelyu at Dakar. Wed 10. Battle of Britain began. Fri 19. = Full Moon =
INTERNED
Some of the soldiers who had come home after Dunkirk were posted to Glenbranter, at the head of Loch
Eck, the estate, which Sir Harry Lauder had bought as a present for his son, turned into a a high risk
internment and prisoner-of-war camp.
Glenbranter House in WWII
One of those held at Glenbranter was immigrant Rudolph B. Meyer, a young German-Jew who, seemingly,
had escaped from Hitler's Germany and escaped to the peace of Kintyre and Tayinloan where he found a job
as cattleman at Largie estate - Detained and taken to Glenbranter, Meyer was then sent to one of the
internment camps in The Isle of Man and, in Liverpool, in time for the evening's 8 p.m. post on July 12,
1940, he sent a post-card to Betty McDougall, then the book-keeper-cum-secretary, at the Largie Estate
office asking her to use his wages to settle his shop bills for papers and cigarettes and send on the balance of
his wages to the authorities at Glenbranter.
Just how Rudolph Meyer came to be living and working at Tayinloan in the first place is now something of a
mystery but, at the end of March 1939, despite all ‘the warnings’, Richard J. Alexander Hamer of Achamore
House, Gigha and a Miss Eroka Meier had appeared in Campbeltown Sheriff Court on charges relating to
The Aliens Order, 1920 at the end of March 1939. Hamer and Miss Meier were each fined £1 for failing to
register her stay on Gigha from July 1 to October 10, 1938, Miss Meier, her father a consulting engineer in
Germany, having been brought to Gigha to teach German to Hamer's young wife, her father in fact Admiral
Dudley de Chair, former Governor-General of New South Wales.
With Hamer interned at the start of the war, Gigha continued to be managed by his wife and her parents,
Erika Meier, seemingly of no concern to the authorities and her family's whereabouts unknown, also
remained on the island, it sold to the Horlick family in 1944.
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Immigrant internee Rudolph R. Meyer's post-card
THE TUGS AND THE MINES

On Wednesday, July 17, 1940, the rescue tug "Englishman" picked up 37 survivors from the fuel oil tanker
"Scottish Minstrel" which German records report as having been hit 150 miles west of Tiree first by “U-58” and
then sunk by a torpedo from “U-61” ! Just the day before, in the early hours of the morning of July 16, 1940,
a lone German aircraft dropped two mines off Tighnabruiach, in The Kyles of Bute ! One mine exploded on
hitting the water and the other blew up of its own accord at 10.45 pm the following night.
At 1.20 am on Saturday, July 20, 1940, a JU88 dropped two more mines off Kempock Point at Gourock and
these were duly disposed of by local minesweepers.
Outward-bound through The North Channel on July 26, 1940, convoy OB188 lost both the liner "Accra" and
the "Vinemoor" which had her stern blown off by “U-34” but stayed afloat and was towed in by the Greenock-
based rescue tug "Englishman" and next day, July 27, H.M.S. "Gleaner" and the destroyer "Jason" left The
Clyde to search for the offending U-Boat, just as she managed to sink the 5,260 ton "Sambre" which survived
to be towed in by the then Campbeltown-based rescue tug "Schelde" -- Another Kirkwall-based tug, the
"Brigand" was called out to convoy OB188 when the "Tiara" too was torpedoed by “U-34”.
REQUISITIONED - THE “DAVAAR” AND “DALRIADA”

In July 1940, the “Davaar” was requisitioned and sent to Newhaven where she was kept, with steam up,
ready to be sunk as a block-ship in case of invasion. In July 1943, unneeded, she was broken up on
Newhaven beach. The “Dalriada” remained at Greenock till April 1941 and then, requisitioned as a wreck
dispersal vessel, she was sent to the Thames Estuary. Working on the wreck of the “Stokesley”, which had
been loaded with 1,600 tons of sulphate of ammonia bound for London, she was mined, two cables off The
North Shingles buoy, about 51° 32’ N 01° 20’ E, on Friday, June 19, 1942. All the 34 crew of the “Dalriada”,
including 8 gunners and 2 army personnel were safely rescued and she herself was subsequently blown up in
June 1946 to clear the channel.
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Otto Kretschmer’s “U-99”
A U-Boat torpedo
Friday, August 2, 1940 proved another busy day for everyone when Otto Kretschmer’s “U-99” sank both the "Jersey
City", her 42 survivors picked up by H.M.S. "Walker" and then the Swedish-owned "Sigyn". Again H.M.S. "Gleaner",
together with the "Jason" and the "Hurricane" were sent out in an unsuccessful attempt to try and find the U-Boat and the
Clyde rescue tugs were close on their heels to tow in the three tankers, "Alexia", Lucerna" and "Strinda", all torpedoed too
that morning of August 2, 1940 as they went through The North Channel in convoy OB191.
1940 : Sat August 3. = New Moon = Sun August 4. Italians invaded British Somaliland. Thu 8. " Battle of Britain "
began.
MORE SINKINGS AND MINES
"Salvonia"
Just over a week later, in the early hours of August 11, 1940, the rescue tugs "Englishman" and "Salvonia"
130
were sent out to bring in the Armed Merchant Cruiser "Transylvania", another Anchor Line ship, torpedoed
120 miles west of Islay by "U-56", again an unsuccessful trip as she sank before they could reach her.
Shortly before midnight that same night of August 11, 1940, a Dornier reconnaissance aircraft was seen circling the
Tobermory area and early the next morning, August 12, 1940, a Coastal Command aircraft reported seeing a U-Boat off the
northern Irish coast - Four destroyers were ordered on an anti-submarine sweep and the "Anthony" attacked a contact at 2014
hours that evening, seemingly without success.
Mines were dropped by German aircraft over the Clyde, between Port Glasgow and Dumbarton Rock at 0230 and at Loch
Ryan on August 13 and, in the course of that day, the 1,809 ton "Nils Gorthen" was sunk off Islay by “U-60” - More mines
were dropped at Bowling, just after midnight the following night.
The 430-ton Latvian steamship "Tobago" seems to have been another victim of the German attacks on
August 13, 1940, wartime reporting restrictions making the circumstances of her loss unclear, she is reported
to have gone aground near The Rhinns of Islay - or - sunk about a mile south of Lossit Bay ?
1940 : Tue August 13. Germany launches its main assault on Britain with the German Luftwaffe attacking The Royal Air
Force in what Winston Churchill calls ‘The Battle of Britain’. Thu 15. Croydon aerodrome bombed, 182 aircraft brought
down over Britain. Sat 17. British forces evacuated Somaliland. Sun 18. = Full Moon =
SATURDAY, AUGUST 17, 1940

Hitler Declares Unrestricted Submarine Warfare in British Waters.
On Tuesday, August 20, 1940, the Campbeltown-based rescue tug "Salvonia" went out to bring in the
"Alcinous", on fire but still afloat after being attacked by “U-46”. Three days later, on Friday, August 23,
1940, “U-57” attacked an outbound convoy some 60 miles west of Islay and within just five minutes torpedoed
both the 11,000 ton "Cumberland" and the 5,407 ton "Havildar" and, at 0736 hours the following morning,
the same U-Boat, “U-57”, torpedoed the 5,610 ton "St Dunstan", fourteen of her Lascar crew drowning when
they panicked trying to launch a lifeboat.
Though the stern of the "Cumberland" had been blown off, the "Englishman” managed to take her in tow,
the "Cumberland" eventually sinking about seven miles north of Malin Head at 1230 the next day, on
Saturday, August 24, 1940. The other rescue tug, the "Salvonia", picked up the "Havildar" and got her
safely back to Greenock.
131
On Wednesday, August 28, 1940, the 9th Destroyer Flotilla was ordered into The North Channel to search for
two suspected U-Boats, one, “U-101” having sunk the Ardrossan-bound Finnish steamer "Elle" in the early
hours of that morning. At 0445 hours the following morning, H.M.S. "Gleaner” reported that three ships in
outbound convoy OA204 had been torpedoed.
The "Volendam"
Although "U-60" had been heard signalling from a position about 200 miles west of Mull, at 2210 on the
evening of Friday, August 30, 1940, the reception of her signals did not prevent the nearby sinking of the
15,434 ton Dutch liner "Volendam" an hour later, the rescue tugs "Salvonia" and "Englishman" being
ordered to sea 'with all despatch' and succeeding in bringing her into The Clyde stern-first at 5½ knots on the
evening of Sunday, September 1, 1940 where her passengers were ferried ashore as she passed Toward Point
lighthouse and the liner then beached at Kames Bay on Bute next morning.
The following day, a diver recovered an intact torpedo in one of the holds, its warhead blown off and it was
assumed that two torpedoes had been fired at the liner, one exploding and blowing the warhead off the other.
The "Volendam" survived the war and served on both the Europe - Australia emigrant and Rotterdam - New
York services - Next, “U-59” torpedoed the Greek steamer "San Gabriel" and the tanker "Andarra" at
around 0400 hours on August 31, 1940. The rescue tug "Thames" was sent from Stornoway to take the "San
Gabriel" in tow to The Clyde where she was beached at Cardross on September 3, 1940 and the "Andarra",
taken in tow by the "Schelde", also towed into The Clyde. Also, on August 27, the 5,681 gross ton "St
Dunstan", under tow after being attacked three days earlier by “U-57”, foundered some 3½ miles off Dippen
Head on Arran.
1940 : Sat August 24. First air raid on Central London. Sun 25. First night bombing of Germany begins with an R.A.F. raid
on Berlin. Mon 26. First all-night raid on London.
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The "Zwarte Zee" and Queen Wilhelmina's Birthday

Every week, two of the Campbeltown rescue tugs would cross to Moville, in County Donegal, to act as 'duty
tugs'. Relieving the "Thames" and the "Seaman" on one occasion were the "Zwarte Zee" and the "Salvonia".
Ireland was seemingly short of church candles and these were duly delivered by the "Zwarte Zee" to the local
grocer in Moville who promptly set about their distribution. Campbeltown, because of wartime restrictions,
was at the time short of whisky and, as part of the church candle deal, the grocer equally soon saw to it that
this deficiency was quickly remedied, the local Irish customs men even going so far as to help the tug's crew
load up their launch and untie its mooring ropes when they set off with their illicit cargo. Returning to
Campbeltown, the whisky safely delivered to the town's hostelries, the crew of the "Zwarte Zee" were
pleased to see that their colleagues on the "Seaman" had also remedied the Campbeltown coal shortage by
selling off all the coal in their tug's fuel bunkers !
Returning one afternoon from towing in a stricken tanker, the "Zwarte Zee" took Campbeltown Loch at full
speed and, letting go of her anchor just yards off the quay, slewed quickly and neatly alongside for a short
but well-earned rest. That night, there was a party on board, the Dutch gin and the Campbeltown girls
flowing freely aboard. All was going merrily until, in the middle of one night, the tug received orders to sail
immediately to tow in another bombed ship. This she did, with nine extra passengers aboard and, once
round Davaar Island and out of sight of the town, she put the somewhat bedraggled and worse for wear
young ladies ashore on a nearby beach by motor-boat to sober up and walk back into town.
On Queen Wilhelmina's Birthday, on August 31, 1940, each man of crew of the "Zwarte Zee" received a food
and drink hamper containing bottles of BOLS Dutch Gin. By noon that day the whole crew, including the
two British gunners and the British naval signalman, were, at best, somewhat "tiddly" and an order to put
out to sea was completely ignored. The shore office immediately sent an armed party aboard to investigate
'the mutiny' but they too were quickly persuaded to join the celebrations and a second armed party, under
the charge of a gunner's mate, soon arrived to put everyone under arrest.
Next morning, the tug's gunlayer was escorted off the ship by a British lieutenant, complete with sword, to
attend a naval enquiry, first via the bar of Campbeltown's Argyll Hotel, at H.M.S. "Nimrod", the gunlayer
duly sentenced to 10 days detention for taking part in the celebrations. Confined to a tiny 6' x 4' cell with
rations of only 1lb of water biscuits and a jug of tea per day, the gunlayer had time to reflect on affairs. A
blanket was issued at 8 p.m. each night and retrieved at 8 a.m. each morning, a red nightlight being shared
with the adjacent cell and it impossible to read The Bible, the only piece of reading material allowed, in the
cell.
SANCTUARY - At the beginning of the war, many government officials and crowned heads of Europe sought refuge in
Britain. By 1941, those that set up residence in the capital included Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands, Poland's former
Prime Minister, Wladyslaw Sikorski, King Haakon of Norway, King Peter of Yugoslavia, King George 11 of Greece,
President Benes of Czechoslovakia, Grand Duchess Charlotte of Luxembourg, Prime Minister Pierlot of Belgium and Charles
de Gaulle of France. Through the services of the BBC they were able to speak and encourage their people at home.
OPERATION QUICKFORCE
By August 1940, Mussolini having taken Italy into the war and, to many intents and purposes, 'closed' The Mediterranean,
the Germans too by then having appeared on the scene, the supply routes to Malta and Alexandria were becoming ever more
subject to attack and it was decided to use the aircraft carriers HMS "Argus" and HMS "Furious", along with HMS "Athene"-
an aircraft transport ship - to ferry ordinarily 'land aircraft' out to Gibraltar and The Mediterranean, the aircraft taking off
from the carriers 'on a one-way ticket' as they neared their destinations - Between the late summer of 1940 and October 1942
the Clyde-based ships ferried out 746 Hurricanes and Spitfires to Malta, 46 aircraft were lost - A further 142 Hurricanes were
ferried out from the Clyde and flown off to Takoradi, the first in a series of staging posts which led the aircraft across
Equatorial Africa, up The Nile Valley and on to Egypt to operate against the Axis forces in North Africa.
1940 : Sun September 1. = New Moon =
With London and Southampton effectively closed due to enemy action, an emergency port scheme was put
into operation in September 1940, Thames sailing barges being sailed north to increase lighterage capacity,
new port facilities quickly built at Faslane and Cairnryan and merchant shipping movements being controlled
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from an operations room at 'Marymount', a house on Barrhill Road in Gourock - On Wednesday,

September 4, 1940, the 1,954 ton "Lairdscastle" was in a collision and sank off Corsewall Point and, on the
night of Saturday, September 7, four U-Boats, including Gunther Prien's "U-47" sank then attacked
inward-bound convoy SC2 and sank seven ships, this night of September 7, the very night that six destroyers
had been sent south from The North Channel to Portsmouth in response to an invasion scare.
1940 : Sat September 7. Three months' air attack on London began, ‘The Blitz’ and that night 430 people are killed when
London receives its biggest yet bombing raid since hostilities commenced.
LEND – LEASE - In a memorable speech, Churchill asked America "Give us the tools and we will finish the job." But
America wouldn't 'give' anything without payment. After two years of war, Roosevelt had drained Britain dry, stripping her of
all her assets in the USA, including real estate and property. The British owned Viscose Company, worth £125 million was
liquidated, Britain receiving only £87 million. Britain's £1,924 million investments in Canada were sold off to pay for raw
materials bought in the United States. To make sure that Roosevelt got his money, he dispatched the American cruiser,
Louisville to the South African naval base of Simonstown to pick up £42 million worth of British gold, Britain's last negotiable
asset, to help pay for American guns and ammunition.
Not content with stripping Britain of her gold and assets, in return for 50 old World War I destroyers, (desperately needed by
Britain as escort vessels) he demanded that Britain transfer all her scientific and technological secrets to the USA. Also, he
demanded 99 year leases on the islands of Newfoundland, Jamaica, Trinidad and Bermuda for the setting up of American
military and naval bases in case Britain should fall.
Of the 50 lend-lease destroyers supplied to Britain, seven were lost during the war. The first was taken over by a British crew
on September 9, 1940. After 1943, when no longer useful, eight were sent to Russia, while the others were manned by French,
Polish and Norwegian crews. These destroyers were renamed when they arrived in Britain. All were given the name of a town
or city, hence the term 'Town Class' destroyer - During the course of the war, Britain recieved 12 Billion 775 Million dollars
worth of goods under the Lend-Lease program.
1940 : Wed September 11. Air raid on London, Buckingham Palace damaged, unexploded bomb near St. Paul's - Italian
invasion of Egypt began. Sun 15. The ‘Battle of Britain’ ends with 185 aircraft shot down over Great Britain that day, the
Germans losing a total 1,733 aircraft and Britain 915, German aircraft will continue to make daylight attacks throughout the
summer. Mon 16. = Full Moon =
SPITFIRE vs HURRICANE - Contrary to popular belief, it was the Hurricane, not the Spitfire that saved Britain during the
dark days of 1940. The turn-around time (re-arm, refuel etc.) for the Spitfire was 26 minutes. That of the Hurricane, only 9
minutes from down to up again. During the Battle of Britain the time spent on the ground was crucial and as one
fitter/mechanic of No. 145 Squadron quipped "If we had nothing but Spits we would have lost the fight in 1940."
The Spitfire was an all metal fighter, slightly faster, had a faster rate of climb and had a higher ceiling, while the Hurricane had
a fabric covered fuselage, was quicker to repair and withstood more punishment. With the for's and against's of both fighters
they came out about even. The majority of German planes shot down during the four month period were destroyed by
Hurricanes. For much of the Battle of Britain, the Spitfires went after the German BF 109s at the higher altitudes, while the
Hurricanes attacked the bomber formations flying at lower altitudes. This cost the enemy a total of 551 pilots killed or taken
prisoner. During the war a total of 14,231 Hurricanes and 20,334 Spitfires were produced. The famous Rolls-Royce 'Merlin'
engine evolved through 88 separate marks and was fitted in around 70,000 Allied aircraft during the six years of war.
In the hectic battles in the sky over southern England many pilots returned to base utterly exhausted and routinely fell asleep as
they taxied their plane to a stop. Ground crews often had to help the sleeping pilot from the cockpit after he returned from
combat.
SPONSORED FIGHTERS - Many Spitfires used in the Battle of Britain were sponsored by private companies and
individuals. Money raised in cities, towns and villages was used to buy a Spitfire at a cost of £5,000 each. They bore names
such as Dogfighter bought by a well known Kennel Club, Dorothy was bought by women whose name was Dorothy,
Gingerbread by red-haired men and women, Unshackled by donations from POWs and so on.
The largest donation received came from Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands who donated £215,000 to purchase an entire
squadron of 43 Spitfires.
INVASION BUILD-UP - As of September 16, 1940, in spite of RAF bombing, the build-up of invasion barges in the
German held Channel ports continued to increase. Reconnaissance photos showed 600 barges at Antwerp, 230 at Boulogne,
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266 at Calais, 220 at Dunkirk, 205 at Le Havre and 200 at Ostend. This was in anticipation of a second attempt at an invasion
of Great Britain in 1941 after the winter had subsided.
The abandoned “Aska” went ashore on Cara
A German bomber bombed the British India's liner "Aska", inward bound to Liverpool and between Rathlin
and Maiden Rock, at 0250 hours on Monday, September 16, 1940 - The burning and abandoned liner
drifted north-west and went ashore on the north-west side of Cara Island, just south of Gigha and became a
total loss after a severe pounding from the heavy swells.
The next day, Tuesday, September 17, 1940, the 11,081 ton Ellerman liner "City of Benares" was torpedoed,
some 600 miles out in The Atlantic, by Heinrich Bleichrodt's "U-48", 134 passengers, including 77 child
evacuees and 119 crewmen died and the sinking of the "City of Benares" led to the abandonment of the official
children's overseas evacuation programme.
The 5,142 ton "Empire Adventure" was torpedoed west of Islay on Friday, September 20, 1940 and, that same
day, Gunther Prien's "U-47" sighted the inbound convoy HX72 - Prien however had only one torpedo left
and radioed Berlin for reinforcements which came in the shape of Joachim Schepke's "U-100", Otto
Kretschmer's "U-99" and Heinrich Bleichrodt's “U-48", eleven ships were sunk and, that same night of
September 20, 1940, four ships of the outward-bound convoy OB218, including Ellerman's "City of Simla",
were torpedoed some 50 miles west of Islay, the "City of Simla" sinking just twenty minutes after being hit.
While the rescue tug "Superman" took the "Empire Adventure" in tow, she soon sinking, the rescue tug
"Salvonia" took the "New Sevilla" in tow with the intention of beaching her in Kildalloig Bay, near the
entrance to Campbeltown Loch but she too sank, some nine miles west of The Mull of Kintyre that night.
1940 : Mon September 23. George Cross and Medal instituted - Japanese troops enter Indo-China.
On Tuesday, September 24, 1940, three months after France fell to German invaders, a force of British battleships and
cruisers took up position 9 miles to seaward of Dakar, capital of the French colony of Senegal. This was the start of
'Operation Menace', a bid by Charles de Gaulle to persuade the garrison of Dakar to renounce allegiance to the collaborationist
Vichy regime. Winston Churchill backed de Gaulle enthusiastically. The notion of Royal Navy ships parading outside Dakar
and quelling Vichy resistance by their mere appearance appealed to Churchill's sense of romantic adventure. Things did not
work out that way, thick fog descended and ruined the 'parade'. De Gaulle's overtures were strongly resisted, the Vichy ships
came out to battle with the intruders and Dakar's fortress guns put up a daunting barrage - De Gaulle's emissaries were turned
away by bursts of machine gun fire and Governor Brisson of Dakar categorically rejected an ultimatum issued by de Gaulle
and the British commanders.
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Dated, top right margin, 24 – 9 – 40, this photograph survives from the German's reconnaissance flight
At 1535 hours on Sunday, September 24, 1940, a lone German reconnaissance aircraft dropped an auxiliary fuel tank
on Oban's Station Square as it headed south. Hurricanes from 615 'County of Surrey' and 245 Squadrons were scrambled to
patrol over Kintyre and the Clyde estuary but found nothing - Three months later, at 1800 hours on Monday, December 23,
1940, in heavy rain and a strong south-westerly wind, five Heinkel III's bombed and strafed five ships in the convoy
assembly anchorage at Oban, the 6,941 Dutch steamer "Breda" a favourite with diving enthusiasts today.
1940 : Fri September 27. Axis pact (Germany, Italy. Japan).

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INVERARAY
In October 1940, a Combined Operations Training Centre was set up at Inveraray to train commando troops and agents in 'the
black arts' of 'irregular warfare' - The Inveraray area was the site of No. 1 Combined Operations Training Centre (No. 001
C.T.C.), set up to test equipment and to train troops for combined assault forces - It was unusual in that it trained members of
Britain's and all her allies' Army, Navy and Air Force personnel all together - It must have been an unusual sight indeed to
see personnel from all three services parading together and reporting to a duty officer who could have belonged to any one of
the three services !
After the fall of France in 1940, The Prime Minister began planning the Invasion of Europe and realising that troops had to be
specially trained for invasion by sea, Admiral Keyes began the search for a suitable place to train Commandos and crews
together. The choice eventually fell on Inveraray and, on the October 15, 1940, Vice-Admiral Theodore Hallet R.N.
assumed command of No. 1 Combined Operations Invasion Training Centre. Suddenly this quiet little town on the west coast
of Scotland found itself playing an important part in the war against Germany.
Churchill and his planners knew that, when the invasion of Europe began, the Allies would need a well trained and equipped
invasion force drawing on the resources of all three services. Such was the magnitude of the task assigned to Combined
Operations in terms of the numbers to be trained, the diversity of the training and the procurement of equipment, that a total
of 45 Combined Operations Establishments were set up in the west of Scotland and the south of England.
Inveraray would train around a quarter of a million forces personnel in just 4 years, undoubtedly the largest training operation
ever mounted in the history of the United Kingdom - Set up in October 1940, training at Inveraray continued almost without
interruption until July 1944, a month after the D-Day invasion, the largest amphibious landing in the history of warfare.
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Training was provided for commandos, brigade groups in the assault role, formations in follow up and building up, port
operating companies, squadrons of the RAF Regiment and RAF and servicing commandos - There was no training manual to
follow and new ground was being broken at Inveraray in terms of the scale of the operation and the technology of warfare
which had changed greatly since the Great War of 1914 – 1918 - This was therefore a time of experimentation, innovation
evaluation and redesign.
Royal Engineer and Pioneer Companies duly arrived to set up camps with the local firm of Messrs. James Carmichael and
Messrs. Cowieson of Glasgow as principal contractors. Town Camp and Avenue Camp were erected behind the Newton,
while Duke's and Castle Camps sprang up in the castle policies. Shira Camp was built at the entrance to Glen Shira, and,
south of the town, land on Dalchenna Farm was requisitioned to build the Naval Camp known as "HMS Quebec" (now Argyll
Caravan Park). Further along the shore appeared Kilbride and Chamois Camps. As the camps were completed, occupation
took place and many famous Regiments were to receive specialised training in the hills and on the shores of Loch Fyne.
Commando troops, who were later to take part in many raids on enemy territory, had their first training here, arrived in the
late autumn in troopships which anchored off the Creags, among the officers was Captain Randolph Churchill, son of the
Prime Minister.
Some of the larger houses and buildings in the town were requisitioned by the Admiralty, including Dalchenna House, Fern
Point (Coffee House), Rudha-na-Craig and Tigh-an-Ruadh (the present 'Loch Fyne Hotel'), it becoming Admiralty House
and, in the grounds of Fern Point, a Nissen hut was established for use as a decontamination centre and other buildings that
were requisitioned included the Cherry Park, which became the Quartermaster's Store, whilst the old byre there was
transformed into a cook-house.
The town was often the scene of attack and defence from doorway-to-doorway and close-to-close as khaki-clad men, armed
with 'tommy-guns' and revolvers, would overrun the streets whilst the townspeople carried on with their normal duties - In a
Minute of the Town Council dated 20th September 1940 it was noted that baffle walls were to be erected in front of the closes
in the town. As a protection against enemy action, it was agreed to order a dozen stirrup pumps at £1 each!
The off-duty hours of the troops were made as comfortable as possible. A cinema was built within the castle grounds and a
large N.A.A.F.I. canteen was built on the site of the present Youth Hostel.
The hired transport (H.T.) ship "Ettrick" lying off Inveraray
H.M.S. "Queen Emma" and H.M.S. "Princess Beatrix" were the first warships to remain anchored off the town. The hired
transport (H.T.) ship "Ettrick", with troops for invasion training aboard, lay off shore, as did the hospital ships "St. David"
and "St. Andrew". These were used until, as part of American Lease-Lend, the Jubilee Hall at the Maitland was converted to
a Military Hospital of 50 beds complete with a fully-equipped operating theatre and X-Ray room. It was staffed by members
of the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Medical Nursing Staff and by V.A.D.s who were housed in the Maitland buildings. The
Medical Orderlies and Ambulance drivers shared but accommodation on the Greens. Some local people, as well as military
personnel, owe their lives to the skill and dedication of the hospital staff based there.
By 1941 two more ships at the pier were the "Quebec" and the "Beverly Brook". There were regular comings-and-goings of
naval ships, including units of the Allied Fleets. Dutch oil-driven lighters were on duty for a long time, mostly on service
around Kilbride. Two Canadian lake steamers, the "Eaglescliffe Hall" and "A.A. Fields" were anchored off the pier - the latter
was sunk during the D-Day landings on the Normandy coast. In early 1942, in Dalchenna Bay, two Mississippi river boats,
the U.S. "Northland" and the U.S. "Southland", were stationed as a camp overflow - several of their sister ships were sunk
crossing the Atlantic to Britain.
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Some 450 officers and men were in camp by the middle of May, 1941 and work went on apace in further construction.
Engineering workshops, boat slips, the 'Wrennery' and a well fitted sick bay were completed. Training, which had up to that
time been carried out from various ships moored in the Loch, now settled down to a steady cycle, twelve officers and 150
seamen arriving from H.M.S. "Northney" every fortnight. Flotillas were commissioned for the Lofoten, Vaagso and
Spitzbergen raids and both day and night training was carried on by these crews operating with the C.T.C.
On the 27th June 1941, The Right Honourable Winston Spencer Churchill, M.Y., Prime Minister and War Leader, visited
the Inveraray Training Area. The Premier and those accompanying him came ashore below the Manse from landing craft after
witnessing operations at Ardno, near St. Catherine's - Prior to his departure from Loch Fyne, The Prime Minister marched
behind a Military Band to the pier, where he responded to loud cheering by waving his cap on a walking stick above his head !
In the Autumn of 1941 His Majesty King George VI visited the Inveraray Training Area. On arrival, he was received at the
pier-head by His Grace the Duke of Argyll, Lord Lieutenant.
Periodical leave was not organised until the beginning of 1942, and as all liberty men had to travel by a skeleton service of
buses between Inveraray and Glasgow, numbers had to be kept to a bare minimum. Later, when things got more into swing, a
regular service of R.N. transport, assisted by the Army M.T. Pool, was run to and from the railhead at Arrochar, 27 miles
distant, and regular leave has since been granted every three months.
In the latter part of 1943 and early 1944 a number of Docker Companies underwent invasion training at Kilbride Camp,
loading and unloading ships under war conditions using live ammunition and then, late in 1943, the first H.M. Flotillas began
arriving at Inveraray and, under the eyes of the experienced naval landing craft personnel, the Royals began to infiltrate into
Quebec’s life.
L.C.T. '531' - One of the big landing craft which exercised troops from Castle Toward at Inveraray and
would be one of many to put the troops ashore in the D-Day landings on the Normandy beaches in June 1944
American, Canadian, Free French, Poles and Russians were also trained at lnveraray. On one occasion, several landing craft,
one of which was flying the "Stars and Stripes", were seen approaching the shore below the Manse and amongst those who
walked up to Admiralty House were General Eisenhower, Major-General Thorne, G.O.C. Scottish Command and Mr. Winant,
U.S. Ambassador to Britain - Troops trained at Inveraray took part in all the major seaborne invasions of the War: Operation
Torch, the invasion of North Africa in 1942 to link with the 8th Army; the Sicily landings in 1943 and of course Operation
Overlord, the D Day invasions of Normandy in 1944. - One little known fact is that one section of No. 10. Inter-Allied
Commando consisted of German exiles, they given false British identities in case of capture.
Also largely unknown, apart from the fact that Inveraray Jail was occasionly used to house some of the forces as a
consequence of their rowdy off-duty behaviour, is the fact that some troops were also incarcerated there on murder charges -
Amongst the now well known people who served at Inveraray were the actors Alec McGuinness and James Robertson Justice
and, interestingly too, though few would learn even of his name till long after he retired, England's famous hangman,
Peirpoint.
Today, on the wall of The Loch Fyne Hotel, a plaque on the wall reads : -
Admiralty House
1940-1946
Headquarters for Combined Operations Training
Visited by
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H.M. The King, 1941

Rt. Hon. Winston Churchill, 1941
H.M. King Haakon of Norway, 1943
H.H. Prince Olaf of Norway, 1943
Viscount Louis Mountbatten of Burma.
Admiral Lord Keyes.
Gen. Eisenhower.
Mr. Winant, U.S. Ambassador.
Gen. MacNaughton, C in C, Canadian Forces.
Mr. A.X. Alexander, First Lord of the Admiralty.
Gen. Do Gaulle, C in C, French Forces 1941
Gen. Sikorski, C in C, Polish Forces
In 1984 Lord Lovat, the wartime Commando leader, opened a Combined Operations Exhibition, the brainchild of Mr. Berry
Savory who served as an RAF officer at Inveraray from 1942-1943, at the Cherry Park - Recording in detail the story of
Inveraray in Wartime, the exhibition closed in 1999.
Wartime troop movements through the village include -
Jun - Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders;

1941 April - Royal Engineers. May - Special Services (Commandos).
Royal Scots Fusiliers.
Aug - Royal Artillery; Royal Scots
Jul - East Lancashire Regiment; Royal Fusiliers; Royal Welsh Fusiliers;
Sep - Royal Army Service Corps.
Welsh Fusiliers. Canadian Troops; Royal West Kent
Regiment; Royal East Kent Regiment.
Oct - Royal Pioneer Corps; Royal Dec - Royal West Kent Regiment; The
Nov - London Fusiliers.
West Kent Regiment. Black Watch.
Mar - East Surrey Regiment;
1942 Jan - Royal Surry Regiment; Feb - Lancashire Fusiliers. Bedfordshire Regiment; Royal
Northamptonshire Regiment. Northumberland Fusiliers.
May - South Lanarkshire Regiment; Jun - King's Own Scottish Borderers;
Apr - East Surrey Regiment; Royal
East Yorkshire Regiment; Suffolk Royal Ulster Rifles; Lincolnshire
Pioneer Corps; Royal Artillery.
Regiment. Regiment.
Jul - King's Shropshire Light Infantry;
Aug - Duke of Wellington's Regiment;
Sherwood Foresters; Duke of Sep - American Troops.
American Troops.
Wellington's Regiment.
Oct - Royal West Kent Regiment; Dec - Duke of Cornwall's Light
Nov - Duke of Cornwall's Light
Black Watch; Royal Army Service Infantry; Royal Regiment (North
Infantry; Black Watch; Royal Marines.
Corp; Kings Shropshire Light Infantry. Lancashire); Canadian Troops.
Mar - French Canadian Troops; South
Feb - Canadian Troops; French
1943 Jan - Canadian Troops. Canadian Troops.
Lancashire Regiment; Suffolk
Regiment; East Yorkshire Regiment.
May - Canadian Troops; French
Jun - Norfolk Regiment; King's
Apr - Royal Ulster Rifles; King's Own Canadian Troops; Seaforth
Shropshire Light Infantry; Middlesex
Scottish Borderers; Canadian Troops. Highlanders of Canada; Norfolk
Regiment; Somerset Light Infantry.
Regiment.
July - Lincolnshire Regiment; King's
Aug - Canadian Troops; Irish Guards. Sept -
Own Scottish Borderers.
Oct - Nov - Dec -
Feb - North Staffordshire Regiment;
Mar - Hampshire Regiment; Green
1944 Jan - French Canadian Troops; Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders;
Howards; South Wales Borderers;
Monmouthshire Regiment. Seaforth Highlanders of Canada; East
Gloucester Regiment.
Yorkshire Regiment.
Apr - Royal Air Force; Queens Own Jun - Glasgow Highlanders; Norwegian
May - King's Own Scottish Borderers.
Cameron Highlanders. Troops; Royal Engineers.
1940 : Tue October 1. = New Moon = Mon 7. German troops enter Rumania. Wed 16. = Full Moon =
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THE RESCUE TUG BASE

With German victories in Scandanavia and France now forcing convoys to be routed through The North
Channel, well away from German bases and October 1940 saw the establishment of the ocean rescue tug base
in Campbeltown.
H.M.S. "Minona" - bought by Richard Burton and renamed "Kalizma"
To start with, its administrative base was a small hut on The Old Quay. Subsequently an old motor yacht,
the 165-foot long H.M.S. "Minona”, was used as an accommodation base for tug personnel, she later joined
by another former yacht, the "Majesta". The Victoria Hall was used as barracks for the tug crew ratings
(officers staying on the yachts), the Lochend Free Church Hall for training purposes and the floor above the
1938-opened Art Deco-period 'Mayfair Cafe' used as the H. M. Rescue Tugs Officers' Club - Some 500
officers and 8,000 other ranks would pass through these facilities during the war years.
The "Minona” was later bought by actor Richard Burton as a present for his wife Elizabeth Taylor after she
won an Oscar for her part in “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? ”. Re-named "Kalizma" after their children,
Kate, Liza and Marie and "Minona”, the yacht, most recently owned by Indian brewing magnate Vijay
Mallya, appeared on the yacht sales lists in 2004, priced at £3 million.
Commander R. D. Robinson R. N. was largely responsible for establishing the rescue tug base at
Campbeltown and served as its commanding officer until the 'T124T' was disbanded
Also at the Campbeltown tug base was one Commander L. Greenstreet, well-known as one of the surviving
members of Shackleton's 1914-16 South Polar Expedition, he would give public lectures in Campbeltown's
Town Hall.
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The Rescue Tug "Saucy"
Amongst the tugs lost in the rescue service would be the "Englishman", "Saucy", "St Cyrus", "Caroline
Moller", "Athlete" and the "Sesame", many of the crews lost as well.
"IN CAMPBELTOWN ONCE MORE"

Tune - "Holy Ground"
Fare thee well my Nancy - for we must gang awa'

The harbour light is on our beam and soon we will cross the bar
And I must part from you my love, the Lassie I adore,
But soon I hope we'll meet again, in Campbeltown once more.
CHORUS
In Campbeltown once more - Soon I hope we'll meet again in
Campbeltown once more
Now we are passed the bar lads, we are punching through the bay,
The Barra light is fading fast and we are taking spray,
Yes, we are taking spray my lads, but worse seas we'll endure,
Before we can return again, to Campbeltown once more,
CHORUS,
To Campbeltown once more - Before we can return again to
At last the wreck is sighted - the tow ropes all made fast,
Through mighty seas we take the strain - for Campbeltown at last,
For Campbeltown again my lads, where good times are in store,
And gales or fair we'll soon be there. In Campbeltown once more,
CHORUS,
In Campbeltown once more - and gale or fair we'll soon be there in
Now the storm is over and we are safe at last,

'French point we have in view, the Davaar light we've passed,
The Davaar light we've passed my lads, we'll make the harbour sure,
And soon we'll have our head ropes in, in Campbeltown once more
CHORUS
In Campbeltown once more - and soon we'll have our head ropes in, in
Campbeltown once more,
And when we get ashore lads, we'll take a drink or four,

We'll drink to friends and shipmates lost, with girls that we adore,
With the girls that we adore my lads and who could ask for more?
Now that we're safe from U-Boats harm, in Campbeltown once more,
CHORUS
In Campbeltown once more, now that we're safe from U-Boats harm - in
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NEIL MITCHELL AND THE “DAVAAR”

When the “Davaar” was reboilered and reconditioned in 1903, her chief steward, Neil Mitchell, who was also
the company’s catering superintendent, bought the ship’s original bar counter and fittings, retired from the
sea and refurbished what became known as ‘Neil Mitchell’s Bar’, properly “The Kilbrannan”.
Neil Mitchell himself had a band, John McArthur its drummer and in pre-war days 'The Kilbrannan' too was
home to Kintyre's biggest and longest-established band, 'The Bohemians', it formed sometime in the 1920's.
'The Bohemians' - It was formed sometime in the 20's by Peter Martin (fiddle) and Joe Morrans
(saxophone), with Jack McKinven (banjo), James Coffield (drums) and Hugh Ferguson (piano) and, for
more than 10 years, 'The Bohemians' played all over Kintyre and beyond, in The Bowery, at village dances,
at weddings and at balls, including The County Police Ball in Lochgilphead - Mary Shields, a regular in the
1930's, took over the lead of The Bohemians'.
One village dance was particularly memorable. The dance was so popular that the hall quickly filled up. The
organisers shut the doors, leaving a crowd of unhappy young lads still outside. The lads rounded up a small
herd of cows, managed to get a side door open and drove the cows on to the dance floor. There was no need
for 'Slippereen' that night !
Back in the 1940's, the bands - the local bands, or a band from one of the boats, or a band brought in by
ENSA, the famous Squadronaires played here - were kept busy playing for all the dances needed to provide
'R&R' for the many hundreds of young men and women stationed at HMSNimrod, HMS Minolta and HMS
Landrail.
The local bands changed and shared members as some went off to the war - Peter Martin, who had married
Peggy Robson, one of the Glasgow Fair crowd who camped at The Planting each year, whom he met at a
Bowery dance, joined up in 1942 and settled in Glasgow after the war - Donnie McGougan (accordion) and
Frank Rodgers (drums), both of whom had their own hands after the war, were both in the TA and were
called up at about the same time in September 1939 and, reporting to Dunoon to join The Argylls, saw action
very quickly - While Frank was one of the thousands rescued by 'the wee boats' from Dunkirk, Donnie went
on to become Regimental Sergeant Major of B Battalion and still sounds as commanding as he was on the
Parade Ground.
Donnie remembers playing with Joe Morrans, whom he called 'Jose' - Joe continued playing into the 50s
and was still cobbling in Bumside Street into the 60s - Frank also has links right up to the present. His line-
up was traditional - Frank on drums, John McKerral, accordion, Mary Mathieson, accordion and Alastair
Newlands, piano - In the 50s, Frank's drums passed on to lan Lang, plumber, whose son Robert played in
The Zodiacs with Norman Stewart, who still plays today at dances and weddings with The West Coast Cei-
lidh Band.
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Another local band was led by accordionist Alec Mitchell, who farmed The Aros, with Neil McArthur on
saxophone and Jimmy Hunter on piano, the band sometimes augmented by Don Drinkwater on trumpet and
Jackie Duggan on banjo, Jackie an Irishman working at the base. To provide the band with a drummer, Alec
recruited his young, 13 year-old, brother Dougal - Dougal still plays the double bass and remembers many
of the tunes, like American Patrol.
Though many would long remember Neil Mitchell, dressed as ever in his ‘trade mark’ black suit and bow tie
and sitting at his beloved piano in the bar, Neil Mitchell too might be remembered for his innovative
promotion of his business during World War II when Campbeltown became home to H.M.S. “Minona”, the
ocean rescue tug base and H.M.S. “Landrail”, the air station at Machrihanish.
These were the days of ration cards and passes and Neil Mitchell distributed his own four-page, 'ration
book' sized “Free Pass” to all, it beginning “FREE PASS - This pass is good on all bus roads provided the
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bearer walks, carries his own luggage, swims all rivers and stops for all tonics and draughts at Neil Mitchell,
The Thirst Aid Specialist, 90 Long Row Street, Campbeltown. Consultation Hours Weekdays 11 - 3 and 5 -
9.30. Scores of remedies for Relaxed Throats, Jaded Appetites, Tired Nerves and, that Sinking Feeling.
Advice gratis to all visiting - Water’s a fine drink if mixed with the right Spirit ! “
Neil’s ‘Ten Commandments’ were - “When thirsty thou shalt come to my house and drink, but not to excess
so that thou mayest live long in the land and enjoy it; Thou shalt not take anything from me that is unjust for
I need all that I have - and more too; Thou shalt not expect glasses too large, nor filled too full for I must
pay my rent;
“Thou shalt not sing or dance except when thy spirit moveth thee to do thy best; Thou shalt honour me and
mine that thou mayest live long and see me again; Thou shalt not destroy or break anything on my premises
else thou shalt pay double the value and thou shalt not dare to pay me in bad money or ever say ‘Chalk’ or
‘Slate’;
“Thou shalt call at my place daily, if unable I shall feel it an insult unless thou sendest a substitute or an
apology; Thou shalt not abuse thy fellow drinkers nor cause any base insinuations upon their characters by
hinting that they cannot drink too much;
“Neither shalt thou take the name of my goods in vain by calling my beer ‘slops’ for I always keep the best
brewed ales and am always at home to my friends; Thou shalt not so far forget thy honourable position and
high standing in the community as to ask the landlord to treat.”
Page three of the ‘pass’ to Mitchell’s Bar then lists - ‘A Few “Thats” That Are Interesting’ - Tennyson could
take a sheet of papers and write a poem on it worth £1,300 - That’s Genius; Rothschild can write a few words
on a paper and make it worth £1,000,000 - That’s Capital; A navvy can move tons of earth per day and earn
three shillings - That’s Labour; A mechanic can take a piece of steel worth £1 and make it into watch springs
worth £260 - That’s Skill; A man can run a business for a time and not advertise - That’s Foolishness; Some
tradesmen do not study their customers - That’s a Mistake; Solomon had hundreds of wives and slept with
his father - That’s Wisdom; The Landlord is waiting for his customers to give him an opportunity to supply
them with John’s Best Beers drawn from the wood - That’s Business.”
Though there is no doubting the fact that Neil Mitchell did indeed run a very successful business, just as he
too had run the catering on the Campbeltown ships, but, on the final page of his ‘pass’, is his ‘Copy of Reply
to a Request for Settlement of a Brewer’s Account’ - “Dear Sirs, For the following reasons, I am unable to
send you the cheque for which you ask. I have been held up, held down, sandbagged, walked on, sat upon,
flattened out and squeezed by The Income Tax, Super Tax, Tobacco Tax, Beer Tax, Spirits Tax, Motor
Tax and by every ruddy society, organisation and club that the inventive mind of man can think of to extract
what I have, or may not have, in my possession for The Red Cross, Ivory Cross, Black Cross and the double
cross and for every hospital in town and country.
“The Government has governed my business until I do not know who owns it. I am inspected, suspected,
examined and re-examined, informed, required and commanded to such an extent that I don’t know who I
am, where I am’ or why I am here at all. All that I know is that I’m supposed to have an inexhaustible supply
of money for every need, desire and hope of the human race and, because I will not go out and beg, borrow
or steal money to give away, I am cussed, discussed, boycotted, talked to, talked at, lied to, lied about,
held up, rung up, robbed, damned and nearly ruined. The only reason I am clinging to life at all is to try to
find out what the ******* hell is going to happen next. Yours faithfully, Neil Mitchell.”
The original bar counter, three “ship’s doors” with round opaque windows in them, two ‘Charles Rennie
MacIntosh’ style (perhaps even original) mirrors and about a dozen glass-etched company crested window
panels p l u s a glass screen with a series of ‘raised’ sailing ships on it are to be found there, the last resting
place of the old original “Davaar” - Closed under the ownership of Archie Graham, The Kilbrannan Bar was
purchased and substantially renovated by Paul Upchurch in the autumn of 2005, particular attention being
paid to the fittings and fixtures from the old "Davaar".
At 0500 hours on Friday, October 25, 1940, two JU88's were detected over The Tail of The Bank.
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THE CONDORS
The beautiful “Empress of Britain (II)” makes her way down The Clyde for the first time
With the surrender of France, the Germans began operating Condors - converted Focke Wulf 200C
passenger airliners - for long range reconnaissance patrols from the KG40 base at Merignac, near Bordeaux
and, at 0920 hours on Saturday, October 26, 1940, a Condor, carrying four 250 kg bombs, managed to hit
the inward-bound 42,348 ton Canadian Pacific liner "Empress of Britain" some 70 miles off the Irish coast,
the largest single Merchant Navy casualty of WWII.
The rescue tugs "Thames" and "Marauder" were despatched to her aid from Campbeltown along with the
"Seaman" from Londonderry, the Greenock-based cruiser "Cairo" accompanying them to provide anti-
aircraft fire.
The "Empress of Britain", badly damaged and on fire, stayed afloat until 0205 hours the following morning
when she was seemingly hit by two torpedoes fired by Hans Jenisch's "U-32" which was in turn sunk and
most of her crew rescued three days later, on October 30, 1940, a foggy day, by the destroyer "Highlander".
1940 : Mon October 28. Greece invaded by Albanian-occupying Italian troops after rejecting an ultimatum, a move which
Hitler regards as a mistake on Mussolini’s part. Tue 29. British troops landed on Greek territory. Thu 31. = New Moon =
War wasn't just against the Germans, but the rabbits . . . . . and, the otters !
1940 : Fri November 1. Greeks repel Italian attacks.
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1940 : Tue November 5. H.M.S. Jervis Bay lost defending Atlantic convoy HX 84's 37 ships from attacks by the German
Navy’s pocket-battleship Admiral Scheer.
Given the date of this notice, in the light of events one can but wonder if it was prompted by a premonition !
THE FIRST CAMPBELTOWN AIR ATTACK
Dutch Submarine O 14
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Between October 22 and December 20, 1940, the Dutch submarine 'O-14' was based at Rothesay, under
British operational control and was temporarily attached to the 7th flotilla, used as an ASDIC piggy boat for
the training of convoy escort vessels at Campbeltown.
Her logbook records that, at 18:36 hrs on Wednesday, November 6, 1940, while moored at the westerly
harbour wall in Campbeltown, she and other RN vessels and submarines were attacked by a German plane,
the bombs missing 'O-14' and only one bullet entering the boat via an open deck-hatch.
A German Heinkel - 111
WWII Luftwaffe map of Campbeltown (Blatt 29) issued to pilots
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How Range is Predicted for Anti-Aircraft Guns
Immediately after the explosions, they stopped charging their batteries, manned their machine gun and
prepared to submerge the submarine in the shelter of the quay wall. They managed to fire only one round
from their machine gun before it jammed ! After the attack, the crew wnt ashore to help to rescue people
from The Royal Hotel, which had been hit several times by bombs.
The Royal Hotel and The Victoria Hall, the clock tower demolished after the October air-raid
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This, the first of its only two direct enemy attacks in the war, came on the very night of The Kintyre
Agricultural Society's Produce Show, 'The Cheese Show' - a lone German aircraft strafing the town's Main
Street and harbour area killing two people, 28-year old lorry driver Alexander Blue of 8 Longrow South, who
died that day and Thomas Hunter, Agricultural Advisor for South Argyll, who died next day in the Cottage
Hospital.
A December 1940 advice leaflet for Air-Raid victims
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1940 : Mon November 11. First large Italian air raid on Great Britain - Fleet Air Arm attacked Italian warships at Taranto.
Thu 14. 10,000 incendiary bombs dropped in heavy air-raid on Coventry and Coventry Cathedral destroyed, the first mass
raid on a British provincial town, 568 people are killed and another 863 are seriously injured. Fri 15. = Full Moon =
What's On - November 1940
WAR AT THE WEST LOCH

1940 : Fri November 15. The last ‘conventional’ passenger-cargo ship to be built for the Islay - West Loch
service was the twin-screw 14-knot motorship “Lochiel (IV)”, launched on April 4, 1939. Although she had
been specifically designed for the service, she spent the summer of 1939 on the Oban - Fort William station as
dredging work had to be undertaken on the upper section of the West Loch and, for various reasons, the old
“Pioneer (II)” continued on the Islay - West Loch service until November 15, 1940 before relieving on the
Oban station till March 9, 1942 when she was for a time laid up on a buoy off Tighnabruiach in The Kyles of
Bute. The last ‘conventional’ passenger-cargo ship to be built for the Islay - West Loch service was the twin-
screw 14-knot motorship “Lochiel (IV)”, launched on April 4, 1939. Although she had been specifically
designed for the service, she spent the summer of 1939 on the Oban - Fort William station as dredging work
had to be undertaken on the upper section of the West Loch and, for various reasons, the old “Pioneer (II)”
continued on the Islay - West Loch service until November 15, 1940 then relieving on the Oban station till
March 9, 1942 and emplyed on livestock sailings until October 1943 when she was laid up on a buoy off
Tighnabruiach in The Kyles of Bute.
The “Lochiel (IV)”, with the exceptions of May 1942 and June 1943 on the Wemyss Bay - Ardrishaig mail
service, spent the war years, from November 1940 onwards, on the Islay - West Loch service and was
eventually relieved by the now elderly steamer “Robina” to allow her an overhaul in the autumn of 1946.
During the war years, “Lochiel (IV)”, like some of the other MacBrayne ships, including the “Lochfyne” and
the “Lochnevis” serving on the Wemyss Bay - Ardrishaig mail run, was given a black funnel and ‘horizon
yellow’ superstructure, in later war years she was painted completely in grey. On a passing note of interest,
Royal Mail pillar boxes in towns and cities were also given the same ‘horizon yellow’ tops, supposedly a ‘gas-
detecting paint’ ( ! ) and white bases to make them more easily seen in the wartime black-outs.
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"Pioneer (II)", the very last of MacBrayne's paddle-steamers, was requisitioned by The Admiralty in the
spring of 1944 for use as the headquarters ship of the North Atlantic submarine control centre at Fairlie and
was later fitted out as a research ship for the Director of Submarine Warfare, employed in underwater
telephone work. Renamed “Harbinger” and her paddle wheels removed in January 1946, she was towed
south to be used as a floating laboratory in Portland Harbour where she was later joined by the former 1906-
built Clyde turbine steamer “Duchess of Argyll”. On March 8, 1958 “Pioneer (II)” left The Solent in tow for the
scrapyards at Rotterdam, the “Duchess of Argyll” surviving in use till 1970.
Jurst's "U-104" was sunk, just south of Rockall on Thursday, November 21, 1940, by the corvette
"Rhododendron", she was the thirty-second U-Boat to be sunk in the war and the last until March 1941 and
sinkings in The North Channel would never again reach the levels of 1940 again. Three days later, on
Sunday, November 24, the 3,985 ton "Alma Dawson" was mined west of Islay - As U-Boat activity lessened,
so the Luftwaffe began to make its presence felt over the west coast of Scotland.
1940 : Sat November 30. = New Moon =
1940 : Mon December 2. Bristol heavily bombed.
On Friday, December 6, 1940, the 320 ton "Moyallon" which stranded near Dunure and a single JU88 carried out a
reconnaissance of the western anchorages at lunch-time on Sunday, December 8, 1940, it chased out over the Farne Islands
by Spitfires of 72 Squadron.
De Havilland Dragon Rapide used for passenger services and air ambulance flights
The next day, on Monday, December 9, 1940, the Campbeltown service plane answered an urgent appeal
‘from a Western island’ (Barra), to convey six survivors from a torpedoed ship to the mainland for immediate
medical attention. The aircraft had been ready to take off for Renfrew from Campbeltown when James
McGeachy, the local agent of Northern and Scottish Airways Ltd., heard that an ambulance plane was
required. Without awaiting instructions from his head office, he at once asked passengers to alight from the
plane. Piloted by Captain Young, with Wireless Operator Mitchell on board, the aircraft had to land at
another island to have its petrol tanks filled up before reaching its destination where a 'tidal' landing had to
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be made. Except for that incoming service on the Monday morning, all services between Campbeltown and
Renfrew that day had to be cancelled as a result of the mercy flight.
1940 : Mon December 9. British opened offensive in Western Desert; Sidi Barrani captured on 11th, Sollum and Fort
Capuzzo on 17th when Italian troops are pushed out of Egypt by the advancing British, Australian and Indian troops. Sun 15.
= Full Moon =
Shipping was bombed off Port Ellen in Islay on Thursday, December 19, 1940 and off Rathlin Island on
Sunday, December 22, 1940. The most concentrated raid took place, at 1800 hours on Monday, December
23, 1940, in heavy rain and a strong south-westerly wind, when five Heinkel III's bombed and strafed five
ships in the convoy assembly anchorage at Oban, the 6,941 Dutch steamer "Breda" a favourite with diving
enthusiasts today.
ISLAY'S AIR WAR

In 1940, Churchill ordered military airports to be constructed in the Western Isles not only to defend against a
German assault on the Scottish mainland but to provide bases for reconnaisance aircraft flying missions out
over The Atlantic and the R.A.F. quickly took over control of Islay's airstrip, a concrete runway being laid
two years later, in 1942 and, by 1944, the airfield under the control of Coastal Command and operating with
R.A.F. 15 Group Coastal Ops, there were six hangars and three runways and some 1,500 personnel -
including 266 WAAF and 1,113 R.A.F. servicemen - stationed there.
Amongst those flying from there were the Avro Ansons of 48 Squadron and the Beaufighters and Beauforts of
the 304 Ferry Training Unit - Early in May 1943, following the departure of 246 Squadron, the Canadians,
in the form of 422 R.C.A.F. Squadron with their Catalinas and Sunderlands, moved temporarily to Bowmore
from Lough Erne, most of their equipment and ground crew crossing from Ireland on five landing craft and,
with no slip at Bowmore, most of the aircraft maintenance was carried out at Wig Bay.
The R.A.F. air-sea rescue launches of 67 A/SR unit were berthed at Port Ellen and usefully covered the area
from Islay to Kintyre which was witness to a number of accidents in the war years.
R.A.F. Kilchiaran Chain Home Low Radar Station
At Kilchiaran, on the west of Islay, as one of a chain, the R.A.F. installed a radar station, the staff billeted in
hotels in Port Charlotte and Bridgend.
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The 6,941 Dutch steamer "Breda", sunk at Oban
1940 : Sun December 29. = New Moon = Heavy incendiary raid on City of London, The Guildhall and eight Wren
churches destroyed.
The final casualty of 1940, on Monday, December 30, was to be Robertson's 397 ton "Agate", en route from Goole to
Belfast with coal, which grounded in fog and was wrecked at Cairns Point, near Tormisdale, on Islay.
154
70-foot MTB102, September 1938
During the Second World War the yard, founded in 1885 by Fairlie-apprenticed blacksmith Archibald
Malcolm Dickie, was very busy building and overhauling 'Admiralty' MFV's, MGB's, MTB's, etc. for the
government.
The new 70-foot MGB's were a very tight fit in the sheds and sometimes there was as little as 6 inches
clearance on either side as the boat was launched through the doors. Laying the keel in the right place was a
serious matter and the whole thing proved too much for yard manager Tom, the third of the founder’s six
sons, who died during the launch of one of the MGB's in 1940.
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Big 112-foot Fairmile Motor Launch
Later in the war, Dickie's built six big 112-foot long Fairmile-type motor launches (ML's) and eight big 115-
foot long Fairmile-type motor torpedo boats (MTB's) and more than a few 'standard' 61½ foot and longer
Admiralty MFV's - The yard, under the Dickie family's management, closed in 1947 but was subsequently
re-opened in the 1950's by a group of mainly Edinburgh-interested businessmen and, as Highland
Engineering Limited, was home to two Clyde-based hovercraft in 1966-67, their Tarbert to Gourock
passenger service opened by Canadian-born entertainer and wartime transatlantic aircraft ferry pilot Hughie
Green, of 'Opportunity Knocks' and his show hostess Monica Rose.
One of the two Tarbert-based hovercraft - SR.N6 010
ARDRISHAIG TRAINING BASE
A 1953 view of Ardrishaig's main road, Chalmer's Street, before the seaward buildings gave way to car parks.
Though little now seems to be on record, Admiralty small craft, under 88-feet long, would regularly transit
The Crinan Canal in wartime - Ardrishaig's Royal Hotel was taken over as a 'Wrennery' to support the
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various locally-based navy operations, H.M.S. 'Seahawk' at Ardrishaig training the big 112-foot Fairmile
Motor Launch crews in ASDIC and anti-submarine exercises in the areas around Inchmarnock, to the west
of Bute.
ROAD-BLOCKS and BOMBING RANGES

By the end of 1940, Britain had built the biggest-ever series of anti-invasion defences in all-time, 296 coastal
batteries - including 28,000 pill-boxes and 414 local road-blocks -
New Gun Emplacements at Kilchousland (NGR 752 223) and at Machrihanish (NGR 650 211);
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in Kintyre, at Kildonan (NGR 780 278) on the Campbeltown to
Carradale road and at the northern end of the seaward parapet of the bridge just to the south of the Tangy
road junction (NGR 653 278) on 'The West Road' out of Kintyre - the next nearest road-block was at Errines,
on the main road between Tarbert and Ardrishaig - none of the road-blocks, in local police control,
manned but on rare occasions.
Sunley's, an English company contracted to build all the new facilities out at Machrihanish for The Fleet Air
Arm, were also assigned to build observation posts at Skipness (NGR 912 575 and NGR 898 573)
158
and a concrete direction arrow (NGR 910 574), founded in an adjacent field and still to be seen, pointing
southwards to the start of a bombing range on the east side of Kintyre
and other observation posts (NGR 838 522 and NGR 833 506), at the Crossaig end of the range - An
observation was erected beside Carradale Golf Course (NGR 833 817) and, though unrelated to the east coast
bombing range, another post was built on Davaar Island (NGR 761 206), just beside the lighthouse.
Too, on the east side of Kintyre, Glen Lussa Lodge (NGR 763 254) was requisitioned by The Women's Land
Army, the 'Land Girls'.
A second bombing range was built, 'The Balure Range', on the west side of Kintyre, just north of Tayinloan
within the then march boundaries of Balure Farm with towers south (NGR 692 490) and north (NGR 713 503)
of a central 'plot' tower (NGR 705 499).
159
A Typical Brick-built Observation Tower with wooden balconies
The bombing target was at first a steel and concrete superstructure built on top of Sgor Cainnteach, a rock
immediately out offshore from the observation posts, these carefully positioned to ensure clear vision of the
target - Motor lauches, based at West Loch Tarbert pier, towing floating targets and Skua aircraft, towing
target drogues for fighter aircraft, also regularly ran the length of the bombing range, the observation posts
'manned' by RN and WRENS ferried up from H.M.S. 'Landrail' at Machrihanish.
A Skua aircraft used to tow targets at the Balure bombing range
At the Balure range, Swordfish aircraft, using live machine gun and 20 mm cannon ammunition, fired 4-
inch air-to-surface rockets at the targets, radio contacts being maintained throughout the attack runs with
the observation posts and central 'plot' control tower and, on occasion, the range was used for practising
night attacks - A southern observation post too (NGR 677 199) was built at Machrihanish, beside the site of
Fessenden's Radio Mast.
The 1912-built "Moncousu" (ex- Nestor) used as a bombing target off Kintyre
Later, the hulk of the 1912-built 832-ton "Moncousu", ex-'Nestor, a former cargo steamer which had been
bombed and sunk at Plymouth on April 28/29, 1941 and, after being raised in February 1943, towed north to
lie off Gigha as a target ship in October 1943 - Badly damaged and near sinking on January 5, 1944, she
sank in shallow water at her moorings and her hulk continued to be used as a bombing target till the end of
the war when she was salvaged for scrap.
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While new buildings, an aircraft hangar and two other brick buildings (NGR 677 199), were erected beside
Dalyvaddy Farm, on the fringe of the old Strath Airfield, H.M.S. 'Landrail' erected radio stations at
Drumlemble (NGR 662 188) and at Breackachy (NGR 671 268), above the Tangy road and, to divert German
bombers, a generator installation (NGR 665 269) was set up to power a carefully positioned set of 'dummy
airfield' landing lights (NGR 667 221), the 'dummy airfield', behind Drumalea Farm, lit up by a small group
of Campbeltown-based men when enemy bombers were detected in its vicinity.
THE ARMY
Apart from manning the gun emplacements throughout the war years, the army's presence in the area was but short-lived,
their involvement with the area really coming to an end in practice when Sunley, the English-based contractors, finished
building the Machrihanish runway and the miscellany of brick-built structures around the air-station and on the bombing
ranges, the army seemingly over-seeing the construction work.
The ubiquitous flat-fronted WWII Bedford truck
Thanks to the ubiquitous war-surplus Bedford Army truck, many a new post-war contractor's and haulage business flourished
and thanks to 'Valspar' paints, many an ex-Army staff car was transformed into a family saloon and even in the early 1960's,
both Bedford and Hillman were not unfamiliar sights on Britain's roads.
WWII - Hillman 10-horsepower Staff Car
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1941
1 2 3 4 1 1
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
26 27 28 29 30 31 23 24 25 26 27 28 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31
April May June

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
27 28 29 30 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30
6 Palm Sunday
11 Good Friday 21 Summer Solstice
13 Easter

1 2 3 4 5 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6
6 7 8 9 10 11 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
20 21 22 23 24 25 26 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
27 28 29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 28 29 30
31
1 2 3 4 1 1 2 3 4 5 6
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
26 27 28 29 30 31 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 28 29 30 31
30
21 Winter Solstice
31 New Year's Eve
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1941
In 1941, MacBrayne’s took over the Islay bus services operated by Neil McGibbon of Bowmore, this was MacBrayne’s first
island bus venture.
On Thursday, January 2, 1941, two JU88's conducted reconnaissance flights over The North Channel, one, seen initially
over Prestwick, going north to Inveraray and out seawards, to the west.
1941 : Sun January 5. Bardia captured by Imperial Forces. Fri 10. Russo-German pact renewed.
THE CONDORS
When the Condors were placed under German naval command on Monday, January 6, 1941, the tactical role of I/KG 40
immediately underwent a change - The aircraft would now range far out into the Atlantic to the limit of their endurance in
search of convoys. This would be their prime objective. Thus began the partnership between the Condors and the U-Boats that
became one of the legends of the Battle of the Atlantic. Fortunately for Britain, the Germans could only obtain a handful of
Condors thanks to Goering's refusal to release them in any great number for such "insignificant work" !
Herman Goering
163
A VHF radio system for communication between aircraft and U-Boats, christened Möve or ‘seagull’, was developed - The
aircraft could ‘home’ boats to a target by giving them bearings or by using voice transmission - Sometimes the functions were
reversed and the Condors were led to a convoy by the U-boats if an underwater attack was for some reason not possible.
Built in 1930 by Lithgow’s of Greenock, the “Tolt en” is typical of the cargo ships in the Atlantic convoys
A further measure was the introduction of a floating radio beacon called Schwann or ‘swan’ - When dropped by parachute in
a known position relative to a convoy, it could be used by other aircraft or U-Boats as an aid to locate their targets.
These technical innovations took time to develop to full operational efficiency, however and, for the first half of 1941, the
degree of co-operation between German air and sea units did not come up to expectations - Poor communications led to a lack
of co-ordination and locating convoys continued to depend on a measure of luck - In addition, the Germans were suffering
from a further impediment of which they were not, in fact, aware - By making use of Ultra (the information obtained from
deciphering German codes) the British were able to change the routing of a convoy after its position had been reported to
Doenitz's headquarters.
In spite of the early disappointments in working with the U-Boats and often appalling winter weather, the Condors of I/KG 40
achieved remarkable success in the first few months of 1941 and, when engaged in a purely reconnaissance role and carrying
no bomb load, able to range out some 1,000 miles into The Atlantic, to the shores of Iceland and to The Azores.
A British naval intelligence report for the period disclosed that in January and February, the unit, operating with only 15
serviceable aircraft at any one time, sank 47 ships and damaged a further 17, the majority to the north and west of Ireland -
The surviving KG 40 unit records covering these sinkings provide confirmation of Britain's predicament at this time.
In spite of the awesome reputation I/KG 40 was gaining in The Battle of the Atlantic, the reality was that the demands
imposed on it by its new role is adjunct of the U-Boats were too onerous - If Doenitz had hoped that the information about
convoys gathered by the Condors would irreversibly tip the balance in his favour lie was soon disappointed. Seldom were there
more than a few of them operational.
This elementary tact must have escaped the mention of the OKW, however, for the war diary of the ObdM for February 14,
1941 contains the almost incredible piece of information that the Fuhrer had agreed to a request for the transfer of Lw200
Condors to the Mediterranean 'provided the naval operations staff agreed - Doenitz’ reaction to this suggestion can only be
imagined but it serves to illustrate the OKW's (and Hitler's) ignorance of the indispensable role that these aircraft and their
crews were playing in The Battle of the Atlantic - The idea of depriving the German Navy, which was by far the most
effective arm of the Wehrmacht at that particular time, of one of its most valuable weapons was ludicrous and must have been
greeted with disbelief by the staff at the British Admiralty.
There is a story that one morning Doenitz arrived at his headquarters and asked how many Condors would be available that
day - When told that there was only one, Doenitz shrugged his shoulders in a gesture of resignation and walked away - He
was utterly convinced that with enough U-boats and accurate information about the position of convoys, he could bring about
Britain's defeat - In the winter of 1940/1941, it was a close run thing but, the prize escaped from Doenitz' grasp.
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Karl Doenitz
Bad weather prevented anti-shipping operations on several days in January but on Saturday, January l1th a
Condor under the command of Oberleutnant Franz Burmeister was shot down by the mate of the ocean-
going tug "Seaman" manning a Lewis gun while it was making a low-level attack 320 kilometres north-west
of Malin Head - Burmeister and two of his crew were rescued - picked up and landed at Greenock - but
three others died.
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It was Burmeister who had on Saturday, November 9, 1940, made an unsuccessful attack on the "Empress of
Japan" (she later re-named "Empress of Scotland"), the sister-ship of the ill-fated "Empress of Britain".
On Wednesday, January 15, 1941, a JU88 roared down a rain-swept Great Glen to drop a large bomb at the entrance to The
Caledonian Canal but no damage was done.
1941 : Mon January 13. = Full Moon = Thu 16. Malta heavily attacked by the German Luftwaffe’s Stuka bombers.
Sat 18. Dive-bombing attacks on Malta began. Sun 19. Kassala (Sudan) re-occupied by British.
On Tuesday, January 21, 1941, the steamship "Tregarthen" was bombed 20 miles west of Colonsay while in the inbound
convoy HX101 and, at 11.20 a.m. that same morning, a Condor, flying at about 300-feet from Bordeaux - Merignac,
dropped four SC250 bombs on the 4,427-ton "Temple Mead" on passage from Rosario to the River Plate with grain - Two of
the bombs hit the vessel amidships, another two bombs falling about thirty-feet away from her hull and the ship sinking with
the loss of 14 of her crew.
An hour later, a second Condor sank the ocean rescue tug "Englishman" "about 100 kilometres north of
Malin Head", off the west side of Kintyre.
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THE “ENGLISHMAN”
The "Englishman" at Campbeltown's Old Quay and two 'blurred' men in a dinghy
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The "Englishman" and the "Restive", two 9-10 knot rescue tugs, left Campbeltown at about 1830 GMT on
the evening of Sunday, January 20, 1941. It had been an appalling winter for weather and bad weather, an
easterly gale, blew up as they headed out west through The North Channel. During the night the two tugs
got separated and the "Englishman", unknown to anyone on the "Restive" that horrible night, broke away
and headed round The Mull of Kintyre and away to the north, up the west side of Kintyre towards Gigha, to
seek shelter.
Shortly after 12 noon the following day, a Bordeaux-based German Navy 'Condor' bomber from I/KG40
group, at the end of her range, found a break in the cloud, saw the "Englishman" and dropped an SC250
bomb 'down her funnel'. The 'Condor' pilot, having to 'dead-reckon' his position in the bad weather,
logged her sinking as being about 100 kilometres, around 60 miles, north of Malin Head.
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The plaque on The Merchant Navy War Memorial at Tower Hill, London, listing the crew of the
"Englishman"
Tea mug in hand, the Chief Engineer of the "Englishman", U.H. Dodd M.C. and 'the oil drums'.
Just an hour before the sinking of the "Englishman", another Condor had sunk the 4,427 ton "Temple Mead"
off the Donegal coast and it could be said that both ships were indeed just 'plain unlucky' for it had only been
a fortnight since the Luftwaffe had very grudgingly placed these Condor aircraft under German naval
command !
The tiny "Seaman"
Indeed, on January 10, 1941, just ten days before the disappearance of the "Englishman" and only four days
after the Condors under German naval command had begun flying out from Bordeaux, another ocean rescue
tug, the "Seaman", then some 200 miles off Malin Head, had been attacked by a Condor flown by one
Oberleutnant Franz Burmeister - The mate of the "Seaman", armed with a Lewis gun, shot down the
Condor.
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Though three of the Condor's crew died, Burmeister, who on November 9, 1940 had unsuccessfully attacked
the Canadian Pacific liner Empress of Japan, she later to be renamed and become familiar as the three-
funnelled Empress of Scotland on the North Atlantic run from Liverpool and The Clyde, was rescued along
with two of his crew.
To those on the Restive and at Campbeltown, the disappearance of the Englishman would prove a matter for
debate and conjecture till after the war.
The Donegal Air Corridor

Until the decision was made to use Lough Erne as a base for flying boats to patrol the Atlantic, planes had first to fly north,
then go around the coast of Donegal so as to avoid any infringement of the neutral Free State territory, before going on their
way out into the Atlantic to provide protection to shipping convoys against the German U-Boats.
A meeting took place between the Irish and British Governments on January 21, 1941 and permission given by the deValera-
led government for the planes from Lough Erne to fly across that short portion of Free State territory from Belleek to
Ballyshannon - This flight path became known as “The Donegal Corridor”, the boundaries of this path were clearly defined
as was the height that planes would fly - They were not permitted to fly over the Irish Army Camp at Finner and, for the
benefit of the Germans and to preserve the state's neutrality, the purpose of the flights was supposed to be for air/sea rescue
exercises.
This agreement meant that the un-protected gap in mid Atlantic was reduced by at least 100 miles - The Catalina and
Sunderland flying boats had a range of almost 2,000 miles for a return journey and could stay airborne for almost 20 hours.
Before the United States entered into the conflict in Europe the country supplied Britain with much needed supplies and
equipment - The Catalina flying boats that flew from Lough Erne were all American built and owned - Many U.S. airmen
came across to England and flew with the R.A.F. before the end of 1941 - One of the best known of these U.S. airmen was
Ensign Tuck Smith who, as a pilot on a Lough Erne based Catalina, spotted the famous German battleship "Bismarck" as she
tried to make her way to occupied France
The first official flight took place, a month later, on February 21, 1941 when a Stranraer Flying boat travelled along the
corridor to escort the crippled steamship "Jessmore" to port.
Irish President de Valera, himself born in America, put his own interpretation on the status of flying boat crews who came
down in Free State territory as a result of crashes and ordered that these airmen were to be classified as 'mariners' who then,
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by some ancient law, were not subject to internment and the men quickly returned across the border.
Thousands of patrols were flown from Lough Erne along the Corridor, at least nine U-Boats were confirmed sunk, many more
damaged and thousands of tons of shipping saved - From 1939 until 1941 before the Lough Erne bases were set up, the U-
Boat packs had sunk 1,017 allied supply ships.
A total of 28 Short Sunderland flying boats that were either based on Lough Erne or diverted to it due to weather conditions
crashed along the western seaboard with the loss of some 184 crewmen. Thirty Catalina’s crashed under similar circumstances
with the loss of 136 crewmen.
Irish Neutrality during World War II

While the Free State of Ireland were officially neutral, they were in many ways directly involved and played a major part in
assisting the Allied countries at that time and the policy of neutrality did not prevent vast numbers of Irish men and women
from serving in the armed forces not only of Britain but in the forces of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
The Irish Free State was often ridiculed for having adopted this policy and even accused of giving assistance to Germany but a
wartime investigation by the British MI-5 into the Irish Government’s involvement with Nazi spies concluded there was no
evidence of a military pact with Hitler - The files, held in the Public Records Office, revealed how concerned the British
were that the Nazi’s could invade through the Free State during the Second World War but, an MI-5 report concluded that
there was no evidence of any Irish Government implications with German activities and, on the contrary, it appeared that the
Irish authorities had been able to check suspicions about any extremist groups' involvement with Germany captured.
The success rate of German spies placed in Ireland was pathetic as was their attempts to set up a working arrangement with
subversive groups there, spies who were placed here from U-Boats or parachuted from aircraft had a rather short shelf live and
generally were captured within a few days of their arrival - One of them was placed in Kerry and off he set for Dublin with
his pack on his back - The road was parallel to a railway and seeing a Kerry man he enquired what time the next train went to
Dublin - The Kerry man said he did not know - the last train to travel on this line had been 15 years ago and he had no idea
when the next one was due !
Another mistruth in circulation then was that The Irish Free State Government permitted U-Boats to be refueled in Irish Ports -
In fact The Free State did not have enough fuel for it’s own needs let alone have any for U-Boats and the only fuel in plentiful
supply there was wood and turf, used in the fireplaces of Irish homes - U-Boats did not run well on these products !
Perhaps the most important political factor was the policy of neutrality qualified by Mr. de Valera’s guarantee that his
government would not allow the Free State to be used as a base for operations against Britain - This guarantee was the only
safeguard against a potentially dangerous consequence of the neutrality policy - At the time the guarantee was given it
appeared to relate only to military operations but, in practice, it was given a much wider interpretation which was to the
advantage of the Allied forces.
Nazi philosophy was full of race snobbery, they considered the Irish as a rustic and unpretentious people, in the Nazi
hierarchy of races the Irish would not have ranked very high and in fact race-wise Germany had much more in common with
the English people - The Nazis considered the members of illegal organizations in Ireland to be better at talking than at doing
and therefore not much use in helping their agents.
During the war there was a great danger that electric generating stations in Northern Ireland would be have been destroyed in
German air raids - Secret plans were made to have electricity supplied from the Free State if this should happen and it was
during this period that plans were laid to build the generating stations on the River Erne in the Free State side of the border -
This scheme had a dual purpose for not only would it produce electricity but also the drainage that was necessary to provide
the necessary water flow would free hundreds of acres of land in Upper Lough Erne for agricultural purposes.
The case for The Irish Free State has been badly presented and deliberately kept hidden over the years - Claims have often
been made out that Ireland was the only English speaking nation not to join in the conflict for the freedom of small nations and
that she only adopted a policy of pro-allied neutrality after America became officially involved in Europe at the end of 1941 -
Ireland had been accused of sitting on the fence until it became obvious how the conflict was going and it is still argued that
The Free State was guilty of a serious breach of trust in failing to open up its shipping ports along its coast to Britain -
Nothing could be further from the truth.
In actual fact, Britain did not have the spare manpower to staff these ports nor had they the heavy guns required to defend
them - Had the ports been handed back to the British it is almost sure that Germany would have invaded Ireland.
Should the de Valera-led government have given in to pressure from Churchill and his allies, there is no doubt but that Hitler
would have considered this as a sign that Ireland had abandoned neutrality as Hitler had a plan prepared for the invasion of
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Ireland code named the 'Green Plan' - Had Hitler invaded the country, the German army would have gone through it like the
proverbial dose of salts just as they had run through Belgium and Holland - The west coast of Britain would then have been
open to invasion and, as long as The Free State remained neutral it protected Britain from an invasion from this source -
Details have come to hand recently about another Nazi plan to invade Northern Ireland, this was coded 'Plan Kathleen' and
details were in the hands of the British M I 5 secret service.
Hermann Goertz, the German spy who was to organize the 'Plan Kathleen' in the north with the assistance of the leaders of
subversive groups, actually landed in Westmeath and had no idea of which side of the Irish border he was on - So much for
his knowledge of Irish geography, he was soon
Apart from the support given by the government of the Free State, the people themselves made their own contribution to the
allied war effort. Over 160,000 Irish men and women went to Britain and as volunteers joined the armed forces, this does not
include the many Irish who were already resident in Britain and joined up nor does it include the thousands who served with
the United States and Canadian forces - From Northern Ireland, which was part of the U.K. anyway, 12,000 volunteers
joined up, many of these had crossed the border from neighbouring counties, this was an average of 2,000 per county, and the
average for the Free State was 6,000 per county.
Thousands of more Irish men and women who were too old for active service worked in the factories and in the building of
aerodromes and, in total, at least a half a million Irish people were involved directly and indirectly in the Allied war effort -
Not a bad record for a so called neutral state that Churchill accused in his D-Day victory speech of failing to come to the aid of
his country in it’s hour of need - Two of the other principal European neutral countries did nothing like this and made huge
amounts of money selling their products to the Axis nations - The concession of 'The Donegal Corridor' coupled to the huge
numbers of Irish who fought with the Allies more than compensated for the retention of the ports.
Of all this wartime activity, the people in the counties along the border between Northern Ireland and the Irish Free State
neither understood the politics behind the arrangement nor did they much care - The development of the air bases in
Fermanagh gave much needed employment, the wages and conditions were better than those offered in agriculture and, while
there were restrictions regarding the employment of people from The Irish Free State on the aerodrome construction, in
traditional Irish fashion loopholes were found in the laws so that these people could get work and earn a decent wage.
The Irish Free State did not escape from the German bombing - Wexford, Dublin, Louth, Kildare, Carlow and Wicklow
suffered death and destruction in air raids - The Irish Free State too was excluded from the Marshall Aid scheme, which was
set up to help small nations who had suffered economically as a result of the war - The Director of the National Library in
Dublin who was a skilled cryptographer managed to break the German codes while studying messages from the German
Legation - The British Code and Cipher experts had failed to do this and the information was passed to them by the Irish
authorities.
Many pundits over the years have given their version of the neutrality question, versions based often on opinions rather than
hard fact - Although Ireland was technically neutral, she was in essence no more neutral than was Roosevelt in the period
before Pearl Harbour - A vast number of Irishmen and women fought in the British Forces with great gallantry - Hardly any
fought on the Axis side - Many Irish men and women worked in Britain in munitions factories, building aerodromes, etc -
Very few Irish people went to work in Germany - British servicemen were made welcome in Ireland but Germans were
interned and only if they deliberately gave themselves up were British servicemen interned - If British troops strayed across
the border accidentally they were helped to get back - If aircraft had to force land, aviation petrol or simple spare parts were
got to them within 48 hours so that they could take off again and too, an eminent Irish civil servant who was an expert linguist
listened in daily to German radio broadcasts to their spies in Ireland and passed the information to the Irish Intelligence who in
turn passed it on immediately to British Intelligence.
Irish President deValera, who kept a close rein on his administration, was no fool and knew that it was absolutely essential
that Ireland should remain officially neutral - After 800 years of struggle, she had finally achieved partial independence from
Britain only 18 years previously and, if she had either leased bases to Britain or had come into the war on Britain’s side, the
consequences would have been serious for both countries.
The delicate balance which deValera held between the extreme republicans and the others would have been broken and he
might well have fallen from power, or a second civil war might even have started Anti-British espionage would have
increased - Recruitment into the British forces would have dried up and, in the case of abandonment of neutrality, Ireland
would have been subjected to bombing raids from Germany and Britain would have had to provide anti-aircraft batteries and
fighter squadrons on a considerable scale at just that stage in the war when these were most needed in Britain.
The idea that Irish neutrality was an act of revenge against Britain is a complete nonsense - It was no more petty revenge than
the U.S.A.’s neutrality prior to Pearl Harbour - In short, during the war Britain had every reason to be grateful for the help
provided by Ireland - Ireland, North and South, was a larder, a massive source of manual and industrial labour and gallant
servicemen and gave important assistance in many ways.
1941 : Wed January 22. Tobruk captured by Australians.

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1941 : Thu January 23 - A Whitley (P 5041) aircraft with a full load of bombs exploded and caught fire on
impact when she hit The Mull of Kintyre (NGR 598094).
1941 : Mon January 27. = New Moon = Thu 30. Derna captured by Imperial Forces.
1941 : Sat February 1. Agordat captured by British. Mon 3. Cyrene occupied by British. Thu 6. Benghazi occupied by
Australians.
A 1941 Concert
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Campbeltown Courier Advert – Saturday, February 8, 1941
Campbeltown’s Second and Final Direct Attack Of The War
Stranraer – Larne ferry “Princess Maud” strafed by German bombers heading for Campbeltown
Campbeltown suffered its second and final direct attack of the war, on Sunday, February 9, 1941 (not
February 19 as reported in 'The Campbeltown Courier') when fourteen enemy aircraft were plotted operating
over The Irish Sea between 2128 hours and midnight. After attacking the Stranraer to Larne ferry "Princess
Maud", she undamaged but one soldier on board slightly wounded, the enemy aircraft turned towards
Kintyre and dropped eight mines in Campbeltown Loch, two exploding on land at the Askomil, on the north
side of the loch, damaging houses and killing two people.
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Procurator Fiscal Stewart’s House
The more prominent of the casualties was 60-year old Archibald Stewart, the town's procurator fiscal, whose
house was completely demolished by an incendiary bomb. The other casualty was Frederick Pendle,
Resident Engineer for The Campbeltown and Mid-Argyll Electric Supply Company, who was in his home,
known as 'The Bungalow', at Askomil Walk. A native of Suffolk, he had worked in Thurso before coming to
Campbeltown just four years earlier to look after the town's electricity supplies which had first been switched
on in 1935.
German Parachute Mine
Fifteen other people were also injured in the attack as the enemy aircraft machine-gunned shipping around
the harbour and dropped bombs and incendiaries around the area and near Machrihanish airfield - On
Tuesday. August 28, 1990, one of the mines was found off Baraskomil and detonated at Kilchousland Bay.
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In February 1941 too, two motor lorries, a horse-drawn cart and a mobile crane, in the presence of a crowd
of interested spectators, dismantled the Campbeltown Cross and took away for safe storage till the hostilities
were ended.
1941 : Tue February 11. = Full Moon = Wed 12. General Erwin Rommel arrives in Tripoli with his Panzer tanks to
battle against Allied forces in North Africa. Sat 15. Kismayu occupied by African troops.
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February 1941 Adverts
Glass Recycling
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Another February 1941 Advert
1941 : Wed February 26. = New Moon = Mogadishu (Italian Somaliland) occupied by African troops - German
mechanised troops in Libya.
1941 : Sat March 1. SS Chief Heinrich Himmler visits Auschwitz concentration camp and tells its commandant to prepare it
for 130,000 prisoners. Tue 4. British raid on Lofoten Islands carried out by commandos specially trained in Scotland.
Gunther Prien and “U-47”

On March 8, 1941, Gunther Prien's "U-47", which had torpedoed the “Royal Oak” in Scapa Flow on October 14, 1939, was
sunk south of Iceland, at 60° 47' N, 19° 13' W, by repeated depth-charge attacks from the destroyers "Wolverine" and
"Verity", their confirmation being the unusual sight of an orange glow under the sea and the sound of a U-Boat breaking up.
Prien, the darling of the German press, though not of his crew to whom he was an insufferable martinet, was seemingly dead.
From that time on however and especially since 1945 there were persistent rumours that Prien had died in a concentration
camp after a court martial for mutiny. These rumours are very circumstantial and often supported by apparently reputable
witnesses who claim to have seen Prien in various camps.
After the war the hitherto unsubstantiated story suddenly received apparent verification for, on Thursday, March 3, 1949, the
"Braunschweger Zeitung" published the following letter -
"Prien was neither drowned while bathing nor did he fail to return from an operational patrol. He died on the Wolchow in the
ranks of a punishment battalion. A naval lieutenant who was a friend of Prien showed me a snapshot of his grave surmounted
by a wooden cross on which his name and rank were painted. Prien and his whole crew were sent to a punishment battalion for
making false claims of sinkings and exaggerated tonnage, they were sent to the Russian Front".
The writer of the letter, who signed himself Hellmut Kuckat and gave an address in Isenbuttel, went on to add, "I base my
statements on talks with a former naval lieutenant who was in my regiment on the Russian Front in the autumn of 1944, he
having been degraded and transferred to our punishment battalion.
There must always be a certain amount of doubt as to Prien's fate. Perhaps the mystery of Gunther Prien's end will just remain
a mystery ?
1941 : Sun March 9. Italian offensive in Albania. Tue 11. Lend-Lease Bill signed by President Roosevelt. Thu 13. = Full
Moon = Clydebank is devastated by 59,400 incendiary bombs as 272 tons of high explosive is dropped on the town by
some 200 German bombers, 528 people die and more than 800 injured in the worst German bombing raid to strike Scotland.
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Only 7 houses were left undamaged in Clydebank in March 1941
1941 : Thu March 13 - One of the German Junkers bombers on the Clydebank air raid was reported to have
crashed high in the hills above Brackley, behind Carradale.
On Saturday, March 15, 1941, the Clyde-based tug "Warrior" sank after hitting a mine.
1941 : Sun March 16. Berbera re-occupied by British. Fri 21. Jarabub captured by British. Mon 24. British Somaliland
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regained. Thu 27. = New Moon = Revolt in Yugoslavia. Keren captured by British and Indian forces. Fri 28. Battle of
Cape Malapan began and Italian fleet routed by the British. Sun 30. Rommel opens attack in North Africa.
The Essential Workers Order introduced conscription in March 1941 - Under this, women between 20 and 30 became liable
for conscription into war work - Women with children under 14 were exempt but many volunteered anyway encouraged by
the introduction of day care nurseries.
WOMEN AT WAR
With the outbreak of war, the majority of men were called upon to fight against Germany - This created a vast labour
shortage and, in December 1941, The ‘National Service Act’ was passed by Parliament - All unmarried women between the
ages of 20-30 were called up, later this was also extended to include married women - Women with young children and those
that were pregnant were exempt - The United Kingdom was the first country to implement conscription for women.
WWII - ATS / ATA Uniform
The (ATS) Auxiliary Territorial Service, formed in 1938
When conscription was introduced in 1941 the women were on an equal footing with the men apart from pay - they received
2/3rds of the male pay - and were also subject to military law - They wore a uniform of black shoes, khaki uniforms and
even their underwear was khaki ! They did many jobs that they were not intended to do - They helped on anti-aircraft guns,
the searchlights and radar used for spotting enemy planes - They were allowed to aim the guns but not to fire them - Many
actually did fire the guns and ‘have a go’ themselves - UNOFFICIALLY ! They became lorry drivers, motorbike riders and
translators among other various occupations that wouldn’t have been considered their domain before the war - Peak strength
of the ATS was reached in mid 1943 with 210,308 being involved.
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The (ATA) Air Transport Auxiliary

flying aircraft from factories to airfields - Over 50% of women pilots flew all kinds of heavy bombers and fighters.
The (WAAF) Women’s Auxiliary Air Force

wore blue uniforms and were smarter in appearance than the ATS - The members of this force were not allowed to actually
fight in the war - At the end of the war 22% of all personnel on an airfield were women though they were not allowed to
fight. Although by then 70% did skilled work.
(ENSA) Entertainment National Service Association

ENSA played a big part in keeping the morale of not only the armed forces but also the people at home on a high - They
performed in factories and halls around the country and also toured abroad, visiting the different armed forces camps - They
achieved over 2.5 million live performances throughout the UK and overseas.
The members of ENSA covered all the talents that you see on the television today - They were singers, comedians, dancers,
musicians, actors, mimics etc. - A lot of the performers went on to become household names after the war - Tommy Trinder,
Tommy Cooper, Spike Milligan, just a few names that started out as members of ENSA - They would broadcast on the only 2
radio stations available at the time, the “Home Service” and the “Forces Programme” - Each performer would receive a
maximum of £10.00 per week. Women played a huge part in ENSA, the likes of Gracie Fields, Vera Lynn or, as she is now,
Dame Vera Lynn, 'The Forces Sweetheart' and Anne Shelton, 'The Forces Favourite', as she was known - These were only a
few of the women that helped stir listeners with their memories and dreams of a better world.
The (WLA) Women’s Land Army (reformed in 1939)
They had originally been formed to work on the land in the First World War and then been disbanded - By
the end of the war they totalled about 90,000 - The women were issued with brown breeches, green jerseys and brown felt
hats - The uniforms normally had to be adjusted by the girls to fit properly - Though they were sometimes treated like it,
they were never a military organisation - The Land Army filled the vacancies left by the men going to war; over 45,000 had
left the agriculture industry by mid 1940 - This coupled with the fact that crop production increased by 50% meant that many
of the women often worked 14-hour days - They would be involved in all aspects of farm work - Many would rise at
4.00a.m., wash in cold water with a jug and basin and have no bathroom facilities and, there would be an outside loo ! They
might have tea saved in a Thermos flask from the night before and have bread and dripping before starting their chores, first of
which would probably be milking the cows.
Because of the efforts of the Land Army food imports dropped from 2/3rds of total food eaten in this country to just 1/3rd -
They could be felling trees, building haystacks, digging ditches, mucking out or caring for the livestock - The work was
very hard and tiresome - A Land Army girl was paid £2.75 for working about a 60-hour week and, out of that, they had to
pay for their keep, which might be £1.40 a week. For some, depending where they were billeted, it could mean a long walk
home after finishing work.
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Just the luxury of a hot bath after a hard day was enough to help most unwind, rather than go to a local dance which
sometimes wasn’t quite so local being maybe 2-3 miles away and, NO transport - A visit to the local picture house would
also be an entertainment to look forward to - Some of the Land Army girls were in private billets and many got homesick -
If they were in hostels they often managed to settle easier, being together.
They came from all corners of the country and for most it would be the first time they had been away from their parents -
They had to travel, on their own, to whichever part of the country they had been instructed to work.
The Women’s Royal Naval Service (WRNS) was formed in 1916 they were the first of the Armed
forces to recruit women.
Their role in the early days was to take over the jobs of cooks, wireless operators, code experts and electricians - By the end
of 1944 the numbers of recruits had grown to a staggering 74,000 doing over 200 different jobs - The WREN’s, as they were
called, made a significant contribution to the running and maintenance of many naval activities ashore, served over seas, in
the Fleet Air Arm, Coastal Forces, Combined Operations and the Royal Marines - They carried out varied work including
driving, being engineers, radar operators, weather forecasters and operating powerful harbour launches - Wren’s weren’t
allowed to go to war on fighting ships and they did not receive the same status or pay as men.
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It was because of the success of the WRNS that other organisations like the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) and the
Women’s Royal Air Force (WRAF) were formed - The WREN’s were disbanded in 1993 and since then women have joined
the Royal Navy on an equal footing with men - Women now serve on at least one third of all ships, the only area that they are
still excluded from is the submarine service - They are equal in jobs and working conditions.
The (WVS) Women’s Voluntary Service formed in 1938,

were involved in supplying a variety of emergency services - Their watchword was “Never Say No” - They wore a uniform
of grey/green skirts and jackets with a school styled hat - One of the first tasks the WVS had at the out set of war was to help
evacuate 1.5 million children and mothers from major cities around the country - To demonstrate how much these women
were involved with the evacuees, one of the women actually travelled 126,490 miles in 3 years and escorted 2,526 children
under the age of five.
They were involved in lots of ways with the war effort - They opened ‘clubs’ for mothers, ran communal feeding centres,
provided transport for hospital patients, staffed sick bays and hostels - They provided help and assistance wherever it was
needed - When refugees started to come to Britain, the WVS provided food and clothing for them - They assisted families
who had been ‘bombed’ out of their homes by providing washing facilities, clothing and meals - They helped gather
information after an ‘air raid’ about who had lost their homes, lives, family etc, sometimes having to inform the loved ones
about family losses - They helped provide furniture and belongings to people who had lost everything in the bombing raids -
They worked tirelessly throughout the war, in many, many other spheres of aid - Today’s nurseries and crèches have evolved
from the National Day Nurseries set up by the WVS so that women with small children were able to go to work and help the
war effort.
SHEMARA
A post-war photograph of “Shemara”, her main (after) mast then shortened and moved forward onto the bridge deck
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Commissioned by the flamboyant Sir Bernard (later Lord) Docker, who made his fortune as a director of
Anglo-Argentine Tramways, Midland Bank, Thomas Cook and Sons and was chairman of the BSA motor-
cycle company, though he probably best remembered however as chairman of Daimler Cars - the 870-ton,
£100,000, 212-foot long, 16-not, "Shemara", a sister-ship of the “Trenora” (she later the “Sans Paur”), was
launched at Thornycroft’s Woolston yard in April 1938 and delivered to her owner in July that year.
Although well equipped with major war ships in World War II, the Royal Navy was short on smaller vessels
for coastal and harbour patrols, and any ship greater than 100 feet was likely to be requisitioned. Many a
yacht was snatched from the Mediterranean and the Caribbean playgrounds, including "Shemara".
Requisitioned by The Admiralty at the beginning of hostilities, "Shemara" was fitted with a 4-inch gun on
her forecastle and assigned to patrol duties - On Friday, November 22, 1940, accompanied by HMS "Rion"
and HMS "Valera", patrolling south of St. Sutherland Head, Isle of Wight at 2:44 a.m., a radar contact was
obtained 10 miles to the southwest. Lt. Brydon on the “Rion” ordered a turn towards the contact and
increased speed to try and intercept it and ordering the "Valera" to fire a flare which showed a German E
boat rolling in the swells and unable to maneuver.
Their bow armament was unable to train on the E-Boat, "Rion" and "Shemara" opened stern-fire on the E-
boat which responded with small arms fire till a shell from "Rion" hit the E-Boat’s bridge, the Germans then
quickly surrendering - "Rion" then going alongside and a boarding party of four, aided by two German
sailors, then putting out the fires and taking the captured E-Boat to the naval base in Portsmouth Harbour.
"Shemara" herself would be responsible for the rescuing of the crew of the tanker “British Inventor”, which
sank some 30 minutes after striking a magnetic mine; towing to port the “Baron Renfrew” , abandoned by her
crew because of the presence of two unexploded bombs in her cargo holds and would be given credit for
spotting convoy of enemy tankers leaving Brest.
Ordered to The Clyde for patrol duties, "Shemara" escorted the Dutch submarine “O-24” out to the Wolf
Rock, “O-24” going on to patrol The Bay of Biscay as part of the so called 'Iron Ring' off Brest harbour
(France). This 'Iron Ring' - thirteen submarines disposed in an arc of 240 miles radius from St. Nazaire and
spaced about 40 miles apart between 44° and 48° north - should have prevented the German battle cruisers
“Gneisenau”, “Scharnhorst” and the heavy cruiser “Prinz Eugen” from leaving port, the German ships
however eventually making a successful dash up The English Channel, through The Straits of Dover in
daylight, on Thursday, February 12, 1942.
With the Navy’s main training centre at Portland, H.M.S. "Osprey", badly damaged in a bombing raid in
August 1940 and H.M.S. "Nimrod" formally commissioned at Campbeltown in October 1940, "Shemara" was
now transformed into an ASDIC training ship and sent to The Clyde where, 'as gracefully as a swan with her
cygnets', she would would sail in and out of Campbeltown Loch daily with her flotilla of training submarines
in her wake until February 1946 when, the training base closed the previous month, she departed for the final
time.
THE FRENCH CONNECTION

For some time, Campbeltown played host to three French ships that had escaped Hitler's clutches - The
near idential torpedo boat destroyers, now renumbered, "La Cordeliere (H 25)", "L'Incomprise (H 47)" and
the "La Flore (H 63)", the ships taking part in anti-submarine exercises whilst at Campbeltown and all three
ships surviving the war and returning to France in 1945.
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The French destroyer "Cordeliere" in a heavy sea
The French "L'Incomprise" - a La Melpomene-class Torpedo Boat Destroyer
COASTAL COMMAND
In April 1941, effective operational control of Coastal Command was passed from the RAF to the Navy and proper co-
ordination began between the Command's aircraft and the ships they were supposed to protect. Convoy routes were also
shifted northwards and increased cover provided by aircraft based in Iceland.
The good news in April, at least to some, was the Town Council's decision to allow Sunday football
matches, a decision strongly opposed by a delegation of local ministers.
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1941 : Thu April 3. Benghazi evacuated by British - Pro-Axis coup d'etat in Iraq. Sat 5. Addis Ababa captured from the
Italians by Imperial Forces. Sun 6. Greece and Yugoslavia invaded by Germans. Mon 7. 229 British bombers dropped 40,000
incendiary bombs on Kiel, the heaviest British attack on a single target since the war began. Tue 8. Massawa occupied by
British forces. Wed 9. Salonika occupied by Germans. Thu 10. British forces in action in Greece. Fri 11. = Full Moon =
French Lieutenant Alain de Ray became the first person to succeed in escaping from the German P.O.W. camp in Colditz
Castle. Sat 12. First extensive daylight raids by R.A.F. Sun 13. Belgrade occupied by Germans - Bardia given up by the
British. Thu 17. Yugoslavia surrenders after 12 days of fighting German troops sent in from Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria,
all Axis countries.
1941 : Sun April 20, 1941, the 421 ton trawler "Topaze", on anti-submarine duties, had sunk after being in
collision with the battleship H.M.S. "Rodney".
1941 : Sat April 26. = New Moon = Egyptian frontier, at Sollum, crossed by Axis forces Sun 27. Germans captured
Athens.
April 1941 and the famous Keil School, which had first opened at Southend on November 29, 1915 and then,
following a fire on December 7, 1924, had moved to the one-time home of Dumbarton-shipbuilder Peter
Denny, returned to Kintyre, to Clachan’s Balinakill House, the home of the school’s original benefactor Sir
William Mackinnon in April 1941 and remained there until the end of the war.
1941 : Thu May 1. Evacuation of Imperial Forces from Greece completed.
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1941 : Tue May 6 – Wed 7. A second German bombing raid on Clydebank kills another 434 people and though two nights of
bombing Greenock kill 280 people, injure another 1,200 and destroy 1,000 homes, Greenock’s shipyards escape damage.
Wed 7. A week of bombing begins for Liverpool, 1,450 people are killed across Merseyside.
ALL ABOUT CONVOYS

Convoys were classified in two ways - those designated 'SC' were slow convoys, unable to average 9-knots and,
conversersely, the 'HX' convoys had a minimum speed of in excess of 9-knots - Outward-bound convoys were designated
either as 'OA', from Britain's east coast ports, or 'OA', from her west coast ports.
In the case of most convoys of WWII, merchant ships' names were not used at sea, the vessels identified simply by two digits
- the first being the number of the column to which the vessel was located, reading from left to right and the second number
representing its position in the convoy column, reading from front to back - thus number '43' would be the third ship in
column four.
Normally the ships would keep station in columns, the ships about two cables (400 yards) distance apart and the columns
themselves about five cables (1,000 yards) apart - This was considered to be the best formation in case of attack by U-Boats
but, the distances could be shortened if the convoy was threatened from the air so that the ships could give each other more
effective mutual support.
The practice of zig-zagging in formation was discontinued in April 1941 for slow convoys and a system of 'evasive steering'
introduced so that when a convoy was considered to be heading into danger the Convoy Commodore could, at a given signal,
turn the convoy 40 degrees or whatever at a time in either direction - This manoeuvre altered the relative positions for the
time being, but, once the normal course was resumed, the ships were once again on their correct stations.
A 25-ship convoy + 4 escorts, attacked by 4 U-Boats - A 49-ship convoy + 8 escorts, attacked by 6 U-Boats
5 ships lost and 0 U-Boats sunk 6 ships lost and 2 U-Boats sunk
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In late 1942, a British Operational Research Team, guided by a Professor Blackett, came to the almost irrefutable conclusion
that, while the number of ships sunk in any convoy depended entirely upon the strength of the defending and attacking forces,
the losses bore no relation whatever to the number of ships in the convoy. Therefore, said Blackett, double the size of your
convoys - and by so doing halve the number of convoys - and double the strength of your escorts and halve your percentage
losses.
His actual theory was - 'whereas the area of a convoy is proportional to the square of its dimensions, the length of the
perimeter to be occupied by the escorts is proportionate only to the length of the radius'.
Thus, a square of ocean that is covered by 49 ships in 7 rows of 7 has a radius from centre to perimeter only some 40%
greater than that for a square of 25 ships in 5 rows of 5 and, with an escort force double the normal strength, the protection of
a larger convoy was a proportionally easier task - see above.
'High Frequency Direction Finding' - 'Huff – Duff'
The British came up with yet another ingenious device, 'high frequency direction finding', immediately known around the
fleet as 'Huff Duff', the first set installed on board the destroyer H.M.S. "Hesperus" on March 12, 1940 and, because in the
early stages of development electrical interference problems made it unworkable for ships to have both radar and 'huff-duff',
the sets not becoming commonplace until mid-1943.
This one really foxed the Germans, because as soon as a U-boat sighted a convoy and sent its obligatory transmission, it only
required two escort ships in the vicinity to take a bearing to precisely pin-point the U-boat's position. The escorts simply
signalled the nearby Hunter/Killer group who arrived so quickly that the U-boat hardly had time to dive.
Usually the sight of a high white bow wave was the first thing the Germans saw. The U-boats began to be sunk at an alarming
rate and, to the end of the war, the Germans incredibly never discovered how the surface ships pinpointed them so quickly.
Many theories were put forward by the U-boats' commanders and the High Command but, never the right one - see above.
In the mid-winter of 1942/43, the U-boats introduced a slight change in tactics in that they lined up some 20 boats in line
abreast about one mile from the next - They then swept a lane in the anticipated path of a known convoy - The first boat to
sight the convoy followed the standing instructions and sent out a high frequency signal which was relayed to the rest.
As the ASDIC temporarily lost contact when the attacker was directly over its target, the U-Boat had a brief opportunity to
change depth and to alter course and speed in an attempt to escape further detection
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By using a device called a 'Hedgehog' to throw numerous small pre-set depth charges about 100 yards ahead of the attacking
ship, there was less chance of giving the U-Boat any opportunity to escape the ASDIC sweep
A 'Hedgehog' depth-charge attack on a U-Boat, the attacker abeam of the charge going off
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The U-Boats had soon learned that it was generally profitable to attack convoys at night, it relatively easy to slip deep under
the escorts and come up in between the columns of ships, the oil tankers usually in the centre of the convoys - An ASDIC
could not detect a surfaced U-Boat and, while the huge bulk of the merchant ships was clearly visible to the U-Boat captains,
their own small conning towers were not clearly visible, against the blackness of the sea, to anyone looking out from the
height of a ship's bridge, nor were the conning towers readily able to be spotted by radar - Also, once inside the convoy, it
was essentially but 'child's play' to steer between the lines of ships, turning the U-Boat's bows from side to side and lining up
targets for torpedo attacks.
Given command of the 'Black Swan-class' sloop H.M.S. "Starling" and the 36th Escort Group in 1943, Commander Johnnie F.
Walker devised 'Operation Buttercup' to force unseen U-Boats to become 'live' on ASDIC sweeps at night by getting all the
escort ships to fire star-shells to illuminate the enemy submarine on the surface and force it to dive so that the escorts could
then depth-charge it - A similar practice also was found to work in daytime, as well as night and, instead of having all the
escort ships rushing about trying to find a target, Johnnie Walker and H.M.S. "Starling" would lock themselves on to the target
and, keeping hold of it in their ASDIC sweep, direct the other escorts on to it and saturate the area with depth-charges -
Using such tactics in February 1944, Walker's ships sank six U-Boats, three within sixteen hours of each other - Five months
later, in July 1944 and in command of H.M.S. "Starling" and the Second Escort Group, Walker died, the cause of his death
being put down to 'sheer exhaustion'.
H.M.S. "CAMPBELTOWN" AND CONVOY OB 318

On Friday, May 9, 1941, H.M.S. "Campbeltown" had been on convoy duty, escorting outward-bound convoy
OB 318, when ‘U-110’ under the command of Fritz. J. Lemp - he who had sunk the "Athenia" on the very
first day of the war - attacked the convoy along with ‘"U-201" - After being spotted by the escort ships
‘"Aubretia", "Bulldog" and "Broadway", "U-110" was forced to the surface after depth charges were
dropped - Believing that he was about to be rammed, Lemp ordered his boat to be abandoned - At the very
last moment the "Bulldog" turned to evade the collision when her Commander realized he could capture the
U-boat and, on board the "U-110", the latest Enigma machine - The story goes that Lemp dove into the sea
and tried to board his vessel to scuttle her and was subsequently shot and drowned.
In the late evening of Friday, May 4, 1941, thirty-eight merchant ships of six nationalities which had passed
through the narrow waters of the Minches in two loosely formed columns, rounded the Butt of Lewis and,
steering a north-westerly course, formed up into nine columns proceeding at about eight knots - This was
convoy OB 318 and the ships were escorted on the first part of their ocean passa; by the Royal Navy's Seventh
Escort Group which included H.M.S. "Campbeltown", the ex-USS Buchanan, later to achieve fame at St
Nazaire.
The convoy was made up of four contingents coming from ports on the West coast of Britain, five ships from
the Clyde were escorted to the convoy assembly point by H.M.S. "Campbeltown" and the anti-submarine
trawler H.M.S. "Angle" which was en route to join the Third Escort Group, also guarding the convoy - The
night passed peacefully and at dawn the next morning, when the aircraft of Coastal Command arrived, all
the ships were in their correct stations.
All the ships, with the exception of the neutrals, were defensively armed, each carrying an elderly four-inch
naval gun or 12-pounder dual purpose gun mounted at the stern, the guns manned by fully trained naval
gunnery ratings drawn from the Defensively Equipped Merchant Ships' (DEMS) organisation and other
members of the ships' own companies who had received some basic gun training.
At dawn on Sunday, May 6, 1941, a Whitley of Coastal Command was patrolling overhead, but soon left to
cover two homeward bound convoys which were in the vicinity and then, in the course of the day, the sloop
H.M.S. "Rochester" sighted a floating enemy torpedo which was picked up by a boat from the destroyer
H.M.S. "Westcott" with the intention of sending it to the Technical Intelligence Department of the Admiralty.
Then, at 8.30 a.m. the following morning, the Dutch ocean going tug "Zwarte Zee" and two of the merchant
ships, unescorted, left the convoy bound for Iceland which they reached without trouble - Later that
morning, an empty lifeboat was sighted by H.M.S."Westcott" and some of the escorts sank several floating
mines which had probably broken adrift from the field which the British had laid between Iceland and the
Faroes - This field had been laid to trap U-boats breaking out into the Atlantic by the northern route, but
proved to be ineffective as it only ever accounted for one U-boat.
Several Asdic contacts were made and a number of depth charges dropped with no result, which led the
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senior officer to believe that they had been attacking whales or patches of cold water - Then at 3.04 p.m. a
signal was received from the Admiralty stating that the U-boat Tracking Station had intercepted a message
from a U-boat reporting the position of the convoy and in consequence the Commodore ordered an evasive
turn to starboard bringing their heading to approximately north-west.
The Third Escort Group, consisting of the destroyers Bulldog (Commander A. J. Baker-Cresswell, senior
officer), Amazon and Broadway (ex-USS Hunt), the corvettes Aubrietia, Nigella and Hollyhock and the
trawlers St Apollo and Daneman, which had recently been relieved from a previous outward bound convoy
and had refuelled in Iceland met OB 318 still heading in a north-westerly direction approximately 160 miles
south of Iceland at about 5.45 p.m. on May 7, 1941 and the two senior officers brought their ships close
together.
Signals were exchanged and, because Admiralty Intelligence had reported wolf packs in the area, six of the
Seventh Escort Group ships stayed with the convoy until 4 p.m. next afternoon, the destroyers leaving at 7.45
p.m. to refuel in Iceland before the Seventh Escort Group took over escorting the high-speed inward-bound
convoy HX 123 - At 9.15 p.m. that night, the destroyers well over the horizon, "U-94" sank the "Eastern
Star" and "Ixion".
Next morning, at 8.30am on Tuesday, May 8, 1941, a Sunderland flying boat of No. 206 Squadron arrived
from Iceland, giving cover until the early afternoon, when renewed fog at its base caused it to be recalled. On
rejoining the convoy at about 4pm, Commander Baker-Cresswell released the ships of the Seventh Escort
Group who were due to rendezvous with HX 123. This left him with three destroyers, three corvettes and three
trawlers: none too many to look after 39 merchantmen.
The night of May 8th was clear with a bright moon, which was ideal for the U-boats which were shadowing
the convoy - One of the shadowers was "U-110", commanded by Kapitan-Leutenant F. J. Lemp, who had
achieved notoriety by sinking the Donaldson liner "Athenia" whilst in command of "U-30" on the very first
day of the war.
No attacks were made during the night and, at dawn on May 9th, the convoy was steering a south-west
course - This was to be the escort's last day with the convoy for the escorts were now getting low on fuel and
it was considered by 4 p.m. they would be clear of the area in which U-boats were operating for no U-boats
had yet made an attack so far to the west.
The forenoon was uneventful and the ships' officers could well have been thinking that perhaps the worst was
past till, at 12.01 p.m., a column of water shot up from the starboard side of the "Esmon" and a few seconds
later another beside the "Bengore Head" , both ships sinking almost immediately.
H.M.S. "Aubrietia", steaming on the starboard side of the convoy, picked up the sound of running torpedoes
and turned to the direction from which the sound had come - "Bulldog" and "Broadway", who were
sweeping ahead of the convoy, turned to follow - A minutes later "Aubrietia" gained a firm contact and at
the same time sighted a periscope but, just at that moment, her Asdic set failed and Lieutenant Commander
Smith had to fire a pattern of depth-charges by eye - Shortly after, the Asdic came back on and contact was
gained at a range of about 1,700 yards, the target now moving towards the convoy and at 12.23pm "Aubrietia"
made another attack with a full pattern of depth-charges.
Both "Bulldog" and "Broadway" had now gained contact and preparing to attack when a patch of disturbed
water appeared - Guns were trained on the spot and soon "U-110" broke surface, her crew pouring out of her
conning tower and clustering round her 10.5cm (4.2inch) gun.
Commander Baker-Cresswell, thinking that they intended to fight it out, gave the order to open fire and
turned his ship onto a ramming course - Several shots hit their target before it became evident that the
enemy was in fact abandoning ship and, realising that there could be a chance of a capture, Baker-Cresswell
ordered 'Stop both engines - Full speed astern' - "Bulldog" stopped about 100 yards from the U-boat and
the next order was 'Away armed boarding boat's crew'.
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A boat for the boarding party is being lowered from the port side of H.M.S. ‘Bulldog’
"Broadway" was still closing rapidly and, despite Commander Baker-Cresswell's order 'Do not ram!' shouted
through the load hailer and also flashed by morse code, "Broadway" caught the U-boat a glancing blow,
tearing her own bow below the water line and losing her port propeller, Lieutenant Commander Taylor, her
commanding officer, later explaining that he had intended to drop two shallow set depth charges close to the
submarine in an effort to prevent her diving, a difficult manoeuvre as she was still circling slowly.
Whilst Sub Lieutenant Baime with the boarding party - consisting of six seamen, a signalman and a stoker,
was closing the enemy vessel, "Aubrietia" was picking up German survivors by means of scrambling nets.
They were immediately taken below deck to prevent them seeing what was going on but the U-Boat's
captain, Kapitan Leutenant Lemp, was not among the 34 survivors.
Sub Lieutenant Baime entered the U-boat cautiously but found no-one on board and the interior in relatively
good order with the lights still burning - Confidential books were intact and charts were laid out showing all
the searched channels leading to U-boat bases - The boarding party removed as much equipment as
possible, passing it through the hatch to be loaded into the boat which made several trips between the two
vessels, later aided by a boat from the "Broadway".
"Bulldog's" engineer officer had had no training in submarines but went onboard the U-boat in the hope that
he could get the U-Boat's engines going - The layout was unfamiliar and, as no-one in the three ships had
any knowledge of the German language, the tallies and instruction plates could not be interpreted and the
attempt had to be abandoned.
The senior officer was mindful of the danger from other U-boats and had set up an anti-submarine patrol
around the area - Several doubtful Asdic contacts were made and, whilst "Bulldog" kept a watchful eye on
the surface operations, the other two ships carried out depth charge attacks for about an hour before the
echoes faded - By 4 p.m. all the moveable material had been taken and, although "U-110" was down by the
stern and listing slightly with her rudder jammed, there seemed a good chance of her reaching Iceland.
She was battened down and after considerable difficulty a tow line was passed and all personnel taken off.
Later, Commander Baker-Cresswell wrote "I had to put "Bulldog's" stern actually touching the submarine's
very sharp bow so that the wire could be handed to the man on the bow which was so narrow that only one
man could take the wire - There was a small bollard there which could be pulled up and secured with a bolt'.
As "Bulldog" took the strain, the tow sheered off to port - More line was paid out and just as she was
coming under control a lookout reported 'Periscope on the starboard bow' - Commander Baker-Cresswell
could not afford to take any chances and reluctantly gave the order for the tow to be slipped - A careful
search of the area was made with no positive result and, after about half an hour, the task of picking up the
tow commence - By 6.50 p.m. they were once more heading for Iceland and gradually worked up to 7½
knots.
During the evening, in accordance with previous orders, "Aubrietia" was detached to join up with a
homeward-bound convoy (HX 124) which was to be the next responsibility of the Third Escort Group - This
left only the damaged "Broadway" in company with "Bulldog" - At dusk the prize was slightly further down
by the stern but riding satisfactorily - The wind and sea were now beginning to rise, increasing throughout
an anxious night and by dawn the prize was yawing badly and had settled lower in the water - At 7 a.m. it
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became necessary to heave to and at 10.50 a.m. the U-Boat's bow rose high in the air and she slid slowly
beneath the waves.
After so much effort there was great disappointment in "Bulldog", no-one, with the possible exception of the
Commanding Officer, realising that the material they were carrying was far more important than the U-boat.
There was now no possibility of catching up with the convoy and so a course was set for Iceland where
Broadway could make temporary repairs - After refuelling, "Bulldog" sailed post-haste for Greenock with
her valuable cargo.
Materially, convoy OB 318 had suffered badly - nine ships lost and two damaged - but, on balance, there
is no doubt that it was a worthwhile sacrifice for, with the captured material, British Intelligence was now
better able to decipher German naval signals through to the end of the war and, although there was a great
disappointment at her loss, the sinking of "U-110" was fortunate for the British, the Germans simply
assuming that she had been lost 'in the usual way'.
1941 : Sat May 10. Rudolf Hess - nick-named 'Fraulein Anna' by his friends because of his regular practice of pleasing
Hitler by dressing up immaculately in women's clothes to attend all the Nazi parties and balls - lands with his peace plan in
Scotland, near Eaglesham and is detained by local ploughman David McLean, Hess will later be convicted as a war criminal
and dies in Spandau Prison in 1987 - Heavy air attack on London, The House of Commons is destroyed and The House of
Lords damaged forcing MPs to meet in Church House, Westminster after the bombing. Sun 11. = Full Moon =
1941 : A Dornier 17 reconnaissance plane was shot down over The North Channel on the evening of Tuesday,
May 13, 1941.
1941 : Thu May 15. Sollum recaptured by British. Mon 19. Duke of Aosta's forces surrendered at Aroba Alagi. Mon 19 –
Sat 31. Battle for Crete. Sat 24. H.M.S. Hood sunk by Bismarck, all but three of 1,416 crew are lost. Sun 25. = New
Moon = Tue 27. British forces begin withdrawing from Crete, 18,000 servicemen are rescued from the island and the
remaining 12,000 troops captured by the Germans - The German battleship Bismarck was scuttled in The North Atlantic by
Admiral Lutjens after being chased and attacked by British battleships and Swordfish aircraft flown from H.M.S. Ark Royal.
THE "BISMARK"
At 0200 on Tuesday, May 20, 1941, the mighty German battleship "Bismark" raised anchor and, in company with the
heavy cruiser "Prinz Eugen", left Gotenhafen on 'Operation Rheinubung', the idea being to follow up on the successes
of the "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" which had sunk 22 ships in a short two month cruise at the beginning of the year -
Four days later, in the early morning of Saturday, May 24, 1941, the "Bismark" sank H.M.S. "Hood", all but three of
her 1,416-man crew being lost and together with the "Prinz Eugen" had driven off H.M.S. "Prince of Wales", her bridge
taking a direct hit from the German guns.
The object of the German's operation being to break out into The Atlantic so that they could attack British-bound
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ships, H.M.S. "Prince of Wales" was allowed to escape and at 1815 that evening, the "Bismark", down in the bows as a
consequence of a direct hit on her forecastle and intending to head into St. Nazaire for repairs, parted company with
the "Prin Eugen" which, undamaged in the action, arrived safely in Brest, beside the "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau", on
Sunday, June 1, 1940.
Extra U-Boats and aircraft were sent out to cover the return of the "Prinz Eugen" to Brest
H.M.S. "King George V" laid up in The Gareloch in 1950
Hot in pursuit of "Bismark", but too far away from her to catch her unless something extra-ordinary happened, were H.M.S.
"King George V" and H.M.S. "Rodney" and others but contact was lost until 1015 on the Monday morning when a Northern
Ireland-based Catalina caught sight of the fleeing battleship and then, at 2115 that night, two Swordfish from H.M.S. "Ark
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Royal" succeeded in damaging her rudders with torpedoes and the "Bismark", now unsteerable, was at the mercy of her
pursuers which now included H.M.S. "Dorsetshire" - briefly mistaken by Admiral Tovey, on H.M.S. "King George V", as the
"Prinz Eugen" for her appearance, from a nearby north-bound convoy escort, was totally unexpected.
H.M.S. "Cossack"
The 4th Destroyer Flotilla - consisting of the "Cossack", "Maori", "Zulu", "Sikh" and "Piorun" - were also detached from convoy
duty and, though ordered to close the "King George V" with the "Maori" and "Piorun", Captain Philip Vian in the "Cossack" decided
to head at full speed, in worsening weather, towards the most recently estimated position of the "Bismark" - Sighting H.M.S.
"Sheffield" at 2200, just 45-minutes after the two Swordfish had made their successful attack and getting an exact bearing on the
disabled German battleship, the three destroyers caught up with her an hour later but, in pitch-darkness, heavy seas and string
winds, withdrew a couple of hours later.
Pitted against the 20,306 kilogram broadside of the British ships guns, unable to steer and surrounded on all sides, "Bismark", a
floating wreck, stopped firing at about 0930 next morning, Tuesday, May 27, 1941 and turned over and sank a few minutes later
- H.M.S. "Dorsetshire" picked up 85 survivors including the only one of the German officers to survive, a former London naval
attache, Kapitanlieutenantnanturkhard Baron von Mullenheim-Rechberg - H.M.S. "Cossack" picked up 'Oscar', the ship's cat !
Oscar / Unsinkable Sam
'Oscar' was the ship's cat on the "Bismarck" and, when the vessel was torpedoed and sunk, he was rescued from the sea by
H.M.S. "Cossack" and renamed 'Unsinkable Sam' - The "Cossack" too was sunk, in The Mediterranean, on November 10,
1941 and 'Oscar' again rescued, this time by H.M.S. "Ark Royal", the aircraft carrier whose Swordfish aircraft had been
instrumental in leading to the sinking of the "Bismarck" but, just four days later, on November 14, 1941, H.M.S. "Ark Royal"
was torpedoed by "U-81" and sank and yet again 'Oscar' was rescued ! But, the destroyer H.M.S. "Legion" was taking no
chances and 'Oscar' was retired to a home on dry land in Belfast where he died very peacefully in his sleep in 1955.
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As a 'tail-piece' to the tale - It seems that "U-81" was actually firing her torpedoes at H.M.S. "Malaya" and, as luck would
have it, while three missed their target, the fourth torpedo hit H.M.S. "Ark Royal"as she turned into the wind to let her aircraft
land - Only one of the aircraft carrier's crew was lost in the incident.
Although quickly located and subjected to a three-hour depth-charge attack - some 200 charges being dropped - "U-81"
escaped unscathed, her end coming on January 3, 1944 when she was sunk by an American bomber as she lay at her base in
Pola - two of crewmen were killed.
1941 : Wed May 28. A Dornier 17 reconnaissance plane was detected over The Clyde and later shot down, 13 miles south of
Hawick at 1415 hours that day.
Good news came in May 1941 when the town heard how William MacVicar, the son of Southend minister
Angus MacVicar, survived twenty-three days in an open boat when his ship, the "Britannia", was sunk in
the South Atlantic. William navigated the boat across 1,535 miles of ocean to Brazil and arrived with 38 of its
original 82 occupants.
William's eldest brother Angus, the author and three other Kintyre soldiers took part in the short and
successful campaign in Madagascar in 1942 when they stormed the town of Antsirane, it overlooking an
important strategic harbour. William's other brother, Archibald, lost his life in the merchant navy in 1943.
1941 - Saturday May 31 - Germany officially abandoned the "Gothic Black" letter printing type in favour of the more
universally used "Roman Type" in all its official documents and papers.
1941 : Sun June 1. Evacuation of British and Greek forces from Crete completed. Mon 2. Clothes rationing begins in
Britain.
CLOTHES RATIONING
Clothing rationing began on Monday, June 2, 1941. There was a shortage of fabric and a range of utility clothing was
introduced. This used a minimum amount of cloth and was devoid of embroidery. This was controlled and utility clothing has
a special label to denote that it was an approved design. Men's and boy's jackets, one now double-breasted, were only
allowed three buttons and two pockets, trousers had no turn ups. Women's and girl's dresses had no pleats, elastic waist bands
or fancy belts. Utility shoes, generally now having to be imported, had a heel which was less than 2 inches, the idea being to
save thousands of cubic feet of shipping space for essential supplies.
The Clothing Ration was controlled on a points system and the books contained coupons of various point values. Items of
clothing were assigned point values. Each person was allowed sixty six points a year which was equal to one complete outfit
of clothing for the average adult. Growing children needed extra clothes so childrens' clothes had a lower point value - Girls'
school gym tunics would be added to the 'shopping basket' of the Retail Price Index for the best part of the next 20 years !
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To overcome the clothing ration people made their own clothes by reusing material from old clothes, curtains, blankets and
furnishing fabrics which were sometimes available. Knitting was very popular, people were encouraged to knit gloves, socks
and scarves to send to the men in the armed forces. Old jumpers were unraveled and reknitted to create new garments -
Stockings were one item which were greatly affected, silk and nylon production was diverted to military use, for making
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parachutes and barrage balloons. Later in the war, the arrival of the GI's from America brought a few treasured pairs as the
soldiers would have their families send them stockings from America where they were available to give as presents to English
girls. With stockings unavailable to most, girls used to apply watered down gravy, weak tea or commercially available liquid
to their legs to dye their skin to look like they were wearing stockings, the seams were added using eyebrow pencils.
The policy of "Make do and Mend" was encouraged, clothes were patched and shoes repaired, childrens' clothes which grown
out of were "handed down" to brothers and sisters or neighbours' children, sometimes regardless of the fact that the clothes
were intended for different sexes ! Ill fitting, mismatched and repaired clothes were normal, fashion had become a thing of the
past for many. Of course teenagers and young adults were fashion concious and most made their own items to keep up with
trends.
As well as food and clothing many other items were in short supply. A utility range of household furniture was introduced.
The items were plain, functional and hard wearing, but were the only option for people who had lost their homes in the
bombing and newly married couples setting up their first home.
1941 : Wed June 4. William II, ex-German Kaiser died in exile. Sun 8. Syria, controlled by the Vichy French regime,
entered by British and French forces. Mon 9. = Full Moon =
Dropped over England on Wednesday, June 11, 1941
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FROM STRABANE TO MACHRIHANISH
Sketch Map showing the relative positions of The Strath and Machrihanish Airfields
1941 : Sunday June 15. Machrihanish airfield, constructed in July 1918, had long been forgotten and the
civilian scheduled flights, beginning in 1933, preferring to use the Mitchell’s field at The Strath rather than
the WWI field. Now it was under ‘a new lease of life’.
Machrihanish runway, looking east over The Dhorlin, between Davaar Island and Kildalloig
Unusual in that it was built not by the R.A.F. but by the Royal Navy, the airfield at Machrihanish, the flat
land at The Laggan, transformed into an airfield and constructed, by the English-based building firm of
Sunley's, between 1940 and 1941, was opened first as “Strabane” Naval Air Station, its name changed then to
H.M.S. “Landrail” on June 15, 1941 and then, on Monday, June 23, 1941, to R.N. Air Station “Machrihanish”.
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The new station’s heraldic crest, a claymore to symbolise the medieval warriors of the area laid against a
water ‘bar-ry wavy’ symbolising the sea and its motto “Airm A Dhionadh Na Fairgeachan” - ‘Arms to Defend
The Seas’ - chosen to reflect the station’s role and, over the war years, it was to be home to over 200 air
squadrons flying Swordfish, Chesapeakes, Blenheims, Masters and Fulmars - The principal function of the
WWII airfield was at first to house ‘772 Fleet Requirements Squadron’ .
H.M.S. “Landrail” would become one of the three busiest front-line air stations in the country, the home
base for disembarked squadrons from the Atlantic and Arctic convoy escort carriers - Here too would be
based the 80-plus strong Swordfish II aircraft of 836 Squadron, the largest of all anti-submarine squadrons
which, before reaching its peak strength, was moved to R.N.A.S. 'Maydown' / H.M.S. 'Strike' on the
outskirts of Londonderry, where the headquarters of 'Merchant Aircraft Ships (M.A.C.) was located, 836
Squadron then being tasked to supply some 19 of The Merchant Navy's fast motor tankers and grain ships
with spotter aircraft, these ships having specially constructed flight decks, instead of conventional
superstructures, to fly-off the planes.
The aircraft pilots and their support crews, looking after up to four aircraft on the grain ships and three on
the tankers, were signed onto the ships' articles as Merchant Navy Seamen as the ships were all Merchant
Navy manned and their crews all 'union' members - One of 836 Squadron's Swordfish survived the war and
is today a member of The Fleet Air Arm's Historical Flight based at R.N.A.S. 'Yeovilton' / H.M.S. 'Heron'.
The Swordfish was not as ancient an aeroplane as she appeared - The Fairey Swordfish Mark I, designed as
a maid-of-all-work, to carry out reconnaissance, drop torpedoes and dive-bomb U-boats, had entered
service with the Fleet Air Arm only shortly before the outbreak of war, in 1936.
Thanks to all these different capabilities and the cat's cradle of struts and wires between her wings, the
Swordfish came to be known as 'The Stringbag' by her crewmen - It was a nickname used with affection
for, despite the oddity of deploying biplanes in a monoplane age, by 1942 the Swordfish had already proved
to have some unique qualities.
She was remarkably stable, even at low altitudes and speeds barely above 50 mph - This made her an ideal
platform from which to launch torpedoes - She could land on the pitching deck of a carrier almost at a
walking pace, hook on to an arrester wire with ease and come to a halt in a trice, which is why she came to
be on the "Ark Royal" - She was rugged, reliable and astonishingly manoeuvrable - She could turn so
sharply and drop her speed so suddenly that the far faster German fighters were often outfoxed - It was said
that it took two Me109s to shoot down a Swordfish, three if the pilot knew all the tricks and kept his head.
1941 : Tue June 17. Operation Battleaxe, the Allied offensive in the Western Desert of North Africa, fails when 91 British
tanks are destroyed by German Panzer tanks. Wed 18. Treaty of friendship signed between Turkey and Germany signed. Sat
21. Free French forces take control of Damascus, the Syrian capital - Allied withdrawal from Crete completed. Sun 22.
Ending its alliance with Russia, Germany sends in some three million troops to invade the Soviet Union along the 1,800 mile
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long front of Russian territory and causing U.S. President Roosevelt to pledge support to Russia. Tue 24. = New Moon =
Russia loses Brest Litovsk. Fri 27. Despite Churchill’s opposition to Communism, he offers help to Stalin and is pleased that
it is accepted.
Another German Propaganda Leaflet Dropped over England
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1941 : Thu July 3. Palmyra (Syria) surrendered to Allied forces. Mon 7. U.S. forces arrived in Iceland.
HERO’s DEMISE
1941 : Mon July 7 - HMS ‘Pegasus’, covering two convoys, SL 78 and O 467, one bound for Sierra Leone
and the other for Gibraltar, launched a Fulmar to check out the sighting of Focke Wulf Condor in the vicinity
of the Mull of Kintyre. The Condor chase, it sighted at 0758 hours, was fruitless and after three hours, about
1100 hours, the Fulmar was reported to have crashed into high ground south of Campbeltown - A report was
received of a crash on Kerran Hill of a Fulmar and wreckage from a Fulmar (or Seafire) aircraft was found
about ½ mile away from High Losset (NGR 716178) and parts of an aircraft also found west of Killipole Loch
but, in any case here, one of the Fulmar's wings and other wreckage was later seen being cleared from the
wreck site by R.N. tug crews from H.M.S. 'Minona'.
The pilot of the aircraft, Lt. T.R.V. Parke and his crewman were killed, both buried in Kilkerran Cemetery,
their death certificates recording the site of the crash as on high ground above Glenahervie Glen south east of
Campbeltown which may been a crash reported behind Ben Ghuilean.
Interestingly, it had been Parke, then flying a Martlet (U.S. Hellcat) with 804 Squadron near Scapa Flow,
who was credited with the very first downing of an enemy aircraft in WWII, the JU88 crashing on the Orkney
mainland.
1941 : Wed July 9. = Full Moon = The naval tender "Celeno" detonated a mine in the Clyde - Three naval ratings and
three civilians who came from the same family, were killed.
That summer of 1941, there were allegations that the crews of the rescue tugs had looted vessels in their care
and The Navy was forced to take steps to ensure that there were 'no unfounded allegations against the rescue
tugs'.
1941 : Wed July 9. General Dentz, French High Commissioner in Syria, asks for Armistice terms. Thu 10. SS troops in
Lithuania march 1,600 Jews into the market square at Jedwabne and, after burning them to death, set fire to a barn where
more Jews have been imprisoned. Sat 12. Britain signs the Anglo-Soviet Pact with Russia - German forces advance towards
Leningrad. Mon 14. Allied forces occupied Syria. Wed 16. German forces capture Smolensk and take Stalin’s son,
Lieutenant Jacob Djugashvili, prisoner. Mon 21. First German air-raid on Moscow, 200 Luftwaffe bombers drop
incendiaries on the city. Wed 23. = New Moon =
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1941 : Fri July 25 - A Hudson (AE 640) aircraft, being ferried from Montreal to St. Eval, in England,
crashed just below the cottage at Feorlin (NGR 639072), on The Mull of Kintyre road, the crew all killed and
the plane’s radio operator buried in Kilkerran cemetery.
THE ATLANTIC CHARTER
On July 28, 1941, amid tight security, a Catalina of 210 Squadron flew from Oban, via Iceland, to Archangel with
American emissaries on board to prepare for the momentous "Atlantic Charter" meeting which took place at Argentia in
Newfoundland in August 1941.
From mid-1941, the arrival of long-range Liberator bombers from America led to the decline of Oban's role as a front-line
convoy escort station and the focus of operations shifted to Stornoway and Benbecula.
1941 : Thu July 31. Herman Goering formally orders Reinhardt Heydrich, head of Nazi security forces, to implement ‘The
Final Solution’, the murder of millions of Jews.
1941 : Thu August 7. = Full Moon = First Russian air-raid on Berlin.
ARRAN'S WAR
On Sunday, August 10, 1941, following a tragic accident when a Liberator (AM 261), outward-bound and en
route from R.A.F. Heathfied (Ayr) to Canada, crashed into a hillside about 1,300 metres north of Goatfell,
near the summit of 2,171-foot high Am Binnein, Canadian Air Force men were buried at Lamlash Cemetery,
the island's only war grave site - Four days later another Liberator (AM260) came to grief at Ayr killing Sir
Arthur Purvis, Head of the British Purchasing Mission in Washington.
Questions were raised about these incidents in The House of Commons on September 10, 1941 but of course
the real story wasn't to be told there of how this crash at Ayr occurred until now.
One of the British flying instructors in Newfoundland was a Captain R. C. Stafford. He had been there over
a year and with selfless dedication was out, seven days a week, with pupils from 7 a.m. till after midnight
without any breaks or leave - Other instructors had managed to wangle passages for their wives to be with
them in Newfoundland but Stafford was by nature no wangler and repeated requests for passage for his wife
got bogged down with red tape - Then, out of the blue, Stafford got the opportunity to do a round trip
across to Ayr and with it the chance to bring his wife back with him - Stafford arrived in Ayr where his wife
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was waiting and then arrived V.I.P. Arthur Purvis ! Purvis had to fly and Stafford's wife was dropped from the
passenger list.
The officious, arrogant officer in charge of the passenger list could easily have put off any one of the eight
radio operators on the list - another night of Scottish hospitality would not have gone amiss in their minds -
but here was a disaster for Stafford.
Next morning, with Stafford's wife no doubt watching, he taxied off down the runway at Ayr, turned the
aircraft round, opened the throttles full and drove the aircraft off the runway at full speed into a 20-foot high
railway embankment and all aboard were killed ! How could such a story be published in wartime?
Two other aircraft crashed within a couple of hundred yards of each other on Beinn Nuis, at 2598 feet the
seventh highest mountain on Arran and all on board were killed - The first on August 20, 1943 - a B-24
Consolidated Liberator, designated a PB4Y-1, flying inward to Prestwick and the second, on December 10,
1944 - a B17G Fortress, on a training flight from the 388th Bomber Group at Knettisham, Suffolk, crashed
just alongside each other making it difficult to distinguish one wreck from the other.
During World War II, Lamlash, which had long played host to The Royal Navy's Home and North Atlantic
Fleets, was again a busy place accommodating a naval gunnery school and training landing craft forces as
well as providing some naval repair facilities and anti-submarine booms were put in place at both entrances
to the bay with Harport House the local Boom Defence headquarters and The Marine Hotel requisitioned as
a Naval Headquarters - With Altachorvie a 'Wrennery', Craigard (today called 'Hightrees') was turned into
a navy sick bay.
The White House, Lamlash
To the south of Lamlash, in the area known as the 'Whitehouse Woods' and once the home of The Duke of
Hamilton's factor, one of the island's most beautiful buildings was taken over as the headquarters of the 11th
Scottish Commandos, some of the commandos billeted in nearby Whiting Bay.
1941 : Mon August 11. Mr. Churchill and President Roosevelt meeting on board U.S.S. Augusta, agreed on the principles of
The Atlantic Charter.
THE LAST EXECUTION IN THE TOWER OF LONDON - This historic even occurred on August 14, 1941. German
spy, Josef Jakobs, was executed while seated tied to a chair, by an eight man firing squad from the Scots Guards. The white lint
target patch placed over the area of his heart bore five bullet holes from the eight shots fired. Jakobs had parachuted into
Britain on January 31, 1941, and broke his leg on landing. He lay all night in a field until his cries for help were heard next
morning. He is buried in an unmarked grave in St. Mary's Roman Catholic Cemetery at Kinsal Green, London.
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1941 : Mon August 18 - A Martlet (sometimes reported as an Avenger) aircraft crashed at Lower Smerby
Farm (NGR 751221) killing its crew, one buried in Kilkerran cemetery.
1941 : Fri August 22. = New Moon = Mon 25. Britain and America sign The Atlantic Charter, stating that neither
country wants to gain new territories from the war, on board H.M.S. Prince of Wales, off Newfoundland - British and
Russian forces, in a move that shocked many nations, entered Persia (now Iran), until then neutral, to secure oil reserves.
Raid on Spitsbergen by British, Canadian and Norwegian forces. Wed 27. The Dnepropetrovsk Dam blown up by the
Russians.
THE BELGIAN COUNT AND THE RADIUM MYSTERY

The Liberators and Flying Fortresses were the main American heavy-bombers of World War II and 18,031
were built by the Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation of San Diego - These craft were 67.1 ft long, with
a wing-span of 110 ft. and carried a crew of 12. Armed with ten 50-inch machine guns, they had a maximum
bomb load of 12,800 lbs. and, with a maximum speed was 270 mph., had a range of just 990 miles.
At about 11.30 a.m. on the morning of Sunday, August 30, 1941, a transatlantic BOAC Ferry Command
Liberator (AM 915), diverted from Blackpool to Prestwick because of weather conditions, seemingly lost and
the pilot, thinking it was over the sea, tried to make a cloud break before landing at Prestwick and crashed
into Arinearch Hill (NRG 741 156), at the head of Balnabraid Glen, killing all on board.
Reports of the crash listed the dead as four crewmen and six passengers - Captain K.D. Garden (Australian);
First Officer G. L. Panes (British), both of British Airways but seconded to the Ministry of Aircraft
Production for Atlantic ferrying duties; Radio Officer SW Sydenham (Canadian) and Flight Engineer C. A.
Spence (American) and civilian passengers R. B. Mowat, Professor of History at Bristol University, who had
been lecturing in America for the Carnegie Trust; Count Baillet-Latour, economic counsellor in London to
the Belgian Ministry of Colonies; Dr M. Benjamin of the Central Scientific Office in Washington (British);
Captain S. Picking, U.S. Navy (American); Mr B.Y. Taylor of Farnborough (British) and Lt. Col. L.H.
Wrangham, Royal Marines (British) - The report added that this was the second ferry plane lost on a flight
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from America to Britain and that, in the previous month, two others had crashed within five days of each
other after taking off for Canada, each with the loss of their 22 passengers and crews.
It was also rumoured that the aircraft was carrying a phial of Radium from the Marie Curie Labs in Montreal
but, though the box was searched for by the RAF for weeks but never found, rumour had it that a local
special constable made off with it as a 'souvenir' without realising what he had - A small cross marks the
impact site of the crash and two of the aircrew are buried in Kilkerran cemetery.
Amongst those killed in the crash was Count Henri de Baillet-Latour who had been elected as a member of
the International Olympic Committee in Belgium in 1903 - After World War I, he obtained the celebration of
the Games of the VII Olympiad for Antwerp in spite of the fact that Belgium had suffered badly from the war
the ability he demonstrated at the time of the Games in Antwerp led members of the International Olympic
Committee to elect him President when the founder of the Games, Baron de Coubertin, resigned in 1925.
During his presidency, which lasted seventeen years, Count de Baillet-Latour devoted himself untiringly to
maintaining the Olympic ideals and aims, continually endeavouring to keep sport free from all
commercialism. Determined, yet diplomatic, he was a man of noble character, wholeheartedly devoted to
the Olympic cause and that said, it might be remembered that he held office through the period that had
taken the games to Germany in 1936 !
There is something of a mystery in the death of Baillet-Latour for, according to The International Olympic
Committee's understanding, he supposedly did not die until the night of January 6, 1942 - more than four
months later ?
One of 'The Shetland Buses'
Early on the morning of Friday, September 5, 1941, the Norwegian fishing smack "Aksel" returned across the North Sea to
Lunna Voe in the Shetland Islands and so completed the inaugural voyage of the service to German-occupied Norway known
as 'Operation Shetland Bus'.
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This first foray, to land at Bergen an agent carrying information for the local resistance, went smoothly. Extreme perils,
however, soon became apparent. In the work of transporting agents, munitions, guns and other equipment, the exiled
Norwegian fishermen who manned 'Shetland Bus' faced the depredations of the North Sea, German batteries along the west
Norwegian coast, the alertness of the Gestapo and treachery from some of their compatriots.
At one point, fishing boats and crews were lost at such a rate that out of an average 60 forming the Operation's manpower, only
36 were left. Nevertheless, between September. 1941 and May. 1945, the Shetland fishing boats made journeys totalling
90,000 miles, rescued 350 refugees from Norway, established 60 secret radio transmitters, landed dozens of agents and armed
and equipped thousands of Norwegian partisans. soldiers and saboteurs.
1941 : Sat September 6. = Full Moon = Mon 8. Seige of Leningrad begins as 6,000 incendiary bombs are dropped and
German troops and Finnish allies surround the city. Wed 17. Tinned goods to be rationed and British government launch
‘Potato Pete’ to encourage people to eat more potatoes, one of the few unrationed foods left - R.A.F. wing in Russia in
action. Thu 18. Crimea cut off from the mainland. Fri 19. Kiev occupied by Germans. Sat 20. = New Moon = Thu 25.
Germans attacked Crimea - French National Committee formed. Fri 26. Eighth Army formed.
The American President Roosevelt called them dreadful-looking objects" and newspapers dubbed them "ugly ducklings" but
The President of the US Maritime Commission was more complimentary, calling them 'Liberty Ships'.
When the first was launched on Saturday, September 27, 1941, she was given the name of one of America's prime freedom
fighters, "Patrick Henry". Of all-welded construction, the wood and steel Liberty Ships retrieved their pejorative image in
subsequent years as they crossed and recrossed the Atlantic carrying vital supplies to beleaguered Britain. In all, over 2,700
were built and built at phenomenal speed. The "Patrick Henry" was constructed in 150 days but subsequent ships in ten days
or less and one, the "Robert E. Peary", was finished in an amazing 4 days 15 hours.
The basic specification featured raked stem, cruiser stern and seven watertight bulkheads, length 441½ ft and a draft of nearly
27.75ft.. Of 7,176 gross and 4,380 tons net, they had a total cargo capacity of 562,608 cubic feet. The main powerplant of the
Liberty Ships was a direct-acting three-cylinder triple expansion engine, 2,500 hp which gave them an average speed of 11
knots.
1941 : Sun September 28. British convoy, escorted by three warships, arrives in Malta with 81,000 tons of supplies and
2,600 troops.
The 'Bustler' Class tugs
H.M. Rescue Tug "Bustler", the first of 8 tugs in the class - Speed 16 knots, Range 5,000 miles
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In 1941, The Admiralty suddenly realised that some of the ships that had been torpedoed or bombed in the
convoys still stayed afloat and could be towed into port with their cargoes if powerful enough tugs were on
hand quickly and they gave an unknown British naval architect just 48 hours to produce a set of plans for a
new type of salvage tug that could tow a fully loaded 15,000 ton cargo ship, at convoy speeds of 7-8 knots, in
all the worst North Atlantic weather and the Scottish shipyard that was to have the first order was only given
three months to complete the order.
In late 1941, the "Bustler" put to sea, her own name given to the new tug class that would eventually build to
seven ships. She was soon followed by the "Growler" and, in September 1942, the "Samsonia".
With flared bows, beautiful overall lines, two, tall, raked masts with a mass of radio aerials going down to
the radio cabin above the bridge and a modern 'motor-ship funnel, the 'Bustler' Class tugs mounted a 12-
pounder gun on the foredeck and twin Oerlikon guns at the after end of the boat deck. Under the aft end of
the boat deck, there was a massive winch carrying a 6" towing cable and, to carry the massive 18" towing
rope laid out carefully along the towing deck, a huge towing capstan aft.
The "Bustler" went to the rescue of the 11,000 ton "Empire Treasure" and the ensuing 1,100 mile tow was the
longest rescue tug tow ever undertaken and later, the "Bustler" was modified to enable her to lay the fuel
supply pipeline between Dungeness and Boulogne in Operation Pluto, she laying six of the fourteen
necessary pipes.
Monday, January 8, 1951 - the Bustler-class tug "Turmoil" and the striken "Flying Enterprise"
1941 : Sun October 5. = Full Moon = Battle for Moscow (lasted until December 6). Sun 12. Briansk evacuated by
Russians. Thu 16. Soviet Government leaves Moscow - Odessa evacuated by Russians after a 69-day seige and occupied by
German and Rumanian troops. Sun 19. State of siege proclaimed in Moscow as German forces less than 50 miles away -
Taganrog, on Sea of Azov, captured by the Germans. Mon 20. = New Moon = Fri 24. Kharkov captured by Germans.
Wed 29. Germans began to cross Perikop Isthmus into Crimea.
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CAMPBELTOWN LOCH ANTI-SUBMARINE BOOM
Finally, in November 1941, an anti-submarine boom was run across the entrance to Campbeltown Loch,
between Trench Point and Davaar Island.
H.M.S. "Barfoil", one of the 'boom defence' ships which laid out the anti-submarine nets
Some 2,000-feet of steel nets, reaching to a depth of some 90-feet and weighing nearly 500 tons in total, were
put in place, a 'slalom-like’ entrance arrangement avoiding the need for duty boats to open and close the
nets. The 500-ton boom was under the charge of two officers, three wrens and twenty-two ratings.
The shipyard house at Trench Point was requisitioned and the site about it used for equipment storage.
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Kitchen Gear
During the war and early post-war years, many of the warships visiting Campbeltown Loch used 'picket' and 'liberty boats' to
ferry crews and supplies around the loch - A lot of these open launches used 'Kitchen Gear', more correctly ''Kitchen's Patent
Reversing Rudders'', patented 'in the U.K. and Abroad' under British Patent 3249/1914 - the '1914' being a reference to the
year of the patent - by Gordon H. Fraser of 747 The Liver Buildings, Liverpool, the 'stern gear', now something of a
curiosity, making the boats highly manoeuvrable in the right hands.
The modern water-jet steering unit is a derivative of the principle and indeed the first, albeit steam-powered, water jet
propulsion unit seems to have been the idea of one James Rumsey who ran a very successful two-hour long trial of just such a
craft on the Potomac River in 1787.
The following is an extract from "Basic Naval Architecture" by Barnaby : The 'Kitchen Rudder' consists of two curved blades
carried on pivots above and below the propeller - Normally the blades lie on either side of the propeller, but they can be
angled to the race to give steering effect, or they can be closed together behind the propeller to form a sort of hemispherical
cup that enables astern way to be obtained without the necessity of reversing the propeller - This may sound like "hoisting
yourself up by your shoe- strings", but there is an actual astern thrust of the order of one third of the normal amount which
suffices for ordinary manoeuvring as the closed blades provide an efficient brake”.
Other settings allowed quick and fancy manoeuvres - Anyone who could master this complicated arrangement, many failed
miserably, could do anything with a pinnace and when stemming the tide using the 'Kitchen Rudder' gear could make a boat
very near go sideways, like today's CalMac, Voith-Schneider-powered, car ferries - Great fun when executed with some
panache and very spectacular coming alongside.
If the 'Kitchen Rudder' sounds too complicated to understand then it might be easier to learn how to fly an aircraft just on
instruments alone !
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THE PUFFERS
Some, including Para Handy himself, would argue that the war could not have been won with the
ubiquitous puffers which not only carried on their usual 'coastal trade' but ferried out cargoes and supplies to
the hundreds of navy and merchant ships lying in the protected anchorages and took building materials to
Inveraray and all the other sites where ramps were built for landing craft and commando training.
Seen here leaving Campbeltown Loch, the Anti-Submarine Boom's position in the far distance astern,
thesteam puffers "Glencloy" and the "Sealight", both built in 1930 and both ships in Government at Scapa
Flow from 1939 till 1946 - During the war, The Admiralty built 54 steam and 9 diesel-engined 'puffers' -
Some of these VIC's, like 'VIC 32' still survive.
1941 : Sat November 1. Simferopol captured by Germans. Tue 4. = Full Moon = Fri 14. U.S. Neutrality Act amended
- H.M.S "Ark Royal", torpedoed by an Italian submarine and foundered while in tow off Gibraltar, only one life lost. Sun
16. Colonel Keyes led raid on Rommel's H.Q. at Bcda Littoria. Tue 18. 700 tanks begin the British offensive in Libya, the
Germans have only 320 tanks - The Eighth Army’s first offensive. Thu 20. = New Moon = Fri 21. Big tank battle south
of Sidi Rezegh (lasted until December 6). Sat 22. Rostov occupied by Germans. Sun 23. Bardia occupied by New Zealand
forces and Fort Capuzzo also captured by the British.
P.O.W. ESCAPE ATTEMPT FROM BRITAIN - During the war, no German prisoner of war escaped from Britain. Many
believe that Franz von Werra was the most notable escapee but von Werra made his escape in Canada, where he was sent as a
POW. (In Canada there were twenty-one Prisoner-Of-War camps set up during WW11) - The most audacious attempt was
made by Lt. Heinz Schnabel and Oblt. Harry Wappler on November 24, 1941. The two Luftwaffe officers were prisoners in
Camp No.15 near Penrith, Northumbria (formally the Shap Wells Hotel). Forging papers
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that identified them as two Dutch officers serving in the RAF, they made their way to the RAF airfield at Kingstown near
Carlisle. Without difficulty they entered the station and with the help of a ground mechanic started the engine of a Miles
Magister, of which there were fifty parked around the airfield. Taking off, they headed for the sea and Holland, a distance of
some 365 miles. Over the North Sea they realized they could not make it (the maximum range of a Magister was 367 miles on
full tanks). Rather reluctantly they decided to turn back and landed in a field about five miles north of Great Yarmouth. Back at
Camp No. 15 again, the two daring escapees were sentenced to 28 days solitary confinement.
1941 : Tue November 25. New attack on Moscow - H.M.S. Barham sunk off Sollum. Wed 26. Russian advance of 70
miles in Ukraine announced. Thu 27. Italians at Gondar surrendered. Fri 28. Russians re-occupied Rostov.
1941 : Mon December 1. Points rationing scheme in force in Britain. Wed 3. = Full Moon = Thu 4. German attack on
Moscow halted, Russian winter causing havoc with German supply lines. Sun 7. Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, 2,403
Americans killed and the U.S. Pacific fleet severely damaged - Great Britain declared war on Finland, Hungary and Rumania.
Mon 8. Great Britain and United Slates of America declared war on Japan after attack on British and United States bases in
Pacific - Japanese forces land in Malaya.
LUCKY HIT - During the attack on Pearl Harbor, a Hawaiian DC-3 airliner, coming in to land, was hit by a Japanese tracer
bullet and set on fire. A minute later, the plane was hit by another bullet which hit the valve of a fire extinguisher, thus putting
out the fire!
A Japanese photograph of the attack on Pearl Harbor
Declaration of War to Japan speech by Franklin D. Roosevelt

"Mr. Vice President, Mr. Speaker, Members of the Senate and the House of Representatives - Yesterday, December 7,
1941 - a date which will live in infamy - The United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and
air forces of the Empire of Japan - The United States was at peace with that nation and, at the solicitation of Japan, was still
in conversation with its government and its Emperor looking toward the maintenance of peace in the Pacific and indeed, one
hour after Japanese air squadrons had commenced bombing in the American island of Oahu, the Japanese Ambassador to the
United States and his colleague delivered to our Secretary of State a formal reply to a recent American message - While this
reply stated that it seemed useless to continue the existing diplomatic negotiations, it contained no threat or hint of war or of
armed attack.
"It will be recorded that the distance of Hawaii from Japan makes it obvious that the attack was deliberately planned many
days or even weeks ago and during the intervening time the Japanese Government has deliberately sought to deceive the
United States by false statements and expressions of hope for continued peace.
"The attack yesterday on the Hawaiian Islands has caused severe damage to American naval and military forces, I regret to tell
you that very many American lives have been lost - In addition, American ships have been reported torpedoed on the high
seas between San Francisco and Honolulu - Yesterday the Japanese Government also launched an attack against Malaya -
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Last night Japanese forces attacked Hong Kong - Last night Japanese forces attacked Guam - Last night Japanese forces
attacked the Philippine Islands - Last night the Japanese attacked Wake Island and, this morning, the Japanese attacked
Midway Island.
"Japan has therefore undertaken a surprise offensive extending throughout the Pacific area - The facts of yesterday and today
speak for themselves - The people of the United States have already formed their opinions and well understand the
implications to the very life and safety of our nation - As Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy I have directed that all
measures be taken for our defense, that always will our whole nation remember the character of the onslaught against us - No
matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people, in their righteous might, will
win through to absolute victory.
"I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the
uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us - Hostilities exist and there is
no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory and our interests are in grave danger - With confidence in our armed
forces, with the un-bounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triump - So help us God.
"I ask that the Congress declare that since the unprovoked and dastardly attack by Japan on Sunday, December 7, 1941, a
state of war has existed between the United States and the Japanese Empire.
President Roosevelt signs the U.S. Declaration of War on Japan
1941 : Tue December 9. Siege of Tobruk relieved. Wed 10. 88 Japanese aircraft attack and sink H.M.S. Repulse and
H.M.S. Prince of Wales off Malaya with the loss of 840 men - Phillippines invaded by Japanese. Thu 11. Germany and
Italy, coming to the aid of Japan, declared war on United States of America but, unlike the Allied powers, have no joint war
plans to link the European war with that now beginning in The Far East.
Declaration of War on the US by Adolf Hitler - December 11, 1941

A persuasive, motivational and inspirational speech by Adolf Hitler - The celebrated Adolf Hitler had excellent powers of
oration which are highlighted forever in History by the Declaration of War on the US by Adolf Hitler.
"Deputies, Men of the German Reichstag ! A year of events of historical significance is drawing to an end - A year of great
decisions lies ahead - In these serious times, I speak to you, deputies of the German Reichstag, as the representatives of the
German nation. Beyond and above that, the whole German people should take note of this glance into the past, as well as of
the coming decisions the present and future impose upon us.
"After the renewed refusal of my peace offer in January 1940 by the then British Prime Minister and the clique which
supported or dominated him, it became clear that this war - against all reasons of common sense and necessity - must be
fought to its end - You know me, my old Party companions; you know I have always been an enemy of half measures or
weak decisions - If the Providence has so willed that the German people cannot be spared this fight, then I can only be
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grateful that it entrusted me with the leadership in this historic struggle which, for the next 500 or 1,000 years, will be
described as decisive, not only for the history of Germany, but for the whole of Europe and indeed the whole world.
"The German people and their soldiers are working and fighting today, not only for the present, but also for the coming, nay
the most distant, generations - The Creator has imposed a historical revision on a unique scale upon us.
"Shortly after the end of the campaign in Norway, the German Command was forced, first of all, to ensure the military
security of the conquered areas - Since then the defences of the conquered countries have changed considerably - From
Kirkenes to the Spanish Frontier there is a belt of great bases and fortifications; many airfields have been built, naval bases
with protection for submarines, which are practically invulnerable from sea or air - More than 1,500 new batteries have been
planned and constructed. A network of roads and railways was constructed so that today communications from the Spanish
Frontier to Petsano are independent of the sea - These installations in no way fall behind those of the Western Wall and work
continues incessantly on strengthening them - I am irrevocably determined to make the European Front unassailable by any
enemy.
"This defensive work was supplemented by offensive warfare - German surface and underwater naval Forces carried on their
constant war of attrition against the British Merchant Navy and the ships in its service - The German Air Force supported
these attacks by reconnaissance, by damaging enemy shipping, by numerous retaliatory raids which have given the English a
better idea of the ‘ever so charming’ war caused by their present Prime Minister.
"In the middle of last year Germany was supported above all by Italy - For many months a great part of British power
weighed heavily on the shoulders of Italy - Only because of their tremendous superiority in heavy tanks could the English
create a temporary crisis in North Africa - On 24th March a small community of German-Italian units under Rommel's
command began the counter-attack - The German Africa Corps performed outstanding achievements though they were
completely unaccustomed to the climate of this theatre of war - Just as once in Spain, now in North Africa Germans and
Italians have taken up arms against the same enemy.
"While with these bold measures the North African Front was again secured by the blood of German and Italian soldiers, the
shadow of a terrible danger threatening Europe gathered overhead - Only in obedience of bitter necessity did I decide in my
heart in 1939, to make the attempt, or at least, to create the prerequisites for a lasting peace in Europe by eliminating the
causes of German-Russian tension. This was psychologically difficult owing to the general attitude of the German people and
above all, of the party, towards Bolshevism - It was not difficult from a purely material point of view - because Germany
was only intent on her economic interests in all the territories which England declared to be threatened by us and which she
attacked with her promises of aid for you will allow me to remind you that England, throughout the spring and late summer of
1939, offered its aid to numerous countries, declaring that it was our intention to invade those countries and thus deprive them
of their liberty.
"The German Reich and its Government were therefore able to affirm, with a clear conscience, that these allegations were
false and had no bearing whatsoever on reality - Add to this the military realization that in the case of war, which British
diplomacy was to force on the German people, a two front war would ensue and call for very great sacrifice.
"When, on top of all this, the Baltic States and Rumania showed themselves prone to accept the British Pacts of assistance
and thus let it be seen that they too believed in such a threat, it was not only the right of the Reich Government, but its duty to
fix the limits of German interests - The countries in question and above all, the Reich Government, could not but realize that
the only factor, which could be a buttress against the East, was German - The moment they severed their connection with the
German Reich and entrusted their fate to the aid of that Power, which, in its proverbial selfishness has never rendered aid, but
always requested it, they were lost - Yet the fate of these countries roused the sympathy of the German people - The winter
struggle of the Finns forced on us mixed feelings of both bitterness and admiration. Admiration because we have a heart
sensitive to sacrifice and heroism, being a nation of soldiers ourselves; bitterness, because with our eyes fixed on the menacing
enemy in the West, and on the danger in the East, we were not in a position to render any military assistance.
"As soon as it became evident that Soviet Russia decided it had the right to wipe out the nations living outside the limits of the
German sphere of interest, as a result of that limitation of interests our subsequent relations were merely governed by
utilitarian considerations, while both our reason and feelings were hostile. With every month I became more convinced that the
plans of the men in the Kremlin aimed at domination and annihilation of all Europe, I have had to disclose to the nation the full
extent of the Russian military preparations.
"At a time when Germany had only a few divisions in the provinces bordering on Russia it would have been evident to a blind
man that a concentration of power, of singular and historic, dimensions was taking place, and not in order to defend something
which was threatened, but merely in order to attack an object it did not seem possible to defend. The lightening conclusion of
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the Western campaign, however, robbed the Moscow overlords of their hope of an early flagging of German power. This did
not alter their intentions - it merely led to a postponement of the date on which they intended to strike.
"In the summer of 1941 they thought the time was ripe. A new Mongolian storm was now set to sweep over Europe. At the
same time, however, Mr. Churchill spoke on the English aspect of the struggle with Germany. He saw fit, in a cowardly
manner, to deny that in a secret session of House of Commons in 1940, that he had pointed out that the entry of Russia into the
war would happen by 1941 at the very latest and was the most important factor, which would make a successful conclusion of
the war possible. This was also to enable England to take the offensive. In the spring of that year, Europe was to feel the full
extent of the might of a world power, which seemed to dispose of inexhaustible human material and resources. Dark clouds
began to gather on the European sky. For, my Deputies, what is Europe? There is no fitting geographical definition of our
Continent, but only a national and cultural one. Not the Urals form the frontier of our Continent, but the eternal line which
divides the Eastern and Western conceptions of life. There was a time when Europe was that Greek Island into which Nordic
tribes had penetrated in order to light a torch for the first time which from then onwards began slowly, but surely to brighten
the world of man.
"When these Greeks repulsed the invasion of the Persian conquerors they did not only defend their homeland, which was
Greece, but that idea which we call Europe today. And then European concepts travelled from Hellas to Rome. The Greek
spirit and culture, the Roman way of thinking and statesmanship, joined.
"An empire was created which, to this day has not been equalled in its significance or creative power, let alone outdone. When,
however the Roman legions were defending Rome against the African onslaught of Carthage and at last gained a victory, again
it was not Rome they were fighting for, but the Europe of that time, which consisted of the Greek-Roman Empire. The next
incursion against this homestead of European culture was carried out from the distant East. A terrible stream of barbarous,
uncultured hordes sallied forth from the interior of Asia deep into the heart of the European Continent, burning, looting,
murdering - a true scourge of the Lord. In the battle of the Catalonian fields Western Europe was formed. On the very ruins of
Rome Western Europe was built, and its defence was a task, not only of the Romans, but also above all else of the Teutons.
"In centuries to come the West, enlightened by Greek culture, built the Roman Empire and then expanded by the colonization
of Teutons was able to call itself Europe. Whether it was the German Emperor who was repelling the attacks from the East on
the Field of Lech or whether Africa was being pushed back from Spain in long fighting, it was also a struggle of Europe,
coming into being, against a surrounding world alien in its very essence.
"Once Rome had been given its due for the creative defence of this continent, Teutons took over the defence and the protection
of a family of nations which might still differentiate and differ in their political structure and objective, but which nevertheless
represented a cultural unity with blood ties. And it was from this Europe that a spiritual and cultural abundance went out, of
which everyone must be aware who is willing to seek truth instead of denying it. Thus it was not England who brought culture
to the Continent, but the offspring of Teutonic nationhood on the Continent who went as Anglo-Saxons and Normans to that
Island made possible a development in a way surely unique. In just the same way, it was not America who discovered Europe,
but the other way around.
"And everything that America has not drawn from Europe may well appear worthy of admiration to a juda-ised, mixed race.
Europe, on the other hand, sees in it a sign of cultural decay. Deputies and Men of the German Reichstag, I had to make this
survey, for the fight which, in the first months of this year, gradually began to become clear, and of which the German Reich is
this time called to be the leader of, also far exceeds the interests of our nation and country. Just as the Greeks once faced the
Persians in war, and the Romans faced the Mongolians, the Spanish heroes defended not only Spain, but the whole of Europe
against Africa, just so Germany is fighting today, not for herself, but for the entire Continent.
"And it is fortunate that this realization is today so deep in the subconscious of most European nations that, whether by taking
up their position openly or whether by a stream of volunteers, they are sharing in this struggle. When, on the 6th of April of
this year, the German and Italian Armies took up their positions for the fight against Yugoslavia and Greece, it was the
introduction to the great struggle in which we are still involved. The revolt in Belgrade, which led to the overthrow of the
former Regent and his Government, was decisive for the future course of events in this part of Europe, for England was also a
part to this putsch. But the chief role was played by Soviet Russia. What I refused to Mr. Molotov on his visit to Berlin, Stalin
now thought he could achieve by a revolutionary movement, even against our will. Without consideration for the agreements,
which had been concluded, the intentions of the Bolsheviks in power grew still wider. The Pact of Friendship with the new
revolutionary regime illuminated the closeness of the threatening danger like lightning.
"The feats achieved by the German Armed Forces were given worthy recognition in the German Reichstag on the 4th of May.
but what I was then unfortunately unable to express was the realization that we were progressing at tremendous speed toward a
fight with a State which was not yet intervening because it was not yet fully prepared, and because it was impossible to use the
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aerodromes and landing grounds at that time of year on account of the melting snow. My deputies, when in 1940 I realized
from communications in the English House of Commons and the observation of the Russian troop movements on our frontiers
that there was the possibility of danger arising in the East of the Reich, I immediately gave orders to set up numerous new
armoured motorized infantry divisions.
"The logistics for this were possible from the point of view both of material and personnel. I will give you, my Deputies, and
indeed the whole German people, only one assurance: the more democracy needs more armaments, as is easily understandable,
the harder National Socialist Germany works. It was so in the past, it is no different today. Every year brings us increased, and
above all, improved weapons. Hard decisions had to be made. In spite of my determination that under no circumstances to
allow our opponent to make the first stab in our heart - in spite of that my decision was a very difficult one. If democratic
newspapers today declare that, had I known the strength of our Bolshevik opponents more accurately, I would have hesitated to
attack, they understand the position just as little as they understand me. I sought no war. On the contrary, I did everything to
avoid it. But I would have been forgetful of my duty and responsibility if, in spite of realizing the inevitability of a fight by
force of arms, I had failed to draw the only possible conclusions. In view of the mortal danger from Soviet Russia, not only to
the German Reich, but also to all Europe, I decided, that if possible, a few days before the outbreak of this moral struggle, to
give the signal to attack myself.
"Today, we have overwhelming and authentic proof that Russia intended to attack; we are also quite clear about the date on
which the attack was to take place. In view of the great danger, the proportions of which we realise perhaps only today to the
fullest extent, I can only thank God that He enlightened me at the proper time and that He gave me the strength to do what had
to be done! To this, not only millions of German soldiers owe their lives, but Europe its very existence. This much I may state
today; had this wave of over 20,000 tanks, hundreds of divisions, tens of thousands of guns, accompanied by more than 10,000
aircraft, suddenly moved against the Reich, Europe would have been lost.
"Fate has destined a number of nations to forestall this attack, to ward it off with the sacrifice of their blood. Had Finland not
decided immediately to take up arms for the second time, the leisurely bourgeois life of the other Nordic countries would soon
have come to an end. Had the German Reich not faced the enemy with her soldiers and arms, a flood would have swept over
Europe, which once and for all would have finished the ridiculous British idea of maintaining the European balance of power
in all its senselessness and stupid tradition.
"Had Slovaks, Hungarians, and Rumanians not taken over part of the protection of Europe, the Bolshevik hordes would have
swept like Atilla's Huns over the Danubian countries, and at the cost of the Ionic Sea, Tartars and Mongols would have
enforced today the revision of the Montreux Agreement. Had Italy, Spain and Croatia not sent their divisions, the
establishment of a European defence Front would have been impossible, from which emanated the idea of a New Europe as
propaganda to all other nations.
"Sensing and realising this, volunteers have come from Northern and Western Europe, Norwegians, Danes, Dutchmen,
Flemings, Belgians, even Frenchmen - volunteers who gave the struggle of the United Powers of the Axis the character of a
European crusade - in the truest sense of the word. The time has not yet come to talk about the planning and the conduct of this
campaign, but I believe that I may sketch in a few sentences about what has been achieved in this most gigantic of all
struggles, in which memories of the various events might so easily fade because of the vastness of area and the great number of
important events. The attack began on 22nd of June; with considerable daring the frontier fortifications, which had been
designed to resist any Russian advance against us, were passed over and on the 23rd Grodno fell. On the 24th Vilna and Kovno
were taken after Brest-Litovsk had been occupied. On the 26th Duenaburg was in our hands and on 10th July, the first two
great pincer battles of Bialystok and Minsk were concluded; 324,000 prisoners, 3,332 tanks and 1,809 guns fell to us.
"Already, on 13th July, the Stalin Line had been broken through at all it's important points. On the 16th Smolensk fell after
heavy fighting, and on the 19th German and Rumanian formations forced the crossing of the Dniester. On the 6th of August,
the Battle of Smolensk was concluded in many pockets and again 310,000 Russians fell into German captivity, while 3,205
tanks and 3,120 guns were destroyed or captured. Only three days later the fate of another Russian Army group was sealed and
on 9th August another 103,000 Russians were taken prisoner in the Battle of Ouman; 317 tanks and 1,100 guns destroyed or
captured. On 17th August Nicolaeff was taken, on the 21st, Kherson. On the same day the Battle of Gomel was concluded with
84,000 prisoners taken and 124 tanks, as well as 808 guns captured or destroyed. On the 21st August, the Russian positions
between Lakes Peipus and Ilmen were broken through and on the 26th the bridgehead at Dniepropetrovsk fell into our hands.
"On 28th August German troops marched into Reval and Boltisk Port after heavy fighting, while on the 30th the Finns took
Viipuri. By conquering Schluesselburg on the 8th September, Leningrad was finally cut off, also from the South. On 6th
September we succeeded in establishing bridgeheads on the Dnieper and on the 8th Poltava fell into our hands. On 9th
September German formations stormed the citadel of Kiev and the occupation of Oesel was crowned by taking the Capital.
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"Only now have these great operations matured into the expected successes; on 27th September the Battle of Kiev was
concluded; 665,000 prisoners began to move westwards, 884 tanks and 3,178 guns remained as booty in the pockets. As early
as 2nd October the break-through battle on the Central Front began, while on 11th October the battle on the Sea of Azov was
successfully concluded; again 107,000 prisoners, 212 tanks and 672 guns were counted.
"On 16th October, German and Rumanian troops marched into Odessa following hard fighting. On 8th October the break-
through on the Central Front was concluded with a new success, unique in history, when 663,000 prisoners were only part of
its results; 1,242 tanks and 5,452 guns were either destroyed or captured. On 31st October, the conquest of Dagoo was
concluded. On 24th October, the industrial centre of Kharkov was taken. On 28th October, the entrance of the Crimea was
finally forced at great speed, and on 2nd November the capital Sinferopol was taken by storm. On 6th November we had
pierced through the Crimea up to Kerch.
"On 1st December, the total number of Soviet prisoners amounted to 3,806,865; the number of tanks destroyed or captured was
21,391, guns, 32,541 and aeroplanes, 17,322. During the same period 2,191 British planes were shot down. The Navy sank
4,170,611 g.r.t. of British shipping, the air force 2,346,080 g.r.t.; a total of 6,516,791 g.r.t. was thus destroyed.
"All this had to be fought for by my staking health and life, and by efforts, which those at home can hardly imagine. Marching
for an endless distance, tormented by heat and thirst, often held up by the mud of un-surfaced roads which would drive them
almost to despair, exposed, from the Black Sea to the Arctic Sea, to the in-hospitability of a climate which from the blazing
heat of the July and August days, dropped to the wintry storms of November and December, tortured by insects, suffering from
dirt and vermin, freezing in the snow and ice, they have fought - the Germans and the Finns, Italians, Slovaks, Hungarians and
Rumanians, the Croats, the volunteers from the North and West European countries, all in all the soldiers of the Eastern Front.
"The beginning of winter only will now check this movement; at the beginning of summer it will again no longer be possible to
stop the movement. On this day I do not want to mention any individual section of the Armed Forces, I do not want to praise
any particular command; they have all made a supreme effort. And yet, understanding and justice compel me to state one thing
again and again; amongst our German soldiers the heaviest burden is born today, as in the past, by our matchless German
infantry. From 22nd June to 1st December the German Army lost in this heroic fight 158,773 killed, 563,082 wounded and
31,191 missing. The Air Force lost 3,231 killed, 8,453 wounded and 2,028 missing. The Navy lost 210 killed, 232 wounded
and 115 missing. The total losses of the armed forces are thus 162,314 killed, 571,767 wounded and 33,334 missing.
"That is to say, in killed and wounded slightly greater than the field of death at the Battle of the Somme, in missing a little less
than half those missing at that time. But all were fathers and sons of our German people. And now permit me to define my
attitude to that other world, which has its representative in that man, who while our soldiers are fighting in snow and ice, very
tactfully likes to make his chats from the fireside, the man who is the main culprit of this war.
"When in 1939 the conditions of our national interests in the then Polish State became more and more intolerable, I tried at
first to eliminate those intolerable conditions by way of a peaceful settlement. For some time it seemed as though the Polish
Government itself had seriously considered to agree to a sensible settlement.
"I may add that in German proposals nothing was demanded that had not been German property in former times. On the
contrary, we renounced very much of what, before the World War, had been German property. You will recall the dramatic
development of that time, in which the sufferings of German nationals increased continuously. You, my deputies, are in the
best position to gauge the extent of the blood sacrifice, if you compare it to the casualties of the present war.
"The campaign in the East has so far cost the German armed forces about 160,000 killed; but in the midst of peace more than
62,000 Germans were killed during those months, some under the cruelest tortures. It could hardly be contested that the
German Reich had had a right to object to such conditions on its Frontiers and to demand that they should case to exist and that
it was entitled to think of its own safety; this could hardly be contested at a time when other countries were seeking elements of
their safety even in foreign continents. The problems, which had to be overcome, were of no territorial significance. Mainly
they concerned Danzig and the union with the Reich of the torn-off province, East Prussia. More difficult were the cruel
persecutions the Germans were exposed to, in Poland particularly. The other minorities, incidentally, had to suffer a fate hardly
less bitter.
"When in August the attitude of Poland - thanks to the carte blanche guarantee received from England - became still stiffer, the
Government of the Reich found it necessary to submit, for the last time, a proposal on the basis of which we were willing to
enter into negotiations with Poland - negotiations of which we fully and completely apprised the then British Ambassador.
"I may recall these proposals today: Proposal for the settlement of the problem of the Danzig Corridor and of the question of
the German-Polish minorities. The situation between the German Reich and Poland has become so strained that any further
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incident may lead to a clash between the Armed Forces assembled on both sides. Any peaceful settlement must be so arranged
that the events mainly responsible for the existing situation cannot occur again - a situation, which has caused a state of
tension, not only in Eastern Europe, but also in other regions.
"The cause of this situation lies in the impossible Frontiers laid down by the Versailles dictate and the inhuman treatment of
the German minorities in Poland.
"The same goes for the proposals for safeguarding the minorities. This is the offer of an agreement such as could not have been
made in a more loyal and magnanimous form by any government other than the National Socialist Government of the German
Reich. The Polish Government at that period refused even as much as to consider this proposal.
"The question then arises: how could such an unimportant State dare simply to refuse an offer of this nature and furthermore,
not only indulge in further atrocities to its German inhabitants who had given that country the whole of its culture, but even
order mobilization? Perusal of documents of the Foreign Office in Warsaw has now given us some surprising explanations.
There was one who, with devilish lack of conscience, used all his influence to further the warlike intentions of Poland and to
eliminate all possibilities of understanding.
"The reports which the then Polish Ambassador in Washington, Count Potocki, sent to his Government are documents from
which it may be seen with a terrifying clearness to what an extent one man alone and the forces driving him are responsible for
the second World War. The question next arises, how could this man fall into such fanatical enmity toward a country, which in
the whole of its history has never done the least harm either to America or to him personally?
"So far as Germany's attitude toward America is concerned, I have to state: One: Germany is perhaps the only great nation,
which has never had a colony either in North or South America, or otherwise displayed there was any political activity, unless
mention is made of the emigration of many millions of Germans and of their work, which, however, has only been to the
benefit of the American Continent and of the U.S.A., Two: In the whole history of the coming into being and of the existence
of the U.S.A. the German Reich has never adopted a politically unfriendly, let alone a hostile attitude, but on the contrary with
the blood of many of its sons, it helped to defend the U.S.A.
"The German Reich never took part in any war against the U.S.A. It itself had war imposed on it by the U.S.A. in 1917, and
then for reasons which have been thoroughly revealed by an investigation committee set up by President Roosevelt himself.
There are no other differences between the Germans and the American people, either territorial or political, which could
possibly touch the interests let alone the existence of the U.S.A.
"There was always a difference of Constitution, but that can't be a reason for hostilities so long as the one state does not try to
interfere with the other. America is a Republic, a Democracy, and today is a Republic under strong authoritative leadership.
The ocean lies between the two states. The divergences between Capitalist America and Bolshevik Russia, if such conceptions
had any truth in them, would be much greater than between America led by a President and Germany led by a Fuhrer. But it is
a fact that the two conflicts between Germany and the U.S.A., were inspired by the same force and caused by two men in the
U.S.A. – Wilson and Roosevelt.
"History has already passed its verdict on Wilson, his name stands for one of the basest breaches of the given word, that led to
the disruption not only among the so-called vanquished, but among the victors. This breach of his word alone made possible
the dictate of Versailles. We know today that a group of interested financiers stood behind Wilson and made use of this
paralytic professor because they hoped for increased business. The German people have had to pay for having believed this
man with the collapse of their political and economic existence.
"But why is there now another President of the U.S.A., who regards it as his only task to intensify anti-German feeling to the
pitch of war? National Socialism came to power in Germany in the same years as Roosevelt was elected President. I
understand only too well that a worldwide distance separates Roosevelt's ideas and my ideas. Roosevelt comes from a rich
family and belongs to the class whose path is smoothed in the Democracy.
"I am the only child of a small, poor family and had to fight my way by work and industry. When the Great War came,
Roosevelt occupied a position where he got to know only its pleasant consequences enjoyed by those who do business while
others bleed. I was only one of those who carry out orders, as an ordinary soldier, and naturally returned from the war just as
poor as I was in autumn of 1914. I shared the fate of millions, and Franklin Roosevelt only the fate of the so-called upper ten
thousand. After the war Roosevelt tried his hand at financial speculation; he made profits out of the inflation, out of the misery
of others, while I, together with many hundreds of thousands more, lay in hospitals. When Roosevelt finally stepped on the
political stage with all the advantages of his class, I was unknown and fought for the resurrection of my people.
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"When Roosevelt took his place at the head of the U.S.A., he was the candidate of a Capitalistic party which made use of him;
when I became Chancellor of the German Reich, I was Fuehrer of the popular movement I had created. The powers behind
Roosevelt were those powers I had fought at home. The Brains Trust were composed of people such as we had fought against
in Germany as parasites and removed from public life. Yet there is something in common between us. Roosevelt took over a
State in a very poor economic condition, and I took over a Reich faced with complete ruin, also thanks to Democracy. In the
U.S.A. there were 13 million unemployed, and in Germany 7,000,000 part-time workers. The finances of both States were in a
bad way, and ordinary economic life could hardly be maintained. A development then started in the U.S.A. and in the German
Reich, which will make it easy for posterity to pass a verdict on the correctness of the theories.
"While an unprecedented revival of economic life, culture and art took place in Germany under National Socialistic leadership
within the space of a few years; President Roosevelt did not succeed in bringing about even the slightest improvements in his
own country. And yet this work must have been much easier in the U.S.A. where there lived scarcely fifteen people on a
square kilometre, as against 140 in Germany. If such a country does not succeed in assuring economic prosperity, this must be
a result either of the bad faith of its leaders in power, or of a total inefficiency on the part of the leading men. In scarcely five
years, economic problems had been solved in Germany and unemployment had been overcome. During the same period,
President Roosevelt had increased the State Debt of his country to an enormous extent, the decreased value of the dollar, had
brought about a further disintegration of economic life, without diminishing the unemployment figures.
"All this is not surprising if one bears in mind that the men he had called to support him, or rather, the men who had called
him, belonged to the Jewish element, whose interests are all for disintegration and never for order. While speculation was
being fought in National Socialist Germany, it thrived astoundingly under the Roosevelt regime. Roosevelt's New Deal
legislation was all-wrong, It was actually the biggest failure ever experienced by one man. There can be no doubt that a
continuation of this economic policy would have undone this President in peace time, in spite of all his dialectical skill.
"In a European State he would surely have come eventually before a State Court on a charge of deliberate waste of the national
wealth; and he would have scarcely escaped at the hands of a civil court, on a charge of criminal business methods. This fact
was realized and fully appreciated also by many Americans including some of high standing. A threatening opposition was
gathering over the head of this man. He guessed that the only salvation for him lay in diverting public attention from home to
foreign policy. It is interesting to study in this connection the reports of the Polish Envoy in Washington, Potocki. He
repeatedly points out that Roosevelt was fully aware of the danger threatening the card castle of his economic system with
collapse, and that he was therefore urgently in need of a diversion in foreign policy.
"He was strengthened in this resolve by the Jews surrounding him. Their Old Testament thirst for revenge saw in the U.S.A. an
instrument for preparing a second "Purim" for the European nations, which were becoming increasingly anti-Semitic. The full
diabolical meanness of Jewry rallied round this man, and he stretched out his hands. Thus began the increasing efforts of the
American President to create conflicts, to do everything to prevent conflicts from being peacefully solved. For years this man
harboured one desire – that a conflict should break out somewhere in the world. The most convenient place would be in
Europe, where American economy could be committed to the cause of one of the belligerents in such a way that a political
interconnection of interests would arise calculated slowly to bring America nearer such a conflict.
"This would thereby divert public interest from bankrupt economic policy at home towards foreign problem.
His attitude to the German Reich in this spirit was particularly sharp. In 1937, Roosevelt made a number of speeches, including
a particularly mean one pronounced in Chicago on 5th October 1937. Systematically he began to incite American public
opinions against Germany. He threatened to establish a kind of Quarantine against the so-called Authoritarian States.
"While making those increasingly spiteful and inflammatory speeches, President Roosevelt summoned the American
Ambassadors to Washington to report to him. This event followed some further declarations of an insulting character; and ever
since, the two countries have been connected with each other only through Charges d'Affairs.
"From November 1938 onwards, his systematic efforts were directed towards sabotaging any possibility of an appeasement
policy in Europe. In public, he was hypocritically pretending to be for peace; but at the same time he was threatening any
country ready to pursue a policy of peaceful understanding with the freezing of assets, with economic reprisals, with demands
for the repayment of loans, etc. Staggering information to this effort can be derived from the reports of Polish Ambassadors in
Washington, London, Paris and Brussels.
"In January, 1939, this man began to strengthen his campaign of incitement and threatened to take all possible Congressional
measures against the Authoritarian States, with the exception of war, while alleging that other countries were trying to interfere
in American affairs and insisting on the maintenance of the Monroe Doctrine, he himself began from March 1939 onwards, to
meddle in European affairs which were no concern at all of the President of the U.S.A., since he does not understand those
problems, and even if he did understand them and the historic background behind them, he would have just as little right to
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worry about the central European area as the German Reich has to judge conditions in a U.S. State and to take an attitude
towards them.
"But Mr. Roosevelt went even farther. In contradiction to all the tenets of international law, he declared that he would not
recognize certain Governments which did not suit him, would not accept readjustments, would maintain Legations of States
dissolved long before or actually set them up as legal Governments. He even went so far as to conclude agreements with such
Envoys and thus to acquire a right simply to occupy foreign territories.
"On 5th April 1939, came Roosevelt's famous appeal to myself and the Duce. It was a clumsy combination of geographical and
political ignorance and of the arrogance of the millionaire circles around him. It asked us to give undertakings to conclude non-
aggression Pacts indiscriminately with any country, including mostly countries, which were not even free, since Mr.
Roosevelt's allies had annexed them or changed them into Protectorates.
"You will remember, my Deputies, that I then gave a polite and clear reply to this meddling gentleman. For some months at
least, this stopped the flow of eloquence from this honest warmonger. But his place was taken by his honourable spouse. She
declined to live with her sons in a world such as the one we have worked out. And quite right, for this is a world of labour and
not of cheating and trafficking. After a little rest, the husband of that woman came back on the scene and on the 4th November
1939, engineered the reversion of the Neutrality Law so as to suspend the ban on the export of arms, in favour of a one-sided
delivery of arms to Germany's opponents. He then begins, somewhat as in Asia and in China, but by the roundabout way of
economic infiltration to establish a community of interest destined to become operative at a later time.
"In the same month, he recognizes, as a so-called Government in exile, a gang of Polish emigrants, whose only political
foundation was a few million gold coins taken with them from Warsaw. On the 9th of April he goes on and he orders the
blocking of Norwegian and Danish assets under the lying pretext of placing them beyond the German reach, although he
knows perfectly well that the Danish Government in its financial administration is not in any way being interfered with, let
alone controlled, by Germany. To the various exiled Governments recognized by him, the Norwegian is now added. On the
15th May 1940, he recognizes the Dutch and Belgian émigré Governments. This was followed by blocking Dutch and Belgian
assets.
"His true mentality then comes clearly to light in a telegram of 15th June to the French Prime Minister, Reynaud. He advises
him that the American government will double its help to France, provided that France continues the war against Germany. So
as to give still greater expression to this, his wish for a continuation of the war, he issues a declaration that the American
Government will not recognize the results of the conquest of territories i.e. the restoration to Germany of lands, which had
been stolen from her.
"I don't need to assure you, Members of the Reichstag, that it is a matter of complete indifference to every German
Government whether the President of the U.S.A. recognizes the frontiers of Europe or no, and that this indifference will
likewise continue, in the future. I merely quote this to illustrate the methodical incitement, which has come from this man who
speaks hypocritically of peace, but always urges to war. But now he is seized with fear that if peace is brought about in Europe,
his squandering of billions of money on armaments will be looked upon, since nobody will attack America, as plain fraud –
and so he then must himself provoke this attack upon his country.
"On the 17th July 1940, the American President orders the blocking of French assets with a view, as he puts it, to placing them
beyond German reach, but really in order to transfer the French gold from Casablanca to America with the assistance of an
American cruiser. In July 1940 he tries by enlisting American citizens in the British Air Force and by training British airmen in
the U.S.A. to pave ever better the way to war.
"In August 1940, a military programme is jointly drawn up between the U.S.A. and Canada. To make the establishment of a
Canadian-U.S. Defence Committee plausible - plausible at least to the biggest fools - he invents from time to time, crises, by
means of which he pretends that America is being threatened with aggression.
"This he wishes to impress upon the American people by suddenly returning on the 3rd April to Washington with all speed on
account of the alleged danger of the situation. In September 1940 he draws still nearer to the war. He turns over to the British
Fleet 50 destroyers of the American Navy in return for which, to be sure, he takes over several British bases in North and
South America.
"From all these actions, it may be clearly seen how, with all his hatred for Socialist Germany, he forms the resolution of taking
over, as safely and securely as possible, the British Empire in the moment of its downfall. Since England is no longer in the
position to pay cash for all the American deliveries, he imposes the Lease-Lend Law on the American people. He thus receives
powers to lend or lease support to countries, the defence of which may appear to him as vital in American's interests. Then,
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once more he takes a further step. As far back as the 9th December 1939, American naval forces in the security zone handed
over the German ship Columbus to the British navy. Due to circumstances she had to be sunk.
"On the same day, U.S. forces cooperated to prevent the attempted escape of the German steamer Arauca.
On the 27th January 1940, a U.S. cruiser in contravention of International Law advised enemy naval forces of the movements
of the German steamers, Arauca, La Plata and Mangoni. On the 27th June 1940, he ordered, in complete contravention of
International Law, a restriction of the freedom of movements of foreign ships in U.S. harbours.
"In November, 1940, he ordered the German ships Reugeu, Niedervald and Rhein to be shadowed by American ships until
these steamers were compelled to scuttle themselves so as not to fall into enemy hands. On 30th April 1941, followed the
opening up of the Red Sea to U.S. ships, so that they could carry supplies to the British armies in the Near East.
"Meanwhile, in March, the American authorities requisitioned all German ships. In the course of this German nationals were
treated in a most inhuman manner, and in contravention of all notions of international law designated places of residence were
assigned them, travelling restrictions imposed upon them, and so on.
"Two German officers who had escaped from Canadian captivity, were - again contrary to all the dictates of international law -
handcuffed and handed over to the Canadian authorities. On the 24th March the same President who stands against every
aggression, acclaimed Simovitch and his companions who gained their positions by aggression and by removing the lawful
government of their country. Roosevelt had some months before sent Colonel Donovan, a completely unworthy creature, to the
Balkans, to Sofia and Belgrade, to engineer a rising against Germany and Italy.
"In April, he promised help to Yugoslavia and Greece under the Lend-Lease Act. At the end of April, this man recognized the
Yugoslav and Greek émigré governments, and once more against international law, blocked Yugoslav and Greek assets. From
the middle of April onwards, the American watch over the Western Atlantic by U.S.A. patrols was extended, and reports were
made to the British. On the 26th April, Roosevelt transferred to the British 20 motor-torpedo-boats and at the same time,
British war-ships were being repaired in U.S. ports. On 5th May, the illegal arming and repairing of Norwegian ships for
England took place.
"On 4th June American troop transports arrived in Greenland, to build airdromes. On 9th June, came the first British report
that, on Roosevelt's orders, a U.S. warship had attacked a German u-boat with depth charges near Greenland. On 4th June,
German assets in the U.S.A. were illegally blocked. On the 7th June, Roosevelt demanded under mendacious pretexts, that
German consuls should be withdrawn and German consulates closed. He also demanded the closing of the German Press
Agency, Trans-ocean, the German Information Library and the German Reichsbank Central Office. On 6th and 7th July,
American Forces occupied Iceland, which is within the German fighting zone, on the orders of Roosevelt. He intended, first of
all, to force Germany to make war and to make the German U-boat warfare as ineffective as it was in 1915-16. At the same
time he promised American help to the Soviet Union. On 10th June, the Navy Minister, Knox, suddenly announced an
American order to open fire on Axis warships.
"On 4th September, the U.S. destroyer Greer, obeying orders, operated with British aircraft against German U-boats in the
Atlantic. Five days later, a German U-boat noticed the U.S. destroyer acting as escort in a British convoy. On 11th September
Roosevelt finally made a speech in which he confirmed and repeated his order to fire on all Axis ships. On 29th September,
U.S. escort-vessels attacked a German U-boat with depth charges East of Greenland. On 7th October, the U.S. destroyer
Kearney acting as an escort vessel for Britain again attacked a German U-boat with depth charges. Finally, on 6th November,
U.S. forces illegally seized the German steamer, Odenwald, and took it to an American port where the crew were taken
prisoner.
"I will pass over the insulting attacks made by this so-called President against me. That he calls me a gangster is uninteresting.
After all, this expression was not coined in Europe but in America, no doubt because such gangsters are lacking here. Apart
from this, I cannot be insulted by Roosevelt for I consider him mad, just as Wilson was.
"I don't need to mention what this man has done for years in the same way against Japan. First he incites war, then falsifies the
causes, then odiously wraps himself in a cloak of Christian hypocrisy and slowly but surely leads mankind to war, not without
calling God to witness the honesty of his attack - in the approved manner of an old Freemason.
"I think you have all found it a relief that now, at last, one State has been the first to take the step of protest against his
historically unique and shameless ill treatment of truth, and of right - which protest this man has desired and about which he
cannot complain. The fact that the Japanese Government, which has been negotiating for years with this man, has at last
become tired of being mocked by him, in such an unworthy way, fills us all, the German people, and I think, all other decent
people in the world, with deep satisfaction. We have seen what the Jews have done to Soviet Russia. We have made the
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acquaintance of the Jewish Paradise on earth. Millions of German soldiers have been able to see this country where the
international Jews have destroyed people and property. The President of the U.S.A. ought finally to understand - I say this only
because of his limited intellect - that we know that the aim of this struggle is to destroy one State after another.
"But the present German Reich has nothing more in common with the old Germany. And we, for our part, will now do what
this provocateur has been trying to do so much for years. Not only because we are the ally of Japan, but also because Germany
and Italy have enough insight and strength to comprehend that, in these historic times, the existence or non-existence of our
nations, is being decided perhaps for ever. We clearly see the intention of the rest of the world towards us. They reduced
Democratic Germany to hunger. They would destroy our National Socialism. When Churchill and Roosevelt state that they
want to build up a new social order, it is like a hairdresser with a baldhead recommending an ineffective hair-restorer. These
men, who live in the most socially backward states, have misery and distress enough in their own countries to occupy
themselves with the distribution of foodstuffs.
"As for the German nation, it needs charity from neither Mr. Churchill nor from Mr. Roosevelt, let alone from Mr. Eden. It
wants only its rights! It will secure for itself this right to life even if thousands of Churchill's and Roosevelt's conspire against
it. In the whole history of the German nation, of nearly 2,000 years, it has never been so united as today and, thanks to National
Socialism it will remain united in the future. It probably has never seen so clearly, and rarely been so conscious of its honour.
"As a consequence of the further extension of President Roosevelt's policy, which is aimed at unrestricted world domination
and dictatorship the U.S.A. together with England have not hesitated from using any means to dispute the rights of the
German, Italian and Japanese nations to the base of their natural existence.
"The Governments of the U.S.A. and of England have therefore resisted, not only now but also for all time, every just
understanding meant to bring about a better New Order in the world. Since the beginning of the war the American president,
Roosevelt, has been guilty of a series of the worst crimes against international law; illegal seizure of ships and other property
of German and Italian nationals, coupled with the threat to, and looting of, those who were deprived of their liberty by
internment.
"Roosevelt's ever increasing attacks finally went so far that he ordered the American navy to attack everywhere ships under the
German and Italian flags, and to sink them - this in gross violation of international law. American ministers boasted of having
destroyed German submarines in this criminal way. German and Italian merchant ships were attacked by American cruisers,
captured and their crews imprisoned.
"With no attempt at an official denial there has now been revealed in America President Roosevelt's plan by which, at the latest
in 1943, Germany and Italy were to be attacked in Europe by military means. In this way the sincere efforts of Germany and
Italy to prevent an extension of the war and to maintain relations with the U.S.A. in spite of the unbearable provocations which
have been carried on for years by President Roosevelt, have been frustrated.
"Germany and Italy have been finally compelled, in view of this, and in loyalty to the Tri-Partite act, to carry on the struggle
against the U.S.A. and England jointly and side by side with Japan for the defence and thus for the maintenance of the liberty
and independence of their nations and empires. The Three Powers have therefore concluded the following Agreement, which
was signed in Berlin today:
"In their unshakable determination not to lay down arms until the joint war against the U.S.A. and England reaches a
successful conclusion, the German, Italian, and Japanese governments have agreed on the following points:
Article 1. Germany, Italy and Japan will wage the common war forced upon them by the U.S.A. and England with all the
means of power at their disposal, to a victorious conclusion.
Article II. Germany, Italy and Japan undertake not to conclude an armistice or peace with the U.S.A., or with England without
complete mutual understanding.
Article III. Germany, Italy and Japan will continue the closest cooperation even after the victorious conclusion of the war in
order to bring about a just new order in the sense of the Tri-Partite Pact concluded by them on the 27th September 1940.
Article IV. This Agreement comes into force immediately after signature and remains in force as long as the Tri-Partite Pact of
27th September 1940. The Signatory Powers will confer in time before this period ends about the future form of the
cooperation provided for in Article III of this agreement."
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"Deputies, Members of the German Reichstag: Ever since my last peace proposal of July 1940 was rejected, we have realized
that this struggle has to be fought out to its last implications. That the Anglo-Saxon-Jewish-Capitalist World finds itself now in
one and the same Front with Bolshevism does not surprise us National Socialists: we have always found them in company.
"We have concluded the struggle successfully inside Germany and have destroyed our adversaries after 16 years struggle for
power. When 23 years ago, I decided to enter political life and to lift this nation out of its decline, I was a nameless, unknown
soldier. Many among you know how difficult were the first few years of this struggle.
"From the time when the Movement consisted of seven men, until we took over power in January 1933, the path was so
miraculous that only Providence itself with its blessing could have made this possible.
"Today I am at the head of the strongest Army in the world, the largest Air Force and of a proud Navy. Behind and around me
stands the Party with which I became great and which has become great through me. The enemies I see before me are the same
enemies as 20 years ago, but the path along which I look forward cannot be compared with that on which I look back.
"The German people recognizes the decisive hour of its existence, millions of soldiers do their duty, millions of German
peasants and workers, women and girls, produce bread for the home country and arms for the Front. We are allied with strong
peoples, who in the same need are faced with the same enemies. The American President and his Plutocratic clique have
mocked us as the Have-nots – that is true, but the Have-nots will see to it that they are not robbed of the little they have.
"You, my fellow party members, know my unalterable determination to carry a fight once begun to its successful conclusion.
You know my determination in such a struggle to be deterred by nothing, to break every resistance, which must be broken. In
September 1939 I assured you that neither force of arms nor time would overcome Germany. I will assure my enemies that
neither force of arms nor time nor any internal doubts, can make us waver in the performance of our duty.
"When we think of the sacrifices of our soldiers, any sacrifice made by the Home Front is completely unimportant. When we
think of those who in past centuries have fallen for the Reich, then we realize the greatness of our duty. But anybody who tries
to evade this duty has no claim to be regarded in our midst as a fellow German. Just as we were unmercifully hard in our
struggle for power we shall be unmercifully hard in the struggle to maintain our nation.
"At a time when thousands of our best men are dying nobody must expect to live who tries to depreciate the sacrifices made at
the Front. Immaterial under what camouflage he tries to disturb this German Front, to undermine the resistance of our people,
to weaken the authority of the regime, to sabotage the achievements of the Home Front, he shall die for it!
"But with the difference that this sacrifice brings the highest honour to the soldier at the Front, whereas the other dies
dishonoured and disgraced.
"Our enemies must not deceive themselves – in the 2,000 years of German history known to us, our people have never been
more united than today. The Lord of the Universe has treated us so well in the past years that we bow in gratitude to a
providence which has allowed us to be members of such a great nation. We thank Him that we also can be entered with honour
into the everlasting book of German history ! "
Hollywood star W. C. Fields had taken his own precautions and kept $50,000 in a German bank account throughout the war
'just in case the bastard wins' !
During the war, it was illegal in Germany to name a horse 'Adolph'.
1941 Tue December 16. Germans in retreat on Eastern Front. Wed 17. German retreat from Gazala. Thu 18. = New
Moon =
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1941 : Sun December 21 - A Blenheim (Z 6350 – AOS Jurby), ran out of fuel on its way to a training exercise
in Tiree and tried to make a cloud break to land at Machrihanish in fog - All its crew were killed when it hit
the hillside and travelled up and along the ridge before stopping (NGR 723425).
1941 : Wed December 24. Benghazi recaptured by British. Thu 25 (Christmas Day). Hong Kong surrenders to Japanese
following 18 days of fighting where 8,000 British, Canadian and Indian troops had confronted some 40,000 Japanese soldiers.
Fri 26. Second British raid on Lofoten Islands. Sat 27. British raid on Vaagso and Maaloy, off Norway. Mon 29. Russians re-
occupied Kerch and Feodosia.
In December 1941, for the first time in British history, all women, between the ages of 20 and 30, were required to sign up
for war work or to serve with the armed services.
Largie Castle, Tayinloan
Wounded in 1940 and invalided out of The Territorial Army's 8th Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders in 1941,
Captain John Ronald Maxwell Macdonald of Largie, whose father-in-law, John Stirling Maxwell of Pollock,
had been instrumental in founding The Forestry Commission, came home and, for the rest of the war,
welcomed others, from any of the forces, to come to Largie to convalesce.
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1942
1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 8 9 10 11 12 13 14
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 22 23 24 25 26 27 28
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31
April May June

1 2 3 4 1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
26 27 28 29 30 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 28 29 30
31
5 Easter

1 2 3 4 1 1 2 3 4 5
5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
12 13 14 15 16 17 18 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
26 27 28 29 30 31 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30
30 31

1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 27 28 29 30 31
11 Armistice Day 21 Winter Solstice

25 Christmas
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1942
VICTIM OF ITS OWN SUCCESS
The remains of Cefoil's seaweed factory near Bellochantuy
Opened in 1934 and owned by Maidenhead-based Cefoil Limited, the seaweed processing factory just to the
south of Bellochantuy - processing Laminaria or Fucus tangle into an oatmeal-like powder that, transported
to Newcastle-upon-Tyne based Albright and Wilson, was used as a major constituent in the manufacture of
camouflage paint, artificial silk (used for parachutes), cellophane paper, custard powder and ladies’
underwear - found itself closed by a Government Commission in 1942 and production transferred to newly
built factories at Barcaldine, near Oban and at Girvan - Despite these new facilities, it remains a matter of
record that the 45 workers at the Putchecan factory had been producing more material in one day than the
workers at the new Girvan factory could turn out in a week.
Interestingly too, the specially designed seaweed cutting machines at the Putchecan factory had come from
Germany !
1942 : Thu January 1. 26 nations, including Britain, America, Russia and China, affirmed their opposition to the Axis
powers when they signed ‘The Declaration of The United Nations’ in Washington. Fri 2. = Full Moon = Manila and
Cavite captured by Japanese - Bardia recaptured by British. Mon 12. Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, captured by
Japanese forces who then begin to threaten Singapore - Sollum recaptured by British. Sat 17. = New Moon = Halfaya
recaptured by British.
Severe gales in the second week of January 1942 caused eleven ships, seven of them from convoy ONC58, to
go ashore on the west coast of Scotland.
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The "Mobeka" ashore at Carskey Bay, January 19, 1942
In the early hours of the morning of Monday, January 19, 1942, the 3,512 ton "Mobeka", awaiting a convoy
escort, answered the distress flares from a trawler, the "Annie Marie", which had run aground near Carskey
Bay. The captain of the "Mobeka" had mistaken the flares as a signal to join the convoy and, too late to
change course, the "Mobeka" ran aground too in Carskey Bay, five of the trawler's six-man crew were
drowned. Though some of her cargo was salved, the "Mobeka", exposed to heavy seas, became a total loss.
Campbeltown Lifeboat "Duke of Connaught" rescued 44 men from the grounded "Mobeka"
Also on Monday, January 19, 1942, at around 9.30 p.m., the Strick Line's 3,483 ton "Floristan", outward bound with
locomotives and military spares and waiting to join up with a convoy, ran aground at the entrance to Kilchiaran Bay on Islay,
the exact reason for her grounding still a mystery. No lives were lost, the crew going ashore safely in the ship's own lifeboats.
1942 : Mon January 19. Mozhaisk recaptured by Russians. Wed 21. Rommel’s second German counter-offensive in N.
Africa began. Fri 23. Japanese forces land in New Guinea and The Solomon Islands. Mon 26. American troops landed in
Northern Ireland. Thu 29. Benghazi captured by Axis forces.
On Thursday, January 29, 1942, the BBC broadcast 'Desert Island Discs' for the first time, its first 'castaway' being actor-
comedian Vic Oliver - Its signature tune, 'By A Sleepy Lagoon', was written by Eric Coates, the composer of 'The Dam
Busters March'.
1942 : Sun February 1. = Full Moon = Wed February 4. Dema evacuated by British. Fri 6. The first Arctic convoy
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sailed from Loch Ewe - The fleet tug "Freebooter" sailed from Stornoway at 1015 hours on Sunday, February 8, 1942 to
assist the "Anna Knudsen", torpedoed 125 miles south-west of The Faroes and, assisted by the rescue tug "Tenacity", she
credited with saving twenty-four ships arrived in The Clyde with the tow on Saturday, February 14, 1942.
1942 : Mon February 9. Soap rationed. Wed 11 – Thu 12. Scharnhorst, Gneisenau. and Prinz Eugen escaped from Brest
and sailed up Channel.
"Scharnhorst" (here), a sister of the "Gneisenau"
Gunfire from the "Prinz Eugen"
1942 : Fri February 13. U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt orders 110,000 Japanese-Americans to be evacuated away from
the Pacific west coast of the United States Sun 15. = New Moon = Singapore surrenders to the Japanese, 1,000's of Scots
are amongst those soldiers interned in Japanese POW camps.
1942 : Tue February 17 - A Swordfish crashed into Machrihanish Bay, its Australian pilot eventually
rescued by H.M.S. “Busirs” after spending some six hours in his rubber dinghy.
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There was another, seemingly otherwise unrecorded, incident around around this time which involved two
Swordfish aircraft in a practice 'dog-fight' - It was witnessed by two Bellochantuy lobster-fishermen,
Sammy Blackstock and his father and, according to the tale, the propellor and engine suddenly fell off one of
the aircraft, the plane slowly following down after the plummeting parts into the sea - Before they could
even tack their sail-powered boat round to the rescue, a high-speed air-sea rescue launch 'appeared out-of-
nowhere' and plucked the hapless Swordfish pilot from the cold sea at the north end of Machrihanish Bay.
1942 : Fri February 27. Battle of The Java Sea - Raid on French coast at Bruneval.
In February 1942, a new Commando Training Centre was set up at Achnacarry, north of Fort William and that February too
Scotland saw the formation of the 1st Polish Armoured Division and the 1st Independent Polish Parachute Brigade.
1942 : Sun March 1. Russians launched offensive in Kerch Pensinsula. Mon 2. = Full Moon = Mon 9. Java surrenders
to the Japanese. Tue 17. = New Moon =
“ADEPT” AGROUND
H.M. Rescue Tug "Adept"
March 1942 saw another severe snowstorm isolating Campbeltown yet again and on Tuesday, March 17, the
630 ton rescue tug "Adept" ran aground on the south-west corner of Paterson's Rock and became a total loss.
H.M.S. "Campbeltown and Operation Chariot - St. Nazaire
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H.M.S.’Campbeltown’ departs for St. Nazaire
ex - USS Buchanan (DD-131)
CLASS – WICKES
Displacement 1,154 Tons
Dimensions 314' 5" (oa) x 31' 8" x 9' 10" (Max)
Armament 4 x 4"/50, 2 x 1pdr AA, 12 x 21" tt..
Machinery 24,200 SHP;
Twin Screw Geared Turbines Speed 35 Knots
Crew 103
Operational and Building Data

Laid down June 29 1918 by Bath Iron Works, Bath Me.
Launched January 2 1919
Commissioned January 20 1919
Decommissioned June 7 1922
Recommissioned April 10 1930
Decommissioned April 9 1937
Recommissioned September 30 1939
Decommissioned September 9 1940
Transferred to Britain September 9 1940 and renamed H.M.S.’Campbeltown’
Stricken January 8 1941.
Fate Destroyed in raid on St. Nazaire France March 28, 1942
H.M.S. ‘Campbeltown’, built as the U.S.S. ‘Buchanan (DD 131)’, was one of the numerous "four piper", or
"flush deck", destroyers constructed by America during the WWI era and was one of 50 such ships
transferred to the UK under the $250,000 "Destroyers for Bases" deal, she herself thus valued at just $5,000.
Renamed H.M.S. ‘Campbeltown’ on 9 September 1940, she served the Royal Navy as an escort until early
1942 when she was assigned the principal role in the St. Nazaire raid.
Withdrawn from escort, H.M.S. ‘Campbeltown’ was disguised as a German destroyer for the famous raid on
St. Nazaire, France, in 1942, the raid designed to deny the dry-dock at St. Nazaire to the German’s ‘Tirpitz’.
On 0134 hours on March 28 1942, H.M.S. ‘Campbeltown’, her bows loaded with 2,282 lbs of TNT high
explosive, was rammed at full speed onto the top of the dry-dock gates at St. Nazaire and her complement of
British Commandos sent ashore to destroy the dry-dock’s pumping machinery.
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The 52,600 ton ‘Tirpitz’, sister-ship of the ‘Bismark’
In September 1940, under the Lend Lease Agreement, America sent 50 old destroyers, valued at around
$5,000 each, to Britain. One of these, the U.S.S. "Buchanan", was renamed H.M.S. "Campbeltown".
1941: May 9 In the North Atlantic, the U-boat U-110 was depth-charged by HMS Aubretia. Forced to the surface, HMS
Bulldog chose not to ram her, but instead sent over a boarding party to capture the submarine. The victory marked a double
success: the submarine's commander, Lemp, was one of the best known U-boat officers, who had sunk the liner Athenia on the
very first day of the war. But more importantly, the U-boat's Enigma cypher machine and code books were captured intact,
providing a significant boost to Bletchley Park's efforts to break the specific version of Enigma used to control U-boat
deployments. U-110 was taken in tow, but later sank.
The Raid on St Nazaire March 28, 1942
In early 1942 Britain's very survival was threatened by the success of German U-Boat raids on shipping in the Atlantic. their mighty
battleship Tirpitz posed even a greater threat. Operation Chariot a sea-borne commando attack was launched on the huge
"Normandie” dock in the heavily defended St Naziare harbour. Destruction of the dock would deprive the Germans of the only
repair site on the Atlantic coast big enough for the 50,000 ton Tirpitz. Accompanied by 18 small craft of Coastal Forces. HMS
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“Campbeltown” boldly steamed up the Loire estuary under intense German fire and struck the caisson of the dry dock at 0134 hrs.
The Commandos rapidly disembarked from the bows and set about destroying the dock installations - Of the 622 who set out
from Falmouth 169 died, 200 became prisoners and only 242 returned home. Five Victoria Crosses, four DSO's, seventeen
DSC's and eleven MC's were awarded in the daring and brilliantly successful raid.
The value of attacking St Nazaire rested in a number of features. The main target was the ‘Forme Ecluse Louis Joubert’, an
enormous lock and dry dock capable of holding the largest Kriegsmarine warships and the only dock of that size on the Atlantic
coast. The British feared that the “Tirpitz” would be transferred to St Nazaire. The dock had been built from 1924-28 to
accommodate the liner “Normandie” and is sometimes referred to as the Normandie Dock. It was 1148 feet (350 m) long and 164 ft
(50 m) wide, connecting at one end into the Peahouet basin and entering the estuary at the other. The locks of the dock were
caisson-and-camber style, each 167 feet (51 m) long and 35 feet (11 m) thick constructed of hollow steel sections.
As well as the dock the harbour included a new submarine basin built by the Organisation Todt with six enormous pens. It
connected to the sea via two entrances both fitted with lock systems, one opening east near the Normandie Dock and one opening
south into the new (1907) ‘avant-port’.
The German defences at St Nazaire were considered the second toughest in western France after Brest - Both sides of the estuary
approach were fortified and were manned by the 280 Naval Artillery Battalion (commanded by Edo Dieckmann) and the 22 Naval
Flak Battalion (commanded by C. C. Mecke). Fortified guns on the northern shore included four 150 mm howitzers, four 170 mm
guns and four 75 mm guns at Chémoulin, south-west of St Nazaire; four 88 mm guns and ten 20 mm or 40 mm guns at Villès
Martin closer to St Nazaire; further away at La Baule were four 105 mm guns and two railway 240 mm guns. Across the estuary
from St Nazaire were four 75 mm guns at St Gilda, another four at Le Pointeau and ten or so 20 mm guns at Mindin. In the
immediate harbour area were around 30 single 20 mm guns, two quad 20 mm guns, around 15 40 mm guns and a flakship, the
“Sperrbrecher 137”, just off the new port. Heavy anti-aircraft defences were also situated within the town, radar stations were
operating at Le Croisic and at St Marc and all the German positions also had searchlights. Around 1,000 troops manned these
defences and there were a further 5,000 or so military personnel in the town. Excluding submarines the naval power in the town
was limited to ten minesweepers, four small hafenschutzboote and four torpedo-boats.
The British Plan

The Combined Operations scheme relied very heavily on surprise. A flotilla of shallow-draft boats would speed up the estuary
while the German defences were distracted by an air-raid. An explosive ship would be rammed into the exposed caisson of the
Normandie Dock and Commando raiding parties would disembark from that ship and others to attack and destroy 24 different
targets, the force would then be withdrawn by sea from the edge of the harbour, the 'Old Mole' and some hours later the
explosive ship would detonate.
The initial force was planned at one destroyer as the explosive ship and eight motor launches. The final force was the
destroyer, sixteen launches, one motor gunboat and one torpedo-boat - The destroyer was HMS Campbeltown, an obsolete
craft. She was previously the Buchanan of the US Navy, transferred to Britain on September 2, 1940, as part of the
Destroyers for Bases Agreement and renamed as the ‘Town’ class.
The Campbeltown was roughly refigured to resemble a Möwe class destroyer, but all the main guns and excess weight was
removed to reduce her draught to the minimum possible, her armament was a single 12-pounder (5.4 kg) and eight 20 mm
Oerlikons - The explosive was placed just behind the forward main gun position, it consisted of 24 Mark VII depth charges
enclosed in steel tanks and concrete.
The ship was to ram the caisson and then be scuttled to prevent her removal before she could explode. The Campbeltown was
commanded by Lieutenant-commander S. H. Beattie and the crew was reduced to just 75.
The motor launches were B-class Fairmile craft, 112 feet (34 m) long and 19.5 feet (5.9 m) in beam. They were powered by
two 650 hp (480 kW) petrol engines. Built of mahogany they had very little armour and were extremely vulnerable to fire and
to damage to the tricky hydraulic steering system. They were armed with 20 mm Oerlikon for air defence, four WW I vintage
Lewis guns.
The motor gunboat, “MGB 314”, was added to act as a headquarters ship for the naval command. Also a Fairmile craft she
was a C-class, very slightly smaller but powered by three 850 hp (630 kW) engines each driving a screw and capable of
almost 30 knots (56 km/h). She was armed with one automatic 2-pounder (907 g) forwards, one semi-automatic 2-pounder
(907 g) amidships and two .50-cal (~12.7 mm) machineguns. She was also fitted with an indifferent radar system and a useful
echo sounder.
The torpedo-boat, “MTB 74”, was a special craft, a Vosper motor-boat. She was modified to carry special 2200 lb (1,000
kg) delay charges in her torpedo tubes, other than that she had five Hotchkiss machineguns. With five engines generating over
3,500 hp (2.6 MW) she was capable of almost 45 knots (83 km/h) but consumed so much fuel that she would have to be towed
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most of the way to the target - She and all the other motor boats were painted a special shade of purple dubbed 'Plymouth’ or
‘Mountbatten Pink’, the naval camouflage paint pigment developed in the autumn of 1940 by Lord Mountbatten and the paint
designed to make the ships less conspicuous to searchlights - The entire group of 611 men, under Commander R. E. D.
Ryder, was escorted most of the way to the target by two Hunt-class destroyers, HMS Atherstone and HMS Tynedale.
The Commando force, led by Lieutenant-Colonel A. C. Newman, was divided into three groups and split, with two groups on
the motor launches and one on the Campbeltown. The Commando groups were further sub-divided into demolition squads and
protection squads. The demolition squads carried 60 to 90 lb (30 to 40 kg) of demolition equipment each, mainly explosives
and cordex but also 'tar babies', sledgehammers and axes. With the demolition men carrying so much kit they were only
armed with pistols, the protection squads with Thompson SMGs grenades and Brens to defend them while they worked.
Though initially planned to given the operation bomber support from 35 Whitleys and 25 Wellingtons, this force was greatly
reduced before the operation due to the needs of Bomber Command and its effectiveness was furthered reduced on Churchill’s
orders to absolutely minimise French casualties.
The Journey
The ships left Falmouth on March 26, aiming to be ramming the Campbeltown into the caisson at 01.30 on the 28th. Initially
the flotilla sailed south-west and then south, adopting the arrow-head formation of an anti-submarine sweep. Apart from a
brief clash with a U-boat on the 27th the ships proceeded unseen, turning eastwards on the morning of the 27th and finally
north-east in the early evening. One motor launch suffered a mechanical failure and returned to England alone.
As they approached St Naizaire the ships moved into a simple formation, two lines of motor launches with the Campbeltown
in-between and the MGB leading the way. Rather than taking the main channel the ships cut across the shallows to the west,
the Campbeltown narrowly avoiding grounding.
The Attack
The diversionary bombing was desultory and did little except to alert the German forces that something odd was happening.
Despite this the British ships got very close to the harbour without being fired upon. The force was first noticed at 01.15 but
the first searchlights did not go on until 01.22 when the force was little more than 1.5 nautical miles (2.8 km) from the harbour.
The British used a German morse call sign and gained almost five more minutes, it was not until 01.28 with less than a mile to
the harbour that the German guns opened fire. The Campbeltown drew the most fire but despite taking a number of casualties
struck the southern caisson at around 20 knots (37 km/h) at 01.34, jamming herself deep into the structure and crumpling
almost 40 feet (12 m) of her hull. The delay action fuses had been set shortly before the ship came under fire. The seven
Commando teams then disembarked and made for their targets, successfully destroying much of the equipment associated
with the Normandie Dock and also damaging the northern caisson. As these Commando groups withdrew and headed for the
pier to embark they finally became aware of how the remainder of the force was fairing.
The seventeen smaller vessels, although receiving less fire, were much more vulnerable. In the four minutes around the
ramming by the Campbeltown eight of the launches were destroyed in the channel. A few hits were often sufficient to set the
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motor launches ablaze and when the crew and Commandos had to abandon themselves to the water or Carley rafts. Many
drowned or, more horribly, were caught in the burning fuel that spread across the water. Most of the eight craft destroyed
suffered greater than 80% fatalities, even on the surviving craft barely a single man escaped injury. In the dark and dazzled by
the searchlights several boats overshot the harbour entrance and had to turn back through heavy fire to try and land their
Commandos. MTB 74 survived, fired her special torpedoes into the lock at the Old entrance and made it back out to sea after
taking on around half the crew of the Campbeltown. Only a few Commando teams on the launches made it ashore, none
successfully at the 'Old Mole' where they were hoping to re-embark and escape. The intact motor launches took on what
survivors they could find or rescue from the water, made smoke and retreated, leaving just over a hundred Commandos on the
docks. MGB 314 survived and was the last vessel to leave, her decks covered in wounded men rescued from the waters, the
two Able Seamen Savage and Smith distinguishing themselves until their deaths as they manned the exposed automatic 2-
pounder (907 g).
Back Out to Sea

The boats that made it back out to sea were heading for a point around 25 nautical miles (46km) out from St Nazaire, where
they would rendezvous with their destroyer escorts. As the boats moved out into the wider part of the channel they came under
fire from heavier guns, although at longer range. Two boats were destroyed in the race down river, one of the motor launches
and MTB 74. Both vessels were carrying many wounded and most of the Campbeltown crew and their losses accounted for
over half of the entire naval casualties. A final motor launch, carrying 28, was engaged at around 05.30 by the German
torpedo-boat Jaguar commanded by F. K. Paul. Eager to capture the British vessel, Jaguar did not use her main armament and
the two vessels exchanged heavy small arms fire. After almost a hour of firing and manoeuvring, with twenty dead or
seriously wounded, the British surrendered. Sergeant T. F. Durrant, who had manned a Lewis gun during the clash, was later
posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.
Four British vessels made the rendezvous with the destroyers, two were abandoned at that point due to their condition and the
others slightly later as the destroyers came under air-attack. Three motor launches which missed the destroyers made it back to
Falmouth under their own power.
The Battle at the Docks

The Commandos left behind were soon heavily pressed, Stosstruppen from Works and Flak companies began to enter the
dock area from around 02.00. Also, with the withdrawal of the boats, the German 20 and 40 mm guns began to fire into the
dock area. The British regrouped amongst the warehouses and, declining to surrender, at around 03.00 took off on a circuitous
route to cross a bridge into the main town and then, hopefully, into the open country.
Leaving a steady trail of dead and wounded the Commandos worked through the docks and charged the bridge, breaking
through onto the Place de la Vielle Ville, but with barely one in four of the force uninjured. The Commando breakout
coincided with the arrival of regular soldiers and armoured vehicles from the 679 MI Brigade. The British were forced
southwards into the town and under increasing fire sought cover. The Germans surrounded the town, posted road-blocks,
stopped all traffic and conducted a house-to-house search. Almost all the British were captured or killed by around 10.00.
They were assembled at La Baule, numbering roughly 200 and taken away to various POW camps, most to Stalag 133. Five
British soldiers avoided capture and made it all the way to Gibraltar. Of the British force 169 had been killed, German
casualties from the battle were 42 killed and 127 wounded. - As well as the VC for Durrant a further four VCs were awarded,
to Beattie, Newman, Ryder and Savage.
Later
The Campbeltown charges were timed to go off at around 09.00 at the very latest. A German search had not uncovered the
explosive and the appointed time passed and it was not until 10.35 that the Campbeltown exploded, destroying the caisson and
killing about 250 German soldiers and civilans in the vicinity. The reason for this delay in detonation has never and will never
be resolved.
The explosive charges dropped by MTB 74 at the lock gates did not detonate until the 30th, as expected. This late explosion
shook the German garrison and led to a night of panic with German forces firing on French civilians and each other. Sixteen
French civilans were killed and around thirty wounded. Later 1,500 civilians were arrested and taken to the camp at Savenay.
For depriving the Germans use of the dry-dock for the rest of the war, Commander Ryder was awarded a Victoria Cross and a
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civic reception was held in Campbeltown in July 1944 - The story of the raid is well told in the Trevor Howard film "The Gift
Horse".
DOUBLE - TAKE
Former Western Ferries' Campbeltown-registered catamaran "Highland Seabird" at St. Nazaire
In the mid-1980's, Western Ferries sold their once Oban-based high-speed catamaran to a French company
who took her to St. Nazaire - One can only wonder at the local reaction there on her arrival for emblazoned
across her stern was "HIGHLAND SEABIRD - CAMPBELTOWN', her original port of registry still
unchanged !
1942 : Sun March 29. 234 British bombers carried out a raid on the German city of Lubeck killing 320 people and injuring
another 784.
1942 : Wed April 1. = Full Moon =
On Monday, April 6, 1942, the Cunard liners "Queen Elizabeth", arriving with troops and the "Queen Mary", returning via
Cape Town to New York for more troops, met for the very first time at sea off Sydney Heads in Australia.
1942 : Wed April 15. = New Moon = Thu April 16. George Cross awarded to Malta. Fri 17. Augsburg raided by
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R.A.F. in daylight. Sat 18. American bombers, launched from the aircraft carrier Hornet lying some 660 miles off the
Japanese coast, launched surprise air-raids on Tokyo and other major Japanese citiers. Tue 21. General Giraud escaped from
Germany. Fri 24. First of series of " reprisal " air-raids on historic British cities, including Exeter, these called the ‘Baedeker
Raids’, named after the famous German tourist guidebook. Thu 30. = Full Moon =
CAMPBELTOWN KATE
‘Campbeltown Kate’s’ twin sister
Incredible though it may seem in the war years, the bus operators in Arran found that there was a demand for
bus tours round the island and in 1942, Stewart’s of Corriecravie, needing a suitable vehicle, bought a 25-seat
Bedford WTB coach from West Coast Motors.
Repainted at Campbeltown in Stewart colours, the fleetname to be applied later, ‘Campbeltown Kate’, as the
Arran schoolchildren later named her, was loaded on to one of the Clyde Cargo Company’s steamers, the
“Ardyne” and taken to Lochranza for delivery to Blackwaterfoot to spend the rest of her life on the
Corriecravie to Lamlash run, where even she, with just twenty-five seats, found herself too big to drive right
inside the school gates.
‘Kate’ had a good life on Arran, her inside soon covered with photographs and posters of the children’s
favourite singing and film stars. Though she was dismantled in 1976, the glass display screen from her back
panel-top and the front roller destination blind and its mechanism have been preserved to this day.
1942 : Mon May 4 – Fri 8. Battle of The Coral Sea. Thu 7. Madagascar invaded by British forces - U.S. forces sink 11
Japanese warships off The Solomon Islands. Tue 12. Russians break through the German lines near Kharkov and begin
pushing back the German units. Fri 15. = New Moon =
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On Saturday May 16, 1942, the Cunard liner "Queen Mary" arrived at Gourock with the first big contingent of American
troops, some 10,000 on board - With troops urgently needed in The Middle East, she left the Clyde with over 9,500 troops
and 1,000 tons of military supplies on board on Friday, May 22, 1942, bound for Suez, via Cape Town and refuelling at
Freetown, a difficult place to enter for a ship with a draft of 39-feet - The final leg of the trip, the 6,000 mile journey to Suez
escorted by the cruisers "Mauritius" and "Devonshire", took twelve days and several of the troops, affected by the The Red
Sea heat, died and were buried at sea.
The troops, many to take part in The Battle of El Alamein, were ferried ashore at Suez and the "Queen Mary", now carrying
just 3,436 passengers and crew - and a number of German prisoners-of-war, returned to New York for another troop run to
Gourock, this leaving New York on Sunday, August 2, 1942.
1942 : Sat May 16. Kerch captured by Germans. Tue 26. Twenty-year Anglo-Soviet Treaty signed in London - Axis
offensive opened in Libya. Sat 30. = Full Moon = Over 1,047 bombers raid Cologne, cause major damage killing 480
people and injuring 5,027 others - Canterbury bombed.
Sometime in May 1942, when lambing was going on, the pilot of a, more likely crashed Fulmar than a
Seafire, turned up asking for help at Ballygroggan Farm - the aircraft's wreckage (NGR 631 188) was soon
removed to High Lossit and carried away by lorry.
1942 : Wed June 3 – Sun 7. U.S.naval victory at Midway Island turns tide of war in The Pacific, 3,500 Japanese sailors lost
in action but only 307 American casualties. Sat 6 – Mon 8. Heavy German attack on Free French at Bir Hakeim. Sat 13. =
New Moon = " Knightsbridge " evacuated by Guards Brigade after heavy tank battles. Sun 21. Tobruk captured by
Germans and 35,000 Allied soldiers taken prisoner - Eighth Army pulls back to El Alamein. Wed 24. Gerowis advanced 50
miles across Egyptian frontier. Fri 26. 1,067 Allied bombers carry out major raid on Bremen, only 48 aircraft lost. Sun 28. =
Full Moon = Mon 29. Mersa Matruh captured by Germans.
CARRADALE'S "MEDEA"
Built for Captain Macalister-Hall of Torridale Castle in 1904, the steam yacht "Medea", now preserved at
San Diego Maritime Museum, was requisitioned by The Admiralty in April 1941 and fitted out for service as a
barrage balloon in the Thames and then, in July 1942, after having been refitted as an accommodation ship,
the after, darker-coloured, deckhouse, shown here, added for this purpose, she sailed for Peterhead - After
providing accommodation for The Royal Norwegian Navy, between December 1942 and the summer of 1943,
the "Medea" was returned to The Royal Navy and sold back to her pre-war owner in November 1945.
Carradale Steam Yacht "Medea"
Built by Alexander Stephen & Sons in Glasgow at a cost of £6,750, the "Medea" was sold on to one
Frederick Todd, a Scottish Borderer, for just £2,200, less than one-third of her cost, on November 19, 1911.
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1942 : Wed July 1. Germans reached El Alamein. Germans captured Sevastopol. Sat 4. Allied forces stop Rommel’s
advance into Egypt at the first Battle of Alamein, after four days of fighting British officials in Cairo were pulling out in case
the Germans might win - U.S.A.A.F. took part in their first air offensive against Germans. Mon 13. = New Moon =
WRECKERS’ DELIGHT
To the delight of the island's population, the 3,499 ton "Nevada II" ran ashore in dense fog at Rubha Mor, on the north end of
Coll, on Sunday, July 19, 1942. She had been built in Germany in 1918 as the "Rovuma" and handed over to France as part
of the country's war reparations at the end of WWI, she then coming to Britain when France surrendered in 1940, the "II"
suffix added to her name to avoid confusion with that of another well-known British ship. Though her wrecking on Coll never
received the same publicity as that of the "Politician" on Eriskay, the story of the salvage of her cargo became something of a
local legend on Coll, a story in itself equally worthy of being made into a film.
1942 : Thu July 16. RAF make first daylight raid on the Ruhr. Sun 26. Half a pound of strictly rationed chocolate or sweets
is expected to last four weeks and an extra 16 points-worth of coupons is needed to buy a pound of chocolate. Mon 27. Rostov
evacuated by Russians. Tue 28. = Full Moon =
1942 : Sat August 1. Gen. Montgomery took over command of Eighth Army. Wed 5. Voroshilovsk captured by Germans.
Thu 6. Germans advancing towards the Caucasus.
On Friday, August 7, 1942, the Cunard liner "Queen Mary" arrived at Gourock with her second load of American troops -
15,125 troops and 863 other passengers - An acoustic mine exploded just 400 yards away from her as she drew parallel with
the north-west coast of Ireland but did no damage, the liner then returning again to New York for more troops.
1942 : Sun August 9. Krasnodar and Maikop captured by Germans. Mon 10. Americans land in The Solomon Islands. Tue
11. = New Moon = Aircraft-carrier H.M.S. Eagle, Manchester, Cairo and one destroyer sunk escorting convoy to
Malta. Mon 17. First all-American bombing raid on European front strikes Rouen in full daylight when 12 Flying Fortresses
drop bombs from high altitude on the city. Wed 19. Nine-hour raid on Dieppe. Sun 23 – Tue 25. Battle of The Solomon
Islands. Mon 24. Germans crossed Don in force at Kletskaya. Tue 25. Seige of Stalingrad begins with attacks from Stuka and
Heinkel bombers. Wed 26. = Full Moon = Fri 28. Russians opened offensive in Leningrad area.
CAVALRY CHARGE - The last Cavalry charge in history took place on August 23, 1942, at Izbushensky on the River Don.
The Italian Savoia Cavalry Regiment, commanded by Colonel Bettoni, and consisting of 600 mounted Italian troops, charged
against 2,000 Soviet troops who had opened a breach between the German 6th Army and the Italian Army. The Italian Lancers
destroyed two Soviet Infantry armoured vehicles before being forced to withdraw with slight losses, about thirty-two
casualties.
OUT AT ‘THE BASE’
A Hurricane, fitted with rockets
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Also in August 1942, to accommodate ‘766 Squadron (Operational Training)’, it formed on April 15, 1942 with
Swordfish for night attack torpedo training and first line squadrons, like 800 and 804 with Sea Hurricanes and
818 with Swordfish, were stationed there in 1943. Both of these remaining there till the end of the war and
‘766’ making use of the attached firing and bombing ranges around Kintyre and, from mid-1943, ‘768
Squadron’ too moved into permanent residence.
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The beautiful Spitfire
A cut-away drawing of a Spitfire
More than 60 Fleet Air Arm squadrons passed through Machrihanish, many, more than once. At its peak, in
the spring of 1943, there were no less than ten ‘first line’ squadrons plus the resident squadrons on the station
at one time and virtually every type of aircraft used by the Fleet Air Arm during the war appeared at the
station. The Royal Air Force’s anti-shipping Beaufort ‘Strike Wings’ made occasional use of Machrihanish’s
local torpedo training facilities and, briefly in mid-1943, ’65 (Fighter) Squadron (Spitfires)’ too would appear to
learn how to ‘deck land’ on aircraft carriers in The Clyde in preparation for amphibious operations to come.
When The Admiralty was assessing the opportunities for Naval conversions of the Spitfire, aircraft AB205 formed the
first Spitfire to Seafire conversion and was sent to Worthy Down to undergo trials with 778 squadron between 24 January
- June 1942 before being sent on to The Controller of Research and Development, Worthy Down and to A Flight R.A.E.,
Farnborough in January 1943. Meanwhile, a Mk Vc, AB504, the sole Mk Vc, was sent to RNDA GAL Feltham on
March 7, 1942 for trial folding wing modifications, BL676 a Mk Vb being sent to A & AEE, Boscombe Down the same
month for handling, radio and IFF trials and thence to 778 squadron Arbroath in April/May 1942 for deck landing
acceptance trials, becoming Seafire MB328 - The main supply of Spitfires commenced with Mk Va R6887 to RNDA
Machrihanish on August 31, 1942, the main deliveries, of Mk Va to 9 MU, to Machrihanish following over the next few
weeks.
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1942 : Wed September 2 - A Beaufort (N 1180S) aircraft, operating from H.M.S. ‘Sanderling’ (Abbotsinch),
crashed above ‘The Gap’ (NGR 598080) on The Mull of Kintyre killing its four man crew instantly, two of the
crew are buried in Kilkerran cemetery - The remains of an unidentified Swordfish lie within about 500-feet of
this crash site too.
1942 : Sat September 5. German halted entering streets of Stalingrad.
1942 : Tuesday, September 8 - An Albacore (L7 109) aircraft crashed just off Shiskine on Arran - One
member of the crew is known to have died, Ross Wilson of 766 Squadron, a Canadian and, mentioned in
their Roll of Honour, he is buried in Kilkerran cemetery.
1942 - Thu September 10. = New Moon = Sat 12. 2,648 people are shot dead while trying to escape a week of
massacres in the Warsaw ghettos, 70,000 Jews have already been moved to the Nazi death camp at Treblinka where 2,196
people are gassed.
THE "LACONIA"
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On the night of September 12, 1942, 500 miles north of Ascension Island, "U-156" , torpedoed the British Troopship
"Laconia" - She was carrying 1,700 Italian prisoners-of-war captured in North Africa and worried U-Boat skipper
Hartenstein signalled U-boat command with the details adding "so far 90 fished out. . . Request instructions".
Realising the serious impact that this might have on their Axis partners, Gross Admiral Donitiz radioed all of the
Eisbar boats to go to the rescue - Hartenstein, captain of "U-156" signalled in clear English on the International radio
distress band "If any ship will assist the ship-wrecked "Laconia" crew, I will not attack her providing that I am not
attacked by ship or Airforce - I picked up 193 men - 04° 52S 11° 25W . . . German Submarine".
U-156 with survivors from Laconia
For two days Hartenstein struggled to keep boats and survivors together in impossible conditions - The "U-156" was
unable to dive with 200 people crowded below and on deck, including British survivors - At noon on September 15 a
Liberator Bomber with American markings spotted the strange assembly on the ocean and signalled U.S. Navy base on
Ascension Island that he had spotted a U-boat on the surface surrounded by four lifeboats - The pilot was ordered to
sink the submarine and returned to carry out his orders ignoring the fact that the "U-156" was flying a Red Cross flag.
As a result of this tragic accident. Donitiz radioed on September 17 -
" 1. All attempts to rescue members of ships which have been sunk, including attempts to pick up swimmers will cease
The rescue of survivors contradicts the elementary necessity of war for the destruction of enemy boats and their
crews.
" 2. The orders for the capture of captains and chief engineers remains in force.
" 3. Survivors may only be rescued when their interrogation may be of value to the U-boat.
" 4. Be severe - Remember that in his bombing attacks on German cities the enemy has no regard for women and
children".
1942 : Wed September 23. Russians launched counter-offensive north-west of Stalingrad. Fri 25. = Full Moon =
1942 : Thu October 1. Small British raid on Sark.
THE "QUEEN MARY" AND THE "CURACAO"

With Captain Gordon Illingworth in command, the "Queen Mary" put out from New York on 27 September 1942 to sail alone
across the Atlantic until she made rendezvous with the cruiser "Curaçao" and six destroyers off the north-west coast of Ireland.
The "Curaçao" made a useful escort vessel but, though her maximum speed was only about 25 knots, adequate for most
escort duties, it fell about three knots below the cruising speed of the "Queen Mary".
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Though Captain Wilfred Boutwood D.S.O. of the "Curaçao" was highly experienced in escort work and had shepherded the
"Queen Mary" on several occasions, there was always something of a problem involved owing to the difference in speed. The
liner could best be defended from astern but, if the "Curaçao" adopted that position she would soon be left well behind.
Captain Boutwood therefore decided to take station ahead of the ship and to drop back gradually as she approached on her zig-
zag course though he would not himself be zig-zagging.
The "Curaçao" first sighted the three grey funnels about 9 o'clock on the morning of Friday, October 2, 1942 and by 10.30
she had taken up position some five miles ahead her, the destroyers further ahead still. The "Queen Mary" was steering a
course particularly favoured by Captain Illingworth, 'No. 8 Zig-Zag' - The mean course was steered for four minutes,
followed by large turns to port and then to starboard, for eight-minute periods.
During the morning Captain Boutwood asked the liner for details of her course and speed. He was given a figure of 26½
knots, this being the average speed which the vessel was making along her mean course, as distinct from her actual speed,
which was her usual 28½ knots. Captain Boutwood positioned himself to the southward of the liner's mean course. At 1
o'clock he made it known that as soon as she was ahead of him he would edge astern of her. The zig-zagging continued, those
on the bridge of the liner feeling some concern from time to time at the proximity of the cruiser. When Junior First Officer
Wright remarkedon her closeness, Captain Illingworth told him not to worry, "These fellows know all about escorting - he
will keep out of your way".
At 2 o'clock the "Queen Mary" was on her mean course with the "Curaçao" on virtually a parallel course off her starboard
bow. At four minutes past two it was time for the liner to come on to the starboard leg of her zig-zag, Wright gave the order
and the great bows swung slowly round. It seemed to the Junior First Officer that the cruiser, though still uncomfortably
close, was on an approximately parallel course.
Relieving him on the bridge a few minutes later, the Senior First Officer, Mr Robinson, took a good look at the old cruiser
rolling and pitching to starboard. She was only about 400 yards off and was, he thought, on a converging course. He at once
checked with the helmsman, the liner's course was still correct.
Back on the wing of the bridge, he decided that the "Curaçao" was too close for comfort and, as a precaution, he ordered
'port a little', the liner due in any event to change within a few minutes to the port leg of her zig-zag. Mr Robinson fully
expected the cruiser to starboard her helm a little at this stage and veer away - She could, of course, turn much more quickly
than the larger vessel. After walking to the wheelhouse and, finding that the quartermaster had already spun the wheel to turn
the liner a few degrees to port, he returned to the bridge wing and saw with surprise and alarm that the "Curaçao" was now
dangerously near and apparently still closing and shouted 'Hard a-port!', the Quartermaster Leydon responded instantly.
Slowly the bows begin to swing round, it seeming however to watchers on board the liner that the cruiser was not trying to get
out of the way. Indeed, some had the impression that she had made a turn to port, towards them. Moments later, 100 miles
west of Bloody Foreland, the bow of the "Queen Mary" struck the port side of the "Curaçao", at an acute angle about a third
of her length from aft.
The liner spun her round, sliced her in two and passed on, leaving her forward section to port and her after section to
starboard. Men were seen leaping into the sea from both parts of the stricken vessel. The stern part sank first and the other
followed it within minutes.
The "Queen Mary" dared not stop to pick up survivors, a strict regulation that she should keep moving so that she would not
form a sitting target for a U-boat and, with 15,000 troops on board, such a risk could not be taken - Captain Illingworth left
the chartroom quickly to see what had happened, his ship reduced speed to 10 knots while an examination was made of the
damage done to her. The stem had been fractured and buckled back.
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A message was sent to H.M.S. "Bulldog", the senior destroyer and her captain immediately dispatched the "Cowdray" and
"Bramham" to pick up survivors. Of the 439 who had been on board the cruiser, only 101 were rescued - the captain, another
officer and 99 ratings. Many had been trapped below decks with no chance at all of escape.
It seems incredible that this tragic disaster could have occurred in broad daylight when visibility was good and the two ships
had plenty of room for manoeuvre but, it happened all the same.
The "Queen Mary" continued her voyage to the Clyde with collision mats fitted. She arrived safely and temporary repairs
were made to her bow before she crossed the Atlantic for the work to be carried out properly in the big dry-dock at Boston.
A court of inquiry was not held until June 1945 and, after hearing all the evidence from the officers of the "Queen Mary" and
from Captain Boutwood, Lord Justice Pilcher completely exonerated the liner from blame. At once the Admiralty lodged an
appeal, it heard about two years later - Two-thirds of the blame then found to lie with the "Curaçao" and one-third with the
"Queen Mary", the appeal verdict astonishing to the Merchant Navy men.
The crucial question, 'Did the Curacao turn to port just before the collision occurred?', was never properly answered. Captain
Boutwood could not remember for certain - as one can well understand when things were happening so quickly - exactly what
orders he had given in those final minutes. The question of interaction between the two ships was brought into the inquiry
without the drawing of any definite conclusion.
Despite the findings of the inquiry, the generally perceived view was that the cruiser did in fact make that fatal last-minute
turn, possibly because of a mistaken, or misinterpreted, helm order - Cunard had to pay out a large sum of money and the
dependants of those lost received more than would have been given if the original finding had been upheld.
After repairs in 1942, the "Queen Mary" resumed her ferry duties on the Atlantic - The plan for carrying such enormous
numbers of troops had met with criticism and, after long discussion, it was agreed to allow the liner to carry 15,000 troops in
summer and 10,000 in winter transatlantic crossings and, though her lifeboats could only take 3,785, it was claimed that with
all the life-rafts on board everyone could be accommodated.
While the winter figure was often exceeded, heavy weather could often occur in summer too and the responsible authorities
gave much thought to the possible effect which the 15,000 might have on the ship's stability in those conditions and to the risk
that men might be badly injured in a violent roll - Their acceptance of a 'justifiable risk' however proved a wise decision.
In December 1942 the ship sailed from New York to Gourock in severe weather with over 11,000 troops and crew.
and . . . . . THE SOUTHEND SPY

Friday, October 2, 1942 and, at just a few after 2 o'clock in the afternoon, the speeding inward-bound
Cunard liner "Queen Mary" cut the cruiser "Curaçao" completely in two, about a hundred or so miles west of
Bloody Foreland, on the Irish coast, as she headed for the Clyde.
Under strict orders, because of the suspected presence of German U-Boats, not to stop or slow down under
any circumstances, the "Queen Mary", unable to pick up survivors, continued on her way, a radio message
sent to Greenock to report the incident and secure a replacement escort.
Just clearing through the Cloch to Dunoon anti-submarine boom was a small tanker - her master, very
interestingly being, Captain Dove, he who had been master of the tanker "Africa Shell", which had been
sunk off the African coast by the German raider "Graf Spee", he then being taken aboard the "Graf Spee" and
then released in Montevideo after The Battle of The River Plate in December 1939.
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Outward-bound and escorting the tanker's convoy were four destroyers of the Londonderry-based Escort
Group 1, the four led by H.M.S. "Keppel", commanded by Captain Jack Broome, were ordered to leave the
convoy and head south, down The Firth of Clyde, at full speed to escort the, possibly damaged, "Queen
Mary" into the Clyde.
Closing the "Queen Mary" at a speed of 54-knots, to the west of Ailsa Craig - both the liner and the
destroyers steaming along at 27-knots - and deciding not to reduce speed, the destroyers executed a neat
180° inward-turn and took up parallel positions on each side of the speeding liner's bow.
"VERY IMPRESSIVE BUT RATHER FRIGHTENING," signalled the liner's captain, "THANK YOU
FOR THE COMFORT OF YOUR COMPANY" - Little surprising that the destroyers' inward-turn was
'rather frightening' considering that the liner had just sunk the "Curaçao" after the cruiser had, quite literally,
run under her bows.
The "Queen Mary" safely anchored at The Tail of The Bank, the captain of the "Keppel" was ordered to
attend a conference in Greenock on a troop convoy which his Group was to pick up off Northern Ireland the
following morning.
The convoy anchorage inside the Cloch – Dunoon anti-submarine boom at The Tail of The Bank
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Gourock Pier and The Tail of The Bank anchorage
This convoy, one of the largest and most important of the Second World War, was due to sail around the
Cape, carrying the basic elements of what was to be the Eighth Army bound for North Africa - 'Operation
Torch' would see some 70,000 men sailing from the Clyde in 334 ships - and, the conference finished early,
Captain Broome decided that, that instead of staying overnight and sailing with the convoy, he had plenty of
time to get down the Clyde, into Loch Foyle and up the river to Londonderry for all to enjoy a final night
ashore with wives, families or girl friends, before sailing early to pick up the convoy off the Irish Coast.
H.M.S. "Keppel"
The "Keppel" cleared the Cumbraes and increased her speed till she was thundering along at thirty-two
knots, her officers chatting easily on the bridge till, suddenly, the radio officer buzzed to say that a top-
priority cypher from the Admiralty had just been received and was being decoded.
In a few minutes Captain Broome was reading the signal aloud - 'ENEMY AGENT KNOWN TO HAVE
BEEN IN ALDERSHOT RECENTLY SEEN YESTERDAY IN GREENOCK MINGLING WITH
TROOPS EMBARKING OVERSEAS CONVOY. MOTOR BOAT BELONGING LIGHT-
HOUSE-KEEPER MULL OF KINTYRE REPORTED MISSING 0900 TODAY WEDNESDAY.
CONSIDER POSSIBLE AGENT HAS STOLEN BOAT AND MAKING FOR IRISH FREE STATE WITH
IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT CONVOY SAILING TOMORROW. MOTOR SKIFF HULL
GREEN RUBBING STRAKE ORANGE. TANK FULL. MAN 6 FEET FAIR FRESH COMPLEXION
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LAST SEEN WEARING KHAKI BATTLE DRESS. NO OTHER SHIP OR ANY AIRCRAFT
AVAILABLE. SEARCH FOR BOAT. REPORT WHEN YOU HAVE FOUND IT.'
Captain Broome, the first lieutenant and the navigator studied the chart. After a calculation involving the
estimated speed of the stolen boat and the strength of the wind and tides, decided to follow a course almost
due south. They had forty-five minutes of daylight left to find their man. If they failed and the spy was able to
contact the German Embassy in Dublin, Captain Broome dared not think of what might happen to the
convoy.
By this time the Keppel's crew were on deck, eager volunteer look-outs. Captain Broome offered a free pint to
the first man spotted the boat. In the next few minutes a number of false alarms were raised and when finally
the mast-head look-out reported an object in the water some five miles ahead. Captain Broome was guarded
in his enthusiasm. If the boat possessed a motor it ought to it ought to have been much further south. But
then, looking through his telescope, the chief yeoman sang out in some excitement: "There is something
there, be Jesus!'
Course was altered slightly to the bearing given, and as the destroyer closed a message from the chief yeoman
came down the mast-head blow-pipe: 'It's a boat, one bloke in it, 'e's trying to row it, an' I reckon it's my
pint.'
Earlier that day, around eight o'clock or so in the morning, Archie Cameron, the salmon-fisher at Southend,
had been hurrying to the Post Office to phone the police in Campbeltown about a tug that had gone aground
on Sanda (she seemingly being refloated later) when he met a good-looking young fellow, about six feet tall,
with blue eyes and a fresh complexion, carrying a knapsack and wearing an RAF uniform and making his
way awards the jetty at Dunaverty - Archie had come across him at the golf-course gate and said 'Hullo',
the man simply mumbling something in reply and Archie giving no more thought to him till he returned from
the Post Office and noticed that Dick Gillon's old sailing boat was missing from the jetty along with a pair of
oars from one of his own small boats.
Looking out to sea, Archie saw the boat, heading south towards the Irish Sea and, thinking it was Dick
Gillon himself in the boat, taken a sudden notion to go fishing, gave that matter no further thought either
until a few minutes later when he got the shock of his life and saw Dick himself walking across the shore
towards the Dunaverty jetty and only then remembered the young fellow that he had met earlier !
Despite wondering if he would get into trouble for leaving the oars unguarded in my small boat, because it
was a regulation during war-time that oars must be locked away when not in use, Archie alerted the local
Coastguards who at once got in touch with the police and the authorities in Greenock.
By this time Dick's stolen boat was out of sight, Dick himself was hopping mad and Southend was in an
uproar - Much to Archie's relief, nobody ever mentioned anything to him about the matters of his missing,
unlocked, oars !
In the meantime, however, high-powered action had been taking place in other quarters and H.M.S.
"Keppel" had found Dick Gillon's missing boat complete with 'spy'.
The "Keppel" got close enough for her crew to see that the boat was stopped and that the man, leaning over a
heavy pair of oars, looked exhausted. "My job is looking after fishermen and there's a storm coming up,"
Captain Broome shouted down through a loud-hailer, "If you're in difficulties, I'll hoist you inboard and
take you to the Irish coast" - The 'spy' raised an assenting arm.
As an escort led him up to the bridge, the first thing Captain Broome noticed were the man's hands, oily and
raw, clutching the ladder rail - "I've been rowing for two hours," the man explained in excellent English.
"Trying to get back" - "Back where? " - "I'm on leave and borrowed the boat from a friend and promised
to return it before dark".
At that moment, the first lieutenant, who had been instructed to search the boat and everything in it, arrived
on the bridge - Standing behind the man, he held up a small book - Almost incredibly, the book was 'Mein
Kampf', in German ! The man looked over his shoulder, saw the book and, with a shrug and a wry smile,
he turned back to the Captain and said "All right, you win" !
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Now almost dark, a message was sent - "ADMIRALTY FROM KEPPEL. MOST IMMEDIATE. YOUR
BOAT RECOVERED. MAN ARRESTED."
The spy was taken to Larne, handed over to the Army and the "Keppel", just two hours late, resumed her
passage to Londonderry - Next morning the convoy, Eighth Army on board, sailed - not a ship was lost !
Nobody seems to know how The Admiralty got the impression that the spy was wearing battle-dress or that it
was The Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse-keeper's boat that had been stolen or that the boat in question was
coloured green and orange and had a motor and in fact, according to Archie Cameron and Duncan Watson,
then Southend's Auxiliary Coastguard, 'the spy' was wearing an R.A.F. uniform when he'd been seen and the
boat was an old scow, encrusted with black tar and whose only motive power consisted of oars and a home-
made sail !
Much to his indignation, Dick Gillon didn't get his boat back, "Somebody in Larne must have 'nicked it,"
he would often complained - But, months later, the boat's new 'owner' seems to have had a pang of
conscience for Dick received an envelope through the post which contained a pound note and a written
message - 'For the boat' !
Dick lived in Southend telling the tale of 'the spy who stole his boat' till he was ninety-two - Perhaps it's just
as well that he never knew the contents of the Admiralty's message to the "Keppel" for, like most of us, Dick
was averse to sharing the limelight - not least in his case, with some unknown and undeserving Mull of
Kintyre lighthouse-keeper !
1942 : Thu October 8. British prisoners taken at Dieppe put in chains - British retaliate as from 10th - Germans
unshackled on December 12. Fri 9. = New Moon = Fri 23. The second Battle of El Alamein began and Allied offensive
opens in Egypt - First full-scale employment of British paratroops - With The Battle of Alamein, on October 23, 1942 and
the opening of the Coastal Command airfield at Benbecula in late 1942, came 'the turning of the tide' in the war.
1942 : Sat October 24. = Full Moon = Sat 31. Allied tanks break through Rommel’s German lines and U.S. soldiers will
join the Allies efforts within the week.
1942 : Sun November 1. Axis forces retreat westwards in Egypt. Wed 4. Rommel’s army in full retreat and the reformed
51st Highland Division playing a key role in proceedings. Sun 8. = New Moon = United States and British Forces landed
in French North Africa.
ASPIDISTRA - The codename given to the powerful 500 KW transmitter which was purchased from America for use in
broadcasting propaganda on the German controlled wave-lengths. It cost Britain £111,801, 4 shillings and 10 pence to buy the
apparatus from the RCA factory in Camden, New Jersey. Another sum of £16,000 was spent to prepare the site and erect the
masts near Crowborough in Essex. The transmitter first became operational on November 8, 1942.
1942 : Wed November 11. French forces in Algeria and Morocco capitulated. Axis forces entered Vichy France, and, from
Sicily and Sardinia, began to arrive in Tunisia. Thu 12. Axis forces driven out of Egypt - German attacks renewed at
Stalingrad. Mon 23. = Full Moon = Thu 26. Soviet advances around Stalingrad cut off and surround 270,000 German
troops. Fri 27. German forces enter Toulon - French fleet scuttled.
1942 - Wed December 2. First self-sustained, controlled nuclear chain reaction in uranium achieved by group working under
Enrico Fermi, in Chicago. Tue 8. = New Moon = Wed 23. = Full Moon = Thu 24. Admiral Darlan assassinated.
Between July and December 1942, German U-Boats had managed to sink 480 Allied ships putting new and urgent demands
on Clyde shipbuilding yards and increasing the demand for more seamen and officers.
By December 1942, Britain's fuel oil stocks were down to just 300,000 tons.
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250
1943
1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4 5 6
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 28 28 29 30 31
31
April May June

1 2 3 1 1 2 3 4 5
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26
25 26 27 28 29 30 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30
30 31
18 Palm Sunday
25 Easter

1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4
4 5 6 7 8 9 10 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
11 12 13 14 15 16 17 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
25 26 27 28 29 30 31 29 30 31 26 27 28 29 30

1 2 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 4
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
24 25 26 27 28 29 30 28 29 30 26 27 28 29 30 31
31
25 Christmas
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1943
1943 : Fri January 1. Velikiye Luki captured by Russians. Sun 3. Mozdok and Malgovek captured by Russians. Mon 4.
Nalchik captured by the Russians. Wed 6. = New Moon = German armies in the Caucasus and the Don Elbow in retreat.
Mon 11. Kutelnikovo captured by Russians. Wed 13. General Leclerc's Chad force occupied Murzuk and Sebba (Fezzan).
Thu 14. President Roosevelt and Mr. Churchill met at Casablanca : " unconditional surrender " of Axis Powers demanded. Fri
15. Eighth Army attacked at Buerat. Mon 18. Siege of Leningrad raised. Wed 20. Proletarskaya captured by Russians. Thu
21. = Full Moon = Voroshilovsk captured by Russians. Horns and Tarhuna captured by Eighth Army. Fri 22. Salsk
captured by Russians. Sat 23. Eighth Army captures Tripoli from German and Italian forces as Axis forces are pushed back
across the Libyan desert by the Allies. Mon 25. Voroneh captured by Russians. Wed 27. United States heavy bombers made
their first raid on Germany (Wilhelmshaven). Fri 29. Tunisian border crossed by Eighth Army. Sat 30. First daylight raids on
Berlin by R.A.F. Mosquito aircraft on the 10th anniversary of the Nazis taking power - Field-Marshal Paulus and 16 German
generals captured at Stalingrad. Sun 31. Zuara captured by Eighth Army - Remnants of the encircled German army surrender
outside Stalingrad, 120,000 German troops are reported killed and a further 90,000 captured.
1943 : Tue February 2. Remaining German forces at Stalingrad capitulated. Fri 5. = New Moon = Sat 6. General
Eisenhower appointed to command North African theatre of operations. Mon 8. Kursk captured by Russians. Tue 9.
Guadalcanal Island cleared of Japanese troops. Fri 12. Krasnodar captured by Russians. Sun 14. Rostov and Voroshilovgrad
captured by Russians. Tue 16. Kharkov captured by Russians.
1943 : Wed February 17 - A Vickers Wellington VIII (HX 420) aircraft, from 7 (Coastal) Operational
Training Unit, Limavaddy, crashed on Earsach Hill (NGR 731291) above the Lussa Glen at around 12 noon,
two of the crew were killed, the bodies later taken to the military mortuary set up in an underground store at
the old Albyn Distillery, later the site of the town's clothing factory and the three survivors were taken to
hospital from Drumgrave Farm.
1943 : Sat February 20. = Full Moon =
H.M.S. "Vandal"
During the Second World War, the Holy Loch was a submarine base, served by the depot ship HMS
"Forth". Among the boats based in the Loch were two, HMS's "Vandal" and "Untamed", both of which
were lost on the Clyde.
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On Wednesday, February 24, 1943, the submarine H.M.S. "Vandal" sank off Lochranza while undergoing
trials.
Vickers Armstrong – Limited, Barrow-
Builder:
in-Furness
Pennant No: P64
Yard No: 837
Ordered: July 15, 1941
Laid down: March 17, 1942
Launched: November 23, 1942
Completed: February 20, 1943
Dimensions Length 197 feet, Breadth 16 feet,
Draught 12 feet 9 inches.
Displacement: Surface 540 tons, Submerged 730 tons.
Machinery: Twin diesels 615bhp
Twin electric motors 825bhp Twin
shafts.
Surface 11.75 knots - Submerged 9
Speed:
knots.
Endurance: 4,100 nautical miles at 10 knots.
Armaments: 4 x 21 inch Torpedo tubes
1 x 3 inch gun - 3 machine guns.
Complement: 31.
HMS “Vandal” had the shortest career of any submarine in The Royal Navy, lost just three months after her
launch. On Monday, February 22, 1943, HMS “Vandal” left the depot ship ”Forth”, on The Holy Loch, to
carry out a three-day exercise in the Clyde areas and between the Mull of Kintyre and the Isle of Arran, trials
were to include a deep dive on the 24th and, as during the exercise the submarine was under no obligation to
communicate with her base, no alarm was felt when she did not do so. On February 24, 1943, ”Vandal” was
observed leaving her anchorage at Loch Ranza, just north of the Isle of Arran - This was the last seen of her.
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On the 22nd February 1943 HMS Vandal began a 3-day self contained exercise prior to joining the 3rd
submarine Flotilla and deployment on operational duties. On the morning of the 24th at about 08:30 hours the
Vandal was seen leaving her anchorage at Lochranza in the North of the Isle of Arran. After that she
disappeared without trace. An enquiry was launched and three pieces of evidence were provided by other
submarines operating in the area and a spotter plane : -
1) One submarine reported seeing a smoke candle 2.5miles north of Inchmarnock.

2) Another reported hearing hull tapping in a similar area.
3) A spotter plane reported a large oil slick about 2 miles north of Arran (15 Kilometres from
Inchmarnock) but the board of enquiry ignored the spotter planes report and concluded that
HMS Vandal was lost somewhere north of Inchmarnock whilst on a deep dive, a dive she was
programmed to do on day three of her exercise.
After being lost for 50 years, the Scottish Branch of the Submarine Association petitioned the Royal Navy to
go and look for her in an area that trawlers had been reporting their fishing nets were snagging. In December
1994, the mine-hunters H.M.S. “Hurworth” and H.M.S. "Walney" located a submarine wreck and, by use of a
ROV, were able to take some rather murky videos of a boat laying at 330 feet on her side at a 30 degree angle.
A team from Vandal Project 2003 dived to 330 feet in cold murky water to visit the wreck finding her almost
intact but laying at a 30 degree angle on her side and one of the team was able to photograph the ship's name
in large brass letters. The aft engine-room hatch was snugly shut BUT the reason that the submarine sank
was only too evident for gaping wide open was the forward escape hatch, it having seemingly torn off as the
boat submerged.
Some one had blundered and left the escape hatch unsecured before the boat had dived, water pouring
unstoppably in as she submerged and ensuring that the submarine could not surface, her crew of 37 all been
lost.
Just months later, another newly built Vicker’s submarine, HMS “Untamed”, would also be lost in
mysterious circumstances off Kintyre, on Sunday, May 30, 1943 - She however was later salvaged and her
sinking attributed to a faultily-assembled valve.
It remains a matter of speculation as to why the “Vandal” actually sank - Could her valves too been
deliberately sabotaged for it was the same supplier who delivered valves to Vicker’s yards at both Barrow and
Tyneside and, it was not the first time that Vicker’s had detected the hand of would-be saboteurs !
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255
1943 : Thu February 25. R.A.F. began "round-the-clock" bombing,
BOYS WILL BE BOYS
1943 : Sat February 27 - A Wellington (HX 779) aircraft carrying, out a night flare exercise, was trying to
attempt a forced landing on Loch Ciaran, which they took to be flat land (near NGR 545770) and instead the
aircraft impacted 500-feet up the hillside and some 600-yards to the east end of the loch at Balinakill Hill
killing all crew - Several Keil School pupils, it then at nearby Balinakill House, were quickly on the scene
and one of the boys removed a machine-gun and a substantial amount of ammunition from the wreck before
the R.A.F. investigators arrived.
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The boy then made himself a bomb which he planted below the main road-bridge (bottom right) at Muasdale
hoping to blow up the Campbeltown to Glasgow bus as it passed - The boy, his plan discovered, was duly
expelled from the school !
Of the crashed Wellington itself - The Balinakill Estate gamekeeper, one Angus McCoist, was given the
responsibility of guarding the site till the R.A.F. investigators had finished their task - Angus' son Neil
became father of Scottish footballer Ally !
1943 : Sun February 28 - 6 Norwegian Commandos, specially trained at Aviemore, blew up the German 'heavy water'
plant in Norway.
1943 : Mon March 1. Battle of The Bismark Sea begins - First of saturation bombing raids on Berlin. Wed 3. Rzhcv
occupied by Russians. Sat 6. = New Moon = 442 British bombers drop 1,070 tons of high explosive and incendiary
bombs on Essen damaging industrial giant Krupp’s factories. Fri 12. Vyasma captured by Russians. Mon 15. Kharkov
evacuated by Russians. Sun 21. = Full Moon = Tue 23. Eighth Army penetrates The Mareth Line.
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The “Dasher”
Just twelve days after the sinking of "LCV 584" off Innellan, the circumstances unrecorded, there was another sinking in the
lower firth.
At around 4.42 p.m. on Saturday, March 27, 1943, a build up of petrol vapour in the shaft tunnel of the Archer Class escort
aircraft carrier "Dasher", built in 1941 as the diesel passenger-cargo liner "Rio de Janeiro", caused the first of two fatal
explosions which sank her, at 55º 37.750' N, 05º 00.883' W, close to the Ardrossan to Brodick ferry route, in more than 500-
feet of water, where her wreck lies upright to this day with her two squadrons of Hurricanes and a squadron of Swordfish. Of
her crew of 528 men, only 149 were saved.
Sixty years after the event, it was revealed that the body of then 37-year old Galashiels-born radio operator John Melville had
been recovered and, dressed in a British Army major's uniform, used as a 'decoy' in 'Operation Mincemeat'. The story, told
in the 1956-made film "The Man Who Never Was", being that the Germans, retrieving the body from the Spanish coast where
it had been dropped in the sea by a British submarine, accepting the story set out in documents in a briefcase attached to the
body, ordered their troops to Sardinia and left Sicily clear for a successful Allied landing.
'Major Martin', as the body was identified, was buried at Huelva in south-west Spain and given a proper funeral by the
Germans whose friends, after the war, later exhumed the body for a proper post-mortem. In 1997, MoD papers suggested
that the body of 'Major Martin' actually belonged to a homeless Welshman, Glendwr Michael, who had died after
accidentally, or intentionally, eaten rat poison and killing himself and Michael's name was added to the Huelva headstone.
It then emerged that the Nazis had themselves carried out two post-mortem's on the body and doubt was cast on its true identity
as pathologists would almost certainly have detected traces of poison in their investigations. Later revelations in other files
and records were to confirm that the body in question was indeed that of John Melville and, fittingly, in 2004, Melville's
daughter was able to visit the new H.M.S. "Dasher", successor to her father's ship, the final resting place of her father's body
still a mystery.
TIRPITZ
The "Tirpitz" in a Norwegian fjord
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Another view of "Tirpitz"
A Barracuda
From time to time squadrons would be disembarked from carriers to be given training at Machrihanish and
amongst these were the Barracudas of “’830’ and ‘831’
and the Corsairs of ‘1834’ and ‘1836’ squadrons who were to ‘work up’ at Machrihanish prior to their famous
attack on the “Tirpitz”, lying in Alten Fjord, on Monday, April 3, 1944.
1943 : Mon April 5. = New Moon = Wed 7. Offensive opened by First Army in Northern Tunisia. Sat 10. Sfax
occupied by Eighth Army. Mon 12. Sousse occupied by Eighth Army. Tue 20. = Full Moon = Mon 26. Longstop Hill
captured by First Army.
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In April 1943, the first floating 'Mulberry' harbour was successfully tested in The Solway Firth - In May and
June 1944, some of the previously Campbeltown-based rescue tugs would tow these concrete landing jetties
south and across to the D-Day landing beaches in Normandy.
In April 1943, the still uncompleted German aircraft carrier "Graf Zeppelin" was towed to the Moenne tributary, near the
mouth of the Oder River - Scuttled there in the mud by the Germans in the spring of 1945, she was raised by the Russians in
1946 and, in 1947, laden with war booty, towed to Leningrad.
LILI MARLENE
Sunday, April 25, 1943 - A British bombing raid on Belgrade and the birth of "Lili Marlene" - This is the story of "Lili
Marlene", a song written in Germany in 1938 by Norbert Schultze and Hans Leit, in just twenty minutes and rejected by
about two dozen publishers till was taken up by husky-voiced Swedish singer Lala Anderson as her signature song, the only
song of the war to be adopted by both German and British forces, British lyric writer Tommy O'Connor giving the song a
more sentimental wording for the British troops.
Anderson's recording of the simple little song achieved few initial sales until the night that the German station in Belgrade,
broadcasting programmes to Rommel's Afrika Korps troops, discovered that, thanks to some British bombs, most of its
records had been damaged or destroyed except for a handful, Anderson's "Lili Marlene" being dusted off and broadcast that
same night of Sunday, April 25, 1943 and by the next morning was being hummed by the Afrika Korps, radio request letters
going in and demanding that it be played again and again, the song being played at least twice nightly for the next eighteen
months -
The story of the songs' popularity in Africa got back to Berlin, and Madame Goering, who used to be an opera singer, sang
the song of the inconstant "Lili Marlene" to a very select group of Nazis - if there ever was such a thing !
Now played constantly over the German radio, Goering a little sick of the song and inconstancy a subject unpleasant to certain
Nazi ears, he tried to suggest that the song be quietly assassinated but, "Lili" had got out of hand - Lala Anderson was by
now "The Soldiers' Sweetheart", a pin-up girl whose husky voice endlessly ground out of portable phonographs right across
the North African desert and, with British Eighth Army successes in North Africa, they too took "Lili" 'prisoner', the song
now quickly sweeping through the British lines.
Australians hummed it and fastened new words to it and the powers hesitated, considering whether it was a good idea to let a
German song about a girl who did not have all the sterling virtues become the favourite song of the British Army - Creeping
into The First Army, the Americans began adding their own close harmony to the music and, the matter completely out of
hand, the authorities had little option but to consider "Lili" a prisoner of war, which would have happened anyway, no matter
what the powers thought about it.
"Lili", getting deeply into the American forces in Africa, The Office of War Information took up the problem and decided to
try to turn her lyrics against the Germans but, there was nothing anyone could do about a song like this except let it go - War
songs need not be about the war at all, indeed, they rarely are and, in the first war, songs such as "Madeline" and
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"Tipperary" had nothing to do with war - Even the great and favourite Australian song of the war, "Waltzing Matilda,"
concerns itself with sheep-stealing rather than war.
Politics may have dominated and nationalised, but songs have a way of leaping boundaries - "Lili Marlene" is such a song -
"Lili" is indeed 'international'.
1)Vor der Kaserne Underneath the lantern, by the barrack gate,

Vor dem großen Tor Darling I remember the way you used to wait.
Stand eine Laterne 'Twas there that you whispered tenderly,
Und steht sie noch davor That you loved me, You'd always be,
So woll'n wir uns da wieder seh'n My Lili of the lamplight, My own Lili Marlene.
Bei der Laterne wollen wir steh'n
Wie einst Lili Marleen. Wie einst Lili Marleen
2)Unsere beide Schatten Time would come for roll call, Time for us to part,
Sah'n wie einer aus Darling I'd caress you and press you to my heart,
Daß wir so lieb uns hatten And there 'neath that far off lantern light,
Das sah man gleich daraus I'd hold you tight, We'd kiss good-night,
Und alle Leute soll'n es seh'n My Lili of the lamplight, My own Lili Marlene.
Wenn wir bei der Laterne steh'n
Wie einst Lili Marleen. Wie einst Lili Marleen.
3)Deine Schritte kennt sie, Orders came for sailing somewhere over there,
Deinen zieren Gang All confined to barracks was more than I could bear;
Alle Abend brennt sie, I knew you were waiting in the street,
Doch mich vergaß sie lang I heard your feet, But could not meet,
Und sollte mir ein Leids gescheh'n My Lili of the lamplight, My own Lili Marlene.
Wer wird bei der Laterne stehen
Mit dir Lili Marleen? Mit dir Lili Marleen?
4)Aus dem stillen Raume, Resting in a billet, just behind the line,
Aus der Erde Grund Even tho'we're parted, your lips are close to mine.
Hebt mich wie im Traume You wait where that lantern softly gleams.
Dein verliebter Mund Your sweet face seems to haunt my dreams.
Wenn sich die späten Nebel drehn My Lili of the lamplight, My own Lili Marlene.
Werd' ich bei der Laterne steh'n
Mit dir Lili Marleen? Mit dir Lili Marleen?
Norbert Schultz survived the war and was congratulated by General Montgomery at an El Alamein reunion, Schultz dying on
October 16, 2002, age 91, at Bad Tölz, Bavaria - Poor Lale Andersen spent much of the war in a concentration camp
because she was overheard to say "All I want is to get out of this horrible country" - The poem 'Song of the Sentry' was first
written by Hans Leip of Hamburg in 1923 and, in the latter part of the war the Germans had their own version -
An der Laterne, vor der Reichskanzlie,

Hängen unsere Bonzen, der Führer ist dabai ,
Da wollen wir bieeinander stehn,
Wir wollen unsern Führer sehen,
Wie einst am ersten Mai, Wie einst am ersten Mai.
1943 : Mon May 3. Mateur captured by U.S. forces. Tue 4. = New Moon = Thu 6. Massicault captured by First Army.
Fri 7. Tunis and Bizerta captured by Allied forces. Wed 12. All organised German resistance in Tunisia ceases. Thu 13. Axis
forces in Tunisia surrendered and Allies take control of all areas of North Africa. Sun 16. SS officers complete the obliteration
of the Polish Jews, 42,000 moved to forced labour camps near Lublin and 17,000 massacred in the uprising or sent to the
death camp at Treblinka - Mohne and Eder dams breached by R.A.F. ‘Dambusters’. Wed 19. = Full Moon = Sat 22.
Moscow dissolves the Comintern.
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THE LOSS OF THE “UNTAMED”
During the Second World War, the Holy Loch was a submarine base, served by the depot ship HMS
"Forth". Among the boats based in the Loch were two, H.M.S. "Vandal" and H.M.S. "Untamed", both of
which were lost on the Clyde - H.M.S. "Vandal" being lost off Lochranza on Wednesday, February 24, 1943,
lost just three months before H.M.S. "Untamed" here.
U-Class Submarines
On Sunday, May 30, 1943, the submarine HMS “Untamed” was exercising with ships of the 8th Escort Group
off Cambeltown. At 0950 that morning “Untamed” dived and commenced the first run of the day. After three
hours the submarine surfaced and prepared for the next run. Just after 1345 the submarine once again dived
and the second exercise of the day began.
This exercise involved the anti-submarine training yacht “Shemara” firing practice mortars against the
submarine. The first two runs were successful with “Untamed” indicating her position after each with a white
smoke candle. At 1450 following the third run the submarine did not immediately indicate her position.
The “Shemara” fired "INDICATE POSITION" charge, came to a stop and began tapping on the hull. The
efforts of the “Shemara” were greeted by a yellow smoke candle. “Shemara” moved to a position by the
marker and once again began tapping the hull. At this point a swirl of water was seen near the marker.
“Shemara” called a halt to the exercise and signalled the submarine to surface but there was no reply. A
second surface signal was sent, again without result. At 1602 “Shemara” sent a signal for assistance to the
Naval Officer in Command and continued to search for the submarine. At 1716 the sound of the submarine
blowing her tanks was heard. Using asdic the “Shemara” located the submarine. For the next ten minutes
the sound of the submarine blowing her tanks and stopping and starting her engines could be heard. At 1733
HMS “Thrasher” arrived to render assistance and tried to contact the “Untamed”. At 1745 all sound from the
submarine ceased.
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Because of worsening weather conditions divers were not able to inspect the stricken submarine until 1115 on
Tuesday, June 1st - 45 hours after she had dived. There was no reply to the divers tapping on the hull of the
submarine and an inspection of the vessels hull showed no obvious damage. Only when the “Untamed” had
been salvaged did the cause(s) of her loss and the loss of her crew become clear.
The crew had assembled in the engine room, and were preparing to escape from that compartment
when they were overcome by carbon dioxide before they could get out. Although the submarine was
subsequently raised, the crew were all lost - The cause of the disaster was found to be a series of fatal errors
resulting from faulty workmanship and lack of training.
Like surface ships, submarines also use a patent log to record speed and distance travelled - The log was
driven by a small propeller which is rotated by the force of the water flowing through it due to the forward
motion of the vessel, the device was located in a tube under the keel of the submarine.
During the exercise on Sunday, May 30, 1943, the log ceased to function and, in order to repair it, the
device had to be taken into the submarine - To achieve this, the outside end of the tube had first to be
closed to the sea by a valve installed for that purpose and then the inboard end could be opened to give access
to the mechanism from within the submarine.
Unfortunately, the gear for closing the valve at the outboard end of the tube had been incorrectly
fitted and, as a result, the outside valve could not be closed - The crew of the submarine were not
aware that this valve remained open so, when the inboard end of the tube was opened, a
powerful jet of sea water rushed into the forward torpedo stowage compartment - The crew moved aft to the
engine compartment, shutting the watertight bulkhead doors behind them and the weight of water in the
flooded forward section forced the submarine to sink to the sea bed.
To allow the escape hatch to be opened, it was necessary to equalise the pressure inside the
compartment with that on the outside A special valve to flood the engine compartment was installed
for that purpose but, the mechanism for operating this valve had also been wrongly connected and
the valve could not be opened - There were alternative means for flooding the compartment, but only very
slowly.
A third valve, which should have opened to the sea, was wrongly connected to a small-bore drainpipe
leading to the bilges in the after end of the submarine - Sadly, there was no other means of flooding that
section of the boat.
During all this time, the oxygen in the air in the compartment was gradually being used up and, before the
pressures could be equalised, the air in the compartment had become too contaminated to
breathe - The crew were forced to resort to breathing oxygen from their Davis Submerged Escape
Apparatus and, as the submarine was sunk in about 50 metres of water, they probably all died from
oxygen poisoning.
When the submarine was eventually raised on Tuesday, July 5, 1943, the log book told the story of the crew's
struggle to raise her for seven hours before they finally realised the impossibility of their task - The
rising water inside the boat had stopped all their watches at 20.20 hours - 12 hours after the flooding
accident - The crew of the "Untamed" are buried in Dunoon cemetery and they are commemorated each
year by members of the Submarine Old Comrades' Association - The "Untamed" was refitted and named
"Vitality" and, after the war, broken up at Troon.
The "Vandal" and the "Untamed" were both built about the same time by Vickers-Armstrong - the
"Vandal" at Barrow-in-Furness and the "Untamed" at Newcastle-on-Tyne - Some components and sub-
assemblies came from common, outside, suppliers and it cannot be ruled out that both submarines were lost
to, at least similar if not, the same cause, sabotage itself even ?
Another vessel of note which was to be based on The Holy Loch was H.M.S. "Graph", the captured German
U-Boat "U-570", which was commissioned into the Royal Navy and subsequently wrecked, while under tow,
at Coul Point on the coast of Islay, on Monday, March 20, 1944.
1943 : Thu June 3. = New Moon = French Committee for National Liberation formed in Algiers.
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1943 : Thu June 10 - A Hudson (FK 780) aircraft crashed on the hill (NGR 694319), near The Hunting
Lodge at Putchecan, beside Bellochantuy - All the crew survived and the aircraft submerged in the bog.
1943 : Fri June 11. Pantellaria surrendered. Sat 12. Lampedusa surrendered. Fri 18. = Full Moon =
1943 : Fri July 2. = New Moon =
Sylvia Scarlet
Sylvia Scarlet, officially known as 'The Brontasaurus', came to grief at Escart Bay, near the little island of
Ghallagain, in West Loch Tarbert, on Saturday, July 3, 1943. Sylvia was a Dutch-built Fokker F.XXII 4-
engined aircraft built in May 1935, registered PH-AJR, for KLM airlines. In 1939 she was bought by the
Heston-based British American AT Services and, in September that year, was sold to Scottish Aviation at at
Prestwick and registered as G-AFXR after less than a month at Heston. Finally, on October 15, 1941, she
became HM159 when she was taken over by the RAF.
24 Squadron chnstened her 'The Brontosaurus' but. when she joined 1680 Flight on October 1. 1942, she had
the name Sylvia Scarlet painted on the port side of her cockpit. On the fateful day, with her five crew, she
had taken off from Abbotsinch at 10am on a routine freight and personnel flight, via Tiree and Benbecula, to
Stornaway where she arrived at 1330 and then began her return flight to Abbotsinch at 1458 in the afternoon.
It was a fine sunny day with little wind but, local thunderstorms were forecast around Oban. At Benbecula,
Sylvia's New Zealand 'skipper' carried out a long series of pre-flight checks after he taxied to the end of the
runway. Witnesses remembered seeing a long sheet of flame coming from one engine just as the aircraft took
off and at Tiree, where the aircraft spent more than half-an-hour on the ground, there was talk about trouble
with one of her engines.
She left Tiree at 1642 with five crewmen and fifteen passengers on board and around 5pm passed over the
observer post at Easdale streaming a smoke trail astern. A quarter-of-an-hour later, her skipper tried to land
the aircraft on the mud flats at the head of the West Loch but crashed nose-first into
the water at Escart Bay and a fierce fire ensued making it impossible for the crew of the RAF rescue launch,
based at MacBrayne's steamer pier, to rescue any of the plane's occupants - 14 of the occupants were
eventually buried in Campbeltown Cemetery.
Several weeks after the incident, the 'Lochiel' lifted the plane's four engines from the bottom of the loch, the
little island of Ghallagain and the aircraft's wreck site nearly in view here.
1943 : Mon July 5. Battle of Kursk begins, the largest tank battle in history ends in Russian victory. Tue 6. Germans
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launched new offensive in Russia. Sat 10. Sicily invaded by Allied forces in Operation Husky, 3,000 ships ferry 150,000
British and American troops to Sicily and a further 320,000 troops are waiting to follow on. Mon 12. Russian counter-attack
launched. Sat 17. = Full Moon = Mon 19. First allied raid on Rome. Sat 24. Allied air-raids begin on Hamburg, the city
totally destroyed, some 40,000 people killed, more than in the whole London ‘Blitz’. Sun 25. Mussolini resigned and
arrested - Heavy bombing in industrial northern Italy leads to anti-war protests. Mon 26. Fascist Party dissolved in Italy.
THE QUEBEC CONFERENCE
The "Queen Mary" at The Tail of The Bank
Leaving Sydney on March 22, 1943, the "Queen Mary" sailed back to Gourock, alone as usual. At Cape Town she picked up
a mixed-bag of passengers, Italian prisoners-of-war and Allied service personnel. On her next voyage from Gourock to New
York she carried a large number of German POWs and, onthe return trip in June, packed with over 15,000 US troops, she
made one of her fastest 'overload' passages, averaging over 29 knots.
When the liner put out from New York on July 25, 1943, she had on board the greatest number that she ever sailed with, a
total of 16,683 servicemen and crew and, in spite of this number, she crossed at an average of 28-73 knots.
She then sailed for Halifax with a cruiser escort to take Mr Churchill and his staff to The Quebec
Conference - Those with the Prime Minister included Lord Louis Mountbatten, Sir Charles Portal, General Sir Alan Brooke
and Sir Dudley Pound.
The ship remained at Halifax for eighteen days taking on board more than 15,000 troops and, at the end of the conference,
most of the Prime Minister's staff re-embarked in her, Mr Churchill himself returning to Britain aboard a cruiser, the "Queen
Mary" sailing for Gourock from Halifax, on August 27, 1943, with over 16,000 people, the largest number carried in one
ship from a Canadian port.
After this interlude the normal voyages between Gourock and New York continued and throughout the winter of 1943-4 the
ship never made an eastbound crossing with fewer than 11,000 on board, sometimes more than 12,000.
It may be thought that the embarkation of such a large number of troops took a long time. In fact, the operation usually
required only about twelve hours but, the American troops had been well drilled in this art.
The choice of Gourock as her terminal port proved a wise one but, the depth of water there would not permit her to be brought
alongside a wharf and many tenders were needed to disembark the troops. The vessel also had to be fuelled and provisioned as
soon as possible - Usually the turn-round was accomplished in four or five days.
About one-sixth of the crew were relieved at the end of each round-trip and then had one voyage off, another sixth of the crew
getting forty-eight hours local leave after each trip, about a third of the crew being able to go ashore each time the ship came
into the Clyde.
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THE TROOP TENDERS
The "King George V", which carried Winston Churchill out to the "Queen Mary" for his trip to The Quebec
Conference and the "Duchess of Hamilton" as troop tenders at Gourock
During the war, there were 16 troop tenders, mainly former Clyde and other day-tripping coastal passenger steamers,
working around The Tail of The Bank - Between 1939 and 1945, the L.M.S. Railway Company ran 5,477 special convoy
troop trains to Gourock and another 4,308 'specials' to Greenock's Princes Pier.
The Caledonian Steam Packet Company reckoned that they carried some 17 million passengers on public sailings over the war
years, their passenger numbers, especially in 1940, little different from peace-time.
1943 : Sun August 1. = New Moon = Mon August 2. Hamburg, as a result of systematic bombing by R.A.F., which
began on July 24. had suffered the most serious damage of any industrial city of the world, at a cost of 87 British aircraft. Wed
4. Orel captured by Russians. Thu 5. Bielgorod captured by Russians. Sun 15. Taonnina captured by Eighth Army. Mon 16.
= Full Moon = Tue 17. American troops capture Messina and resistance in Sicily ended. Mon 23. Kharkov captured by
Russians. Thu 26. French Committee of National Liberation recognized by Allies.
1943 : Sat August 28 - A Beaufighter (LZ 156), flying from Port Ellen, crashed (NGR 623063) killing its
two-man crew - 1943 : Mon August 30. = New Moon = Capture of Taganrog by Russians announced.
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GRATEFUL - After the Italian armistice on September 3, 1943, around 100,000 Italians volunteered to help the Allied
cause. After a slow transition period, from being a defeated enemy to being a willing ally, some 150 Italians actually enlisted
in the US Army landing force at Anzio as ammunition carriers and interpreters. On April 18, the Italian Liberation Corps was
formed. Consisting of 25,000 men, the Corps occupied such important towns as Chieti, L'Aquila, Teramo and Ascoli Piceno.
The eastern side of the Italian Peninsula, including cities such as Bologna and Venice, were freed by Italian troops under
Allied command. On October 13, 1943, Italy declared war on Germany.
In 1944, the Italian Co-belligerant Air Force was formed and equipped with US and British-built planes. Its primary function
was to support the Italian troops fighting in Greece and Yugoslavia and to attack German ships sailing in the eastern
Mediterranean Sea.
By April, 1945, around one million Italian soldiers, sailors, airmen and partisans were taking a direct role in the Allied war
effort. Around 480,000 Italians died from all causes during the war.
1943 : Fri September 3. British and Canadian troops landed on the southern tip of Italy and the Italian armistice is signed.
Wed 8. First public announcement that Italy has surrendered to Allies. Thu 9. Allied forces landed at Salerno. Fri 10. Italian
fleet reached Malta - Rome occupied by German troops - Salerno occupied by Fifth Army. Sun 12. Mussolini rescued by
German parachute troops. Tue 14. = Full Moon = Salamaua captured from the Japanese. Thu 16. Novorossisk captured
by Russians. Fri 17. Capture of Briansk by Russians announced. Sun 19. Evacuation of Sardinia by Germans announced.
Thu 23. The German battleship Tirpitz severely damaged by midget submarines. Sat 25. After two years of German rule,
Smolensk is captured by the Russians. Wed 29. = New Moon = Full armistice terms signed by Italy.
WATER, WATER EVERYWHERE !

In October 1943, much of Longrow and Lochend was under two feet of water due to a deluge of rain 'of many
hours duration', residents reminded of similar flooding in 1918, 1919 and 1922 !
1943 : Fri October 1. Naples occupied by Fifth Army. Mon 4. Corsica liberated by Free French troops, 26,000 German
troops escape. Thu 7. Dnieper crossed by Russians.
An Avro Anson flying over H.M.S. "Furious"
1943 : Saturday October 25 - Though it remained undiscovered for several days, a n Avro Anson aircraft, from
Llanwrog, crashed with the loss of all crew, near Strone farm (NGR 607106), in Southend parish - Thefive
crewmen are all buried in Kilkerran cemetery.
1943 : Tue October 12. Portugal agrees for the use of The Azores for air-bases to cover trans-Atlantic convoy routes. Tue
12 – Wed 13. Attack on Voltumo River opened. Wed 13. Italy declared war on its former Axis partner Germany. Thu 14. =
Full Moon = Italy accepted as co-belligerent in war against Germany. Sat 23. Melitopol captured by Russians. Mon 25.
Capture of Dnepropetrovsk and Dneprozerzhinsk by Russians announced. Thu 28. = New Moon =
1943 : Sat October 30 - A Beaufighter (LZ 455), flying from Filton, crashed into Beinn Bhreac (NGR
614087) killing all its crew.
THE “MONCOUSU” AND THE BOMBING RANGES

That same month, the 1912-built 862 ton cargo ship "Moncousu", formerly the "Nestor", which had lain sunk
at Plymouth after being badly damaged in a bombing raid on the night of April 28/29, 1941 and then been
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refloated in February 1943, arrived under tow off Gigha where she was to be used as a target for bombing
practice, the observation posts still being seen opposite, to the north of Tayinloan. She became so badly
damaged in practice attacks that, on January 5, 1944, she sank at her moorings.
ON THE TUGS
Seemingly, in October 1943, there was seemingly only one Customs Officer, one Ian McNeil, in
Campbeltown and, when the escort tug "Samsonia" returned from duty on the inward-bound convoys from
St. Johns, her skipper used to put all of her crew down for 2 pairs of nylon stockings each on the customs
forms, it mattering not whether they had any or not !
McNeil seemed quite happy so long as his forms were filled in but, it was always a matter of getting anything
ashore quickly when the ship arrived in case a Customs 'rummage crew' made a surprise appearance on
board ship. In the case of the "Samsonia", for every tug had her own 'port of call' and landlords always held
back whisky, then in short supply because of wartime restrictions, for the returning crews, the 'dutiable
purchases' were quickly 'spirited ashore' to one noted as Jock McAllister of the 'Hole in The Wall', a pub no
longer known in Campbeltown ?
After every convoy escort, three weeks out and three weeks home, six days leave was granted to one or other
half of the tug's crew, the remaining crew members then having some 7-10 days clear to get on with repairs
and maintenance before the next trip out. For those going on leave, a MacBrayne's bus would leave
Campbeltown at midnight to arrive in Glasgow around 7 a.m. next morning, London was another 16 hours
onward by train !
At the opposite end of the convoy route, at St. Johns, the tug base was operated by one Lt. Comdr. Hawkins
who had come to fame in November 1940 when serving as second mate on board the Shell oil tanker "San
Demetrio".
The crew had taken to the lifeboats after the tanker had been set on fire by the pocket battleship "Admiral
Scheer" and then, two days later, Hawkins' boat suddenly sighted the stern half of the tanker still ablaze but
afloat. They reboarded her and, after getting steam up to quell the fires, brought her stern first into The
Clyde and Rothesay Bay. Wisely declining the offer of help from Clyde tugs, Hawkins and his crew were
awarded salvage money for their efforts. Hawkins later joined the tug service as a lieutenant and, later
promoted to Lt. Commander, was put in charge of St. Johns' tug base.
P.O.W’s REPATRIATED
In November 1943, five POW's were repatriated to Campbeltown, two of them, who had been stretcher-
bearers, regarded as 'protected personnel' under The Geneva Convention, had been forced to work in a coal
mine as POW's until the Germans admitted their proper status. Other repatriated POW's now began to
return too. All were given 28 days leave before being told to appear before a medical board and then await
instructions.
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1943 : Mon November 1. Germans' land retreat from Crimea cut off. Thu 4. Eighth Army captured Isernia and linked up
with Fifth Army at Castelpetroso. Fri 5. Vatican bombed. Sat 6. Kiev captured by the Russians after two years of German
war rule.
1943 : Saturday October 25 - Though it remained undiscovered for several days, a n Avro Anson aircraft, from
Llanwrog, crashed with the loss of all crew, near Strone farm (NGR 607106), in Southend parish - Thefive
crewmen are all buried in Kilkerran cemetery.
1943 : Tue October 12. Portugal agrees for the use of The Azores for air-bases to cover trans-Atlantic convoy routes. Tue
12 – Wed 13. Attack on Voltumo River opened. Wed 13. Italy declared war on its former Axis partner Germany. Thu 14. =
Full Moon = Italy accepted as co-belligerent in war against Germany. Sat 23. Melitopol captured by Russians. Mon 25.
Capture of Dnepropetrovsk and Dneprozerzhinsk by Russians announced. Thu 28. = New Moon =
1943 : Sat October 30 - A Beaufighter (LZ 455), flying from Filton, crashed into Beinn Bhreac (NGR
614087) killing all its crew.
THE “MONCOUSU” AND THE BOMBING RANGES

That same month, the 1912-built 862 ton cargo ship "Moncousu", formerly the "Nestor", which had lain sunk
at Plymouth after being badly damaged in a bombing raid on the night of April 28/29, 1941 and then been
refloated in February 1943, arrived under tow off Gigha where she was to be used as a target for bombing
practice, the observation posts still being seen opposite, to the north of Tayinloan. She became so badly
damaged in practice attacks that, on January 5, 1944, she sank at her moorings.
ON THE TUGS
Seemingly, in October 1943, there was seemingly only one Customs Officer, one Ian McNeil, in
Campbeltown and, when the escort tug "Samsonia" returned from duty on the inward-bound convoys from
St. Johns, her skipper used to put all of her crew down for 2 pairs of nylon stockings each on the customs
forms, it mattering not whether they had any or not !
McNeil seemed quite happy so long as his forms were filled in but, it was always a matter of getting anything
ashore quickly when the ship arrived in case a Customs 'rummage crew' made a surprise appearance on
board ship. In the case of the "Samsonia", for every tug had her own 'port of call' and landlords always held
back whisky, then in short supply because of wartime restrictions, for the returning crews, the 'dutiable
purchases' were quickly 'spirited ashore' to one noted as Jock McAllister of the 'Hole in The Wall', a pub no
longer known in Campbeltown ?
After every convoy escort, three weeks out and three weeks home, six days leave was granted to one or other
half of the tug's crew, the remaining crew members then having some 7-10 days clear to get on with repairs
and maintenance before the next trip out. For those going on leave, a MacBrayne's bus would leave
Campbeltown at midnight to arrive in Glasgow around 7 a.m. next morning, London was another 16 hours
onward by train !
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At the opposite end of the convoy route, at St. Johns, the tug base was operated by one Lt. Comdr. Hawkins
who had come to fame in November 1940 when serving as second mate on board the Shell oil tanker "San
Demetrio".
The crew had taken to the lifeboats after the tanker had been set on fire by the pocket battleship "Admiral
Scheer" and then, two days later, Hawkins' boat suddenly sighted the stern half of the tanker still ablaze but
afloat. They reboarded her and, after getting steam up to quell the fires, brought her stern first into The
Clyde and Rothesay Bay. Wisely declining the offer of help from Clyde tugs, Hawkins and his crew were
awarded salvage money for their efforts. Hawkins later joined the tug service as a lieutenant and, later
promoted to Lt. Commander, was put in charge of St. Johns' tug base.
P.O.W’s REPATRIATED
In November 1943, five POW's were repatriated to Campbeltown, two of them, who had been stretcher-
bearers, regarded as 'protected personnel' under The Geneva Convention, had been forced to work in a coal
mine as POW's until the Germans admitted their proper status. Other repatriated POW's now began to
return too. All were given 28 days leave before being told to appear before a medical board and then await
instructions.
1943 : Tue November 23. Eighth Army crossed R. Sangro in strength. Fri 26. Second Battle of The Solomon Islands. Sat
27. = New Moon = Sun 28. Teheran Conference, Marshal Stalin, President Roosevelt, Mr Churchill meet together for
the first time, Stalin’s first journey outside of Russia since the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.
1943 : Thu December 2. Men between 18 and 25 to be directed to the mining industry by ballot in Britain.
1943 : Thu December 2 - A Wellington (LB 137 - from Silloth number 6 OTU) aircraft crashed on the
western slope of Beinn na Lice (NGR 599087), on The Mull of Kintyre, all crew being killed.
ACCIDENTAL DEATH
At about 5.30 p.m. on Saturday, December 4, 1943, 16-year old messenger boy Thomas MacDonald of 5 Park
Square was shot by a sentry when he tried to deliver telegrams to the administrative offices at Stronvaar, his
death was held to be accidental and the boy's father was awarded agreed damages of £435.
1943 : Sat December 4 – Mon December 6. Cairo Conference (President Roosevelt, Mr. Churchill, President of Turkey).
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1943 : Mon December 6 - A Swordfish from 836 Squadron crashed at Bellochantuy (NGR 661321) killing
both crew, one buried in Kilkerran cemetery - The aircraft's fixed-blade propellor was recovered in October
2004 by Mid-Argyll fishermen Lorne Stewart and Kevin Penman when working for 'Tarbert Shellfish'.
1943 : Thu December 9 - An Avro Anson (N 4988), from No 1 Air Observer School based at RAF Wigtown
(Baldoon) force-landed in the sea off the east of Kintyre and the rescued crew taken to Campbeltown before
being flown back to their base from Machrihanish.
1943 : Fri December 10. Capture of Znamenka by Russians announced. Sun 12. = Full Moon = Tue 14. Capture of
Cherkasy by Russians announced. Sun 19. Four war criminals hanged at Kharkov.
THE “GROWLER”
On Christmas Eve 1943, the rescue tug "Growler" sailed from Campbeltown to Moville to rendezvous with an
outward-bound convoy which left the next day, Christmas Day. On December 30, 1943, the "Growler" was
accidentally rammed amidships by the tanker "Donna Bella" and, although badly holed, a combination of
pumps and sacks of flour jammed against a bulkhead enabled the tug to reach Rejliavik, in Iceland, on New
Year's Eve. After temporary repairs there, the tug made for Princes Dock in Glasgow to have an overhaul
and new plates fitted and returned to her Campbeltown base in February 1944.
1943 : Fri December 24. Appointment of Allied invasion chiefs announced. Russians opened major offensive W. of Kiev.
Sun 26. Schamhorst sunk off North Cape, only 36 of her crew survived. Mon 27. = New Moon = Tue 28. Ortona
captured by Eighth Army. Fri 31. Zhitomir recaptured by Russians.
By the end of 1943, 55% of the national income was being spent on the war, 1/3 rd of the population was involved in war
work, 8½ million people in Britain were working in the munitions industry and 7¼ million women were working full-time in
the armed forces and with the civil defence forces and in industry - Britain reckoned to have produced 26,263 aircraft, 224
ships, 7,646 army tanks and 12,200 army artillery pieces in the course of that year - By then too, Britain was building one
new airfiels every three days
.
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272
1944
1 1 2 3 4 5 1 2 3 4
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 19 20 21 22 23 24 25
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 26 27 28 29 30 31
30 31
April May June

1 1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 28 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30
30
2 Palm Sunday
9 Easter

1 1 2 3 4 5 1 2
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
9 10 11 12 13 14 15 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
16 17 18 19 20 21 22 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
23 24 25 26 27 28 29 27 28 29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
30 31

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 1 2
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
29 30 31 26 27 28 29 30 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31
11 Armistice Day
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21 Winter Solstice
25 Christmas
1944
1944 : Sat January 1. Battle for Cassino began. Tue 4. Russian troops cross over the pre-war border line between Russia
and Poland as the Germans continue to retreat. Sat 8. Kirovograd captured by Russians. Mon 10. British troops take the key
port of Maungdaw, on The Bay of Bengal, a key victory in retaking Burma from the Japanese. Tue 11. = Full Moon =
Sat 15. Gen. Eisenhower assumed duties as C-in-C Allied Expeditionary Force. Thu 20. Capture of Novogorod by Russians
announced. Minturno captured by Fifth Army. Sat 22. Amphibious landings by Allies south of Rome - Nettuno and Anzio
occupied on 24th thus bypassing The Gustav Line where the Allies and Axis troops were in stalemate. Tue 25. = New
Moon = Thu 27. Seige of Leningrad ends after 872 days. Fri 28. Argentina breaks with Axis powers.
1944 : Sat January 29 - A Seafire (MB 145) aircraft crashed at Aros Farm.
1944 : Tue February 1. American forces land on Marshall Islands - Kingisepp (Leningrad front) captured by Russians.
Wed 2. Russians penetrate Estonia. Thu 3. Germans opened offensive against Anzio beach-head. Tue 8. Nikopol captured by
Russians. Wed 9. = Full Moon = Tue 15. Monte Cassino’s 13th century Abbey bombarded by Allies.
H.M.S. "Breda"
On the night of Thursday, February 17/18, 1944, the submarine tender H.M.S. "Breda", formerly the Duke
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and Duchess of Bedford's steam yacht "Sapphire", was involved in a collision with an un-named navy ship
and was brought in and beached on the south side of Campbeltown Loch where her remains were later
broken up.
1944 : Thu February 17 - A Martinet (MS 756) aircraft, from 772 Squadron, crashed in the sea between
Arran and Kintyre killing its lone pilot.
1944 : Fri February 18. Staraya Russa captured by Russians. Tue 22. Krivoi Rog captured by Russians - First coordinated
air attack on Germany from bases in U.K. and Italy. Thu 24. = New Moon = Sat 26. Codenamed ‘Big Week’, American
bombers complete a series of 3,800 raids across Germany.
and, in February 1944 too, a Saturday morning blaze closed the 1,134-seat Rex Cinema which had first
opened in August 1939, the Rex reopened on October 25, 1944.
THE “GROWLER” AND THE “COUBERT”
That month too, the rescue tug "Growler" sailed for Moville and then escorted a convoy to St. Johns, a 17-
day voyage at 5-6 knots. Returning to Campbeltown in March 1944, the "Growler" again took up her rescue
duties and, in April 1944, towed the French battleship "Coubert" from The Gareloch to Devonport where the
French ship was prepared for use as a breakwater for the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches after the D-Day
landings.
1944 : Wed March 4. Russians opened offensive on 1st Ukrainian front. Fri 6. Russians opened offensive on 3rd Ukrainian
front - First heavy attack by U.S. bombers on Berlin. Fri 10. = Full Moon = Russians opened offensive on 2nd Ukrainian
front. Mon 13. Kherson captured by Russians. Wed 15. Heavy air and artillery bombardment of Cassino by Allies.
H.M.S. "GRAPH" / "U-570"
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On the morning of Saturday, March 18, 1944, H.M.S. "Graph", formerly the German submarine "U-570" captured off
Iceland on Wednesday, August 27, 1941, ran ashore at Coul Point, near Kilchoman on Islay, after breaking loose on a tow
to The Holy Loch on the Clyde, the idea being to tow her into one of the training exercise areas and use her for depth-charge
trials.
"U-570", under the command of Kapitanleutenant Hans Rahmlow, had been attacked off Iceland by a Lockheed Hudson Mk
3 of 269 Squadron under the command of Squadron Leader James Herbert Thompson and an error in setting the U-Boat's
hydroplanes caused her to resurface almost as soon as she dived and she was straddled by four depth-charges which caused
Rahmlow, in fear of sinking, to surrender.
Though the U-Boat's Enigma machine was not recovered, its captain, Hans Ramhlow, having plenty of time to dump it over
the side, "U-570" did provide were some G7e magnetic pistol torpedoes, these, still far from reliable, were a big
improvement on those issued to Gunter Prien's "U-47", for Prien's torpedoes had very nearly screwed-up his sinking of
H.M.S. "Royal Oak" at the beginning of the war.
The U-boat's first officer, Bernhardt Berndt, was put on "trial" for cowardice by his fellow POW officers at No. 1 (Officers)
POW camp at Grizedale Hall in the Lake District where the senior German officer was U-boat "ace" Otto Kretschmer of "U-
99" - As such a kangaroo court was illegal therefore it was called a "Council of Honour".
Berndt was found guilty and when it was learned that "U-570" was on show to the public at the Vickers yard at nearby
Barrow-in-Furness, Berndt was given the chance to redeem himself by escaping and sabotaging the U-boat with a home-made
bomb - He managed to escape but was shot dead while evading recapture by the Home Guard and was buried with full
military honours in the churchyard at Hawkshead - His body dis-interred after the war and re-interred in the German War
Cemetery at Cannock Chase in the presence of his family.
Hitler regarded Rahmlow's surrender as an act of cowardice and ordered his court martial and execution but, luckily for
Rahmlow, he too was captured and imprisoned in Britain.
Based at the Holy Loch as H.M.S. "Graph", the former U-Boat nearly to sink one of her sisters, “U-333” in 1942. In early
1944, she was taken to Chatham Dockyard for a refit but was badly damaged after hitting a harbour wall and the decision was
taken to tow her to The Clyde for depth-charge tests. She was broken up where she lay on Islay in 1961.
1944 : Fri March 24. = New Moon = By this date, R.A.F. Bomber Command had dropped 44,845 tons of bombs on
Berlin. Sat 25. After digging a tunnel for two years, 76 Allied prisoners succeed in escaping from prison camp Stalag Luft III.
Tue 28. Nikolaiev captured by Russians. Thu 30. Cemauli captured by Russians, Russians entered Rumania.
1944 : Sat April 8. = Full Moon = Mon 10. Odessa captured by Russians.
1944 : Tue April 11 - An Avenger (FN 878) crashed into the sea, with the loss of its two-man crew, some
two miles north-east of Carradale Point.
1944 : Thu April 13. Simferopol (capital of Crimea) captured by Russians. Sat 15. Tarnapol captured by Russians. Tue 18.
Balaklava captured by Russians. Sun 23. = New Moon =
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On Thursday, April 27, 1944, a Fairey Fulmar (X 8571) of 772 Squadron crashed near the Black Loch (NGR
716 178), near Ben Guihuilean, killing both crew.
1944 : Mon May 8. = Full Moon = Tue 9. Sevastopol captured by Russians. Thu 11. Fifth and Eighth Armies opened
offensive, crossing Rapido and Garigliano rivers. Mon 15. French troops cut Gustav line in Italy. Wed 17. After four heavy
battles since January 1944, German paratroops finally begin withdrawing from the Italian town of Monte Cassino. Thu 18.
Cassino captured by British forces, Monastery Hill captured by Polish troops. Fri 19. 50 Allied officers shot after escaping
from a German P.O.W. camp. Mon 22. = New Moon = British and American forces opened offensive from Anzio -
Hitler line cut by Canadians. Thu 25. Patrols of Fifth Army linked up with Anzio beach-head forces, after advance of 60
miles.
BIG GUNS
Forest sign near Loch Garrasdale
In the months leading up to the D-Day landings, Royal Navy ships hurled shells from the normally peaceful
waters of Kilbrannan Sound onto remote and uninhabited areas of the Kintyre hills - Monitors, low,
armoured warships with revolving turrets and the mighty battleships H.M.S. "Warspite" and "Rodney" were
conducting their vital D-Day gunnery practice, their target was a small loch, between Ballochroy and
Crossaig, in the centre of the Kintyre hills.
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The shells, launched up to 20 miles away, the bright flash of the muzzle flame, a puff of smoke and a
thunderous bang could be seen and heard from Carradale - House windows shook and then the fearsome
screeching noise of the three-ton projectiles passing overhead - The signs of these activities can still be seen
today and, at Loch Garrasdale Forest, up in Ballochroy Glen, warnings of unexploded shells send a clear
signal to the public - 'DANGER TO LIFE - DO NOT ENTER ! Persons entering do so at their own risk
- No liability is accepted under The Occupiers' Liability (Scotland) Act 1960 for anyone killed or injured on
these lands'.
H.M.S. "Warspite" in action off the D-Day beaches
The curious-looking H.M.S. "Rodney"
SKIPNESS BOMBING RANGE
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A flight of Avengers
1944 : Sun May 28 - Four crew were killed when an Avenger (FN 867) crashed, some two miles north-west
of Carradale (NGR 810395) while using the bombing range at Skipness.
1944 : Tue May 30. Battle for Rome begins.
OPERATION FORTITUDE - THORNE'S WAR

In 1914, Hitler had been fighting in the trenches in Gheluvelt, in the first battle at Ypres, just metres away on the
British side was one Andrew Thorne, a man for whom Hitler had developed a great respect as an opponent and one
whose military career in later years was closely noted by Hitler.
In 1943, it was announced that Thorne was to be knighted and posted to Edinburgh Castle and to Hitler, obssessed
with the idea that Norway would be the main target for the Allies' counter-attack on 'Fortress Europe', Thorne's move
reinforced his convictions about the Allies' imminent invasion of Norway and Hitler refused to release any of the
300,000 Norwegian-based German troops to cover the French coastline.
Massive troop movements headed for The Clyde to join an enormous convoy loading off Gourock, the fictious 'fourth
army' and two Norwegian-based 'double-agents' nicknamed 'Mutt' and 'Jeff', began reporting to Germany that eight
divisions were boarding the ships and poised to sail for Scandanavia.
The fiction of the intentions of 'the fourth army' was further reinforced by a series of carefully scripted radio messages
broadcast from a number of army units winding their way around the Scottish roads on, what their crews had been
told was, 'a wireless exercise with scripts that had to be very exactly adhered to' - Thus the Hitler and the German
High Command were fooled by one of the most brilliant deceptions in military history.
MILLION-TO-ONE - Around midnight on June 5, 1944, Private C. Hillman, of Manchester, Connecticut, serving with the
US 101st Airborne Division, was winging his way to Normandy in a C-47 transport. Just before the jump, Pte. Hillman carried
out a final inspection of his parachute. He was surprised to see that the chute had been packed by the Pioneer Parachute
Company of Connecticut where his mother worked part time as an inspector. He was further surprised when he saw on the
inspection tag, the initials of his own mother!
1944 : Sun June 4. Rome occupied by Allied troops of the U.S. Fifth Army - King of Italy signs decree transferring his
powers to his son Prince Umberto. Mon 5 – Tue 6. Allied air-home troops made landing behind German line in Normandy.
Tue 6. = Full Moon = D-DAY - THE LARGEST SEABORNE INVASION IN HISTORY - Allied troops, transported by some
4,000 ships, landed in France between base of Cherbourg Peninsula and Caen - 20,000 Scots took part in the invasion forces.
THE MULBERRY HARBOURS
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An Ocean Rescue Tug towing a section of a Mulberry Harbour in preparation for the D-Day landings
Early in 1941 a new department within the War Office was set up, code named 'Transportation 5' (Tn5) under Major General
D J McMullen, it had responsibility for port engineering, repairs and maintenance. Under the command of civil engineer, later
Brigadier, Bruce White their first project was to construct two military ports in the Clyde estuary one at The Gare Loch and
the other at Cairnryan.
Following approval of the outline plans for the Allied landings in France at the August 1943 Quebec Conference, detailed
preparation was put in hand for putting ashore three divisions on the Normandy coast between the Rivers Vire and Orne - One
of the logistical challenges was the question of a suitable port on the European Coast that was big enough to take large supply
vessels and equipment and could be captured in tact but, all the harbours close by at Cherbourg, Dieppe, St. Malo were
heavily fortified and defended by the Germans and, as the Allies could not wait for these to be liberated, Churchill proposed
the Allies should build themselves an artificial harbour which could be used until ports like Cherbourg could be captured.
The early lessons in respect of assault landings were learnt at the Training Centre at Inveraray on Loch Fyne and as early as
May 1942 the plans for floating harbours received the enthusiastic backing of Prime Minister Winston Churchill for, in 1917,
when Churchill himself had drafted detailed plans for the capture of two islands, Borkum and Sylt, which lay off the Dutch
and Danish coasts. He envisaged using a number of flat bottomed barges or caissons would form the basis of an artificial
harbour when lowered to the seabed and filled with sand. Events moved on and Churchill's proposal was filed away and was
never published.
Then, in 1941, Hugh Iorys Hughes, a successful Welsh civil engineer living in London, submitted similar plans to the War
Office but, had it not been for Hughes' own brother, a Commander in the Royal Navy, who drew the plans to the attention of
more senior officers and for the ideas of one Professor J D Bernal, strongly supported by Brigadier Bruce White who in turn
was put in charge of much of the project, these ideas might never have come to fruition.
Largely unknown is the fact that it was the designer of the pierheads, one George Youngs, who really made Allied D-Day
landings a success - Youngs, still in his early thirties when he became chief designer and technical director at Lobnitz'
shipbuilding yard in Renfrew and, in 1943, amid tight security, was enlisted.
Three designs were selected for further evaluation. constructed at "the Morfa," Conwy in North Wales where over 1000 local
and outside labour was drafted in for the purpose. Hughes' three 'Hippo' caissons were towed to the site in Rigg Bay near
Garlieston. Two 'Croc' roadways were attached to the metal bars on the Hippos and various combinations were tested in a
variety of weather and tidal conditions including the driving of fully laden vehicles across the roadway.
The whole area from Garlieston to the Isle of Whithorn (not an island!) was declared off limits to all except local fishermen.
Work started on the construction of a military camp at Cairnhead to accommodate the increasing numbers of engineering
personnel (Sappers) with an additional 200 men being accommodated in the village hall in Garlieston.
Churchill was irritated by the apparent lack of progress and penned a number of increasingly irate messages culminating in the
following on the March 10, 1943. "This matter is being much neglected. Dilatory experiments with varying types and patterns
have resulted in us having nothing. It is now nearly six months since I urged the construction of several miles of pier." Some
organisational changes were made to "get a grip" on the project.
Breakwaters - Bombardons - floating breakwaters comprising huge, metal, crucifix shaped structures ballasted and firmly
anchored in place. They were the outermost barrier and therefore the first line of defence against rough seas. Phoenexes -
146 concrete caissons 60 metres long, 18 metres high and 15 metres wide making up 9.5 kilometres of breakwater. They were
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airtight floating cases open at the bottom with air-cocks to lower them to the sea-bed in a controlled fashion. Around 2 million
tons of steel and concrete were used in their construction. Gooseberries - 70 obsolete merchant vessels (block ships) were
amassed at Oban on the west coast of Scotland, stripped down, ballasted and primed with explosive scuttling charges. The
vessels sailed under their own steam and were sunk in 5 locations including the 2 Mulberry harbours.
Pierheads were located at the seaward end of the roadways. Each stood on four legs called (Spuds) with a platform that could
be raised and lowered with the tide by means of electric winches. 23 were planned for of which 8 were spares.
Roadways - Beetles - concrete and steel floats or pontoons to support the roadways. Each capable of taking the weight of 56
tons + 25 tons (being the weight of a tank). Whales - 16 kilometres of roadways. Buffer - approach span from the floating
roadway to beach. Rhino - power driven pontoon on which cargo was brought ashore
Construction of Mulberry units commenced in 1943, the concrete caissons were built at 26 different sites, though most were
made in the Thames, Southampton, Portsmouth, Goole, Middlesborough and Bromborough areas Over 8,000 men worked
for eight months to build these floating structures which, when finished together weighed nearly a million tonnes - Each
Mulberry Harbour consisted of about 600,000 tons of concrete, 33 jetties and 10 miles of floating roadways - The huge
concrete caissons forming breakwaters, enclosing an area of about 1300acres, reaching two miles long and a mile out to sea,
the steel "spud” pierheads connected to the shore by piers ¾ of a mile long.
Not only had the structures to be built but they also had to be towed to assembly points on the south coast and then taken
across the English Channel to the beaches of Normandy, the equipment was manned by two specially raised Port Floating
Equipment Companies of the Royal Engineers (969th and 970th) and by US Navy Construction Companies known as Seabees,
The Royal Engineers trained at Garlieston - To anchor these harbours, each the size of Dover itself, into position it was
necessary to sink 59 merchant ships, specially prepared and towed south from Oban, to guard against the harbours from being
broken up in rough weather.
Mulberrys were one of the greatest feats of engineering of the Second World War and it was only the rapid deployment of men
and equipment during the first few days immediately after D-Day itself that ensured adequate supplies to the invading forces.
From late summer of 1943 onwards three hundred firms were recruited from around the country employing 40,000 to 45,000
personnel at the peak. Men from trades and backgrounds not associated with the construction industry were drafted in and
given crash courses appropriate to their work. Their task was to construct 212 caissons ranging from 1672 tons to 6044 tons,
23 pier-heads and 10 miles of floating roadway - Most of the concrete caissons were manufactured on the River Thames and
the River Clyde in some cases using hastily constructed dry docks - Trials continued to be run in the Garlieston area of the
Solway, even during the manufacturing phase, on for example, the buffers.
A large number of British and USA tugs were requisitioned to tow the Mulberries from their assembly point near Lee-on-
Solent to France. Operation Corncob got underway when the first of the tugs set off on June 4 later to hold their position in mid
channel when D-Day was delayed by a day. When the invasion finally got underway most caissons were positioned about 5
miles off the French coast.
The block-ships slipped their moorings in Poole harbour and sailed for France on their final voyages - Scuttling them in pre-
determined 'overlapping' positions was a tricky operation but essential to ensure effective protection against high seas and fast
flowing tides - The tugs, which had accompanied the vessels and which were to assist in their final positioning, dispersed
earlier than planned but, by a stroke of good fortune, the 2nd and 3rd block-ships were sunk, by the Germans (!), in roughly
the correct positions.
The caissons, each with a 4 man crew - two sailors and an anti-aircraft gun emplacement, were towed to positions about a
mile off-shore and handed over to a fleet of powerful harbour tugs which manoeuvred them into their final positions, the
caissons' sea valves were opened until they settled at previously agreed depths - The block-ships were all in position by June
13th and formed two crescent shaped harbours which accommodated 75 Liberty ships and small craft.
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There is nothing in our collective experience that allows us to imagine the vastness of the operation and the absolute necessity
to move men, supplies, munitions and equipment to the right place at the right time. Even the logistics faced by the largest
supermarket chains today pale into insignificance when compared to the task faced by the planners in the early 1940's for they
faced an awesome responsibility and the wider world faced dire consequences in the event of failure to deliver.
The Supermarket scenario offers an opportunity to put the scale of the task into a modern context. It has been calculated that
each serviceman needed 6.5lb (3Kg) per day to sustain him in the field. On this basis 1,000 men needed around 2.5 tons;
100,000 needed 250 tons and 1,000,000 needed 2,500 tons per day ! As the size of the invading force grew so did the daily
demand for supplies.
Then there were the lorries, tanks, artillery pieces, ammunition, military field hospitals, mobile radar and communications
units etc etc. all of which had to be transported across the channel. Over 4,000 vessels plied the waters between the UK and
Normandy from D-Day and the contribution of Mulberry B in speeding up the operation and securing the supply chain in
adverse weather conditions, is beyond question - The majority of vessels in use were not capable of beach landings.
1944 : Wed June 7. Japanese thrust at India defeated outside Imphal. Thu 8. Bayeux liberated. Fri 9. Heavy fighting near
Caen. Sat 10. Russians opened offensive on Karelian front. Mon 12. Mr. Churchill visited the beach-head in Normandy -
First ‘V-1’ flying bomb attacks on Britain began hitting London’s Bethnal Green area. Sun 18. Cherbourg peninsula cut by the
Americans - Russians break through The Mannerheim Line. Mon 19. Efba captured by French forces. Perugia captured by
Eighth Army. Tue 20. Viipuri captured by Russians. Wed 21. = New Moon = Fri 23. Russian offensive opened on
central front.
1944 : Sat June 24 - A Firefly (Z 1804) crashed off Southend killing both its crew, the pilot buried in
Kilkerran cemetery - Plastic was then a novelty and some schoolboys reportedly collected some bits of
broken 'Perspex' which they carefully filed and sanded to turn them into trinkets and, using heated pokers
to burn out holes, rings.
1944 : Mon June 26. Vitebsk captured by Russians. Tue 27. Cherbourg liberated by U.S. forces. Wed 28. Mogilev captured
by Russians. Castagneto captured by Fifth Army, Monticiano by U.S. forces.
1944 : Mon July 3. Siena captured by French forces - Minsk captured by Russians.
1944 : Tue July 4 - An Avenger (FN 772) crashed, killing its two-man crew, near Calliburn Farm (NGR
711257).
1944 : Thu July 6. = Full Moon = Sun 9. Caen captured by British and Canadian forces. Wed 12. Russians advanced
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21 miles on Baltic front. Thu 13. Vilna captured by Russians. Fri 14. Pinsk and Volkovysk captured by Russians. Sun 16.
Arezzo occupied by Eighth Army troops - Grodno captured by Russians. Tue 18. Japanese Prime Minister General Hideki
Tojo resigns after a behind-the-scenes coup amid rising concerns that Japan may lose the war - British and Canadian troops
attacked and broke through area east of the Orne and south-east of Caen. Ancona captured by Polish forces. Wed 19. Leghorn
captured by U.S. forces. Thu 20. = New Moon = “The July Plot” - Hitler is injured after a suitcase bomb, planted by
Count Claus von Stauffenberg, explodes in his Rastenburg headquarters.
The July Plot

On July 20, 1944, Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg, who was attending one of Hitler's military conferences, placed a bomb in a
briefcase under the table - When the bomb exploded it killed four people and seriously injured ten others, but Hitler only
suffered minor cuts and burns - Over the next few months most of those involved in plot to kill Hitler, including Wilhelm
Canaris, Carl Goerdeler, Julius Leber, Ulrich Hassell, Hans Oster, Peter von Wartenburg, Henning von Tresckow, Ludwig
Beck, Erwin von Witzleben and Erich Fromm were either executed or committed suicide - It is estimated that around 4,980
Germans were executed after the July Plot - Hitler decided that the leaders should have a slow death - They were hung with
piano wire from meat-hooks - Their executions were filmed and later shown to senior members of both the NSDAP and the
armed forces.
Hitler believed that General Erwin Rommel, Germany's most famous military leader, was also involved in the July Plot -
Rommel was so popular that Hitler was unwilling to have him executed for treason - Rommel was therefore forced to commit
suicide and the public was told that he had died of a heart attack.
1944 : Fri July 21. Guam captured by the Americans. Sun 23. Pskov captured by Russians. Mon 24. Lublin captured by
Russians. Wed 26. Lvov and Dvinsk captured by Russians. Thu 27. U.S. forces W. of St. Lo broke through German lines.
1944 : Thu July 27 - A Fulmar (X 8571) from 772 Squadron crashed, killing its crew, near the Black Loch
(NGR 716178), behind Ben Ghuilean.
1944 : Fri July 28. Przemysl, Yaroslav, and Brest Litovsk captured by Russians. Mon 31. Avranches occupied by U.S.
forces.
AUGUST ESCAPES
In early August 1944, 19-year old Campbeltown stoker Charlie McMillan, who had only been in the navy for
sixteen months, saved two ammunition barges from blowing up alongside a bombed and blazing coaster.
Under intense enemy fire, Charlie and another stoker pal, a ‘W. Milne’ from Aberdeenshire, managed to pull
the barges away from the coaster and, with twenty other men on board, took their barges, each with 38 tons
of ammunition on board, into safer waters off the Normandy beaches.
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Also in August 1944, 30 Italians escaped from the POW camp at Cairnbaan, on the side of The Crinan Canal,
the last two of these POW's were captured after a week on the run. They had been hoping to get to Ireland
thinking that Mr De Valera, the Irish Premier, would help them, one had escaped previously from camps in
South Africa and India.
1944 : Tue August 1. Warsaw rising by Polish Home Army began (ended October 2). American troops entered Brittany.
Thu 3. Rennes occupied by U.S. forces. Fri 4. = Full Moon = Myitkyina falls to Allied forces - Purge of German army
announced. Mon 7. R.A.F. attacked German line south of Caen prior to full-scale offensive by Canadian forces. Wed 9. St.
Malo and Le Mans captured by U.S. forces. Thu 10. American troops lose 1,744 men retaking the Pacific island of Guam
from the Japanese - Florence evacuated by Germans. Sat 12. Gentians began retreat from Normandy. Mon 14. Canadians
opened major attack on approaches to Palaise. Tue 15. American Seventh Army lands near Cannes to open up a second front
against the Germans - Marseilles taken - Rumania surrenders. Thu 17. Falaise captured by Canadian Forces. Fri 18. = New
Moon = Parisians begin an uprising against German troops. Sun 20. Gen. Montgomery issued last orders as Commander
of Allied land forces - Toulon entered by French troops. Toulouse captured by F.F.I. Mon 21. U.S. forces crossed Seine in
force. Fri 25. Paris liberated and General Charles de Gaulle allows American troops to march down the Champs Elysee -
Rumania declared on Germany. Tue 29. Constanza captured by Runmo. Wed 30. Ploesti captured by Russians - Rouen
captured by Canadian forces. Thu 31. Bucharest entered by Russians.
PLUTO
Some of the previously Campbeltown-based tugs which had gone south to tow the 'Mulberry' harbours to the Normandy
beaches in June 1944 found themselves involved in the laying of PLUTO, properly the 'Pipeline Under The Ocean', the 3-inch
diameter pipe which kept the fuel-hungry tanks, trucks, jeeps and aircraft supplied in the aftermath of the D-Day landings.
The actual pipeline itself was the idea of Anglo-Iranian Oil Company's Chief Engineer A. C. Hartley and the 'HAIS' (Hartley-
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Anglo-Iranian-Siemens) pipe-cable - a lead pipe swathed in insulation, reinforced with steel wire and coated in yarn and tar -
Two other engineers, B. J. Ellis and H. A. Hammick, then suggested that, by holding to a 3-inch diameter pipe, it would still
be flexible enough to be coiled round a big drum and more rapidly deployed at sea than if it were to be laid by a conventional
telegraph cable-laying ship and, consequently, the pipe-cable became known as a 'Hammel' (Hammick-Ellis) pipe, it
weighing 63-tons per nautical mile.
Thanks to the innovativenes of of one Frank William Stone, involved in his family's specialist lead business and his skill in
lead-burning - the welding of joints, using lead or lead alloys, as the material was welded, the pipeline 'dream' became a
reality and the pipes remained serviceable until some time after the war - Also hugely involved in the pipe's manufacture was
A1 Welders of Inverness' Managing Director Samuel Gordon Hunter who was responsible for the design and construction of
machines which employed the new welding processes that made the manufacturing process come quickly to fruition.
No one before had ever attempted to even wind or unwind long lengths of flexible pipe from huge drums over any distance and
Stone's joints had to be as strong and flexible as the pipes themselves to stand the stresses of being coiled on drums and then
paid out evenly on to the seabed from a heaving drum towed along by a tug for just one failed joint would have put the whole
pipeline out of action, the fracture well-nigh impossible to repair in wartime conditions.
Two test pipes were laid - the first a 5-mile long run of Stone's carefully jointed 700-yard pipe-lengths in The Thames and
then a 45-mile long run of pipe across The Bristol Channel, from Swansea Docks to Watermouth, near Ilfracombe.
The massive 60-foot diameter 'Conum' or 'Conundrum' carried 80 miles of the 3-inch diameter pipeline
PLUTO itself was constructed in 30-mile lengths of 3-inch diameter pipe, each length weighing some 1,620-tons and
requiring 75 of Stone's lead-burned joints and almost 800-miles of pipeline carefully wound on to huge drums - Four of the
pipelines were laid down on the 70-mile section between The Isle of Wight and the Cherbourg Penisula and, the Allied armies
advancing, another 17 pipelines laid across the 30-mile stretch between Dungeness and Ambleteuse, near Boulogne.
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The complete PLUTO pipeline network
At their peak, the pipelines were delivering more than 1 million gallons of fuel per day to Allied forces - Frank Stone's recipe
for his success being put down simply to regular 'double-strength doses of Horlicks', that well known beverage which enabled
Lord Horlick to invest some of his fortune in the purchase of 'God's Island', Gigha !
MATUSCHKA'S FIRST PATROL
On Wednesday, August 16, 1944, "U-482" left Bergen on her first war patrol under the command of
Kapitänleutnant Hartmut Emmo Maria Graf von Matuschka - Clearing Bergen, Matuschka submerged and,
'schnorkel' up, made his course north, running between the Shetlands and Faroes and then south to the
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entrance of The North Channel between Scotland and Ireland, Matuschka 'dead reckoning' his positions
and, to his undoubted satisfaction, eventually surfacing for the first time to find himself within sight, just 10
miles off, The Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse.
Matuschka's first victim was the 10,448 ton American tanker "Jacksonville", bound for Loch Ewe in convoy
CU36, which he sank with "U-482" some 20 miles west of Portnahaven in Islay at 1600 hours on Wednesday,
August 30, 1944 - The tanker, laden with 14,300 tons of petrol, blew up and just two of her 78 crew survived,
this was one of the highest casualty rates in wartime tanker history.
The sinking "Jacksonville"
Two days later, early on the morning of Friday, September 1, 1944, a Coastal Command Liberator sighted a
U-Boat's conning tower 100 miles west of Islay and the new Castle-class corvette "Hurst Castle" was directed
to this position only to be herself torpedoed, the frigate "Helmsdale" picking up 105 survivors.
H.M.S. "Hurst Castle"
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H.M.S. "Helmsdale", one of the few turbine-engined ships of the River Class frigates
Another two days after that, on Sunday, September 3, 1944, the U-Boat was sighted again and attacked by a
passing Sunderland flying-boat, supposedly giving air-cover to the nearby outward-bound convoy ONS 251,
but the aircraft’s depth-charge release mechanism failed and “U-482” escaped damage.
One of the convoy's ships, the Norwegian collier "Fjordheim", outbound for Halifax with anthracite, had
been torpedoed and sunk at 0020 hours that same morning of Sunday, September 3, 1944 and, though
Matuschka was credited with her sinking west of Colonsay, there is no mention of him making any attack on
her in the letter he wrote home on Tuesday, September 26, 1944 which says - “After our first patrol we have
returned in good shape to the north (Bergen). Our task led us to the west coast of England (The North
Channel between Scotland and Ireland) and gave us quite unusual success. On 30.8 (1944) the boat sank the
American turbine tanker “Jacksonville”, on 1.0 the corvette “Hurst Castle”, on 8.9 the motor ship “Pinto” as
well as the British steamer “Empire Heritage” . . . ” and he makes no mention of any attack on the
“Fjordheim”.
The ill-fated "Fjordheim"
Perhaps the Sunderland's sortie persuaded Matuschka to keep a low profile for the next few days and lost him
a prestigious prize for, two days later, on Tuesday, September 5, 1944, Churchill sailed from The Clyde on
the "Queen Mary" for the summit conference with Roosevelt at Quebec.
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On Friday, September 8, 1944, Matuschka brought "U-482" back to a position 70 miles west of Islay and, at
0600 hours that morning, he attacked convoy HXF 305, north-north-east of Tory Island and sank the 15,702
ton tanker, a converted whale factory ship, "Empire Heritage" with two torpedoes, the Clyde-bound tanker
sank in less than five minutes.
The "Empire Heritage", a converted whale factory ship
Half an hour later the little rescue ship "Pinto" stopped to pick up the tanker's survivors and she too was
torpedoed, sinking in just 90 seconds - More than 130 men died in the double sinking and 45 survivors were
picked up by the trawler "Northern Wave".
Convoy Rescue Ship "Pinto"
A new anti-submarine striking force, Force 33, had been formed to protect the North Western Approaches at
the end of August 1944 but Matuschka's successes came as something of a shock to the British navy and
Matuschka's first war patrol on "U-482" is on record as the most successful U-Boat patrol of 1944.
"U-482", one of the first Type VII U-Boats to have been fitted with a 'schnorkel', is also on record for having
made the longest-yet underwater patrol of the time, only 256 miles of the 2,729-mile long patrol being made
on the surface.
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WIRING IN
September 1944 saw two enterprising marines loading up a couple of lorries with rolls of barbed wire and
setting off round south Kintyre selling the rolls to farmers - The Marines were sent to prison for 14 days and
the eleven farmers, taken to court for buying a total of 63 rolls of wire, were fined between £1 and £25 each.
1944 : Fri September 1. Gen. Eisenhower assumed direct control of all Allied Armies in France. Dieppe captured by
Canadian forces. Sat 2. = Full Moon = German Gothic line in Italy broken by Eighth Army.
On Saturday, September 2, 1944, the 51st Highland Division liberated St. Valéry-en-Coux, the very same place that had
seen the division's surrender as the British retreated home from Dunkirk at the end of May 1940.
1944 : Sun September 3. Brussels liberated by British. Lyons liberated. Pesaro captured by Polish forces. Mon 4. Cease fire
in Finland following preliminary armistice with Russia. Antwerp captured by British. Tue 5. Russia declared war on
Bulgaria.
On Tuesday, September 5, 1944, Prime Minister Winston Churchill sailed from The Clyde on the "Queen Mary" for the
summit conference with Roosevelt at Quebec.
1944 : Wed September 6. Bulgaria asks for an Armistice. Thu 7. Allies enter Boulogne. Fri 8. First ‘V-2’ rocket falls on
England, at Chiswick killing three people, the British government telling people that it was a ‘gas main explosion’ - Brussels
liberated by British, Canadian and Polish forces after a fast 10-day march from France to get there before the Russians -
Bulgaria declared war on Germany - Russians crossed Rumanian-Bulgarian frontier - Liege captured by U.S. forces -
Ostend captured by Canadians. Sat 9. Hostilities between Russia and Bulgaria ceased. Mon 11. German frontier crossed by
U.S. troops from Luxembourg, north of Trier - British units begin moving into The Netherlands. Tue 12. Le Havre captured
by British. Wed 13. Armistice signed between Russia, Great Britain and the United States and Rumania. Fri 15. Siegfried
line breached by U.S. forces. Sun 17. = New Moon = British 1st Airborne Division paratroops, in Operation Market
Garden, landed at Arnhem in Holland.
One of those to lose his life at Arnhem on Sunday, September 17, 1944, was 24-year old British paratrooper
Italo Grumoli, his family had come to Campbeltown in 1911 and opened up The Royal (now 'Palm Bistro'),
Locarno and Mayfair cafés.
1944 : Tue September 19. Brest captured by U.S. forces. Wed 20. British forces reached the Rhine (River Waal) at
Nijmegen - Organized resistance ceased in Brest. Fri 22. First Battle of The Phillippines - Boulogne surrendered to
Canadian forces - Tallinn (capital of Estonia) captured by Russians. Capture of Rimini by Eighth Army announced.
On Saturday, September 23, 1944, after 5 years and 14 days, came the end of blackout restrictions.
1944 : Wed September 27. British and Polish paratroops forced to surrender at Arnhem after nine days without relief, 2,400
men escape but 1,200 men were killed and 6,642 captured. Sat 30. Calais surrendered to Canadian forces.
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FESSENDEN
U.S.S. "Fessenden"
On September 5, 1944, "Fessenden" sailed for Norfolk, Virginia, arriving the next day - Here she joined the
rest of Escort Division Nine and USS Mission Bay (CVE 59) - Anti Submarine warfare had reached a new
stage and, not content with merely driving the U-Boats off, the "Fessenden" was to become part of the
"Killer Groups" whose job it was to hunt the enemy and sink them - The submarine hunt started from
Norfolk, on September 8, 1944, as the group sailed south - On September 13, between Bermuda and the
U.S. coast, the "Fessenden" encountered a hurricane in which the U.S.S. "Warrington", with her crew of 20
officers and 301 men, capsized and sank, all but 5 officers and 68 men were lost - They continued across the
Atlantic and arrived at Dakar, West Africa on September 20, 1944, for a day of refueling - No one was
allowed to go ashore due to an outbreak of bubonic plague !
On the afternoon of September 30, 1944, operating south of the Cape Verde Islands, the U.S.S. "Fessenden",
in company with the U.S.S. "Howard" and U.S.S. "Blakely" gained contact with a German U-Boat that had
been caught on the surface by airplanes a few days earlier but, before surface ships could get a chance at her,
the U-Boat had shot two planes down and submerged.
"Fessenden", being the closest of the ships, made her first attack on the enemy at 16.30, scoring four direct
hits with ahead thrown charges from her Mark 10 projectors and dropping another 17 depth charges over the
target as the three destroyer-escorts, in line ahead, laid down another slow barrage around the U-Boat - Oil
bubbled to the surface for several days but no debris was recovered as the "Fessenden" and "Howard"
attempted to regain contact in the area of the ever increasing oil slick - On October 6, 1944, the search was
discontinued, a later 'wire recording' indicating that the German submarine, "U-1062" had broken up and
sunk.
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The Bergen-based "U-1062" - a Type VII-F U-Boat, a "Milchkuh/Milchkuehe", a 'milk cow', a supply
boats without any offensive weaponry and only anti-aircraft guns - had been returning to Norway after
delivering 39 torpedoes to the 'Monsun' U-Boats operating from Penang, in The Far East.
The U.S. Navy's "Fessenden (DE-142)" - an Edsall-class destroyer-escort, launched at Orange, Texas on
August 25, 1943 - was named in honour of Reginald Aubrey Fessenden (1866 – 1932), who coincidentally
had worked as Thomas Edison's head chemist at Edison's East Orange Laboratories in New Jersey and it
was indeed the extremely creative Fessenden who had invented the very first sonar device - developed as the
ASDIC - which had now sealed the fate of the German U-Boat "U-1062" off the Cape Verde islands.
In 1906, Fessenden achieved 2-way voice transmission by radio between Machrihanish, Scotland and Brant
Rock Station, Massachusetts - Marconi had sent radio signals from England to Newfoundland in 1901 but
these were only 'one-way' and in Morse Code - In this view Fessenden is seen (right) in his laboratory at
Brant Rock with operators Parmill and Wescoe.
Marconi’s theory still prevailed, however, and even Fessenden’s own backers were not interested in voice or
music communication - The partnership began to sour and this eventually led to the seizure of his patents as
his sponsors believed they did not need him any more - Fessenden sued !
For the next two years he invented various gadgets in order to earn a living and to pay legal fees before
joining the Submarine Signal Company in Boston - There he developed a wireless system for submarines to
signal each other and a device - to avoid another Titanic disaster - that could “bounce radio waves off
icebergs miles away” - Later he sent sound waves to the bottom of the ocean to accurately tell its depth.
At the outbreak of World War I, Fessenden volunteered his services to Canada, went to London and
developed a device to detect enemy artillery and another to locate enemy submarines but the military
bureaucracy was not interested in pursuing many of his ideas and he returned to Boston in 1915 and perfected
his ocean depth device, the 'fathometer', which gave him enough financial security to live comfortably and
spend summers visiting friends and relatives in Canada.
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Fessenden, holder of over five hundred patents, was an incredible character who also invented, amongst
many many other things, carbon tetrachloride, the 'beeper'/radio-pager, the voice-scrambler, the radio
compass (known as LORAN), the tracer bullet, electrical insulating tape and even the automatic garage-
door opener but, we remember him here both as the inventor of radio and as The World's first radio
broadcast producer - 'Amplitude Modulation', now known as 'A.M.' radio, was born with Fessenden's
invention of the heterodyne circuit.
Popular history has generally credited Marconi with radio's invention but Gugliermo Marconi's famous
transmission from Cornwall to Signal Hill in Newfoundland consisted of no more than three dots - the letter
'S' - Marconi's 'wireless' was wonderful . . . . . if all you wanted to transmit was Morse code !
Born in 1866 in East Bolton, Quebec, Fessenden moved at the age of five to Fergus, Ontario and, in 1876,
his uncle Cortez Fessenden, a high school physics teacher, was invited to see Alexander Graham Bell give
the first Canadian demonstration of his amazing new 'telephone' - When Uncle Cortez told young Reginald
what he'd beheld, all the ten year-old wanted to know was - "Why do they need wires ?" - One day, 'they'
wouldn't !
Twenty years later, Fessenden, realising that Marconi's method - relying on a simple bursts of energy to
"disturb the ether" with a mere dot or a dash of (Morse) code - was all wrong, conceived the system of
using a continuous wave - in which the amplitude would be modulated (Amplitude Modulation – AM radio)
at the transmitter and decoded at the receiving end - and built 450-foot high radio antenna masts at Brant
Rock, Massachussets and at Machrinhanish, on the opposite side of The Atlantic to demonstrate his
theories.
August 1906 and Fessenden's 420-foot radio mast sprouts skywards from the roof of the second train carriage,
the colour of the, clearly new, ballast on the left-hand loop of the railway track, further dating the picture.
The work completed on both sides of The Atlantic, Brant Rock made its first exchange of signals with
Machrihanish on Wednesday, January 3, 1906, Fessenden, despite his disdain of Morse code, choosing to
send the letter “D” again and again across the ocean - Fessenden was ecstatic, the difference now being
that he, not even Marconi, had become the first man to r e p e a t e d l y exchange wireless signals across
The Atlantic.
Messages were sent almost constantly between the stations over the next three days, the, quite
unaccountably, communication ceased and the silence continued for some three weeks. Baffled almost to
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the point of despair, Fessenden was just about to give up trying when, quite suddenly, messages again
began to pass between the two stations again. There were to be other unexplained breaks in communication
during the year but Fessenden worked on and then, albeit by accident rather than intention, his dream of
sending human speech across The Atlantic came true for, in November 1906, he received a letter from Mr
Armor, the American operator at the Machrihanish mast saying that, “At four o’clock this (undated) morning,
I was listening for telegraph signals from Brant Rock when, to my astonishment, I heard, instead of dots and
dashes, the voice of Mr Stein (the Brant Rock radio mast operator) telling Plymouth (11 miles along the coast from
Brant Rock) how to run their dynamo.” It was by then quite normal for the Brant Rock and Plymouth operators
to use speech over the short distance between the two stations but almost unbelievable that their conversation
should have been heard at Machrihanish.
Log-books and operators accounts were checked and re-checked and all concluded that just 0.2 seconds after
Mr Stein had spoken to the Plymouth operator, his voice, having travelled the long way round Earth, had
been heard by Mr Armor, the American operator, at Machrihanish. History had been made but, as
Fessenden well knew, one should never announce ones success until you are certain of reproducing results.
Preparations were duly put in hand to give a public demonstration of speech crossing The Atlantic on
December 11, 1906 but, with just five days to go, an Atlantic storm began to blow up.
Disaster struck Machrihanish at one o’clock on the afternoon of Wednesday, December 5, 1906. By mid-day,
the mast was visibly swaying backwards and forwards and then, without warning, one of the stays on the
west side of the mast gave way. There was a loud ‘double report’, the mast's guy wires snapping and the
mast collapsed, the lowest 100-foot section falling first and forwards to the north and then the remaining 320-
foot upper section crashing backwards to the south, luckily, without casualties.
Under contract to provide his 'heterodyne' telegraph sets to the United Fruit Company, Fessenden knew
he'd have a captive audience for what was to be, not only the first radio broadcast of all time, but certainly
the most surprising.
Six days after the Machrihanish mast’s collapse, Brant Rock, as scheduled, carried a series of speech tests
and Fessenden, to bolster his disappointment, decided to make 'The World’s first ever advertised broadcast of
speech and music', on Christmas Eve, 1906 - At 9 p.m. that night, he sent out a general “CQ” signal in
Morse code, stepped up to the microphone and gave a short speech about the programme to follow - The
Edison phonograph squeaked out a solo voice singing Handel’s ‘Largo’ and then Fessenden picked up his
violin and played his own version of Gounod’s ‘O Holy Night’, even managing to sing the last verse as he
played ! As his helpers voices froze from microphone shyness, Fessenden read a passage from The Bible and
closed the festive programme by wishing his listeners ‘A Merry Christmas’ and then announced that he would
give another programme on New Year’s Eve.
Without the sonar 'ASDIC', the depth sounder, carbon tetrachloride, the 'beeper'/radio-pager, the voice-
scrambler, the radio compass (known as LORAN), the tracer bullet, electrical insulating tape and many
other of Fessenden's inventions, World War II might have been very different.
In 1927 too, Fessenden put the finishing touches to a television system by which - "It will be possible to
point a radio camera connected to an aerial at the steps of The Capital in Washington, and by doing so enable
every radio subscriber actually to see senators at debate in Congress - Every gesture will be visible and in
addition the speech will be heard by means of the radio telephone - With the experimental instrument
already constructed, the size of the picture is limited to 4-feet x 4-feet on a screen 12-feet distant, or 4 inches
x 4 inches on a screen 12 inches distant - The coarse-graininess of the image at a distance of 12 inches
corresponding to a 50 dots-per-inch process plate photograph", the technology in this too employed in other
wartime tools.
THE QUEENS
In September 1944, the "Queen Mary" again carried the Prime Minister and members of his staff to Halifax and from there
continued to New York - Both the "Queen Mary" and "Queen Elizabeth" were now serving as hospital carriers on westbound
crossings while remaining troopships on the eastbound - Large numbers of wounded American servicemen were transported
back to their homeland - This duty required the installation of more equipment and the carrying of a special staff of nurses
and doctors. On arriving at New York the ships were met by a fleet of ambulances which took the wounded to Army hospitals.
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The Allies now felt confident that the U-boat menace was being overcome and, on the Halifax voyage in September 1944, the
"Queen Mary" had, for the first time, sailed southwards through the Irish Sea and round the south coast of Ireland, a region
formerly infested by U-boats. For this trip and the return crossing she was escorted by cruisers and destroyers in relays and,
no doubt because of the VIPs on board, she continued to carry out zig-zagging on these crossings - Two months later, on a
westbound voyage in November 1944, the "Queen Mary" encountered very severe weather which caused her to roll 23
degrees.
1944 : Mon October 2. = Full Moon = Tue 3. Warsaw uprising crushed by the Germans, an estimated 15,000 military
men and 200,000 civilians died during the fighting - Dyke at West Kapelle on island of Walcheren breached by R.A.F. Truce
at Dunkirk to allow civilians to leave town. Wed 4. Allied forces landed on Greek mainland entered Patras. Mon 9. Canadian
and British forces landed in rear of Germans south of the mouth of Scheldt. Russian forces reached Baltic coast near Libau.
Mon 9 - Thu 19. Mr. Churchill (with Mr. Eden) visited Moscow for talks with Marshal Stalin. Wed 11. Cluj (capital of
Transylvania) captured by Russians. Fri 13. Riga (capital of Latvia) captured by Russians. Sat 14. Athens entered by British
- Field-Marshal Rommel poisons himself after being implicated in a bomb plot to kill Hitler, his death is blamed on an Allied
attack and he receives a state funeral - Petsamo captured by Russians - Hungarian request to Russians for an Armistice. Tue
17. = New Moon = Wed 18. Russians crossed East Prussian border and occupied Eydtkuhnen. Fri 20. Using 600 ships,
General Douglas MacArthur lands in The Phillippines to begin the liberation of the Pacific islands - American troops take
Aachen - Belgrade occupied by Russians. Sat 21. German Commander of Aachen signed unconditional surrender. Sun 22.
Russians in Finland reached Norwegian frontier. Mon 23. Recognition by Allies of General de Gaulle's administration as
Provisional Government announced. Wed 25. The Battle of Leyte Gulf - Japan’s sea-power broken. Thu 26. British forces
crossed Scheldt and landed on Beveland peninsula. Sat 28. Armistice signed between Bulgaria and the Allies. Tue 31. British
forces reached the Maas.
After a spectacular fire in February 1944, the 1,134-seat Rex Cinema reopened on Wednesday, October 25,
1944
BIG BANG
An explosion in Campbeltown's Glebe Street power station blacked out the town for six minutes in November
1944, the duty engineer thought it had been hit by a V-2 rocket. Three weeks later there was a fire in the
power station which left the town without electricity for several days, an aircraft being specially despatched
to fly some 400 miles south to Lincoln for spares for the power station.
1944 : Wed November 1. = Full Moon = British landed on Walcheren Island. Thu 2. Belgium cleared of Germans but
they re-entered on December 16 and Belgium not finally liberated till February 4, 1945. Fri 3. Flushing captured by British.
Mon 6. Liberation of Monastir by Yugoslav forces announced. Fri 10. Churchill admits that ‘V-2’ rockets are attacking
southern Britain, 1,000 have struck since the beginning of September, the long-range rockets are too fast to allow any
warning of their impending arrival to be given or broadcast.
295
These 'fixed periscope', therefore purely training, midget submarines seen visiting Campbeltown sometime
in 1944, were painted by visiting war artist Stephen Bone (1904 – 1958)
1944 : Sun November 12. The German battleship Tirpitz sunk in Tromsfl fjord by R.A.F. bombers launched from
Lossiemouth on the Moray Firth.
1944 : Wed November 15. = New Moon = Mon 20. Belfort captured by French. Wed 22. Mulhouse captured by
French. Metz captured by U.S. forces. Fri 24. Strasbourg captured by Allies. Tue 28. Antwerp port re-opened to traffic. Thu
30. = Full Moon =
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As H.M.S. "Aristocrat", The World's first diesel-electric paddle vessel, the "Talisman", seen here leaving
Wemyss Bay for Millport, was the first ship to enter the recaptured port of Antwerp in November 1944
1944 : Mon December 4. Enemy bridgehead west of the Maas eliminated by British forces. Tue 5. Arnhem-Nijmegen sector
flooded by Germans. Wed 6. Civil war in Athens. Thu 7 = Full Moon = Sat 9. Russian forces reached Danube N. of
Budapest. Fri 15. = New Moon = Sat 16. American band-leader Glenn Miller is reported missing when his plane
disappears over The English Channel - Germans opened counter-offensive in the Ardennes. Sun 17. Field-Marshal
Montgomery appointed to command American 1st and 9th Armies in addition to British 2nd and Canadian 1st Armies. Fri 22.
Deepest penetration of Germin counter-offensive—Larochc (40 miles).
1944 : Fri December 22 - Killing its pilot, a Beechcraft Traveller (FT 259) aircraft from 725 Eglinton
Squadron crashed into a field (NGR 658292) on approach to Machrihanish in fog.
1944 - Tue December 26. U.S. airborne troops in Baitogne relieved. Wed 27. Germans driven out of Cellea and Ciney. Sat
30. = Full Moon = Hungary declared war on Germany. Sun 31. Rochefort recaptured by Allies - New offensive opened
by U.S. forces between Bastognc and St. Hubert.
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1945
1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 1 2 3
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 11 12 13 14 15 16 17
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 18 19 20 21 22 23 24
28 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

30 Good Friday
April May June

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 5 1 2
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 17 18 19 20 21 22 23
29 30 27 28 29 30 31 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
1 Easter 21 Summer Solstice

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1 2 3 4 1
8 9 10 11 12 13 14 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
15 16 17 18 19 20 21 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
22 23 24 25 26 27 28 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
29 30 31 26 27 28 29 30 31 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30

1 2 3 4 5 6 1 2 3 1
7 8 9 10 11 12 13 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
14 15 16 17 18 19 20 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 16 17 18 19 20 21 22
28 29 30 31 25 26 27 28 29 30 23 24 25 26 27 28 29
30 31

25 Christmas
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1945
1945 : January 5. Athens fighting ended. Tue 9. American troops land on Luzon. Thu 11. Laroche re-captured by British
and U.S. forces. Sat 13. = New Moon = Russians occupy Budapest. Sun 14. Radom (Central Poland) captured by
Russians.
MATUSCHKA’s “U-482” and THE “ENGLISHMAN”

"There are no roses on the sailor's grave, No lilies on the ocean wave,
The only tributes are the seagulls' sweeps, And the teardrops that the sweethearts weep."
The Class VII-C U-Boats
Matuschka's successes had come as something of a shock to the British navy and Matuschka's first war
patrol on "U-482" is on record as the most successful U-Boat patrol of 1944 - "U-482", one of the first Type
VII U-Boats to have been fitted with a 'schnorkel', also on record for having made the longest-yet
underwater patrol of the time, only 256 miles of the 2,729-mile long patrol being made on the surface.
On Saturday, November 18, 1944, after more than seven weeks in port, Matuschka left Bergen on his
second, indeed final, war patrol in "U-482" - Ordered again to The North Channel between Kintyre and the
Irish coast, Matuschka was expected to arrive in 'Positional Square Grid' AM 53 sometime on the night of
November 29/30, 1944 and, at the latest, be able to start operations on December 1, 1944
Around this time, "U-1003" had arrived back at her base in Bergen after an unsuccessful patrol in The North
Channel - Since the Allied breakout from the Normandiy beachhead and the consequent losses of the
French bases for the German U-Boats, the mass of convoy traffic was now being routed through the South-
West Approaches and The English Channel, rather than through The North Channel where Matuschka was
supposed to be taking up patrol and, on Tuesday, December 5, 1944, German U-Boat Control ordered
Matuschka to proceed "at his own discretion" into square AM 64, diagonally south-east from AM 53, the
expectation being that "U-482" would be operating there by that Friday, December 8, 1944.
Given the freedom to move 'at his own discretion', it seems that Matuschka, conscious of the lack of traffic
in AM 53 and probably even less in AM 64, decided to to run to the western limits of AM 53 in the hope of
finding an inward-bound convoy before turning into The North Channel and AM 64 and, to confirm this
persuasion, on Tuesday, December 12, 1944, a Liberator, 'K' of 93 Squadron, reported that it attacked 'a
suspected schnorkel' heading on a course of 330° at 56° 10' N, 08° 10' W at 1346 hours G.M.T., just at the
north-west corner of AM 53.
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Although the British assessors seemingly concluded then that the U-Boat had most likely escaped without
damage after the attack, the Liberator's report of 'a cloud of white smoke' suggested to some in later time
that 'the smoke' had in fact been an "incipient water-spout or williwaw" and the incident forgotten.
So far, the German BdU Control had heard nothing from Matuschka's "U-482" since she had left Bergen on
November 18, 1944 - In any case, such was the precision of the Allies HF/DF 'Huff-Duff' fixes, The
Atlantic ringed with receiving stations which could scan the entire short-wave radio band up to twenty times
a second and pinpoint a U-Boat's position to within about 50 miles in less than 15 minutes, German BdU,
the Befehishaber der Uboote, or, quite literally, the Commander-in-Chief Submarines, had, late in 1943,
ordered their U-Boats to use their radios as little as possible - By then too, the BdU were sending orders to
boats that hadn't reported for weeks in the hope, often fruitless, that these U-Boats silences were caused by
their discretion rather than their actual loss - Nothing could, or can, be read into Matuschka's radio silence
on "U-482" and his whereabouts at any particular time on the patrol will always be something of a mystery !
Around the night of January 13/14, 1945, the German BdU control received an agent's report that anti-
submarine barrages had been laid north of Inistrahull (the 'A1' and 'A2' deep anti-submarine minefields) and
between Rathlin Island, The Mull of Kintyre and Garron Point and, on January 14, 1945, the German BdU
ordered "U-1009" not to try to get into her Irish Sea station via The North Channel but to go west and south
of Ireland to get there instead - "U-1009" returned safely to base, along with "U-1055" on February 8, 1945.
Nearly five whole weeks had passed, Christmas and New Year too, since the report of the Liberator's attack
on 'a U-Boat schnorkel' on Tuesday, December 12, 1944 - The U-Boat, almost certainly not the "incipient
water-spout or williwaw" that some believed, had escaped but, it now seems, with some, possibly, internal
damage and that boat, most likely Matuschka's "U-482", had gone to ground to carry out repairs and,
perhaps in the light of reports of the war's progress, for Matuschka himself to take stock of his own position.
Given the successes of his first war patrol in September 1944, one wonders why Matuschka didn't have any
successes on his second patrol ? Admittedly there was probably even less traffic around in December than
there had been in September but . . . . . there was the condition of "U-482" to consider after the Liberator's
attack and, undoubtedly, there was Matuschka's own personal conception of the war itself, now in its final
throes.
Reportedly it seems, a cousin of Matuschka's was in some way involved in the July 1944 plot to kill Hitler and
then there was Matuschka's U-Boat crew, the majority barely if not even twenty-one years old - In 1935, at
the time of Matuschka's own twenty-first birthday he had lost both his father and grandfather in the space of
but a few days and now he was in a way 'father' of all these young boys in his crew !
Whatever the nature of Matchuschka's dilemma and whatever his intentions, it seems he was, for good
reason, keeping "U-482" well out of action and then, his luck ran out when another U-Boat turned up !
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'Campbeltown Courier' Cutting - June 9, 1945
“U-1172”, was on the prowl in The North Channel looking for targets for targets and, for the moment, lying
watching from the shelter of the Clyde Light Vessel, the 'North Carr' lightship brought round, in the early
stages of the war, to moor some half-dozen miles or so south-east of Sanda Island at 55° 08' N, 05° 25' W and
guide convoys in and out of the Clyde !
The 'North Carr' lightship
Another, but un-manned light vessel had been moored at the Otter Rock, off Port Ellen, since 1907 - This
being the only 'tidal node point' on the west coast of Britain, there being no rise or fall of tides there and the
tides radiating and sweeping round in an arc from its position.
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The 'Otter Rock' lightship aground behind Muasdale Inn
The Otter Rock lightship, occasionally lifting her moorings and drifting off-station in heavy weather, did so
for the final time on the night of Thursday, January 9, 1958 and, going ashore just beside the old inn at
Muasdale, on the west side of Kintyre, was broken up on the beach where she had grounded, a lit buoy then
marking Islay's Otter Rock.
The "Spinanger"
The first victim was the Clyde-bound Norwegian tanker "Spinanger", she out of Londonderry and torpedoed
close to the Clyde light vessel at lunch-time on Monday, January 15, 1945, three of the tanker's crew dying
and the ship towed to Kames Bay, on Bute, where she was beached.
H.M.S. "Thane" at Vancouver
Half an hour later, “U-1172” got her second victim, the American-built escort carrier H.M.S. "Thane", with
one of her 'Zaunkonig' homing torpedoes which tore a 30-foot hole in the starboard quarter of her hull,
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twelve sailors were killed and a number of others injured and burned - The torpedo struck next to the
carrier's main magazine displacing some 100,000 Bofors and 5" shells, many of the soft-nosed Bofors shells
primed by the concussion and, under heavy escort, the "Thane" steamed slowly up-river under her own
power where, once secured to a buoy in The Gareloch, she was quickly evacuated.
Despite a jammed ammunition hoist, the ammunition was safely off-loaded from the "Thane" into a 'puffer'
and then equally carefully sunk in some 300-feet of water between Ardrossan and Brodick, some of the highly
unstable Bofors shells exploding as they were individually dropped into the sea ! The "Thane" herself was
broken up later that year at Faslane as it was not worthwhile to carry out repairs.
Lieutenant James Woodrow, whose family owned the Bridge of Weir-based civil engineering company of
their name, earned himself a George Medal and bar for his work as a naval mines disposal officer both for his
work on the "Thane" and for discharging a cargo of Spanish oranges from the "Empire Heywood Stanhope",
the oranges 'laced' with time-bombs placed by enemy agents in Spain !
Immediately after the attack on the "Thane", a destroyer, the "Caprice", dropped four patterns of depth-
charges, an underwater explosion was heard and a large air bubble rose to the surface but, the explosion was
put down to a faulty depth-charge in the destroyer’s first attack on the U-Boat and, concluding that the U-
Boat, had escaped, the hunt continued - Too, in an immediate response to the attack on the "Thane", the
Stranraer to Larne ferry was given a destroyer escort - “U-1172” herself escaped and was sunk in The Irish
Sea, off Holyhead, some ten days later, on Saturday, January 27, 1945.
Weather Chart for January 16, 1945
H.M.S. "Loch Craggie"
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H.M.S. "Peacock"
H.M.S. "Starling"
Next day, an aircraft reported spotting a submarine in Machrihanish Bay, to the north of The Mull of
Kintyre and the Londonderry-based 2nd Escort Group’s "Loch Craggie", "Hart", "Peacock", "Starling" and
"Amethyst" - she later to become world-famous in the film ‘The Yangtse Incident’ - were quickly in pursuit
of their foe.
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U-Boat Oil Slick
Despite the ships systematically depth-charging the area over the course of that and the following day, they
could not positively confirm destroying the U-Boat. The only consequence of their repeated attacks was the
surfacing of some heavy ‘boiler’ oil for which no explanation could be given as it was only used by steam-
ships and the report regarding this oil never came to light until 1993 - The asdic-operators on the "Hart"
however were confident that they had passed over a ‘U-Boat-like’ target and, on the Wednesday, the "Hart",
left on her own to make a final sweep of the area, found another oil slick which her engineers this time
confirmed to be diesel oil.
H.M.S. "Hart"
This find would seem to have confirmed the probability that the "Hart" had at least damaged, if not sunk,
the U-Boat in the course of the attacks but, like their report of the heavy ‘boiler’ oil, this report too
disappeared into oblivion as The Admiralty officials seemingly never bothered either to read this second
report from the "Hart".
H.M.S. "Amethyst"
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H.M.S. "Amethyst" later became famous for her part in “The Yangtse Incident" and H.M.S. “Hart”, which the
German war records credit for the U-Boat’s sinking, the “Hart” later taking part in the formal surrender of
the Japanese forces in south-east Asia.
Seven weeks after the "Hart" had left the scene, Escort Group 4 was back in the area, on March 8, 1945, but
could find nothing more sinister than a what appeared to be a rectangular outcrop of rock some 200-feet long
by 110-feet broad.
Five months later and the war ended, the Captain of the Anti-Submarine Establishment at Fairlie had
recorded that, on September 24, 1945, a ship called the "Hedington Castle" had carried out an investigation
of the area where the U-Boat had supposedly been depth-charged.
Though the "Hedington Castle" could not either find any trace of a U-Boat, they had found a hitherto
unidentified target in the area, seemingly a ship about half the length of a U-boat, which was eventually
given the designation ‘Wreck 3919’ and the report then left to gather dust in their files.
The first mention of the wreck of Matuschka's boat "U-482" is in a Hydrographic Survey report of ‘Wreck
3917’ which, dated June 6, 1969, simply records that according to a new work on German submarines, the
wreck site that of Matuschka’s missing "U-482".
Though sixteen years after that, on August 7, 1985, forty years after the war ended, The Hydrographic
Survey Department got round to reporting that there was indeed an object, like a submarine wreck,
unromantically and simply numbered ‘Wreck 3917’, lying to the north of Machrihanish Bay.
A 'Liste verlorener U-Boote (PG 13953f)', prepared for the Allies by the German BdU after the war, asserts
the demise of "U-482" on Thursday, December 7, 1944, but BdU staff made no note of how they came to
such a conclusion and Hessler, who held the post of 'A1, BdU Operations', in "The U-Boat War in The
Atlantic" (Vol. III, page 112) confirms that the BdU's 'December 7, 1944' dating of the U-Boat's loss was
very much 'an assumption' and no clear evidence of date, or in fact anything else, was known when the BdU
made their entries about "U-482".
The initial British post-war assessment, that "U-482" had been sunk by the Londonderry-based 2nd Escort
Group, was discounted when it seemed that they had been attacking a 'non-sub contact' and the conclusion
then drawn my officials and others was that she had struck a mine and sunk, around December 7, 1944, in
either the 'A1' or 'A2' deep anti-submarine minefields to the north-west of Malin Head, these minefields laid
just a month earlier and assumed to be then unknown to the Germans.
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The sketch map shows the 'A1' (55° 27' N, 07° 03' W / 55° 30' N, 07° 34' W and 55° 30' N, 07° 34' W / 55°
31' N, 07° 36' W) laid to the north-west of Malin Head on November 8, 1944 and the nearby 'A2' minefield,
laid to the west and south of 'A1' three days later, on November 11, 1944, exactly a week before Matuschka
sailed from Bergen in "U-482" - Both minefields lie in square AM 56, outside Matuscka's patrol area and
neither he nor the German U-Boat Control knew of their existence at the time in question and, in any case,
the post-war German BdU report prepared for the Allies, without explanation, has it that "U-482" was lost
the day before 'A1', the first of these minefields, was laid.
The 'T1', 'T2' and 'T3' series of minefields, running from Inistrahull to Islay, were laid ("Naval Mining
Operations 1939 – 1945", British Naval Staff report) between February 9 and 20, 1945, long after the
disappearance of "U-482" and can be dismissed from interest too - Part of the other main 'zig-zag' minefield
area was swept between May and August of 1943 - "U-743" was lost on September 9, 1944 and "U-296" and
"U-1003" were both lost on March 22, 1945.
Matuschka's Patrol Artea
On patrol since November 18, 1944, the German BdU estimated that "U-482" should, if she had survived,
left her station in square AM 64 about January 11, 1945 - They projected too that her home run to Bergen
would take her through square AM 61 on January 12, AM 53 on January 13, AM 02 on January 14 and into AM
28 on January 15, 1945 but that, in view her radio silence, was pure conjecture as the course of events was to
prove.
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Although unknown to the attacking ships at the time, it is now clear that the Londonderry-based 2nd Escort
Group’s "Loch Craggie", "Hart", "Peacock", "Starling" and "Amethyst" were in fact depth charging two,
near-parallel, targets.
In April 1999, Bangor Heritage Centre’s manager Ian Wilson heard that a couple of Islay sub-aqua divers had
dived briefly on two, to them unidentified, wrecks to the west of Kintyre, one a U-Boat with its escape
hatches seemingly open and the other, the wreck of a tug, the positions of the two wrecks seemingly
matching up with those on The Hydrographic Survey Department’s surveys of ‘Wreck 3917’ and ‘Wreck 3919’.
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Kintyre-based local history enthusiast and marine historian Donald Kelly now checked the copies of the two
Hydrographic Survey reports requested by his friend Ian Wilson at Bangor Heritage Centre.
Both men knew that one of the wartime Campbeltown-based ocean rescue tugs, the 1937-built
"Englishman", had been sunk in poor visibility by a German bomber, on January 21, 1941, just four years,
less four days, before the date of the supposed sinking of Matuschka’s "U-482" but, according to official
reports was somewhere, far to the west, off Tory Island, off the Donegal coast.
Wilson, who had some years earlier written up all the known Donegal wrecks in a book, now wondered if his
original understanding of the official records about the wreck of the "Englishman" was wrong and Kelly,
working back the moons and tides with a set of specially constructed tables and his local knowledge of the
incident, began to reconstruct the tug’s final voyage.
According to German records, a Bordeaux-based German Navy 'Condor' bomber from I/KG40 group, at the
end of her range, found a break in the cloud, saw the "Englishman" and dropped an SC250 bomb 'down her
funnel'. The 'Condor' pilot, having to 'dead-reckon' his position in the bad weather, logged her sinking as
being about 100 kilometres, around 60 miles, off Malin Head.
There was no way that the tug, at best capable of only 9 or 10 knots in good weather, could have covered
anything like the distance out to Tory Island before the German bomber was supposed to have sunk her.
On the evening of the tug’s departure from Campbeltown, a gale had blown up as she had headed out round
The Mull of Kintyre and, as was sensible in the conditions, the tug must have sought shelter in the lee of
Kintyre where she had been caught by the German bomber ‘east , not ‘west’, of Malin Head and in the end it
was really down to the simple expedient of taking a pair of old school compasses and drawing a 100 kilometre
arc round the area of Malin Head and, given this finding, Kelly quickly concluded that whoever had
translated the German reports had, in a moment of aberration, put ‘west’, instead of ‘east’, into the English
translations.
During the course of some of the depth-charging attacks on the U-Boat to the north of Machrihanish Bay,
between January 16 and 18, 1945, a patch of oil appeared on the surface of the sea and a sample was scooped
up by the "Hart". To the attackers surprise, it had all the appearance of being heavy ‘boiler’ oil and not the
diesel oil that should have come up from a damaged U-Boat - The "Hart" would later too scoop up another
sample of ‘gin clear’, seemingly diesel, oil which, at least to her crew, proved they might have hit the U-
Boat.
Though the 1937-built tug "Englishman" was a coal-burner, Kelly also knew that tugs often sprayed heavy
fuel oil, meant for steam-ships, over the side in heavy weather to smooth the seas and let the towlines to
their charges slide more easily through the water.
48 hours later, Kelly got his evidence in the form of a photograph from Dover-retired Ian Dodd, son of the
tug’s chief engineer, the photograph showing Dodd’s father, the chief engineer, standing on her tow deck,
tea mug in hand and two big oil drums behind him full of heavy oil.
A year later, in May 2000, the official records of the tug’s loss were changed to record the position of her
wreck off the west coast off Kintyre, beside the wreck of Matuschka’s U-Boat "U-482".
That the targets were lying little more than a mile apart, a distance covered quickly at full speed by the
attacking ships, it is little surprising that they failed to realise there were indeed two targets on the bottom of
the bay and, as a consequence of the depth-charges dropped near the "Englishman", at least one of the
charges must have been close enough to burst open the heavy oil drums on her after towing deck, the ‘boiler
oil’ surfacing and throwing doubt into the attackers’ mind about the U-Boat’s presence.
Having already persuaded the Ministry of Defence’s Historical Records Department to accept their evidence
about the last resting place of the bombing and sinking of the Campbeltown-based ocean rescue tug
"Englishman", Kelly and Wilson now had to persuade them to officially designate the submarine wreck as
being that of Matuschka’s U-Boat "U-482".
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Armed with the correct positions of the two wrecks, Bangor Heritage Centre manager Ian Wilson persuaded
Alan Wright, owner/skipper of the Newtownards-based dive-charter boat "Salutay" to divert to the wreck
sites when he was heading up north to pick up a charter in Oban at the beginning of October 2002.
On a virtually straight course from Bangor, the "Salutay", not having time to stop and investigate further,
ran straight across the hull of Matuschka’s "U-482" sitting on the bottom past the top end of Machrihanish
Bay, a clear image of her hull appearing on the ship’s sonar equipment.
Although there can be no certainty about the fact until a closer examination is carried out, it appears that
none of the heavy depth-charging attacks have done any external damage to the U-Boat’s hull and it now is
generally accepted that depth-charges only do damage if they actually explode right on top of their targets.
Despite the apparent lack of external damage to her hull, none of the U-Boat’s 48 crew survived and the real
cause of her demise, though this is not given on official records, being more likely that she very simply 'ran
out of air' after being forced to stay submerged during nearly 2½ days of constant depth-charge attacks, her
crew suffocating rather than to her being lost to the explosive effects of any depth-charging.
It is not really yet known if any of the crew attempted to escape for there is as yet only the ‘anecdotal’ report
of the Islay divers to suggest that the U-Boat’s deck escape hatches are open and others may have tried to
escape from her hull via her torpedo tubes.
In any case, there was little chance of anyone actually surviving even if they did escape from her hull for the
U-Boat is sitting on the bottom some 200-feet below the surface, the pressure certain to be fatal to anyone
foolish to try making such an ascent. Too, there is even now very little traffic in the area and the chances of
being rescued once on the surface were slim indeed.
Nearly eight months later, at the end of May 2003, the Salutay, again heading north to Oban to pick up
another dive-charter, ran straight across the hull of the Campbeltown-based wartime ocean rescue tug
"Englishman" - 'sitting upright and pretty' - just a mile or so away from the wreck of Matuschka’s "U-482",
her thirteen man crew all lost when she sank.
The Inverkip-based "Spinaway Isle"
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Lying nearly 200-feet down, the wrecks of the "Englishman" and "U-482", yet to be officially identified, can
only be accessed using mixed-air diving equipment and specialist divers - One such team of divers, who
have already dived all the Clyde's wartime wrecks, including the aircraft carrier "Dasher" and submarines
H.M.S. "Vandal", H.M.S. "Sealion" and "U-33", now plan to use the Inverkip-based "Spinaway Isle" again
to unravel the final mysteries of 'The Englishman's U-Boat'.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF PRUSSIA

The original Prussia, later known as Easto Prussia, was a region on the south-east coast of the Baltic, today containing the
Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and parts of north-eastern Poland - The number of ethnic Germans in this area now is fewer
than 10,000.
The first-known inhabitants were the Borusai, a pagan West Slavic tribe who resisted outside control until the 13th century
when their lands were invaded by Teutonic Knights - The invaders settled in the new lands, either killing or assimilating the
Borussi and becoming known as Borussians, from which we get Prussians.
By 1523 Prussia was a hereditary duchy under Polish suzerainty - Prussian power grew steadily until, in 1701, it became a
kingdom under the Hohenzollern dynasty with territories stretching from the Rhine to the Nieman, its capital was Berlin -
Later, under its 'Iron' Chancellor, Otto von Bismarck, Prussia expanded to become the chief member of the German Empire
(1871-1918), occupying more than half of Germany and the major part of North Germany and surrounding several smaller
states.
It stretched from the borders of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg in the west to Lithuania and Poland in the east and
from the Baltic, Denmark and The North Sea to the River Main, Thuringian Forest and the Sudetes Mountains in the south -
Industrially and politically, it was the most prominent German state before World War II but, in 1947 the Allied Control
Council formally abolished it with a view to quenching militarism and aggression.
MATUSCHKA
"Always tidy, neat and clean - Lost his life in a submarine"
Kapitänleutnant Hartmut Emmo Maria Graf von Matuschka, commander of “U-482”, was born in Dresden-
Blasewitz on December 29, 1914.
The family line of the Matuschka family most probably originated in southern Bohemia (known as Tschechei
today after separation from Austria-Ungaria in 1918) and can be traced back to the ancient nobility of Eastern
Moravia where numerous families bearing the same heraldic arms flourished from around 1250 onwards.
Today, the -Greifenklau branch of the Matuschka family own a large vineyard estate in Rheingau, near
Wiesbaden.
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Hartmut's grandfather, Guido Johannes Otto Arthur Joseph Friedrich Anton Felix Maria Graf von
Matuschka, Count of Matuschka, Lord Toppolczan and Spaetgen, was a retired Royal Prussian Major-
General and Hartmut’s father, Heinrich Alfred Anton Gunther Maria, Colonel and Commander of the
fortifications at Glogau, in Silesia.
In December 1935, Hartmut's grandfather, Guido Johannes Otto Arthur Joseph Friedrich Anton Felix Maria
Graf von Matuschka, died on the 20th, Hartmut himself celebrated his 21st birthday on the 29th and Hartmut's
father, Heinrich Alfred Anton Günther Maria, died just two days later, on December 31st, 1935 ! A sad time
for the young man.
Though Hartmut Matuschka seemingly finished his navy training in 1934 he didn't really go to sea until he
joined the heavy cruiser "Prinz Eugen" in January 1940 where he soon became her range-finding officer.
Detached from the "Bismark", just the day before The Royal Navy caught up with her on May 27, 1941, the
"Prinz Eugen" safely reached Brest where she lay until February 1942 and then made a spectacular dash up
The English Channel to Wilhelmshaven with the "Scharhorst" and "Gneisnau" during the course of February
11/12, 1942.
Exactly a year and a day later after the "Prinz Eugen" had made her dash up The English Channel and
exactly three years and a day after the sinking of "U-33" in the Clyde, on February 13, 1943, the keel of a new
U-Boat, "U-482", was laid down and in March 1943 Matuschka left the "Prinz Eugen" to take charge of his
new command.
Just a month later, Matuschka’s younger brother, Siegfried Georg Hubertus Maria, a Luftwaffe captain,
who had become squadron leader of the "Schlageter" flying hunter unit and was killed in an air fight around
Calais on 16 April 1943.
The "Schlageter" flying hunter unit taking its name from a former lieutenant, Albert Leo Schlageter, a
nationally minded Free Korps member who protested by military and partisan means, sabotage etc., against
the 1923 occupation of Ruhr Gebiet from where reparation shipments of coal were transported to France - A
national hero, Schlageter was caught and, after a French court's decision, shot at Düsseldorf in 1923.
Matuschka’s U-Boat
A Class VII-C U-Boat, "U-482" was 67.2 metres in length, 6.2 metres in breadth and, with a draught of 4.8
metres, was powered by twin diesel engines making her capable of 17 knots on the surface and giving her
ranges of 3,250 nautical miles at full speed, 6,500 miles at 12 knots and nearly 8,500 miles at just 10 knots on
the surface. Using her ‘schnorkel’ mast, she was also able to run on her diesels underwater at around 8
knots.
Twin electric motors gave her a maximum speed of 7.6 knots when submerged. Her maximum range
underwater was 130 nautical miles at 2 knots and only 80 miles at 4 knots. Designed to dive to 100 metres,
her hull's 'crush depth' was estimated to be around 200 metres.
Fitted with five 53.3 cm torpedo tubes, four at the bow and one at the stern, "U-482" could be armed with 14
torpedoes or carry mines - up to 26 TMA or 39 TMB mines. On deck, a single 3.7 cm AA gun (1,195 rounds
of ammunition) and two twin 2 cm AA guns (4,380 rounds) - Her keel laid on down by Deutsche Werke AG
(DWK) at Kiel on Saturday, February 13, 1943, she was launched on Saturday, September 25, 1943 and
commissioned on Wednesday, December 1, 1943.
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After some months with the 5th U-Boat Flotilla at Kiel, "U-482" moved to the 9th U-Boat Flotilla operating
out of Brest for training exercises and then returned to Germany in July for final checks before beginning her
first fully operational war patrol, Leaving Kiel on August 7, 1944, she made a six-day stop at Horten and
then headed for her base at Bergen to join up with the 11th U-Boat Flotilla.
Sailing from Bergen, on August 16, 1944, using the new ‘schnorkel valve’, "U-482" was to make the then
longest continuous underwater patrol of her time, an operational voyage of 2,729 miles with only 256 miles
run on the surface.
U-482 1944-45 Crew List

Kapitänleutnant KptLt Commanding Matuschka Hartmut 29.12.14
(Lieutenant) Officer
Erste Wach Olt 1st Officer Schloifer Hans-Georg 16.11.21
Offizier or IWO
an Oberleutnant
zur See (Junior
Lieutenant)
Zweiter Wach Lt 2nd Officer Stahlberg Werner 08.12.23
Offizier or IIWO,
a very Junior
Leutenant z.S.
(equivalent to a
U.S. Navy Ensign)
Leitender Lt (Ing) Chief Engineer Vieth Hans-Peter 04.01.20
Ingenieur or LI
(Lead or Chief
Engineer)
An Ingenieur or LI Ofähnr (Ing) 2nd Engineer Banik Günter-Ernst 16.01.24
in training
Obersteurmann OStrm 3rd Officer / CPO Jankowski Willi 22.10.20
(Navigator) Chief Helmsman
Steurmann Strm 2nd Helmsman Engeln Arnold 10.04.20
Bootsmann BtsMt Bosun’s Mate Eckle Erhard 11.01.20
The Bosun himself
would be the
Fourth Watch
Officer
As above BtsMt Bosun’s Mate Lochtmann Wilhelm 01.04.22
As above BtsMt Bosun’s Mate Stöbner Helmut 30.06.23
One of this pair the OMasch Chief Maschinist / Döbele Friedrich 19.11.14
Diesel CPO
Obermaschinist
and the other the
Elektro
Maschinist
As above OMasch Chief Maschinist / Schubert Gerhard 14.04.15
CPO
Leading Seaman Aßmann Hermann 20.04.24
Matrose MtrOGfr
MtrOGfr Leading Seaman Becker Heinrich 04.01.23
Matrose
Matrose MtrOGfr Leading Seaman Buchenau Wilhelm 23.07.24
Matrose MtrOG Leading Seaman Drautzburg Josef 04.03.24
Matrose MtrOGfr Leading Seaman Graf Wilhelm 15.04.24
Matrose MtrOGfr Leading Seaman Pohlmann Walter 21.11.24
Matrose MtrOGfr Leading Seaman Rudolph Walter 16.06.24
Matrose MtrOGfr Leading Seaman Steinbach Alfred 05.05.25
Matrose MtrOGfr Leading Seaman Strauß Bruno 18.03.23
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U-482 1944-45 Crew List (continued)

Mechaniker MechOGfr Leading Torpedo Cersovsky Otto 23.09.23
Mechanic
Leading Hiemann Otto 15.01.24
Mechaniker MechOGfr Torpedo Mechanic
MechOGfr Leading Mademann Rudolf 15.09.24
Mechaniker Torpedo Mechanic
Mechanikersmaat MechMt Torpedo Stankowski Hans 28.08.19
Mechanic’s Mate
(Motormen and
Dieselmen)
Machinisten MaschOGfr Leading Machinist Belter Kurt 15.10.24
Machinisten MaschOGfr Leading Machinist Blaß Karl 25.02.24
Machinisten MaschOGfr Leading Machinist Fakin Slato 03.05.20
Machinisten Leading Machinist Huth Werner 18.01.24
MaschOGfr
Machinisten MaschOGfr Leading Machinist Kampen Heinz 27.01.22
Machinisten MaschOGfr Leading Machinist Küpper Alfred 15.06.25
Machinisten MaschGfr Machinist Castelle Hermann 25.08.24

Machinisten MaschGfr Machinist Daißler Rudolf 27.09.25
Machinisten Machinist Ikemeyer Josef 27.12.24
MaschGfr
Machinisten Machinist Krosta Erich 08.01.24
MaschGfr
Machinisten MaschGfr Machinist Roschak Bruno 07.10.24
Machinisten MaschGfr Machinist Scheil Günther 14.02.25
Machinistenmaat OMaschMt Chief Machinist’s Zell Gerhard 12.04.20

Mate
Machinistenmaat MaschMt Machinist’s Mate Hasenauer Gustav 10.02.21
Machinistenmaat MaschMt Machinist’s Mate Kattner Horst 11.01.20
Machinistenmaat Machinist’s Mate Melder Herbert 05.05.22
MaschMt
Machinistenmaat MaschMt Machinist’s Mate Roßner Werner 08.10.22
Oberfunkmaat FkOGfr Leading Radioman Hahn Johannes 22.09.22

Oberfunkmaat FkOGfr Leading Radioman Neuhaus Heinz 21.01.24
Ordinary Neuheisel Bernhard 12.12.24
Funkmaat FkGfr Radioman
Funkmaat FkMt Brüggemann Wilhelm 13.05.21
Radioman’s Mate
Funkmaat FkMt Zaum Wilhelm 25.10.22
Radioman’s Mate
Obersmut OSanMt Chief Cook Barthau Alfred 07.04.21
1945 : Wed January 17. Warsaw liberated by Russians. Thu 18. Lodz and Cracow captured by Russians. Fri 19. Tilsit
captured by Russians. Sat 20. Armistice with Hungary signed in Moscow - Tannenberg captured by Russians - French
forces opened attack in Vosges. Sun 21. Allenstein and Instcrburg captured by Russians. Tue 23. Bromberg captured by
Russians. Wed 24. Gleiwitz (Silesia) captured by Russians. Fri 26. By this date German forces in Ardennes had been forced
back to German frontier. Sat 27. Russian Army enters Auschwitz and its horrors revealed to The World - Memel captured by
Russians, liberating Lithuania. Sun 28. = Full Moon = Burma Road to China reopened - German Pomerania invaded.
In the early evening of Monday, January 29, 1945, the 276 ton naval trawler "Dunraven Castle" (formerly the
"Swansea") went ashore on the Iron Ledges, on the south-west corner of Arran, with 25 crew on board. The
Campbeltown lifeboat secretary was called at around 7 p.m. and Coxswain Duncan Newlands and the lifeboat
"City of Glasgow", leaving Campbeltown at 7.50 p.m., arrived at the scene around 9.15 p.m. to take off all
the crew. The trawler was refloated and continued in naval service till September 1945.
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1945 : Wed January 31. Russians crossed the German border and broke into province of Brandenburg.
1945 : Thu February 1. Russians 50 miles from centre of Berlin - Thorn captured by Russians. Fri 2. Colmar captured by
French forces.
On Saturday, February 3, 1945, a torpedo from “U-1232” narrowly missed the liner "Nieuw Amsterdam" and the
following day, February 4, 1945, "U-1014" was destroyed in The North Channel by the 19th Escort Group.
NEW MINEFIELDS LAID BETWEEN IRELAND and ISLAY
A new series of minefields - TI (1) to T3 (8) - was laid between Ireland and Islay in February 1945
1945 : Sun February 4. Yalta Conference begins - Belgium liberated. Tue 6. Russians forced the Oder south-east of
Breslau. Thu 8. British and Canadian forces opened offensive south-east of Nijmegen - Cleve and Gcnnep captured on 12th.
Sun 11. The Yalta Summit, with Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill, agrees on new governments for Poland and Yugoslavia and
plans to split Germany into four occupied zones - Russians forced the Oder north-west of Breslau. Mon 12. = New Moon
= Prüm captured by U.S. forces. Tue 13. Budapest completely occupied by Russians - Reichswald forest cleared by
Canadian forces - More than 50,000 people killed as Dresden is ‘fire-bombed’ by the Allies.
1945 : Wed February 14 - A Seafire aircraft crashed behind The Smiddy at Kilchenzie (NRG 672250) killing
its pilot.
1945 - Thu February 15. Breslau surrounded by Russian forces. Fri 16. Rohrbach captured by U.S. forces - Goch captured
by Scottish and Canadian forces. Mon 19. American troops land on Iwo Jima.
On Wednesday, February 21, 1945, a torpedo from “U-1064” - she later to become the Russian submarine “S-83” -
sank the steamship "Dettifos", off Corsewall Point, with the loss of fifteen lives.
1945 : Fri February 23. U.S. forces opened attack from direction of Aachen towards Rhine at Düsseldorf - Poznan captured
by Russians. Sat 24. Düren and Julich captured by U.S. forces. Tue 27. = Full Moon = Wed 28. Neu Stettin captured by
Russian forces.
1945 : Thu March 1. München-Gladbach captured by U.S. forces. Fri 2. Trier and Krefeld captured by U.S. forces.
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H.M.S. "Sealion"
Then, on March 3, 1945, after a short and successful career, H.M.S. "Sealion", a 960 ton S-Class submarine,
was deliberately sunk as an ASDIC target, in some 200-feet of water two and a half miles south of Pladda.
The wreck, rising nearly 8 metres from the seabed, is at 55º 23.380' N, 05º 08.233' W and lies at an angle of
140º / 320º.
1945 : Tue March 6. Cologne captured by U.S. forces. Wed 7. Rhine crossed at Remagen by U.S. forces. Thu 8. British
and Canadian forces launched attack on German bridgehead at Xanten. Fri 9. Stolp (on Danzig-Stettin coast road) captured by
Russians - Xanten captured by British forces. Sat 10. American B-29 bombers drop 1,700 tons of incendiary bombs on
Tokyo and kill more than 83,000 people. Sun 11. German bridgehead at Wesel eliminated. Mon 12. American forces
launched new attack from Remagen bridgehead. Küstrin (on east bank of Oder opposite Berlin) captured by Russian forces.
Tue 13. = New Moon = Wed 14. First use of 10-ton bomb by R.A.F. Sat 17. Coblenz captured by U.S. forces -
Brandenburg (E. Prussia) captured by Russians.
Too on Saturday, March 17, 1945, the American destroyer U.S.S. "Thornhill" attacked a submerged contact 15 miles south
of Islay. After two explosions, some wreckage and debris floated to the surface. Among the debris were some German
documents dated (Tuesday) December 12, 1944 and the conclusion was that the "Thornhill" had in fact been attacking the
wreck of "U-1014", sunk earlier, on Sunday, February 4, 1945 by the 19th Escort Group and German records themselves
later denied the sinking of any U-Boats on March 17, 1945.
1945 : Sun March 18. Biggest daylight air attack on Berlin. Mon 19. Worms and SaarbrUcken captured by U.S. forces.
"U-1003" was rammed and sunk in The North Channel on Tuesday, March 20, 1945 by H.M.C.S. "New Glasgow", her 33
survivors picked up by H.M.C.S. "Thetford Mines".
1945 : Wed March 21. Ludwigshaven entered by U.S. forces. Fri 23. Allied forces under Field-Marshal Montgomery
began Rhine crossings between Rees and Wesel - 40,000 air-borne troops landed in two hours. Sat 24. Darmstadt captured
by U.S. forces. Tue 27. Last rocket fell at Orpington. In all 1,050 reached England. Wed 28. = Full Moon = Gdynia
captured by Russians - Last air-raid warning sounded in London.
LOST OFF GIGHA

On Wednesday, March 28, 1945, South African, Capetown-born, Lieutenant Vivian Wake, flying a
Barracuda II ME 121 on a torpedo-dropping practice from Machrihanish, hit the sea one mile east of The
Skerries at the north end of Gigha, himself and his two crewmen were killed in the crash - The aircraft's
wreckage remained undiscovered till 1989 and, in March 1989, the pilot's two brothers laid a memorial stone,
engraved "Vivian Wake : 21-6-1922 / 28-3-1945", on the wreck site, the stone dredged up by Carradale
fishing boat skipper Ronnie Brownie in his "Bonnie Lass III" on the afternoon of Wednesday, October 22,
1997 and reclaimed by one of the pilot's brothers who preferred it not to be relaid at the crash site.
1945 : Thu March 29. Mannheim captured by U.S. forces. Fri 30. Danzig and Klistrin captured by Russians. Dutch frontier
crossed by Canadian First Army.
Whilst continuing to carry American troops westbound throughout the winter of 1944/45, by April 1945, it was clear that
further American reinforcements in Europe would not be required so, when the "Queen Mary" arrived in New York on
Wednesday, April 4, 1945, she went into dry-dock for overhaul - Eight days later, on Thursday, April 12, 1945, President
Roosevelt died, almost on the very eve of victory in Europe.
The "Queen Mary" remained in New York for a couple of months, it obvious that she would be soon bringing the troops back
across the Atlantic now that the war in Europe was over and, on Tuesday, June 5, 1945, she sailed for Gourock with a mere
316
2,233 passengers and crew, more like her normal peacetime complement. This time there was no black-out, no zig-zagging,
no manning of guns and no extra look-outs for U-boats, many of the passengers were British women and children who had
been evacuated to the USA and Canada for the duration. On her next Gourock - New York voyage, which began on Friday,
June 15, 1945, the vessel carried nearly 15,000 American servicemen back home from the war in Europe.
1945 : Sun April 1. Americans invade Okinawa - Germans in Ruhr area trapped; by the 19th twenty-one divisions
destroyed. Tue 3. Hamm and Cassel captured by U.S. forces. Wed 4. Bratislava (capital of Slovakia) captured by Russians.
French forces entered Karlsruhe. Thu 5. Minden reached by British. Mon 9. Konigsberg (capital of E. Prussia) captured by
Russians. Allied offensive opened in Italy. Tue 10. Hanover captured by U.S. forces. Wed 11. Russians enter Vienna -
Essen captured by U.S. forces. Thu 12. = New Moon = American President Roosevelt dies suddenly at the age of 63 and
Harry S. Truman is sworn in as the new American President. Fri 13. Vienna liberated by Russians. Sat 14. Canadian forces in
Holland reached North Sea and captured Leeuwarden - French forces began land and sea attack on Germans in Bordeaux area
after U.S. air attack. Mon 16. Nuremberg entered by U.S. forces; organized resistance ended on 20th - Lutzow, the last
German battleship, sunk by the R.A.F..
THE FINAL GERMAN MINELAYING IN THE CLYDE

Though made aware of the situation, none of the Campbeltown-based naval units took any part in the
minehunt when "U-218" laid thirteen mines in The Firth of Clyde on Wednesday, April 18, 1945, just three
weeks before the end of the war. These were of a new type, code-named 'Oboe', after one was caught in the
nets of the drifter "Fairview". Two days later, on April 20, 1945, a mine was responsible for the sinking, off
the entrance of Loch Ryan, of the trawler "Ethel Crawford" most of whose crew were killed.
317
Another fishing boat reported having seen a U-boat and, in one of the most intensive mine-sweeping
searches of the war, a 100 per cent sweep of the whole area was started immediately with twenty-six
minesweepers dragging almost a thousand square miles of the bed of the Firth of Clyde in a search for the
mines and, though the U-boat carried 15 mines, only 12 were accounted for - Two of the mines were swept
up on April 27 and then, on May 6, another three mines were found.
The commander of U-218, interrogated after the surrender, gave the exact positions of where he dropped the
15 mines but two however were found to be stuck in the U-boat's tubes - Two more mines were swept but
there was no trace of the remaining four until a fortnight after that when another one floated to the surface. It
was then examined to see if there had been any fault in the mechanism which might have caused the
remaining three to stay at the bottom of the Firth - Though made aware of the situation, none of the
Campbeltown-based naval units took any part in the minehunt.
1945 : Fri April 20. Civilian casualties in the U.K. due to enemy action from outbreak of war, 146,760. Sat 21. Bologna
captured by Allies - Dessau entered by U.S. forces - Berlin suburbs reached by Russians. Sun 22. Stuttgart captured by
French forces. Mon 23. River Po reached by Allies - Black-out restrictions removed in Great Britain. Tue 24. Himmler
offered to surrender German Reich to Governments of Great Britain and United States. Thu 26. Russian and American forces
linked up on the Elbe near Torgau - Verona captured by Fifth Army - Bremen surrendered to British. Milan liberated by
Italian partisans. Marshal Retain arrested at frontier - Total civilian casualties in London region by enemy attacks 80,307. Fri
27. = Full Moon = Russian and American forces link up in Germany - Genoa captured by American forces. Sat 28.
Fleeing to The Alps, Italy’s former Fascist dictator Mussolini is executed by Italian Communist partisans in Milan, his body
and that of his mistress are strung up by the feet and left on display. Sun 29. Unconditional surrender of German and Italian
armies in Italy signed at Caserta, hostilities ceased 12 noon (G.M.T.), May 2nd - Munich entered by U.S. forces - Venice
entered by British - British forces crossed Elbe S.E. of Hamburg - R.A.F. bombers dropped their first load of food in
German-occupied Holland. Mon 30. After a nine-day struggle, Russian troops, fighting in Berlin, capture the main German
parliament building, The Reichstag - Hitler commits suicide in his bunker at 3.30 p.m. - Turin entered by U.S. forces -
Fire Guard orders cancelled.
GERMANY TOLD OF HITLER'S DEATH

Tuesday, May 1, 1945 and pushing 25-miles forwards to reach the River Inn, on the Austrian-German frontier, U.S.
General Patton's 'Third Army' tanks park up for the night beside a place called Braunau, Hitler's birth-place !
That night too, at 9.30 p.m., Hamburg radio announced that "a grave and important announcement to the German people will
be made shortly" - From then until the announcement, solemn music of Wagner and the slow movement of Bruckner's 7th
Symphony was played until 10.20 p.m. when the announcer said : -
"It is reported from the Fuhrer's headquarters that our Fuhrer, Adolf Hitler, has fallen this afternoon at his command post in
the Reich Chancery fighting to his last breath against Bolshevism and for Germany - On April 30, the Fuhrer appointed
Grand Admiral Donitz as his successor. Our new Fuhrer will speak to the German people."
Now, Grand Admiral Donitz - "German men and women soldiers of the German Wehrmacht ! Our Fuhrer, Adolf Hitter has
fallen - The German people bow in deepest mouming and veneration - He recognised beforehand the terrible danger of
Bolshevism and devoted his life to fighting it and, at the end of this, his battle and his unswerving straight path of life stands
his death as a hero in the capital of the Reich.
"All his life meant service to the German people. His battle against the Bolshevist flood benefited not only Europe but the
whole world.
"The Fuhrer has appointed me as his successor and fully conscious of the responsibility, I take over the leadership of the
German people at this fateful hour, my first task to save the German people from destruction by the Bolshevists and, it is only
to achieve this that the fight continues.
" As long as the British and Americans hamper us from reaching this end we shall fight and defend ourselves against them as
well for the British and Americans do not fight for the interests of their own people but for the spreading of Bolshevism.
"What the German people have achieved and suffered is unique in historyand, in the coming times of distress of our people, I
shall do my utmost to make life bearable for our brave women, men and children.
318
"To achieve all this I need your help. Trust me, keep order and discipline in towns and the countryside. Let everybody do his
duty. Only thus shall we be able to alleviate the sufferings which the future will bring to each of us and avoid collapse. If we
do all that is in our power to do, the Lord will not abandon us."
Then an order of the day, by Admiral Donitz as "supreme Commander of the Wehrmacht", was read out by the radio
annoncer. It said -
"German Werhnacht, my comrades - The Fuhrer has fallen. He fell faithfuI to his idea to save the people of Europe from
Bolshevism; he staked his life and died the death of a hero and, with his passing, one of the greatest heroes of Gtnnan history
has passed away In proud reverence and sorrow we lower our flags before him.
"The Fuhrer has appointed me his sucessor as head of the State and supreme commander of the German Wehrmacht ! I
assume supreme command of all units of the German Wehrmacht with the determination to continue the struggle against
Bolshevism until the fighting troops and the hundreds of thousands of families of the German eastern territories are rescued
from enslavement or extermination and, against the British and Americans, I shall continue the struggle so far and so long as
they hinder me in carrying out the fight against Bolshevism.
"The situation demands from you who have already accomplished such great historical feats and who are now longing for the
end of the war, further struggle without question. I demand discipline and obedience. Chaos and downfall can only he
prevented by obedience without reserve to my orders. He who at this moment shirks his duty is a coward and a traitor for he
brings death or slavery to German women and children.
"The oath of allegiance you swore to the Fuhrer applies to each one of you without further formality to myself, the successor
appointed by the Fuhrer - German soldiers - Do your duty - The life of our people is at stake".
1945 : Tue May 1. General Patton's tanks push forward to the River Inn, on the Austrian – German border and reach
Braunau, Hitler's birth-place - Death of Hitler in Berlin announced by Germans - Grand Admiral Donitz appointed
himself as successor - New Zealand troops of Eighth Army entered Monfalcone and linked up with Marshal Tito's forces.
Wed 2. Berlin surrendered to Russians at 3p.m. British and Russian forces linked up in Wismar area on the Baltic - Trieste
captured by New Zealand troops. Thu 3. British army captures Rangoon - Hamburg captured by British. Fri 4. German First
and Nineteenth Armies surrendered to American forces - American Fifth Army crossed Brenner Pass and linked up with
Seventh Army. Sat 5. All German forces in Holland, N.W. Germany, and Denmark, including Heligoland and Frisian Islands
surrendered as from 8 a.m. (B.D.S.T.).
319
More than 58,000 Scots had died in the war and, at George Square, Glasgow on VE-Day, May 8, 1945, the Scots, more
with weary relief than abandon, began to reflect on their losses and gather strength for an uncertain future.
General Alfred Jodl signs the German surrender papers
German Surrender Documents - WWII

Instrument of Surrender of All German armed forces in HOLLAND,
in Northwest Germany including all islands and in DENMARK.
1. The German Command agrees to the surrender of all armed forces in HOLLAND, in northwest
GERMANY including the FRISLIAN ISLANDS and HELIGOLAND and all islands, in SCHLESWIG-
HOLSTEIN and in DENMARK to the C.-in-C. 21 Army Group, this to include all naval ships in these areas
and these forces to lay down their arms and to surrender unconditionally.
2. All hostilities on land, on sea, or in the air by German forces in the above areas to cease at 0800 hours
British Double Summer Time on Saturday 5 May 1945.
3. The German command to carry out at once and without argument or comment all further orders that will
be issued by the Allied Powers on any subject.
4. Disobedience of orders, or failure to comply with them, will be regarded as a breach of these surrender
terms and will be dealt with by the Allied Powers in accordance with the laws and usages of war.
320
5. This instrument of surrender is independent of, without prejudice to and will be superseded by any
general instrument of surrender imposed by or on behalf of the Allied Powers and applicable to Germany and
the German armed forces as a whole.
6. This instrument of surrender is written in English and in German - The English version is the authentic
text.
7. The decision of the Allied Powers will be final if any doubt or dispute arise as to the meaning or
interpretation of the surrender terms.
HANS GEORG von FRIEDBERG
KINZEL
G. WAGNER
B. L. MONTGOMERY, Field - Marshal
POLECK
FRIEDEL
4 May 1945, 1830 hrs.
Reichspresident Donitz's authorization to Colonel General Jodl to conclude a general surrender
Hauptquartier, den 6. Mai 1945
Ich bevollmachtige Generaloberst Jodl, Chef des Wehrmachtfuhrungsstabes in Oberkommando der

Wehrmact, zum Abschluss eines Waffenstill-standsbkommens mit dem Hauptquartier des Generals
Eisenhower .
[ SEAL ] DONITZ, GroB admiral.
Only this text in English is authoritative
ACT OF MILITARY SURRENDER

1. We the undersigned, acting by authority of the German High Command, hereby surrender
unconditionally to the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Forces and simultaneously to the Soviet
High Command all forces on land, sea and in the air who are at this date under German control.
2. The German High Command will at once issue orders to all German military, naval and air authorities and
to all forces under German control to cease active operations at 2301 hours Central European time on 8 May
(1945) and to remain in the positions occupied at that time. No ship, vessel, or aircraft is to be scuttled, or
any damage done to their hull, machinery or equipment.
3. The German High Command will at once issue to the appropriate commander, and ensure the carrying
out of any further orders issued by the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and by the Soviet
High Command.
4. This act of military surrender is without prejudice to, and will be superseded by any general instrument of
surrender imposed by, or on behalf of the United Nations and applicable to GERMANY and the German
armed forces as a whole.
321
5. In the event of the German High Command or any of the forces under their control failing to act in
accordance with this Act of Surrender, the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and the Soviet
High Command will take such punitive or other action as they deem appropriate.
Signed at RHEIMS at 0241 on the 7th day of May, 1945, France on behalf of the German High Command.
JODL
IN THE PRESENCE OF
On behalf of the Supreme Commander, on behalf of the Soviet Allied Expeditionary Force, High Command
W. B. SMITH - SOUSLOPAROV - F. SEVEZ, Major General, French Army (Witness)
SUPREME HEADQUARTERS ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY FORCE

SERIAL 1 - ORDERS BY THE SUPREME COMMANDER, ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY
FORCE RELATING TO ARMY AND AIR FORCES UNDER GERMAN CONTROL
1. Local commanders of the Army and Air Force under German control on the Western Front, in NORWAY
and in the CHANNEL ISLANDS will hold themselves in readiness to receive detailed orders for the
surrender of their forces from the Supreme Commander's subordinate commanders opposite their front.
2. In the case of NORWAY the Supreme Commander's representatives will be the General Officer
Commanding-in-Chief, Scottish Command and Air Officer Commanding 13 Group RAF.
3. In the case of the CHANNEL ISLANDS the Supreme Commander's representatives will be the General
Officer Commanding-in-Chief, Southern Command and Air Officer Commanding 10 Group RAF.
WALTER B SMITH - Signed .................... For the Supreme Commander, RAF
Dated 0241 hours, 7th May, 1945 Rheims, France
SPECIAL ORDERS
BY THE SUPREME COMMANDER, ALLIED EXPEDITIONARY
FORCE
TO THE GERMAN HIGH COMMAND
RELATING TO NAVAL FORCES

For the purpose of these orders the term "Allied Representatives" shall be deemed to include the Supreme
Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and any subordinate commander, staff officer or agent acting
pursuant to his orders.
PART I GENERAL
Definition of Naval Forces
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1. For the purpose of these orders all formations, units, and personnel of the German Navy together with the Marine
Kusten Polizie shall be referred to as the German Naval Forces.
2. Members of the Marine Kusten Polizie will immediately be placed under the command of the appropriate German
Naval Commanders who will be responsible for their maintenance and supply where applicable, to the same extent and
degree as for units of the German Navy. German Naval Representatives and information required immediately
3. The German High Command will dispatch within 48 hours after the surrender becomes effective, a responsible Flag
Officer to the Allied Naval Commander, Expeditionary Force at his headquarters. This Flag Officer will furnish the
Allied Naval Commander, Expeditionary Force, with : -
a. Corrected copies of charts showing all minefields in Western Europe waters, including the BALTIC as far as
LUBECK (inclusive) which have been laid by German and German-controlled vessels or aircraft, positions of all
wrecks, booms and other underwater obstructions in this area, details of the German convoy routes and searched
channels and of all buoys, lights and other navigational aids in this area. The appropriate navigational publications are
also required.
b. Details of the exact location of all departments and branches of the German Admiralty (OKM).
c. All available information concerning the numbers and types of German minesweepers and sperr-brechers in
German controlled Dutch ports and German NORTH SEA ports that can be obtained without delaying his departure.
This German Flag Officer is to be accompanied by a Communications Officer who is familiar with the German Naval
W/T organization and who is to bring with him the current naval communications Orders, including allocation of
frequencies, list of W/T and R/T call signs in force, and a list of all codes and cyphers in use, and intended to be
brought into use.
d. Location of all surface warships down to and including "Elbing" class Torpedo Boats and of all submarines and "E"
Boats.
4. The German High Command will also dispatch within 48 hours after the surrender becomes effective a responsibile
officer, not below the rank of Captain, by coastal craft to report to the Admiral Commanding at DOVER for onward
routing to Commander-in-Chief, THE NORE, with : -
a. Corrected copies of charts showing all minefields in the NORTH SEA SOUTH of 54° 30' NORTH and EAST of
1° 30' EAST laid by German and German-controlled vessels or aircraft, positions of all wrecks, booms and all other
underwater obstructions; details of all German Convoy routes and searched channels in this area and of all buoys,
lights and other navigational aids which are under German control. Appropriate navigational publications are also
required.
b. All available information concerning the numbers and types of German minesweepers and sperr-brechers in
German contolled Dutch ports and German NORTH SEA ports that can be obtained without delaying his departure.
5. Another responsible German Naval Officer, with similar information is to be dispatched by unescorted aircraft
painted white to MANSTON Aerodrome position 51° 20' NORTH, 1° 20' EAST for onward routing to Commander-
in-Chief, THE NORE.
6. The German High Command will issue instructions to certain German naval commands as indicated below : -
a. The Naval Commander-in-Chief, NORTH SEA will dispatch by coastal craft within 48 hours after the surrender
becomes effective a responsible officer, not below the rank of Captain, to the Admiral Commanding at DOVER for
onward routing to Commander-in-Chief, THE NORE, with : -
(1) details of minesweeping operations carried out in the German convoy route between the HOOK OF HOLLAND
and HAMBURG and in approaches to harbours between these two ports during the previous 60 days;
(2) numbers and positions of all British mines swept during these operations;
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(3) details of all controlled minefields in this area and information whether they have been rendered ineffective;
(4) details of all other mining and types of mines employed in the harbours and harbour approaches of CUXHAVEN,
EMDEN, TERSCHELLING, TEXEL, IJMUIDEN, AMSTERDAM, SCHEVENINGEN, HOOK OF HOLLAND
and ROTTERDAM;
(5) berthing facilities in the harbours enumerated in paragraph (6a). (4) above and the numbers of auxiliary
minesweepers which can be accommodated;
(6) a list of all W/T and R/T call signs in use by the German Navy. Any of the above information which cannot be
obtained without delaying the departure of this officer will be forwarded subsequently as soon as it is available.
b. The Naval Commander-in-Chief, NORTH SEA, will also dispatch as soon as possible by coastal craft to DOVER
thirteen German Naval Officers who must be familiar with the German swept channels between the HOOK OF
HOLLAND and CUXHAVEN. These officers will bring with them all the charts and books required for naviagation
in this area and will be accompanied by pilots (and interpreters if necessary).
c. The Naval Commander-in-Chief, NORWAY, will dispatch by sea within 48 hours after the surrender becomes
effective, a responsible officer, not below the rank of Captain to the Commander-in-Chief, ROSYTH, with corrected
copies of charts showing all German minefields in the NORTH SEA, NORTH of 56° NORTH, all wrecks, booms
and other underwater obstructions, details of German convoy routes and searched channels in this area, of the
approach channels to the principal Norwegian ports and of all buoys, lights and other navigational aids in this area.
This officer will also bring with him the disposition of all "U" Boats and details of all orders affecting their future
movements. He will be accompanied by six German Naval Officers with pilots (and interpreters if necessary) who are
familiar with the coastal swept channels between OSLO and TROMSO. These officers will bring with them all the
charts and books required for navigation in Norwegian waters and a list of all W/T and R/T call signs in use by the
German Navy.
d. The Naval Commander-in-Chief, NORWAY, will dispatch a duplicate party to the above with similar information
by an unescorted aircraft painted white to DREM Airfield 56° 02' NORTH, 02° 48' WEST.
e. The Naval Commander-in-Chief, NORWAY, will report by W/T to the Commander-in-Chief, ROSYTH, within
48 hours after the surrender becomes effective, the following information : -
(1) Berthing facilities at OSLO, CHRISTIANSAND, STAVANGER, BERGEN, TRONDHEIM, NARVIK and
TROMSO.
(2) The appropriate quantities of furnace oil fuel, diesel oil fuel, and coal at all the principal Norwegian ports between
OSLO and TROMSO.
7. The German Admiral SKGGERAK will dispatch by sea within 48 hours after the surrender becomes effective, a
responsible officer not below the rank of Captain, to the Commander-in-Chief, ROSYTH, with corrected copies of
charts showing all German minefields, wrecks, booms, and other underwater obstructions, details of German convoy
routes and searched channels, buoys, lights and other navigational aids in the SKAGGERAK, KATTEGAT, THE
BEITS AND SOUND, KIEL BAY and BALTIC WATERS WEST of 14° EAST. This officer will also bring with
him the disposition of all "U" boats in the above area and details of all orders affecting their future movements. He will
be accompanied by three German Naval officers with pilots (and interpreters if necessary) who are familiar with the
coastal swept channels and channels in the Swedish territorial waters, in the waters referred to above. These officers
will bring with them all the charts and books required for navigation in these waters, and a list of all W/T and R/T call
signs in use by the German Navy.
The German Admiral SKAGGERAK will dispatch a duplicate party to that specified above with similar information by
air in unescorted aircraft painted white to DREM Airfield 56° 02' NORTH, 02° 48' WEST.
8. The German Naval Officers who will be dispatched to DOVER and ROSYTH by sea will proceed to positions in
latitude 51° 19' NORTH, longitude 1° 43' EAST and latitude 56° 47' NORTH, longitude 1° 13' WEST respectively,
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where they will be met by British warships and escorted to their destination. The ships or craft in which they travel are
to fly a large white flag at the masthead by day and are to illuminate these white flags by night. These ships are to
broadcast their positions hourly by W/T on 500 ks. (600 meters) whilst on passage. Information required within
fourteen days.
9. The German High Command will furnish the following information to the Allied Naval Commander,
Expeditionary Force, at by within fourteen days of cessation of hostilities.
a. Locations of all warships, auxiliaries and armed coastal craft operating under the orders of the German Naval
Command stating particulars of the operational unit to which they are attached, giving approximate totals of all naval
personal embarked in each vessel (including naval flak and merchant ship flak).
b. A statement of the organizations of all naval shore Commands, giving location of all naval establishments, including
establishments for experiment and research, names of all Commanding Officers and Principal Staff Officers of the
rank of Commander in each establishment.
c. A statement of the strength and location of all naval land forces including naval infantry, naval flak, merchant ship
flak and naval personnel manning naval coast artillery and full particulars of all Coastal and port defences giving nature
and locations.
d. Lists of stocks of furnace oil fuels, diesel oil fuel, petrol and coal of 500 tons or more at, or in the vicinity of, all
ports between IJMUIDEN and HAMBURG inclusive.
e. A statement of location of the principal naval armament depots with approximate overall stocks of each major item
held.
f. The following communications information : -
(1) location and details concerning all V/S, W/T (including D/F) and radar stations in use by and under constuction
for the German Navy, these details to include types and capabilities of all equipment fitted.
(2) details of the current naval W/T organization, lists of W/T and R/T call signs in force and allocation of all
frequencies for communication and radar purposes.
(3) location and details of all naval communications (including Infra-Red) and naval radar training and research
establishments.
g. Full details of all German minefields in the NORTH SEA, SKAGGERAK, KATTEGAT, BEITS and SOUND.
h. Full details of the German naval minesweeping organization including the communications organization.
j. Full details of the communications (including Infra-Red) and radar equipment fitted in all German minesweepers and
sperr-brechers.
k. Technical details of all types of minesweeping gear used by the German Navy.
l. Details of all mining and types of mines employed and of berthing facilities available for ships of 150 feet in length
and 16 feet draught at BREMERHAVEN, WILHELMSHAVEN, SCHIERMONNIKOOG and DELFZIJL
10. The German High Command will also furnish the Allied Naval Commander, Expeditionary Force, with two copies
of all coding and cyphering systems which have been, are being, or were to be used by the German Navy with the
necessary instructions for their use and the dates between which they have been, or were to have been used.
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PART II - CONTROL AND DISARMAMENT
Orders to warships, auxiliaries, merchant ships and other craft
11. The German High Command will forthwith direct all German and German-controlled warships, auxiliaries,
merchant ships and other craft to comply with the following instructions : -
a. All warships, auxiliaries, merchant ships and other craft in harbours are to remain in harbour pending further
directions from the Allied Representatives.
b. All warships, auxiliaries, merchant ships and other craft at sea are to report their positions in plain language
immediately to the nearest British, US or Soviet Coast Wireless Telegraphy station on 500 kc/s (600 metres) and are to
proceed to the nearest German or Allied port or such ports as the Allied Representatives may direct and remain there
pending further directions from the Allied Representatives. At night they are to show lights and to display searchlights
with beams held vertically.
c. All warships and merchant ships whether in port or at sea will immediately train all weapons fore and aft. All
torpedo tubes will be unloaded and breech blocks will be removed from all guns.
d. All warships and merchant ships in German or German-controlled harbours will immediately land and store in
safety all ammunition, warheads and other explosives. They will land all portable weapons but, pending further
instructions, warships will retain onboard the fixed armament. Fire control and all other equipment will be maintained
on board intact and fully efficient.
e. All minesweeping vessels are to carry out the means of disarmament prescribed in c. and d. above (except that they
will however, retain on board such portable weapons and explosives as are required for minesweeping purposes) and
are to be prepared immediately for minesweeping service under the direction of the Allied Representatives. They will
complete with fuel where necessary.
f. All German salvage vessels are to carry out the measures of disarmament prescribed in c. and d. above (except that
they will retain on board such explosives as are required for salvage purposes.) These vessels, together with all salvage
equipment and personnel, are to be prepared for immediate salvage operations under the direction of the Allied
Representatives, completing with fuel where necessary for this purpose.
g. The movement of transport on the inland waterways of GERMANY may continue, subject to orders from the
Allied Representatives. No vessels moving on inland waterways will proceed to neutral waters.
Submarines
12. The German High Command will transmit by W/T on appropriate frequencies the two messages in Annexures 'A'
and 'B' which contain instructions to submarines at sea.
Naval Aircraft
13. The German High Command will forthwith direct that : -
a. German naval aircraft are not to leave the ground or water or ship pending directions from the Allied
Representatives;
b. naval aircraft in the air are to return immediately to their bases.
Neutral shipping
14. The German High Command will forthwith direct that all neutral merchant ships in German and German-
controlled ports are to be detained pending further directions from the Allied Representatives.
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Orders relating to sabotage, scuttling, safety measures, pilotage and personnel
15. The German High Command will forthwith issue categorical directions that : -
a. No ship, vessel or aircraft of any description is to be scuttled, or any damage done to their hull, machinery or
equipment.
b. all harbour works and port facilities of whatever nature, including telecommunications and radar stations, are to be
preserved and kept free from destruction or damage pending further directions from the Allied Representatives and all
necessary steps taken and all necessary orders issued to prohibit any act of scuttling, sabotage, or other willful damage.
c. all boom defences at all ports and harbours are to be opened and kept open at all times; where possible, they are to
be removed.
d. all controlled minefields at all ports and harbours are to be disconnected and rendered ineffective.
e. all demolition charges in all ports and harbour works are to be removed or rendered ineffective and their presence
indicated.
f. the existing wartime system of navigational lighting is to be maintained, except that all dimmed lights are to be
shown at full brilliancy and lights only shown by special arrangement are to be exhibited continuously. In particular : -
(1) HELIGOLAND Light is to be burnt at full brilliancy.
(2) The buoyage of the coastal convoy route from the HOOK OF HOLLAND to HAMBURG is to be commenced,
mid-channel light buoys being laid six miles apart.
(3) Two ships are to be anchored as mark vessels in the following positions 54° 20' N, 5° 00' and 54° 20' N, 6° 30' E.
These ships are to fly a large black flag at the masthead by day and by night are to flash a searchlight vertically every 30
seconds.
g. All pilotage services are to continue to operate and all pilots are to be held at their normal stations ready for service
and equipped with their charts.
h. German Naval and other personnel concerned in the operation of ports and administrative services in ports are to
remain at their stations and to continue to carry out their normal duties.
Personnel
16. The German High Command will forthwith direct that except as may be required for the purpose of giving effect
to the above special orders:-
a. all personnel in German warships, auxiliaries, merchant ships and other craft, are to remain on board their ships
pending further directions from the Allied Representatives.
b. all Naval personnel ashore are to remain in their establishments.
17. The German High Command will be responsible for the immediate and total disarmament of all naval personnel
on shore. The orders issued to the German High Command in respect of the disarmament and war material of land
forces will apply also to naval personnel on shore.
Signed
H. M. BURROUGH For the Supreme Commander, A.E F. Dated 0241 hours, 7th May, 1945 Rheims, France
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ANNEXURE 'A'
SURRENDER OF GERMAN "U" BOAT FLEET
To all "U" Boats at sea

Carry out the following instructions forthwith which have been given by the Allied Representatives
(A) Surface immediately and remain surfaced.
(B) Report immediately in P/L (Plain Language) your position in latitude and longitude and number of your "U" Boat
to nearest British, US, Canadian or Soviet coast W/T station on 500 kc/s (600 metres) and to call sign GZZ 10 on
one of the following high frequencies : 16845 – 12685 or 5970 kc/s.
(C) Fly a large black or blue flag by day.
(D) Burn navigation lights by night.
(E) Jettison all ammunition, remove breach-blocks from guns and render torpedoes safe by removing pistols. All
mines are to be rendered safe.
(F) Make all signals in P/L (Plain Language).
(G) Follow strictly the instructions for proceeding to Allied ports from your present area given in immediately
following message.
(H) Observe strictly the orders of Allied Representatives to refrain from scuttling or in any way damaging your "U"
Boat.
2. These instructions will be repeated at two-hour intervals until further notice.
ANNEXURE 'B' To all "U" Boats at sea.

Observe strictly the instructions already given to remain fully surfaced. Report your position course and speed every 8
hours. Obey any instructions that may be given to you by any Allied authority. The following are the areas and routes
for "U" Boats surrendering-
(1) Area 'A'.
a. Bound on the West by the meridian 026° W and S by the parallel 043° N, in the Barents Sea by the meridian 020° E
and in the Baltic Approaches by line joining The Naze and Hantsholm but excluding The Irish Sea between 051° 30’
and 055° 00’ N and in The English Channel between line of Lands End /Scilly Islands/ Ushant and line of Dover-
Calais.
b. Join one of following routes at nearest point and proceed along it to Loch Eriboll (058° 33 minutes N, 004° 37’ W)
Blue route : 049° 00’ N, 009° 00’ W - 053° 00’ N, 012° 00’ W - 058° 00’ N, 011° 00’ W - 059° 00’ N, 005°
30’ thence to Loch Eriboll.
Red route : 053° 45’ N, 003° 00’ E - 059° 45’ N, 001° 00’ W - 059° 45’ N, 003° 00’ W , thence to Loch Eriboll.
c. Arrive at Loch Eriboll between sunrise and 3 hours before sunset.
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(2) Area 'B'
a. The Irish Sea between parallel of 051° 30’ and 055° 00’ N.
b. Proceed Beaumaris Bay (053° 19’ N, 003° 58’ W) to arrive between sunrise and 3 hours before sunset.
(3) Area 'C'
a. The English Channel between line of Lands End - Scilly Isles - Ushant and line of Dover - Calais.
b. 'U' Boats in area 'C' are to join one of following routes at nearest point :
Green route :
Position 'A' - 49° 10’ N, 005° 40’ W - Position 'B' - 50° 00’ N, 03° 00’ W, thence escorted to Weymouth.
Orange route :
Position 'X' - 50° 30’ N, 00° 50’ E - Position 'Y' - 50° 10’ N, 01° 50’ W, thence escorted to Weymouth.
c. Arrive at either 'B' or 'Y' between sunrise and 3 hours before sunset.
(4) Area 'D'
a. Bound on West by lines joining The Naze and Hantsholm and on East by lines joining Lubeck and Trelleborg.
b. Proceed to Kiel.
(5) Area 'E'
a. Mediterranean Approaches - bound on North by 43° North; on South by 26° North and on West by 26° W.
b. Proceed to a rendezvous in position 'A' - 036° 00’ N, 11° 00’ W and await escort reporting expected time of arrival
in plain language to Admiral Gibraltar on 500 kc/s.
c. Arrive in position 'A' between sunrise and noon G.M.T.
(6) Area 'F'
a. The North and South Atlantic, West of 026° W
b. Proceed to nearest of one of following points arriving between sunrise and 3 hours before sunset : -
W - 43° 30’N, 70° 00’ W, approach from a point 15 miles due East
X - 38° 20’ N, 74° 25’ W, approach from a point 47° 18’ N, 51° 30’ W, on a course 270°
Z - 43° 31’ N, 65° 05’ W, approach from point 42° 59’ N, 54° 28’ W, on a course 320°
UNDERTAKING GIVEN BY CERTAIN GERMAN EMISSARIES

TO THE ALLIED HIGH COMMANDS
It is agreed by the German emissaries undersigned that the following German officers will arrive at a place and time
designated by the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and the Soviet High Command prepared, with
planary powers, to execute a formal ratification on behalf of the German High Command of this act of Unconditional
Surrender of the German armed forces.
Chief of the High Command - Commander-in-Chief of the Army - Commander-in-Chief of the Navy
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and Commander-in-Chief of the Air Forces.
Signed JODL, Representing the German High Command.
Dated 0241 hours, 7th May 1945. Rheims, France
{Reichspresident Donitz's authorization to German representatives to execute ratification}
A b s c h r i f t.
Der Oberste Befehlshaber Hauptquartier, den 7.5.45. der Wehrmact/Bitte in der Antwort vorstehendes
Geschaftszeichen, das Datum und kurzen Inhalt anzugegen./
ICH BEVOLLMACHTIGE
GENERALFELDMARSCHALL K E I T E L, ALS CHEF DES OBERKOMMANDOS DER
WEHRMACHT UND ZUGLEICH, ALS OBER-BEFEHLSHABER DES HEERES,
GENERALADMIRAL VON FRIEDBERG, ALS OBERBEFEHLSHABER DER KRIEGSMARINE,
GENERALOBERST S T U M P F, ALS VERTRETER DES OBERBEFEHLSHABERS DER LUFTWAFFE
ZUR RATIFIZIERUNG DER BEDINGUNGSLKSEN KAPITULATION DER DEUTSCHEN STREITKRAFTE

GEGEN-UBER DEM OBERBEFEHLSHABER DER ALLIIERTEN EXPEDITIONSSTREITKRAFTE UND
DEM SOWYET-OBER-KOMMANDO.
DONITZ
GROBADMIRAL. Siegel.
ACT OF MILITARY SURRENDER

1. We the undersigned, acting by authority of the German High Command, hereby surrender unconditionally to the
Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and simultaneously to the Supreme High Command of the Red
Army all forces on land, at sea and in the air who are at this date under German control.
2. The German High Command will at once issue order to all German military, naval and air authorities and to all
forces under German control to cease active operations at 2301 hours Central European time on 8th May 1945, to
remain in all positions occupied at that time and to disarm completely, handing over their weapons and equipment to
the local allied commanders or officers designated by Representatives of the Allied Supreme Commands. No ship,
vessel, or aircraft is to be scuttled, or any damage done to their hull, machinery or equipment and also to machines of
all kinds, armament, apparatus and all the technical means of prosecution of war in general.
3. The German High Command will at once issue to the appropriate commanders and ensure the carrying out of any
further orders issued by the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and by the Supreme Command of the
Red Army.
4. This act of military surrender is without prejudice to and will be superseded by any general instrument of surrender
imposed by, or on behalf of the United Nations and applicable to GERMANY and the German armed forces as a
whole.
5. In the event of the German High Command or any of the forces under their control failing to act in accordance
with this Act of Surrender, the Supreme Commander, Allied Expeditionary Force and the Supreme High Command
of the Red Army will take such punitive or other action as they deem appropriate.
6. This Act is drawn up in the English, Russian and German languages. The English and Russian are the only
authentic texts.
330
Signed at Berlin on the 8th day of May, 1945
Von Friedeburg - Keitel - Stumpff On behalf of the German High Command
IN THE PRESENCE OF :
A.W.Tedder.
On behalf of the On behalf of the Supreme Commander Supreme High Command of the Allied Expeditionary Force
Red Army
Georgi Zhukov
At the signing also were present as witnesses :
F. de Lattre-Tassigny and Carl Spaatz, General Commanding in Chief General, Commanding First French Army
United States Strategic Air Force
THE END OF THE U-BOATS
A German U-Boat surrenders in May 1945
At 01.34 hours on May 5, 1945, the code-word 'Regenbogen' (rainbow) was sent out from U-Boat headquarters it ordering
the scuttling of U-Boats before their crews surrendered - Eight minutes later, the order was rescinded ! Then, on May 8,
1945, Allied commanders ordered that all U-Boats should immediately surface, fly a black pennant flag and report their
position in plain language. Not all U-Boat commanders heard the message and others chose to ignore it. By November 1945,
110 U-Boats had been concentrated at Loch Ryan and Lisahally, in Lough Foyle and, under 'Operation Deadlight', all were
disarmed and then sunk in deep water by the end of February 1946.
1945 : Mon May 7. Unconditional surrender of all German fighting forces.
On Monday, May 7, 1945, attacked and sunk by aircraft off Bergen, "U-320" became the last U-Boat victim off the war.
1945 : Tue May 8. VE DAY (Victory in Europe) World War II ended in Europe. Fri 11. = New Moon =
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On Tuesday, May 8, 1945, "U-249" became the first U-Boat to surrender after she was spotted flying a black flag off The
Scilly Isles by an American Liberator (Lt. F.L. Schaum) - Escorted into Portland by H.M.S. "Amethyst" and H.M.S. "Magpie",
the U-Boat was then transferred to Loch Ryan as 'Research Vessel N 86" and, on Thursday, December 13, 1945, one of 116
U-Boats in 'Operation Deadlight', was towed out through The North Channel by H.M.S. "Southdown" and sunk off Tory Island
by Royal Navy submarine H.M.S. "Tantivy" - Rather than surrender, 165 U-Boats were scuttled by their own crews at the
end of hostilities.
VICTORY
On the evening of Monday, May 7, 1945 victory celebrations were triggered by navy ships blaring sirens to
stir Campbeltown with the news of Germany's surrender and though many children didn't know it till the
following morning, Tuesday and Wednesday were declared 'Victory Holidays' and the schools shut.
Victory in Europe, VE Day, was celebrated on Tuesday, May 8, 1945, a broadcast at 3 p.m. that day being
given to the nation by Winston Churchill and then another that night, at 9 p.m., The King's Message of
Thanksgiving. The Rex Cinema interrupted performances of "For Whom The Bell Tolls" to relay both these
messages to cinema audiences.
1945 : Wed May 16. Alderney became the last of The Channel Islands to be liberated from occupying German forces. Sat
26. = Full Moon = Mon May 28. Air attacks on Japan.
LIGHTING UP TIME - On May 28, 1945, all British and American ships on the Atlantic and Indian oceans were now
allowed to show their full navigation lights and need no longer darken ship, convoys were abolished - The conditions did not
apply to the Pacific theatre.
1945 - Tue June 26. World Security Charter, to establish the United Nations, signed in San Francisco.
At the end of June 1945, Greenock's Mine Disposal Team were called in to defuse three mines washed up
separately on the beaches at Bellochantuy, Muasdale and Tayinloan, a fourth mine was defused on the
following day at Westport and, at the end of July 1945, the anti-submarine boom at the entrance to
Campbeltown Loch were removed, a job that took some weeks to complete.
1945 : Thu July 5. Allies recognised the Polish government - Labour Party win the General Election and Clement Attlee
succeeds Winston Churchill as Prime Minister.
332
Thu July 5, 1945 Party Seats - % % Vote Party Leaders

Labour Government Lab 393 61.4% 47.8% (+10.4%) C. Attlee
Con 212 33.3% 39.8% (-13.9%) W. Churchill
Majority = 147
+ Ulster Unionist +1
Turnout = 72.6% Lib 12 1.9% 9.0% (+0.8%) A. Sinclair
C. Davies
Others 22 3.4% 3.4%
Total 640
1945 : Tue July 31. Potsdam Conference.
1945 : Wed August 1 - A Seafire aircraft ditched in the sea at Machrihanish Bay killing its lone pilot.
The amphibious Walrus aircraft were often used to rescue ditched airmen
The Hiroshima Atomic Bomb
1945 : Mon August 6. Atomic bomb destroyed Hiroshima. Thu 9. Nagasaki atomic bomb. Tue 14. Unconditional surrender
of Japan. Wed 15. VJ DAY (Victory in Japan).
With August 1945 came ‘Victory in Japan’ and ‘V-J Day’ and the town was awakened by blaring ships' sirens -
Some 6,000 Scottish POW's were estimated to be in Japanese hands, 87 of them from Argyll, including some
from Campbeltown.
333
Japanese Surrender Documents - WWII

TRANSLATION of Foreign Minister Shiegemitsu's Credentials
HIROHITO,
By the Grace of Heaven, Emperor of Japan, seated on the Throne occupied by the same Dynasty changeless through
ages eternal, To all who these Presents shall come, Greeting !
We do hereby authorise Mamoru Shigemitsu Zyosanmi, First Class of the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun to
attach his signature by command and in behalf of Ourselves and Our Government unto the Instrument of Surrender
which is required by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers to be signed.
In witness whereof, We have hereunto set Our signature and caused the Great Seal of the Empire to be affixed.
Given at Our Palace in Tokyo, this first day of the ninth month of the twentieth year of Syowa, being the two thousand
six hundred and fifth year from the Accession of the Emperor Zinmu.
Seal of The Empire Signed : HIROHITO
Countersigned : Naruhiko-o, Prime Minister
TRANSLATION of General Umezu's Credentials
HIROHITO,
By the Grace of Heaven, Emperor of Japan, seated on the Throne occupied by the same Dynasty changeless through
ages eternal, To all who these Presents shall come, Greeting !
We do hereby authorise Yoshijiro Umezu, Zyosanmi, First Class of the Imperial Order of the Rising Sun to attach
his signature by command and in behalf of Ourselves and Our Government unto the Instrument of Surrender which is
required by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers to be signed.
In witness whereof, We have hereunto set Our signature and caused the Great Seal of the Empire to be affixed.
Given at Our Palace in Tokyo, this first day of the ninth month of the twentieth year of Syowa, being the two thousand
six hundred and fifth year from the Accession of the Emperor Zinmu.
Seal of The Empire Signed : HIROHITO
Countersigned : Yoshijiro Umezu, Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army
Soemu Toyoda, Chief of the General Staff of the Imperial Japanese Army
INSTRUMENT OF SURRENDER
We, acting by command of and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan, the Japanese Government and the Japanese
Imperial General Headquarters, hereby accept the provisions set forth in the declaration issued by the heads of the
Governments of the United States, China, and Great Britain on 26 July 1945 at Potsdam and subsequently adhered to
by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which four powers are hereafter referred to as the Allied Powers.
We hereby proclaim the unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters
and of all Japanese armed forces and all armed forces under the Japanese control wherever situated.
We hereby command all Japanese forces wherever situated and the Japanese people to cease hostilities forthwith, to
334
preserve and save from damage all ships, aircraft, and military and civil property and to comply with all requirements
which my be imposed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or by agencies of the Japanese Government
at his direction.
We hereby command the Japanese Imperial Headquarters to issue at once orders to the Commanders of all Japanese
forces and all forces under Japanese control wherever situated to surrender unconditionally themselves and all forces
under their control.
We hereby command all civil, military and naval officials to obey and enforce all proclamations and orders and
directives deemed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers to be proper to effectuate this surrender and
issued by him or under his authority and we direct all such officials to remain at their posts and to continue to perform
their non-combatant duties unless specifically relieved by him or under his authority.
We hereby undertake for the Emperor, the Japanese Government and their successors to carry out the provisions of
the Potsdam Declaration in good faith, and to issue whatever orders and take whatever actions may be required by the
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or by any other designated representative of the Allied Powers for the
purpose of giving effect to that Declaration.
We hereby command the Japanese Imperial Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters at once to
liberate all allied prisoners of war and civilian internees now under Japanese control and to provide for their protection,
care, maintenance and immediate transportation to places as directed.
The authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to rule the state shall be subject to the Supreme
Commander for the Allied Powers who will take such steps as he deems proper to effectuate these terms of surrender.
Signed at TOKYO BAY, JAPAN at 0904 hours on the SECOND day of SEPTEMBER, 1945
MAMORU SHIGMITSU, By Command and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan and the Japanese Government
YOSHIJIRO UMEZU, By Command and in behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters
Accepted at TOKYO BAY, JAPAN at 0903 hours on the SECOND day of SEPTEMBER, 1945, for the United
States, Republic of China, United Kingdom and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and in the interests of the
other United Nations at war with Japan.
DOUGLAS MAC ARTHUR, Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers
C.W. NIMITZ, United States Representative
HSU YUNG-CH'ANG, Republic of China Representative
BRUCE FRASER, United Kingdom Representative
KUZMA DEREVYANKO, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics Representative
THOMAS BLAMEY, Commonwealth of Australia Representative
L. MOORE COSGRAVE, Dominion of Canada Representative
JACQUES LE CLERC, Provisional Government of the French Republic Representative
C.E.L. HELFRICH, Kingdom of the Netherlands Representative
LEONARD M. ISITT, Dominion of New Zealand Representative
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Translation of Emperor Hirohito's Receipt of the Surrender documents
PROCLAMATION
Accepting the terms set forth in the Declaration issued by the heads of the Governments of the United States, Great
Britain, and China on July 26th, 1945 at Potsdam and subsequently adhered to by the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics, We have commanded the Japanese Imperial Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters
to sign on Our behalf the Instrument of Surrender presented by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers and to
issue General Orders to the Military and Naval Forces in accordance with the direction of the Supreme Commander for
the Allied Powers. We command all Our people forthwith to cease hostilities, to lay down their arms and faithfully to
carry out all the provisions of Instrument of Surrender and the General Orders issued by the Japanese Imperial General
Headquarters hereunder.
This second day of the ninth month of the twentieth year of Syowa
Seal of The Emperor Signed : HIROHITO
Countersigned :
Naruhiko-o, Prime Minister - Mamoru Shigemitsu, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Iwao Yamazaki, Minister of Home Affairs - Juichi Tsushima, Minister of Finance
Sadamu Shimomura, Minister of War - Mitsumasa Yonai, Minister of Navy
Chuzo Iwata, Minister of Justice - Tamon Maeda, Minister of Education
Kenzo Matsumura, Minister of Welfare - Kotaro Sengoku, Minister of Agriculture and Forestry
Chikuhei Nakajima, Minister of Commerce and Industry Naoto Kobiyama, Minister of Transportation
Fumimaro Konoe, Minister without Portfolio - Taketora Ogata, Minister without Portfolio
Binshiro Obata, Minister without Portfolio
of the Japanese and Japanese-Controlled Armed Forces in the Philippine Islands to the Commanding General
United States Army Forces, Western Pacific Camp John Hay Baguio, Mountain Province, Luzon,
Philippine Islands - 3 September, 1945
Pursuant to and in accordance with the proclamation of the Emperor of Japan accepting the terms set forth in the
declaration issued by the heads of the Governments of the United States, Great Britain and China on 26 July 1945; at
Potsdam and subsequently adhered to by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; and to the formal instrument of
surrender of the Japanese Imperial Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters signed at Toyko Bay
at 0908 hours on 2 September 1945 :
1. Acting by command of and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan, the Japanese Imperial Government and the Japanese
Imperial General Headquarters, We hereby surrender unconditionally to the Commanding General, United States
Army Forces, Western Pacific, all Japanese and Japanese-controlled armed forces, air, sea, ground and auxiliary, in
the Philippine Islands.
336
2. We hereby command all Japanese forces wherever situated in the Philippine Islands to cease hostilities forthwith, to
preserve and save from damage all ships, aircraft and military and civil property and to comply with all requirements
which may be imposed by the Commanding General, United States Army Forces, Western Pacific, or his authorized
representatives.
3. We hereby direct the commanders of all Japanese forces in the Philippine Islands to issue at once to all forces under
their command to surrender unconditionally themselves and all forces under their control, as prisoners of war, to the
nearest United States Force Commander.
4. We hereby direct the commanders of all Japanese forces in the Philippine Islands to surrender intact and in good
order to the nearest United States Army Force Commander, at times and at places directed by him, all equipment and
supplies of whatever nature under their control.
5. We hereby direct the commanders of all Japanese forces in the Philippine Islands at once to liberate all Allied
prisoners of war and civilian internees under their control, and to provide for their protection, care, maintenance and
immediate transportation to places as directed by the nearest United States Army Force Commander.
6. We hereby undertake to transmit the directives given in Paragraphs 1 through 5, above, to all Japanese forces in the
Philip- pine Islands immediately by all means within our power and further to furnish to the Commanding General,
United States Army Forces, Western Pacific, all necessary Japanese emissaries fully empowered to bring about the
surrender of Japanese forces in the Philippine Islands with whom we are not in contact.
7. We hereby undertake to furnish immediately to the Commanding General, United States Army Forces, Western
Pacific, a statement of the designation, numbers, locations and commanders of all Japanese armed forces, ground,
sea, or air, in the Philippine Islands.
8. We hereby undertake faithfully to obey all further proclamation, orders and directives deemed by the Commanding
General, United States Armed Forces, Western Pacific, to be proper to effectuate this surrender.
Signed at Camp John Hay, Baguio, Mountain Province, Luzon, Philippine Islands, at 1210 hours 3 September 1945:
TOMOYUKI YAMASHITA, DENHICI OKOCHI, General, Imperial Japanese Vice Admiral, Imperial Japanese Army
Highest Commander, Navy, Highest Commander, Imperial Japanese Army in Imperial Japanese Navy in the
Philippines. By command and in behalf of the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters
Accepted at Camp John Hay, Baguio, Mountain Province, Luzon, Philippine Islands, at 1210 hours 3 September
1945 : For the Commander-in-Chief, United States Army Forces, Pacific :
EDMOND H. LEAVY, Major General, USA Deputy Commander, United States Army Forces, Western Pacific.
1945 : Wed September 5. Allies reoccupied Singapore.
Though VJ-Day was celebrated on August 15, 1945, many Pacific islands continued to remain occupied by
Japanese forces, these forces signing separate'Instruments of Surrender' - H.M.S. "Hart", which was
credited by the Germans for sinking "U-482" off Kintyre in January 1945, like H.M.S. "Amethyst", sailed for
The Far East and, on September 6, 1945, was sent in to Kabanga Bay, Rabual, to ferry out Japanese officers
to sign the surrender of the entire Japanese Imperial South-East Asia Army on board the aircraft-carrier
H.M.S."Glory".
337
The new Belfast-built H.M.S. "Glory", seen here at Malta, left The Clyde on May 14, 1945 and sailed via
The Mediterranean to reach Freemantle in time for VJ-Day, she then going on to accept the surrender of the
Japanese forces at Rabaul.
H.M.S. "Hart", the Japanese ferried out to her from the shore on a little landing craft, brought out General
Hioski Imamura and Admiral Jin-Icha Kusaka, Commander of The South-East Japanese Navy, plus
fourteen other Japanese army and navy officers to H.M.S. "Glory".
Clear of the harbour and into the open sea, the totally sea-sick Japanese officers were escorted from the
confines of the ship's ward-room out into the fresh air and a somewhat nosey and opportunistic young R.N.
Stoker went souvenir-hunting in the now completely empty ward-room Tipping the contents of a silver
cigarette case, Player's, into his shirt for sharing round with his fellow stokers, 'the boy' had a quick look in
the the one and only brief-case brought aboard by the Japs - Apart from a few papers, all written in
Japanese, the only other item it contained was a black-and-yellow pencil "Made in U.S.A" - That same
brief-case, on the deck and leaning against the table-leg, is shown in this photograph taken by another
'opportunistic boy' on board H.M.S. "Glory" !
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UNITED STATES ARMY FORCES IN KOREA

HEADQUARTERS XXIV CORPS,
OFFICE OF THE COMMANDING GENERAL APO 235, c/o POSTMASTER, SAN FRANCISCO,
CALIFORNIA
FORMAL SURRENDER
BY THE SENIOR JAPANESE GROUND, SEA, AIR AND AUXILIARY FORCES COMMANDS
WITHIN KOREA SOUTH OF 38° NORTH LATITUDE TO THE COMMANDING GENERAL,
UNITED STATES ARMY FORCES IN KOREA, FOR AND IN BEHALF OF THE COMMANDER-IN-
CHIEF UNITED STATES ARMY FORCES, PACIFIC
WHEREAS an Instrument of Surrender was on the 2nd day of September 1945 by command of and behalf of the
Emperor of Japan, the Japanese Government and the Japanese Imperial Headquarters signed by Foreign Minister
Mamouru Shigemitsu, by command and in behalf of the Emperor of Japan, the Japanese Government and by
Yoshijiro Umezu, by command of and in behalf of the Japanese Imperial Headquarters and
WHEREAS the terms of the Instrument of Surrender were subsequently as follows:
1. We, acting by command of an in behalf of the Emperor of Japan, the Japanese Government and the Japanese
Imperial General Headquarters, hereby accept the provisions set forth in the declaration issued by the heads of the
Governments of the United States, China and Great Britain on 26 July 1945 at Potsdam and subsequently adhered to
by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which four powers are hereafter referred to as the Allied Powers.
2. We hereby proclaim the unconditional surrender to the Allied Powers of the Japanese Imperial General
Headquarters and of all Japanese armed forces and all armed forces under the Japanese control wherever situated.
3. We hereby command all Japanese forces wherever situated and the Japanese people to cease hostilities forthwith, to
preserve and save from damage all ships, aircraft and military and civil property and to comply with all requirements
which my be imposed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or by agencies of the Japanese Government
at his direction.
4. We hereby command the Japanese Imperial Headquarters to issue at once orders to the Commanders of all Japanese
forces and all forces under Japanese control wherever situated to surrender unconditionally themselves and all forces
under their control.
5. We hereby command all civil, military and naval officials to obey and enforce all proclamations, and orders and
directives deemed by the Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers to be proper to effectuate this surrender and
issued by him or under his authority and we direct all such officials to remain at their posts and to continue to perform
their non-combatant duties unless specifically relieved by him or under his authority.
6. We hereby undertake for the Emperor, the Japanese Government and their successors to carry out the provisions of
the Potsdam Declaration in good faith, and to issue whatever orders and take whatever actions may be required by the
Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers or by any other designated representative of the Allied Powers for the
purpose of giving effect to that Declaration.
7. We hereby command the Japanese Imperial Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters at once
to liberate all allied prisoners of war and civilian internees now under Japanese control and to provide for their
protection, care, maintenance and immediate transportation to places as directed.
8. The authority of the Emperor and the Japanese Government to rule the state shall be subject to the Supreme
Commander for the Allied Powers who will take such steps as he deems proper to effectuate these terms of surrender.
339
WHEREAS the terms of surrender were, on the 2nd day of September 1945 as given by the United States, the
Republic of China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union of Socialist Republics and other allied powers, accepted by
the Imperial Japanese Government and
WHEREAS on the 2nd day of September 1945 the Imperial General Headquarters by direction of the Emperor has
ordered all its commanders in Japan and abroad to cause the Japanese Armed Forces and Japanese controlled forces
under their command to cease hostilities at once, to lay down their arms and remain in their present locations and to
surrender unconditionally to commanders acting in behalf of the United States, the Republic of China, the United
Kingdom, the British Empire and the Union of Socialist Republics, and
WHEREAS the Imperial General Headquarters, its senior commanders and all ground, sea, air and auxiliary forces in
the main islands of Japan, minor islands adjacent thereto, Korea south of 38° north latitude and the Philippines were
directed to surrender to the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army Forces, Pacific and
WHEREAS the Commander-in-Chief of the United States Army Forces, Pacific has appointed the Commanding
General, XXIV Corps as the Command General, United States Army Forces in Korea and has directed him as such to
act for the Commander- in-Chief United States Army Forces, Pacific in the reception of the surrender of the senior
Japanese commanders of all Japanese ground, sea, air and auxiliary forces in Korea south of 38° north latitude and all
islands adjacent thereto. Now therefore
We, the undersigned, senior Japanese commanders of all Japanese ground, sea, air and auxiliary forces in Korea
south of 38° north latitude, do hereby acknowledge :
a. That we have been duly advised and fully informed of the contents of the Proclamation by the Emperor of Japan,
the Instrument of Surrender and the orders herein above referred to.
b. That we accept our duties and obligations under said instruments and orders and recognize the necessity for our
strict compliance therewith and adherence thereto.
c. The Commanding General, United States Army Forces in Korea, is the duly authorized representative of the Com-
mander-in-Chief, United States Army Forces, Pacific and that we will completely and immediately carry out and put
into effect his instructions.
Finally, We do hereby formally and unconditionally surrender to the Commanding General, United States Army
Forces in Korea, all persons in Korea south of 38° degrees North Latitude who are in the Armed Forces of Japan and
all military installations, ordnance, ships, aircraft and other military equipment or property of every kind or
description in Korea, including all islands adjacent thereto, south of 38° degrees North Latitude over which we
exercise jurisdiction or control.
In case of conflict or ambiguity between the English text of this document and any translation thereof, the English
shall prevail.
Signed at SEOUL, KOREA at 1630 hours on the 9th day of September 1945.
YOSHIO SOZUKI, Senior Japanese commander of all Japanese ground and air forces in Korea south of 38° north
latitude.
GISABURO YAMAGUCHI Senior Japanese commander of all Japanese naval forces in Korea south of 38° north
latitude.
I, Nobuyuki Abe, the duly appointed, qualified and acting Governor General of KOREA do hereby certify that I
have read and fully understand the contents of the foregoing Instrument of Surrender and of all documents referred to
therein.
340
I hereby acknowledge the duties and obligations imposed upon me by said documents, insofar as they apply to all
matters within my jurisdiction or control as Governor General of Korea, and recognize the necessity of my strict
compliance therewith and adherence thereto.
In particular do I recognise that the Commanding General, UNITED STATES ARMY FORCES IN KOREA, is the
duly authorized representative of the Commander-in-Chief, UNITED STATES ARMY FORCES, PACIFIC and that
I am completely and immediately to carry out and put into effect his instructions.
Signed at SEOUL, KOREA, at 1630 hours on the 9th day of September 1945.
NOBUYUKI ABE, Governor General of KOREA
Accepted at SEOUL, KOREA, at 1630 hours on the 9th day of September 1945 for and in behalf of the Commander-
in-Chief of the United States Army Forces, Pacific.
JOHN R. HODGE, Lieutenant General U.S. Army, Commanding General United States Army Forces in Korea
THOMAS C. KINCAID, Admiral, U. S. Navy Representative of the United States Navy
SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER SOUTH EAST ASIA
OF JAPANESE FORCES UNDER THE COMMAND OR CONTROL OF THE SUPREME
COMMANDER, JAPANESE EXPEDITIONARY FORCES, SOUTHERN REGIONS, WITHIN THE
OPERATIONAL THEATRE OF THE SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER, SOUTH EAST ASIA
1. In pursuance of and in compliance with :
(a) the Instrument of Surrender signed by the Japanese plenipotentiaries by command and on behalf of the Emperor
of Japan, the Japanese Government and the Japanese Imperial General Headquarters at Toyko on 2 September, 1945;
(b) General Order No. 1, promulgated at the same place and on the same date;
(c) the Local Agreement made by the Supreme Commander, Japanese Expeditionary Forces, Southern Regions, with
the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia at Rangoon on 27 August, 1945;
to all of which Instrument of Surrender, General Order and Local Agreement this present Instrument is
complementary and which it in no way supersedes, the Supreme Commander, Japanese Expeditionary Forces,
Southern Regions (Field Marshall Count Terauchi) does hereby surrender unconditionally to the Supreme Allied
Commander, South East Asia (Admiral The Lord Louis Mountbatten) himself and all Japanese sea, ground, air and
auxiliary forces under his command or control and within the operational theatre of the Supreme Allied Commander,
South East Asia.
2. The Supreme Commander, Japanese Expeditionary Forces, Southern Regions, undertakes to ensure that all orders
and instructions that may be issued from time to time by the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, or by any
of his subordinate Naval, Military, or Air-Force Commanders of whatever rank acting in his name, are scrupulously
and promptly obeyed by all Japanese sea, ground, air and auxiliary forces under the command or control of the
Supreme Commander, Japanese Expeditionary Forces, Southern Regions and within the operational theatre of the
Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia.
3. Any disobedience of, or delay or failure to comply with, orders or instructions issued by the Supreme Allied
Commander, South East Asia, or issued on his behalf by any of his subordinate Naval, Military, or Air Force
Commanders of whatever rank and any action which the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia, or his
341
subordinate Commanders action on his behalf, may determine to be detrimental to the Allied Powers, will be dealt
with as the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia may decide.
4. This Instrument takes effect from the time and date of signing.
5. This Instrument is drawn up in the English Language, which is the only authentic version. In any case of doubt to
intention or meaning, the decision of the Supreme Allied Commander, South East Asia is final. It is the responsibility
of the Supreme Commander, Japanese Expeditionary Forces, Southern Regions, to make such translations into
Japanese as he may require.
Signed at Singapore at 0341 hours (G.M.T.) on 12 September, 1945.
SEISHIRO ITAGAKI
LOUIS MOUNTBATTAN (for) SUPREME COMMANDER SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER JAPANESE

EXPEDITIONARY FORCES, SOUTH EAST ASIA, SOUTHERN REGIONS.
THE "AARLA"
The 1903 Henderson's of Glasgow-built 161-foot long diesel yacht "Aarla" (ex-Hecate, ex-Aar)
On Monday, September 17, 1945, the anti-submarine patrol yacht "Aarla", which had been on duty off the
West African coast, slipped quietly on to lay-up moorings off Tighnabruiach in The Kyles of Bute where she
was to remain for near the next two years as her owner was reluctant to spend the necessary £16,000 to bring
her back to her pre-war condition - Sold to The London-based Park Lane Shipping Company for £6,000,
she left Tighnabruiach on the morning of Thursday, June 26, 1947 - At around 2.30 a.m. the following
morning, in a heavy sea raised by a south-westerly gale, the crew of the outward-bound Ardrossan – Belfast
steamer "Lairdsdale" caught a brief glimpse of an unknown ship's lights some five miles south of Ailsa Craig
and then saw a momentary flash of light, then blackness.
Despite a search, joined by both the R.A.F. and the Campbeltown lifeboat, next day nothing was found and
it was only in the following days that some wreckage, then bodies were washed ashore on Arran and Kintyre
and then, at last, washed up on Kintyre, a six-foot long board with the missing ship's name - "Aarla".
A month later in 1947, there was another unexplained loss in the area and, though the subsequent inquiries
could not conclude the definite causes of these two losses, the general belief was that both ships had struck
floating debris from the post-war munitions dumps lying to the south of Ailsa Craig.
1945 : Mon October 15. Laval executed. Wed 24. Quisling executed.
342
The United Nations War Crimes Commission was established in London on October 7, 1942, with the support of seventeen
other Allied governments - On August 8, 1945, Britain, America, France and Russia signed the London Agreement setting
up the N.I.M.T. to bring the top leaders of Hitler's Germany to trial.
The Nuremberg International Military Tribunal began on November 20, 1945, it was conducted in four languages,
English. French, Russian and German - The trials lasted ten months in which it held a total of 403 sessions - Twenty
surviving leaders of the Third Reich were arraigned before the Allied judges as major war criminals, all pleaded 'Not Guilty' -
Ten were hanged on 16th October, 1946, seven were given prison sentences and three were acquitted - Two, Herman
Göring and Robert Ley committed suicide.
Thirty-three witnesses gave oral evidence for the prosecution against the defendants and sixty-one witnesses gave evidence for
the defence - Written evidence was given by 143 witnesses for the defence and a total of 1,809 affidavits from other witnesses
were also submitted - Everything said at the trial was stenographically and electrically recorded.
The evidence against the defendants were, in most cases, documents of their own making on which their own signatures were
proved authentic.
DEATH SENTENCES - In the US Zone of Germany, 462 major war criminals were sentenced to death in 1945. In the
British Zone, 240 received the death penalty and in the French Zone the number was 104 - Of the 806 death sentences
imposed by the western allies only about 400 were actually carried out - In the years since 1945, around 5,000 war criminals
were hunted down, tried and executed, the search continues to this day.
H.M.S. "MULL OF KINTYRE" the first and last warship to use the name
H.M.S. "MULL OF KINTYRE", a repair ship, was built in Canada at the North Vancouver Ship Repair Yard
where she was laid down in December 1944, launched less than 5 months later, in April 1945 and, completed
in October 1945, just as peace was breaking out - Her dimensions were 441’ (134.42m) x 57' (17.37m) x 30'
(9.14m) and she displaced around 10,500 tons - Propulsion came via two Foster Wheeler water tube boilers
and a single shaft to give her a speed of about 11 knots with a range of around 11,000 nautical miles, the
wartime long-range requirement well and truly met.
343
Ready for sea in November 1945, the war in Japan at a close, she was sent to the Pacific to join the many
other ships there in the huge task of locating and repatriating Allied servicemen in what became known as the
‘Pacific train’.
By the autumn of 1946 she was at Rothesay being used by the Experimental Target Trials Teams as their HQ
ship and, in 1947, H.M.S. "Mull of Kintyre" was moored further out in the bay as the base ship for a series of
explosion trials carried out in Loch Striven, these, lasting into 1950, involved detonating charges close to the
hull of a number of redundant cruisers, destroyers and submarines which then went to the breakers yard -
The cruiser H.M.S. "Emerald" had to be beached in Kames Bay and salvaged before being towed away.
H.M.S. "Mull of Kintyre" then went to Harwich where she was engaged in Reserve Fleet Armaments
Maintenance for a couple of years before being moved to Rosyth to be used as an accommodation ship - In
1955 she arrived in Portsmouth where she was layed-up until being taken in hand in 1959 for conversion to a
Minesweeper Support Ship and, the conversion complete, she commissioned in the late summer of 1961 and
sailed, via Suez, for the Far East and Singapore to fulfil the role of maintenance and support ship for the fleet
of both active and reserve sweepers there - Though technically put into ‘Reserve’ herself the 'Mull' went on
to provide workshop support and maintenance for those minesweepers for the next decade.
H.M.S. "Mull of Kintyre" - the first and last warship to use the name - was paid off in 1967, bought by a
Hong Kong company and towed away from Singapore in 1969 to be broken up.
Operation Deadlight
On November 27, 1945, "U-2321" became the first of the surrendered German submarines to be sunk in
Operation Deadlight - Here, two days later, "U-298" is seen being towed out to sea, through The North
Channel, by H.M.S. "Fowey" which had attacked "U-55" on January 30, 1940, the U-Boat then being
scuttled after a Sunderland of 228 Squadron (F/Lt. E. J. Brooks) also bombed her while she lay helpless on
the surface trying to recharge her exhausted batteries - This on record as the first U-Boat sinking of the war
involving an aircraft.
1945 : Fri December 14 - A Seafire (SW 857) crashed at the Craigs Farm, near Campbeltown, killing both
its crew - That same day another Seafire crashed (NGR 672250) behind Kilchenzie smiddy, the pilot killed.
In December 1945 - Rescue Tug Base at Campbeltown closed and, across the globe, the rescue tug
"Assiduous", a sister-ship of the "Assurance" which, her own name having been given to the class,
foundered on rocks in Loch Foyle, suffered the indignity of having herself to be towed by a frigate, the "Loch
Tarbert", from the port of Sourabaya, where her air pump had 'blown up', to Singapore. Their tow was
escorted by another frigate, the "Loch Fyne", she launched in 1944 and serving mainly in the Persian Gulf
and Far East until being de-commissioned at Devonport on May 6, 1963. The "Loch Fyne", after being paid
off, lay in the River Tamar until August 1970 when she was towed to John Cashmore's yard at Newport for
breaking up.
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OOPS !
In early December 1945, the “Duchess of Hamilton” again returned to Loch Ryan and, on the evening of
Boxing Day, Wednesday, December 26, 1945, while crossing from Larne with some 300 military personnel
on board, she ran at full speed into an almost perpendicular cliff just south of Corsewall Point, at the
entrance to Loch Ryan.
It was first thought that they had hit a mine and the ship’s distress signals brought out the Portpatrick
lifeboat. In the event, the “Duchess of Hamilton” had only a badly buckled bow and was able to free herself
under her own power and proceed to Stranraer where she lay until the Saturday when, in the afternoon, she
made her own way up-river for repairs, a new bow at Henderson’s yard in Glasgow.
She then returned to the Stranraer station and remained there until Thursday, March 28, 1946 when she
returned to Gourock to give assist on the day’s services and then went for re-conditioning at D. & W.
Henderson’s yard and return to peace-time sailings.
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1946
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21 Easter

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25 Christmas
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1946
THE VW AT WAR
The first post-war VW 'Beetle'
The war created a big demand for military vehicles. The Volkswagen factory was completely used for war production, but the
round Beetle body was to difficult and costly to use on war vehicles. The Military needed a cheap and easy to build/repair
vehicle. So the beetle chassis was cut to build a more square military convertible. The cars where called kübelwagens, and had
slightly raised suspension for off road purposes. There was also an amphibic version of the Beetle called the schwimmwagen.
It had a waterproof body and a propeller mounted on the crankshaft. During the war there were about 50.000 kübels and
15.000 schwimmwagens build.
The officers wanted a little more comfort and a special version of the beetle was built. It had a beetle-body and a kübel-pan,
these cars were called type 82 or kommandeurwagens. Almost 600 of these cars were built.
Besides cars, the factory was also used to repair German airplanes, make stoves for the soldiers on Eastern front and to produce
V1 flying bombs.
The post war years
When the war was over Germany was divided into 4 sectors. Each sector would be controlled by one of the allied forces
(England, France, USA and the Soviet Union). The Volkswagen factory ended up in the English zone. This was very important
for the survival of the beetle, as the French and Russians dismantled all the factories in their zones. They wanted to rebuild
them back home, as they had suffered a lot during the war. The Americans did not want to restart production of the Beetle,
they thought it was an inferior car.
When the English came to Wolfsburg, which was called KDF-stadt back then, they appointed Major Ivan Hirst of the Royal
Electrical and Mechanical Engineers as factory leader. The allied started a plan to remove all names that reminded of the Nazi
regime. So KDF-Stadt became Wolfsburg (The castle on the hill next to the factory was called Schloß Wolfsburg).
The English who were in charge of the area around Wolfsburg started to produce Beetles from the wreckage of the plant.
Cars were a rare commodity and the allied needed vehicles to control Germany. They built some prototype cars from parts they
found in the factory to show to the officers at head quarters. The officers were impressed and ordered 5000 saloons and the
factory was saved.
In 1948, the factory was given back to the German government and Major Hirst had to find a factory manager. He recruited
Heinrich Nordhoff, who worked for Opel before the war. Heinrich's work at Opel prevented him from getting a job in the
American sector. Nordhoff would prove to be pivotal for the factory's success. One of his accomplishments was the vision and
implementation of a great dealer/service network.
There was a car dealer called Ben Pon in the neighbouring country Holland who had been intrested in selling beetles even
before the war had started. Pon was still interested in the car and in 1946 he went to Germany. He bought 10 cars for the
Dutch army and he also bought a second hand Beetle that he used as a show model. As a result of this trip he became the first
importer of Volkswagen ever on August 8 1947. At this time he ordered 200 cars, but the production was not yet up to speed.
The first 6 Beetles where picked up on October 16, 1947.At the end of 1947 there where 67 beetles in Holland. The next year
the production started to get up speed and Pon and his dealers sold 1820 cars that year.
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In those first years the cars were exported to a few neighboring countries, but when on June, 20, 1948, Germany changed
currencies (the RM was changed into the DM to stop inflation, the exchange rate was 10:1) and exports grew dramatically.
England however, did not import many VWs until the late '50s, so strong was their anti German sentiment.
"JAIRMINNY CALLING ! JAIRMINNY CALLING ! "
Lord Haw-Haw - William Joyce
On Thursday, January 3, 1946, Brooklyn-American William Joyce, known as 'Lord Haw-Haw', the best-known of all
German broadcasters and one of 32 British renegades and broadcasters captured at the end of the war, became the last civilian
to be executed for treason in Britain - His equally-guilty Manchester-born wife, Margaret, escaped both charge and gallows
and died in London in 1972.
1946 : January - H.M.S. "Nimrod", the ASDIC training base, closed.
The ASDIC training base at Campbeltown - H.M.S. "Nimrod" - closed in January 1946 and, the following
month, "Shemara" departed from her mooring alongside Campbeltown's Old Quay and sailed for
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Southampton.
The first of The Admiralty's requisitioned yachts to be returned after war service, "Shemara", reconditioned
and refitted at Woolston by her builders, John I. Thornycroft and Company was returned to her owner, Sir
Bernard Docker, Chairman of Daimeler Cars and BSA, in time for him to sail for South Africa, in mid-
January 1947, to plan the motor schedule for the Royal Tour later that year and, on her return to Britain,
"Shemara", in all her new-found glory, paid a special visit to Campbeltown, the ship opened up, from 'keel
to truck', for the townspeople to explore.
The Dockers, their country residence at Heath House, Stockbridge, used "Shemara" as their floating home
for more than nine months every year and, whilst mainly yachting in The Mediterranean, sailed in her across
the world.
With her from the time of her building in 1938, Captain Hector Tourtel, a Guernseyman and first lieutenant
in the R.N.R.who had been in private yachts since 1926, continued to serve with her in the early stages of the
war - Promoted a Lieutenant-Commader, Tourtel took command of a Colony-class frigate, H.M.S.
"Ascension", before returning to take command of the "Shemara" at Campbeltown, where was being used
for anti-submarine training exercises and then staying with her when she returned to private service after the
war.
Tourtel's chief officer, Alfred George Luter, succeeded the ship's second master, Captain Sydney T.
Wencock, in early 1965 - In ill-health for some time, Luter died in July 1966 and his earlier state of health,
the ageing of the Dockers themselves and the fact that their son, Mr Lance Callingham, newly married and
'a frightfully bad traveller' and not keen to inherit "Shemara", all seems to have the Dockers to put the yact
up for sale, in the hands of yacht brokers, Crowther, Sewell and Pafford, in November 1965 at an asking
price of £600,000.
The yacht was eventually sold in 1968 to reclusive multi-millionaire property developer Harry J. Hyams, of
London 'Centre Point' office development fame, for just £290,000 - Hyams then unsuccessfully tried to
cancel the deal in court, claiming that the yacht's 'defects' would cost £100,000 to put right.
Despite the yacht's supposed 'defects', or perhaps even in order to discover if any existed, Hyams, his
personal fortune then estimated at £75 million, had gone cruising in The Bahamas and damaged the bottom
of the yacht on a reef, Vospers in Southampton then setting about repairing her now 'excessive vibrations'
and experts called in by both Vospers and Hyams - The £150,000 bill and the yacht languishing, generally
neglected by all, in the murky waters of the Itchen River at Southampton for the next six years ! In 1976,
New Zealander and television presenter Bryan Gould, then M.P. for Test, was on record at the time for
saying, "There's certainly no shortage of money around in some quarters in Britain but if the ordinary man
in the street owes a couple of quid, he is likely to be put on the debtors register at court".
The Dockers, moving themselves from Stockbridge, to Jersey and then Majorca, had also been at court,
until 1975, over the head of "Shemara", the yacht which had taken them on their honeymoon and for twenty-
seven years symbolised the lifestyle that had kept them in the headlines.
Lady Docker had gone to The High Court in London, in October 1975, to do final battle, this time with the yacht
brokers, Davies Turner Marine, who had sold "Shemara" to Harry Hyams - The brokers wanted the balance of their
commission, £3,400 plus costs and interest - The amount, now long outstanding and disputed, saw Lady Docker, her
husband's health failing, arriving alone at court, amicably settling the case for an all-in £3,000 and earning herself an
invitation to lunch with her opponents !
An historical archive remembering the 1950s says "The desire for release from austerity and dim duty was nowhere
more evident than in the public's fascination with the publicity-seeking Sir Bernard and Lady Docker - Sir Bernard
married Norah Collins, a one-time dancer at the Cafe de Paris and, throughout the 1950's, the graceless gaudy pair
entertained the nation with a succession of fancy cars, mink coats, champagne receptions and the
magnificent"Shemara", an 860-ton yacht with a crew of 35.
"It was conspicuous consumption on a massive scale - While people shook their heads in disbelief, they
were somehow grateful for the chance to wonder at a glamour and unabashed extravagance they had long
been denied - Lady Docker was the real showstopper, Sir Bernard was the complaisant supplier of her far
from petty cash" - Sir Bernard died, at the age of 81, in 1978 - Lady Docker, aged 78, was found dead in a
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London hotel in 1983 - "Shemara" continued to lie at her Northam moorings till 1979.
On Thursday, September 6, 1990, "Shemara" arrived at the Brooke Marine Shipyard in Lowestoft for an
extensive overhaul from which she has never emerged and to this very day, still owned by the reclusive
Harry Hyams, she remains at Lowestoft, her present-day captain reportedly a Scot, from The Western Isles.
"Shemara" as she now lies at Lowestoft in 2005
"Trivial Pursuit" - The 26-foot long starboard launch from "Shemara"

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At some point, possibly in the late 1970's, the yacht's 26-foot long starboard launch was sold off and today,
named "Trivial Puruit", the re-engined, immaculately revitalised and GRP-skinned launch, owned by Liz
Wastnage, swings on a mooring off The Royal Burnham Yacht Club in Essex.
U-Boats awaiting disposal in Operation Deadlight
According to one record, at 10.04 a.m. on the morning of February 11, 1946, the final U-Boat, "U-3514", was towed out
from Lisnahally and sunk in 'Operation Deadlight' at 56° 00' N, 10° 05' W.
1946 : February - The palatial yacht, H.M.S. "Shemara" which had been transformed into Campbeltown's
ASDIC training ship departed for the final time.
1946 : March - H.M.S. "Landrail" and the W.V.S canteen in Bolgam Street closed for the last time.
1946 - Tue March 5. Churchill’s “Iron Curtain” speech.
MOTHBALLED
1946 : April. After the end of WWII, in April 1946, the Machrihanish air base was put on a ‘care and
maintenance’ basis till December 1, 1951 when it was again reactivated for a year, till December 1, 1952
because of the Korean War crisis - This time the base was host to the Harvards of ‘799 Squadron’, the
Fireflies of ‘821’ and, ‘working up’ prior to embarking on H.M.S. “Indomitable”, in May 1952, the Fireflies of
‘826’ squadron.
THE RETURN TO PEACE

Apart from occasional pre-war 1930’s visits to Campbeltown, it was not until 1946 that the sister turbines
would begin to appear there regularly, the “Duchess of Hamilton” carrying out the run on Tuesdays,
Thursdays, Saturdays and alternate Sundays and Mondays, thus giving each turbine a day off for
maintenance once a fortnight and the “Duchess of Montrose” covering the other sailings each week until the
end of August each year when she went into harbour for her winter lay-up.
Of seemingly heavier construction, the “Duchess of Montrose” was undoubtedly the better sea-boat of the pair
and, in the last week of her Clyde service proved, at least on that occasion to be faster than her near sister.
and, on Saturday, March 16, 1946, The “Byron Darnton”

Over the years and the centuries there have been countless, many nameless, wrecks around Kintyre’s waters
and in living memory that of the 441-foot long Liberty ship “Byron Darnton”, bound from Copenhagen via
The Clyde to New York. 2,170 of these ships were built during the course of World War II - the “Robert E.
Perry” was built in a just 4 days 15 hours and 30 minutes thanks to simple design and well-organised
‘conveyor-belt’ construction methods.
There can be little doubting the fact that, though they were expected to last only one trip, if that at all,
crossing The Atlantic, they were strong ships and the bow section of the “Byron Darnton” lies still to this
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day on the outside of Sanda Island where she ran aground in heavy weather and bad visibility on Saturday,
March 16, 1946 ( there was a Full Moon two days later, on Monday, March 18, 1946 and, had the weather
conditions moderated and the ship not struck too hard, there seemed the possibility that she might have
been towed off the rocks ).
The Campbeltown life-boat “City of Glasgow ” being away for overhaul, the relief 45-foot long Watson Class
boat, the “Duke of Connaught”, set off but, unable to approach the wreck in darkness, waited for daylight in
the north lee of Sanda. With the wreck’s port side beam on to the shore and her outer, starboard, side being
covered continuously with mountainous seas, it was only on his third attempt that Duncan Newlands, the
Campbeltown coxswain, managed to get his boat between the ship’s dangerously heeling hull and the shore -
Fourteen hours after the “Byron Darnton” had grounded, the life-boat came away with all thirty-nine crew, six
men and nine women passengers - and a husky dog ! Last to leave was the ship’s radio operator.
As they passed Johnston’s Point, the life-boat’s engine flooded. Fortunately, she was one of the service’s
older boats and the next five miles homewards were made under sail until the boat’s mechanic, not a local
Campbeltown man but the mechanic attached full-time to the relief boat, managed to re-start the machinery.
In the meantime, just two hours after the life-boat had left the wreck, it broke in two. The captain, Robert
King, managed to board the stern section next day and managed to salve some of the passengers possessions
but the stern would quickly slide into deep water.
TOKYO INTERNATIONAL MILITARY TRIBUNAL - Held in the old Japanese War Ministry building at the
Ichigaya Garrison on May 3, 1946. Among the twenty-eight defendants there was one Field Marshal, nine full Generals, four
Lt. Generals, one Colonel and three Admirals. President of the Tribunal was Sir William Webb of Australia. The trial lasted
two years and ninety days. It adjourned at 4.12pm on November 12, 1948. Altogether, 314 cases were heard. There were 207
verdicts and 419 witnesses were called before eleven Judges from eleven countries.
THE END OF GRAF VON MATUSCHKA'S "PRINZ"
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Looking aft on "Prinz Eugen"
On Sunday, June 30, 1946, the Americans carried out an atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll in The Pacific -
One of targets there was the "Prinz Eugen", which had escaped to Brest before the "Bismark" was sunk on
May 26, 1941 - Nearly a year later, on February 12, 1942, she had broken out of Brest with the
"Scharnhorst" and the "Gneisenau" and, defying all the British efforts, had raced safely home to
Wilhelmshaven through The Straits of Dover in full daylight - The only one of Germany's big ships to
survive the war and the very ship that Kapitanlieutenant Graf von Matuschka of Kintyre's very own U-Boat,
"U-482", had begun his sea-going career in as range-finding officer, the "Prinz Eugen" survived two atomic
blasts and was later towed to Kwajalein Atoll where she capsized and sank.
1946 - Sat July 13. U.S. loan of £937m to Britain whose war had her cost £10 billion.
1946 and the "Saint Columba" becomes the last of the Clyde Steamers to be released for reconditioning
1946 : Wed October 16. Nuremberg sentences carried out - Goering committed suicide .
CAMPBELTOWN ROLL OF HONOUR

ADAM, James Chief Engineer, M.N., Lochend
ANDERSON, Charles L/Bdr, R.A.
ANDERSON, Donald Private, Black Watch
ANDERSON, John M Sgt, A.& S. H.
ANDERSON, Stephen Sgt, A. & S. H., Reading Place
BANNATYNE, Hector Steward, Trawler Service, R.N., 1 Big Kiln

BELL, Archibald O.S., R.N., 16 Park Square
BLAIR, David Carmichael Pilot Officer, Flying Officer, R.A.F., 10 Parliament Place
BLUE, Alastair Farquhar L.A.C, R.A.F.V.R, Glenlea
BLUE, Thomas Gunner, R.A., Glebe Street
BOYD, Alexander Private, A. & S. H., 21 Dell Road
BOYD, James Private, A. & S.H., 21 Dell Road
353
BRODIE, John Seaman, R.N., Lorn Cottage
BRODIE, Neil L/Bdr, R.A.
BRODIE, Neil L/S, R.N.
BROWN, William Gunner, R.A., Cowdenknowes
BRYSON, John Orr A.B., R.N., Bolgam Street
CAMPBELL, Archibald Thomas Wilson Sgt, R.A.F., 4 Fisher Row

CAMPBELL, Duncan Sgt, A. & S. H., Reading Cottage
CAMPBELL, Keith A.B., R.N., Queen Street
CAMPBELL, Robert G. A.B., R.N., 15 Park Square
CONLEY, James Driver, R.A.O.C.
CONNER, Duncan C.S.M., A. & S. H., 112 Longrow
CONNER, John M. Sapper, R.E.
COOK, Angus Private, A. & S. H., Parliament Place

COOK, Hugh P.A.L, L/Bdr., R.A., 11 Burnside Street
CUNNINGHAM, John C. P.O., R.A.F.
CUNNINGHAM, Robert James Cpl, A. & S. H., Bleak House, Campbeltown
DEAKIN, Ronald Stoker, P.O., R.N., 6 Glenside

DEANS, William Cramsey Cpl, A. & S. H., Darlochan
DOCHERTY, Donald Private, A. & S. H., Drumlemble
DONACHY, William P.O., R.N.
DOUGLAS, John L/S, R.N.
DOWNIE, William Chief Officer, M.N., 78 Smith Drive
DUNCAN, William Private, Royal Scots
GALBRAITH, Daniel W/0, R.A.F.V.R., 19 Victoria Place

GALBRAITH, William John Lt, A. & S. H., 14 Smith Drive
GIBSON, Alexander W. G. Lieut., R.N.
GILCHRIST, William Purcell Cpl, A. & S. H., 5 North Shore Street
GILL, Hector McNeill Sgt, R.A.F., 20 Broad Street
GIRVAN, John MacCallum A.B., R.N., 26 Main Street
GRAHAM, William Brodie Seaman, R.N., 18 Cross Street
GRANT, William U.S. Army
GRUMOLI, Italo Private, Parachute Reg., 49 Main Street
HART, Lachlan Stoker 1st Class, R.N., 6 Glenside

HASTIE, John Crawford Stoker, R.N., 20 Burnside Street
HAY, George Forester L/S, R.N., 4 John Street
HELM, David L/Bdr, R.A., New Quay Head
HOYNES, Robert Brackenridge F/Sgt, R.A.F., Main Street

HUGHES, James Private, Royal Scots Fusiliers
JOHNSTON, Andrew A/C, R.A.F., Marchfield

JOHNSTON, John McA. F/Sgt, R.A.F., Marchfield
KERR, James Rifleman, Cameronians, Drumlemble
McARTHUR, Daniel Private, A. & S. H., Drumlemble

McARTHUR, James D. Sapper, R.E.
McARTHUR, James Wallace 5 Glebe Street
McARTHUR, John Gillespie Bdr., R.A., 2 Main Street
McARTHUR, Peter L/Sgt, R.A., 19 Victoria Place
MACARTHUR, Robert Macfarlane L/Bdr, R.A., Commando, Mile End
354
McAULAY, John Cook
McCAIG, Allistair McD. Rifleman, Cameronians
McCAIG, Campbell Gunner, R.A.
McCALLUM, Archibald Sgt, A. & S. H., Macharioch (late of Campbeltown)
MacCALLUM, Archibald Private, Cameron Highlanders
McCALLUM, Donald Sgt, R.A., Mill Street
McCALLUM, Gilbert Gunner, R.A., Mill Street
McCALLUM, John Mactaggart Carpenter, M.N., 18 Castlepark
McDIARMID, Duncan A.B., R.N., 9 Main Street
MACGAW, Neil McArthur P.O., R.A.F.V.R., 4 Corrunna Street, Glasgow (late of Campbeltown)
McGEACHY, John Cpl, A. & S. H., 26 Main Street, Campbeltown
McGILL, John Private, Royal Scots Fusiliers
McINNES, Alexander A.C.I., R.A.F., 5 Kirk Street
McINNES, Duncan Sgt, A. & S. H., Ballywilline Cottage
McINTYRE, Malcolm Gunner, R.A., Burnside Street

MACKAY, Gilbert P.O., R.N.V.R., 10 Station Road, Blanefield (late of Campbeltown)
MACKENZIE, James L/S, R.N., 26 Main Street
McKINLAY, James Kerr L/Cpl, East Lanes., Farnworth, Bolton, (late of Campbeltown)
McKINNON, Alexander C.S.M, A. & S. H., Clochkiel
MACKINNON, Robert L. Capt, Seaforth Highlanders, 25 Smith Drive
McMILLAN, Archibald Gunner, R.A., 15 Parliament Place
McMILLAN, Donald A.C.I., R.A.F., 85 Longrow
McMILLAN, Dugald L/Cpl, R.A.O.C., Darlochan
McMILLAN, John H. A.B., R.N.
McMILLAN, Malcolm Airborne Dvn., R.F.M., Royal Ulster Rifles Glider pilot, Glenside
McMILLAN, Neil Sgt, R.A., 47 High Street
McNEAL, Malcolm FI/Lieut., R.A.F.
McNEILL, Ronald Canadian Army, Alberta (late of Saddell Street)
McPHEE, Peter Private, A. & S. H.
MACPHERSON, Robert Chaplain, London Scottish, Kirk Street
McTAGGART, Andrew C. Gunner, R.A., 14 Burnside Street
McWHIRTER, Thomas Finn Seaman, R.N.R., 53 Longrow
MARTIN, Donald Private, A. & S. H., 13 Glenside

MARTIN, lan Malcolm L/Sgt, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, The Bungalow, Drumore
MASON, James Gunner, R.A., 13 Argyll Street
MATHIESON, Dugald Stoker, R.N., 9 Shore Street
MAYO, Victor Joseph Sgt, R.A., Argyll Street
MERRILEES, Lawrence Private, A. & S. H., 26 Burnside Street
MITCHELL, Allan Private, A. & S. H.
MITCHELL, Hugh C. Cpl, Royal Scots, Kilkivan
MORRISON, John L.A.C., R.A.F., 5 Castlepark

MUIR, Matthew Private, A. & S. H., 22 Park Square
MUNRO, Charles L/Cpl, A. & S. H.
MUNRO, David McArthur F/Sgt, R.A.F., Drumlemble
O'HARA, George Private, A. & S. H., Ballygreggan Cottage

OLLAR, A. J. S. P.O., R.A.F.
PATERSON, Alexander Cameron Private, Cameron Highlanders, 39 Longrow

PATERSON, Robert Private, A. & S. H., Kirk Close
PERRY, Robert H. A.B., R.N.
RANKIN, Duncan Gunner, R.A., 2 Cross Street
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SCOTT, Alexander C. P.O., R.A.F.
SCOTT, James Guardsman, Scots Guards, Drumore
SCOTT, James Private, A, & S. H., Witchburn
STEWART, George Gunner, R.A.
TAYLOR, Leslie A. Sgt, Royal Marines

TERRY, Alexander Galbraith Sgt, A. & S. H., Glider Pilot, Glentorran Place
THOMSON, Alexander Chief Officer, MX, Beith Place
THOMSON, Archibald Pte, Cameron Highlanders, Swallowholm, Machrihanish
THOMSON, Thomas L/Sgt, R.A, Jane Street, Ibrox (late of Campbeltown)
WAREHAM, Arthur L. H. Seaman, R.N.R., 36 Longrow

WATSON, John Gunner, R.A., 6 Queen Street
WILSON, Archibald Pipe Major, A. & S. H., 42 Broad Street
WILSON, Robert Private, A. & S. H.
YOUNG, Albert Frederick Cpl, B.N.A.F., Royal North Lancs, 1 Big Kiln
The King's Message to Boys and Girls
OFFICIAL PROGAMME of the VICTORY CELEBRATIONS,

8th June 1946 - in London, England
356
King George V and The Queen
HIS MAJESTY’S PROCESSION
The King, accompanied by the Queen, the Princess Elizabeth and the Princess Margaret, will drive in a State Landau. The
Royal Carriage will be escorted by a Captain’s Escort of the Household Cavalry with Standard
ROUTE a.m.
Buckingham Palace 10.10
Marble Arch 10.25
Oxford Street
Charing Cross Road 10.35
Northumberland Avenue 10.40
Bridge Street 10.46
Whitehall
The Mall (Saluting Base) 10.57
CHIEFS OF STAFF'S PROCESSION
The Chiefs of Staff at VE Day and VJ Day, together with the Supreme Allied Commanders, will precede the Mechanised
Column, leaving the Clarence Gate in Regent's Park at 9.15 a.m. and arriving at the Saluting Base at 10.20 a.m.
MARCH PAST
The Mechanised and Marching Columns will follow the routes given below, joining at Parliament Square and passing together
up Whitehall, the Mechanised Column leading. Between the arrival of His Majesty at the Saluting Base and the
commencement of the March Past, the Massed Pipers of Scottish and Irish Regiments will march and counter-march in the
Mall. The head of the joint Column will pass the Saluting Base at 11.20 a.m. At the conclusion of the March Past, Squadrons
of the Royal Air Force, together with Squadrons of the Naval Air Arm, will fly past the Base.
MECHANISED COLUMN
ROUTE a.m.
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Regent’s Park (Clarence Gate) 9.18
Park Square West
Marylebone Road
Euston Road 9.28
Pentonville Road
City Road
Old Street 9.45
Hackney Road
Cambridge Heath Road
Whitechapel Road 10.04
Whitechapel High Street
Aldgate High Street
Mansell Street 10.11
Royal Mint Street
Shorter Street
Tower Hill 10.14
Eastcheap
King William Street
London Bridge 10.19
Borough High Street
Newington Causeway
Newington Butts 10.31

Kennington Park Road
Harleyford Road
Upper Kennington Lane
Vauxhall Bridge 10.43
Millbank
Abingdon Street
Parliament Square 10.52
Whitehall
Admiralty Arch
Constitution Hill
Hyde Park Corner 11.26
Hamilton Place
Park Lane
Edgware Road
Marylebone Road
Regent’s Park 11.50
ORDER OF MARCH
COMMANDERS: Police Motor Cycle Patrols
ALLIED Despatch Riders of the Royal Navy
358
ROYAL NAVY Despatch Riders of the Army
ARMY Despatch Riders of the Royal Air Force
AIR FORCE Despatch Riders of the National Fire Service
ROYAL NAVY Amphibious Jeeps - Weasels - DUKW's - Mobile Wireless Telegraphy Units
Aircraft Refuellers - Mobile Sick Bays
ROYAL AIR FORCE Reconnaissance Cars - Light Ambulance - Special Ambulance - Radar Vehicle
Despatch Rider Letter Service Van – Signals Van - Recruiting Van - Pre-heater Van
Freighter – Aircraft Refueller mounted on 10-ton Tender - Fire Tenders - Breakdown Tender
Fire Crash Tender - Dental Caravan towed by Air Traffic Control Towing Car
Mechanical Horse - Bomb Tenders (Loaded) - Cooking Tender - Mobile Canteen
Radar Vehicles - 3-ton Tender with Propeller Transporter
Educational, and Vocational Training Van – OfficeTender
Parachute Drying Tender - Parachute Servicing Vehicle
Tipping Tender – Trucktor - Water Tender (1,000 Gallons) - Petrol Tender (1,000 Gallons)
Aircraft Transporter - Airfield Floodlight – Oxygen Plant
Landmark Beacon towed by 3-ton Tender - Aerial Lighthouse towed by 3-ton Tender
Mobile Workshop - Power Plant 20 K.V.A. - Radar Vehicles
Airborne Lifeboat on Aircraft Transporter - Light Tractor – 10-ton Truck carrying Elevator Truck
Mechanical Horses with Torpedo Carriers - Ammunition Carriers
Airfield Snowplough - Runway Sweeper - Radar Vehicles
Balloon Winch with Hydrogen Cylinders - Heavy Ambulance - Air Traffic Control
Air Passenger Coaches - Troop Carriers - Pantechnicon - Radar Vehicle
Petrol Tender (2,500 Gallons) - Aircraft Salvage Tender
CIVILIAN SERVICES
POLICE Patrol Cars
FIRE SERVICES Control Vans - Turntable Ladders (100 ft.) - Turntable Ladders (60 ft.)
Enclosed Fire Pumps - Auxiliary Towing Vehicles with Trailer Pumps
Pump Escapes - Self-propelled Heavy Pump Units - Water Tenders
CIVIL DEFENCE SERVICES

Civil Defence Reserve Rescue Vehicles - Light Rescue Vehicles (London)
Heavy Rescue Vehicles (London) - Rescue Vehicles - Rescue and War Debris Cranes
Rescue and War Debris Tippers with Skips - Decontamination vehicles
(manned by Decontamination Squads and Gas Identification Officers)
American Gift Ambulances (Great Britain) - Ambulances - Mobile Canteens
Mobile Emergency Food Units - Blood Transfusion Vans
AGRICULTURE Land Drainage Excavator - Farm Tractor and Binder
TRANSPORT SERVICES
London Buses - Provincial Buses - 6-8-ton Articulated Vehicles - Cruiser Cranes
6-ton Mechanical Horses - Mechanised Transport Corps Cars - Insulated Meat Vans
PUBLIC UTILITIES
Mobile Coast Radio Station - Mobile Telegraph Office - Mobile Gas Compressor - Gas Lorry and
Purging Machine Trailer - Standard Electricity Repair Units
Tractors with Trailer Mounting Electrically-Driven Water Pumps
GENERAL SERVICES Y.M.C.A. Mobile Canteens - Church Army Mobile Canteens - Salvation Army Mobile Canteens
National Savings Vans
359
ARMY
ROYAL ARMOURED CORPS

Comet Command Tank - Scout Cars - Armoured Cars - Chaffee (Light) Tanks
Cromwells - Comets - Churchills - Shermans - Crocodiles - Flails
Bridge Laying Tanks
ROYAL ARTILLERY Jeep - Self-propelled 25-pdrs - Towed 25-pdrs - Towed 5.5-in. Guns
Towed 7.2-in. Howitzer - Self-propelled 17-pdrs - Towed 3.7-in Anti-Aircraft Guns
Bofors Guns - Searchlight Lorries - 77-mm Howitzer (Air Transportable)
ROYAL ENGINEERS Jeep - Armoured Vehicles, Royal Engineers - Centaur Dozers - Arks
Class I Angledozers on Trailers - Tournapuls (Super C) with 12-yard Scrapers
Motor Graders - Excavators RB19 with Face Shovel Equipment on Trailers towed by Matador
Tractor - Bomb Disposal Lorries with Trepanning and Steaming Out Apparatus
Unicraft on Trailer - 153-h.p. Diesel Tank Engines on Trailers - Survey Printing Lorries
ROYAL CORPS OF SIGNALS

Jeep - Cars drawing Signals Trailers - 3-ton Wireless Lorries - 3-ton Cable Laying Lorries
Command Vehicles - Half Tracks - Armoured Command Vehicles
Tractors drawing Signals Equipment Trailers - 3-ton Lorries towing Beam Wireless Trailers
15-ton Cable Lorries
INFANTRY AND ARMY AIR CORPS AND SPECIAL FORCES

Half Tracks - M.M.G. Carriers - Universal Carriers - Windsor Carriers
Jeeps of the Special Air Service - Jeeps with Trailers (Air Transportable)
Jeeps of the Special Forces
ROYAL ARMY SERVICE CORPS (including Royal Army Medical Corps)

Jeep - Jeeps with Trailers - Weasels - Troop Carrying Lorries - Water Lorries
Bulk Petrol Lorries - Machinery Lorries - 3-ton Lorries towing Generator Trailers
10-ton Lorries towing Bakery Equipment Trailers - DUKW's - Folding Boat Equipments
Pontoon Lorries - Matador Tractors towing Pontoon Trailers
Diamond "T" Tank Transporters carrying LVT's - Armoured Personnel Carriers
Stretcher Ambulances
ROYAL ARMY ORDNANCE CORPS (including Army Film and Photographic Unit)
Jeep - Binned Stores Trailer and Boot Repair Trailer - Mobile Crane and Breakdown Lorry
Water Trucks - Mobile Oxygen Plant and Mobile Inert Gas Plant
Clothing Repair Trailer and Mobile Laundry Boiler Trailer - Mobile Acetylene Plants
Mobile Laundry Washing Machine Trailers - Boot Repair Plants (Air Transportable)
Jeeps of the Army Film and Photographic Unit
WAR CORRESPONDENTS Jeeps
NAVY ARMY AND AIR FORCE INSTITUTES AND FIRST AID NURSING YEOMANRY
Mobile Canteens
ROYAL ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERS

Jeep - 20-ton Tank Transporters carrying Crawler Tractors - Heavy Breakdown Tractors
3-ton Machinery Lorries - Jeeps - 40-ton Tank Transporter carrying Cromwell
Armoured Recovery Vehicles - Beach Armoured Recovery Vehicles
ARMY FIRE SERVICES

Fire Tender Lorries towing Trailer Fire Pumps - Fire Engines
MARCHING COLUMN
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ROUTE
a.m.
Marble Arch 10.35
Oxford Street 10.45
Charing Cross Road 10.58
Trafalgar Square 11.08
Northumberland Avenue 11.11
Embankment 11.16
Parliament Square 11.25
Halt
Whitehall 11.55
p.m.
Constitution Hill 12.05
Hyde Park Corner 12.13
ORDER OF MARCH
ALLIED FORCES Bands - (the "Big 5" less Great Britain) - United States of America
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics - China - France
Belgium - Brazil - Czechoslovakia - Denmark - Egypt - Ethiopia - Greece - Iran

Iraq - Luxembourg - Mexico - Nepal - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Transjordan
Yugoslavia
ANGLO-EGYPTIAN SUDAN
BRITISH EMPIRE
DOMINIONS Bands - Canada - Commonwealth of Australia - New Zealand

Union of South Africa - Southern Rhodesia - Newfoundland
INDIA Royal Indian Navy - Indian Armoured Corps - Royal Indian Artillery
Royal Indian Engineers - Indian Signal Corps - Band of Royal Garhwal Rifles
Indian Infantry - Gurkha Rifles - Indian State Forces - Royal Indian Air Force
BURMA Burma Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve - Burma Army - Burma Volunteer Air Force
THE COLONIAL EMPIRE
WEST AFRICA Nigeria, Gold Coast, Sierra Leone, Gambia

Royal West African Frontier Force - West African Artillery - West African Engineers
West African Signals - West African Army Service Corps - West African Medical Corps
West African Ordnance Corps - West African Electrical and Mechanical Engineers
Corps of West African Military Police - West African Auxiliary Pioneer Corps
EAST AND CENTRAL AFRICA

Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika, Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia, Zanzibar, British Somaliland
Kenya Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve - Tanganyika Naval Volunteer Force
East Africa Reconnaissance Regiment - East Africa Armoured Car Regiment
King's African Rifles - Northern Rhodesia Regiment - Somaliland Scouts
East Africa Artillery - East Africa Engineers - East Africa Corps of' Signals
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East Africa Chaplains Department - East Africa Army Service Corps
East Africa Army Medical Corps - East Africa Army Ordnance Corps
East Africa Army Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - East Africa Army Educational Corps
East Africa Military Police - East Africa Army Pioneer Corps - East Africa Army Labour Service
The Kenya Regiment - East Africa Military Nursing Service - Women's Territorial Service
Kenya Police - Tanganyika Police - Uganda Police
ADEN Aden Protectorate Levies
BERMUDA Bermuda Militia Artillery - Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps - Bermuda Volunteer Engineers
CEYLON Ceylon Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve - Royal Artillery - Royal Engineers
Royal Army Service Corps - Ceylon Garrison Artillery - Ceylon Engineers
Ceylon Light Infantry - Ceylon Signal Corps - Ceylon Army Service Corps
Ceylon Medical Corps - Ceylon Railway Engineer Corps - Ceylon Corps of Military Police
Ceylon Electrical and Mechanical Corps - Ceylon Pioneers - Auxiliary Territorial Service
CYPRUS Cyprus Regiment - Cyprus Volunteer Force - Royal Air Force
FALKLAND ISLANDS Falklands Islands Defence Force
GIBRALTAR Gibraltar Defence Force
HONG KONG Hong Kong Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve - Hong Kong Volunteer Defence Corps
Hong Kong Volunteer Company - Hong Kong Pioneer Company - Civilian Services
MALAYA Royal Navy - Malay Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve - Royal Artillery - Royal Engineers
Royal Corps of Signals - Royal Army Medical Corps - Royal Army Ordnance Corps
Royal Army Service Corps - Malay Regiment - Straits Settlements Volunteer Force
Federated Malay States Volunteer Force - Johore Military Forces - Kedah Volunteer Force
Kelantan Volunteer Force - Johore Volunteer Force - Royal Air Force

Malay Volunteer Air Force - Local Defence Corps - Police and Guerilla Forces
Civilian Services
WEST INDIES Bahamas, Barbados, British Guiana, British Honduras, Jamaica, Leeward Islands, Trinidad and
Tobago, Windward Islands
West Indian Detachment - Royal Air Force
FIJI AND WESTERN PACIFIC

Fiji Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve - Fiji Infantry Regiment - Fiji Medical Corps
Tonga Defence Force - British Solomon Islands Protectorate Defence Force
Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony Defence Force
MAURITIUS Mauritius Pioneer Corps - Mauritius Women's Volunteer Corps
NORTH BORNEO, BRUNEI, LABUAN AND SARAWAK Police and Guerilla Forces
PALESTINE Trans-Jordan Frontier Force - Palestine Regiment - Palestine Police
ST. HELENA St. Helena Regiment - Merchant Navy
SEYCHELLES Seychelles Pioneer Corps
SOUTH AFRICAN HIGH COMMISSION TERRITORIES Basutoland, Bechuanaland, Swaziland

South African High Commission Territories Corps
362
MALTA Royal Navy - Royal Malta Artillery - Royal Engineers - Corps of Signals
King's Own Malta Regiment - Army Service Corps - Army Medical Corps
Army Ordnance Corps - Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - Army Pay Corps
Malta Pioneer Group - Royal Air Force - Malta Police - Civilian Services
NAVAL FORCES
ROYAL NAVY Seamen - Engine Room Department - Band - Miscellaneous Branches and Reserves
Royal Marines - Queen Alexandra's Royal Naval Nursing Service and V.A.D’s
Women’s Royal Naval Service
MERCHANT NAVY - FISHING FLEETS - LIGHTHOUSE SERVICES - COASTGUARDS
PILOTS - ROYAL NATIONAL LIFEBOAT INSTITUTION
CIVILIAN SERVICES (FIRST CONTINGENTS)
POLICE Metropolitan Police Central Band - Civil Police - Admiralty Civil Police
War Department Constabulary - Air Ministry Constabulary - Railway and Docks Police
FIRE SERVICE National fire service - Salvage Corps
CIVIL DEFENCE SERVICE (FIRST PART)

Rescue Dog Handlers and Dogs - Civil Defence Reserve - Wardens - Rescue Service
Report and Control Service
CIVIL DEFENCE SERVICES (SECOND PART)

American Gift Ambulances (Great Britain) - Ambulance Service - First Aid Posts
Civil Nursing Reserve - Nurses in Voluntary and Public Hospitals
Midwives and District Nurses - War-time Nurseries - Lay Staffs of Hospitals
Medical Auxiliaries
NURSING SERVICES Joint War Organisation of British Red Cross Society and Order of St. John of Jerusalem
St. Andrew’s Ambulance Association
WOMEN'S VOLUNTARY SERVICES
AGRICULTURE Women’s Land Army and Timber Corps - Farm Workers
ARMY Household Cavalry - Band - Life Guards and Royal Horse Guards
ROYAL ARMOURED CORPS

Band - 1st King's Dragoon Guards - The Queen's Bays - 3rd Carabiniers
4th/7th Dragoon Guards - 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards - The Royal Dragoons
The Scots Greys - 3rd Hussars - 4th Hussars - 7th Hussars - 8th Hussars - 9th Lancers
10th Hussars - 11th Hussars - 12th Lancers - 13th/18th Hussars - 14th/20th Hussars
15th/19th Hussars - 16th/5th Lancers - 17th/21st Lancers - 1st Royal Tank Regiment
2nd Royal Tank Regiment - 3rd Royal Tank Regiment - 4th Royal Tank Regiment
5th Royal Tank Regiment - 6th Royal Tank Regiment - 7th Royal Tank Regiment
8th Royal Tank Regiment - Royal Armoured Corps - North Irish Horse
Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry - Warwickshire Yeomanry - Yorkshire Hussars
Nottinghamshire Yeomanry - Staffordshire Yeomanry - 1st and 2nd Derbyshire Yeomanry
1st and 2nd Royal Gloucestershire Hussars - 1st and 2nd Lothians and Border Horse Yeomanry
1st and 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry - Westminster Dragoons
3rd and 4th County of London Yeomanry - 1st and 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry
1st East Riding of Yorkshire Yeomanry - The Inns of Court Regiment
40th and 46th Royal Tank Regiment - 41st and 47th Royal Tank Regiment
42nd and 48th Royal Tank Regiment - 43rd and 49th Royal Tank Regiment
44th and 50th Royal Tank Regiment - 45th and 51st Royal Tank Regiment
363
107th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (King's Own)
116th Regiment Royal Armoured Corps (Gordon Highlanders)
3rd Reconnaissance Regiment - 43rd Reconnaissance Regiment
ROYAL ARTILLERY, ROYAL ENGINEERS AND ROYAL SIGNALS

Royal Horse Artillery - Royal Artillery - Royal Artillery Band
Royal Engineers and Royal Signals Band - Royal Engineers - Royal Corps of Signals
BRIGADE OF GUARDS Band of the Brigade of Guards - Corps of Drums of the Brigade of Guards
Grenadier Guards - Coldstream Guards - Scots Guards - Irish Guards - Welsh Guards
INFANTRY OF THE LINE, ARMY AIR CORPS AND COMMANDOS

Band - The Queen's Royal Regiment - The Buffs - The King's Own Royal Regiment
The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers - The Royal Warwickshire Regiment
The Royal Fusiliers - The King’s Regiment - The Royal Norfolk Regiment
The Lincolnshire Regiment - The Devonshire Regiment - The Suffolk Regiment
The West Yorkshire Regiment - The East Yorkshire Regiment
The Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Regiment - The Leicestershire Regiment
The Green Howards - The Lancashire Fusiliers - The Cheshire Regiment
The Gloucestershire Regiment - The Worcestershire Regiment - The East Lancashire Regiment
The East Surrey Regiment - The Duke of Wellington’s Regiment - The Border Regiment
The Royal Sussex Regiment - The Hampshire Regiment - The South Staffordshire Regiment
The Dorsetshire Regiment - The South Lancashire Regiment - The Essex Regiment
Honourable Artillery Company - The Cambridgeshire Regiment - 10th London Regiment
The Hertfordshire Regiment - The Herefordshire Regiment - Band - The Sherwood Foresters
The Loyal Regiment - The Northamptonshire Regiment - The Royal Berkshire Regiment
The Queens Own Royal West Kent Regiment - The Middlesex Regiment
The Wiltshire Regiment - The Manchester Regiment - The North Staffordshire Regiment
The York and Lancaster Regiment - The Somerset Light Infantry
The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry - The Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry
The King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry - The King's Shropshire Light Infantry
The Durham Light Infantry - The Kings Royal Rifle Corps - The Rifle Brigade
The Artists Rifles - Pipes and Drum Band - The Royal Scots - The Royal Scots Fusiliers
The King's Own Scottish Borderers - The Cameronians - The Black Watch
The Highland Light Infantry - The Seaforth Highlanders - The Gordon Highlanders
The Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders - The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders
Lovat Scouts - London Scottish - Liverpool Scottish - The Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers
The Royal Ulster Rifles - The Royal Irish Fusiliers - London Irish Rifles
The Royal Welch Fusiliers - The South Wales Borderers - The Welch Regiment
The Monmouthshire Regiment - Glider Pilot Regiment - Parachute Regiment
Special Air Service Regiment - Commandos - Jewish Brigade
CORPS AND SERVICES Royal Army Chaplains Department - Band of the Royal Army Service Corps
Royal Army Service Corps - Band of the Royal Army Medical Corps
Royal Army Medical Corps - Royal Army Ordnance Corps
Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers - Royal Army Pay Corps
Royal Army Veterinary Corps - Army Education Corps - Army Dental Corps
Corps of Military Police and Military Provost Staff Corps - Pioneer Corps
Intelligence Corps - Army Physical Training Corps - Army Catering Corps
Army Welfare Service
HOME GUARD Band - Detachment of Home Guard.
QUEEN ALEXANDRA'S IMPERIAL MILITARY NURSING SERVICE AND VOLUNTARY AID DETACHMENTS
Band
AUXILIARY TERRITORIAL SERVICE - FIRST AID NURSING YEOMANRY
CIVILIAN SERVICES (SECOND CONTINGENT)
364
Band of the National Fire Service
TRANSPORT SERVICES Railways - Tramways - Omnibuses - Road Haulage - Air Transport Auxiliary
Docks - Canals
CIVIL DEFENCE, SERVICES (THIRD PART)

Industrial Civil Defence Services - Fire Guard and Raid Spotters
POST-RAID SERVICES
Administrative and Information Centres - Emergency Information - Rest Centres
Mortuary Service - Emergency Food Service - Londoners' Meals Service
Port of London Authority River Emergency Service - Clyde River Service
Voluntary Stretcher Bearers (Hospital) - Orderlies in Casualty Evacuation Trains
Inter-Hospital Transport - Billeting Service
PUBLIC UTILITY SERVICES

Post Office - Gas, Electricity and Water Undertakings - Road Repairs
INDUSTRIAL WORKERS (FIRST PART)

Aircraft Industry - Boot and Shoe Trades - Brickmaking - Building Trades
Canteens and Catering - Chemicals Manufacture - Clerical Staff - Clothing Workers
Distributive Trades - Constructional Engineers - Electrical Engineers - General Engineers
Marine Engineers - Explosives Manufacture
INDUSTRIAL WORKERS (SECOND PART)

Coalminers - Fishing - Food, Drink and Tobacco Manufacture - Glass and Pottery
Hosiery Workers - Laundry Workers - Hospital Domestic Staff - Iron and Steel Workers
Non-Ferrous Metal Workers - Paper and Printing Trades - Rubber Workers - Shipbuilding
Cotton Operatives - Jute Workers - Rayon Manufacture - Woollen Industry
Woodworking and Furnishing Industry
GENERAL SERVICES Y.M.C.A. - Y.W.C.A. - Church Army - Salvation Army - Toc H - Church of Scotland Huts
Methodist and United Board Churches - Catholic Women's League - Army Scripture Readers
Soldiers', Sailors' and Airmen’s Families Association

Soldiers', Sailors' and Airmen's Help Society - Women’s Institutes - National Savings Workers
CHANNEL ISLANDS AND ISLE OF MAN
ALLIED AIR FORCES Central Band Of the Royal Air Force - United States of America (Army and Naval)
France - Belgium - Czechoslovakia - Greece - Netherlands - Norway - Poland - Yugoslavia
ROYAL AIR FORCE Bomber Command

Groups No. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 (Pathfinder), 26 (Signals), 91, 92 (0.T.U.), 93 and 100
Fighter Command
Groups No. 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 38, 60 (Signals), 70, 81, 82 and 88
Balloon Groups 31, 32, 33 and 43
Coastal Command - Groups No. 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 106, 200 and 247
British Air Forces of Occupation, Germany
Air Command South East Asia
Groups No. 221, 222, 223, 224, 225, 226, 227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 232, 233 and 238
Mediterranean and Middle East Command
Groups No. 201, 202, 203, 205, 206, 209, 210, 211, 214, 215, 216, 217, 2I8, 219 and 242
Massed Cranwell, Royal Air Force Regiment and No. 1 Regional Bands
Transport Command - Groups No. 44, 45, 46, 48, 87 and 300
Flying Training Command - Groups No. 21, 23, 25, 29, 50, 51 and 54
Technical Training Command - Groups No. 20, 22, 24, 27, 28, 71 and 72
Maintenance Command - Groups No. 40, 41, 42 and 43
Iraqi Levies - Royal Air Force Regiment - Royal Observer Corps
Princess Mary's Royal Air Force Nursing Service - Voluntary Aid Detachment
Women's Auxiliary Air Force Band - Women's Auxiliary Air Force
365
CIVIL AIR TRANSPORT - NAVY, ARMY AND AIR FORCE INSTITUTES
FLY-PAST Hurricanes - Sunderlands - Lancasters - Mosquitos - Sea Mosquitos - Beaufighters

Firebrands - Seafires - Spitfires - Fireflies - Tempests - Meteors - Vampires
AFTERNOON ENTERTAINMENTS
HYDE PARK (AT THE COCKPIT)
p.m.
3.0 to 3.10 Nautical Orchestra.
3.10 to Display of Folk Dancing by a team of children from
3.30 London Schools.
4.0 to 4.20 Community Singing accompanied by the Orchestra.
5.0 to 5.20 Children's Ballet.
5.20 to Nautical Orchestra.
5.45
5.45 to Military Band Concert with sessions of Community
7.30 Singing.
7.0 Scottish Pipers and Dancers.
From 3 to 6 p.m. two Punch and Judy entertainments will play at hourly
intervals.
HYDE PARK (BANDSTAND)
3.0 to 5.45 Salvation Army Regent Hall Band, with sessions of

Community Singing
GREEN PARK
p.m.
3.0 to 3.10 Symphony Orchestra
3.10 to Children’s Ballet.
3.30
4.0 to 4.20 Display of Folk Dancing by a team of children from
London Schools.
5.0 to 5.20 Community Singing accompanied by the Orchestra.
5.20 to Symphony Orchestra.
5.45
7.30 Singing.
intervals.
ST. JAMES'S PARK
p.m.
3.0 to 3.10 Metropolitan Police Central Band.
366
3.10 to Community Singing accompanied by the Orchestra.
3.30
4.0 to 4.20 Children's Ballet.

5.0 to 5.20 Display of Folk Dancing by a team of children from
London Schools.
5.20 to Metropolitan Police Central Band.
5.45
7.30 Singing.
intervals.
REGENT'S PARK - AT THE OPEN AIR THEATRE
3.0 "As You Like It" - (Shakespeare) - presented by Robert

Atkins Bankside Players.
(Admission Free - Chairs 6d.)
ON GLOUCESTER GREEN
5.45 to Military Dance Bands for public dancing.

7.30
EVENING ENTERTAINMENTS
p.m.
7.30 to Dancing in St. James's Park, Green Park, Hyde Park
9.30 (near the Serpentine Bridge) and Regent's Park to the
music of Military Dance Bands.
10.0 to Searchlight, aquatic and firework display centred on the
11.45 stretch of the River Thames between Hungerford and
Vauxhall Bridges.
10.0 Arrival at the Houses of Parliament of His Majesty the
King who will travel by water from Chelsea. Salute by
8o searchlights of the Anti-Aircraft Command and 41
aerial maroons, and by the playing of the National
Anthem from 500 loud-speakers followed by national
music.
10.20 Floodlighting of the surface of the River and
Westminster and Lambeth Bridges; coloured water
display by 800 jets from 8 firefloats and 20 specially
equipped barges, manned by the the National Fire
Service, and from special equipment on either side of
Westminster and Lambeth Bridges. Commencement of
a concert specially arranged in conjunction with the
British Broadcasting Corporation, and including
excerpts from Handel’s Water and Firework Music
10.30 Firework display by Messrs C. T. Brock & Co., opening
with the discharge of 200 rockets
10.45 Searchlight display, accompanied by aquatic fireworks
and illuminated firefoam from fireboats
10.55 Arrival of R.A.F. aircraft caught in the beams of
searchlights
367
11.0 Interlude for fireworks, including set pieces from 19
barges moored opposite the Victoria Tower Gardens and
the Houses of Parliament.
11.15 Arrival of further aircraft, with running commentary
between B.B.C. observers in the aircraft and at the river

side. Water display with firework jets from the
temporary bridges beyond Westminster and Lambeth
Bridges.
11.30 Cascades of fire from the temporary bridges and a
Devil’s Tattoo, accompanied by the coloured water
display. Short concert of popular music on the
loudspeakers
11.45 Display ends with the firing of 50 magnesium shells and
the playing of the National Anthem.
DECORATIONS AND ILLUMINATIONS - The processional route from Parliament Square to Buckingham Palace will be
decorated by the Ministry of Works. Starting from a special feature in Parliament Square, all the public buildings in Whitehall
will, be decorated with large flags representing both the Fighting and Civilian Services. Nelson's Column will be decorated
with lines of flags. Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery and the Admiralty Arch will also be decorated. The Mall will be
decorated with 103 masts bearing the flags of the Services, Dominions, Colonies arid Fighting Allies; each mast will bear the
name of the Service or country represented. The Saluting Base will be situated opposite Marlborough Gate. From 10 p.m. until
midnight, and on successive nights up to and including Saturday, 15th June, the following buildings in the London area,
amongst others, will be floodlit -
Buckingham Palace War Office

St. James's Palace Horse Guards
Hampton Court
Somerset House
Palace
Windsor Castle National Gallery
Houses of Parliament Admiralty Arch
Westminster Abbey Nelson's Column
Royal Naval College,
St. Paul's Cathedral
Greenwich
Lambeth Palace Royal Mint
Tower of London Bethnal Green Museum
Mansion House County Hall, Westminster
Royal Exchange
Many of the flags forming part of the decorations in Whitehall will be floodlit, and also the lake in St. James's Park and the
fountains in Trafalgar Square. The gardens at Hampton Court will be floodlit and there will be a water display on the River
Thames there.
VISITING WARSHIPS
The Admiralty are illuminating some of His Majesty's Ships, which will be berthed as follows at:-
Greenwich H.M.S. Diadem and H.M.S. Bellona (Cruisers)

Woolwich H.M.S. Myngs, H.M.S. Zambezi, H.M.S. Zest
and H..M.S. Zealous (Destroyers)
Deptford H.M.S. Stork (Sloop) and H.M.S. Bamborough
Castle (Corvette)
Shadwell New H.M.S. Token and H.M.S. Thermopylae
368
Basin (Submarines)
Upper Pool 4 Minesweepers
The public will be able to visit these ships on Whit Sunday, 9th June, and Whit Monday, 10th June, between 12.30 p.m. and 8
p.m.
During the same period, Motor Torpedo Boats will be moored on the River Thames at Chelsea, Vauxhall and Charing Cross
and near H.M.S. President.
STALIN'S BUTLER EUGENE YOIST

Appointed by Churchill to serve as a special ambassador to Russia in 1942, Lord Inverchapel - his estate at
the foot of Loch Eck, near Dunoon - was about to return home in 1946 when Stalin, it being the Russian
custom to give departing guests any gift of their choice, asked what Inverchapel might like - "Your butler"
replied Inverchapel ! Though somewhat taken aback, Stalin consented and issued the very necessary written
letter of consent for his release, the butler then travelling back to Scotland with Inverchapel.
Inverchapel died in 1951 and, in 1957, Eugene Yoist moved to Rothesay where he bought and for many years
very successfully ran The Bay Café on Rothesay's seafront, on the way along to The Pavilion.
and OTHER TALE or TAIL PIECES

H.M.S. "Hart", which the Germans had credited with the sinking of "U-482", off Kintyre in January 1945 and
had gone to The Far East and been in attendance at the signing of the surrender of the Japanese Imperial
South-East Asia Army on board the aircraft-carrier H.M.S."Glory", remained in service with the British
Royal Navy until 1958 when she was sold off - to the German Navy for further service !
H.M.S. "Amethyst"
369
On Tuesday, February 20, 1945, exactly five weeks to the after helping sink "U-482" off Kintyre, H.M.S.
"Amethyst", helping escort convoy HX 337, sank "U-1276" south of Waterford - Eighteen days later, on
Tuesday, May 8, 1945, H.M.S. "Amethyst", in company with H.M.S. "Magpie", accepted the surrender of
the first German U-Boat, "U-249", spotted flying a black flag off The Scilly Isles by an American Liberator
(Lt. F.L. Schaum), the German submarine then escorted into Portland.
Like H.M.S. "Hart", H.M.S. "Amethyst" too was sent to The Far East where, on April 20, 1949, she was
ordered to steam up the Yangtze River to relieve the guard ship H.M.S. "Consort" at Nanking and prepare to
evacuate British and Commonwealth citizens caught up in the advance of the Chinese Communist Forces.
Attacked by Communist shore batteries and, in the confusion drifting aground, her captain and fourteen of
her crew killed, 12 men wounded and 40 men - and 'Simon', the ship's cat - left to run the stranded ship,
the story of her refloating and escape back down river told in the 1957 "The Yangtse Incident" - Interestingly
too, the film-makers managed to retrieve H.M.S. "Amethyst" from the ship-breakers yard to play her own part
in the film, the scenes shot around The Solent and the River Hamble in the south of England.
H.M.S. "Amethyst" at the shipbreakers in January 1957
So on the night of July 30, 1949, H.M.S. "Amethyst" left under cover of darkness and, after a further series of
adventures and more damage from Communist guns on shore, made it to the open sea to be met by H.M.S.
"Concord" - After 101 days, the ordeal was over, King George VI sending his congratulations and ordering
that 'the mainbrace' be spliced - On August 1, a special presentation was made on deck to recognise what
the whole crew had been through and, while both officers and men stood at attention, 'Simon' the cat was
held by a boy seaman while a citation was read out by P/O Griffiths, Able Seaman 'Simon' awarded the
'Amethyst' campaign ribbon.
370
As the ship sailed on to Hong Kong, news of 'The Yangtse Incident' was spread by radio and newspapers,
the crew and Able Seaman 'Simon' hailed as heroes - It was a story welcomed by a country still trying to
recover from the horrors of WW2 and, while the ship was being repaired in dock in Hong Kong, a message
was received from the P.D.S.A. suggesting that, subject to the captain's recommendation, Simon should be
awarded the Dickin Medal, the animal award for gallantry.
Lt Cdr Kerans lost no time in writing a citation and the medal was awarded by unanimous agreement. Not
only was he the first - and so far the only - cat to gain the medal but, it was the first time a Royal Navy
animal had received it - A special collar in the colours of the medal ribbon was sent for Simon to wear and he
was due to be presented with the actual medal upon his return to the U.K..
When news of the award reached the media, Simon became a celebrity, as well as a hero - There were
photocalls aboard, newsreel film of him and his pictures went around the world - Letters, poems, gifts of
food, cat toys arrived by every post and a special 'cat officer' had to be appointed for a while !
When H.M.S. "Amethyst" finally sailed for England, there was more publicity at every port of call and the
ship's home port of Plymouth was finally reached on November 1, 1949.
The medal presentation was set for December 11 and the P.D.S.A's founder and instigator of the medal,
Maria Dickin, then 79, was to be present, as indeed was the Lord Mayor of London but, it was not to be -
Simon became listless and, when a vet was urgently sent for, the cat had a high temperature - He was given
an injection and tablets and then seemed to sleep - His carer sat with him all night but, on the morning of
November 28, he died, still a youngster.
Lt Cdr Kerans and the crew were devastated and, when Simon's death was announced, cards, letters and
flowers began to arrive at Simon's quarantine shelter by the truckload - His photograph and a tribute too
appeared in the obituary columns of 'Time' magazine - Simon was buried in the P.D.S.A's animal cemetery
at Ilford in the east of London, in a specially made casket draped with the Union flag and Father Henry
Ross, rector of St Augustine's church, held a short funeral ceremony. After the burial, a wooden marker was
placed, with the legend - In honoured memory of Simon, DM - H.M.S. "Amethyst" - Died November 28, 1949
- Later on a specially designed stone monument was erected instead of the temporary marker, and it remains
to this day.
Simon of H.M.S. "Amethyst" remains the only cat to have received the Dickin Medal - Originally intended
for award to animals in wartime, other recipients were 32 homing pigeons, 18 dogs and 3 horses - In 2000 a
further award was made posthumously to a wartime Canadian Newfoundland dog called 'Gander', making a
total of 55 awards - The medal has now been reintroduced and three were given to dogs in connection with
rescue efforts following the 11 September 2001 (9/11) terrorist attacks in New York and Washington DC and a
further posthumous medal was awarded in January 2003 to the dog 'Sam' for gallantry in the Bosnian conflict.
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In 1957, the same year that H.M.S. "Amethyst" had temporary reprieve from the scrapyard to play her own
part in the filming of 'The Yangtse Incident', The Royal Navy were busy eating their Kellogg's cornflakes and
experimenting with an "Atomic" submarine given away free in every packet !
The little plastic model, about 3 or 4 inches long, was "fuelled" with baking powder - Placed in a bath, it
quickly sank to the bottom and when the baking powder dissolved it rose to the surface again, to the delight
of small boys and their dads.
Fascinated, The Royal Navy tried out the toy in its submarine escape training tank at H.M.S. "Do!phin" in
Gosport - The miniature sub reached a depth of 42feet, hovered briefly, then returned to the surface after a
dive of nearly nine minutes which the navy told Kellogg's "was orderly, well-controlled and in good trim, a
very spectacular and interesting performance and, considering the achievement on a weight/depth basis, we
feel that some sort of record has been set up" !
OLD MEETS NEW

Warwick Charlton was an English public relations officer who had served with the WWII American Forces
from 1939-1945 - After the war ended, he came up with the idea of making a goodwill gesture to America
from the people of England and had the idea of building a replica of the "Mayflower", that had taken the
Pilgrim Fathers to America in 1620 and sailing it across the Atlantic to present her to the American people, an
idea that took the next ten years to plan, develop and accomplish this dream.
A major concern of the project's sponsors was what to do with the ship after it reached the United States for
they were well aware of the fate of earlier replica vessels which had ignobly rotted away after the interest in
their initial voyages faded and funding had run out - "Project Mayflower", aware of The Plimoth Plantation,
asked if the organization could be of assistance in the future berthing and exhibiting of "Mayflower II".
By coincidence, The Plimoth Plantation had been planning to add a replica of the "Mayflower" to its exhibits
and, in 1951, had commissioned plans for a "Mayflower II" from naval architect William A. Baker of the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, meticulously accurate plans already being completed by the time
Project Mayflower's intentions became known and though a waterline model of the hull had been built, no
further action had been taken.
In March 1955, John Lowe, Warwick Charlton's business partner in Project Mayflower, arrived in the United
States to meet with representatives of Plimoth Plantation, the two organizations then able to arrange a
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mutually advantageous agreement - In exchange for the use of Mr. Baker's design and advice and a
guarantee to permanently maintain and exhibit the vessel, Project Mayflower agreed to build "Mayflower II",
sail her across the Atlantic and turn the ship over to The Plimoth Plantation after she had been exhibited in
various East Coast ports.
Construction of "Mayflower II" was undertaken at Upham shipyard in Brixham in Devon - Her keel laid on
July 27, 1955 and naval architect William A. Baker was sent by The Plimoth Plantation to consult with the
builders and observe the progress of the construction of the ship.
The "Mayflower II" project captured the imagination of English and Americans alike - No pains were spared
to make the ship as accurate as possible, from the carefully selected English oak timbers to the hand-sewn
linen canvas sails and true hemp cordage - Traditional skills of elderly workmen were employed to build a
vessel that would not only reflect Mr. Baker's painstaking research but which also could sail the Atlantic as
securely as the original Pilgrim ship had.
"Mayflower II" was launched on a rainy September 22, 1956, the ceremony was based on what was known
about the christenings of 17th-century vessels - She was toasted from a golden loving cup which was then
pitched into the water, as was the 17th-century practice and from which it was quickly retrieved by a diver, in
the traditional manner - The ship slid gracefully down the ways and entered Brixham harbor with a great
splash - Finally, on April 20, 1957, "Mayflower II" began her solitary voyage across the Atlantic with a crew
of 34 men.
In the interest of time and safety, she took a more southerly route than that of the original ship but,
otherwise, the voyage was as accurate a replication of a period crossing as possible - Nature co-operated in
this concern for accuracy, "Mayflower II" at first becalmed and then greeted with a violent storm off
Bermuda and, concerned about her safety, the U.S. Navy ordered the "Fessenden", then on radar picket
duty in the area, 'to locate and escort' the "Mayflower II" on the final stage of her voyage to America.
The weather that year was not particularly good and "Fessenden", on patrol in February 1957, had already
had to battle against hurricane force winds for five days in the North Atlantic, her engines failing several
times, fuel contaminating her fresh water holding tanks, her heating systems breaking down, food had been
spoiled and, a roll of 63 degrees recorded, one wave completely tearing the port 20 mm gun tub apart and the
gun was lost overboard - The assignment 'to locate and escort' the "Mayflower II", proved to be no easy
task for the "Fessenden" and then, having found the diminutive ship, no official mention of the destroyer's
part in the proceedings ever went on record !
"Mayflower (II)" and the "Fessenden (DE-142)"
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"Mayflower II" sailed safely by Nantucket Lightship on June 11 and arrived at Provincetown on the tip of
Cape Cod the following day, where the first Mayflower had put in, before continuing on to Plymouth Harbor
a month later - "Mayflower II" finally arrived at Plymouth, before noon the morning of June 13, to the
excitement of the great crowd of eager spectators, the historic 55 day voyage over and, though a modern
wheel, binnacle, generator and radio were required aboard the ship by law, the entire voyage had been
accomplished without any modern power or assistance.
THE EVENTUALLY NOT SO LUCKY "FESSENDEN"
On September 17, 1945, the U.S.S. "Fessenden" accepted the surrender of the 2,000 Japanese troops and freed
some 2,000 Korean prisoners-of-war, kept as slaves for the Japanese, on the island of Wojtie, the
"Fessenden" lying at Wotje to supervise it's demilitarization and the evacuation of the Japanese to return to
Japan - For two years the only contact these troops had with Japan had been by radio.
On December 20, 1967, in a scripted gunnery training exercise, the decommissioned "Fessenden" was towed
from Pearl Harbor to the Hawaiian Area Naval Gunnery Range, approximately sixty miles southwest of
Oahu, where she was set adrift as a target for the missile destroyers, they failing even to hit her !
The ship was still afloat after the end of the gunnery training exercise, a submarine, surfaced near the
destroyers' station, then quickly submerged and a few minutes later fired a torpedo at the abandoned ship,
hitting her amidship - In a tremendous ball of fire, the ship's main mast fell and the ship, apparently
breaking in half, then quickly sank.
It is ironic indeed that her life should have been ended by a submarine and a torpedo for she had indeed
before been lucky in escaping an early fate when escorting convoy USG 38 to North Africa on an April night
in 1944.
When a surface radar contact was made, about ten miles in front of the convoy, the "Fessenden" on the left
front comer of the convoy, the Task Force Commander directed the her to leave the convoy and investigate
the contact - As the "Fessenden" closed the distance to the target, it broke into two radar blips, the radar
also indicating that, as the contacts were going away at a high rate of speed, they were probably German
torpedo-boats.
The "Fessenden" was not fast enough to gain on them so she turned 90°, slowed down and, bringing all her
main batteries to bear, fired a star shell pattern to illuminate the targets - Nothing was seen, so "Fessenden"
turned on her search lights, but still nothing was seen and, after a short search "Fessenden" returned to a
different position in the convoy, the destroyer-escort which had closed up in to her previous position being
attacked and sunk just hours later !
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The story might have ended there but for a chance 1960 meeting in a Frankfurt beer cellar owned by an ex-
German Navy man who introduced the visiting son of an ex-U.S. Navy man to a gentleman called Horst-Arno
Fenski, an ex-U-Boat man, captain of "U-371".
After a few drinks, Fenski, a good storyteller and the American navyman's son knowing the story of the
"Fessenden", confirmed the details of the incident !
In April 1944, Fenski's U-Boat, "U-371", had made a rendezvous with two motor torpedo boats about 10
miles in front of a 'ship train', which is what they called a convoy - Their intention was to draw one or two
of the escort ships away from the convoy to create a gap in the sonar screen through which the U-Boat might
slip into the convoy - If Fenski could make it past the screen, he could have a field day.
As the convoy closed the distance, the U-Boat's radar showed that only one of the escorts, the "Fessenden",
had left the screen, only one had taken the bait, too bad, Fenski changed his plan - He would now torpedo
the destroyer-escort, the "Fessenden", the torpedo-boats dumped a sonar absorbing compound into the
water around the U-Boat and left at high speed, the trap was set - If the U-Boat could sink or damage the
"Fessenden", the convoy would probably change course and cause some confusion and, there was a second
U-Boat, the "U-616", not very far away, which could also do damage to the convoy.
Fenski decided that he would use an acoustic torpedo as they seldom missed - The torpedo-boats running at
high speed could, by turning left or right, lure the escort right into the U-boat trap - A destroyer running at
high speed trying to gain on a target it could not catch would lose effective help from sonar and, on the other
side of the picture, the acoustic torpedo worked better when the target went faster and left a bigger wake.
When the "Fessenden" came into Fenski's view, she was headed straight at him - Fenski would wait until
the destroyer passed and then take a shot at the stern, an easy shot but, she was a little closer than he would
have liked - The "Fessenden" passed and the torpedo was launched - The "Fessenden" turned and slowed
down, a move which seem to have confused the tracking device in the torpedo - As the torpedo missed and
the "Fessenden" turned and slowed down, the Fenski assumed he had been picked up by the destroyer's
sonar and dived deep expecting a depth charge attack but, none came and the "Fessenden" went away - In
hindsight, Fenski reckoned that he should have used either a standard or and electric torpedo which he was
sure would have hit the target.
Taking "U-371" down deep, Fenski hid under a protective thermal layer until the convoy and her escorts had
passed - Surfacing, he then reported the convoy's position and speed to set the convoy up for an air attack
the next evening !
Fenski said that the missed target was an American destroyer-escort and, all the evidence indicates that she
was indeed the "Fessenden".
What if the "Fessenden" had continued on for one more minute ? What if the "Fessenden" had not turned and
slowed down ? What if Capt. Fenski had used a standard or electric torpedo ? What if the "Fessenden" had
been in same position, on the left front corner, of the return convoy ? She wasn't and instead another
destroyer, the "Fechteler (DE-157)", was hit and sunk, the attacker this time being "U-967".
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The Mull of Kintyre Lighthouse
During the war, the lights and lighthouses on Scotland's east coast were only lit if they were to be passed by
a coastal convoy - The lights on Scotland's west coast however remained lit, albeit on low power,
throughout the war and, hostilities ended, the lights returned again to full power.
Announcing the death of one of those who tended Scotland's lights, the family sadly wrote "who's lamp
eventually went out . . . His guiding light will be sorely missed" - The retired lighthouse-keeper's name
was indeed one James William Mainland !
FOR THE FALLEN
Laurence Binyon (1869-1943), the poet and art critic, was born in Lancaster in 1869 - the fourth stanza of his best
known poem, For The Fallen (1914), adorns numerous war memorials.
For The Fallen
With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children, England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit, Fallen in the cause of the free.
Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres,
There is music in the midst of desolation And a glory that shines upon our tears.
They went with songs to the battle, they were young, Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted; They fell with their faces to the foe.
They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning We will remember them.
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WARTIME HERITAGE TRAILS EXPLORING KINTYRE

West Side of Kintyre - Campbeltown to Tarbert - A83
Dickie's Boat Yard, Tarbert - During the war this yard, founded in 1885 by Archibald Dickie, was very busy
building and overhauling motor launches and motor torpedo boats for The Admiralty.
Balinakill Hotel, Clachan - This was once the country house of Sir William Mackinnon, co-founder of Keil
Technical School for Boys that opened in Southend in 1915. In 1924 the school had moved to Helensburgh but,
because of the threat of enemy action there, the pupils and staff took up residence in Balinakill House for the duration
of the war.
Balure Bombing Range - A bombing range was built on the west side of Kintyre, just north of Tayinloan within the
boundaries of Balure Farm, with towers south - NGR 692 490 and north - NGR 71 3 503 of a central 'plot' tower -
NGR 705 499. The bombing target was a structure built on top of Sgor Cainnteach, a rock immediately out offshore.
In 1943, a wrecked cargo steamer was placed off Gigha as a target ship. Wrens who came up daily from HMS Landrail
at Machnhanish staffed the observation posts.
Argyll Arms Hotel, Bellochantuy - This was the site of an early war incident. Stray machine gun bullets from what
was later thought to be an RAF plane hit a garage shed opposite the hotel. Although shell cartridges were found, it
isn't clear why either a British or an enemy aircraft would have aimed at that target.
Cefoil Seaweed Factory, near Putechan - Remains of a seaweed factory opened in 1934 that was owned by Cefoil
Limited based in Maidenhead. This factory processed seaweed into products of wartime value such as camouflage
paint, parachute silk, cellophane paper etc. It was closed in 1942 and the production transferred to newly-built factories
near Oban and at Girvan.
Tangy Road Block - NGR 653 278 - Roadblocks were under police control and only rarely manned.
Breackachy Radio Station - NGR 671 268 - Above the Tangy road HMS Landrail erected a radio station matching
the one at Drumlemble. This has now been converted into holiday cottages changing its appearance considerably.
Tangy Rd/Drumalea Farm - Dummy Airfield - NGR. 66S 269 - A generator installation was set up to power a
carefully positioned set of dummy airfield landing lights - NGR 667 221 - which were lit up when enemy bombers
were detected in its vicinity. This was installed to divert the enemy from the Fleet Air Arm installations at
Machrihanish. The generator building was manned by a small group of Campbeltown-based men during the hours of
darkness.
From Campbeltown to Machrihanish - B843

Dalyvaddy Farm - Strath Airfield - NGR 677 199 - When in 1933 civilian scheduled flights were started in
Kintyre, this field, the Mitchell's field at The Strath, next to the old 1918 airfield, was the preferred landing place. An
aircraft hangar and two other brick buildings erected beside Dalyvaddy Farm still survive.
Drumlemble Radio Station - NGR 662 188 - Erected by RN Fleet Air Arm to divert German bombers.
Ugadale Arms Hotel, Machrihanish - This hotel, later called The Machrihanish Hotel, was built in 1898. The
Fleet Air Arm requisitioned it as accommodation for their personnel.
Machrihanish Air Station - The original Machrihanish airfield, constructed in 1918, had become disused after
WWI. The flat land of The Laggan, between Campoeitown and Machrihanish, was perfect for an airfield and between
1940 and 1941 the English-based firm of Sunley's constructed a new airfield for The Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm, it
called HMS Landrail. Over the war years it was to be home to over 200 air squadrons flying Swordfish, Chesapeakes,
Blenheims, Masters and Fulmars and would become one of the three busiest front-line air stations in the UK. The
base of convoy escort squadrons and anti-submarine squadrons, the airfield was closed in 1946. N.B. The Royal Navy
calls its aerodromes, like its on-shore buildings, as if they were ships. They are distinguished by being called by the
names of birds - Landrail is another name for the corncrake.
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Machrihanish Gun Emplacement - NGR 650 211 -
Machrihanish Observation Post - NGR 677199 - Built beside the site of the Fessenden Radio Mast.
South of Campbeltown
Keil Hotel, Southend - NGR 676 078 - In 1939 Captain James Taylor, a retired farmer, saw his newly built, 28-
bedroomed, 'Keil Hotel' requisitioned by The Admiralty, based in Campbeltown, as a hospital. It would not open as
a hotel until after the end of the war.
Davaar Island Observation Post - NGR761 206 - This post was built just beside the lighthouse but functionally
was unrelated to the east coast bombing range.
East Side of Kintyre - Campbeltown - Skipness - B842

Boom Defence Depot - In November 1941 an anti-submarine boom was laid out across the entrance to
Campbeltown Loch between Trench Point and Davaar Island. The 'boom' was a steel net, reaching 90 feet deep and
about 2000 feet long. Two officers, three WRENs and twenty-two ratings serviced 'the boom'. It was removed in July
1945, a job which took several weeks to complete.
Kilchousland Gun Emplacement(s) - NGR 752 223 - These emplacements, obviously intended to protect the
entrance to Campbeltown Loch, were never fitted out. However, German U-Boats were active off the coast and U-33
secretly visited Carradale in November 1939 but was spotted by a school bus user who 'phoned the navy control room
in Greenock. HMS Gleaner sank the U-33 off Pladda in February 1940 while on an expedition to mine the approaches
to the Clyde.
Glen Lussa House - NGR 763 254 - Unoccupied at the time, the house was requisitioned as accommodation for
The Women's Land Army. Twelve girls occupied the six bedrooms.
Kildonan Road Block - NCR 780278 -
Carradale Observation Post - NGR 833 817 - The original 1939-1945 lookout post was sited on the Castle Hill at
Carradale golf course. This site is now used as a shelter for golfers, the post-war observation post consisted of
underground rooms, situated on the Shore Hills and the bunker is still there. It was closed in 1992.
Crossaig Bombing Range - NGR 838 522 and NGR 833 506 - A Swordfish aircraft crashed on the beach at
Crossaig, near Skipness, when using the bombing range. One of the WRENs working on one of the nearby
observation posts managed to pull one of the airmen from the wreck but he did not survive the accident.
Crossaig Observation Posts - NGR 838 522 and NGR 833 506 -
D-Day Gunnery Range - Kilbrannan Sound - In the months leading up to the D-Day landings, Royal Navy ships
conducted gunnery practice from Kilbrannan Sound onto remote areas in the Kintyre hills. The target was a small loch
between Ballochroy and Crossaig. Up in Ballochroy Glen can still be found a sign warning 'persons entering' the area
of danger of unexploded shells.
Skipness Observation Posts - NGR 912 575 and NGR 898 573 -
Skipness Bombing Range - NGR 910574 - On the south side of the cemetery, a concrete arrow, now part
overgrown but still well visible, points southwards to the start of what was the bombing range on the east side of
Kintyre.
Sunley's, an English company contracted to build all the new facilities out at Machnhanish for the RN Fleet Air Arm,
were also assigned to build the area's observation posts. All these constructions were built in a highly recognisable type
of red brick, an unfamiliar building material in Kintyre.
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In and Around Campbeltown

Campbeltown War Memorial - This was erected by public subscription (over £3,000 was raised by some 2,000
subscribers) to commemorate Campbeltown men who gave their lives during WWI - 349 men were killed. The
memorial was designed by architect Alexander N. Paterson and, after several years of prevarification about its siting,
was finally unveiled on November 3, 1923 - After WWII, the names of the fallen were added to those fallen in WWI.
Royal Hotel, Kinloch Road - Requisitioned in part as an officers' mess for the ASDIC (Anti-Submarine Detection
and Interception Corps) trainees. On November 6, 1940, during the first of only two direct enemy attacks that
Campbeltown experienced during the war, The Royal Hotel was partly destroyed by bombs from a single German
plane. Two people lost their lives in the attack.
Victoria Hall - Home to the Kintyre Territorial detachments of The Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders since it was
built in 1918, the Victoria Hall was requisitioned as accommodation for the ratings of the Rescue Tug Service based in
Campbeltown during the war. The officers of the service stayed on two yachts moored in the harbour and kitted out
for the purpose, the 'Minona' and the 'Majesta'. In November 1940, during the first enemy attack on Campbeltown,
the Victoria Hall's clock tower was damaged and had to be demolished. The Rescue Tug Service Base was closed in
December 1945.
Albert Halls, Kinloch Road - Belonging to the Lowland Free Church, the halls were taken over by Argyll County
Council as the official centre for the Air Raid Precaution services (ARP). Here were held the stocks of equipment
necessary for the protection of people during air raids or enemy attacks. Campbeltown's first 54 ARP wardens were
appointed in August 1939.
Kinloch Mission Hall, Kinloch Road - The hall belonged to the Free Church and in 1939 was taken over by Argyll
County Council to become a gymnasium for displaced Grammar School pupils. For a little while the hall was a depot
for the collection of sphagnum moss - an initiative of John (Jack) Craig of The County Garage. The moss was used
for the making of surgical dressings for war hospitals. The depot moved to John Street and the hall became a centre
for The Home Guard.
Kinloch Park - In May 1942, a small parcel of land of the park (opposite the present-day Tesco supermarket)
belonging to the Town Council was requisitioned by The Admiralty in 1942 for use by The Air-Sea Rescue Service.
The Town Council was to receive 5 shillings (25p) per annum in compensation.
Kinloch School - Millknowe and Dalintober - This school became the recipient of all the evacuee children that
came to Campbeltown. These were both the so-called Government evacuees, evacuated on the Government scheme,
as well as 'private' evacuees who had come under arrangements made by parents or guardians. According to the school
log book, there were still evacuees attending in 1946.
Lochend Free Church Hall - Now demolished, but at the time on the site of today's Tesco car park, this hall was
also used as a training centre for the Rescue Tug Service.
Dalintober/Lochruan Housing Scheme - Princes Street/High Street - In 1942, The Admiralty requisitioned
this scheme of new council housing, whilst still in the process of being built. Renamed 'Nimrod B', the complex
provided additional accommodation for Royal Navy personnel when the Grammar School became overcrowded. The
scheme was released from Admiralty use in 1946.
Dalintober Primary School, High Street - After the Grammar School had been requisitioned, the west building of
Dalintober School, which was not in use, was made into eight classrooms for displaced pupils.
Albyn Distillery Warehouse, The Roading - The basement of the distillery was temporarily requisitioned in
December 1941 by Argyll County Council as an emergency mortuary. It was relinquished in June 1942.
Longrow South - The 'Victory Club' for servicemen was situated on the south side of the street between today's
chemist's shop and The Bank of Scotland.
Locarno 'Middle' Café, Longrow - Now 'Gallerie 10', one of three cafés run by the Grumoli family.
The Old Court (Police) House, 14-22 Bolgam Street - Owned by the Campbeltown Magistrates and The Town
379
Council, this building, dating probably from the eighteenth century, was first a courthouse and then a prison, later a
police station. In July 1940, The Women's Voluntary Service (WVS) opened it as a clubroom and canteen catering for
some 100 military personnel every day and 150 men every evening.
Mayfair 'Top' Café, 43 Main Street - Another of the three Grumoli-run cafés, it opened in 1938 and turned into a
club for H.M. Rescue Tug Service officers.
Argyll Arms Hotel, Main Street - Naval officers' mess.
White Hart Hotel, Main Street - Also used as a naval officers' mess.
Lorne Street Church Hall - After the requisitioning of the Grammar School, the church hall was turned into
classroom accommodation for Infants I and II and Primary classes I and II.
Old Grammar School, Castleacres - Now the Community Education Centre, in April 1940 The Admiralty
requisitioned the old Grammar School as theior main anti-submarine training and accommodation centre, HMS
Nimrod. When this site became overcrowded more accommodation was requisitioned elsewhere in the town.
Drill Hall and Armoury, Argyll Street -Following the requisitioning of the old Grammar School, this Territorial
Army Hall became school accommodation for displaced pupils. Later a canteen opened here to supplement the
clubroom and canteen in Bolgam Street.
Territorial Drill Hall, Argyll Street - Used too as a canteen.
Masonic Lodge, St. John Street - At first requisitioned for music and PT classes for displaced Grammar School
pupils, the hall was later used as accommodation for naval personnel.
Kirk Street (Highland Church) Hall - Belonged to The Kirk Session of The Parish of Campbeltown and, after the
requisitioning of the Grammar School, became accommodation for displaced Primary III, IV and V pupils.
Nissen Hut, St. John Street - Was erected for the ablutions of the occupants of the nearby Masonic Lodge.
Picture House and Rex Cinemas, Hall Street - The Picture House, seating 640, was opened in 1913 and the
1,140-seat Rex in August 1938 - A fire in February 1944 temporarily closed the Rex until October that year.
Nissen Hut, Hall Street - Erected on the east side of Hall Street as an engineering workshop for The Royal Navy.
The New Quay - Training in anti-submarine warfare for The Royal Navy was originally carried out at HMS Osprey
at Portland but, in August 1940, these facilities were badly damaged in a bombing raid. A new base, HMS Nimrod,
was commissioned at Campbeltown and this was to become the navy's ASDIC instruction and accommodation centre.
In October 1940, The Admiralty requisitioned The New Quay for naval purposes for a compensation of £125 per
annum. In August 1943 another portion of The New Quay and Campbeltown's Town Slipway were also requisitioned
for a signals' hut, the Town Council receiving an additional compensation of £25 per annum.
Quarry Green, Kilkerran Road - Part requisitioned by The Admiralty, a Nissen Hut was erected as an engineering
workshop-cum-diesel storage unit.
Stronvaar House, Kilkerran Road - Owned by Mrs Margaret Merson, proprietrix of The Royal Hotel, this large
private house was requisitioned by The Admiralty as a communications centre. It was also the scene of a tragic
accident in December 1943 when Thomas Macdonald, a 16-year old messenger boy, was accidentally shot by a sentry
when delivering a telegram, the boy dead by the time an ambulance arrived.
North Park House, Kilkerran Road - Owned by His Grace, The Duke of Argyll and too requisitioned by The
Admiralty.
Limecraigs, Limecraigs Road - Also owned by His Grace, The Duke of Argyll and requisitioned by The
Admiralty to become administrative offices for HMS Nimrod, it was staffed by The Women's Royal Naval Services
personnel (WRENs) who also ran the navy's communications department.
380
Ardnacraig, Kilkerran Road - Another of The Duke of Argyll's houses, requisitioned by The Admiralty to provide
accommodation for WRENs.
Rifle Range (beside Bengullion Laundry) - The range, established some twenty years earlier for The Territorial
Army, was used too by personnel from HMS Nomrod.
Plantation, Kintyre Park - Requisitioned by Scottish Command in February 1943 for theerection of an ammunition
shelter.
Dalintober Pier - Owned by The Town Council since 1847, the pier was requisitioned by The Admiralty in
September 1941 in return for £10 compensation per annum - Then extended, the pier was used for mooring air-sea
rescue launches.
The Old Quay - Progressively requisitioned by The Admiralty as their needs developed - In February 1940, the
stores and three offices; in May 1940, the north-west turnstile offices; in April 1941, The British Workmen's Coffee
Rooms; in 1942, a small portion of the south-east end of the turnstile building and too, early on, a small hut for use
as the Rescue Tug Service's administrative office.
Belmount, Low Askomil - Commandeered by the Air-Sea Rescue Service for use as their headquarters, the
launches operating from Dalintober Pier.
Trench Point (Shipyard) House and land - Used by Boom Defence personnel for accommodation and storage.
Askomil Walk and The Second German Air Raid - On February 9, 1941, the Askomil Walk took the full brunt of
Campbeltown's second and last experience of enemy action. After attacking the Sranraer to Larne ferry, which
survived, a group of enemy aircraft turned towards Kintyre and dropped eight mines in Campbeltown Loch, two
exploding on land at the Askomil Walk. The house of the much respected A.I.B. Stewart, the town's procurator-fiscal,
was almost completely demolished and Mr Stewart killed. 'The Bungalow', occupied by Frederick Pendle, engineer
with The Campbeltown and Mid-Argyll Electric Supply Company (electricity coming to Campbeltown in 1935) was
also destroyed and Mr Pendle too killed. Fifteen other people were injured and a large number of houses in the vicinity
suffered varying degrees of damage as the enemy aircraft dropped bombs and incendiaries around the area.
Drumore House, Glasgow Road - Requisitioned by The Royal Navy as a second military hospital, the other being
the newly built Keil Hotel at Southend.
Kilkerran Cemetery - The last resting place of many war victims who died in air crashes.
KINTYRE WARTIME AIRCRAFT CRASHES

By Aircraft Types and Not in Chronological Order
Many sources were used to compile this list and the information is as complete as possible at time of printing - Please
remember that almost all of the sites in this list are now regarded as WAR GRAVES and should be treated accordingly
- The only things that should be taken from the sites are photographs and the only thing left should be footprints.
This list was compiled in August 2003 by Duncan Mc Arthur with much help from Bobby Duncan, Alistair
MacKinley, Chris Blair, RAF Atlantic House, RAF Machrihanish and CAA Atlantic House. Campbeltown Registry
office and many thanks also goes to Alan Leishman of Ardrossan who must have spent hours in Edinburgh
researching.
ANSON (October 25, 1943) - This aircraft was from Llandwrog - NGR 607 106 - The aircraft crashed with the
loss of all crew near Strone farm in Southend parish - The Crew were - Richard Blewett, Pilot Officer, single, aged
24 yrs, RAF; George Charles McKenzie, Navigator, aged 20 yrs, RCAF; Dennis Henry Brewer, Flt Lt, aged 34 yrs,
RAF; Peter Jackson, Sgt, air gunner, W/O, single, aged 22 yrs, RAF and Kenneth Ellis, Sgt air gunner, W/O,
single, aged 21yrs, RAF - Death certificates were obtained as confirmation. All are buried in Kilkerran Cemetery.
Possibly wreckage remains although may be deeply embedded in bog as the aircraft power dived into the ground.
Aircraft remained undiscovered for several days. Wreckage still on site May 2005
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ALBACORE - NGR 719 187 - (this was also reported as a Swordfish) - This aircraft is said to have crashed below
the goat on Ben Gullion. Aircraft pieces were found on the east side of the burn in what is now forestry. Part of the
cockpit instrument panel (minus instruments) was found in 1956. No other details known at present.
ALBACORE (L7 109) - This aircraft crashed just off Shiskine on Arran September 8, 1942. One crew-member was
known to have died. He was Ross Wilson of 766 Squadron and is buried in Kilkerran cemetery. Ross was Canadian
and is mentioned in their Roll of Honour.
AVENGER (FN 867) {Registration may be FN804} May 28, 1944. 2 miles north-west of Carradale - NGR 810
395 - Crashed whilst using bombing range at Skipness. 4 Crew were killed. Site reported to be slightly left of forest
track from Auchensavil to summit of Cnoc nan Gabhar. The crew were E.W Gallant, Mec.; A.G.Winder, Ldn
Aircraftman; R.E. Lord, Sub/Lt; R.T.J Thwaites, Sub/Lt., all RNAF. Parts of this aircraft still remain. Death
Certificates obtained as confirmation.
AVENGER (FN 772) July 4, 1944 - NGR 711 257 - This aircraft crashed up near Calliburn farm killing its crew
of 2 who were V.S.Curd, Lt., RNZRNVR, Pilot and J. Jefford, Lt., RNAF. Parts of this aircraft were still embedded
in a large hole as late as 1985. The shape of the impact crater in the peat was easily identified including even the
propeller and tail wheel. Death certificates were obtained for confirmation.
AVENGER (FN878) April 11, 1944 2 miles north-east of Carradale Point - This aircraft crashed into the sea at the
above location killing both its crew, A.J. Brier, RNAF, sick berth attendant and A. A. Temple, Sub.Lt., Pilot,
RNVR.
BEACHCRAFT TRAVELLER (FT259) December 22, 1944 - NGR 658 292 - This aircraft from 725 Sqn.
Eglington crashed in fog in a field on approach to Machrihanish killing the single pilot. Small pieces of wreckage are
possibly remaining in field. Farmer reports he is still ploughing up small pieces. The pilot killed was Lt. Com.
Southwell. This gentleman is buried in Kilkerran cemetery.
BEAUFORT (N1180S) September 2, 1942 - NGR 598 080 - This aircraft crashed above the “gap” on the Mull.
The crew were killed instantly and included L. P. Booker, RNZAF, Pilot Officer and T. H. Grasswick, air gunner,
W/O; A. A. Haydon, Sgt., RNZAF, Pilot Officer and F.J.B. Griffin, Sgt., RAFVR. The first two men are buried in
Kilkerran cemetery. The aircraft operated from Abbottsinch (HMS Sanderling) (Death certificates obtained for
confirmation)
BEAUFIGHTER (LZ156) - NGR 623 063 - This aircraft was from Port Ellen Islay and crashed on the August 28,
1943. Much is left of this aircraft and although it was buried there is still a lot of 20mm ammunition lying around this
site. The pilot was Ronald Arthur Buckman, aged 25 yrs, of the RAFVR. (Death certificate obtained for
confirmation) Mr Buckman is buried in West Lavington Sussex. The other crewman was T. N. Stockdale, air gunner,
W/O, RAF.
BEAUFIGHTER (LZ455) October 30, 1943 - NGR 614 087 - This aircraft from Filton crashed into Beinn
Bhreac. All crew were killed. Small pieces still left in the peat bog. Crew were K. J. Nixon, RAFVR, Pilot, Sgt.,
RAF and A. B. Solari, Sgt., RAFVR. Wreckage very near to fence at above location, engine mounting deeply
embedded in peat plus other pieces remaining in May 2005.
BLENHEIM (Z6350), (AOS Jurby) December 21, 1941 - NGR 723 425 - This aircraft hit the hill in fog. All
crew were killed and were J.E.Orton, pilot; Woodward, airman; R. S. Cohen, CPL., observer and A. J. Gearing,
pilot. Parts still remain apparently. Best way to approach is from the Killean road then Southwards. This aircraft was
on its way to Tiree on a training exercise when it ran short of fuel and tried to make a cloud break to land at
Machrihanish. It hit the hill and travelled up and along a ridge before stopping. The engines were removed by the RAF
shortly after the crash. Some wreckage still remains.
FOKKER. F.XXII (HM159) (Sylvia Scarlet) - Escart Bay near Ghallagain Island - This aircraft caught fire and
ditched in West Loch Tarbert about 300yds off a small Island on the north shore. It is not really a Kintyre aircraft
crash but all crew were buried in Kilkerran cemetery. The aircraft was on transit from Tiree to Abbotsinch with 20
passengers some of whom were RAF. It crashed on July 3, 1943 and the known crew were - E. S. Knox, pilot
officer, RNZAF; A. Dempster; Rayner; Spenser; Jeffrey; Straunigan; A. Reid; Carter; Hughes; Bowen; Booker
and
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Gillibrand. Also killed in the crash was Wing Com. B. H. Jones, Station Commander at Abbotsinch and although
Gillibrand was not found or registered locally he was buried with the above in Kilkerran cemetery. Aviation Magazine
gives an account of this crash. (Death certificates were obtained for confirmation)
FIREFLY (Z1804) 24. 6. 1944 - This aircraft crashed in June 1944 off Southend. Both crew were lost, they were
Harry Alexander MacKay, Temp Lt., RNZVR, single, aged 30 yrs and Harry Kenneth Slater, photographer who was
single, aged 21 yrs. Harry MacKay is buried in Kilkerran cemetery and cause of death was given as “due to aircraft
crashing into the sea.” Harry Alexander MacKay’s date of death was given as "found on July the 2nd" and Harry
Kenneth Slater as "found June 24th". Harry is mentioned in the N.Z. Roll of Honour. (Death certificates obtained for
confirmation).
FULMAR July 7, 1941 - NGR 716 178 - Parts of an aircraft were found ½ mile from High Losset. Other parts
of an aircraft were also found West of Killipole the two may be related. This aircraft was also reported to be a
SEAFIRE. The only occupant was the pilot who survived the crash.
FULMAR (X8571) April 27, 1944 - NGR 716 178 - This is the aircraft that crashed near the Black Loch behind
Ben Gullion. The crew killed and known were David Llewllyn Maddock, Sub Lt., RNVR FAA. He was single and
aged 20 yrs, buried at Uxbridge and Stanley William Whale, photographer, single, aged 21yrs, RNVR. Both were of
772 Squadron. (Death certificates were obtained for confirmation) It is possible that some small parts of the aircraft
remain in a clearing amidst the forestry .
FULMAR July 7, 1941 - HMS Pegasus launched a Fulmar to check out the sighting of Focke Wulf Condor in the
vicinity of the Mull of Kintyre. The Condor chase was fruitless and after three hours the Fulmar was reported to have
crashed into high ground south of Campbeltown. The pilots killed were Lt. T. R V. Parke and crewman Miller. A
point of interest is that the above T. R. V. Parke when flying with 804 Sqdrn near Scapa Flow was credited with the
first downing of an enemy aircraft (JU88) whilst flying in a Martlet (U.S Hellcat). The JU88 crashed on the Orkney
mainland. A report was received of a crash on Kerran Hill of a Fulmar. The death certificates of Parke and Miller show
the site of the crash as high ground above Glenahervie Glen south east of Campbeltown. (This may be the second
crash reported behind Ben Gullion)
HUDSON (AE 640) - NGR 639 072 - This aircraft crashed on July 25, 1941 just below the cottage at Feorlin on
the Mull road. All crew were killed, the aircraft was being ferried and left Montreal on July 24, 1941 on transit to St.
Eval in England. The crew were Fergus Keith Arnold, DFC, Flt. Lt., RCAF. He was attached to the RAF, married,
aged 30 yrs. Wilfred Bratherton, single, aged 21 yrs, radio operator, RCAF and Percy Keast, single, aged 21 yrs, Flt.
Sgt.. Death certificates were obtained as confirmation together with other information. Fergus Keith Arnold has an
entry in the Canadian roll of Honour with many details. Percy Keast is buried in Kilkerran cemetery. The pilot has a
citation and Bratherton is also mentioned in the Canadian roll of Honour. (Death certificates were obtained for
confirmation) Fergus Arnold was buried in St. Eval.
HUDSON (FK 780) June 10, 1943 - NGR 694 319 - This aircraft was said to have crashed on a hill near to
Putechan Lodge. This may be the same aircraft the RAF were trying to get out of a bog near this location in 1978 but
they failed to do so. All the crew survived the crash.
JUNKERS ???. - A report from the same RAF crew indicated that a Junkers aircraft had crashed high in the hills
above Brackley but is almost inaccessible. No other details are known other than the aircraft was reported to have been
one of those involved in the Clydebank bombing and that it had either suffered mechanical failure or had lost it’s
position
LIBERATOR (AM 915) BOAC Ferry Command - NGR 741 156 - Arinearch Hill - This aircraft crashed on
August 31, 1941 up at the top of Balnabraid Glen on the eastern shoulder of Achinhoan Hill. Much of this aircraft
remained in 1983 and large engine parts were still in the burn near the top of the glen. Parts were lying over a large
area of the hill and various small parts were taken to Rhu Stafnish radio station in 1979 and found to be still working.
A Belgium Count was on board this aircraft and a small case with a crest was shown to the station staff by a couple
whom had found it in the burn It was also rumoured that that the aircraft was carrying a box of Radium from the Marie
Curie Labs in Montreal. This was searched for by the RAF for weeks but was never found. The aircraft was lost and
was trying to make a cloud break before landing at Prestwick but thought it was still over the sea. Two of the crew are
buried in Kilkerran cemetery, S. Sydenham, W/O, BOAC and E. Taylor, passenger. Other crew were G. L. Panes,
BOAC, pilot; K. Garden, BOAC, pilot; C. Spence, F/E.; S. Pickering, CPT., USN; M. Benjamin, passenger; G.
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De. B. Le Tour, passenger; R. Mowatt, passenger; L. Wrangham, Lt. Col. Marine, passenger. A small cross marks
the impact site. This aircraft was diverted from Stanley Gate near Blackpool to Prestwick.
MARTINET (MS756) February 17, 1944 - This aircraft crashed in the sea between Kintyre and Arran. The single
crew member, George H. Martin, Ldng. Airman was killed. The aircraft was from 772 Squadron.
MARTLET (this is also been reported as an Avenger) - NGR 751 221 - This aircraft crashed on August 18, 1941
at Lower Smerby farm Peninver By Campbeltown. One of the crew was John Morris Down, RNVR, aged 19. (Death
certificates obtained for confirmation). John is buried in Kilkerran
SEAFIRE December 14, 1945 - NGR 672 250 - This aircraft is reported to have crashed behind the Smiddy at
Kilchenzie with the loss of its single crewmember.
SEAFIRE (MB145) January 29, 1944 - Aros Farm - Its pilot was Stuart Ross Cameron, Sub/Lt, RNZVR.
SEAFIRE. Number Unknown. Ditched in sea Machrihanish Bay August 1, 1945 - Crashed into sea killing single
crewmember, J. D. Griffin, Pet/O, pilot, RNAF.
SEAFIRE (SW857) - Craigs Farm - The crashed occurred December 14, 1945 killing both crew. One of the crew
was Peter Roxburgh Winch, Lt., RNVR, aged 20 yrs. (Death certificates obtained for confirmation).
SPITFIRE - This aircraft was said to have crashed in Aros Moss. No other details known.
SWORDFISH - This aircraft crashed into Machrihanish Bay February 17, 1942. The pilot was A. R. Towsln he was
eventually rescued by HMS Busirs after 6 hours in a dingy. Other than he was Australian no other details are known.
Parts of this aircraft have been found buried in the sand between Machrihanish and Westport and also up on the sand
dunes.
SWORDFISH - NGR 661 321 - This aircraft crashed December 6, 1943 at Bellochantuy near Campbeltown
killing both crewmembers Leading Airman Stanley Paige, RNVR, aged 20 yrs, buried in Croydon and Midshipman
Allan Angus Douglas-Matheson, aged 19. Both were married and from 836 Squadron. (Death certificate obtained for
confirmation) The latter is buried in Kilkerran. This aircraft operated out of HMS Shrike (Maydown N.I.)
SWORDFISH (HS448) November 18, 1943 - This aircraft crashed using the bombing range at Crossaig near
Skipness. It crashed on the beach. The crew, all killed, were R. Hoskin, Sub.Lt., RNAF; J. C. A.. Benstead, Ldn.
Airman, RNAF and (?) Cuthbert, Sub/Lt, RNAF.
SWORDFISH (P4215) March 3, 1940 - Machrihanish Airport - This aircraft crashed and exploded after a flying
accident. The crew killed were J. Jefford, Lt., RNAF; J. D. Stern, Lt., RNAF and B. E. H. Stranack, Lt., RNAF.
WELLINGTON (HX779) February 27, 1943 - NGR 545 770 (near) - This aircraft crashed on the side of
Balnakill Hill. Parts of this aircraft can sometimes be seen in Loch Ciaran, above Clachan, depending on the amount
of water in the loch. This aircraft was carrying out a night flare exercise and was attempting to force land on Loch
Cairan which the crew believed was flat land. The aircraft was reported to have impacted at 500ft up the hillside. The
crash site was reported to be 600yds north of the east end of the loch. All crew were killed and their deaths were
registered in Kilcomonell Parish. The crew were John Mitton, Flt Sgt, married, aged 25 yrs, buried in Canada;
Donald Frank Sutterly, single, aged 22 yrs, RCAF; William Evans Davis, Flt Sgt, RAF NZ, aged 21yrs, married;
Herbert Gordon Brooks, Flt Sgt, RAF, aged 28 yrs, single and James Michael Wilson, Flt Sgt, RAF, aged 25yrs,
married, buried in Edinburgh - Donald Sutterly is mentioned in the Canadian Roll of Honour. (Death certificates
obtained for confirmation).
WELLINGTON (LB137) December 2, 1943 - NGR 599 087 - This aircraft was from Silloth number 6 OTU
and crashed on the Western slope of Beinn Na Lice on the Mull of Kintyre killing all crew members. Some parts of
this aircraft still remain at the site. The crew were Charles Cliften Cooper, Flt Officer, RAAF, single, aged 25,
navigator; Jeffrey Alfred Duddridge, pilot, married, aged 26 yrs; Harry Oxley Dransfield, pilot, single, aged 21 yrs,
who is buried in Somerset; Francis Victor Sutter, air gunner, W/O, married, aged 25 yrs, RAAF; Reginald Francis
Canavan, Flt Sgt, air gunner, W/O, single, aged 25 yrs, RAAF and Robert John Wardrope, Flt Sgt, air gunner,
W/O, single, aged 24, RAAF.
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Pilot Officer Alfred Duddridge is buried in Sheffield. Cannavan, Sutter, Cooper and Wardrope are buried in Kilkeran
cemetery. Reports were that the crash site was at the car park on the Mull as pieces of wreckage were found at this
location however local knowledge holds that this wreckage was dragged from the crash site by local scrap dealers before
being chased by the Police. Australian Roll of Honour shows entries for Canavan , Sutter and Cooper. (Death
certificates obtained for confirmation). The site was confirmed in May 2005 with many pieces of wreckage still
remaining with 285 identification marks.
WELLINGTON (HX420) February 17, 1943 - NGR 731 291 - This aircraft crashed on Earsach Hill above the
Lussa Glen. Not much is known but not all the crew died in the crash. The survivors arrived at Drumgrave farm and
were taken to hospital. Hopefully more details will be found soon. Some of this wreck still remains on the hill just
below the cairn. Large amounts of ammunition are also on the site. The crash site is very difficult to get to owing to
the amount of trees planted below the summit. The crew that are known to have died were J. Pool, pilot (died later
from injuries), buried in Cheshire and Sgt Hoyle, navigator, buried in Leeds
WHITLEY (P5041) January 23, 1941 - NGR 598 094 - This aircraft crashed on the Mull of Kintyre. Little is
known of the crash. Wreckage is scattered near a burn north of a later-crashed Neptune. It was reported that some of
the wreckage of this aircraft is intermingled with the Neptune owing to the severity of both impacts. The crew were A.
P. Buckley, F/O, RAF, pilot; P. L. Billing, F/Lt., RAF; D. J. P. Bradley, ACM.; A. R. Hooker, Sgt. and H. Pilling,
Sgt.. Most of the wreckage consists of small parts at the impact site however large immovable parts are imbedded in
the banks of the stream including undercarriage parts etc. The aircraft is reported as having a full bomb-load which
exploded on impact. The state of the wreckage bears this out. The aircraft also caught fire, again evident from the
wreckage. Well up the stream from this site lies additional wreckage from the later-crashed Neptune.
Glossary of WWII German Military Terms

· abgeschossen -- shot down; destroyed
· Abschnitt -- sector, district
· Abteilung (Abt.) -- detachment, section, battalion
· Abwehr -- defense; however, this term was also a name for the counter-espionage service (German Secret Service) of the
high command, headed by Admiral Canaris.
· Abzeichen -- insignia; badge of rank, appointment or distinction
· Aggregat-4 (A4) -- earlier name for the German V2 rocket.
· AGRU-Front -- Technische Ausbildungsgruppe für Front U-Boote -- technical training group for front-line u-boats.
· Allgemeine-SS -- general body of the Schutzstaffel consisting of full-time, part-time, and honorary members.
· Alte Hasen -- Old hars; slang for military veterans who survived front-line hardships.
· Amt -- office, main office branch
· Amt Mil -- German Army intelligence organization which succeeded the Abwehr.
· Angriff -- attack
· "Arbeit macht frei" -- Work makes you free.; notorious slogan seen in some concentration camps.
· Armee -- army
· Armeeabteilung -- command between a corps and an army, an enlarged corps headquarters.
· Armeekorps -- infantry corps
· Armee-Nachrichten-Führer -- Army Signals Officer, served on the staff HQ of an Armee.
· Armeeoberkommando -- Field Army Command
· Armee-Pionier-Führer -- Army Engineer Officer, served on the staff HQ of an Armee.
· Armee-Sanitäts-Abteilung -- Army medical unit
· aufgelöst-- dissolved; disbanded, written off the order of battle after being destroyed.
· Aufklärung -- reconnaissance
· Aufklärungs-Abteilung -- reconnaissance unit or batallion, also used to designate certain battalion-sized units.
· Aus der Traum -- lit. The dream is over; a slogan painted by German soldiers near the end of the war expressing the
surreality of their situation.
· Ausführung (Ausf.) -- version, model, variant
· Ausschreitungen -- bloody atrocities (see Greuelerzählungen).
· Auszeichnung -- accolade, distinction
· Banditen -- bandits; bewaffnete banden -- armed gangs; Soldaten in Zivilkleidung -- soldiers in civilian dress; (see
Franktireure).
· Batterie -- battery, artillery piece
· Baubelehrung -- boat famililarization; when a u-boat crew studied the construction of a new submarine; see "KLA."
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· Baupionier -- army construction engineer

· B-Dienst -- Beobachtungsdienst, lit observation service; German Navy crypto-analytical department.
· BdU -- Befeshlshaber der U-boote -- Commander-in-Chief of the U-boats (Adm. Donitz); see FdU.
· Befehl (pl. Befehle) -- order, command
· Beobachtungswagen -- observation or reconnaissance vehicle
· Bergepanzer -- salvage or tank-recovery vehicle
· Beute-Panzer -- captured tank or armored vehicle
· Blechkoller -- tin fright; in U-boats, a form of nervous tension that could be caused by depth charge attacks and resulted in
violence or hysteria.
· Blitzkrieg -- lightning war; fast moving battle tactics developed by German generals, most notably Erwin Rommel, Heinz
Guderian, and Erich von Manstein, using massed tanks and ground-attack bombers to speedily penetrate enemy lines at
points and move to their rear, causing confusion/panic among them.
· Brückenleger -- bridgelayer
· Brummbär -- grumbler; a children's word for bear in German. It was the nickname for a mobile artillery piece
· Bundeswehr -- name adopted for the German armed forces after the fall of the Third Reich in the western part. (between
1945 and 1955 there was no German army). Consisting of Heer (Army), Luftwaffe (Air Force) and Marine (Navy).
· Chef des Generalstabes -- Chief of the General Staff

· Concentration camp -- Any internment camp for holding "enemies of the Third Reich." The construction of
concentration camps began almost immediately after Hitler came to power. There were several kinds: labor camps, prison
camps and death camps.
· Daimler Benz (DB) -- A producer of military vehicles

· Deutsches Afrika Korps (DAK) -- German troops send to North Africa under the command of Erwin Rommel to
prevent the loss of Libya by the Italians.
· Death Marches -- At the end of the war when it became obvious that the German army was trapped between the Soviets
to the east and the advancing Allied troops from the west, the Nazis, in an attempt to prevent the liberation of camp
inmates, forced them to march westward. Thousands died in these marches.
· Drahtverhau -- barbed-wire entanglement. Slang term used by German soldiers during World Wars I and II for a
military-issue mixture of dried vegetables.
· Drang nach Osten -- "Push to the East" into Poland.
· Eagle's Nest -- name given to Hitler's mountain-top home at Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps, also known as the
Berghof.
· EGz.b.V. -- Einsatzgruppe zur besonderen Verwendung -- SS Special Purpose Operational Group.
· Eichenlaubträger -- oak-leaf cluster to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross.
· Einheit -- detachment or unit
· Einsatz -- duty, mission, encouragement
· Einsatzbereit -- statement meaning, "Ready for action."
· Einsatzgruppen -- battalion-sized, mobile killing units of the Security Police and SS Security Service or SS Special Action
Groups that followed the German armies into the Soviet Union in June 1941. These units were supported by units of the
uniformed German Order Police and auxiliaries of volunteers (Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian, and Ukrainian). Their
victims, primarily Jews, were executed by shooting and were buried in mass graves from which they were later exhumed
and burned. At least a million Jews were killed in this manner. There were four Einsatzgruppen (A,B,C,D) which were
subdivided into company-sized Einsatzkommandos.
· Einsatzkommando -- Subdivisions of the Einsatzgruppen which took care of the mobilization and killing of Jews during
the German invasion into the Soviet Union.
· Eisenbahn -- iron way; railroad
· Eisernes Kreuz -- iron cross; medal awarded for valorious service
· Elektra -- a German radio-navigational system
· Endlösung or Endziel -- the "Final Solution"; refers to the genocide planned against the Jewish people.
· Enigma -- German message encryption equipment.
· Entmenscht -- inhuman (see Untermenschen).
· Erkennungsmarke -- identity tag; "dog tag"
· Ersatz -- substitute, replacement, reserves; could refer to replacement troops or any substance used in place of another,
e.g., ersatz coffee, ersatz rubber, etc.
· Ersatzbataillone or Marschbataillone -- coherent military replacement groups.
· Etappendienst -- German naval intelligence department
· Etappenschweine -- (slang) "rear swine" or rear personnel.
· Exerzierpanzer -- practice or exercise tank
386
· Fallschirmjäger -- paratroopers; German airborne troops

· FdU -- Führer der U-Boote -- Commander-in-Chief of U-boats (used from WWI to 1939, when title was reduced to
Regional Commander).
· Feindbild -- enemy
· Feld -- Field
· Feldgendarmerie -- German military or field police
· Feldgrau -- field gray; term used to describe the color of the ordinary German soldier's tunic.
· Feldlazarett -- field hospital
· Feldpolizeibeamte -- field police officers
· Feldpostbriefe -- soldiers' letters
· Feind -- enemy
· Feindfahrt -- enemy trip; in U-boat terminology, a war cruise/patrol against the enemy.
· Festung -- fortress
· FLAK, Flugzeugabwehrkanone -- anti-aircraft gun.
· Flakpanzer -- anti-aircraft tank, such as the Möbelwagen.
· Flammpanzer -- flame-throwing tank
· Flammenwerfer -- flame-thrower
· Fliegerabwehr-Abteilung -- anti-aircraft batallion
· Fliegerabwehrkanone (FLAK) -- air defense gun; the acronym has become a common term for any anti-aircraft gun.
· Flucht nach vorn -- flight to the front -- a desire to return to the battlefront.
· Forschungsamt -- intelligence service of the Luftwaffe.
· Franktireure -- terrorists; (see Freischärler).
· Franktireurkrieg -- terrorist warfare
· Freikorps -- volunteer corps; (see Freiwillige).
· Freischärler -- irregular/guerillas (see Widerstandskräfte).
· Freischärlerunwesen -- guerilla activities or terrorist incidents.
· Freiwillige -- volunteer
· Fronterlebnis -- battle-front expierence.
· Frontgemeinschaft -- front-line community/commradship.
· Frontkämpfer -- battle-front soldier.
· Frontgemeinschaft -- front combat soldier
· Führer -- leader, title given to exclusively to Adolf Hitler: Mein Fuhrer, Der Führer
· Funke -- spark; radio. A radio operator was called a Funker.
· Füsilier -- an historic German term often used to refer to heavy infantry units, original referring to the type of weapon
carried of the same name. During WWII used to name infantry formations with some recon abilities that replaced an
infantry division's recon battalion mid-war when the Germans reduced the number of standard infantry battalions in their
divisions from 9 to 6.
· Freya radar -- first operational radar with the Kriegsmarine
· Gauleiter -- supreme territorial or regional party authority(-ies)

· Gebirgsjäger -- mountain troops; a mountain unit might be described as either Gebirgs or Gebirgsjäger
· gefallen -- killed, dead
· geheim -- secret
· Geheime Feldpolizei -- secret field police
· Geheimfernschreiber -- cipher machine
· Gemeindepolizei -- local police
· Gemeinschaft -- a community of men who shared a great destiny.
· Gendarmerie -- rural police
· Generalfeldmarschall -- Field Marshal
· Generalkommando -- The headquarters of an army corps
· Generalstab des Heeres (Gen.St.d.H.) -- German Army General Staff
· gepanzert -- armoured
· Geschütz -- gun
· Gestapo -- Geheime Staatspolizei, lit. secret state police; the official state secret police force of Nazi Germany, coordinated with
the Kripo under the SD.
· Gewehr -- rifle, such as the Gewehr 43.
· Gift -- poison; giftig: poisonous/toxic
· Gleichschaltung -- coordination, coordination of everything into Nazi ideals.
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· Goldfasan (Golden pheasant) -- slang term for high-ranking Nazi Party members. Derived from the brown-and-red
uniforms similar to the colors of male pheasants.
· Gothic Line -- German defence line in Italy, north of Florence.
· Grabenkrieg -- trench warfare
· Granatwerfer -- grenade thrower; mortar
· Grenadier -- traditional term for heavy infantry, adopted from mid-war onward as a morale-building honorific often
indicative of low-grade formations
· Grenze -- border
· Grenzschutz -- border patrol
· Greuelerzählungen -- numerous atrocities
· Gröfaz -- German soldiers' derogatory acronym for Größter Feldherr aller Zeiten, a title initially publicized by Nazi
propaganda to refer to Adolf Hitler during the early war years; lit. "Greatest War Lord of all Time".
· Gruppe -- group; could be either small or large units.
· Gruppenstab -- command staff
· Gustav Line -- German defence line in Italy, centred on the monastery of Monte Cassino.
· Hakenkreuz -- (hooked cross) the version of the Swastika used by the Nazi Party
· Handelsmarine -- German merchant marine
· Hannoversche Maschinenbau AG (Hanomag) -- producer of military vehicles
· Härteübung -- hardiness training
· Haubitze -- howitzer
· Hauptamt Sicherheitspolizei (HA-Sipo) -- Security Police headquarters
· Heckenschützen -- terrorist-snipers
· Heer -- regular German Army
· Heeresgruppekommando (HGr.Kdo) -- Army Group Command
· Heimat -- home
· Heimatschuß -- homeland shot; a wound not severe enough to be permanently disabling but of enough severity to require
evacuation from the battlefront. The German soldier's equivalent of the American G.I.'s "million-dollar wound."
· Heldenklau - stealing or snatching of heroes; slang term used to denote the practice of commandeering rear-echelon
personnel for front-line service
· Hetzer -- agitators, also the name of a tank-hunter
· Hilfsfreiwillige (HIWI) - German Army volunteer forces usually made up of Soviet volunteers serving in non-combat
capacities
· Himmelfahrtskommando -- "trip to heaven", a suicide mission
· Hinterhalt -- ambush
· Hitler Jugend (HJ) -- Hitler Youth organization
· Hilfswilliger (Hiwis) -- eastern-European volunteer helper to the military
· Höckerhindernisse -- anti-tank obstacles often referred to as "Dragon's Teeth"
· Hoheitsabzeichen -- national insignia (eagle and swastika)
· Hummel -- bumble-bee; nickname for a piece of mobile artillery
· Hundehütte -- (dog house) punishment hut
· Infanterie -- infantry
· Ivan -- German slang for a Soviet soldier (similar to "Kraut", the American slang term for Germans).
· Jabo (Jagdbomber) -- fighter-bomber

· Jagdeschwader (JG) -- single-engine fighter wing.
· Jagdpanzer -- tank hunter; armored, mobile tank destroyer
· Jagd-Kommando -- hunting commando; generally refers to a commando outfit that remained behind enemy lines when an
area was overrun and would carry out sabotage and other guerrilla actions. These units did not generally operate as such
and were later taken over by the SS and used as front line combat troops in 1944-45.
· Jäger -- light infantry; used alone or as part of a specialty such as Gebirgsjäger or Fallschirmjäger. The root Jagd- is also
used in its literal meaning of hunter for weapon systems such Jagdtiger.
· Junkerschule -- officer academy
· Kadavergehorsam -- "absolute duty and blind obedience till death"

· Kameradschaft -- small military unit, or phrase for "comrade support amongst soldiers" (see Volkgemeinschaft).
· Kampf -- struggle, fight or conflict
· Kampfgeist -- fighting spirit
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· Kampfgeschwader (KG) -- bomber wing

· Kampfgruppe -- battlegroup; formal designation of an ad hoc task force, or informal description of a combat unit at greatly
reduced strength.
· Kampfschwimmer -- frogman
· Kampfzone -- battle zone
· Kampfwunde -- battle injury
· Kapo -- crematory-oven workers in the concentration camps (see Konzentrationslager).
· Kaserne -- barracks
· Kavallerie -- cavalry
· Ketten -- track, such as a tank track
· Kettenhund -- "chained dog", slang for a Military Policeman (derived from the metal gorget worn on a chain around the
neck).
· Kettenkraftrad -- a tracked motorcycle; also "Kettenkrad"
· Kindersärge -- "children's coffins", slang term applied to small, wooden, antipersonnel box-mines.
· KLA: Kriegsschiffbaulehrabteilung -- was a warship-construction training division which supervised a Baubelehrung.
· Kleinkampfverband (K-Verband) -- special naval operations by a few frogmen.
· Kleinkrieg -- guerrilla war
· Knochensammlung -- gathering the bones of dead soldiers.
· Kommandanten-Schießlehrgang -- U-boat Commander's Torpedo Course.
· Kommando -- command; detachment; detail
· Kommissarbefehl -- 6 June 1941, order to kill all political commissars in the Red Army
· Kompanie -- company, unit
· Konzentrationslager -- concentration camp
· Knickebein -- crooked leg; German navigational system using radio beams to guide bombers.
· Krad (Kraft-Radfahrzeug) -- motorcycle
· Kradschütze(n) -- motorcycle unit or soldier
· Kraut -- for sauerkraut; slang term used by Americans to refer to Germans.
· Krieg- -- wartime-, war
· Kriegsgefangener -- prisoner of war
· Kriegsgericht -- court martial; slang for a war dish or poor meal.
· Kriegsmarine -- German Navy
· Kriegsneurose -- battle fatigue
· Kriegstagebuch -- war diary
· Kriminalpolizei (Kripo) -- Criminal police
· Krupp (Kp) -- producer of tanks
· Krupp-Daimler (KD) -- A producer of tanks
· Kübel -- (bucket or tub) short for Kübelwagen, open-topped military utility cars
· Kugel -- bullet (also ball)
· Kugelblitz -- fireball
· Küstenfischkutter (KFK) -- patrol vessels constructed to a fishing-vessel design; (see Vorpostenboote).
· Landekopf -- beachhead
· Landratsamt -- civil administration
· Landsturm -- historically, infantry of non-professional soldiers, a kind of militia
· Landser -- historical term for a German infantryman, slang: "Schütze Arsch."
· Landwehr -- Territorial Army
· Latrinenparole -- "latrine talk" slang for "rumor talk."
· laufende Nummer -- serial number
· Lebensraum -- space to live in
· Lehr -- "demonstration"; usually part of the name of an elite formation used as or mobilzed from instructional troops, e.g.
Panzer Lehr.
· leicht -- light, usually to refer a lighter type, such as light tank: leichter Panzer. Several classes of division were also classified
as "light".
· Liechtenstein -- German airborne radar used for nightfighting.
· Lorenz Schlüsselzusatz -- German cipher machine.
· Lorenz (navigation) -- pre-war blind-landing aid used at many airports. most German bombers had the radio equipment
needed to use it.
· Luchs -- lynx; nickname given to a version of the Panzer II.
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· Leuchtkugel -- signal flare

· Luftadler -- air eagle; Luftwaffe's eagle insignia
· Luftwaffe -- air force; the German Air Force
· Luftschutzpolizei -- air raid protection police
· MAN -- German armed anti-nazi resistance group named after the MAN engineering works in Bavaria.
· Mannschaften -- enlisted personnel
· Maus -- mouse; nickname for a large, heavy tank that never passed beyond prototype stage.
· Maybach (M) -- a company that manufactured engines for many of the German panzers.
· Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg (MAN) -- Augsburg-Nuremberg Machine Company; a German engineering
works and truck manufacturer.
· Maschinenfabrik Niedersachsen Hannover (MNH) -- weapon (tank) development and production firm.
· Maschinengewehr (MG - pronounced emm-gay) -- machine gun, as in the MG-42.
· Maschinenpistole (MP) -- submachine gun, as in the MP40.
· Mine (pl. Minen) -- an anti-personnel, tank, or boat mine.
· Minensuchboote (M-boats) -- large, minesweepers
· Mißliebige -- undesirables
· Munitionsschlepper -- munitions or ammunition carrier.
· Mütze -- cap or small hat, such as the M43 field cap, also known as the Einheitsfeldmütze.
· Nachricht(en) -- signals / news / communication

· Nachschubtruppen -- supply troops
· Nacht und Nebel -- night and fog; code for some prisoners that were to be disposed of, leaving no traces.
· Nachtjagdgeschwader (NJG) -- night-figher air wing.
· Nahverteidigungswaffe -- Close Defense Weapon; an attachment to panzers to combat close assaulting infantry
· Nashorn -- rhinoceros, nickname for a tank destroyer
· Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP) -- National Socialist German Worker's Party -- Nazi Party.
· Nationalsozialistische Führungsoffiziere (NSFO) -- National Socialist Leadership Officers.
· Nationalsolzialistische Volksfürsorge (NSV) -- National Socialist People's Welfare centers.
· Naxos radar detector -- "Naxos Z" was developed for night fighters, "Naxos U", was provided to U-boats
· Nebelwerfer (Nb.W) -- fog thrower; rocket artillery, multi-barrel rocket launchers that could be used for smoke or high
explosive projectiles.
· Norden -- north
· Nummer (Nr.) -- Number; used to describe some divisional organizations with a unit number but no combat assets, often
converted to ordinary divisions later on. (E.g. Division Nr. 157.)
· Ober-* -- higher; part of several military ranks like Oberleutnant

· Oberst* -- German equivalent of a colonel
· Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres (Ob.d.H.) -- Commander-in-Chief of the Army.
· Oberkommando des Heeres (OKH) -- Army High Command; Army General Staff.
· Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine -- Navy High Command
· Oberkommando der Luftwaffe -- Supreme Command of the Air Force
· Oberkommando der Wehrmacht -- Armed Forces High Command
· Offizier-Lager (Oflag) -- officer camp; German prisoner of war camp for Allied officers.
· Ordnungspolizei (Orpo) -- order police
· Ortskampf -- combat in towns
· Osten -- east
· Ostjuden -- eastern Jews in Poland
· Ostmark -- post-Anschlus Austria
· Ostpreußen -- Province of East Prussia
· Panje -- horse-cart wagon

· Panzer -- armor; German word is derived from Old French pancier, meaning "armor for the belly". It can refer to a tank
(see panzerkampfwagen below), or to an armored formation (Panzer Division is literally "Tank Division"; the adjective for
"armored" is gepanzert)
· Panzerabwehrkanone (PaK) -- anti-tank gun
· Panzerbefehlswagen (Pz.Bef.Wg) -- the commanding tank of any panzer detachment.
· Panzerfaust -- A light disposable infantry anti-tank weapon firing a rocket propelled shaped charge grenade.
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· Panzerschreck -- A heavy re-usable infantry anti-tank weapon firing a rocket propelled shaped charge grenade. Modelled
on the US bazooka
· Panzergrenadier -- mechanized infantry
· Panzerjäger -- armor or tank hunter, anti-tank weapon
· Panzerkampfwagen (Pzkpfw.) -- armored fighting vehicle; usually a reference to a type of tank.
· Panzerschiffe -- armored ships, i.e. "pocket battleships".
· Panzerzerstörer -- tank destroyer; name was sometimes also given to units in an attempt to boost morale.
· Pionier (pl. pioniere) -- combat engineer
· Porsche (P) -- company that designed and produced tanks and other military vehicles. They now produce cars.
· Quist -- one of several manufacturers of German helmets both during and after WWII.
· Radikale Niederwerfung -- ruthless suppression

· Rasputitsa -- slang for watery, mud-filled trenches or landscape in Russia.
· Raumboote (R-boats) -- small motor minesweepers
· Reich -- realm, empire
· Reichsarbeitsdienst (RAD) -- compulsory labor service in Nazi Germany
· Reichsbahn -- railway system
· Reichsführer-SS -- Reich Leader of the SS, an office held by Heinrich Himmler.
· Reichssicherheitshauptamt (RSHA) -- Reich Security Main Office; orgainisation created by Himmler to coordinate all
German security and police departments, including the Gestapo, Kripo and SD.
· Reichswehr -- name for the German Armed Forces under the Weimar Republic, from 1919 to 1935.
· Reissen und scheissen -- slang for aches and bowl runs.
· Reiter -- cavalry
· Ritterkreuz -- Knight's Cross (of the Iron Cross); award for valorious service for those who had already received the Iron
Cross. 7318 of these were awarded during the war.
· Ritterkreuzträger - a holder of the Knight's Cross.
· Rollkommando -- small unit
· Rommelspargel -- Rommel's Asparagus; slanted and barb-wired poles placed in key places behind the Atlantic Wall with
the intention of preventing paratroop and glider landings.
· Rotes Kreuz -- Red Cross
· SA -- see Sturmabteilung.
· S-Mine -- a common type of anti-personnel landmine.
· Sanitäts- -- (1) medical unit, (2)personnel
· Sanka -- acronym for Sanitätskraftfahrtzeug, a term for German field ambulances.
· Saukopf -- pig's head, used to refer to the shape of a gun mantlet or mount
· Schanzzeug -- entrenching tool; slang term for fork and knife
· Schatten -- shadow; used to describe division headquarters that controlled just a few combat assets, usually for the purpose
of misleading enemy intelligence.
· Schlacht -- battle
· Schlachtschiff - battleship
· schnell -- adjective meaning "fast".
· Schnellboat (E-boat) -- motor torpedo boat
· Schnelltruppen -- mechanized troops (whether armor or infantry)
· Schrecklichkeit -- using terror against civilians.
· Schutzhaft -- protective custody.
· Schutzpolizei -- uniformed police
· Schutzstaffel (SS) -- protection squad; basically, Hitler's praetorian guard (bodyguard).
· Schürze -- skirting, armor skirting added to tanks to give additional protection.
· Schütze -- rifleman
· Schützenpanzerwagen (SPW) -- armored half-track
· Schutzhaft -- protective custody; a euphemism for the power to imprison people without judicial proceedings, typically in
concentration camps.
· Schutzhaftbefehl -- detention order; document declaring that a detained person desired to be imprisoned. Normally this
signature was forced by torture.
· Schutzstaffel (SS) -- protective squads; operated the concentration camps; (1) elite "Black Shirts" guard of the Nazi
Party; (2) Shock Troops on battlefields. Had a tri-force structure: original Allgemeine SS, later organized as SS-Totenkopf,
then finally reorganized as the SS-Verfügungstruppen.
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· Schwadron (pl. Schwadrone) -- squadron; Used in the cavalry, squadron was basically company-sized.
· Schwarze Kapelle -- Black Orchestra; a term used to describe a group of conspirators within the German Army who
plotted to overthrow Hitler and came near to assassinating him on July 20, 1944.
· Schweinereien -- "scandalous acts" -- crimes against civilians.
· schwer -- adjective meaning "heavy", the word "gross" (large) can mean the same.
· Schwerer Kreuzer -- heavy cruiser
· Schwimmpanzer -- amphibious or swimming tank
· SD -- see Sicherheitsdienst
· Seekriegsleitung (SKL) -- directorate of the Naval War.
· Seitengewehr -- bayonet
· Selbstfahrlafette -- self-propelled
· Selbstschutz -- ethnic German civilian militia
· Sicherheitsdienst (SD) -- security department; the Nazi Party security service, intelligence gathering and counter-espionage
wings of the RSHA headed by Reinhard Heydrich.
· Sicherheitspolizei (Sipo) -- secret security police, namely the Kripo and Gestapo; the Nazi Party's own internal
intelligence and security service.
· Sicherungsflottillen -- (1) escort ships, (2) paramilitary organization of unemployed ex-soldiers, who were recruited to
protect Nazi speakers, and because of their clothing were called "Brown Shirts."
· Sigrunen -- the name of the double "S" rune used by the SS.
· Sipo -- see Sicherheitspolizei
· Sippenverhaftung -- the practice of arresting members of a person's family for political crimes or treason committed by
that person.
· Soldat -- soldier/enlisted man
· Soldbuch -- pay book carried by every member of the German armed forces. Unit information, a record of all equipment
issued,and other details were entered into this book.
· Sonderbehandlung -- special treatment; a Nazi euphemism meaning torture or killing of people in detention.
· Sonderfahndungslisten -- wanted-persons list
· Sonderkommando - special unit; an official term that applied to certain German and foreign SS units that operated in
German-occupied areas. They were responsible for the liquidation of persons not desirable to the Nazi government.
· Sonderkraftfahrzeug (Sd.Kfz.) -- special purpose motor vehicle, usually abbreviated and referring to an Ordinance Inventory
Number.
· Sonderreferat -- special administrative section
· Späher -- scout
· Spähwagen -- Scout/reconnaissance vehicle
· Sperrschule -- Mine Warfare School at Kiel-Wik
· Spieß -- colloquial name for the highest-ranking non-commissioned officer in a company, usually a Hauptfeldwebel. He
exercized more authority than his American counterpart (Sergeant-Major).
· SS -- see Schutzstaffel
· SSTV -- SS-Totenkopfverbände (SS Death's Head Units).
· SS-Verfügungstruppen -- "units available" or military formations of the SS, renamed Waffen-SS in early 1940.
· Stab (pl. Stäbe) -- HQ or staff
· Stabsfeldwebel -- staff sergeant
· Stacheldraht -- barbed wire
· Stadtkommandant -- military commander of a city
· Staffel -- squadron; the smallest operational air unit.
· Stahlhelm -- (1) steel helmet, (2) nationalist organization.
· Stalag -- acronym for Stammlager, German prisoner-of-war camp for ranks other than officers.
· Standarte -- SS unit equivalent to a regiment.
· Stielhandgranate -- stick hand grenade: the "potato masher" Model 24 grenade.
· Stellung -- position
· Stoßtruppen -- shock or attack troops
· Stuka -- acronym for Sturzkampfflugzeug, lit. dive-bombing aircraft. Used to designate German JU-87 dive bombers prevalent
early in the war.
· Stukageschwader -- a Ju-87 air wing.
· Sturm -- assault
· Sturmabteilung (SA) -- storm troopers, not part of the army, basically, in the beginning Hitler's praetorian guard
(bodyguard) of "brown shirts" as faction of the Nazi party, later dismissed by the Schutzstaffel (SS).
· Sturmbann [plural: Sturmbanne] -- a battalion; used by SA and SS units until 1940.
· Sturmgeschütz (StuG) -- self-propelled assault gun, such as the Sturmgeschütz III.
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· Sturmgewehr -- assault rifle

· Süden -- south
· Swastika -- see Hakenkreuz.
· Tauchpanzer -- submersible tank

· Teilkommando -- a small, section command group
· Tiger -- nickname given to the PzKW Panzer VI "Tiger I" and "Tiger II" series of tanks, as well as the Jagdtiger and
Sturmtiger built on the same chassis.
· Tommy -- German slang for a British soldier (similar to "Kraut", the American slang term for Germans).
· Tropenhelm -- pith helmet; a wide rimmed helmet used in tropical areas, most notably by the Afrika Korps.
· tot -- dead
· Totenkopf -- death's head
· Totenkopfverbände -- Death's Head units, employed earlier as guards in concentration camps, they later became the first
unit of the Waffen-SS, the Totenkopf division.
· Totenkopfwachsturmbanne -- Death's head Guard battalions; units of the SS that guarded concentration camps during
the war.
· Truppenamt -- "Troop Office" the disguised Army General Staff after the Versailles Treaty abolished the German Army
General Staff.
· UAA -- see U-Fahrausbildungslehrgang

· U-bootjäger (UJ-boats) -- steam trawlers equipped for anti-submarine operations.
· U-Fahrausbildungslehrgang -- where submarine personnel learned to operate u-boats.
· U-Lehrdivision (ULD) -- U-boat Training Division (see Kommandanten-Schießlehrgang).
· Untermenschen -- those peoples the Nazi's derided as subhuman (see entmenscht).
· Unteroffizier -- non-commissioned officer
· Unterführer -- non-commissioned officer
· Unterseeboot (U-Boat) -- submarine
· Urlaub -- furlough; also: vacation
· V1 Rocket -- The first of the operational German weapons of vengeance, or "Vergeltungswaffen" - the V-1 was a
pilotless flying bomb powered by a pulse-jet engine and carried a 850 kg (1875 lb) high-explosive warhead. They had a
range of up to 200 km. nicknamed "buzz bombs" by allied troops due to the sound they made.
· V2 Rocket -- Also known as the A4, the successor to the V-1 was a long range rocket powered by liquid oxygen and
alcohol, it had a 975 kg (2150 lb) high-explosive warhead and a range of 320 km.
· V3 -- Long-range, smooth-bore gun designed to fire shells carrying up to a 10 kg (22 lb) high-explosive warhead at a range
of 93 km. It was never very successful as most installations were destroyed by bombing before they could be used.
· Verband -- formation (from a battalion to a brigade).
· verdächtige Elemente/Personen -- suspicious elements/persons.
· Verfügungs Truppen-SS -- units-available brankch; developed from various counter-revolutionary or counter-terrorist
units.
· Vergeltungsmaßnahmen -- reprisals; retaliatory punitiive measures.
· Vernichtungskrieg -- (1)"war of annihilation" against (1) USSR civilians, (2) dogmatic offensive.
· Vernichtungslager -- Extermination camp
· Versuchskonstruktion -- prototype
· Vichy France -- French regime set up in the city of Vichy under Marshal Petain in collaboration with the Germans
following the fall of France in 1940. It governed the southern half of France until its dissolution in 1944.
· völkisch -- an adjective used to describe the racist, nationalist ideology which divided people into "pure" Aryans and
inferior Untermenschen.
· Volksdeutsche -- ethnic Germans
· Volksgemeinschaft -- national community or civilian population; public support (see Kameradschaft).
· Volksgrenadier -- "People's Infantryman", a morale-building honorific given to low-grade infantry divisions raised or
reconstituted in the last months of the war
· Volkskrieg -- "People's War"
· Volkssturm -- People's semi-military defense force, made up mostly of boys and older men.
· Volkstumskampf -- ethnic struggle
· Vorpostenboote (VP-boats) -- coastal escort work, with anti-submarine and minesweeeping gear. Also called
Küstenfischkutter (KFK), as they were patrol vessels constructed to a fishing-vessel design.
· Wabos -- in U-boat terminology, the nickname for wasserbomben, lit. depth charges.
· Wach- -- guard (in conjunction)
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· Waffe (pl. Waffen) -- weapon, or can be an adjective meaning "armed".

· Waffen-SS -- militarized combat branch of the SS.
· Wagen -- vehicle, car
· Wehrkraftzersetzung -- undermining the fighting spirt of the troops.
· Wehrkreis -- Geman military district centered on an important city.
· Wehrmacht -- German armed forced under the Third Reich consisting of three branches: the Heer (Army), the Luftwaffe
(Air Force), and the Kriegsmarine (Navy).
· Wehrmachtsführungsstab -- Armed Forces Operations Staff
· Wehrmachtsadler -- the Wehrmacht's eagle insignia
· Wehrmachtsgefolge -- Armed Forces Auxiliaries. These include those organizations that were not a part of the armed
forces but which served such an important support role that they were given protection under the Geneva Convention
and/or militarizied. The armed forces auxiliaries consisted in part of the Reicharbeitsdienst, NSKK, Organization Todt,
and the Volkssturm.
· Werwolf -- German guerrilla fighters dedicated to harass Allied rear areas. Initially conceived as an adjunct to the Jagd-
Kommando units and placed under the command of Otto Skorzeny, the idea was later appropriated by Joseph Goebbels
to represent the general rising up of the German people to defend against foreign invasion. It was not widely effective or
organized, and there were only a few known instances of involvement, mainly after the war ended and mostly in the
Eastern regions.
· Wespe -- wasp, a self-propelled 105mm artillery piece mounted on the PzKpfw II chassis.
· Widerstandskräfte -- insurgents (see Freischärler).
· Wilhelm Gustloff -- A German hospital ship sunk by a Soviet submarine's torpedo attack on January 30, 1945. The
sinking of the Wilhelm Gustloff is the single deadliest sinking in maritime history, killing between 6,000 and 10,000 people,
most of whom were civilian refugees and wounded German soldiers.
· Wolfsschanze -- Wolf's Lair; code name for Hitler's headquarters near Rastenburg in East-Prussia.
· Wotan (navigation) -- alternative name for Y-Gerät radio radio navigation system.
· Würzburg radar (usually spelt Wuerzburg radar in English)-- German radar went into service in 1940 and over 3,000 of
all variants were built.
· X-Gerät -- equipment for using "X" guidance on German aircraft.
· Y-Beam -- German aircraft navigational system which utilized a single station that radiated a directional beam plus a
ranging signal which the bomber picked up and re-transmitted to enable the ground controllers to compute the range and
know when to order the bombs to be dropped.
· Y-Gerät -- equipment for using "Y" guidance on German aircraft.
· Z3 -- pioneering computer developed by Konrad Zuse in 1941, it was destroyed by bombardment in 1944
· z.b.V. -- see Zur besonderen Verwendung.
· Zeltbahn -- a triangular or square shelter quarter made of closely-woven water-repellent cotton duck. It could be used on
its own as a poncho or put together with others to create shelters and tents. Also called Zeltplane.
· Zentralstelle II P -- Central office II P (Poland)
· Ziel -- target, objective
· Zimmerit -- an anti-magnetic mine paste applied on the armor of German tanks to prevent magnetic mines from being
attached. It was similar to cement, and was applied on the tanks with rake, giving the vehicle a rough appearance. From
the summer of the 1943 to mid-1944 zimmerit became a standard characteristic on many German panzers.
· Zitadelle -- citadel, used as the name for Operation Zitadelle
· Zur besonderen Verwendung (z.b.V.) -- for special use/employment. Sometimes a killing squad/unit, but also used for
divisions raised for special reasons (e.g. the Division zbV Afrika).
· Zyklon-B -- commercial name for the prussic acid (hydrocyanic acid) gas used in German extermination camps.
List of German military ranks

Approximate ranks relative to US ranks:
· Generalfeldmarschall – General of the Army

· Generaloberst – General
· General der Infanterie, Kavallerie, etc. – Lieutenant-General
· General-Leutnant – Major-General
· Generalmajor – Brigadier-General
· Oberst – Colonel
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· Oberstleutnant – Lieutenant Colonel

· Major – Major
· Hauptmann – Captain
· Oberleutnant – First Lieutenant
· Leutnant – Second Lieutenant
· Hauptfeldwebel – Sergeant-Major
· Stabsfeldwebel – Master Sergeant
· Oberfeldwebel – Technical Sergeant
· Feldwebel – Staff Sergeant
· Unterfeldwebel – no equivalent
· Unteroffizier – Sergeant
· Obergefreiter – Corporal
· Gefreiter – Private First Class
· Obergrenadier/Oberschütze – Private
· Grenadier/Schütze – Private
List of code names for major German operations

The German term for Operation is Unternehmen, lit. undertaking.
· Adlertag -- Eagle day; code name for the day of intense German air attack on Britain, 15th August 1940. Also called
Adlerangriffe; Eagle attack.
· Anton -- code name for the German occupation of Vichy France, November 1942; later known as Atilla.
· Atilla -- code name for the German occupation of Vichy France, November 1942
· Aufbau Ost -- Eastern buildup; operational code name for the German build-up of arms prior to the invasion of the Soviet
Union.
· Barbarossa -- operational code name for the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Barbarossa, or "Red
Beard" was the nickname for Emperor Frederick I, who attempted to unify Germanic states in the 12th century.
· Bernhard -- operational code name for German scheme to counterfeit British bank notes and put them into circulation;
began in 1942.
· Bestrafung -- operational code name for German "punishment" air attacks on Belgrade, April 1941.
· Bodenplatte -- Base plate; operational code name for the German air offensive against Allied airfields in north-western
Europe, January 1945.
· Eiche -- Oak; operational code name for the plan to rescue Mussolini by the fallschirmjäger of the Luftwaffe.
· Fall Gelb -- Case yellow; operational codename for the German invasion of the Netherlands, Belgium and France.
· Fall Grün -- Case green; operational code name for the intended German invasion of Czechoslovakia.
· Fall Rot -- Case red; operational code name for counterstrike against France in the event of an attack on Germany from
the West.
· Fall Weiß -- Case white; operational code name for the German invasion of Poland.
· Felix -- operational codename for the German plan to capture Gibraltar in 1941. It never took place.
· Fischfang -- Fish trap; operational code name for the German counter attack on the Allied beachead at Anzio in February
1944.
· Greif -- Griffin; operational code name for the dropping of English-speaking German troops wearing American uniforms
behind the Allied lines in the Ardennes, prior to the Battle of the Bulge.
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· Herbstnebel -- Autumn mist; operational codename for the German offensive in the Ardennes, December 1944 - Also
known as the Battle of the Bulge.
· Nordlicht -- Northern lights; operational codename for the German attack on Leningrad in 1942.
· Paukenschlag -- Drumroll or Drumbeat; operational codename of the offensive against Allied shipping in US and Caribbean
waters in the first half of 1942.
· Pastorius -- operational codename for a U-boat spy operation involving U-202 and U-548 setting 8 agents ashore in the
USA in June 1942.
· Reinhard -- operational code name for the entire process of building extermination camps, deportation of Jews first to
ghettos, then to the concentration camps for extermination and incineration. The operation was named for SD chief
Reinhard Heydrich.
· Seelöwe -- Sea Lion; operational codename for the planned German assault on Great Britain in 1940/41. It never took
place.
· Taifun -- Typhoon; operational codename for the German push towards Moscow in September 1941.
· Tiger -- operational codename for the German advance through the Maginot Line on the French border in June 1940.
(The name was also the operational code name for a British convoy to Egypt in May 1941.)
· Weserübung -- Weser Exercise; operational codename for the German invasion of Denmark and Norway, 9 April 1940
· Wintergewitter -- Winter gale; operational codename for the unsuccessful German attempt to relieve the 6th Army at
Stalingrad in December 1942.
· Zitadelle -- Citadel; operational code name for the German attack on the Soviet forces near Kursk, July 1943.
396
GLOSSARY OF U-BOAT TERMS

Aal: Spitzname für Torpedos Eel: Nickname for torpedo
Abk. Abkürzung Abbreviation
Abmessungen Dimensions
Abt. Abteilung Department / Section / Detachment / Branch
Abzeichen Badge
Achsenmächte Axis Powers
Adm. Admiral Admiral
Admiralität / Admiralsstab Admiralty / Admiral's Staff
Adm.St.Arz Admiralstabsarzt Admiral's Staff Doctor

t
Asto Admiralstabsoffizier Admiral's Staff Officer
Adressbuch: Für die U-boat codebook

Nachrichtenübermittlung im Atlantik
benutztes Codebuch
Akku(s) Akkumulator Accumulator / Battery
AFA Akkumulatoren Fabrik AG Berlin-Hagen Main battery supplier for German U-Boats with
factories in Berlin and Hagen
AG Aktiengesellschaft Joint-stock Company
Aktionsreport Action Report
Akustischer Torpedo: Zielsuch-Torpedo der Acoustic Torpedo: Torpedo that home on its target
auf die Schraubengeräusche der Schiffe by means of sound
reagierte
Alarm When seen in a KTB generally means crash dive
Alarmtauchen: Schnelles Tauchmanöver im Cash dive

Notfall
Alarmtauchzeit Crash Diving Time
Alberich: Spezielle Gummibeschichtung der Special rubber coating covering some U-boats to
Aussenfläche der U-Boote, die ASDIC- absorb or diffuse ASDIC sound waves thus
Ortung erschwerte. providing a degree of stealth for the U-boat. Test
results were disappointing.
AEG Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Electric Supply Company, produced electric motors

for U-Boats and other electric equipment
Amt Office / Department
anblasen: Manöver zum schnellen To blow all tanks: generally, an emergency action
397
Auftauchen wobei das Wasser mittels taken to bring the boat to the surface as quickly as
Pressluft aus den Tauchbunkern geblasen possible.
wurde
Angriffsort Location of attack
Angriffsposition Attack position / favorable firing position
ASR Angriffssehrohr Attack periscope
Anker Anchor
Anlage Installation / Equipment
Anmarsch Approaching
Antrieb Propulsion
Aphrodite: Deckname für das Funkmess- Codename for Radar Decoy Balloon (RDB):
Täuschungsgerät (FuMT 1) welches zur German device used to confuse radar by giving a
Täuschung der gegnerischen Radarortung false radar echo
diente
Äquator Equator
Äquatortaufe: Scherzhafte Taufe von Initiation Ceremony for any crew members who
Seeleuten, die erstmals den Äquator were crossing the Equator-line for the first time
überqueren
Ärmelkanal English Channel
Artilleriefeuer Artillery-fire
Artilleriemaat Gunner's Mate
A.O. Artillerieoffizier Artillery Officer
Asse: Erfolgreiche U-Boot-Kommandanten Aces: Successful / Famous U-boat Commanders
ATHOS: Funkpeilantenne Radio detection antenna
Atlantikschlacht Atlantic Battle
Atlantischer Ozean / Atlantik Atlantic Ocean
ATO Atmosphärisch angetriebener Torpedo A torpedo using compressed air as an oxidant with
Decahydronapthalene (Decalin) to create steam
that turned the propellers of the torpedo. A bubble
trail was emitted that could be seen by the enemy
and therefore during WWII they were intended to
be used at night. Often referred to as 'air-driven' or
'compressed air powered' torpedoes
USN-VPB Aufklärungsbomber-Staffel der U.S. Navy USN Patrol Bombing Squadron
Aufklärungsboot Marine Reconnaissance Vessel
USN-VP Aufklärungsstaffel der U.S. Navy USN Patrol Squadron
Aufschlagzündung Impact fuse
398
Aufstellung (nehmen) to get in position
auftauchen emerging
Ausb. Ausbildung Training / Instruction
Ausbildungsflottille U-boat Training Flotilla
Ausbildungs-U-Boot / Ausbildungsboot Training U-boat
Ausgleichstank Compensation tank
a. D. ausser Dienst retired / withdrawn from service
Äusserste Kraft (voraus) Full speed (ahead)
RAAF Australische Luftwaffe Royal Australian Air Force
Auszeichnung Decoration / Award
Bachstelze: Tarnname für den motorlosen Wagtail: Motor-less helicopter towed on a cable
Schlepp-Hubschrauber Focke-Achgelis FA behind a type IX D2 U-boat to improve the field of
300, der zur Vergrößerung des vision. It was stored in 2 tubes, the fuselage in one
Sichthorizonts der U-Boote vom Typ IX D2 and the rotors in the other. The Bachstelze worked
diente much like a Gyrocopter. The idea was interesting
but it wasn't widely deployed.
Backbord Portside
Batl. Bataillon Battalion
Bathythermograph: Gerät zur Aufzeichnung Device for measuring ocean water temperature at
der Temperaturen in verschiedenen various depths
Wassertiefen
Baubelehrung Final stage of construction accompanied by future

crew members to introduce them to technical
details, equipment etc.
Baujahr Year of construction
Bauwerft Building Yard / Shipyard
BdU.Op BdU - Operationsabteilung C-in-C U-boats - Operational Department /

Tactical U-boat Command
BdU.Org BdU - Organisationsabteilung C-in-C U-boats - Organization Department
Befehl Order
BdU Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote Commander-in-Chief of Submarines, also used in

reference to staff and headquarters
Begleitschiff Escort ship
B-Dienst Beobachtungsdienst / German Radio Monitoring Service, the German

Funkbeobachtungsdienst 'signals intelligence' branch.
Bergen: U-Boot-Stützpunkt in Norwegen German U-boat base in Norway (11th Flotilla)

(11. Flottille)
399
Bergungsschiff Rescue Vessel
Besatzung / Mannschaft Crew members
beschädingt damaged
Beschatter: U-Boot das Fühlung mit einem

aufgespürten Geleitzug hielt und die im
Anmarsch befindlichen U-Boote mit
Informationen über den Konvoi (Anzahl der
Schiffe, Geschwindigkeit, Bewachung,
Kurswechsel, etc.) versorgte.
Betasom: Kommando der italienischen U- Italian U-boat Command in Bordeaux

Boote in Bordeaux
Bewaffnung Armament
UIT Bezeichnung für ehemals italienische U- Designation for formerly Italian U-boats
Boote
Biber: Dt. Klein-U-Boot für Ein-Mann- Beaver: Midget U-boat-type for one-man crew
Besatzung
Biene: Spitzname für Flugzeuge Bee: Nickname for aircraft, 'Die Müde Bienen'
(tired bees) often referring to the Short Sunderland,
because although slow they carried a sting.
Biskaya Kreuz: Aus einem Holzrahmen mit Biscay Cross: Nickname for the first Radar
darüber gespannten Antennendrähten detection equipment (FuMB-1)
bestehende einfache
Funkmessbeobachtungsantenne (FuMB 1),
die erstmals in der Biskaya eingesetzt
wurde.
GC&CS Bletchley Park: Britische Decodierungs- British Code & Cipher School in Bletchley Park
und Chiffrierschule
Blockadebrecher: Blockade runner, a merchant vessel that attempted

to break through the sea blockade of Europe
B&V Blohm & Voss - Hamburg Shipyard in Bremen, Germany: During WW II, the
shipyard built a total of 224 U-boats for the
German Navy
BOLD: Schwimmkörper der eine a canister containing a chemical (calcium hydride)

Chemikalie enthielt, die im Kontakt mit that when launched from its own special launcher
dem Wasser reagierte und einen from inside the U-boat, reacted with water to form
Blasenteppich erzeugte, der die ASDIC- hydrogen bubbles that could appear to an ASDIC
Ortung täuschen sollte. operator to be a U-boat - hopefully providing a
decoy for the enemy to focus on while the U-boat
escaped. Skilled operators were often not fooled.
Bootsmaat Coxswain
Bordeaux: Dt. U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in France (12th U-Flotilla)
französischen Atlantikküste (12.U-Flottille)
Bordgeschütz Artillery / Gun
Borkum Code name for a Radar Warning Receiver FuMB-

10
400
FAB Brasilianische Luftwaffe Brazilian Air Force
Breitengrad Latitude
Bremer Vulkan Werft, Bremen-Vegesack: Bremer Vulkan Werft in Bremen-Vegesack,

Während des II WK baute die Werft 74 U- Germany: During WW II, this shipyard produced a
Boote für die Kriegsmarine total of 74 U-boats for the German Navy
Brest: Dt. U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in France (1st U-Flotilla and
französischen Atlantikküste ( 1.U-Flottille 9th U-Flotilla)
und 9.U-Flottille)
brit. britisch British
RAF Britische Luftwaffe Royal Air Force
BBC Brown, Boverie & Co Electric Supply Company which produced electric
motors, hydroplane controls and other electric
equipment for U-boats
Brücke Bridge
Brückenwache Bridge Watch
Bruno (Schaltungen) Code name for one of the many fixed groups of
frequencies used for radio communications
BRT Bruttoregistertonne: Gesamtvolumen eines Gross Register Ton (1 GRT = 2.832 cbm or 100
Schiffes (1 BRT = 2.832 cbm) cubic feet)
Bug bow
Bugraum Bow Compartment
Bundesmarine Name used for the German Navy between 1848

and 1852 and again after 1956
Chariot: Deckname für den brit. Plan zur

Zerstörung des Schleusentores des U-Boot-
Bunkers in St. Nazaire im März 1942
CPVA Chemisch-Physikalische Versuchsanstalt Chemical-physical Research Institute

der Marine
Chlorgasvergiftung Chlorine gas poisoning
Crew Jahrgang Crew year - e.g. men joining to become officers of

the German Navy in 1933 were known as Crew 33.
There were some exceptions to this though. For
example some officers that came from the German
Merchant Marine to replace the officer cadets lost
when the Niobe sank were placed in Crew 33
although they didn't join the navy until 1934. The
German practice was to name an officer intake by
their year of starting, the USN for example named
the intake for the year of graduation.
Dampfer Steamer
Danzig: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der Ostsee German U-boat base in Baltic Sea (Base for U-
(U-Ausbildungsflottille, 6.U-Flottille, 8.U- Training Flotilla, 6th U-Flotilla, 8th U-Flotilla, 23rd
Flottille, 23 U-Flottille, 24 U-Flottille, 25.U- U-Flotilla, 24th U-Flotilla, 25th U-Flotilla)
401
Flottille)
Danziger Werft AG: Während des II WK Shipyard in Danzig, Germany: During WW II this
wurden dort 42 U-Boote für die shipyard produced a total of 42 U-boats for the
Kriegsmarine gebaut German Navy
Dauerluft: Ständige Luftüberwachung im continuous air surveillance

U-Boot-Slang
D-Day Decision-Day: Tag der Entscheidung, Decision-Day - the day of the allied landings at
Stichtag eines Unternehmens Normandy
Delphin: Spitzname eines dt. Kleinst-U- Dolphin: Nickname for a midget submarine. Only
Bootes von dem nur 3 Versuchstypen three of these were built for experimental purposes.
gebaut wurden
dt. Deutsch German
Deschimag Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG Shipyard in Bremen, Germany: During WW II this
Weser - Bremen: Während des II WK baute shipyard built a total of 162 U-boats for the
die Werft 162 U-Boote für die Kriegsmarine German Navy
Deutsche Spanien Kreuz Spanish Cross: Given for outstanding service

during the Spanish Civil War from 1936 to 1939
Deutsche Werft AG - Hamburg: Während Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany: During WW II

des II WK baute die Werft 113 U-Boote für this shipyard produced a total of 113 U-boats for
die Kriegsmarine the German Navy
Deutsche Werke AG - Kiel: Während des II Shipyard in Kiel, Germany: During WW II this
WK baute die Werft 69 U-Boote für die shipyard produced a total of 69 U-boats for the
Kriegsmarine German Navy
BBC Deutscher Hersteller von U-Boot German producer for U-boat equipment
Ausrüstung
DKG Deutsches Kreuz in Gold German Cross in Gold: Decoration awarded for
major achievements in combat, in value it stands
roughly between Iron Cross 1st Class and Knight
Cross of the Iron Cross. Known irrevererantly as
Hitler's Fried Egg.
Deutsches Kreuz in Silber German Cross in Silver, an award only for non-
combatants
Dez Dezimal: Ein Dez entspricht 10 Grad 10 degrees
ETMAL Die von Mittag bis Mittag, also in 24 Distance traveled in 24 hours, from high noon to
Stunden zurückgelegte Strecke. high noon
Dienst Service
Dienstgrad Rank
Dienststelle Headquarters / place of work
Dieselantrieb Propulsion by diesel engine
Dieselmotor Diesel engine
Dieselöl Diesel oil
402
Div. Division Division
Div.Offz. Divisionsoffizier Division Officer
Dringlichkeitsstufe Priority
III WO Dritter Wachoffizier 3rd Watch Officer: This position was filled only in
large U-boats and for long voyages, otherwise the
Obersteuermann performed similar duties.
Druckkörper Pressure hull
D-Spant Druckkörper-Spant Pressure-hull frame
G7a Druckluft- oder dampfgetriebener Type I, Model G, 7 meters long, Compressed Air
Torpedotyp mit Geradeaussteuerung torpedo. See ATO.
Durchmesser Diameter
Echolot Echo sounder
Einbaum: Spitzname für die U-Boote des Canoe: Nickname for Type II U-Boats
Typs II
Einheit Detachment / Unit
EMC Einheitsmine Typ C (Ankertaumine) A special anchored-mine for submarines
Einsteigluk Entry hatch
Einzelfahrer unescorted ship
EK I Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse Iron Cross (First Class)
EK II Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse Iron Cross (Second Class)
Elbe II: U-Boot-Bunker in Hamburg U-boat bunker in Hamburg, Germany
Eto Elektrisch angetriebener Torpedo Electric torpedo that used battery power for
propulsion, leaving no bubble trail. This was one of
the standard type of torpedo used by U-boats
during WWII, frequently ATOs were carried also.
Eto Elektrisch angetriebener Torpedo mit Electric torpedo with combination magnetic and
MZ/AZ Magnet- und Aufschlagzündung impact firing
G7e Elektrisch angetriebener Torpedotyp mit Type III, Model G, 7 meters long, Electric torpedo.
Geradeaussteuerung See Eto
Elektroboot The U-boat types XXI and XXIII
Enigma: Dt. Verschlüsselungsmaschine zur German cipher machine. The naval version used on
Codierung und Dekodierung von U-boats was called the Schlüssel M (Marine-
Funksprüchen Funkschlüssel-Maschine M).
Entlüftung Exhaust
Entlüftungsventil Exhaust valve
403
ES Erkennungssignal in Form von Leucht-, Recognition signal given by flags, Morse signal or
Flaggen- oder Morsesignalen signal pistols
EKK Erprobungskommando für Command branch that conducted trials with new
Kriegsschiffneubauten vessels
Ersatz / Reserve Reserve
I WO Erster Wachoffizier 1st Watch Officer / Executive Officer (ExO)
F. Krupp Germaniawerft AG - Kiel: Shipyard in Kiel, Germany: During WW II this

Während des II WK baute die Werft 131 U- shipyard built a total of 131 U-boats for the
Boote für die Kriegsmarine German Navy
F. Schichau GmbH, Danzig: Während des Shipyard in Danzig, Germany: During WW II this
II WK baute die Werft 94 U-Boote für die shipyard built a total of 94 U-boats for the German
Kriegsmarine Navy
Fächerschuss Simultaneous firing of multiple torpedoes Ð

sometimes called a fan shot
FzS Fähnrich zur See Officer Cadet / Midshipman
Falke: Deckname für den Akustischen Falcon: Cover name for the electrically propelled
Torpedo T-4 torpedo T-4 which was fitted with a passive
acoustic homing device
Fangschuss Finishing shot / Coup de grâce. Usually applied to

a torpedo used to sink an already damaged ship.
FAT-Warnung: Warnung an andere U- Warning given to other U-boats in the vicinity

Boote im selben Einsatzgebiet wenn ein when a FAT was fired. The submarines had to dive
FAT gefeuert wurde. Sie mussten tauchen to prevent them from being hit by the torpedo.
um nicht selbst vom Torpedo getroffen zu
werden.
Fehlzünder Torpedo misfire
FF Feindfahrt War cruise / War patrol
Feldpostnummer Field Post Number
Feodosia: U-Boot-Stützpunkt am German U-boat base in the Black Sea (30th U-

Schwarzen Meer (30.U-Flottille) Flotilla )
Fink II: U-Boot-Bunker in Hamburg U-boat bunker in Hamburg, Germany
Fisch: Amerikanischer Spitzname für Fish: U.S. submariner's nickname for torpedoes
Torpedos
Fischkutter Fishing vessel
FAT Flächenabsuchtorpedo (oder Federapparat- Torpedo that could run in pre-programmed

Torpedo) mit einstellbarem Kurvenlauf patterns and loops after initial straight run.
Intended for use against convoys.
Flender Werke AG - Lübeck-Siems: Shipyard in Lübeck, Germany: During WW II this

Während des II WK baute die Werft 42 U- shipyard built a total of 42 U-boats for the German
Boote für die Kriegsmarine Navy
Flensburg: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in the Baltic Sea (33rd U-
Ostsee (33.U-Flottille) Flotilla )
404
Flensburger Schiffsbau-Gesellschaft: Shipyard in Flensburg, Germany: During WW II

Während des II WK baute die Werft 28 U- this shipyard built a total of 28 U-boats for the
Fliege: Codename eines dt. Funkmess- Fly: codename of a German Radar Detector (FuMB
Warngerätes 24).
Fliebo Fliegerbombe Bomb dropped from aircraft.
Z-Plan Flottenaufrüstungsplan des Oberkommados Germany's fleet building program started shortly
der Kriegsmarine before World War II.
Flottenchef Fleet chief / commander
Flotten-Kriegsabzeichen Fleet War Badge
Fl Flottille Flotilla (Flot): Small fleet
Flottillenstützpunkte Base
FLAK Flugzeugabwehrkanone Anti-Aircraft Gun / Anti-aircraft Artillery
MAW Flugzeuggeschwader der U.S. Navy Naval Aircraft Wing
ASV Flugzeugradar zur Ortung von Schiffen Air-to-Surface Vessel Radar carried by planes as
bzw. aufgetaucht fahrenden U-Booten opposed to surface-to-surface or surface to air
radar carried by ships. ASV II Ð Metre Radar,
ASW III Ð Centimetric radar.
Flugzeugstaffel Squadron
Flugzeugträger Aircraft Carrier
fluten / durchfluten flooding
Frachtschiff Freighter
FAF Französische Luftwaffe French Air Force
Frgtkpt. Fregattenkapitän In rank roughly equivalent to the RN 'Commander'
Freya: Dt. Funkortungsgerät / Codename for a German radar warning device

Frühwarngerät
Frontboot U-boat on active duty
Fühlung halten: Verfolgung eines shadowing a convoy

aufgespürten Geleitzuges zwecks
Heranführens weiterer U-Boote zum
gemeinsamen Angriff.
Führer Chief / Commander / Leader
FdM Führer der Minensuchboote Flag Officer for Minesweeper
FdU.Ausb. Führer der U-Boot-Ausbildungsflottillen Flag Officer for U-boat Training Flotillas
FdU Führer der U-Boote Flag Officer for U-boats
FdV Führer der Vorpostenboote Flag Officer for Patrol boats
405
FdZ Führer der Zerstörer Flag Officer for Destroyers
Funkantenne Radio antenna
B-Dienst Funkbeobachtungsdienst Radio Monitoring Service
xB-Dienst Funkentzifferungsdienst Radio Message Decoding Service
Funkmaat Radioman 3cl / Radio mate
FuMB Funkmessbeobachtungsgerät zum Erfassen

von Radar-Strahlungen / Radarwarngerät
FuME Funkmesserkennung Radar recognition
FuMG Funkmessgerät Radio or Radar detection device
FuMO Funkmessortungsgerät: Durch eigene Radar

Impulsausstrahlungen aktiv ortendes
Funkmessgerät
FTO Funkoffizier Radio Officer
Funkpeiler: Gerät zum Einpeilen der Radio detection finder

Sendestelle von Funkwellen
Funkraum Radio room
Funkschlüssel / Funkcode Radio message code
FT Funktelegramm / Funkspruch Radio telegram / Wireless message
Funktelegraphie Radio Telegraphy
Garbe Lahmeyer AG, Aachen Electric Supply Company, produced electric motors
for U-boats
geb. geboren born, e.g. birthdate
AZ-Pi Gefechtspistole mit Aufschlagzündung Impact Pistol (detonator) for use in torpedoes.
MZ/AZ- Gefechtspistole mit Magnet- und Combination impact and magnetic Pistol
Pistole Aufschlagzündung (detonator) for use in ATO and ETO torpedoes
MZ-Pi Gefechtspistole mit Magnetzündung Magnetic Pistol (detonator) for use in torpedoes
Gegenangriff Counter attack
GeKdos Geheime Kommandosache Secret Command Document
GelFl Geleitflottille Escort Flotilla
Geleitträger Aircraft Escort Carrier
Geleitverband / Geleitzug-Begleitgruppe Convoy Escort
Geleitzug / Konvoi: Ein durch Kriegsschiffe Convoy: Group of merchant ships escorted by
gesicherter Verband von Handels- oder warships
Transportschiffen
Geleitzug-Codes: Identifikation der Convoy-Codes: Convoy identification by letters and

406
Geleitzüge durch Buchstaben (Abfahrtsort numbers; generally the first letter indicated where
/ Zielhafen) und Nummern (Reihenfolge) the convoy started, the last, it's destination and the
numbers the sequence.
Geleitzugrouten Convoy routes
Geleitzugschlacht Convoy battle
GenAdm Generaladmiral General Admiral
Gen.Maj. Generalmajor General Major
Generalstabsoffizier General Staff Officer
Geschw. Geschwader Squadron
Geschwindigkeit Speed / Velocity
GmbH Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung Limited Liability Company
gest. gestorben died, e.g. date of death
Gewicht Weight
Golf von Biskaya Bay of Biscay
Gotenhafen: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in the Baltic Sea (Base for
Ostsee (22.U-Flottille, 24.U-Flottille, 25.U- 22nd U-Flotilla, 24th U-Flotilla, 25th U-Flotilla and
Flottille und 27.U-Flottille) 27th U-Flotilla)
Graue Wölfe: Spitzname für die deutschen Grey Wolfs: Nickname for the German u-boats in
U-Boote im IIWK und / oder die Besatzung WWII and / or the crew
Gr.Adm. Grossadmiral Grand Admiral
Grosser Löwe: Spitzname für den Big Lion: Nickname for Karl Dönitz, Supreme C-
Kommanten der U-Boote Karl Dönitz. in-C U-Boats
Grundausrüstung Basic fitting-out
Gruppe Group: the massing of U-Boats in a patrol line to

find convoys with the hope of engaging in a
coordinated attack
GHG Gruppenhorchgerät: Unterwasserdetektor, Underwater sound detector / group listening

diente zum Aufspüren von Geleitzügen und apparatus
feindlicher Eskorten
H. C. Stülcken & Sohn, Hamburg: Während Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany: During WW II,
des II WK baute die Werft 24 U-Boote für the shipyard built a total of 24 U-boats for the
die Kriegsmarine German Navy
Hafen Port
HS-Fl Hafenschutzflottille Harbor Defense Flotilla
Hai: Spitzname eines Trägertorpedos, eine

Weiterentwicklung des Marder
Halbe Kraft Half speed
407
Hamburg: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in the North Sea (31st U-
Nordsee (31.U-Flottille und 32.U-Flottille) Flotilla and 32nd U-Flotilla)
Handelsmarine / Handelsschifffahrt Merchant Marine
Handelsschiff Merchant ship
HSO Handelsschiffoffizier Merchant Marine Officer who entered the German

Navy after 1933
Hauptquartier Headquarters (H.Q.)
Hecht: Dt. Klein-U-Boot Typ XXVII A für Pike: Midget U-boat type XXVII A
den Naheinsatz
Heck Stern
Hecktorpedorohr Stern torpedo-tube
Hedgehog: Spitzname des brit. Type of anti U-boat depth charge that only
Salvenwasserbombenwerfers, mit dem exploded on impact. Usually fired in groups of 24.
mehrere Unterwassersprengkörper von Basically an anti-submarine spigot mortar, named
einem Überwasserschiff aus gestreut for its appearance.
werden konnten
USAAF Heeresluftstreitkräfte der USA U.S. Army Air Force
Hela: U-Boot-Ausbildungsbasis an der Training base for U-boats in the Baltic Sea
Ostsee
Helgoland: U-Boot-Ausbildungsbasis in der Training base for U-Boats in the North Sea
Nordsee
Hilfskreuzer: Handelsschiff, das im Kriege Auxiliary Cruiser / Armed Merchant Cruiser

mit Waffen und militärischer Besatzung
ausgerüstet und zur Unterstützung der
aktiven Flotte herangezogen wird
Hochdruck High pressure
HF/DF Hochfrequenz Peiler: Kurzwellenpeiler der High Frequency Direction Finder

Alliierten mit dem die Sendestellen der von
U-Booten benutzten Kurzwellensignale
eingepeilt werden konnten.
Hoheitsgewässer Territorial waters
Hohentwiel: Funkmeßantenne (FuMO / A rotating antenna fitted to U-boats as part of a

FuMB) combination radar and radar detector.
HKS Höherer Kommandant der Higher Commander of the Navy Artillery Schools
Schiffartillerieschulen, im Oktober 1943
geschaffene Dienststellung
HKT Höherer Kommandant der Torpedoschulen Higher Commander of the Torpedo Schools
(Diestbezeichnung ab Februar 1944)
HKN Höherer Kommandeur der Higher Commander of the Naval Intelligence

Marinenachrichtenschulen School
HKL Höheres Kommando der

Kriegsschiffbaulehrabteilungen
408
HKU Höheres Kommando der High Command for U-boat Training, in 1943 the
Unterseebootsausbildung: Dem Kommando U-Boot-Lehrdivisionen and the U-Boot-
waren ab 1943 die U-Boot-Lehrdivisionen Ausbildungsabteilungen were subordinated to this
mit den Schulflottillen und die U-Boot- Command
Ausbildungsabteilungen unterstellt
Horchraum
Hornisse: U-Boot-Bunker in Bremen Hornet: U-boat bunker in Bremen, Germany
Horten: U-Boot-Ausbildungsbasis an der Training base for U-boats in the North Sea area
Nordsee
Howaldtswerke Hamburg AG - Hamburg: Shipyard in Hamburg, Germany: During WW II

Während des II WK baute die Werft 33 U- this shipyard built a total of 33 U-boats for the
Hundekurve: Zur Annäherung an ein Dog curve: A track taken by an U-boat to present
Angriffsziel eingeschlagene Route, bei der the smallest possible profile to the enemy
dem Gegner die geringstmögliche
Silhouette des U-Bootes zugewandt ist
Hydrophon: Unterwasser-Richtmikrophon Hydrophone: a passive underwater listening device.

zur passiven Geräuschortung Because water does not compress well, it transmits
sound for great distances, an approaching convoy
could be heard for many miles. So could a depth
charge attack.
II WK II Weltkrieg Second World War; WW2
i.A. in Auftrag gegeben ordered
i.D. in Dienst gestellt commissioned
Indischer Ozean Indian Ocean
Ing. Ingenieur Engineer
IvS Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw: Dutch registered firm in partnership with the
Unter dem Deckmantel einer holländischen German shipyards AG Vulkan Werft in Hamburg
Firma arbeitendes dt. Büro für U-Boot- and Stettin; and the two Krupp-owned yards, the
Entwicklung, unter Beteiligung der Vulkan- Germaniawerft in Kiel and the AG Weser in
Werften in Hamburg und Stettin, sowie der Bremen. Its objective was U-boat design,
Krupp-eigenen Germania Werft in Kiel und construction and for maintaining German know-
der AG Weser in Bremen. Zielsetzung der how.
Firma war die Entwicklung von U-Booten
unter Umgehung des Versailler Vertrages.
Insp. Inspektion / Inspekteur Inspection / Inspector
AJ Inspektion der Marineartillerie Navy Artillery Inspection
Ireland (Schaltungen) Code name for one of the many fixed groups of
KuK Kaiserliche und Königliche (Austro-Hungarian) Imperial Navy

(…sterreichisch-Ungarische) Marine
Kalipatrone: Ein Teil eines Atemgerätes, A container of potash to absorb carbon dioxide
das Kohlendioxyd absorbiert used for air purification during long periods
submerged.
409
Kampfboot Combat U-boat
Kampfunterstützungsverband Support Group (SG)
RCAF Kanadische Luftwaffe Royal Canadian Air Force
RCN Kanadische Marine Royal Canadian Navy
KzS Kapitän zur See Captain
Kptlt. / Kapitänleutnant Lieutenant-Commander (LCdr.)

Kaleu
Karibik Caribbean
Karriere / Laufbahn Career
Keromanbunker U-boat bunker in Lorient, France
Kiel: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der Ostsee (U- German U-boat base in the Baltic Sea (Base for U-
Flottille Weddigen, U-Flottille Lohs, U- Flotilla Weddigen, U-Flotilla Lohs, U-Flotilla
Flottille Emsmann, U-Flottille Wegener, Emsmann, U-Flotilla Wegener, 1st U-Flotilla, 3rd
1.U-Flottille, 3.U-Flottille, 5.U-Flottille, 7.U- Flotilla, 5th Flotilla, 7th Flotilla and 19th U-Flotilla)
Flottille und 19.U-Flottille)
KHW Kieler Howaldtswerke AG: Während des II Shipyard in Kiel, Germany: During WW II this
WK baute die Werft 31 U-Boote für die shipyard built a total of 31 U-boats for the German
Kriegsmarine Navy
Kiellegung laid down
Kilian: U-Boot-Bunker in Kiel U-boat bunker in Kiel, Germany
Klein-U-Boot Midget submarine
Kn Knoten: Geschwindigkeit eines Schiffes Knots: A ship's speed measured as one nautical
gemessen in Seemeilen pro Stunde mile (6,080.2 feet) per hour.
Komandantenschiessen Torpedo firing practice conducted by the

commander
Kdo Komando Command
Kombüse Galley
Kdt Kommandant Commander (Com) / Commanding Officer
KdK Kommandant der Kleinkampfverbände Commander of the Small Combat Units
CTG Kommandant des amerikanischen Commander Task Group

Kriegsschiffverbandes
CTF Kommandant einer Kampfgruppe Commander Task Force
Kdt. i.V. Kommandant in Vertretung temporary commander / Commander in

substitution
KSL Kommandanten-Schiesslehrgang Commander firing course
Kommandantenschüler Commander in Training / Commander under

instruction
410
Kdr. / Kommandeur Commanding Officer for land-based units

Komdr.
Kom.Adm. Kommandierender Admiral Commanding Admiral
Kommandoturm Conning tower
Kommodore / Geschwaderführer Commodore
RAAC Königlich Australische Luftwaffe Royal Australian Air Force
RAN Königlich Australische Marine Royal Australian Navy
KNM Königlich Norwegische Marine Royal Norwegian Navy
Königsberg: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in the Baltic Sea (8th U-
Ostsee (8.U-Flottille und 32.U-Flottille) Flotilla and 32nd U-Flotilla)
Konrad: U-Boot-Bunker in Kiel U-boat bunker in Kiel, Germany
KAdm Konteradmiral Rear Admiral
Kontrollraum Control room
Konvoi-Commodore Convoy commodore: Master of one of the ships in

a convoy, designated to command the convoy
KK / Korvettenkapitän Lieutenant Commander

Korvkpt. /
KKpt.
Kreiselkompass Gyro-compass
Kreuzer Cruiser
Krieg War
Kriegsabzeichen für Hilfskreuzer Auxiliary Cruisers War Badge
KFK Kriegsfischkutter
Kriegsgefangener Prisoner of War (POW)
KrGer Kriegsgericht German Court-martial
KM Kriegsmarine The German Navy between 1935 and 1945
USN Kriegsmarine der USA United States Navy
KM-Ars. Kriegsmarinearsenal Naval arsenal
KMD Kriegsmarinedienststelle German War Shipping Administration
KMW Kriegsmarinewerft - Wilhelmshaven: Shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, Germany: During WW

Während des II WK baute die Werft 27 U- II it built a total of 27 U-boats for the German
Boote für die Kriegsmarine Navy
KrO Kriegsoffizier Senior Petty Officer in Wartime Commission
Kriegsschauplatz Theatre of Operations
411
HMAS Kriegsschiff der Königlich Australischen Her Majesty's Australian Ship: Australian warship
Marine
HMS Kriegsschiff der Königlich Britischen Her Majesty's Ship: British warship
Marine
HMCS Kriegsschiff der Königlich Kanadischen Her Majesty's Canadian Ship: Canadian warship
Marine
HMNZS Kriegsschiff der Königlich Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship

Neuseeländischen Marine
USS Kriegsschiff der USA United States Ship: American warship
KLA Kriegsschiffbaulehrabteilung Warship Construction Training Department
Kriegsschiffverband Task Group (TG)
KTB Kriegstagebuch War Diary / War Log Book
KDB Kristallbasisdrehgerät: Zusatz-Horchgerät Rotary quartz hydrophone

zur passiven Geräuschortung
Krupp Germaniawerft AG - Kiel: Während Full name: F Krupp Germaniawerft AG. Shipyard
des II WK baute die Werft 131 U-Boote für in Kiel, Germany: During WW II it built a total of
die Kriegsmarine 131 U-boats for the German Navy
Kugelschott: Druckfester Verschluss in den Bulkhead: strong walls which subdivide the interior
Querwänden, die die verschiedenen of a U-boat into compartments
Abteilungen der U-Boote trennten.
Kupplung Clutch
Kurzwelle Short wave
Küstenkommando Coastal Command
KSV Küstensicherungsverband Coastal Security Unit
Küstenstreitkräfte Coastal Forces
KÜSt Küstenüberwachungsstelle German Coast Guard Branch
USCG Küstenwache der USA U.S. Coast Guard
CGC Küstenwachkutter Coast Guard Cutter
La Pallice: Dt. U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in France (3rd U-Flotilla)
französischen Atlantikküste (3.U-Flottille)
La Rochelle: Dt. U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in France

französischen Atlantikküste
La Spezia: U-Boot-Stützpunkt im German U-boat base in the Mediterranean Sea

Mittelmeer (29.U-Flottille) (29th U-Flotilla)
Laconia-Befehl: Befehl des BdU nach dem Order given to the U-boats after the Laconia
sog. Laconia Vorfall der den U-Booten Incident forbidding them to take part in any rescue
jegliche Massnahmen zur Rettung von operations.
Überlebenden der versenkten Schiffe
verbot.
412
LUT Lagenunabhängiger Torpedo Torpedo that could run in pre-programmed

patterns and loops after initial straight run. This
torpedo was an improvement over the 'FAT' with
additional search pattern options. Intended for use
against convoys.
landgestützte Flugzeuge land-based aircraft
Längengrad Longitude
Leichter Kreuzer Light Cruiser
Leigh Light: Unter den Tragflächen von

Flugzeugen angebrachter leuchtstarker
Scheinwerfer
Leih- und Pachtgesetz Lend-Lease-Act
Lt. Ing. / Leitender Ingenieur Chief Engineering Officer

LI
LzS Leutnant zur See Lieutenant-Junior
Libau: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der Ostsee German U-boat base in the Baltic Sea area (25th U-
(25.U-Flottille) Flotilla)
Liberator: U.S. Langstreckenbomber Liberator aircraft

Consolidated B-24
Liberty Ship: Bezeichnung für die Schiffe Class of cargo vessel EC2-S-C1-type designed for
vom Typ EC2-S-C1 die dazu dienten, die Emergency construction by the U.S. Maritime
Alliierten Verluste schnellstmöglich zu Commission in World War II
ersetzen
Lorient: Dt. U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in France (2nd U-Flotilla and
französischen Atlantikküste (2.U-Flottille 10th U-Flotilla)
und 10.U-Flottille)
Luftabwehr / Flugabwehr Antiaircraft defense
Luftangriff Aircraft attack / air raid
LMB Luftmine Typ B (Grundmine) Air dropped mine
Luftschiff Blimp
Ls Luftschutz Air-raid protection
Luftüberwachung Air surveillance
Luftwaffe The German Air force
USAF Luftwaffe der USA U.S. Air Force
MAD Magnetisches Unterwasserortungsgerät Magnetic Anomaly Detector - device mounted on

an aircraft that could detect a submerged U-boat
because large metallic objects create a magnetic
disturbance.
Magnetkompass Magnetic compass
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Mannschaftsraum Crew's accommodation
Marder: Dt. Trägertorpedo, eine Marten: Manned torpedo

Weiterentwicklung des Neger
MLA Marine(unteroffiziers)lehrabteilung Naval Training Department (for warrant officers)
M.Abn.I. Marineabnahmeinspektion Naval Acceptance Inspection
MA Marineartillerie Navy Artillery
MAA Marineartillerieabteilung Navy Artillery Detachment
M.Art.Ars. Marineartilleriearsenal Navy Artillery Arsenal
Marineartillerieschule (Kiel) Marine Artillery School (in Kiel)
Mast. Marineausrüstungsstelle Naval Supply Office
MBR Marinebaurat Naval Construction Adviser
Marbef. Marinebefehlshaber Naval Commander
MEK Marine-Einsatzkommando: Kampfgruppe

die für Sabotageeinsätze, Minenanbringung
u.ä. eingesetzt wurde
MFP Marinefährprahm: Fahrzeug der dt. Armed vehicle used by the German Navy in
Kriegsmarine landing operations
MFlaA Marineflakabteilung Naval Anti-aircraft Detection Unit
MFlaR Marineflakregiment Naval Flak Regiment
MFlakS Marineflugabwehrschule Naval Anti-aircraft Defense School
Marinegruppenkommando: Operative Naval Group Command

Führungsstelle der dt. Kriegsmarine
Marinekommandoamt Naval Command Office
MKS Marinekriegsschule Naval College
MLaz Marinelazarett Naval Hospital
Marinemunitionsdepot Naval Ammunition Depot
MNA Marinenachrichtenabteilung German Naval Intelligence Department
MND Marinenachrichtendienst German Naval Intelligence Service
MNO Marinenachrichtenoffizier Naval Intelligence Officer
MOK Marineoberkommando Group command responsible for specific

operational areas (different from
Oberkommmando der Marine)
MPA Marinepersonalamt Office for naval personnel
Mariner: U.S. Patrouillenbomber und Mariner aircraft

Transporter Martin PBM
414
MStArzt Marinestabsarzt Surgeon
Marschfahrt Cruising speed
Marseille: U-Boot-Stützpunkt im German U-boat base in the Mediterranean Sea

Mittelmeer (29.U-Flottille) (29th U-Flotilla)
MAN Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG Supply Company which produced diesel engines

for U-Boats
MG Maschinengewehr Machine gun
MaMt Maschinenmaat Machinist's mate 3cl
Maschinenraum Engine room
Materialtransporter Auxiliary Cargo Ship
Mtr Matrose Apprentice Seaman
MtrGfr Matrosengefreiter Seaman 2nd class
MaOGfr Matrosenobergefreiter Seaman 1st class
Maximale Tauchtiefe Maximum dive
MeGfr Mechanikergefreiter Engineering Able Seamen
MeOGfr Mechanikerobergefreiter Engineering Leading Seamen
Memel: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der Ostsee German U-boat base in the Baltic Sea (24th U-
(24.U-Flottille und 25.U-Flottille) Flotilla and 25th U-Flotilla)
Messe Wardroom
Metox: Dt. Radar-Warngerät (FuMB) Type of German radar detector, taking its name
from the French manufacturer
Milchkuh: Spitzname für Versorgungs-U- Milk cow: Nickname for type XIV supply U-boat
Boote vom Typ XIV
Minenleger Minelayer
M-Boot Minensuchboot / Minensucher Minesweeper
m.d.V.b. mit der Vertretung beauftragt
MEZ Mitteleuropäische Zeit Central European Time (CET)
Mittelmeer Mediterranean Sea
Mixer: Spitzname für den Nickname for torpedo-machinist

Torpedomechaniker
Molch: Klein-U-Boot für Küstenoperationen Salamander: Midget submarine for coastal

operations
Monsunboote: Langstecken-U-Boote die in U-boats employed in missions in the Far East, so

Fernost und im Indischen Ozean eingesetzt named because their arrival co-incided with the end
wurden of the monsoonal season.
415
Motor Motor / Engine
MWM Motoren-Werke-Mannheim Supply Company, produced diesel engines for U-

Boats
Mündungsklappen Bow caps of torpedo tubes
Munition Ammunition
Munitionsbehälter Ammunition magazine
NEK Nachrichtenmittelerprobungskommando Intelligence Equipment Test Command
NVA Nachrichtenmittelversuchsanstalt Intelligence Equipment Test Establishment
NVK Nachrichtenmittelversuchskommando Institution responsible for development of

intelligence equipment
NTJ Nachrichtentechnische Inspektion Technical inspection for intelligence equipment
Nachzügler Straggler
Nanni (Schaltungen) Code name for one of the many fixed groups of
Narvik: U-Boot-Stützpunkt in Norwegen U-boat base in Norway (14th Flotilla)

(14. Flottille)
Navigationslaternen / Navigationslichter Navigation lights
NO Navigationsoffizier Navigation Officer
NavS Navigationsschule Navigation School
Naxos: Dt. Radar-Warngerät (FuMB 7), Code name for a radar detector device
verbesserte Version des Metox
Neger: Tauchunfähiger Ein-Mann- Negro: Manned torpedo

Trägertorpedo
Neptun Werft AG - Rostock: Während des Shipyard in Rostock, Germany: During WW II, the
II WK wurden dort 10 U-Boote für die shipyard built a total of 10 U-boats for the German
Kriegsmarine gebaut Navy
NRT Nettoregistertonne Net Register Ton
Neuland: Tarnname für dt. U-Boot-

Operation gegen die Schiffahrt in der
Karibik
Neutralitätsabzeichen: Kennzeichnung Distinguishing sign for neutral vessels

neutraler Schiffe
N Norden North
Nordsee North Sea
Nordsee III: U-Boot-Bunker auf Helgoland North Sea III: U-boat bunker on Helgoland
Nordseewerke Emden GmbH: Während Shipyard in Emden, Germany: During WW II

des II WK baute die Werft 30 U-Boote für produced a total of 30 U-boats for the German
416
die Kriegsmarine Navy
Not Emergency
OB Oberbefehlshaber Commander-in-Chief
COMINC Oberbefehlshaber der amerikanischen Commander-in-Chief U.S. Fleet

H Flotte
ObdM Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy
ObdL Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force
ObdM Oberbefehlshaber der Marine Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy
ObdH Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres Commander-in-Chief of the German Army
ObBtsmt Oberbootsmaat Boatswain's mate 2nd class
ObBtsm Oberbootsmann Chief Boatswain
Oberdeckstube: Torpedobehälter im Nickname for the upper-deck torpedo containers

Oberdeck
Oberfähnrich zur See Sub-Lieutenant
OFkMt Oberfunkmaat Radioman 2nd class / Radio Chief Petty Officer
OKM Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine Supreme Command of the German Navy
OKL Oberkommando der Luftwaffe Supreme Command of the German Air Force
Oberkommando der Wehrmacht Supreme Command of the German Army
OlzS / Oberleutnant zur See Lieutenant-Senior

Oblt.
OMaMt Obermaschinenmaat Machinist's mate 2nd class
Obermaschinist Warrant machinist
OMechMt Obermechanikermaat Machinist's mate 2nd class
OHL Oberste Heeresleitung Supreme Army Command
OStrm Obersteuermann Chief Quartermaster / Navigation Officer on U-

boats
Oderwerke AG - Stettin: Während des II Shipyard in Stettin, Germany: During WW II it

WK wurden dort zwei U-Boote für die built two U-boats for the German Navy
Kriegsmarine gebaut
Olympia-Crew Crew members of 1936 naval term, so called

because of the Olympic Games that took place in
Berlin in that year.
Operation Deadlight: Codename für die Codename for the scuttling of U-boats captured by
Versenkung dt. U-Boote durch die Alliierten the Allies after the end of WW II
nach Kriegsende
NOB Operationsbasis der U.S. Navy U.S. Naval Operating Base
417
Op-Gebiet Operationsgebiet Operational Area
Opfer Victim(s)
Organisation Todt: Für die Errichtung Todt Organization: Named after its chief Fritz
militärischer Anlagen (u. a. für den Bau der Todt, the organization was responsible for large
U-Bootstützpunkte an der französischen military constructions. The U-boat bases at the
Atlantikküste und die Errichtung von French Atlantic coast and bunkers for U-boats
Grossbunkern für U-Boote) zuständige, were constructed by the Todt Organization.
nach dem Leiter Fritz Todt benannte
militärisch organisierte Bautruppe
Ortszeit Local time
Ortung Position-finding / Detection
O Osten East
Ostsee Baltic Sea
ostwärts eastbound
Ottomotor Diesel engine named after its inventor
Pan-Amerikanische Neutralitätszone American Western Hemisphere Defense Zone:

Security zone off the coasts of the Americas
established by the Pan-American Conference
Panzerschiff Armored ship
Papenberg Papenberg column: Water column shallow depth

gauge named after its inventor
Passagierschiff Passenger ship
Paukenschlag: Deckname des Drumbeat: Code name for the first U-boat
Überraschungsangriffes deutscher U-Boote operation against the eastern seaboard of the
auf die Schifffahrt vor der amerikanischen United States in January 1942. Technically only the
Atlantikküste im Januar 1942 first such operation was named 'drumbeat' however
frequently subsequent operations were known as
the 'second wave of drumbeat boats' etc.
Pazifischer Ozean / Pazifik Pacific Ocean
Peilrahmen Aerial direction finding frame
Pennang : U-Stützpunkt in Ostasien (33.U- Pennang: German U-boat base in Malaya (33rd U-
Flottille) Flotilla)
PS Pferdestärke Horsepower
PTR Physikalisch Technische Reichsanstalt Reich Physical-Technical Institute
Pillau: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der Ostsee German U-boat base in the Baltic Sea (19th U-
(19.U-Flottille, 20.U-Flottille, 21.U-Flottille Flotilla, 20th U-Flotilla, 21st U-Flotilla and 26th U-
und 26.U-Flottille) Flotilla)
QU Planquadrat Ocean chart grid which used letters and numbers

for identifying the naval operation areas
Pola: U-Boot-Stützpunkt im Mittelmeer German U-boat base in the Mediterranean Sea
418
(29.U-Flottille) (29th U-Flotilla)
Pressluft Compressed air
Prisenordnung: Die im Londoner Protokoll Treaty which established the rules for merchant-
vom 03.09.1936 festgelegten Regeln zur warfare (London Protocol, 03.09.1936)
Vorgehensweise der Seekriegsführung
gegen die Handelsmarine im Kriegsfall.
Prüfungstauchen Test Dive
Pumpe Pump
Radar: Abk. für Radio Detecting and Abbreviation for Radio Detecting and Ranging: a
Ranging - Verfahren zur Ermittlung eines device for locating a target by measuring the time
Zieles mittels Messung der Zeit, die ein which a radio-signal takes to reflect from an object.
Funksignal benötigt bis es von einem festen
Körper reflektiert wird.
RDA Rangdienstalter Rank and seniority list
R-Boot Räumboot Small motor minesweeper
Ref. Referent Official in charge of a department / Adviser
Regelzellen: Dienen zum Ausgleich des

Auf- oder Untertriebes der U-Boote
Rgt. Regiment Regiment
RM Reichsmarine German Navy between 1919 - 1935
Reichweite (Überwasserfahrt) Range (surfaced)
Reichweite (Unterwasserfahrt) Range (submerged)
Reichweite / Aktionsradius Range / Performance
Rettungsboot Raft
RK Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes Knights Cross
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes Knights Cross of the Iron Cross, was introduced in
1939 as an addition to the Iron Cross family
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Knights Cross with Oak Leaves
Eichenlaub
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Crossed
Eichenlaub und Schwertern Swords
Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes mit Knights Cross with Oak Leaves and Crossed
Eichenlaub und Schwertern mit Brillanten Swords with Diamonds
Rosengarten: Passage der U-Boote in den Nickname for area u-boats traversed to reach the
Nordatlantik North Atlantic, between North of Scotland and
South of Iceland. So named because of the
numerous mines present.
Rudeltaktik: Die Taktik der deutschen U- Wolfpack Strategy:

Boot-Waffe, aufgespürte Geleitzüge zu
419
verfolgen (Fühlung zu halten) bis weitere

U-Boote herangeführt wurden, um den
Konvoi dann in Gruppen (Rudeln)
anzugreifen.
Rudergänger: Für die Bedienung der Nickname for the crew-members which operate the
Tiefenruder zuständige Besatzung hydroplanes
Salamis: U-Boot-Stützpunkt im German U-boat base in the Mediterranean Sea area

Mittelmeerraum (23.U-Flottille und 29.U- (23rd U-Flotilla and 29th U-Flotilla)
Flottille)
Schalttafel Switchboard
Schaltung Küste Radio frequency for coastal waters, also name of

the journal of the German Submariner's
Association
Schicksal Fate
Schiff Ship / Vessel
SAS Schiffsartillerieschule Naval Artillery School
Schlachtschiff Battleship
Schleichfahrt Silent running: Operating with minimal noise to

avoid detection
Schleuse Lock
S-Boot Schnellboot A fast motor torpedo boat, referred to by allies as

'E-Boat' (enemy boat).
Schnellboot-Kriegsabzeichen Torpedo Boat Badge
Schnorchel: Ausfahrbares Luftrohr zur The Schnorkel was a Dutch invention of the 30's, a
Frischluftzufuhr und Abführung der tube with a valve allowed a u-boat to run its Diesels
Auspuffgase, ermögliche den U-Booten while submerged. A ball-float valve closed the tube
unter Wasser mit Dieselmotor zu fahren if the Schnorkel head dipped below the surface.
Diesel exhaust was expelled slightly below the
surface. Usually the Schnorkel was fitted such that
it could be lowered or raised, however some boats
with hasty conversions in 1944 had the tube
permanently raised.
Schraube Propeller
Schuss / Schussmeldung Shot / Shooting report, required for all torpedoes

fired. A commander had to account for all
ammunition expended.
Schwerer Kreuzer Heavy Cruiser
SAG Seeaufklärungsgruppe Maritime Reconnaissance Unit
Seebestattung Burial at Sea
Seehund: Klein-U-Boot Typ XXVII B, eine Seal: Nickname for the midget submarines for two-
Weiterentwicklung des Hecht man crew Type XXVII B
SK Seekrieg Naval War

420
SKL Seekriegsleitung Supreme Naval Command / Naval War Staff
Seekuh: Spitzname für die großen Nickname for the large U-Boats Type IXC
Langstrecken-U-Boote vom Typ IX
Sm Seemeile = 1.852 m Nautical mile = 1.852 m or 6,080.2 feet.
Seestreitkräfte Naval Forces
Segelschiff Sailing ship
SSS Segelschulschiff Sailing training ship
Sehrohr / Periskop: Ausfahrbares Fernrohr Periscope: Extensible telescope for observation

zum Beobachten der Wasseroberfläche bei during submerged cruising
Unterwasserfahrt
Sehrohrtiefe Periscope depth: The submerged depth at which

the periscope extends out of the water
Seitenruder Rudder
Selbstversenkung scuttled (deliberately sunk, usually to avoid capture)
Sichtweite Range of sight
Siemens-Schuckert-Werke Electric Supply Company, produced electric motors

for U-boats and other electric equipments
Smutje: Schiffskoch Cook
SONAR: Abk. für Sound Navigation and Abbreviation for Sound Navigation and Ranging:
Ranging - Amerikanische Version des American ASDIC version
ASDIC
S-Gerät Sondergerät: Aktives Unterwasserschall- Echo-ranging equipment of the German Navy

Ortungsgerät der dt. Kriegsmarine zur
Entfernungs- und Richtungsbestimmung
von Unterwasserzielen
S / SS Sonderstufe / Dringlichkeitsstufe Special Stage of urgency or priority
Spargel: Sehrohr im U-Boot-Jargon Asparagus: Nickname for the periscope
Sprbr Sperrbrecher Mine-destructor vessel
Spion Spy
St. Nazaire: Dt. U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der St. Nazaire: German U-boat base in France (6th U-
französischen Atlantikküste (6.U-Flottille Flotilla and 7th U-Flotilla)
und 7.U-Flottille)
Stab Headquarters / Staff
Stabantenne Dipole
Stapellauf launched
Stettin: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der Ostsee German U-boat base in the Baltic Sea area (4th U-
(4.U-Flottille) Flotilla)
421
Stettiner Maschinenbau AG: Während des Shipyard in Stettin, Germany: During WW II this
II WK baute die Werft ein U-Boot für die shipyard built one U-boat for the German Navy
Kriegsmarine
Steuerbord starboard
Strm Steuermann Quartermaster
Stichwort Regenbogen: Befehl zur Rainbow: Code name for the order to scuttle all
Selbstversenkung der dt. U-Boote im Falle Kriegsmarine units should surrender occur
einer Kapitulation damit sie nicht in
Feindeshand fielen
Suchscheinwerfer Searchlights
SAAF Südafrikanische Luftwaffe South African Air Force
S Süden South
südwärts southbound
Sunderland: Britisches viermotoriges British Aircraft

Flugzeug, Fernaufklärer des RAF-
Küstenkomandos
Taktische Übungen Tactical exercises
Tanker Tanker
Z-Schiffe Tarnbezeichnung für U-Versorger:

Überwasserschiffe, die die U-Boote in ihren
Einsatzgebieten mit Treibstoff, Munition,
Ersatzteilen und Proviant etc. versorgten
TF Task Force: Zusammenschluss mehrerer Task Force: Group of units formed to carry out a
Kampfgruppen zur Ausführung von specific mission or operation
Sonderoperationen
TG Task Group: Kampfgruppe, Teil einer Task Task Group

Force
Tauchbunker / Tauchzelle Diving Tank which is flooded when the U-boat

submerges
tauchen submerging
Tauchretter: Eine Art Schwimmweste mit A kind of life-jacket with respirator, primarily
Atemgerät intended as an underwater escape apparatus for U-
boat crews
Tauchtiefe Diving depth
Agru-Front Technische Ausbildungsgruppe für Front- Training Unit for Frontier U-boats
U-Boote / Schulungszentrum für U-Boot-
Besatzungen
Technische Daten Technical Specifications
TBA Technisches Beschaffungsamt der German Navy Department responsible for

Kriegsmarine technical procurement
422
THETIS: Code des U-Boot-Funkverkehrs Radio message code for training U-boats
für Ausbildungsboote ab 01/1943
Tiefenmesser Depth gauge
Tiefensteuerungsanlage: Anlage zur

automatischen U-Boot-Steuerung
Tiefenruder Hydroplane(s)
Tiefgang Draught / Draft
Tonnen-Krieg: Vorhaben der Kriegsmarine Tonnage War: The German Navy's strategic
mehr alliierte Schiffe zu versenken als doctrine for the U-Boats - to attempt to destroy
gebaut werden konnten more merchant ships than the Allies could replace.
torpediert torpedoed
Torpedo los! Torpedo firing command ('Torpedo away')
TNS Torpedo- und Nachrichtenschule Torpedo and Radio School (in Flensburg-Mürwick)
(Flensburg-Mürwick)
Torpedoabnahmeinspektion Torpedo Inspection Department
Torpedoboot Torpedo boat / light destroyer
Torpedoeinführluk Torpedo loading hatch
TEK Torpedoerprobungskommando: Für das Torpedo Testing Command, responsible for testing
Testen neu entwickelter Torpedos of newly developed torpedoes
zuständiges Kommando der Kriegsmarine
Torpedokrise: Bezeichnung für die zu Torpedo-crisis, referred to the problems with the
Kriegsbeginn bestehenden Probleme mit German torpedoes which often detonated
den Torpedos die häufig zu früh oder prematurely if at all, or ran too deep. The torpedo
garnicht detonierten crisis also produced a crisis of confidence among
even the best commanders.
TMB Torpedomine Typ B (Grundmine) Torpedo mine type B, a ground mine launched
from torpedo tube
TO Torpedooffizier Torpedo Officer
Torpedorohr Torpedo tube
Torpedoschiessen / Torpedoschussübung Torpedo firing practice / Torpedo firing trials
TS Torpedoschule Torpedo School
TS-Fl Torpedoschulflottille Torpedo Training Flotilla
TVA Torpedoversuchsanstalt: Für die Torpedo Development and Test Institution,

Entwicklung neuer Torpedos zuständige responsible for torpedo-experiments
Institution der Kriegsmarine
Totalverlust / Totalschaden Total loss
Toulon: U-Boot-Stützpunkt im German U-boat base in the Mediterranean Sea

Mittelmeerraum (29.U-Flottille) (Base for 29th U-Flotilla)
423
Trägerflugzeug Carrier-based aircraft
Trainingsboot Training vessel
Travemünde: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in the Baltic Sea (25th U-
Ostsee (25.U-Flottille) Flotilla)
Treffen Rendezvous / Meeting
Treffermeldung: An den BdU übermittelte Message sent to BdU reporting successes, damaged
Meldung angegriffener / versenkter Schiffe and or sunk ships
Treffpunkt Meeting point / Rendezvous
Treibölbunker / Treibstofftank Fuel compartment / Diesel oil compartment
Trimm: Das Aufrechterhalten neutralen Trim: Maintaining a state of neutral buoyancy and
Auftriebs in einer gegebenen Wassertiefe underwater equilibrium at a given depth
Trimmtank / Trimmzelle: Wassertanks Variable ballast tanks used to obtain neutral

zum Regulieren der Trimmung buoyancy and adjust trim
Trimmtauchen: Probetauchen zur Test-dive for adjustment of trim

Ermittlung der Trimmung
Trinkwasser Drinking water
TRITON: Code des U-Boot-Funkverkehrs Radio message code for U-boats in North-Atlantic
im Nordatlantik ab Februar 1942 (Alliierter waters, called Shark by the Allies
Name: Shark)
Trockendock Dry dock
Trondheim: U-Boot-Stützpunkt in U-boat base in Norway (13th Flotilla)

Norwegen (13. Flottille)
Tropenausrüstung Basic fitting-out for patrols in tropical waters
Truppentransporter: Ein zum Transport Auxiliary support vessel for troop transports /
von Truppenverbänden dienendes Schiff, Troop ship
oftmals ein zu Beginn des Krieges
umgebautes Passagierschiff
Turm Conning Tower
Turmsymbol Conning Tower Insignia
CinClant U.S. Oberbefehlshaber der Atlantik-Flotte Commander-in-Chief Atlantic Fleet
CinCPAC U.S. Oberbefehlshaber der Pazifik-Flotte Commander-in-Chief Pacific Fleet
CinCPOA U.S. Oberbefehlshaber des Pazifischen Commander-in-Chief Pacific Ocean Area

Ozeans
CinCSWPA U.S. Oberbefehlshaber des Südwestlichen Commander-in-Chief Southwest Pacific Area

Pazifiks
Überführungsfahrt Transfer between bases
Überlebende Survivor(s)
424
überplanmäßiger Offizier Supernumerary Officer
Überraschungsangriff Surprise attack
Überwasserfahrt Surface cruising
UZO Überwasserzieloptik Telemeter equipment for targeting on surface
UAK U-Boot-Abnahmekommando U-boat Acceptance Commission
UAA U-Boot-Ausbildungsabteilung Training Department for U-boat crews
U-Boot-Frontspange: Auszeichnung in U-boat Front Clasp

'Anerkennung des tapferen, zähen und
vorbildlichen Kämpfens'
UI U-Boot-Inspektion U-Boat-Inspectorate
U-Boot-Krieg U-Boat War
U-Boot-Kriegsabzeichen: Auszeichnung für U-boat War Badge, award given after two or more
U-Boot-Fahrer für einen besonders war patrols, but sometimes after one war sortie
erfolgreichen Einsatz oder die Teilnahme
an mehr als drei Feindfahrten.
U-Boot-Männer U-boat men
A II U-Boot-Referat im Marinekommandoamt U-boat section of the Navel Command Office
U-Boot-Versorger U-boat Supply Vessel
U-Boot-Waffe Submarine Forces / The German submarine fleet
Übung Training / Practice
UJ U-Jäger Submarine chaser(s)
ULTRA: Tarnname der Operation des brit. Codename (short form for ultra-secret) for the
Secret Intelligence Service zur Allied intelligence system to intercept and decrypt
Entschlüsselung des Enigma-Codes Enigma communications
Ultra-Kurzwelle Ultra short-wave
unbeschädigt undamaged
Unteroffizier Petty Officer
UAS Unterseebootsabwehrschule School for Anti-submarine Warfare
ULD Unterseebootslehrdivision (ab Juni 1940, U-boat Training Division

vorher Unterseebootsschule)
US Unterseebootsschule, im Juni 1940 in 1. U-boat Training School, in June 1940 renamed 1.

Unterseebootslehrdivision (ULD) Unterseebootslehrdivision
umbenannt
U-Boot Unterseeboot U-Boat / Submarine
Unterwasserfahrt Submerged cruising
Unterwassergeschwindigkeit Submerged cruising speed
425
ASDIC Unterwasser-Ortungsgerät der Alliierten, Abbreviation for Allied Submarine Detection

Abk. Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee: Allied Anti-Submarine
Investigation Committee Detection
UT Unterwasser-Telefonie: Verständingung Underwater telegraphy

unter Wasser mittels Schallwellen
unverschlüsselte Nachricht encoded message
Valentin: U-Boot-Bunker in Bremen U-boat bunker near Bremen, Germany
Ventil Valve
Verb. Verband Unit / Task Force
USA Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika United States of America
Verkleidung / Aussenhülle Covering / facing
verschlüsselte Nachricht coded message
versenkt sunk
Versenkungserfolge Successes contra navigation / ships sunk
versetzt transferred
Versorgungsboot Supply vessel
Vtdg. Verteidigung Defense
VO Verwaltungsoffizier Administrative Officer
verwundet wounded
Verwundetenabzeichen Wounded Badge
Vesikko: Ein nach dt.Entwürfen in Small 250-ton U-boat built before WW II in

Finnland gebautes 250-Tonnen U-Boot, Finland with German know-how and assistance,
Prototyp der dt.U-Boote vom Typ II the forerunner of German Type II U-boats
Vetehinen: Ein nach dt. Entwürfen in Medium 500-ton mine-laying submarine built in
Finnland gebautes 500-Tonnen U-Boot Finland before WW II with German know-how
(Minenleger) and assistance
V.Adm. Vizeadmiral Vice-Admiral
Voigt & Höffner Electric Supply Company, produced electric motors

for U-boats
Volle Kraft Full Speed
Vorhalterechner / Torpedodatencomputer: Torpedo fire-control apparatus, electro-mechanical

Elektromechanisches Rechengerät zur deflection calculator that produced settings for
Ermittlung der Angriffskoordinaten torpedo firing.
Vorräte / Proviant Supplies / Provisions
Waffe Weapon
Wumag Waggon- und Maschinenbau AG - Görlitz
426
Walter-Boot: Nach dem Entwickler Fast U-boat Type XVII, named after its
Helmuth Walter benanntes constructor Helmuth Walter
Unterwasserschnellboot (Typ XVII)
Warnemünde: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in the Baltic Sea (26th U-
Ostsee (26.U-Flottille) Flotilla)
Wabo Wasserbombe Depth charge
Wasserverdrängung Displacement
Wanze Wellenanzeiger: Wave advertiser: A type of radar search receiver
Wellington: Brit. Mittelstreckenbomber der British bomber-aircraft built by Vickers-Armstrong

Firma Vickers-Armstrong
Werft Shipyard
Wesermünde: U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in the North Sea (31st U-
Nordsee (31.U-Flottille) Flotilla)
Weserübung: Tarnname für die Besetzung Codename for the German assault on Scandinavia
Skandinaviens und der wichtigsten and occupation of the most important Norwegian
norwegischen Häfen im April 1940 ports
W Westen West
GMT Westeuropäische Zeit Greenwich Mean Time
Westliches Vorfeld: Das Seegebiet westlich Western Approaches: Atlantic ocean area on the
der britischen Inseln western coast of the United Kingdom, particularly
referring to approaches via south of Ireland.
WBS Wetterbeobachtungsschiff Weather observing vessel
Wilfried: Deckname für die brit. Pläne zur Codename for the British plan to mine the
Verminung der norwegischen Norwegian coastal waters in April 1940
Küstengewässer im April 1940
Wilhelmshaven : U-Boot-Stützpunkt an der German U-boat base in the North Sea (U-Flotilla
Nordsee (U-Flottille Saltzwedel, U-Flottille Saltzwedel, U-Flotilla Hundius, 2nd U-Flotilla,
Hundius, 2.U-Flottille, 22.U-Flottille und 22nd U-Flotilla and 31st U-Flotilla)
31.U-Flottille)
Wintergarten: Spitzname für die hinter dem Wintergarden: Nickname for the U-boat's anti-
U-Boot-Kommandoturm angebaute aircraft platform
Geschützplattform
Wolfsrudel: Aus mehreren U-Booten Wolfpack

bestehende Gruppe, die gemeinsam und
koordiniert angreift
Würzburg: Deckname für das Codename for the German radar detection device
Funkmessgerät FuMG-62 FuMG-62
Zaunkönig: Tarnname für den mit einer Wren: Code name for the electrically propelled
akustischen, auf Schraubengeräusche acoustic torpedo T-5
reagierende Zielsucheinrichtung
ausgestatteten Torpedo T-5
Zentrale Control room on a U-boat
427
MBZA Zentrales Beschaffungs - und Central Procurement and Supply Office of the
Ausrüstungsamt der Kriegsmarine German Navy
Zerstörer Destroyer (DD)
Zerstörer-Kriegsabzeichen Destroyer Badge
Zacken Zickzackkurs Zigzag course
Ziel Target
Zufuhrkrieg / Handelskrieg: Bekämpfung Supply War: It's main thrust was forestalling the
feindlicher Warentransporte (Rohstoff- und enemy's supply of raw material and weapons by sea,
Waffenzufuhr) auf dem Seeweg recognising the economic realities of modern
warfare.
z.b.V. zur besonderen Verwendung for special missions / for special use
z. Vfg. zur Verfügung to be disposed of
II WO Zweiter Wachoffizier 2nd Watch Officer
Zylinder Cylinder
Zypern: Dt. Radar-Warngerät FuMB-9 Cyprus: Code name for the radar detector FuMB-9
Abbreviations
A II U-Boot-Referat im Marinekommandoamt U-boat section of the Navel Command Office
A.O. Artillerieoffizier Artillery Officer
AEG Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft Electric Supply Company, produced electric motors

for U-Boats and other electric equipment
AFA Akkumulatoren Fabrik AG Berlin-Hagen Main battery supplier for German U-Boats with
factories in Berlin and Hagen
AG Aktiengesellschaft Joint-stock Company
AJ Inspektion der Marineartillerie Navy Artillery Inspection
ASDIC Unterwasser-Ortungsgerät der Alliierten, Abbreviation for Allied Submarine Detection

Abk. Allied Submarine Detection Investigation Committee: Allied Anti-Submarine
Investigation Committee Detection
ASR Angriffssehrohr Attack periscope
ASV Flugzeugradar zur Ortung von Schiffen bzw. Air-to-Surface Vessel Radar carried by planes as
aufgetaucht fahrenden U-Booten opposed to surface-to-surface or surface to air radar
carried by ships. ASV II Ð Metre Radar, ASW III Ð
Centimetric radar.
ASW Antisubmarine Warfare
ATO Atmosphärisch angetriebener Torpedo A torpedo using compressed air as an oxidant with
Decahydronapthalene (Decalin) to create steam that
turned the propellers of the torpedo. A bubble trail
was emitted that could be seen by the enemy and
therefore during WWII they were intended to be
428
used at night. Often referred to as 'air-driven' or

'compressed air powered' torpedoes
AZ-Pi Gefechtspistole mit Aufschlagzündung Impact Pistol (detonator) for use in torpedoes.
Abk. Abkürzung Abbreviation
Abt. Abteilung Department / Section / Detachment / Branch
Adm. Admiral Admiral
Adm.St.Arzt Admiralstabsarzt Admiral's Staff Doctor
Agru-Front Technische Ausbildungsgruppe für Front-U- Training Unit for Frontier U-boats
Boote / Schulungszentrum für U-Boot-
Besatzungen
Akku(s) Akkumulator Accumulator / Battery
Asto Admiralstabsoffizier Admiral's Staff Officer
Ausb. Ausbildung Training / Instruction
B&V Blohm & Voss - Hamburg Shipyard in Bremen, Germany: During WW II, the
shipyard built a total of 224 U-boats for the German
Navy
B-Dienst Beobachtungsdienst / German Radio Monitoring Service, the German

Funkbeobachtungsdienst 'signals intelligence' branch.
B-Dienst Funkbeobachtungsdienst Radio Monitoring Service
BBC Brown, Boverie & Co Electric Supply Company which produced electric
motors, hydroplane controls and other electric
equipment for U-boats
BBC Deutscher Hersteller von U-Boot Ausrüstung German producer for U-boat equipment
BRT Bruttoregistertonne: Gesamtvolumen eines Gross Register Ton (1 GRT = 2.832 cbm or 100
Schiffes (1 BRT = 2.832 cbm) cubic feet)
Batl. Bataillon Battalion
BdU Befehlshaber der Unterseeboote Commander-in-Chief of Submarines, also used in

reference to staff and headquarters
BdU.Op BdU - Operationsabteilung C-in-C U-boats - Operational Department / Tactical

U-boat Command
BdU.Org BdU - Organisationsabteilung C-in-C U-boats - Organization Department
CGC Küstenwachkutter Coast Guard Cutter
COMINCH Oberbefehlshaber der amerikanischen Flotte Commander-in-Chief U.S. Fleet
CPVA Chemisch-Physikalische Versuchsanstalt der Chemical-physical Research Institute

Marine
CTF Kommandant einer Kampfgruppe Commander Task Force
CTG Kommandant des amerikanischen Commander Task Group
429
Kriegsschiffverbandes
CinCPAC U.S. Oberbefehlshaber der Pazifik-Flotte Commander-in-Chief Pacific Fleet
CinCPOA U.S. Oberbefehlshaber des Pazifischen Commander-in-Chief Pacific Ocean Area

Ozeans
CinCSWPA U.S. Oberbefehlshaber des Südwestlichen Commander-in-Chief Southwest Pacific Area

Pazifiks
CinClant U.S. Oberbefehlshaber der Atlantik-Flotte Commander-in-Chief Atlantic Fleet
D-Day Decision-Day: Tag der Entscheidung, Decision-Day - the day of the allied landings at
Stichtag eines Unternehmens Normandy
D-Spant Druckkörper-Spant Pressure-hull frame
DKG Deutsches Kreuz in Gold German Cross in Gold: Decoration awarded for
major achievements in combat, in value it stands
roughly between Iron Cross 1st Class and Knight
Cross of the Iron Cross. Known irrevererantly as
Hitler's Fried Egg.
Deschimag Deutsche Schiff- und Maschinenbau AG Shipyard in Bremen, Germany: During WW II this
Weser - Bremen: Während des II WK baute shipyard built a total of 162 U-boats for the German
die Werft 162 U-Boote für die Kriegsmarine Navy
Dez Dezimal: Ein Dez entspricht 10 Grad 10 degrees
Div. Division Division
Div.Offz. Divisionsoffizier Division Officer
E1 Single large 750-ton U-boat built in Spain before

WW II
EK I Eisernes Kreuz I. Klasse Iron Cross (First Class)
EK II Eisernes Kreuz II. Klasse Iron Cross (Second Class)
EKK Erprobungskommando für Command branch that conducted trials with new
Kriegsschiffneubauten vessels
EMC Einheitsmine Typ C (Ankertaumine) A special anchored-mine for submarines
ES Erkennungssignal in Form von Leucht-, Recognition signal given by flags, Morse signal or
Flaggen- oder Morsesignalen signal pistols
ETMAL Die von Mittag bis Mittag, also in 24 Stunden Distance traveled in 24 hours, from high noon to
zurückgelegte Strecke. high noon
Eto Elektrisch angetriebener Torpedo Electric torpedo that used battery power for
propulsion, leaving no bubble trail. This was one of
the standard type of torpedo used by U-boats during
WWII, frequently ATOs were carried also.
Eto Elektrisch angetriebener Torpedo mit Electric torpedo with combination magnetic and
MZ/AZ Magnet- und Aufschlagzündung impact firing
FAB Brasilianische Luftwaffe Brazilian Air Force
430
FAF Französische Luftwaffe French Air Force
FAT Flächenabsuchtorpedo (oder Federapparat- Torpedo that could run in pre-programmed patterns
Torpedo) mit einstellbarem Kurvenlauf and loops after initial straight run. Intended for use
against convoys.
FF Feindfahrt War cruise / War patrol
FLAK Flugzeugabwehrkanone Anti-Aircraft Gun / Anti-aircraft Artillery
FT Funktelegramm / Funkspruch Radio telegram / Wireless message
FTO Funkoffizier Radio Officer
FdM Führer der Minensuchboote Flag Officer for Minesweeper
FdU Führer der U-Boote Flag Officer for U-boats
FdU.Ausb. Führer der U-Boot-Ausbildungsflottillen Flag Officer for U-boat Training Flotillas
FdV Führer der Vorpostenboote Flag Officer for Patrol boats
FdZ Führer der Zerstörer Flag Officer for Destroyers
Fl Flottille Flotilla (Flot): Small fleet
Fliebo Fliegerbombe Bomb dropped from aircraft.
Frgtkpt. Fregattenkapitän In rank roughly equivalent to the RN 'Commander'
FuMB Funkmessbeobachtungsgerät zum Erfassen

von Radar-Strahlungen / Radarwarngerät
FuME Funkmesserkennung Radar recognition
FuMG Funkmessgerät Radio or Radar detection device
FuMO Funkmessortungsgerät: Durch eigene Radar

Impulsausstrahlungen aktiv ortendes
Funkmessgerät
FzS Fähnrich zur See Officer Cadet / Midshipman
G7a Druckluft- oder dampfgetriebener Type I, Model G, 7 meters long, Compressed Air
Torpedotyp mit Geradeaussteuerung torpedo. See ATO.
G7e Elektrisch angetriebener Torpedotyp mit Type III, Model G, 7 meters long, Electric torpedo.
Geradeaussteuerung See Eto
GC&CS Bletchley Park: Britische Decodierungs- und British Code & Cipher School in Bletchley Park
Chiffrierschule
GHG Gruppenhorchgerät: Unterwasserdetektor, Underwater sound detector / group listening

diente zum Aufspüren von Geleitzügen und apparatus
feindlicher Eskorten
GMT Westeuropäische Zeit Greenwich Mean Time
GSR German Search Receiver
GeKdos Geheime Kommandosache Secret Command Document
431
GelFl Geleitflottille Escort Flotilla
Gen.Maj. Generalmajor General Major
GenAdm Generaladmiral General Admiral
Geschw. Geschwader Squadron
GmbH Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung Limited Liability Company
Gr.Adm. Grossadmiral Grand Admiral
HF/DF Hochfrequenz Peiler: Kurzwellenpeiler der High Frequency Direction Finder

Alliierten mit dem die Sendestellen der von
U-Booten benutzten Kurzwellensignale
eingepeilt werden konnten.
HKL Höheres Kommando der

Kriegsschiffbaulehrabteilungen
HKN Höherer Kommandeur der Higher Commander of the Naval Intelligence School
Marinenachrichtenschulen
HKS Höherer Kommandant der Higher Commander of the Navy Artillery Schools
Schiffartillerieschulen, im Oktober 1943
geschaffene Dienststellung
HKT Höherer Kommandant der Torpedoschulen Higher Commander of the Torpedo Schools
(Diestbezeichnung ab Februar 1944)
HKU Höheres Kommando der High Command for U-boat Training, in 1943 the U-
Unterseebootsausbildung: Dem Kommando Boot-Lehrdivisionen and the U-Boot-
waren ab 1943 die U-Boot-Lehrdivisionen mit Ausbildungsabteilungen were subordinated to this
den Schulflottillen und die U-Boot- Command
Ausbildungsabteilungen unterstellt
HMAS Kriegsschiff der Königlich Australischen Her Majesty's Australian Ship: Australian warship
Marine
HMCS Kriegsschiff der Königlich Kanadischen Her Majesty's Canadian Ship: Canadian warship
Marine
HMNZS Kriegsschiff der Königlich Neuseeländischen Her Majesty's New Zealand Ship
Marine
HMS Kriegsschiff der Königlich Britischen Marine Her Majesty's Ship: British warship
HS-Fl Hafenschutzflottille Harbor Defense Flotilla
HSO Handelsschiffoffizier Merchant Marine Officer who entered the German

Navy after 1933
I WO Erster Wachoffizier 1st Watch Officer / Executive Officer (ExO)
II WK II Weltkrieg Second World War; WW2
II WO Zweiter Wachoffizier 2nd Watch Officer
III WO Dritter Wachoffizier 3rd Watch Officer: This position was filled only in
large U-boats and for long voyages, otherwise the
Obersteuermann performed similar duties.
432
Ing. Ingenieur Engineer
Insp. Inspektion / Inspekteur Inspection / Inspector
IvS Ingenieurskantoor voor Scheepsbouw: Unter Dutch registered firm in partnership with the
dem Deckmantel einer holländischen Firma German shipyards AG Vulkan Werft in Hamburg
arbeitendes dt. Büro für U-Boot- and Stettin; and the two Krupp-owned yards, the
Entwicklung, unter Beteiligung der Vulkan- Germaniawerft in Kiel and the AG Weser in Bremen.
Werften in Hamburg und Stettin, sowie der Its objective was U-boat design, construction and for
Krupp-eigenen Germania Werft in Kiel und maintaining German know-how.
der AG Weser in Bremen. Zielsetzung der
Firma war die Entwicklung von U-Booten
unter Umgehung des Versailler Vertrages.
KÜSt Küstenüberwachungsstelle German Coast Guard Branch
KAdm Konteradmiral Rear Admiral
KDB Kristallbasisdrehgerät: Zusatz-Horchgerät Rotary quartz hydrophone

zur passiven Geräuschortung
KFK Kriegsfischkutter
KHW Kieler Howaldtswerke AG: Während des II Shipyard in Kiel, Germany: During WW II this
WK baute die Werft 31 U-Boote für die shipyard built a total of 31 U-boats for the German
Kriegsmarine Navy
KK / Korvettenkapitän Lieutenant Commander

Korvkpt. /
KKpt.
KLA Kriegsschiffbaulehrabteilung Warship Construction Training Department
KM Kriegsmarine The German Navy between 1935 and 1945
KM-Ars. Kriegsmarinearsenal Naval arsenal
KMD Kriegsmarinedienststelle German War Shipping Administration
KMW Kriegsmarinewerft - Wilhelmshaven: Shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, Germany: During WW

Während des II WK baute die Werft 27 U- II it built a total of 27 U-boats for the German Navy
Boote für die Kriegsmarine
KNM Königlich Norwegische Marine Royal Norwegian Navy
KSL Kommandanten-Schiesslehrgang Commander firing course
KSV Küstensicherungsverband Coastal Security Unit
KTB Kriegstagebuch War Diary / War Log Book
KdK Kommandant der Kleinkampfverbände Commander of the Small Combat Units
Kdo Komando Command
Kdr. / Kommandeur Commanding Officer for land-based units

Komdr.
Kdt Kommandant Commander (Com) / Commanding Officer
Kdt. i.V. Kommandant in Vertretung temporary commander / Commander in substitution
433
Kn Knoten: Geschwindigkeit eines Schiffes Knots: A ship's speed measured as one nautical mile
gemessen in Seemeilen pro Stunde (6,080.2 feet) per hour.
Kom.Adm. Kommandierender Admiral Commanding Admiral
Kptlt. / Kapitänleutnant Lieutenant-Commander (LCdr.)

Kaleu
KrGer Kriegsgericht German Court-martial
KrO Kriegsoffizier Senior Petty Officer in Wartime Commission
KuK Kaiserliche und Königliche (…sterreichisch- (Austro-Hungarian) Imperial Navy

Ungarische) Marine
KzS Kapitän zur See Captain
LMB Luftmine Typ B (Grundmine) Air dropped mine
LUT Lagenunabhängiger Torpedo Torpedo that could run in pre-programmed patterns

and loops after initial straight run. This torpedo was
an improvement over the 'FAT' with additional
search pattern options. Intended for use against
convoys.
Ls Luftschutz Air-raid protection
Lt. Ing. / Leitender Ingenieur Chief Engineering Officer

LI
LzS Leutnant zur See Lieutenant-Junior
M-Boot Minensuchboot / Minensucher Minesweeper
M.Abn.I. Marineabnahmeinspektion Naval Acceptance Inspection
M.Art.Ars. Marineartilleriearsenal Navy Artillery Arsenal
MA Marineartillerie Navy Artillery
MAA Marineartillerieabteilung Navy Artillery Detachment
MAD Magnetisches Unterwasserortungsgerät Magnetic Anomaly Detector - device mounted on an

aircraft that could detect a submerged U-boat
because large metallic objects create a magnetic
disturbance.
MAN Maschinenfabrik Augsburg-Nürnberg AG Supply Company which produced diesel engines for
U-Boats
MAW Flugzeuggeschwader der U.S. Navy Naval Aircraft Wing
MBR Marinebaurat Naval Construction Adviser
MBZA Zentrales Beschaffungs - und Central Procurement and Supply Office of the
Ausrüstungsamt der Kriegsmarine German Navy
MEK Marine-Einsatzkommando: Kampfgruppe

die für Sabotageeinsätze, Minenanbringung
u.ä. eingesetzt wurde
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MEZ Mitteleuropäische Zeit Central European Time (CET)
MFP Marinefährprahm: Fahrzeug der dt. Armed vehicle used by the German Navy in landing
Kriegsmarine operations
MFlaA Marineflakabteilung Naval Anti-aircraft Detection Unit
MFlaR Marineflakregiment Naval Flak Regiment
MFlakS Marineflugabwehrschule Naval Anti-aircraft Defense School
MG Maschinengewehr Machine gun
MKS Marinekriegsschule Naval College
MLA Marine(unteroffiziers)lehrabteilung Naval Training Department (for warrant officers)
MLaz Marinelazarett Naval Hospital
MNA Marinenachrichtenabteilung German Naval Intelligence Department
MND Marinenachrichtendienst German Naval Intelligence Service
MNO Marinenachrichtenoffizier Naval Intelligence Officer
MOK Marineoberkommando Group command responsible for specific operational

areas (different from Oberkommmando der Marine)
MPA Marinepersonalamt Office for naval personnel
MStArzt Marinestabsarzt Surgeon
MWM Motoren-Werke-Mannheim Supply Company, produced diesel engines for U-

Boats
MZ-Pi Gefechtspistole mit Magnetzündung Magnetic Pistol (detonator) for use in torpedoes
MZ/AZ- Gefechtspistole mit Magnet- und Combination impact and magnetic Pistol (detonator)
Pistole Aufschlagzündung for use in ATO and ETO torpedoes
MaMt Maschinenmaat Machinist's mate 3cl
MaOGfr Matrosenobergefreiter Seaman 1st class
Marbef. Marinebefehlshaber Naval Commander
Mast. Marineausrüstungsstelle Naval Supply Office
MeGfr Mechanikergefreiter Engineering Able Seamen
MeOGfr Mechanikerobergefreiter Engineering Leading Seamen
Mtr Matrose Apprentice Seaman
MtrGfr Matrosengefreiter Seaman 2nd class
N Norden North
NEK Nachrichtenmittelerprobungskommando Intelligence Equipment Test Command
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NO Navigationsoffizier Navigation Officer
NOB Operationsbasis der U.S. Navy U.S. Naval Operating Base
NRT Nettoregistertonne Net Register Ton
NTJ Nachrichtentechnische Inspektion Technical inspection for intelligence equipment
NVA Nachrichtenmittelversuchsanstalt Intelligence Equipment Test Establishment
NVK Nachrichtenmittelversuchskommando Institution responsible for development of

intelligence equipment
NavS Navigationsschule Navigation School
O Osten East
OB Oberbefehlshaber Commander-in-Chief
OFkMt Oberfunkmaat Radioman 2nd class / Radio Chief Petty Officer
OHL Oberste Heeresleitung Supreme Army Command
OKL Oberkommando der Luftwaffe Supreme Command of the German Air Force
OKM Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine Supreme Command of the German Navy
OMaMt Obermaschinenmaat Machinist's mate 2nd class
OMechMt Obermechanikermaat Machinist's mate 2nd class
OStrm Obersteuermann Chief Quartermaster / Navigation Officer on U-

boats
ObBtsm Oberbootsmann Chief Boatswain
ObBtsmt Oberbootsmaat Boatswain's mate 2nd class
ObdH Oberbefehlshaber des Heeres Commander-in-Chief of the German Army
ObdL Oberbefehlshaber der Luftwaffe Commander-in-Chief of the German Air Force
ObdM Oberbefehlshaber der Kriegsmarine Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy
ObdM Oberbefehlshaber der Marine Commander-in-Chief of the German Navy
OlzS / Oberleutnant zur See Lieutenant-Senior

Oblt.
Op-Gebiet Operationsgebiet Operational Area
PS Pferdestärke Horsepower
PTR Physikalisch Technische Reichsanstalt Reich Physical-Technical Institute
QU Planquadrat Ocean chart grid which used letters and numbers for
identifying the naval operation areas
R-Boot Räumboot Small motor minesweeper
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RAAC Königlich Australische Luftwaffe Royal Australian Air Force
RAAF Australische Luftwaffe Royal Australian Air Force
RAF Britische Luftwaffe Royal Air Force
RAN Königlich Australische Marine Royal Australian Navy
RCAF Kanadische Luftwaffe Royal Canadian Air Force
RCN Kanadische Marine Royal Canadian Navy
RDA Rangdienstalter Rank and seniority list
RK Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes Knights Cross
RM Reichsmarine German Navy between 1919 - 1935
Ref. Referent Official in charge of a department / Adviser
Rgt. Regiment Regiment
S Süden South
S / SS Sonderstufe / Dringlichkeitsstufe Special Stage of urgency or priority
S-Boot Schnellboot A fast motor torpedo boat, referred to by allies as 'E-

Boat' (enemy boat).
S-Gerät Sondergerät: Aktives Unterwasserschall- Echo-ranging equipment of the German Navy

Ortungsgerät der dt. Kriegsmarine zur
Entfernungs- und Richtungsbestimmung von
Unterwasserzielen
SAAF Südafrikanische Luftwaffe South African Air Force
SAG Seeaufklärungsgruppe Maritime Reconnaissance Unit
SAS Schiffsartillerieschule Naval Artillery School
SK Seekrieg Naval War
SKL Seekriegsleitung Supreme Naval Command / Naval War Staff
SSS Segelschulschiff Sailing training ship
Sm Seemeile = 1.852 m Nautical mile = 1.852 m or 6,080.2 feet.
Sprbr Sperrbrecher Mine-destructor vessel
Strm Steuermann Quartermaster
TBA Technisches Beschaffungsamt der German Navy Department responsible for technical
Kriegsmarine procurement
TEK Torpedoerprobungskommando: Für das Torpedo Testing Command, responsible for testing
Testen neu entwickelter Torpedos of newly developed torpedoes
zuständiges Kommando der Kriegsmarine
TF Task Force: Zusammenschluss mehrerer Task Force: Group of units formed to carry out a
Kampfgruppen zur Ausführung von specific mission or operation
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Sonderoperationen
TG Task Group: Kampfgruppe, Teil einer Task Task Group

Force
TMB Torpedomine Typ B (Grundmine) Torpedo mine type B, a ground mine launched from
torpedo tube
TNS Torpedo- und Nachrichtenschule Torpedo and Radio School (in Flensburg-Mürwick)
(Flensburg-Mürwick)
TO Torpedooffizier Torpedo Officer
TS Torpedoschule Torpedo School
TS-Fl Torpedoschulflottille Torpedo Training Flotilla
TVA Torpedoversuchsanstalt: Für die Torpedo Development and Test Institution,

Entwicklung neuer Torpedos zuständige responsible for torpedo-experiments
Institution der Kriegsmarine
U-Boot Unterseeboot U-Boat / Submarine
UAA U-Boot-Ausbildungsabteilung Training Department for U-boat crews
UAK U-Boot-Abnahmekommando U-boat Acceptance Commission
UAS Unterseebootsabwehrschule School for Anti-submarine Warfare
UI U-Boot-Inspektion U-Boat-Inspectorate
UIT Bezeichnung für ehemals italienische U- Designation for formerly Italian U-boats
Boote
UJ U-Jäger Submarine chaser(s)
ULD Unterseebootslehrdivision (ab Juni 1940, U-boat Training Division

vorher Unterseebootsschule)
US Unterseebootsschule, im Juni 1940 in 1. U-boat Training School, in June 1940 renamed 1.

Unterseebootslehrdivision (ULD) umbenannt Unterseebootslehrdivision
USA Vereinigte Staaten von Amerika United States of America
USAAF Heeresluftstreitkräfte der USA U.S. Army Air Force
USAF Luftwaffe der USA U.S. Air Force
USAFFE U.S. Army Forces in the Far East
USAFISPA U.S. Army Forces in the South Pacific Area
USCG Küstenwache der USA U.S. Coast Guard
USN Kriegsmarine der USA United States Navy
USN-VP Aufklärungsstaffel der U.S. Navy USN Patrol Squadron
USN-VPB Aufklärungsbomber-Staffel der U.S. Navy USN Patrol Bombing Squadron
USS Kriegsschiff der USA United States Ship: American warship

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UT Unterwasser-Telefonie: Verständingung Underwater telegraphy

unter Wasser mittels Schallwellen
WWII - Miscellany of Who's What etc.

Ack-Ack Anti-Aircraft guns. They had mixed sex crews and rumours went round that the women
were sexually immoral.
Aliens The name given to foreigners
Anderson Corrugated tin air-raid shelters that people built in their gardens.
A.R.P's Air-Raid Precautions - the whole range of measures taken to protect people from air raids, including gas
masks, blackout, barrage balloons, search lights, Ack-Ack anti-aircraft guns, air-raid sirens, shelters (including Anderson
and Morrison-design domestic shelters, public shelters and The London Underground stations, sandbags, taping windows,
stirrup pumps, incendiary bomb scoops, evacuation, Civil Defence Services (including the Auxiliary Fire Service, 'First
Aiders' and ambulance-men), Royal Observer Corps (listening for bombers at night and looking for planes or doodlebugs
during the day), booklets and cigarette cards giving advice to householders, 'ARP' (Air-Raid Patrol) wardens and the W.V.S.
Atlantic Charter Declaration of Churchill and Roosevelt in August 1941 not to stop fighting until Nazism was destroyed.
A.T.A. Air Transport Auxiliary - flying aircraft from factories to airfields - Over 50% of women pilots flew all
kinds of heavy bombers and fighters.
A.T.S. Auxiliary Territorial Service - women worked on Ack-Ack anti-aircraft guns, search-lights, and radar
control, did sentry duty and serviced trucks and motorbikes.
Austerity fashions It became fashionable to show that you were ‘doing your bit’ to dress smartly, but unostentatiously i.e.
to look plain. This look became known as ‘austerity’ (hard times) fashions.
Beaches British propaganda - e.g. J.B. Priestley in his 'Postscripts' BBC radio programme telling how the British
soldiers had been saved from Dunkirk by small craft and paddle steamers picking up men from the beaches, a testimony to
British bravery and a success, the ‘myth’ of Dunkirk
Beaverbrook In May 1940, Churchill put Lord Beaverbrook, owner of 'The Daily Express' newspaper, in charge of aircraft
production - there were public 'aluminium appeals' and 'Spitfire funds' - Beaverbrook cut through government red tape and
increased the production by 250% - In 1940, British factories produced 4,283 fighters, compared to Germany’s output of
3,000 fighters.
B.E.F. The British Expeditionary Force, a force of just 158,000 men, was sent to France in 1939
Bevin Boys In 1943, 22,000 ‘Bevin Boys’ were conscripted to work in the mines.
Black Market You could always buy rationed good ‘under the counter’ of ‘off the back of a lorry’ for inflated prices but, it
was illegal.
Blackout People were not allowed to show a light which could help Nazi bombers locate targets. At first people were
charged for lighting a cigarette or shining a torch, later in the war it mainly meant thick black curtains and headlight covers.
Bletchley Park The centre where the British code-breakers deciphered the German codes.
Blitz The German bombing raids on British cities, particularly London - The raid against London started on 7-8
September 1940 and raids continued on all but 10 nights until 12 November - The raids then targeted industrial cities such as
Coventry, on November 14, 1940 and ports such as Portsmouth and Liverpool - Improvements to radar in spring of 1941
allowed the air defences to begin getting the better of the German attackers.
Blitzkrieg The Nazi way of attack - ‘lightning war’ - Paratroopers caused chaos and disrupted enemy
communications behind the lines, then Panzer tanks broke through and advanced rapidly, passing by enemy strong-points,
which became isolated, and were finally mopped up by the Nazi infantry.
Bulge The Nazi counter-attack in the Ardennes which held up the Allied advance into Germany.
Careless Talk …Costs Lives - The brilliantly humorous Ministry of Information poster campaign drawn by Kenneth Bird
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(pen name ‘Fougasse’)
Carpet-bombing Random bombing of a whole area, not to attack specific targets/factories etc., but a cause fires, injuries and
damage which would demoralise and distract the British.
Dr Carrot Along with ‘Potato Pete’, two cartoon characters used by Lord Woolton to advertise the benefits of eating
lots of carrots and potatoes, which were not rationed.
Censorship Preventing certain information getting out which it was felt would damage morale - e.g. photos of dead
children, kamikaze pilots, atrocities committed by British troops, or information that would help the enemy e.g. weather
reports - road-signs were removed and soldiers' letters read and parts of them crossed out.
Chamberlain The British Prime Minister who declared war on September 3, 1939.
Churchill Winston Churchill, The British Prime Minister whose speeches helped to motivate Britain and her Allies to
win the war .
Civilian Repair Organisation Beaverbrook set up the Civilian Repair Organisation, which made new planes from the left-
over pieces of planes which had been shot down.
COs Conscientious Objectors - A system of tribunals was set up to which Conscientious Objectors could apply -
many employers refused to give them a job and some 60,000 objectors were sent to prison.
COGS A children’s club which collected things house-to-house like bottle tops, old iron, paper, wool and bones
(used to make explosives and fertiliser).
Conscription The call-up of people to serve the war effort in the armed forced or industry.
Convoy Arranging merchant ships in large groups protected by an aircraft carrier and a number of destroyers -
Sending convoys by different routes made them harder for the U-boats to find.
Coupons People were given ration books with coupons allowing you to buy so much - You could spend them as they
became due, a little every month or you could save them up and get a lot at once - Children couldn't get sweets unless they
had both the money and the coupons
Coventrate The word was coined after the Coventry air-raid on November 14, 1940, the word is a verb which means to
utterly destroy a whole town.
Cromwell Code-word ‘Cromwell’ – invasion imminent. On 7 September the Nazi bombing raid was so huge that a
false alarm went round the south-east of England: church bells rang and the Home Guard mobilised. One section of coast
identified by the Nazis as a landing ground was defended by a Home Guard platoon with just one machine-gun !
Daily Worker The Communist newspaper closed down in 1941 because it opposed the war.
D-Day The Allied Landings in France on June 6, 1944.
Dig for Victory People were encouraged to grow their own vegetables and keep allotments.
Dowding’s Chicks The nickname for the young fighter pilots who fought the Battle of Britain - In all, the R.A.F. lost 1,173
planes and 510 pilots and gunners killed in the Battle of Britain - Churchill said of them: ‘Never in the field of human conflict
was so much owed by so many to so few.’
Dynamo The operation to take the trapped British Expeditionary Force out of Dunkirk at the end of May 1940 -
345,000 Allied troops were evacuated.
Eisenhower The American General who was the Allied Armies' Commander-in-Chief on D-Day
Emergency Powers Act In May 1940, it gave the government the power to conscript workers into essential industries.
Enigma The German Enigma was a code-system used by the German U-Boats - Deciphering it in the spring of 1940
was vital in giving the Allied navies the edge in the Battle of the Atlantic - In February 1942 however, the German code was
improved, resulting in ‘the Drumbeat Crisis’, shipping losses greater than ever until March 1943 when the German code was
again broken.
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E.N.S.A. (ENSA) Entertainment National Service Association - A group of actors and singers who travelled into
the war zones to entertain the troops - many of these, often talented, entertainers became household names on radio and then
television after the war.
Enuresis The proper word for bed-wetting - Many evacuees experienced this problem which, in the days when
washing had to be done by hand and hung out to dry, was a significant inconvenience.
Essential Workers Order In March 1941 it introduced conscription. Under this, women between 20 and 30 became liable
for conscription into war work. Women with children under 14 were exempt but many volunteered anyway, encouraged by the
introduction of day care nurseries.
Evacuees By September 3, 1939, 827,000 children and 535,000 pregnant mothers had been sent out of the towns,
were expected to be bombed, to the safety of the countryside.
F.A.N.Y. First Aid Nursing Yeomanry - driving ambulances and staff cars in battle areas, and doing some nursing on
the front-line.
Fortress Europe Nazi-occupied Europe.
Gas masks Fearing gas attacks, everybody was told to ‘carry your gas mask’ - Post-boxes were painted with yellow
gas-sensitive paint to warn people but gas-attacks never happened and eventually people started using their gas-mask boxes for
their sandwiches.
G.Is American soldiers stationed in Britain in the run-up to 'D-Day' said to be ‘overpaid, oversexed and over here’
- They were called G.Is because their equipment was marked 'G.I.' - 'General Issue’.
Gustav Siegfried Eins The best example of Political Warfare Executive (P.W.E.) ‘black propaganda’ - Run by the
journalist Sefton Delmer, Gustav Siegfried Eins was supposed to be a German wireless presenter who hated the British but
also attacked Hitler - It did the Nazi government so much damage that it was made illegal, punishable by death, for anyone
to listen to the programmes in Germany.
H.Es High Explosives - Big Bombs which exploded.
Hedgehog Along with ‘Squid’, a weapons system which allowed attack ships to catapult depth-charges up to 300 yards
in front of the ship.
Hobart’s funnies Specialised vehicles designed specifically for tasks on D-Day, including a bridge-carrying tank and a
floating tank which could be dropped offshore and could ‘swim’ in on its own.
Huff-duff or HF/DF, a system of analysing radio-waves whereby U-boats’ positions could be worked out from the bearings
of their radio transmissions.
Host The families who received evacuees
Hurricane The less well-known British plane, the Hurricane, which first appeared in November 1935, was reliable
and used mainly to shoot down the German Luftwaffe bombers.
Incendiaries Bombs which caused fires.
Internees 60,000 Germans and Austrians and 15,000 Italians were put into three categories - A) High security risk,
B) doubtful cases and C) no risk - most were sent to holding camps, many on the Isle of Man.
The Kitchen Front The flagship of Lord Woolton’s propaganda campaign, a BBC radio programme every morning which
told housewives tricks how to make an interesting meal out of available foodstuffs such as potatoes.
Label Evacuated children from the towns, each given a luggage label with their name on it to tie to their coat,
were sent to the countryside and lined up in the local village or church hall where people went and ‘chose’ which children they
were prepared to have staying them.
L.D.V. 250,000 men volunteered for the Local Defence Volunteers (‘Home Guard’ or ‘Dad’s Army’) on the first
day of recruitment.
Lend-Lease Before it entered the war, the Americans supplied Britain with vital equipment in return for the transfer of
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British naval bases, the free use of British patents, and a promise to be repaid after the war. Although essential to continue the
war, it was really a huge rip-off for the 50 old destroyers which formed the basis of the deal, each of the destroyers valued at
$5,000 and 'the deal' therefore worth just $250,000 in total at the time.
Lord Gort The leader of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk
Lord Haw-Haw A renegade British radio news presenter who worked for the Germans and gave a much less sophisticated
black propaganda news programme on German radio which always began ‘Jairmany Calling, Jairmany Calling’ - So
extreme that it was amusing, many British people used to listen to it for 'a bit of a laugh'.
Luftwaffe The German Air Force. The Germans strapped sirens to their Stuka dive-bombers to make them sound all
the more terrifying when they dived.
Maginot Line The French ‘super-trench’ which the French hoped would stop Hitler but, it only stretched from Switzerland
to Luxembourg and the Nazi blitzkrieg simply went over and round it !
Mass Observation The government department which monitored public opinion.
M.O.I. Ministry of Information – controlled all news and propaganda during the war.
Molotovs Nickname for a cluster of incendiary bombs.
Morrison Reinforced steel tables people used in their front rooms to hide under.
Mulberries The floating harbours used for the D-Day landings.
Music While You Work The BBC radio programme which was played continuous live music to factory workers in the
afternoons to keep them cheerful at work, it's signature tune, written by Eric Coates who would later write 'The Dambusters
March', was originally called "Calling All Cars" !
National Service Act When war was declared on September 3, 1939, all men aged between 18 and 40 became legally liable
for call-up under the new National Service (Armed Forces) Act - As casualties in the armed forces rose in 1941, the age limit
had to be raised to 51.
NAZIS Members of The National Socialist German Workers Party
Newsreels Shown at the movies, closely controlled and very patriotic, cinema newsreels (and listening to the radio)
were the main ways that people got the news of the war.
Nissen The name for the semi-circular, corrugated iron, huts in the internment and POW camps - The Italian
POWs on Orkney turned one of their Nissen huts into a beautifully-decorated Chapel.
Norway Hitler’s invasion of Denmark and Norway in April 1940 brought 'The Phoney War' and Chamberlain’s
government to an end - When Churchill became Prime Minister, Britain tried unsuccessfully to help Norway but the attempt
was a disaster.
Omaha The beach which the Americans found very difficult to capture - The bombers missed the fortifications and,
by chance, the defences had just been reinforced by the crack Nazi 352 division.
Overlord The 'D-Day' operation.
Pacifist Service Units Most Conscientious Objectors worked on farms, in hospitals or in the Pacifist Service Units amongst
the socially deprived - Others risked their lives with the Friends Ambulance Unit on the battlefront.
Panzers Nazi tanks.
Phoney War The period between September 1939 and April 1940, when war had been declared but there was no fighting,
Britain then making war preparations (gas masks, Anderson Shelters, sandbags, Home Guard etc.)
Poland Hitler’s invasion of Poland on September 1, 1939 started World War II. Chamberlain declared war on
September 3, 1939.
Postscripts BBC newscasters only gave the facts without comment – but then JB Priestley would talk after the news in
his 'Postscripts' radio programme giving a pro-British propaganda ‘twist’ to the news people had just heard - This was
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brilliant propaganda, because people believed what they heard !
POWs Prisoners of War - There were POW camps at Glenbranter, at the head of Loch Eck and at Cairnbaan, on
the Crinan Canal.
PQ-17 One of the most difficult convoys to Russia, 24 out of its 35 ships were sunk - PQ-18 lost 10 its 39 ships -
In another famous convoy was, HX-84, in November 1940, the armed merchant-cruise HMS "Jervis Bay" was famously
sunk as she tried to protect it from the German "Admiral Scheer".
Propaganda Control of the media to manipulate public opinion to support the government
P.W.E. Political Warfare Executive, the branch of the Ministry of Information which distributed ‘black
propaganda’, propaganda designed to demoralise the enemy.
Radar The technology which could ‘spot’ enemy aircraft flying to bomb Britain - To keep this a secret at first, the
RAF revealed that it was making its pilots eat carrots so that they could see in the dark!
Railings Cut off as part of Beaverbrook’s campaign to collect metal, tragically, because it was all propaganda, the
metal was not really needed.
Rationing Controls to stop prices rising out of control and to control how much people were allowed to buy of scarce
commodities such as petrol (September 1939), butter, sugar, bacon, paper and meat (early 1940) and clothes (June 1941).
Reserved Occupations Certain occupations - such as Customs and Excise officers, Inland Revenue tax inspectors,
engineers and coal miners - were exempt, on the grounds that they were essential to the war effort at home.
Sealion Operation Sealion was Hitler’s plan to invade Britain.
Sectors In July 1937, Air Chief Marshall Dowding was appointed Commander-in-Chief of Fighter Command - He
reorganised the RAF into four groups, each divided into a number of sectors, each with a main sector airfield and a number of
supporting airfields.
September 15, 1940 - Battle of Britain Day - Having attacked British radar stations and airfields at night for a month, the
Luftwaffe tried to take total control of the skies - At one point on that eventful day, unknown to the Germans, every
available British plane was in the sky - The Luftwaffe turned back, it had lost The Battle of Britain and, changing tactics,
turned to 'The Blitz' as a means of attack.
Sirens Wailing alarms sounded to warn of an air raid - A different sound signalled the ‘All Clear’
after a raid.
Six inches The amount of bath water you were allowed - to cut down on heating and therefore use of
coal.
Slums Many evacuees came from inner-city slums, areas of very poor housing and social and economic
deprivation, their behaviour shocking many of the host families - At first, people complained but, in the long-term, it
helped people realise that Britain needed a 'Welfare State'.
Sonar After 1942 the US Navy Department developed ‘console sonar’ which could plot accurate bearings using an
echo ‘ping’.
Sorties The word used to describe a call-out of the fighter pilots to fly against a Nazi attack.
SPAM A tinned luncheon meat that people used instead of ham – N.B. they also used British flour
(which was poor quality and grey) instead of American flour (which was white).
Spitfire The Spitfire (March 1936), the fastest plane in the world, was used to destroy the German fighters
which protected the bombers.
Swapshops A clothes exchange, especially popular with women with children.
Treachery Act 1940 Gave the government the right to execute spies, 19 people were executed for spying and treason during
World War II.
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U-boats German submarines tried to starve Britain of food and raw materials by sinking merchant shipping - From
January 1942 to March 1943, the U-Boats sank 7 million tons of merchant shipping - 143 ships were sunk in July 1942 and
117 ships in November 1942.
ULTRA The operation to decode Enigma machine signals.
Utility The government mark which guaranteed that an item had been properly made using the minimum of scarce
commodities - People bought utility furniture and clothing.
U.X.B. Unexploded Bomb
VE-Day 'Victory in Europe' Day celebrating the surrender of Germany on May 8, 1945.
VJ-Day 'Victory in Japan' Day celebrating the surrender of Japan on August 15, 1945.
W.A.A.F. Women's Auxiliary Air Force - doing sentry duty, manning the radio, directing planes landing and taking-
off - Women pilots were only allowed to deliver new planes to airfields, they were NOT allowed to go into combat.
W.L.A. Women’s Land Army - 80,000 women became 'Land Girls' to help farmers whose labourers had joined up
- 1,000 girls worked as rat-catchers and 6,000, nick-named 'TimberJills', joined the Timber Corps.
Wolf pack Groups of German U-boats which attacked merchant shipping.
Woolton Lord Woolton was the Minister of Food - He ran a brilliant propaganda campaign and became well-loved.
WRNS Women's Royal Naval Service, the 'Wrens', overhauled torpedoes and depth charges, repaired mine
sweepers and, learning Morse Code and semaphore signalling, were employed in communications departments.
W.V.S. Womens’ Voluntary Service - In 1939, 10,000 women a week joined to set up tea canteens in bombed
areas, look after shock victims, help with First Aid and manned 'Incident Enquiry' posts.
H.M. FORCES DECORATIONS FOR VALOUR

V.C. - The Victoria Cross, the highest and most coveted of all decorations for gallantry awarded for an act of supreme
courage and self-sacrifice. It is a bronze Cross, suspended on a mauve ribbon, bears the design of the Lion and the Crown and
is inscribed with two words - " FOR VALOUR."
G.C. - The George Cross ranks immediately after the Victoria Cross and is a silver Cross suspended on. a blue ribbon, ears
the design of St. George and the Dragon.
D.S.O. - The Distinguished Service Order, awarded to Officers of any of the three services for conspicuous bravery or
distinguished service.
C.C.M. - The Conspicuous Gallantry Medal, awarded to Men and Petty Officers of the Royal Navy and Men and
N.C.O.'s of the Royal Marines.
D.C.M. - The Distinguished Conduct Medal, awarded to N.C.O.'s and Men of the Army.
M.C. - The Military Cross, awarded to Officers of the Army up to the rank of Captain.
M.M. - The Military Medal, awarded to N.C.O.'s and men of the Army.
D.S.C. - The Distinguished Service Cross, awarded to Officers of the Royal Navy up to the rank of Commander.
D.S.M. - The Distinguished Service Medal, awarded to Petty Officers and Men of the Royal Navy, and N.C.O.'s and Men of
the Royal Marines.
D.F.C. - The Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded to Officers of the R.A.F.
D.F.M. - The Distinguished Flying Medal, awarded to N.C.O.'s and Men of the R.A.F.
G.M. - The George Medal is awarded only for actions for which purely military honours are not normally granted.
444
Acknowledgements
Having already written an ‘octet’ of histories covering the 300-year period from the building of Campbeltown’s quays to
the present day - “From The Quays to Trafalgar”, “The Campbeltown Steamers”, “The Skipness and Loch Fyne Steamers”,
“Kintyre’s Western and Irish Ferries”, “Kintyre’s Surf ‘n Stuff”, “The Arran Steamers”, “A Clyde Steamer Enthusiast’s Guide” and
“An Edwardian Steamer Timetable” and having variously set into them many stories and accounts of wartime events, it
seemed sensible to bring these wartime events and the stories of the “Englishman” and “U-482” together under a
single cover.
My thanks in these matters are not only to my own late parents for passing on to me their love of books and papers
and pictures and to those people who helped ‘put the jigsaw together’ - To Duncan McMillan, a former Provost of
Campbeltown and member of The Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society, without whose support,
encouragement and generosity none of these works might have come together.
To Duncan Ritchie of Carradale who served on the rescue tugs; to Hamish Mackinven of Edinburgh, former Press
Officer of The Labour Party in London when The National Health Service was introduced and later Press Officer of
The Scottish Hydro Electric Board who, with a girlfriend, narrowly escaped being a victim of the German’s bombing
of Campbeltown in February 1941; to Duncan McArthur of Peninver and his colleagues who initially listed details of
the wartime air crashes around Kintyre; to the late Roy Oliver of Piddletrenthide who was a 19-year old stoker on
H.M.S. “Hart” which depth-charged and sank “U-482”; to Ian Dodd of Dover, another tugman, whose father
Chief Engineer of the “Englishman” when she was bombed and sunk.
To Ian Wilson of Bangor Heritage Centre who posed the original questions about the true fates of the “U-482” and the
“Englishman” and sourced and supplied copies of many of the references which made it possible to ‘put the jigsaw
together’ and to Fred Schroder of Oatfield, Herbert Schäfer, retired policeman and criminal lawyer of Bremen and to
retired Glasgow lawyer Margaret Archer for their various and independent translations of Matuschka’s family tree and
other German texts and thanks of course to a network of friends and their friends both in Kintyre and elsewhere for
confirming and adding details to the histories here.
A Note on Picture and Other Credits

The chronology, generally, could have been left un-illustrated but for the persuasion of others that some of the
contents here be used to found 'storyboards' for a five-week visit of a travelling Imperial War Museum Exhibition to
Campbeltown in October/November 2005.
The exhibition, being 'admission free and educational' and designed with the needs of school-children in mind, the
need for illustrations, especially in this age of television and 'the internet', could not be denied and the inclusions here
were made 'purely for educational and not commercial purposes' - A full list of sources and references where the
illustrations might be found would indeed be at least as long as, if not even longer than, the work here for in truth
many of the illustrations appear in a number of different sources and, with the passing of the years and decades, it is
now almost impossible to determine who actually might have a particular and rightful interest in specific items.
As an example of the question of rights in any particular material is the case of the world famous Dunkirk evacuation
picture
This, arguably the most famous of all Dunkirk pictures, which universally goes 'uncredited', was in fact taken from
the bridge of H.M.S. “Oriole”, the former Clyde paddle steamer "Eagle (III)", by her 'mate', John Rutherford Crosby
was had joined the RNVR in April 1939 when he was granted his commission as a Sub-Lieutenant, in December 1939
had been posted to the paddle-minesweeper then engaged on East Coast minesweeping duties.
445
Pulling herself off the Dunkirk beach, at Le Panne, H.M.S. "Oriole" headed for Harwich with her first complement of
retreating troops - The quayside was thronged with newspapermen and, when Crosby went ashore to check the ship's
mooring lines as the troops disembarked, one of the newspapermen, seeing Crosby's long-forgotten camera still
swinging from his neck, grabbed Crosby and his camera - Though the picture has been in the media ever since, it is
seldom, if ever, "credited" and it is doubtful indeed if Crosby ever received any reward for its publication.
Long after 'Operation Dynamo', as they called the Dunkirk evacuation, was completed, Crosby, via his ship,
received a full set of photographs from his films, the photographs forwarded by a grateful, though un-named'
newspaper man.
Though his pictures made the front pages, Crosby received nothing for them, his name then, very much as now,
unknown. While Crosby was himself lost at sea in June 1943, when serving aboard the minesweeper HMS "Horatio",
off Bizerta, he had left his returned copies of the Dunkirk photographs with his sister for safe-keeping - When she
died, in the late 1970's, the photographs were re-discovered when Rutherford Crosby's only son, John, began clearing
out his aunt's house at Hunter's Quay and only then was their true provence discovered - In the case of many
wartime photographs, the question of 'provence' and rights is a thorny one, the 'purely educational, not commercial,
purpose' of the chronology here mitigating the use of materials of unknown and unproven authorship.
While every effort must be made to correctly acknowledge anyone who has a proper interest in any of the materials
included here, it should be stated and known from the outset that the, less than eight-week, timescale, between
completing these pages for the consideration of the local organisers of The Imperial War Museum Exhibition visit and
the opening of the exhibition itself, made it impossible to track down the rightful owners of some of the photographs
and to seek the necessary permissions, where relevant - Apologies are offered should the local exhibition organisers
inadvertantly include materials of proven ownership without previous permission.
AN UNDERSTANDING OF COPYRIGHT PROTECTION UNDER THE 1956 COPYRIGHT ACT - In general

the person to be protected is the author. This means for instance the person who has actually written the book, made
the translation, drawn the picture and so on; in the case of a photograph it means the person who, when the
photograph is taken, is the owner of the material on which it is taken. A person who has merely suggested a theme, or
supplied information, is not an author. This follows from the general principle that protection is given to form and
not ideas; it is the author of a form with whom copyright law is concerned. This, for example, may lead to difficulties
in deciding who is the author of a computer program.
However, where a literary, dramatic or artistic work is made by an author in the course of his employment by the
proprietor of a newspaper, magazine or similar periodical under a contract of service or apprenticeship and is so made
for the purpose of publication in a newspaper, etc.. such proprietor is entitled to the copyright in the work, but only in
so far as the copyright relates to such publication: the remainder of the copyright remains in the author (Section 4 (2) of
the Act). Subject to this, in the case of photographs and portraits, engravings and sound recordings (Sections 4 (3)
and 12 (4) of the Act), if the original is ordered and paid for, the copyright vests in the client and not in the artist,
photographer or maker. But, if in a case not falling within either Section 4 (2) or Section 4 (3), a work is made in the
course of the author's employment by another person under a contract of service or apprenticeship, that other person
and not the author, is entitled to the copyright in the work (Section 4 (4) of the Act). As to the difficulties in deciding
whether a contract is a contract of service or a contract for services see Beloffv. Pressdram Ltd. 1973 F.S.R. 33. In the case
of a full-time employee, work done for the employer out of hours will remain the copyright of the servant.
OWNERSHIP OF COPYRIGHT WORKS UNDER THE 1956 COPYRIGHT ACT - The ownership of a work in
which copyright subsists is an entirely separate matter from the ownership of the copyright in the work and each can be
separately dealt with. Problems frequently arise where A employs B to produce a copyright work, for instance
architects, advertising agents and illustrators, not only in relation to ownership of the copyright in the work (is the
client entitled to the copyright, or only to a licence to use and if so, what is the extent of the licence?), but also in
relation to ownership of the work itself. To a large extent the latter is a question of fact in each case the most
important fact being the terms of the contract between A and B. Care should therefore be taken to ensure that such a
contract contains clear terms dealing with this matter. If nothing is said in the contract, it may well be that A will be
entitled to the work produced by B if A has paid B all moneys due under the contract (see Gibbon v. Pease (1905)1 K.B.
810), though probably not B's working papers and the like (see Chantrey Martin v. Martin (1953)2 Q.B. 286).
ANONYMOUS AND PSEUDONYMOUS WORKS UNDER THE 1956 COPYRIGHT ACT - Copyright in
published literary, dramatic or musical works and artistic works other than photographs, which are anonymous or
pseudonymous, subsists until the end of the period of fifty years from the end of the calendar year in which the work
446
was first published, unless, at any time before the end of that period, it is possible for a person, without previous
knowledge of the facts, to ascertain the identity of the author (or one or more of the authors in the case of joint
works), by reasonable enquiry (Second Schedule to the Act). However, publication of a work under two or more
names is not pseudonymous unless all the names are pseudonyms.
The normal period of copyright, under The 1956 Act, is fifty years from the end of the calendar year in which the
author died. In certain circumstances, therefore, a shorter period of protection only is obtained.
GENERAL INFORMATION UNDER THE 1956 COPYRIGHT ACT - In the case of records and photographs
coming into existence after July 1, 1912, but before the commencement of the Act, the Seventh Schedule to The 1956
Copyright Act provides that the period of copyright under the Act of 1911 shall apply; further, copyright is not to
subsist under The Act in a joint work first published after July 1, 1912, but before the commencement of The Act, if
the period of copyright under The Act of 1911 in that work expired before the commencement of the Act. This is
because The 1956 Copyright Act provides different periods for these works from those under the Act of 1911.
EXCEPTIONS TO LIABILITY FOR INFRINGEMENT - It cannot of course be an infringement if the licence of

the owner of the copyright has been given expressly or is to be implied. No fair dealing with literary, dramatic, musical
and artistic works for purposes of research or private study is an infringement of the copyright therein as long as, in
the cases of any criticism or review of works published or unpublished, the work(s) and the author(s) are identified -
Exactly what is "fair dealing" is a matter of degree and involves a consideration of the number and extent of the
quotations and extracts and of the use made of them.
Nor is a fair dealing with such works an infringement if it is for the purposes of criticism or review of the work itself or
another work, if accompanied by a sufficient acknowledgement. "Sufficient acknowledgement" is defined by The 1956
Copyright Act (Section 6 (10)).
In Sillitoe v. McGraw-Hill Book Company (U.K.) Ltd. 1983 F.S.R. 545, it was held that booklets for the use of students
studying copyright works ('Coles Notes') were infringements and that the criticism or review criteria did not apply in
the circumstances of that particular case.
COPYRIGHT LAW TODAY - stems clearly from The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and, as a guide to
its reading, it may be convenient to refer to the pages of “PUBLISHING AGREEMENTS : A Book of Precedents”
(3rd edition, 1988) ISBN 0-04-440237-6 edited by Charles Clark, published by Unwin Hyman Ltd., 15 - 17
Broadwick Street, London W1V 1FP.
USEFUL REFERENCES FOR GERMAN NAVAL AND U-BOAT RESEARCH INCLUDE - Eric
Gröner's "German Warships 1815 – 1945", published by Conway Maritime Press in 1991 ISBN 0-85177-593-4;
Kenneth Wynn's "U-Boat Operations of The Second World War" (Vol 1 U-1 to U-510 ISBN 1-84067-525X and Vol 2 U-
511 to U-UIT 25 ISBN 1-84067-5268), published by Chatham Publishing in 1998; Clay Blair's "Hitler's U-Boat War"
(Vol 1 'The Hunter's 1939 – 1942' and Vol 2 'The Hunted 1942 -1945'), published by Cassell & Co. in paperback
editions in 2000 and Correlli Barnett's "Engage The Enemy More Closely", published by Penguin Books in 1991 - These
latter publications copiously indexed - Also 'post-war' copies of "Sea Breezes" and early editions of "Ships Monthly"
magazines - There are many useful 'Internet' websites to explore, in particular - George Duncan's Historical Facts of
World War II; Get Free Reports; uboat.net and ubootwaffe.net, the 'glossaries' in the foregoing pages too were
sourced on the 'Internet' and, that these 'glossaries' appeared as series of single web-pages, rather than complete
works, they were transcribed, for easy access, as single documents for inclusion in the works here.
THE KINTYRE ANTIQUARIAN AND NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY - conscious that many valuable
reference books quickly go 'out-of-print', their often short print-runs not fully satisfying later demands and also
lamenting the fact that too many of today's 'Internet' sites are short-lived and that there is, as yet, no proper or 'central'
archiving of 'Internet' materials or files anywhere in The World, proposed that these comprehensive notes, compiled
for to help the many people involved in the setting up of the exhibition, be transferred to disc for the benefit of future
generations of researchers and historians following the opening of The Imperial War Museum Exhibition at The
Victoria Hall, Campbeltown, it open to the public between Saturday, October 15 and Saturday, November 19, 2005.
The texts here are therefore recorded for purposes of further and future research, such purposes not
infringing upon the general provisions of the various, past and present, copyright acts. "Kintyre at War" was
compiled and edited by Donald Kelly of Muasdale, Kintyre, between VE-Day and VJ-Day 2005 and, on Friday,
October 7, 2005, "The Campbeltown Courier" began running a series of feature articles, based on the works here, to
promote and run in parallel with The Imperial War Museum's Travelling Exhibition's 2005 visit to Campbeltown.
447

Kintyre at War 1939 - 1945

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Kintyre Antiquarian and Natural History Society's - KINTYRE AT WAR 1939 – 1945 - Text © 2005 Donald Kelly

KINTYRE AT WAR 1939 – 1945

GOING TO WAR - To best profit from this comprehensive resource, one

- PRINT OUT the INDEX which is to be found on PAGE 2 (Sheet 6 of 444)

- RETURN TO THIS OPENING PAGE

- Click on EDIT / FIND

- Enter subject of interest e.g. U-482 or e.g. Mine

- Click on FIND NEXT - from highlighted entry to entry - to search through

WARNING - THIS IS A VERY VERY BIG FILE - OF SOME 337 mb

IT MAY TAKE YOU MORE THAN 4 HOURS TO PRINT OUT

WARNING - YOU WILL NEED A REAM OF A4 PAPER (500 Sheets)

WARNING - YOU WILL NEED A LOT OF PATIENCE ESPECIALLY

WARNING - PRINT THIS PAGE - 3 - BEFORE BEGINNING and CHECK OFF

Page Numbers PRINT COMPLETED Page Numbers PRINT COMPLETED

FINAL WARNING ABOUT PRINTING - HOME PRINTERS OFTEN

ON THE NEXT PAGE

Kintyre and Campbeltown’s unique geographical positions made them

Section 5) 1941 161

Section 6) 1942 224

Section 7) 1943 248

Section 8) 1944 269

Section 9) 1945 293

Section 10) 1946 340

Section 11) Glossaries 370

WHY WAR ? - HOW THINGS BEGAN

WWII - Miscellany of Who's What etc.

Aliens The name given to foreigners

D-Day The Allied Landings in France on June 6, 1944.

Fortress Europe Nazi-occupied Europe.

H.Es High Explosives - Big Bombs which exploded.

in front of the ship.

Host The families who received evacuees

Incendiaries Bombs which caused fires.

Lord Gort The leader of the British Expeditionary Force at Dunkirk

Mass Observation The government department which monitored public opinion.

Molotovs Nickname for a cluster of incendiary bombs.

Mulberries The floating harbours used for the D-Day landings.

NAZIS Members of The National Socialist German Workers Party

Overlord The 'D-Day' operation.

Panzers Nazi tanks.

Sealion Operation Sealion was Hitler’s plan to invade Britain.

Swapshops A clothes exchange, especially popular with women with children.

ULTRA The operation to decode Enigma machine signals.

U.X.B. Unexploded Bomb

Wolf pack Groups of German U-boats which attacked merchant shipping.

H.M. FORCES DECORATIONS FOR VALOUR

D.F.C. - The Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded to Officers of the R.A.F.

V.E. Calling up sign A.R. End of message A. General answer

R. Message received J. Alphabetical sign C. Correct

Q. Wait K. Go on AAA. Full Stop

A TOURIST'S VIEW OF THE FIRTH OF CLYDE

ANOTHER BIRD'S EYE VIEW

A Bird's Eye View of Kintyre

Kintyre Relief Map

© 2003 COPYRIGHT BELONGS TO STUART ANDREW, KINTYRE PHOTOGRAPHY,

A GRIM WEE MAN IN A RAINCOAT

and . . . Man’s Best Friend

Hitler in 1925, just after being released from prison

1933 : Mon February 27.

German Reichstag set on fire.

1934 : Wed July 25.

Dolfuss, Austrian Chancellor, murdered by Austrian Nazis.

1934 : Thu August 2.