LEWIN OF GREENWICH, THE BOOK SERIALISED FOR FORUM MEMBERS

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timlewin
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Re: LEWIN OF GREENWICH, THE BOOK SERIALISED FOR FORUM MEMBERS

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more convoys, more bombardments, life aboard Valiant continues to be highly active

Sunday 15 December 1940
Ajax and Sydney have not been in harbour for some time. I believe they are based
on Suda, and make frequent visits to Piraeus on convoy covering duties. Orion
left today, probably to join them. A division of destroyers returned from
bombarding the African coast, and another division sailed to take their place.
The Coventry was returning from Bardia to Alexandria when she was detached to
search for a lighter that had broken adrift from Mersa Matruh. While engaged on
this she was torpedoed, so joining the already long list of damaged cruisers. She
was high right forward, just abaft the stem, and I believe the damage is slight.
Glasgow already occupies the floating dock, with a gaping hole right through her
bows and all her after castings damaged, a long job. Coventry may be able to get
into the small graving dock.
The German Reich seems undecided as to their policy towards Italy. She entered
the war uninvited and without consulting Germany, and if she fails to make a
success of things, then she has only herself to blame, they say; yet, at the same
time, they affirm that Germany will not let her old axis partner down. Already we
hear rumours of Nazi “Help”, Gestapo officials and brown-shirts are filtering in
over the Brenner Pass.

Monday 16 December 1940
Soon after midnight the first division of the battle squadron, Illustrious, the third
cruiser squadron screened by eleven destroyers, all sailed. The trip is suspected
to be a long one, an operation made up of several parts. Our primary destination
is Suda Bay, where the destroyers will top up in readiness for high speed
steaming for some days afterwards.
At night we passed through Kaso Straits with no increase in our usual state of
preparedness.

Tuesday 17 December 1940
During the middle watch Illustrious flew off two striking forces, six Swordfish in
each. Their targets were in Rhodes and Stampalia, they had bad luck. Poor
visibility obscured everything; two had to return will all their bombs. One only
reached Rhodes.
Since we last saw Crete, snow has capped the mountains near the coast, and
they were an exhilarating sight as the sun rose and turned the white to gold.
We anchored in Suda Bay soon after nine, and the destroyers came in to go
alongside oilers. The next part of our operation is to bombard Valona, Italy’s main
port in Albania. Our Navigating and Gunnery officers went over to a conference in
the Flagship, and brought back with them the latest information gleaned by
aircraft reconnaissance, including photographs. These were up to the minute.
They were taken after we left Alexandria, developed in Athens, flown to Suda Bay
in a Blenheim, which dropped them by the N.O. i/c’s house. From there they
were taken to the flagship.
Orion was anchored in the bay when we arrived, but she went alongside the
stone jetty later. She couldn’t have had much water under her, as the depth there
is three and half fathoms. Alongside in a picket boat I could see every detail of the
bottom, so clear was the water.
At seven bells we sailed, under the flag of R.A.A. in Illustrious. As the wind was
Southerly, we were sixteen points from the entrance, so to save turning we went
out stern first. The third C.S. sailed at the same time as ourselves but were not in
company. After several complicated manoeuvres in the approaches to Suda, while
Illustrious operated aircraft, we headed West, passing through the Antikythera
Channel.

Wednesday 18 December 1940
During the forenoon, the force that is to carry out the sweep of the Adriatic
assembled in the area to the North West of Crete. Warspite again took over
command of the battleships. Orion, Ajax and Sydney went on ahead as an
advanced screen. Gloucester and York were just astern of us. We turned
Northward towards the Straits of Otranto. The weather steadily deteriorated, until
late in the afternoon it was getting too bad for flying. It was then announced that
the bombardment would not take place, because of the weather. Not only did the
success depend on aircraft spotting, that would be of secondary importance. The
essential for accurate fire would be a good fix near the time for bombardment,
possibly a terrestrial fix. If the sky was overcast, this would not be practicable.
Anyway, we were to steam up through the Straits astern of the seventh cruiser
squadron, in the hope of intercepting a Brindisi – Valona convoy. Illustrious is
not to be risked in the Adriatic, so, covered by Gloucester and York; she is
marking time off Cephalonia.
Once in the Adriatic, the weather rapidly improved. The sky cleared, and the
waning moon rose just before ten o’clock. We could see the land to starboard
and, about midnight, we sighted Cape Glossa, or Cape Linguetta, the spit of land
that encloses Valona Bay. It was soon after the high ground on the Cape had
passed the beam that the C-in-C made a signal to say the bombardment was on.
Our target was an area in Port Dukati, Valona’s outlet to the sea. Here there are
many dumps of war material, ranging from motor transport to bombs and
barracks. To put our shell on to these we have to fire over Cape Linguetta, which
is over two thousand feet high. Just off the Cape is Saseno Island. Aerial
reconnaissance has shown this to be heavily fortified.

Thursday 19 December 1940
At six minutes past one, ten minutes before opening fire, the navigating officer
fixed the ship. From this position the run was traced out, and our ranges based
on it. We turned practically sixteen points, just before ten-past, and got on our
firing course of 145º. By then we were preceded by a destroyer streaming T.S.D.S.
At half a minute before 0715, Warspite opened fire. We didn’t get flag “fire” until a
minute and a half later. We fired fifty-four rounds before cease fire; Warspite
didn’t get off quite so many. When we opened fire, Saseno Island was almost on
the quarter, and we then turned South so that it was almost astern. During the
whole firing the only signs of life ashore was a flicker of a searchlight. As soon as
we had finished, however, they put up a barrage of star-shell some two miles
astern of us.
The seventh cruiser squadron went as far up as Durazzo before they turned
South. Although two Italian cruisers and some destroyers had been at sea during
the day before, we saw nothing except the glow of fires caused by our
bombardment.
We rendezvoused with Illustrious early in the forenoon, and shaped a course for
Malta. It was disappointing that the carrier was not at hand to provide aircraft
spotting, particularly so as our observer, Lieutenant Vereker was in Illustrious to
perform the service for us. Surely, such a completely blind bombardment has
never before been carried out. We now anxiously await the aircraft
reconnaissance that will tell us of the result.
Sollum is now being used as an advanced base by our forces. Ships are going
there with water and petrol for the front line.

Friday 20 December 1940
While we have been operating in the Adriatic, Malaya has covered a convoy to
Malta, and has gone in there herself. Now she is coming out with another convoy,
and her place is to be taken by Warspite. The convoy will be covered to the
Eastward by Malaya, Illustrious and ourselves for the first part of the way.
Warspite left us to go in to Valetta in the late forenoon. Destroyers have been
going in to fuel four or five at a time. Warspite took the J’s with her. Malaya and
the convoy appeared just before sunset, and we turned East to cover them.
While at Malta, Admiral Cunningham will probably take the opportunity to
discuss with the Vice Admiral, Malta; the possibility of using Malta as a base. A
permanent cruiser force stationed here would be perfectly positioned to attack
convoys for Tripoli.

Saturday 21 December 1940
The covering force left the convoy and turned back to the Westward, to operate in
the vicinity of Malta. During the forenoon an aircraft search from Illustrious
sighted an enemy convoy to the Southward. Early in the afternoon a torpedo
striking force of ten Swordfish were flown off to attack it. One returned soon after
with engine trouble and landed on.
Another convoy was sighted soon after 1400. This is being escorted Westward by
Malaya. At the end of the afternoon watch the convoy passed us about four
cables away. The ships were two Clan line, the Clan Fraser and the Clan Forbes.
The Fraser has now lost the dummy funnel she had last time we saw her, when
she came out of Malta with a cargo of Motor Transport. The Malaya left us then
and took station ahead of the convoy. We turned and followed, about two miles
astern. The convoy was screened by H class destroyers, Hyperion, Hereward,
Hero and Hasty. The three J’s came out from Malta and formed an advanced
screen for the convoy.
The striking force returned in the first dog. They found the convoy, two merchant
ships of 10,000 tons, escorted by a torpedo boat and a “tiddler”. Both merchant
ships were sunk, and all the aircraft returned, some with their torpedoes, which
they had not had to use. Our pleasure at this news was tempered by a signal we
received soon after. Lieutenant Vereker was the observer who reported the convoy
in the forenoon, and this aircraft had failed to return.
At dusk we left the convoy and Malaya, and turned South East, towards Tripoli,
which aircraft from Illustrious are to bomb in the morning moonlight.
Malaya is going either to Gibraltar or Home for re-tubing of her boilers. She has
been in commission now for over three years with no big refit.
The Hellenic Navy, following our example, have carried out a sweep of the Adriatic
with a destroyer force. They too met no opposition.
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ivorthediver
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Re: LEWIN OF GREENWICH, THE BOOK SERIALISED FOR FORUM MEMBERS

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Thanks Tim , pardon my ignorance but what constituted the Hellenic Navy at this point please .
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
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jbryce1437
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Re: LEWIN OF GREENWICH, THE BOOK SERIALISED FOR FORUM MEMBERS

Unread post by jbryce1437 »

ivorthediver wrote: Sun Dec 20, 2020 5:10 pm Thanks Tim , pardon my ignorance but what constituted the Hellenic Navy at this point please .
I was also interested in this point and google it with the following result:

On the eve of the Italian invasion in 1940, the RHN consisted of 34 ships and 6,500 men. The Hellenic Navy suffered its first loss of the war on 15 August 1940 (two months before the formal outbreak of hostilities) when the cruiser Helli was sunk by the Italian submarine Delfino, possibly acting on Mussolini's orders.

Jim
HMS Raleigh 1963 , HMS Collingwood 1963 & 67 , HMS Ark Royal 1964-7, HMS Undaunted 1968-71, HMS Victory (Fleet Maintenance Group) 1971-72, HMS Exmouth 1972-74
JEM, EM, OEM, LOEM, POOEL
Then 28 years in the Fire Brigade
Retired since 2002
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ivorthediver
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Re: LEWIN OF GREENWICH, THE BOOK SERIALISED FOR FORUM MEMBERS

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Thanks Jim , your obviously brighter than me knowing where to look :oops:
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
timlewin
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Re: LEWIN OF GREENWICH, THE BOOK SERIALISED FOR FORUM MEMBERS

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From the Journal of Midshipman TT Lewin 1940

The War goes on but at least Christmas is recognised....


Sunday 22 December 1940
We went to action stations at 0200. An hour and a half later, the first wave of
bombers flew off, six Swordfish. A bigger formation of nine followed half an hour
later. We turned North, and secured from action at 0500. The raid was
successful. Bombs were dropped on quays, dumps of army stores and A.A.
defence positions.
Again our run of successful operations has been marred by the loss of one of our
own ships. Last night the destroyer leader Hyperion struck a mine North West of
Pantelleria. Other ships stood by her, but when it was obvious that she would be
unable to get back to Malta, Janus sunk her with a torpedo. This is the second
torpedo Janus has fired in the war; the other sunk the damaged Bittern. There
were only two fatal casualties in Hyperion.
Illustrious and Valiant rendezvoused with Warspite at 1130, and the whole force
turned to the Eastward. At the same time we increased speed to twenty knots.

Monday 23 December 1940
We continued our uneventful way towards Alexandria. At one time during the
forenoon we turned to the Westward to stand by Dainty, who had engine trouble
some miles astern of us. Before we got to her she reported all well again.
Our troops are finding Bardia a harder nut to crack than the other Italian bases.
The troops cooped up there are fighting desperately, and they have very heavy
artillery batteries there.
There have been several cabinet changes in the past week. Lord Lothian, the
ambassador in Washington, died suddenly. Lord Halifax was appointed to take
his place, and Mr Eden became Foreign Secretary. Captain Margesson is War
Minister.
The Swordfish has been announced as overdue and must be presumed lost.
Mr Winston Churchill made a speech tonight, addressed to “The Italian People”.
He gave a résumé of the events leading up to Italy’s entry into the war and
denounced Mussolini for involving the Italians in a war none of them wanted, and
out of which they would gain nothing.

Tuesday 24 December 1940
At the end of the forenoon the trawlers working the entrance to the swept
channel were in sight. We entered the harbour in the afternoon watch, mooring
in our usual berth. We were duty battleship and A.A. guard for the rest of the
day, but this leaves us free for Christmas.
HMAS Perth entered harbour in the evening; she has come through the Suez
Canal to reinforce our cruisers, while her sister ship, the Sydney, refits at Malta.
Her only camouflage is designed to hinder inclinating and range finding. The
lines of her upright funnels are broken by canvas strips, while her many shrouds
have frapping lines criss-crossed round them.

Wednesday 25 December 1940
Christmas was celebrated in the traditional manner onboard. We had divisions, a
service on the quarterdeck, and messdeck rounds, with the messes gaily
decorated; a change from last year. There was all-night leave to twenty-five per
cent of the ship's company, and all contrived to enjoy themselves to the full,
whether ashore or onboard, although all would rather have been at home.
The King spoke to the Empire in the afternoon, he confined himself to
conventionalities.
The Germans and ourselves repeating an unofficial Christmas armistice; the
Italians celebrated the occasion by bombing the civilians in Corfu.

Thursday 26 December 1940
Today we made up our deficiency of fifteen inch shell and cordite. Unfortunately
there is no bombardment shell out here, so we had to accept the out-of-date
C.P.C. general purpose shell.
We have still got one gun of each turret loaded with an H.E. shell. We asked
permission to fire these before entering harbour, as it is extremely dangerous to
eject them. The ejector is so shaped to take on the shoulder of the shell, and not
touch the nose fuse, but there is always a risk that the fuse might be hit.
Permission to fire them was not granted.
We were asked if we had a special ejector for bombardment shell, and when we
replied no, we were told that Warspite would lend us one. This turned out to be
the same as ours. This long wait is very bad for the guns. The shells were
rammed in when the guns were hot, and so are firmly jammed, and the barrel
still has the cordite smoke and residue in it.

Friday 27 December 1940
Bardia is still holding out. It is extremely well defended, the larges guns being
nine point two’s. It is now almost completely cut off, and our armoured scouting
units are well on the way to Tobruk.

Saturday 28 December 1940
Another gunboat arrived today to join the force of bombardiers. She is the Gnat,
and is smaller than the other two. She has only one six-inch mounting.
A Greek submarine, the Papanikolis, has sunk three quite large Italian troop
transports in the Adriatic. Although hunted by destroyers and aircraft, even
depth charged, she escaped the lot.
The wind increased during the day, until in the evening it was blowing quite
strongly from the West. We set the second degree of anchor watch, with the
officer of the watch on the bridge. The hospital ship Atlantis, which was moored
to windward of the Lorraine, swung her starboard quarter into the Frenchman.
The damage was not very great, mostly dented plates, broken scuttles and
scraped paint. The Atlantis is the hospital ship that reported the sinking of the
Orama to us in the North Sea, last May.
Yet another destroyer has been lost, the Acheron. The communiqué did not state
how she was sunk.
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jbryce1437
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Re: LEWIN OF GREENWICH, THE BOOK SERIALISED FOR FORUM MEMBERS

Unread post by jbryce1437 »

Many thanks for the latest update Tim. Only a brief respite for Christmas but I bet it was greatly appreciated by one and all.

Jim
HMS Raleigh 1963 , HMS Collingwood 1963 & 67 , HMS Ark Royal 1964-7, HMS Undaunted 1968-71, HMS Victory (Fleet Maintenance Group) 1971-72, HMS Exmouth 1972-74
JEM, EM, OEM, LOEM, POOEL
Then 28 years in the Fire Brigade
Retired since 2002
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ivorthediver
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Re: LEWIN OF GREENWICH, THE BOOK SERIALISED FOR FORUM MEMBERS

Unread post by ivorthediver »

Great to hear that they were able to bless them , and ill wager many were very home sick by now despite their friendship , although things for TTL appear to be relatively quieter.
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
timlewin
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Re: LEWIN OF GREENWICH, THE BOOK SERIALISED FOR FORUM MEMBERS

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note from the Canadian thread that today is the 77th anniversary of the Battle of North Cape, why we fly the Canadian Maple over Christmas to celebrate the 80+ Canadians serving in HMSB at the time. Staying with the Christmas timing, 3 years on from the Journal, TTL is serving as Jimmy in Ashanti, they are escorting the convoy out to Russia, with the Canadian Tribals, and then in mid-ocean handing over their convoy to the local escort to take over the return convoy. It rough as usual, blowing a hoolie, snowing and the air temperature is around minus 20C. Ashanti is fresh out of refit, her onl ships company of 100% professional RN sailors has been broken up and now she has 80% HO sailors making their first adventure at sea, they are all seasick, the messdeck ventilators have been damaged by the greenies sweeping over the focsle and the messdecks themselves are a foot deep in sick and seawater. Scharnhorst came within less than 5 minutes to be in gun range, they were lucky not to have to fight their way out, or more likely, sink in the attempt!

They did get their Christmas dinner a week later when they reached Scapa tho!.....you can read about this in the Lewin of Greenwich book.
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ivorthediver
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Re: LEWIN OF GREENWICH, THE BOOK SERIALISED FOR FORUM MEMBERS

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Thanks Tim , hope your Christmas Day was a happy one though knowing you it was not one sat with your feet up ;)

Thanks for the instalments this year [as you know I do not use Kindle so cant get it to read personally ] and it is great to catch up in the world of TTL and his exploits during the war and to read of the unfolding of the progress of war as it happened at the time ......appreciate it very much .
"What Ever Floats your Boat"
timlewin
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Sunday 29 December 1940
The weather eased considerably during the night. The Atlantis was towed off the
Lorraine and then to another berth further in the harbour.
At the end of the morning watch, Perth, screened by D14 in Jervis, Nubian, Juno,
Greyhound and Griffin, left harbour.
Coventry left Gabbari dock in the forenoon and went alongside the quarantine
mole. Her bow has been cut back acutely from the waterline to the keel, and the
hole plated over. Later in the day she left harbour, perhaps for Malta and more
permanent repairs, but the bow would not take the strain. She leaked so much
that she had to return to harbour and dock again.
It was announced today that a German warship had attacked one of the Atlantic
convoys. The visibility was bad, and the raider had not seen the escort; when it
did, it made off at high speed. HMS Berwick closed and scored one hit amidships.
She herself was hit, but the damage was superficial and the casualties few. In the
chase, our ships came across the SS Baden, a German ship that obviously had
been acting as supply ship. The Baden, a ship of about eight thousand tons, set
herself on fire and had to be sunk by gunfire.
One of our possessions in the Gilbert Islands, Nauru, has been shelled by a ship
that ran up the Nazi ensign before opening fire. This ship first told the shore that
she was going to bombard the wharves and sheds, and that if any attempt to
wireless were made, the wireless station would be included in the targets. As
there was nothing that the inhabitants could do, the shelling proceeded
unhindered, considerable damage resulted. The island produces phosphates,
which are used in the manufacture of explosives, in artificial manure, and in
several important industrial processes.

Monday 30 December 1940
Southampton arrived today, her first appearance since her short stay with
Manchester about a month ago. She has been down to Mombassa. Before coming
out to the Mediterranean she was based in Iceland. Perth and her escorting
destroyers came back late in the afternoon. We had received information that
supplies were reaching Bardia in small coasters from Tobruk, so they carried out
a sweep along the Libyan coast as far as the latter place. They met nothing.
A convoy left today, ships full of motor transport. They would hardly be bound for
Malta without a covering force of battleships. They may be going through the
canal to Mombassa, for use in Kenya.
Roosevelt, in a broadcast speech last night, was more eloquent than ever before
on the subject of American Aid for Britain.
London had its first big air raid for some days last night. Only incendiary bombs
were dropped, but they were very numerous. St Paul’s and the Guildhall were
among famous buildings damaged.
st Tuesday 31 December ( ) 1940
Troop reinforcements for the middle East arrived here today in two big three
funnel liners, the Strathaird and the Empress of Canada. Some of the soldiers are
Australians, others from lone regiments. All have come from England via the
Cape. The army that is at present fighting out here will probably form the
nucleus of the force to be used in the invasion of Europe.
Gloucester and York entered harbour in the forenoon. They have been away for
some time; probably they have been at Suda Bay. Ajax left in the afternoon.

1941
January Summary of a month of action in the fleet around Valiant

2nd. – At Alexandria, where Midshipman Prince Philip of Greece joined VALIANT.
At 1830 hours the Mediterranean Fleet comprising battleships WARSPITE (Flag), VALIANT,
BARHAM, heavy cruiser YORK, light cruiser GLOUCESTER, AA cruiser CALCUTTA and
destroyers JANUS, NUBIAN, MOHAWK, WRYNECK, DIAMOND, GALLANT and HMAS
VENDETTA sailed from Alexandria on Operation MC 5.
(Operation MC 5 was the bombardment of Bardia in support of Operation COMPASS the
Western Desert Force offensive against Italian ground forces).
At 2100 hours the Fleet was joined by aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS and destroyers
GREYHOUND, GRIFFIN, ILEX and JUNO.
3rd. - At 0600 hours ILLUSTRIOUS, GLOUCESTER, YORK, WRYNECK, DIAMOND, GALLANT
and VENDETTA detached from the Fleet for ILLUSTRIOUS to operate aircraft as necessary
and to provide fighter cover over the bombarding force.
Anti-aircraft protection was provided by CALCUTTA, escorted by NUBIAN and MOHAWK and
DAINTY and VOYAGER after being detached from Force W.
(Force W was the monitor TERROR and gunboats LADYBIRD and APHIS. Force W carried
out bombardments before and after the bombardment by the Fleet battleships).
At 0810 off Bardia WARSPITE, VALIANT and BARHAM screened by ILEX, GREYHOUND,
JUNO, JANUS and GRIFFIN commenced the bombardment of Bardia. Ground troops, who
surrounded Bardia provided observation of fall of shot.
At 0900 hours the bombardment was checked.
At 1000 hours GLOUCESTER, YORK, CALCUTTA were detached to Alexandria, and
WRYNECK and VENDETTA were detached to Sollum.
4th. - WARSPITE, VALIANT, BARHAM, ILLUSTRIOUS, ILEX, JANUS, JUNO, GREYHOUND,
GRIFFIN, DIAMOND, GALLANT, VOYAGER and DAINTY arrived at Alexandria.
7th. - At 0500 hours battleships WARSPITE (Flag), VALIANT, aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS
and destroyers JERVIS, NUBIAN, MOHAWK, DAINTY, GREYHOUND, GALLANT and
GRIFFIN sailed from Alexandria as Force A to carry out Operation MC 4.
(Operation MC 4 was an operation to provide cover for Alexandria to Malta MW 5½, Malta to
Alexandria convoys ME 5½ and ME 6 and the EXCESS convoy).
At 1640 hours Force A was sighted and reported by an Italian reconnaissance aircraft.
8th. - At 1230 hours Force A arrived at Suda Bay where the destroyers were refuelled.
At 1400 hours Force A departed Suda Bay heading West.
9th. - At 0730 hours Force A was in position 36-05N, 19-17E and ILLUSTRIOUS launched
Swordfish to search a sector 280¼ to 310¼.
At 1030 hours 200 miles West of Malta Force D, light cruisers AJAX and HMAS PERTH from
Suda Bay and HMAS SYDNEY and destroyer HMAS STUART from Malta joined Force A.
At 1130 hours ILLUSTRIOUS flew off a strike force of 6 Swordfish to search for enemy
shipping off the Libyan coast.
At 1140 hours Force A was reported by an enemy aircraft.
At 1240 hours in position 35-30N, 17-30E, SYDNEY and STUART detached from Force A for
Alexandria.
At 1330 hours Force D, AJAX and PERTH detached to support convoy ME 6.
Force A now comprised WARSPITE, VALIANT, ILLUSTRIOUS, NUBIAN, MOHAWK, DAINTY,
GREYHOUND, GALLANT and GRIFFIN
10th. - At 0430 hours in position 35-56N, 13-20E Force A altered course to RV with the
EXCESS convoy.
At 0815 hours Force A, RVed with the EXCESS convoy in position 36-28N, 12-11E, and
South East of Pantelleria. The convoy escort was BONAVENTURE, GLOUCESTER,
SOUTHAMPTON, HASTY, HEREWARD, HERO, ILEX and JAGUAR. Force A took up position
astern of the convoy.
At 0834 hours GALLANT was mined and was taken in tow by MOHAWK and
BONAVENTURE and GRIFFIN were detached to stand by her.
At 1223 hours two Italian SM 79’s dropped 2 torpedoes; the torpedoes were dropped 1½
miles from their targets, the battleships, all missed, those aimed at VALIANT passing astern.
At 1235 hours a large formation of German aircraft, 40 Ju 87’s plus Ju 88’s were sighted
approaching from the North.
At 1238 hours the attack commenced, in the 10 minute attack 30 Ju 87’s attacked
ILLUSTRIOUS who was hit by 6 bombs which caused serious damage.
The other 10 Ju 87’s divided their attack between WARSPITE and VALIANT. VALIANT was
near missed by several bombs. One rating was killed and two were wounded by splinters.
(Cunningham was unaware that Fliegerkorps X [61 dive-bombers, 77 long-range bombers, 12
long-range reconnaissance aircraft, and 22 twin-engined fighters] had recently moved into bases
in Sicily from Norway. Their role was to cover the movement of the first elements of the Afrika
Korps to North Africa, by establishing the aerial command over the central Mediterranean which
the Italians had failed to do. Their first operation was a small raid on Malta on 9 January 1941.
They followed this up with the attack on the EXCESS convoy)
At 1320 hours VALIANT’s radar picked up another wave of aircraft approaching from the
North. There was now no air borne air defence so the CinC ordered the Fleet to close
ILLUSTRIOUS to provide AA cover. Seven SM 79’s came in at 14000 feet but failed to score
any hits.
Force A manoeuvred to maintain support for ILLUSTRIOUS whilst efforts were made to
bring her under control.
At 1530 hours ILLUSTRIOUS was got under control and course was set for Malta at 17
knots. HASTY and JAGUAR were detached to screen ILLUSTRIOUS.
Between 1600 and 1700 hours further air attacks by 15 Ju 87’s were made on
ILLUSTRIOUS and Force A.
At 1700 hours JANUS joined Force A from Malta.
At 2145 hours ILLUSTRIOUS arrived at Malta and Force A proceeded to the Eastward.
At 2200 hours Force A now comprising WARSPITE, VALIANT, DAINTY, GREYHOUND,
JANUS and NUBIAN was in position 35-40N, 14-10E steering 090¼.
At 2400 hours in position 35-20N, 15-26E, JARVIS joined Force A from Malta.
11th. - Force A remained close to the course of the EXCESS convoy.
At 1200 hours Force A was in position 36-06N, 19-27E.
At 1630 hours Force A altered course to close SOUTHAMPTON who was reported stopped in
position 34-54N, 18-24E following an attack by 12 Ju 87’s.
At 1645 hours ORION, PERTH, JERVIS and JANUS were detached from Force A to stand by
SOUTHAMPTON. JUNO and NUBIAN detached from Force A to join the escort of EXCESS
convoy and HERO detached from the convoy to join Force A.
12th. - At 0800 hours in position 34-40N, 23-10E all forces RVed. Following which the forces
split and Force A comprising WARSPITE, VALIANT, GLOUCESTER, JERVIS, JANUS,
GREYHOUND, DIAMOND, VOYAGER, HERO and DEFENDER proceeded to Alexandria.
13th. - At 0600 hours Force A arrived back at Alexandria.
19th. – At 1630 hours, Force A was composed of battleships BARHAM and VALIANT and
destroyers JERVIS, JANUS, JAGUAR, ILEX, HEREWARD, HERO, HASTY, DAINTY and
DECOY sailed from Alexandria and steered North West to cover Operation MC 8.
The aircraft carrier EAGLE joined Force A at sea.
(Operation MC 8 was an operation to transport 1441 troops and stores, including seventeen
Bren carriers and other vehicles, sixty motor cycles, a large quantity of Italian and other
guns and ammunition to Malta in Force B, comprising the light cruisers ORION,
GLOUCESTER and AJAX and destroyers NUBIAN, MOHAWK and DIAMOND. Force B
departed Alexandria at 1730/19/2/41 and arrived at Malta at 0630/21 . After unloading
the force departed at 1900 hours. The DIAMOND remained at Malta for refitting. The
operation also included the passage of the supply ship HMS BRECONSHIRE, the SS CLAN
MACAULEY and destroyers HOTSPUR and HAVOCK. These ships departed Malta at dusk on
the 20/2/41. Anti-aircraft cruiser COVENTRY joined this force en route to Alexandria)
20th. – From this day VALIANT and other units of the Mediterranean Fleet were on short
notice to proceed to sea on Operation MBD 2, also known as Operation INSPECTION.
(Operation MBD 2 was the extraction of damaged aircraft carrier ILLUSTRIOUS from Malta
and cover for her onward passage to Alexandria. ILLUSTRIOUS finally sailed from Malta at
1800/23/1/41)
22th. – At 2300 hours battleships VALIANT and BARHAM, light cruiser HMAS PERTH and
destroyers HEREWARD, NUBIAN, MOHAWK, HASTY, DIAMOND and GRIFFIN sailed from
Alexandria as Force C for Operation MBD 2. Force C set course to RV with ILLUSTRIOUS
approximately 120 miles West of Crete.
24th. – At 1200 hours, approximately 50 miles South West of Crete, the RV was earlier than
anticipated because ILLUSTRIOUS had been able to make 25 knots, Force C RVed with
ILLUSTRIOUS escorted by destroyers JERVIS, JUNO, JANUS and GREYHOUND.
Later in the day Force B, comprising, heavy cruiser YORK and light cruisers ORION, AJAX
and BONAVENTURE and destroyers ILEX and HERO joined.
25th. – At 1300 hours Force B and C and the ILLUSTRIOUS group arrived at Alexandria.


The Journal continues…….

Wednesday 1 January 1941
There was a red air raid warning early in the morning, the first for some weeks. It
lasted for half an hour only, and no aircraft came near us.
The R.A.F. have attacked Taranto, Naples and Valona. Bardia now seems to be
nearly surrounded. Patrols have penetrated far to the Westward, and the R.A.F.
are bombing the lines of communication.

Thursday 2 January 1941
Illustrious sailed in the forenoon with a screen of four destroyers. The battle fleet
was put at two hours notice from 1600, so there was no leave.
We sent a funeral party ashore to the burial of Malaya’s Chief Gunner’s Mate,
who was left behind in hospital when she went home.
We weighed at 1800 and sailed in company with Warspite and Barham.
Illustrious and Calcutta joined us during the evening, and the line was then
Warspite, Valiant, Barham, Illustrious, and Calcutta.
The Commander announced that the final assault on Bardia is to start in the
morning and all three forces are to cooperate. Our job is to bombard a
concentration of tanks and motor transport behind Bardia, at the same time
preventing reinforcements coming up, or any attempt at a retreat.

Friday 3 January 1941
Just before six, we sighted three bonfires lit on the shore at Sidi Barrani to give
us our position. Soon after we could see the glow of gun flashes on our starboard
bow in the direction of Bardia, the R.A.F. had started their bombing. We went to
action stations at 0615. It was then just getting light, and we could see it was a
clear, cloudless morning. Although there was a slight off-shore breeze, it was not
enough to raise the sandstorm that had baulked us before.
The town of Bardia was clearly visible on top of the cliff to the right of the narrow
entrance to the harbour. We could see the occasional sticks of bombs falling
ashore. Soon after eight o’clock we turned up to the North-West, parallel with the
land, and hoisted our battle ensigns. We were now preceded by Juno, Janus,
Greyhound and Ilex with T.S.D.S. out. Warspite opened fire first; Barham and
Valiant were not long after. We were firing at the flat ground to the North of
Bardia and in very short time it was obscured in smoke and dust. Our spotting
aircraft, the ship’s Swordfish, with Lieutenant Davenport and Lieutenant
Commander Milner-Barry, lent to us by Gloucester for the occasion, was
catapulted off earlier on. The first reports from them were that our shots were
falling short. We went up so much that in the end we took off all corrections and
started again.
When we had been firing for a short time a battery on the cliff, to the left of the
harbour entrance opened fire. There were two guns, probably four-inch. The first
salvo was very short, but the next passed just over the ship. By then our port 4.5
battery had engaged them with an accurate fire, and they no longer shot at us.
The destroyers also engaged this battery. As soon as shells started bursting near
them, the gun’s crews must have rushed to dug-outs, because they opened up
again later.
After we had been firing about twenty minutes we turned 180 degrees, and
started on our return run. The fifteen-inch opened fire again at the same target
area, and the starboard 4.5 battery fired 120 rounds, mostly into the target area,
but some were fired at the shore battery when they opened fire again. We ceased
fire after thirty-nine rounds of fifteen-inch and the Admiral turned away, ordering
a red turn. The shore battery was very quick to open fire on the turning point and
each ship was subjected to a practical demonstration of “Windy corner” on a
small scale. It was in a similar position that Warspite had a bad time at Jutland.
The four-inch shells were falling quite close, and some splinters hit Warspite.
This risk could have been avoided if we had turned away together, and I can’t
understand why we didn’t.
Illustrious joined us shortly after turning away. She had been escorted by the 3
C.S. while detached from us. Her Swordfish and Fulmars maintained a anti-submarine
and fighter patrols during the bombardment. Calcutta was out to
seaward as an additional anti-aircraft protection from attackers coming from that
direction.
Our part of the assault over, we left the final taking of Bardia to the Imperial
troops and set course for Alexandria.
About noon, a lookout reported that he had seen an aircraft fall into the sea,
about five miles away to starboard. So convincing was his description, that we
reported the incident to the Commander-in-Chief. A destroyer went over to
investigate and two Fulmars could be seen circling round the spot, but they saw
nothing, and the matter was dropped. When the forenoon fighter patrol returned,
however, they were one short, so this one was probably the one seen to crash.
With our present course, we would have arrived by moonlight, some short time
before midnight. Probably because of the danger of torpedo bombing in the Great
Pass at night, we altered course to the North and postponed our arrival until
dawn.

Saturday 4 January 1941
We anchored in our usual billet just before sunrise. Eagle had swung until she
was heading North, and we had to approach within fifteen yards of her stern
before letting go our second anchor. There seemed a possibility that the anchor
would foul her stern wire, but later in the day, when her stern was towed round,
this was not found to be so. Although we were the last ship to enter harbour, we
were the first to let go our stern anchor. The other ships have tugs to tow their
sterns round, but by the time the tugs get to us we have finished. The Captain
accomplishes our turning by skilful use of the screws.
We took over duty-battleship as soon as we arrived in harbour.
The Australians launched their attack on Bardia soon after we left. They skirted
the strongly defended Southern front, and, proceeded by a force of tanks, came in
from the South West, thus turning the flank and surrounding the defences. They
have so far taken eight-thousand prisoners, and there are many more cooped up
in the town.
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