TNA MT 40 66

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COPY OF REPORT.
65
(DOVER HARBOUR TO DUNKIRK &
RETURN TO GRAVESEND)
Tug "CERVIA."
154
31st May, 1940.
Wind Light West.
We left Dover Harbour at 9-45 p.m. towing sailing barge
ROYALTY" part loaded with cans of fresh water and provisions, bound for
alo, Dunkirk. "e were in company with Tug "PERSIA", towing two sailing
Darges. It was pitch dark towing up through the Downs and we had to
keep our navigation lights burning on account of the number of H.M.
Destroyers which we kept meeting.
1st June, 1940. (Saturday).
About 12-30 a.m. we should have been abrest the North Goodwins
Light Vessel, but we could not find it and we set our course from the
Gull Light Buoy. S.E.4 E.24 miles to tow to the Ruytingen Pass Light
Buoy which we passed about 5-0 a.m. The stern barge of the "PERSIA'S"
tow had broken adrift twice on the way accross on account of the heavy
wash from the passing Destroyers, and we had to ease in and wait for
"PERSIA" whilst he picked her up. From the Ruytingen Pass Buoy we
steerëd a course S toward No. 5. Buoy in the West Dunkirk Roads, All
sorts of craft were coming round the buoy all fully loaded with troops,
and a batch of about 20 Belgium motor fishermen bore down on us, the
leader asking us the way to England. I sang out the course and told him
to follow the other traffic and he would be all right. I heard afterwards
that they all passed over the Goodwin Sands on the High time Water and
landed their troops and refugees safely on this side. We had to ease
down many times whilst towing up the Dunkirk Roads as the Destroyers and
Cross Channel pakkets were coming down from the Mole in a 20 knot
procession, but we had a good towrope and it held on.
The oil works to the west of Dunkirk Harbour were on fire and
a black pall of smoke hung over the town. As we passed the pierhead,
Destroyers were embarking troops and some were backing out of the harbour.
The "PERSIA" was now about 2 miles astern of us, and about a mile East
of the Pierhead we gave our barge a good full speed tow and he slipped
the towrope and steered her head first up on the shore at Malo, at 7-20 a.m.
We dropped our anchor and watched the barge. Soldiers began to rund
down the beach towards her, but guns started to bang away on the oubskirts
of Dunkirk and an air raid siren blew and the soldiers went back to shelter.
A British Destroyer outside of us began to fire at the enemy
planes and bombs began to fall near her as she steamed about. At full
speel with her helm hard to port nine bombs fell in a line in the water,
along her starboard side, and they exploded under water, heeling the
Destroyer over on her beam ends, but she was righted again and a sloop
joined in the gun fire, also shore batteries, and as the raiders made
off they over towards the land they machine gunned us and we returned
the fire with our Lewis gun.
I immediately hove up our anchor and kept the Tug underwigh
as I could see we were likely to get run down whilst the destroyers were
twisting and turning to clear the bombs. I paddled in towards the shore
a bit, as I could see our crew of the barge and the soldier stevedores
were rowing off in their boat towards us. I picked them up, also boat
and crew of barge "DUCHESS" that had anchored in the Roads, and then the
next wave of bombers were overhead.
(Continued)