Harry Plevy - Destroyer Actions: September 1939 - June 1940

Destroyer Actions

September 1939 to June 1940

First published in the UK in 2006

This paperback edition published in 2008 by

The History Press

The Mill, Brimscombe Port

Stroud, Gloucestershire. GL5 2QG

www.thehistorypress.co.uk

This ebook edition first published in 2016

All rights reserved

Harry Plevy 2006

The right of Harry Plevy to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the authors and publishers rights, and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly

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I am indebted to very many organisations and people, some of whom are sadly no longer with us, for their help in the research for, and preparation of, this book. In preparing my acknowledgements I have made every effort to trace and contact copyright holders or their next of kin. However, given the passage of time since the events described in the book took place, with changes among publishing houses and organisations over the years resulting in transfers of copyright ownership, I have despite extensive enquiries been unable to trace a few of the copyright holders. I will make every effort to remedy the mistake or omission in any subsequent reprint or edition of the book.

The following persons have shared with me their memories of service on wartime destroyers or, as copyright owners, have allowed me to quote from the documents of relatives who did. Wherever known I have given the last title or rank of the person quoted; otherwise, I have given the title or rank at the time of the event described or of writing the memoir. I have chosen not to include honours and decorations in my acknowledgements, simply because I have been unable to guarantee the accuracy or comprehensiveness of such a listing. I hope that my contributors will understand and forgive this decision. For their permissions I am indebted to:

Mr H. Barwick

Mr M. Bell Macdonald for Captain A.M. Bell Macdonald, BEF

Mr J. Cannon

Mrs J.F. Childs for Second Engineer H. Saville

Mr D. Courage

Mr P. Court-Hampton for Lieutenant E.A. Court-Hampton

Captain R.D. Franks

Mr J.G. Gemmell

Mrs B. Grandage for Lieutenant G. Grandage

Lieutenant Commander J.F. King, for Captain H.A. King

Commander P.N.T. Lesisz

Mrs D. Lumsden, for Captain G.J.A. Lumsden

Mr R. Lush

Commander P.J. and M. Mosse for Commander J.P. Mosse

Mrs D. Neale for Lieutenant Commander J. Neale

Mrs O. Nettle for Commander S.A. Nettle

Lieutenant Commander F.C. Rice

Mr G. Sear

Mrs Y. Shelley for Mr A.H. Turner

Mrs M. Slater for Mr R. Hooke

Mr T. Slessor

Mrs W.M. Snelling, for Chief Petty Officer F. Parker

Lieutenant J.P. Tumaniszwili

Lieutenant J. Wankowski

Mr D.C. Wilkin, for Vice Admiral Sir Alistair Ewing

Mrs S. de Winton, for Captain F.S.W. de Winton

Petty Officer B. Witkowski

Mr P. Yates

I wish to acknowledge and thank the following persons, publishers, authorities and agencies for kindly giving permission to reproduce extracts from books, newspapers and journals:

M. Brown for Scapa Flow by M. Brown and P. Meehan

Commonwealth War Graves Commission

M Connell for Jacks War by G. G. Connell

The Controller of Her Majestys Stationery Office for Naval Operations of the Campaign in Norway: AprilJune 1940 ed. D. Brown; The Evacuation from Dunkirk: Operation Dynamo, 26 May4 June 1949 ed. W.J.R. Gardner; The Royal Navy Medical Service, Vol VII by Surgeon Captain J.L.S. Coulter; and The War at Sea 19391945 by Captain S.W. Roskill.

David Higham Associates for Field Marshal Lord Allanbrooke: War Diaries 193945 by A. Danchev.

P. Finnigan of the HMS Warspite Association

Greenhill Books Ltd for Memoirs: Ten Years and Twenty Days by Grand Admiral K. Doenitz

Harper Collins for Churchill and the Admirals by Captain S.W. Roskill; and The Navy at War by Captain S.W. Roskill

Lieutenant (Rtd) E.P. Harrison of the HMS Cossack Association

Macmillan Publishers Ltd for The Portsmouth Letters by Admiral Sir William James

News International Newspapers

Orion Publishing Group for The U-Boat Peril by Captain R.F. Whinney; and The Second World War, Vol 1: The Gathering Storm and The Second World War, Vol 2: Their Finest Hour by W.S. Churchill

The Master and Fellows of Pembroke College, Cambridge for Meredith Dewey; Diaries, Letters and Writings eds A.V. Grimstone, M.C. Lyons and V. Lyons

Pen and Sword Books Ltd for Dunkirk 1940: From Disaster to Deliverance by P. Wilson

Periscope Publishing Ltd for Destroyer Captain: Memoirs of the War 19421945 by Captain R. Hill Rogers

Coleridge and White Ltd, on behalf of Sir Ludovic Kennedy, for On My Way to The Club by L. Kennedy

Sheil Land Associates for An Adventurous Life by Admiral Lord Mountevans

A Suchcitz, Keeper of Archives, The Polish Institute and Sikorski Museum, London

The Telegraph Group Ltd

Mrs S Winton for Carrier Glorious by J. Winton

P. Ziegler and the Trustees of the Broadlands Archives for Mountbatten: The Official Biography by P. Ziegler

Information and quoted extracts from a number of other books and papers have also been incorporated into my writing and I wish to acknowledge their contribution. In my copyright search I have been greatly assisted by and thank: Mrs M. Ferre of the Office of Public Sector Information; Mr I. Hopkins of the Churchill Archives Centre, Churchill College, Cambridge; Mrs A. Littleboy of the Association of Royal Navy Officers; and Mr R.W.A. Suddaby, Keeper, Department of Documents, Imperial War Museum, London.

I would also like to acknowledge the authors of the following books, with thanks:

Lost Voices of the Royal Navy by M. Arthur

The Man who hit the Scharnhorst by J. Austin and N. Carter

Hitlers Naval War by C. Bekker

The Mountains Wait by T. Broch

Prologue to War: The Navys part in the Norwegian Campaign by E. Brookes

Happy Odyssey by Lieutenant General Sir Adrian Carton de Wiart

Max Horton and the Western Approaches by Rear Admiral W.S. Chalmers

The Biography of Admiral Sir Bertram Home Ramsay by Rear Admiral W.S. Chalmers

The Fringes of Power: Downing Street Diaries 19391945 by J. Colville

Navies in Exile by A.D. Divine

The Merchant Navy Goes to War by B. Edwards

The Churchill War Papers: At the Admiralty. Vol 1 Sept 1939 to May 1940 by M. Gilbert

Everymans History of the Sea War by A.C. Hardy

Battleship Barham by G.P. Jones

War Diaries and Letters: Life on the Battlefield in the Words of the Ordinary Soldier ed. J.E. Lewis

Narvik by Captain D. Macintyre