TNA ADM 199 788 A

Director, S.V.P.
REPORT OF PROCEEDINGS.
43562
0340 SWALLOW proceeded and VULTURE in company with embarked and at
(45' At 0300 Scott hours Paine on Power in
WOLFE to embark five vessels miles lying East off-shore. of Dunkirk, and troops to convey from the them beaches to destroyers one mile East and other to starboard damaged On passage the to Dunkirk, the wreckage of some description was the at normal from the shaft. excessive revolution revolutions indicator and of there ran likely revolutions that with only part of This normal engine throttle; subsequently it appeared at least one blade was stripped. the and On went arrival at Dunkirk, MARLBOROUGH entered to plan, from which alonside a paddle minesweeper, harbour loaded contrary with troops, other two boats she took off as many as she could partly and
Commander to he had damaged one propellor and proposed to return ask why that were deviating from the plan and same; was informed by the the we ahead of me did the I closed accommodate, MARLBOROUGH to direct Ramsgate.
Observing that the round trip Ramsgate/Dunkirk, including refuelling, would take about seven hours, and that the accommodation in the boats was small, I considered it a waste of effort merely to transfer troops already embarked and I explained this to the Master of
SWALLOW who had wished to return with the other boats (on account of damage already sustained and the fact that the water was full of wreckage and flotsam) and we proceeded to the beaches alone.
The situation at 0600 hours was as follows:-
Dunkirk was under a pall of smoke from fires which appeared to be mainly to the South and West of the port. There were numerous wrecks outside the harbour and along the beaches. There were large numbers of troops on the shore as far as it was possible to see to the Eastward, and the beach was strewn with all forms of motor transport. Along the foreshore were a very large number of pulling boats, aground, capsized or damaged, and abandoned. There were also a considerable number of motor boats, motor launches and yachts aground and, in most cases, abandoned, and several wrecks close inshore. About one mile out in the Dunkirk Roads were numerous destroyers and other vessels waiting to embark troops, but scarcely any boats were running between the shore and these ships.
There was a light onshore wind, which unfortunately freshened considerably later, andcaused a ground swell which made embarkation more difficult.
The tide at 0600 hours was setting
There was heavy bombardment going on fairly on shore, hard but to the the beaches Eastward. were quiet except for occasional late shelling and intermittent bombing which did not become heavy until afternoon.
On arrival at the beach I saw one small motor yacht, which I
but which appeared capable of being refloated, and was passed aground, her a towline and pulled her off. This yacht subsequently or signalled rudder out of action. I took her out and laid her alongside a small for further assistance and reported her steering gear coasting vessel which was at anchor.
There was a Service cutter lying astern of this coaster, I
and I took it over for use in embarking the troops. At first, three could see no British troops on the beaches, and in my first or four trips I conveyed only French troops whom I took to H.M.S. to
IMPULSIVE from whom I borrowed 2, and later 2 more, hands man
/my

Page 2.
cutter.
I
my For the Owing rest of to later the the day borrowed until my a whaler last trip and I 2 carried hands from only IMPULSIVE. British 3A36 troops.
were unguarded water than and five below feet, ground the swell hull, and we the fact that SWALLOW's propellors less inshore at some speed, check and it considered it unsafe to go shoot (50 fathoms were in towards turned of grassline the beach, bent and the on to it was nearing allow therefore, the the end cutter to of its run into to tow bows to seaward and the boat 30 fathoms was backed of 3" into rope), shore. the cutter's clambered megaphone how to the water and
Crowds over of the rushed into had by been embarked, I went cutter. and when I I instructed them inboard. of subsequently stopping while the hangers-on cutter out were of pulled reach the remainder; ahead so as to take thought enough cases occasion the when were the very weak and very helpless; was easier, for but in all on one
With men the British troops the loading were of the loaded, were blown in broadside on and to the the whaler, and which in the fully parted, both the cutter instance, case soldiers cutter, the combined efforts of the four Naval beach, ratings and it was only with great difficulty that we re-established it and hoisted a them, using SWALLOW's dinghy. The tow parted again and the line in to were unable to refloat her, so that I was obliged to send in the dinghy.
Each time after loading, I proceeded alongside IMPULSIVE, whicl had a jumping ladder rigged. In order to avoid waste of time in shortening in my eighty-fathom towline, I passed the end of it to
IMPULSIVE and requested her to haul the boats alongside, which was done by part of the ship's company doubling along her deck. After the first trip, I borrowed IMPULSIVE's whaler and two more hands, and made a number of trips from shore to ship towing both boats. There were at this time very few boats working between the shore and the ships, but there were some boats full of troops broached to on the beach and unable to get off. One motor boat belonging to a destroyer, one whaler and a small motor yacht were the only boats working on two or three miles of beach, and in view of the target presented to enemy aircraft by destroyers and other ships waiting to embark troops, I requested
IMPULSIVE to transmit a signal from me to Admiralty, repeated V.A. Dover, requesting more sutters and power boats to speed up the embarkation.
There was some shelling on the beaches, and a good deal of A/A fire from the ships as German aircraft appeared overhead at frequent intervals.
At about midday, IMPULSIVE hoisted two black shapes, and when
I next came alongside she reported that she had struck some wreckage and damaged her port propellor (this happened, I think, while she was taking avoiding action during an attack by aircraft).
As IMPULSIVE had to proceed for docking, I returned her whaler and the borrowed ratings who had manned my cutter, and proceeded to work with WINCHELSEA. Up to this time IMPULSIVE had taken some
400 soldiers, nearly all British. Before she left, I obtained from her
50 gallons of fuel for my boat.
I should like to mention here the ready co-operation of the
Captain, everything possible was done to assist me both by the handling the the First Lieutenant and many others of H.M.S. IMPULSIVE; of petrol, lending a whaler and hands to help in working my cutter short ship to provide a lee, by hauling the long tow line, and by providing and also by providing food for me and my boat's crew during the periods when we were alongside.
I later received much assistance and co-operation from H.M.S.
HINCHELSEA who lent me a signalman and ratings for my cutter and gave
De all her available petrol.

Page 3.
4374
In the early afternoon, the wind lightened and conditions became
Observing that there were boats at the davits of a wreck close
I borrowed some hands from WINCHELSEA to lower and man them, and a R.A.F. launch which was lying astern of a neighbouring vessel to over these boats ex- the wreck and embark troops.
Soon after this, on the suggestion of the Captain of WINCHELSEA, I
making boarded all remaining troops march to Dunkirk for embarkation.
KEITH to discuss with Rear-Admiral Wake-Walker the possibility of
By 1730 hours, there were few troops waiting to embark at this the this time WINCHELSEA signalled proposing that this beach and the remainder were making their way along the beach trip; I concurred. In the last trip only about 30
in the cutter, and I transferred them to the cabin and engine boat, handing over the cutter to the R.A.F. launch.
last half-hour, several dive-bombing attacks were made on which appeared to be straddled by the first salvo. A
transport further to the Eastward was hit about this time, and enemy air
SWALLOW was hit by a few small splinters, presumabli but was undamaged.
After the last trip inshore I proceeded direct to Ramsgate, and arrived there at about 2150 hours. The engines of the boat had and been a since 0315, and when outside Ramsgate first the port, minute running later, the starboard engine failed; the port engine was restarted.
The crew of the SWALLOW worked extremely well throughout and I
would of the Patrol Service at Lowestoft; this man was working and in was the like to bring to your notice the work of an Able Seaman, Peter
Johnson, single-handed for some of the earlïer trips to the beach I
cutter in his efforts and showed great initiative and resource;
put untiring him on board IMPULSIVE before she left and obtained his name as I
wished to draw attention to his very good work.
estimate the total number of troops embarked from 800. the beaches and transferred I to H.M. Ships by SWALLOW as between 600 and
Robin Hutchins
Lieutenant-Colonel,
Grenadier Guards.
(A.L.O., Admiralty).
To be attached to my upat, bleak himel Prescom
Dorp 13.6.

444
succession of British shipping as motley in its larger form as were the motor-boats themselves. Tramps, cargo ships, barges, drifters, tugs, Dutch schoots, British warships, even river ferry-boats such as carry one's car across the Thames at
Woolwich and elsewhere.
Of individual acts only a few can be given; every crew, every man almost, experienced some incident or another. some adventure that could fill a whole small volume on its own. And yet what can a writer do when such men report such events in the tersest of language such as "heavily shelled whilst at work"?
A few reminiscenses may be given here in the hope that some idea of the work may be gathered by anyone who cares to piece them together. Here are some extracts from a letter written by Sub. Lt. W.R. Williams, R.N. which serve to illustrate that merry sangfroid which has been referred to earlier:-
"So I proceeded by compass (error 20°) to the Calais -
Gravelines sands and anchored a few hundred yards out.
I was pulled ashore in the boat, which waited for me while I walked inland in search of Allied soldiers.
After about a quarter of a mile I saw two men silhouetted against the glow of a distant blaze. I approached to within a few yards and hailed them.
I heard one of them say "Lieber Gott!" and they turned around and commenced to shoot at me. By this time I had come to the conclusion that I was in enemy territory, so
I hid behind a dune and shot back.
Fortunately it was a very dark night and the Germans could not see me properly, while I could see their outlines quite well. I shot the one on the right twice and he fell without a sound. The other one screamed when I fired two bullets at him, and he dropped whatever he was carrying and then fell and lay still. By this time I heard nearby shouts so, deeming discretion to be the better part of valour, I ran at top speed back to the boat and my ship was under way at her full six knots within less than five minutes."
-
"I proceeded back to Dunkirk as soon as I had landed the soldiers at Ramsgate and arrived just in time to catch the dusk bombing and shelling. There was a lot of shrapnel falling on the beach and I was greatly impressed by the Tommies and Poilus who waded out into the sea and helped the sailors with the boats. Nowhere did Isee any signs of cracking morale or anything but cheerfulness.
-
"I went back for the last time the same evening. Dunkirk was by now a flamir DIGHT unsulba in the "Swallow"
and proceeded todna S kct with a slower motor-bernoon INEM untern to manionother War
Department I -Denimm wartlerc vao imar reemonant nortly afterwards sunbSe=b6sih beat 6/PLB oDoor some of the