1940-11-01 — Page 32

Page

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* THE CHINA-MAIL, NOVEMBER 1, 1940

MERCHANT NAVY FIGHT AT SIDE OF THE R. N.

THE BRITISH Merchant Service is a reserved occupation. Its officers and men cannot volunteer or be called up for the Navy; their job of fetching war supplies and food, of carrying abroad the ex- ports which are essential to economic war, is as vital as any combatant duty; their recruiting problems are as urgent as those of the Forces, and they have no men to spare.

Nevertheless, the Merchant Service has made a great contribution to naval strength. On the out- break of war thousands of officers and men who were members of the Royal Naval Reserve joined the Fleet, and it is symbolic of the great part they have played alongside their comrades in the Royal Navy that of the two V.C.s awarded for naval service, one has been bestowed on an R.N.R. officer.

Lieutenant R. B. Stannard was,

to careful Admiralty planning. 'n peace-time. an officer in the Two years before the outbreak Orient Line, and won his Vic-

of war the Navy Instituted de- toria Cross as commander of the fence courses at a number of armed trawler Arab. His long-

ports, to prepare the mercantilo drawn-out fight at Namsos, both marine for the hazards of 'war- aboard. his trawler-which was Officers were given a fortnight's bombed thirty-seven times-and course; they learned the principles in an armed camp ashore, against of navigation in convoy, and how Nazi planes and warships, is to direct the fire of the guns with typical of the courage and re- which their ships

-be source which the men of the Red Ensign have brought to the ser- vice of the White Ensign,

Fishermen's R.N.R.

Further reinforcements came at

would

equipped. These courses are con- tinuing, and up, to the middle of the month 12,000 officers had passed through them and received certificates of proficiency.

There are also defence courses for seamen, and up to date. 8,300 the outbreak of war from the merchant seamen have been R.N.R. Patrol Service, drawn trained as gunners. Their certi-

Burgess Meredith, who has a leading role in John Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Man, now at the King's Theatre.

POLES BAG

ENEMY

BOMBER AS

"PRACTICE"

What was meant to be

from the fishing fleets and em-ficates entitle them to extra pay an "exercise" flight by the ployed on anti-submarine patrols. from the Admiralty, and there is

The "Wavy Navy" as the great keenness to be enrolled R.A.F. second Polish squa- Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve the fourteen-days' course.

dron developed into a real ia nicknamed, from the wavy

Apart from these courses, every

lines of gold braid that denote opportunity is taken when a ship fight and ended in the the rank of its officers-is not is in port to give as many of the shooting down of a Ger- recruited from the. mercantile crew as possible practical instruc-man bomber in North marine, its members were intion in the use of guns, smoke-

peace-time engaged in shore, oc floats, and automatic weapons. London.

cupations of every kind, with The story of the S.S. Highland- It was on August 20 that the an inborn love of the sea as the er, which at the beginning of first Polish squadron to go into common factor in turning them August brought down an attack-action with the RAF. brought into spare time sailors.

ing German 'plane by machine-down their first Nazi, This also applies to the R.N.V. gun fire and sailed home trium- A number of other Polish, pilots Wireless Reserve, drawn from phantly with the raider's wreck-flying as individual members of

NEVER SHEDS! CAN'T GET SOGGY! nautically minded radio enthus- age piled on her poop, was spec- normal R.A.F. squadrons had al-

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iasts, and the R.N.V. Sick-Bay tacular: illustration of the value ready scored successes. Reserve, composed largely of of this training.. members of St. John Ambulance Brigades.

Armed Merchant Cruisers

These additions to naval strength were all available when war was declared, Other rein-. forcements have since come from the merchant and fishing fleets! for a host of duties, notably for service aboard armed merchant cruisers. In these many of the officers and the complete engine- room and catering staffs are the merchant service personnel who were serving in the ships peace-time.

The Poacher

Now, the second Polish squa- dron to fly as a unit on its own has unexpectedly entered the picture.

On one memorable ́occasion Six of their Hurricanes took off the trained gunners of a mer-from an R.A.F. station with the chant ship were baulked of their intention of taking part in an prey. It was at Dunkirk, and exercise with six Blenheim -bom- the gun crew were preparing to bers from another station, says an beat off a vicious air attack, Air Ministry bulletin. when a staker who had come They had no sooner made their -up on deck snatched up a Lewis rendezvous over a town on the gun and, with one glorious north side of London than they burst, brought down the Ger. saw what they described as "a man before, the trained men very large enemy force" 7,000ft. could bring their. gun Into above them. action.

Hit Ground-Exploded stoker had served

It was discovered that the

a Lewis Suddenly, one of the enemy, a gunner in the Army during the Dornier, broke formation last war.

dived below them. cruiser Rawalpindi went down in training is manifest in less drama-him, while the other five remain

But the value of defensive One Polish pilot dived the North Atlantic after a gallant tie fashion. It has tamed the ar-ed as escorts to the Blenheims. fight with the pocket-battleship rogance of the U-boat crews; no Deutschland and another German longer do they batter helpless of its dive the Polish pilot closed As the Dornier straightened out warship, twelve of the officers and coasters to destruction by gunfire and opened fire. more than eighty of the men lost at their leisure.

When the

in

armed merchant:

as

in her apart from the R.N.R. personnel-belonged to the mer forced under water before launch- Once a submarine has been chant service.

ing its attack it has lost. much of

and

after

The Dornier burst into flames and plunged downwards, this time out of control. One of ite crew baled out.

In the third month of the wur its deadliness, it is less easy to The Dornier hit the ground and Germany launched her intensive manoeuvre, and, instead of using exploded,

attack on shipping by magnetic its guns. It must rely on its tor-Having watched the Dornier to mines, and the patrol service was pedoes, of which it has only its end, the Polish pilot returned at once enlarged to meet this limited supply:

menace. For this the Admiralty. called upon the men of the sh ing fleet. Their answer has been

magnificently effective but the ?Continued.from Next. Cál:) story of defence against mines is guised as a Belgian peasant from an eple that cannot be condensed far behind the German lines. into a few sentences.

1.

to his station, well satisfied with the result of the “exercise.^-

At

same

- Bomber Destroyed

almost exactly the time three other Polish pilots took Loff with a Briush squadron to patrol "the Thames Estuary..

Officers and men of the mor- Lone Spitfire Attacks. chant service carried British Ex- Here are two other episodes The squadron met about - 60 peditionary Forces to France, and from a day packed with incident: Heinkels and Dorniers flying in Norway. The merchant service. A section of Hurricanes attack-three formations about 200 yards mans our hospital ships and mili-ed-three Messerschmidts 110, shot apart and protected by large num- tary and naval store carriers. down the lot, and carried on.bers of Messerschmidts 110

Recently another job has been A Spitare, pilot who had be- Before the Messerschmidts had found for the mercantile marine— come separated from his forma- a chance to intervene ... the the handling of the balloon bar-tion saw 30 Heinkels 111, and Hurricanes had attacked rage at ports.

Learning To Hit Back

went in to attack them. He set one. on fire and hit two others. By

Two Messerschmidta 110 then appeared on, my tall," he says, "80: I returned."

They had no time to watch

- for results, but two of the Poles destroyed a bomberkauds The third Polish pilot did not There is another direction in

Income back, and is presumed to which the merchant navy has be-Three of the four enemy air- have been himself shot down. come a fighting service, Merchant craft which were destroyed by the Other pilots who contributed ships are now armed against anti-aircraft gunners were shot to the day's "bag"" of 62 enemy 'planes or submarines, and, in this down inside two minutes near the aircraft included a station, com- limited and purely defensive South-East Coast about mid-day, munder, and a pilot officer, who sense the whole mercantile marine In the afternoon and at a dif- towards the end of May spent an is now a fighting service......

ferent part of the coast; the gun exciting ten days escaping dis- ners added a fourth to their bag. (Cont'd at Foot of Proceeding Col.)

Its power to hit back is owed