TNA ADM 234 360

Raw OCR

Unformatted machine-generated OCR for document page 56.

THE EVACUATION FROM DUNKIRK
CHAP. VI
seriously wounded. Ivanhoe The Grafton fired 3 was shells by into then her listing at 500 heavily, and had her
end awash; the where she berthed alongside the yards range and after
proceeded troops. to Dunkirk, east pier and embarked then
assist ships in
Following the distress.¹ loss of the Grafton, destroyers were ordered not to stop to
Mona's Queen sunk by mine
the Vanquisher had anchored ahead of the The Intrepid, waiting for a and
In the meantime the Javelin off and Malo Icarus beach. had entered Dunkirk harbour,
was loaded with water mine and troops. sank in Then, at about 0530, the Mona's which
anchored off the fresh harbour, for the personnel vessel Mona's Queen, berth,
and whaler 31 and of the the crew. Intrepid's motor picked up the Master, Captain A. Holkham
Queen blew up on a magnetic boat two minutes. The anquisher's
The German minelaying effort
the night 28th/29th May, was maintained with great intensity during the
Minelaying by the enemy and during the dark hours probably took place during
following two nights. Not only was the Dunkirk road mined, including the
Zuydcoote Pass, but also Route X and the area round the Kwint buoy. Folke-
stone and Dover Harbour entrances were also mined. In spite of the large
number of mines laid, only one British ship other than the Mona's Queen
known for certain to have been sunk by magnetic mines - the Fleet Air Arm was
yacht Grive which was sunk on 1st June. On that date, also, the hospital
by a LL. trawler sweeping close at hand. The A/S trawlers Thuringia, estella
carrier St. David was damaged at anchor off Dover when a mine was exploded
and Blackburn Rovers were believed at the time to have been sunk by moored
mines laid by a U-boat, although at first it was thought that the last two at
rate had been torpedoed. If the enemy had been able to lay moored contact any
mines different². by aircraft, instead of magnetic mines, the results would have been very
Allied air cover, 29th May
hostile The remainder of the long list of naval losses on this day was caused by
and Dunkirk- was up of The 10 to 28th 44, miles 4 Dunkirk bombers. the squadrons; May, Furnes- of smallest Dunkirk, led area The on Cassel³. 25. actually was the except odds covered All 29th which fighter the for to largest a a Hurricane our further patrols fighters number strengthening were patrol had of concentrated fighters at encountered midday of on the within any covering fighter on one the a patrols radius patrol a 27th line
mately 1450. the following times 0440 during 0610, the 0720 day by fighter patrols at approxi- 1400,
patrols 1620, 1700 1800, 1930 2030, 2000 0925, 1030 1200, 1300 Command
the day; covered the line North Goodwins - 2110³. Coastal throughout
down by Me. all three 109's aircraft at about of 1130³. one of the Coastal Gravelines - Command Ostend patrols were shot
2 I Appendix 0.6.
2 R.A.F. V.A. Dover's Narrative, letter, p.326. No. A.14/0/876/40, p.3, paras. 7(a) and 7 (c).
38