Owing to adequate preparations for such attacks the casualties were generally few, but the loss of sleep was nearly always great, unless the individual was so tired with the day’s or week’s minesweeping, spell in the trenches, or sea patrol that the “popping” of guns and the thud of bombs merely caused a semi-return to consciousness, with a mild, indefinable feeling of vexation at being momentarily disturbed.
To the majority, however, it meant not only the loss of sorely needed sleep, but also hard work under trying conditions. To realise fully what it is to be deprived of rest when the brain is reeling and the movement of every limb is an agony, it is necessary to have worked, marched and fought for days and nights incessantly, and then the moral as distinct from the material effect of successive air raids will be duly appreciated by those fortunate ones who spent the years 1914 to 1918 remote from the menace.
Although Dunkirk on this particular August night seemed uncannily quiet, the hour was not late. By Greenwich time it was but a few minutes past nine, and two bells had only just sounded through the many and diverse ships lying in tiers alongside the quays. So warm were the soft summer zephyrs, which scarcely stirred the surface of the water, that on the decks of many of these war-worn sweepers and patrols men lay stretched out under the sky in the sound sleep of exhaustion, while on the quays and at other points in the half-wrecked town steel-helmeted French sentries kept watch.
Of the British naval forces based on this little French seaport few were ashore, as, without special permission, both officers and men had to remain on their ships after sunset, and those not playing cards or reading in the cabins were lounging and smoking on deck. Blot out of the view the ruined houses, the shell-holes in the streets, the guns, the dug-outs and the sentries, and few scenes more unlike the popular conception of a big war base, with the enemy only a few miles distant, can be imagined.
But Dunkirk in that year of grace, 1917, did not always wear so peaceful a garb. There were frequent periods when the shells whistled over or on to the town, when the earth trembled from the concussion of high explosives, when buildings collapsed or went heavenwards in clouds of dust, when the streets were illumined with the yellow flash of picric acid, or were filled with clouds of poisoned gas, when ambulances clattered over the cobblestones, trains of wounded rolled in from the firing line and the killed and maimed were landed from the sea.
The first indication of the change from calm to storm came at the early hour of 10 p.m., when the air raid warning sounded throughout the town. On the quayside all was ordered haste. Mooring ropes were cast off with a minimum of shouting, and the larger ships moved slowly down the harbour towards the open sea. The few small vessels left seemed to crouch under the dock walls.
Sentries left their posts to take shelter in the great dug-outs, constructed of heavy timbers and sand-bags. These were situated at convenient points throughout the battered little town. In the houses some people descended to the cellars, but many remained wherever they happened to be, while in the cabins of the few ships which remained in harbour the games, the reading, the letter-writing and, in a few cases, even the sleeping went on undisturbed.
After a short interval of oppressive silence, during which time no light or sound came from the seemingly deserted town, a faint whir of propellers became just audible in the stillness of the summer night. Then it died away momentarily. Suddenly a bright glare, like that of a star-shell, lit up the roofs and streets, and almost simultaneously came the dull vibrating report of a bomb. It sounded from the direction of the cathedral. Searchlights flashed out from various points, but their powerful rays were lost in the luminous vault above. Guns roared and bright flashes appeared like summer lightning in the sky. Every few seconds the town trembled from the shock of exploding bombs, first at one point and then at another, but nothing could be seen of the raiding squadron. Pieces from the shells bursting overhead and fragments of bombs and shattered masonry fell like rain into the streets and into the waters of the harbour.
On the quayside a big aerial torpedo had made a crater large enough to bury the horse which it had killed in a near-by stable. A few seconds later another bomb fell close to a minesweeper and a fragment gashed the decks but did not penetrate them. In the cabins the concussion of almost every bomb which fell on shore was felt with curious precision. The glass of wheel-houses and deck cabins was shattered, and the rattle and thud on the decks and iron sides denoted the storm of falling metal.
The din of the raid went on for some time and then died away with a final long-range shot from “Loose Lizzie” on the hills behind. When all was clear heads appeared from hatchways, dug-outs and cellars. People searched the sky curiously in an endeavour to make sure that there was “no deception,” although from first to last nothing had been seen of the raiders except by those with the instruments, the searchlights and the guns. The latest news of the damage caused—two houses, a man and a horse—went from mouth to mouth. Then the summer night regained its tranquillity and Dunkirk slept.
* * *
The familiar boom sounded its loudest in the stillness of the night and the ground seemed to tremble the more violently because of the darkness. It was 1 a.m. The young moon had sunk beneath the horizon and a light film of cloud had drifted over the sky.
The old French reservist doing sentry-go on the quay glanced up with a shrug of indifference and slowly shouldering his rifle walked leisurely towards a dug-out. Searchlights became busy exploring the sky. This time their rays were not lost in the opaque blueness above, but went up in well-defined columns of light until reflected on the lofty clouds. Presently the beams concentrated and, when the eyes had grown accustomed to the glare, little white “butterflies” were seen circling in the upper air. Then the guns opened fire and white puffs, like tiny balls of cotton-wool, appeared among the butterflies. The earth trembled with the explosion of falling bombs and the recoil of anti-aircraft batteries. A little flicker of yellow light appeared in the circle of white. The guns increased in violence. The yellow light grew in size. It was falling. The burning machine crashed to earth.
The bombs and the gun-fire lasted for some twenty minutes and then ceased suddenly, as if by prearranged signal. Allied squadrons were in the air and the distant crackle of machine guns sounded from the skies. It died away, however, almost immediately, but the raiders were chased back to within their own lines minus two of their number.
With the coming of dawn two solitary hostile machines circling at a fairly low altitude could be seen. They dropped no bombs, but the reason for their presence was soon apparent. Shells from the long-range guns behind the German lines began to moan, whistle and burst in and around the luckless town. A hit was signified by a cloud of smoke, dust and debris, and ambulances again became busy in the stone-paved streets.
One shell, carrying sufficient explosive to blow up an average-sized ship, ploughed up the water of the harbour, but did no damage, and by 6 a.m. Allied squadrons had chased away the hostile aerial observers. Once again the peace of an ideal summer morning reigned over the historic town.
The few minesweeping and other ships which had remained in the harbour through the night now commenced to show signs of returning life and activity. Heavy brown smoke poured from the funnels of some, the staccato noise of oil engines came from others, and men were busy on the decks of all. The night’s “rest” was over and the vital work of sweeping, possibly under an irritating fire from shore batteries and the strain of a necessarily ever-alert patrol, commenced afresh. The steady barometer promised a fine day for the harvesting of mines and, for the ships that returned, another night’s rest similar to the previous three!
INDEX
Aberdeen harbour mined, 209
Aden, mine-field laid off, 145
Admiralty dispatch bearers, 108
Aerial attacks, 293-300
— bombs, effect of, 297
— warfare and submarine fighting, 273
Aircraft and convoys, 116
Airship, s
alving of, 273-279
Allied navies, 69
A memorable Christmas, 191-201
American first army, transport of, 124
Arctic patrol, 52, 227
— seas, work in, 193-201
Area of sea covered daily by sweepers, 161
Areas, command of, 23
— patrol of, 128-131
Armed liners, 51
Armies, transport of, 116
Atlantic patrol, 226-232
Australian first army, transport of, 123
Auxiliary patrol office, 25
Bases and their fleets, 113-115
— war, 23, 24, 102-115
Battle of Jutland, 248-256
Beatty, Sir David, 249, 255, 256
Blister system on monitors, 178
Blockade, naval, 18
Boarding parties, 201-208, 270
Bombardment of Zeebrugge, 287-293
Bombay, mine-field laid off, 145
Bombs, submarine, 91
Boom-defence ships, 68
— staff, 111
Brighton Queen, H.M.S., 54
Britannia, H.M.S., torpedoed, 101
British coast completely mined-in, 145
— Empire, dangerous position of, 117
Call of the White Ensign, 31, 33
Camouflaged ships, 73, 95
Canada, officers from, 44, 195
Canadian first army, transport of, 123
Case of mistaken identity, 190-191
Castaways, 238-247
Casualties, naval, in Great War, 27, 256
Casualty, a, 220
Chaplains, naval, 109-110
Christmas Day, 1916, 192-201
Clearing large mine-fields, 161
Coastal motor boats, 62
— construction of, 62-68
— method of attack, 65
— bases of, 65
— v. German destroyers, 66
— in actions off Zeebrugge and Ostend, 61, 68, 287
Colombo, mine-field laid off, 145
Colonial officers, 44-45
Colonies, aid from, 21
Concentration of British fleet, August, 1914, 17
Convoy, composition of, 118-119
Convoy ships, 115
Convoy system, 116-125
Convoying, difficulties of, 122
Convoys, minesweeping in front of, 121, 162
Co-operation between fleets of sea and air, 279
Cruiser Squadron, the Tenth, 51-52
Dan-buoys, 199
Danish derelict, 202-208
Decoy system of attack, 137-138
Deluding patrols, 236
Demobilisation, naval, 28
Depth charge, construction of, 80-84
— method of use, 80-84
— attacks with, 81-84, 262
Depth charges, 70, 84
Derelict, a, 201-208
Destruction of a U-C boat, 209, 218
Division of sea into patrol areas, 128-131
Docker battalions, 121
Dominions, aid from, 21
Dover lighted barrage, 183-185
— naval base, 103
Dover patrols, 286, 295-300
Drafting officers, 110
Drifter units, 54, 55, 114
Drifters, loss of in Adriatic, 56
— — in Straits of Dover, 56
Duffel clothing, 195
Dunkirk, a night spent in, 293-300
— patrols, 286, 293-300
Effect of danger on human senses, 261
Effect of shell fire, 256
Electrically controlled boats off Zeebrugge, 290-293
Engadine, H.M.S., 255
England’s food supply, 18-19
Evening quarters in warships, 41
Examination ships, 68
Excitement, suppressed, before an action, 259
Exploratory minesweeping, 158-161
Fight, an epic, 226-232
Finding the ships, guns and men, 21
Firth of Forth, mines in, 209
Fishing fleets, armed guards with, 279-285
Fleet sweeping, 161
French ship, mysterious disappearance of, 264
German High Sea Fleet, 249
— naval position in 1914, 18
— submarine bases, 127
— mine-laying, 143
— raiders, Wolfe and Moewe, 145
— mines, description of, 145, 148
— — and Hague Convention, 150-152
— mine-laying policy, 154-156
— submarine offensive, 155
— minesweeping, 169
— submarines, loss of, 186
— mine-field, a Christmas spent on, 192-201
Grand Fleet, 233, 255, 286
— bases, 103
Granton Naval Base, 103
Guarding a mine-field, 201
Gunboats patrol, 53
Gunnery classes, 43-44
Harbour duties, 115
— mines at entrance to, 209-219
— sweeping, 162
Harwich patrols, 286
Hermione, training ship for new navy, 33, 36-49
Hope of action, 202
Hydrophone attack, 134-135
— branch of naval service, 76
— flotillas, 134-135
Hydrophones, 70-84
— object of, 70
— portable, 71
— — use of, 71-72
— construction of, 72-74
— limitations in use of, 77-78
— directional, 75
— — use of, 76
— fitted in U and U-C boats, 76-77
Iceland fishing fleet, 195, 200
Indian Ocean, mine-fields in, 145
Indicator nets, 85, 89, 138, 258-263
Intelligence offices in naval bases, 108, 129
Interpreter officers, 68
Invincible, H.M.S., 255
Isolation of mined areas, 159
Jellicoe, Sir John, 252
King’s Messengers, 108
Lance bombs, 91
Life-boat, work of, 222-223
Lighted barrage, 183
Lightning reveals U-boat, 260
Lion, H.M.S., after Jutland, 56, 254
Liverpool harbour mined-in, 209
Loss of ships, percentage of, 54, 55
Lowestoft harbour mined-in, 209
Lusitania, sinking of, 18
Manning of British ships in past, 20
Mercantile fleets under convoy, 116
— Marine, 122
— shipping in danger zone, 209
Merchant ships, loss of, due to mines, 155
Methods of attacking submarines, 134-142
Mine barrages, 129, 139, 156, 179, 286
Mine-field, Christmas on, 192-200
Mine-fields, deep-laid, 139, 179-186
Mine-layers, 233-236
Mine nets, 39, 138
Mine-protection devices, 175-178
Mined areas, isolation of, 159
Minesweeping, 54, 121, 157, 178, 209, 293-300
Mine-laying from U-C boats, 152-153, 157
Mines destroyed by British Navy, 155, 158, 209
Mines, floating, 150
Mining School, Portsmouth, 163
M.L.’s. See under Motor Launches
Modified sweeps, 96-101
Moewe, German raider, 145
Monotony, effect of, 280
Moonlight, effect of on searchlights, 297-298
Moral effect of air raids, 295
Moray Firth, mine-field in, 161
Morning divisions in warships, 41
Motor launch flotillas, 36, 115, 134-136
Motor launches, Admiralty contract for, 57
Motor launches, arrival of, 38
— construction of, 58-62
— description of, 56
— area patrolled by, 61
— loss of, 62
— in actions off Zeebrugge and Ostend, 62, 287
Mysteries of sea war, 264-272
— of submarine hunting, 126-162
— of German mine-laying, 143-156
— of minesweeping, 157-178
Mystery ships, 96, 101
— numbers employed, 96
National Insurance, 125
Naval bases, 102-115
— centres, 129
— College, Greenwich, 35
— policy, British, 31
— School of Submarine Mining, 163
— situation in 1914, 18
Navigation, dangers of, in war time, 265-266
— training in, 46-49
Navy, expansion of, in past wars, 28
Nerve tension before action, 261, 288
Nets, submarine, 56, 85-89
New fleets in being, 50-69
New navy, composition of, 50-69
— formation into flotillas, 68-69
— growth of, 23
— officers and men of, 25, 33-34
— raison d’être, 18
New Zealand, H.M.S., 255
New Zealand, officers from, 39
— waters, mines in, 145
Nieuport pier, destruction of, 292
Night attacks, 258-263
— patrol, 209, 292
North Sea, area of, 20
— British naval blockade of, 124
— gales, 220
Northern mine barrage, 182
Officers, training, 36-49
Oil trails, 218, 263
Paravanes, 175-177
Patrol areas, 23-24, 128-131
— boats, 130-133
— — on lines of communication during Jutland, 257
Personnel of new navy, 32
Petrol fumes, danger of, 275-276
Picric acid, for causing and alleviating pain, 257
Port minesweeping officers, 111, 163
Princess Royal, H.M.S., 255
Privateers, old and new, 117-118
“Q” Boats, 96-101
— description of, 96-99
— number employed, 96
Q19, action of, in Straits of Gibraltar, 99
Queenstown naval base, 103
Raiders, German, cruises of, 145
Red Cross work, 248-252
Submarine Warfare of To-Day Page 21