TNA ADM 199 xxx

(23)
26
Dynamo 252 - 888
that one about +
new Cacht Retin
LE of Torquay
June 2nd was mini be et be aboard l workiL X440 the
A. Cadell, R.N.
reforted direct
CaC Dover about
S A lith later,
Seaman Smi th from Newfoundland.
Dwas stee at ie England It Comel the - that L
of Viking anied from Mr. Gooding who
/ be fond from
She had done one trip provisions, water, that ittan's very iker Worsall the working nning on petrol.
le e of Wales Pier and was no nas of with two life-boats nkirk at approximately
- Rat Prie opy of Sailing th rough sketch map behavior of my ul trip arrived off eived orders to throughout the up the Mole to embark then go in for time led bee lty in persuading i, the reason apparently inform t. The taken or to act without
0 was probably still of over 200 Grayal took four boat loads
Is & 6 Britial from and 50 soldiers.
to H.M.S. WISHART when e to tug after fourth oon be light and that much longer.
In reply to a question if any she COUID British 114 officers WELL were still left on the Mole, I replied that on earlier trips I had seen one who had asked me not to leave him behind. This officer was engaged in helping the embarkation of the troops. 1 had not seen him on my last trip but told tug I would make another trip to see if he was there. Informed tug would be as quick as possible and if tug could not wait, would return to England under own power. Tug said she could only wait a short while.
On going in for fifth time engines began to go badly and stopped altogether before reaching point of embarkation.
about 24 more French soldiers. There was no sign of British
Engines got going again and we went alongside and collected officer and Price reported to me that French on the Mole told him he had gone. I sent Price up on to the Mole to make enquiries. Owing to the improbability or tug waiting for
I only took 24 soldiers as a greater number would have made us, trip back to England under own power hep hazardous. Just after passing lighthouse at end of harbwowabiltres stopped again. Noticed we were close to W.D han preate)ilitound and to be HAIG) who I imagined from her posilos han popgreatahe ha pajr tave n to Freinf haters. Just ty to the (NZ pow topped teatity the s Cound to ter or gityhered or pc numestehat of hapharn P powe have or.Dn Pr in poweate r'D dous. Just

101
especially as I was patially incapacitated by a wound on my left foot.
As we were a long way from the French coast I decided that there was very little chance of HAIG falling into enemy hands and that no doubt help would soon be forthcoming in reply to the wireless message I had asked X440 to send.
I hauled down HAIG's ensign and took it aboard LADY CABLE and we tried to make towards the English coast. Unfortunately the engine kept stopping and we made very slow progress and finally nothing would make our engine start again. We drifted helplessly for several hours and then sighted a Bell
Buoy which I believe may have been the N.W. Goodwin Bell
Buoy, but we did not get close enough to make sure. At last we sighted a warship and waved HAIG's White Ensign to try to attractattention. We were seen and the ship altered course towards us and came up close to LADY CABLE. She was the French transport ROUEN of Dieppe and was packed with troops from Dunkirk. An officer asked what I wanted and I
told him that we were broken down and asked to be taken abcard. To my surprise my appeal was met with a blunt
"No" with no explanation, and the ROUEN steamed away.
My crew and I felt angry at this in view of the fact that we had rescued over 200 French soldiers during the night.
No doubt the ROUEN had good reasons for not taking us aboard but no explanation was given and I would like if possible to discover why she was unable to help us.
Luckily another ship some considerable distance away had noticed the ROUEN and observed that she had not picked us up. This ship was the CITY OF CHRISTCHURCH and she came up and took us in tow to the Downs where she was bound for in ballast. On arrival in the Downs where CITY OF
CHRISTCHURCH dropped anchor, we were able to start up the engine of LADY CABLE and I decided once again to try to make for Dover. However, we broke down after a run of about
15 minutes and were picked up by a tug (Operational - I
don't know her name). She had orders to proceed to Ramsgate with H.M. Drifter VIKING in tow and was about to do this when we broke down near her. She towed us to the VIKING
and I boarded the VIKING to have my injured foot attended to and get some rest. VIKING and LADY CABLE were towed round to Ramsgate where we arrived about 2100. I was landed and taken to "Merrie England" and then to Ramsgate General
Hospital.
The Commanding Officer of VIKING at my request reported the return of LADY CABLE and that one member of my crew,
Cadet Rating Price was missing but might be aboard French warship X440. He also reported direct to C. in C., Dover, about HAIG. A little later, while I was still at "Merrie
England", the Commanding Officer of VIKING arrived to tell me that he had been informed from Dover that HAIG was safe.
Unfortunately he had no news for me of Cadet Rating Price.
The behaviour of my crew throughout the operation had been magnificent. The taking off or over 200 French troops and 6 British from the Mole was conducted quickly and calmly under difficult and hazardous conditions. Later,
Cadet Rating Price's work in helping to get the HAIG alongside LADY CABLE cannot be too highly praised. Without the great initiative and efficiency he displayed the operation would not have been successful and the HAIG would have drifted ashore to the S.W. of Dunkirk.
After/

When between Dunkirk and North Goodwin Light Vessel,
"Viking" a diesel engined Thames barge, with 70 troops aboe was taken in tow from "Dwarf" and brought into Dover. Owin to delay outside the harbour, the troops were not disembaria until 2200.
Si
"Olvina" was revicțualled and berthed alongside Prim of Wales Pier by 0100/1 June.
I was informed that "Olvina" should not have gone to Dunkin
On proceeding to the office of Captain Auxiliary Pain but should have been on A/S patrol. Accordingly at 0820/11
"Olvina" proceeded to a patrol station 17 miles NNW of Drink which was reached at 1125, At 1500, 70 survivors from A
re came alongside in a French fishing boat, and at 1917 we E
li alongside "Whitehall" in Dover harbour and disembarked then
"Olvina" was in harbour during 2nd and 3rd June, and an
4th June escorted "Bideford" to Portsmouth wi thout incident
I have the honour to be,
Sir,
1.5
Your obedient Servant.
(sd) J.H. Cooper.
Sub. It. R.N.V.R.,
-II-
No. 1594/07.
Vice Admiral, Dover.
Forwarded.
(SD,) E. R. DRUMMOM
Portland.
ADMIRAL
18th June, 1940.
FLAG OFFICER-IN-C