Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 239, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 11 October 1918 — Page 3

Zeebrugge Raid Told By Commanding Officer

Superhuman Work in Face of Whirlwind of Fire and Heroic Attack of Storming Party Graphically Described—Block Ships Still in Position Sealing the Navigable Channel Into.Canals—Keyes in Charge.

London—An official interview with one of the commanding officers of the Zeebrugge raid gives for the first lime some Idea of the tremendous, intricate schemes that must be devised for modern naval operations, such as bottling up the Zeebrugge submarine While the name of the officer who gave the Interview may not be used, lor obvious reasons, the study was arranged with the permission of the first sea lord, Sir Rosslyn Wemyss, and through the courtesy of Sir Douglas Brownrigg, chief naval censor. The. spectacular story of the raid; the almost superhuman work done in the face of a whirlwind of fire, and the heroic attack of the storming party scrambling over the Mole were all placed by the British officer as mere incidentals In the tremendous assault that was determined upon. „ “The problem that lay before us,” be said, “was far bigger and greater than'the landing on the Mole, or any mere spectacular features. It was vastly different from merely sending one or more ships into a' harbor protected by shore batteries, because the channel to be blocked was natrow, and a ship or ships must be placed carefully to make the effort successful. Moreover, the waters through which the vessels must dash were under the protection of heavy guns ■which commanded the sea practically for 15 miles out from the coast. Dash Under Cover.

“This meant that the vessels, with the block ships, must arrange their <tash under cover for 15 miles. And then, having run the coast batteries, they must run close to a heavy battery on the Mole, located practically a mile out In the harbor, and which could fire practically point blank at the vessels. And then, of course, also under cover of the near shore batteries of the Mole and the heavier coast batteries, making another run of 15 miles. The German mine fields also had to be encountered. “Various elepaents had to be taken into consideration. Naturally the cash must be made at high tide. There was only one way in whlch.we could hope to protect the vessels If the raid were made by daylight, and that was a smoke screen. But airplanes, scouting above, would lay a lleet open to observation and to practically- the same attack by indirect fire as on land. So the dash had to be made at night, and on such a night ws the tide would be high at about inldnight, for the ships must go in, do their destruction, and then come cut again before the shore batteries would have the daylight to help them. “There were something like 150 jruns on the shore commanding the 15mlle radius. If these discovered the vessels none of the ships could have lived through the falling shells. As the batteries all had the use of searchlights and star shells it became necessary to take measures to prevent the ships being seen by any •method of illumination until the last moment. That necessitated the use cf smoke screens. A smoke screen is very little use unless It approaches with you; thus you must always have the wind blowing In your direction of advance. In our case It was from the north. The use of any craft to make smoke would not be of much avail unless they could approach the coast making smoke to the last mlfiute. This necessitated light draft vessels, and they In turn required calm weather. Details to Be Worked Out. “So the conditions necessary demanded high water occurring at a particular period of the night, wind blowing directly Into the harbor, calm weather and, of course, no fog, for the latter would prevent the blocking ships from finding the coast. “Having attained these, there still were other matters to be worked out. For the blocking ships to find their destination It was quite obvious that they must be able to see for a certain distance, say for a. mile or two at least. And this means that the moment the entrance to the canal was In the same area of clear atmosphere with the blocking ships, namely, during the final run In, the shore batteries on the coast line also would be i!n the clear weather and able to concentrate on the blocking ships, much lc their detriment. ‘•This applied both to Zeebrugge and Ostend, where the German batteries are on the actual coast line. Hut at z Zeebrugge there was the additional obstruction which Is absent at Ostend—the Mole. “The Mole at Zeebrugge extends rather more than three-quarters of a mile from the entrance of the canal, • and the outer end of the Mole had been turned into a veritable fortress. The position of the navigable channel leading to the canal entrance was such that the ships were forced to pass dose to the batteries on the Mole, and it was too much to hope that they would be able to do this and pass Inside these batteries and then meet the fun blast of the shore batteries without being teunk before reaching the canal. It therefore became clear that it would be necessary either to destroy or to divert

the attention of the Mole batteries before the block ships arrived in the vicinity, and In the latter case to keep them diverted until after the blocking ships had arrived at their destination. Use Special Storm Parties. “The German garrison In the Mole was believed to consist of about one thousand men. It was decided to storm the Mole with special storm parties immediately prior to the arrival of the blocking ships. The necessity of holding trfe Mole for a certain length of time would also provide opportunity to- carry out a certain amount of destructive work on the Mole. The possibility of re-enforcements coming from the shore end and preventing the storming party from attaining their object was to be countered by cutting the Mole off from shore by blowing up the railway viaduct. “The Mole is a mile and a half long and 80 yards wide. On the outer side It is flanked by a wall 30 feet high. Five feet below the top of this wall is a narrow gangway or parapet running the whole length Of the Mole, with an iron handrail on its inner side. From the parapet there IB a 16-foot drop to the Mole proper. The inner side of the Mole is fitted to allow ships berthing alongside; whereas it probably was never considered that any. ships would wish to berth along the other side. The ships carrying the storming party could not go along the inner side of the Mole without passing close to the Mole batteries, and thereby risking the.certainty of being sunk. “Therefore it was necessary for these vessels to be secured alongside the parapet of the Mole, and for the storm parties to climb over the 30-foot wall down to the parapet, and thence over the handrail and drop 16 feet to the Mole before they could attack the Mole batteries or carry out their destructive work. Went Like . Clock Work. “The operation went like clock work. The Vindictive, Iris and Daffodil proceeded alongside the Mole in spite of a heavy fire from the Mole batteries. The arrival was at one minute past midnight, April 22-23, and the storm party disembarked on the Mole immediately. The Daffodil, pushing the Vindictive alongside the Mole, enabled this to be done. Because of the roughness of the sea the Iris had difficulty in securing to the wall, and finally went alongside the Vindictive with the intention of disembarking her men over that ship. “The Germans appear to have been taken completely by surprise. Immediately that they had heard the approach of the vessels they fired many hundreds of star shells. But the smoke screens prevented the enemy from discerning the nature of the attack until it was too late. An old submarine, fitted with explosives, had run into and secured herself under the viaduct, and had been blown up after the crew had escaped in a small dinghy. This terrific explosion in their rear, the attack of the storm party in their midst, and the general confusion which must have reigned amongst, them, were probably the cause of the Germans not noticing the approach of the block ships. These latter passed close around the end of the Mole and made direct for the canal entrance. The leading ship, H. M. S. Thetis, was heavily engaged by the shore batteries, but although in a sinking condition managed to direct the other two vessels toward their destination. The Thetis herself struggled on, and finally sank very close off the canal entrance and right across the fairway. The Intrepid and the Iphegenla proceeded into the canal entrance and sank in the positions ordered by blowing out their bottoms by mines especially placed for the purpose. Motor launches had followed in after the.three blocking ships and under terrific fire from almost point blank range they went around the Sunken vessels and took off the crews. This rescue work was so magnificently car-, ried out that practically none of the

RAILWAY ADMINISTRATION SHIP FLAG

Director General McAdoo has selected this flag to be flown by all the vessels operated by the United States railroad administration. The letters are in blue on a white field with a red border.

THE EVENINC REPUBLICAN. RENSSELAER- IND.

ONE-LEGGED NEWSBOY SUCCESS AT RECRUITING

St Louis.—B. S. Pbllllps. « newsboy of this city, has one leg and one heart —both for the United States. His "heart was strong enough to go into the army—but his one-leggedness has kept him out Phillips, undaunted, turned himself to what he thought was the best way he could help, and has sent 756 legs into the army, according to recruiting officers here, who say he induced 378 eligibles to join the marine corps.

crews of the three block ships were lost. Still in Position. “All three block ships are still in position, after three and a half months, and the navigable channel into the canals remains sealed. The difficulty of placing a ship across the channel in broad daylight and without opposition is considerable, so how the commanding officers of these ships managed to sink them so successfully almost passes comprehension. “The escape of the officers and men from the wrecks was well carried out. The Intrepid alone carried nearly 90 men and not a single man fell into German hands, although, as has been said before, this blocking operation took place very nearly one mile inside the batteries of the Mole, and two of the block ships were actually inside the shore line. 1 “When it was considered that sufficient time had elapsed for the blocking ships to do their work and for the crews to be rescued the order was given to the storming parties to retire from the Mole. Whilst the Vindictive and her consorts were actually alongside they were comparatively safe from fire except in the case of the upper works which rose above the Mole. The big funnels and mast of the Vindictive had been riddled through and through, and many casualties were caused by flying splinters. As soon as the order to retire was given the storm parties re-embarked. Some had been killed, several severely wounded, an<j yet out of about four hundred men who had stormed the Mole less - than a’ score were left behind, in spite of the 16foot climb up the ladder onto the parapet.

“There must have been many acts of great gallantry to enable men who could not walk to be carried back on board amidst heavy fire of the light guns on the Mole and shell fire from the shore batteries, which had commenced to shell their own Mole as Boon as they discovered it was in our possession. Small Craft Take Part “It was fully realized that immediately the ships shoved off the Mole they would come under the concentrated fire of every battery that could bear. H. M. S. Iris, on leaving the Vindictive, was severely hit and suffered many casualties, but- the Vindictive herself and the Daffodil bore charmed lives. All three ships retired to the northward whilst emitting smoke cloudis to cover their retreat. “In addition to the vessels already mentioned, a large number of small craft took part in the operation, and it can safely be said that any failure on the part of a single unit might have prevented the success of the whole expedition. Small motor boats steamed up and down close off the shore batteries, as it were, treating the latter with utter contempt. Destroyers supported the Small craft, bombarded the enemy batteries and assisted in rescue work with equal contempt of danger. “Vice Admiral Keyes directed the whole operation, which had been prepared under his own supervision, from H. M. S. Warwick, and did not leave the scene of operations until the last of the blocking ships’ crews had been recovered. The spirit and determination with which he had imbued all his officers and men and his great quality of leadership made success as near a certainty as possibly could be done. “Every officer and man who took part in this operation consequently had put to sea with absolute confidence that success would be attained. A complete success was attained, and more complete was it than could ever have been hoped when the undertaking first came up for consideration.”

ROBERT LINDLEY MURRAY WINS TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE AT FOREST HILLS

PLAYING FINAL SETS—MURRAY IN INSERT.

Robert Lindley Murray of California, representing the Niagara Falls Tennis club of Buffalo, won the national tennis championship of 1918 on the turf courts of the West Side club at Forest Hills, N. Y. The scores in the final sets were 6 —2; 6 —l; 7 —5. Murray succeeds Lieut. P. Norris Williams II to the title. The photo shows the final sets being played, with Tilden on the left and Murray on the right.

TRAINING WOULD RUIN HOPPE

Army or Navy Service Would Put Billiard Star Out of Game Forever, He Fears. Willie Hoppe may never play billiards again. This may seem strange to the many billiard fans throughout the country, who have seen the little wonder perform with the ivories, but

Hoppe Demonstrating Most Treacherous Shot of Game—“The Back-Hand Masse.”

in commenting on the recent “work-or-fight” order Hoppe is reported as having said that two weeks’ training in the army or navy or at some essential occupation would ruin his technique for all time in the billiard game. Like all true Americans, Hoppe is looking on the bright side of the prospect and 'if the edict of the government that Hoppe has to engage in a productive occupation be carried out he will be seen in the uniform of the army or jiavy at some near date.

ATHLETICS AT NAVAL PRISON

Dally Program of Recreational Sport introduced at Portsmouth—lmprovement Shown. Athletics as part of the corrective course for delinquency has beeninstituted at the Portsmouth naval prison, following an experiment by the navy commission on training camp activities. Edward J. Hines of Boston has been appointed athletic director at the station and has Introduced a dally program of recreational sport as a feature of the prison life. Within a short time a marked Improvement was noticed in the conduct of the inmates of the prison. Three .baseball leagues have been formed among the Inmates, each league containing eight teams. The regular games include tug-of-war, pushball, volley ball and track and field sports. A shorthand system of setting-up exercises has been installed and weekly track meets are held.

GIRLS RIDE IN NEW ZEALAND

Exciting Incident Recorded at Christchurch When Horse Gets Away From Young Woman. Seemingly, girls are being employed in some racing stables In New Zealand. A Wellington exchange mentions that there was recently an exciting incident at Riccarton (Christchurch) during training operations. Vascular, with a young girl in the saddle, and Red Book, In the lead, broke away from the center of the course and made a bee line for the scraping sheds.

BASE ON 2-INCH HIT

At the close of every baseball season several players always claim,,the honor of having made the longest hit of the season’s play. However, there is never any dispute about who made the shortest hit. The latter honor for the season just closing is generally conceded to Helnle Groh of Cincinnati. In a recent game in New York Heinie planted one directly in front of the plate and scampered off down to first while the Giants’ infield was looking for the ball. When it was discovered the umpire ruled that the onion had fallen in fair territory, although barely two Inches separated it from the rubber.

YANKS ARE TRUE SPORTSMEN

Soldiers Made Better Fighters by Indulging in Baseball, Boxing, Wrestling and Soccer. ‘Our soldiers in France are the finest sportsmen in the world. Their sportsmanship is manifested tn everything they do. What is more, the sports our men are playing overseas such as baseball, football and soccer and boxing and wrestling, are making them better fighters.” This statement was made by Raymond B. Fosdlck, chairman of the war department commission on training camp activities, who returned recently from the American front in France, where he made a two months’ study of the relief and recreational work that is being carried on among the expeditionary forces. “The men play at every opportunity, and it seems that they instinctively turn to athletics for their amusement I have seen soldiers return to their rest billets after a ‘hard go’ in the trenches and immediately begin to play baseball, football and soccer and engage in boxing and wrestling bouts, tired as they were. ’ “Baseball is the most popular of the sports. One day I witnessed a game tn the historic Tuillerles garden in Paris between American soldiers and sailors stationed there. The next day up near the front lines I saw troops who were to make an attack on the following morning playing as long as daylight permitted.”

SURF FAVORED FOR BATHING

Soldiers at Camp Upton Taught Swimmlng by Battalion—Sight Is Most Inspiring. Soldiers at Camp Upton prefer surf bathing to still water swimming, according to Capt. Frank Glick, athletic director of the war department commission on training camp activities. Whole battalions are taken to Smith’s Point, near Camp Upton, where Captain Glick instructs them in both ocean and still water swimming. At present there are six swimming instructors and six life guards at the point Captain Glick says it Is an inspiring sight to see several battalions of men, many of whom never saw the surf before, cavort like schoolboys on vacation.

BILL COUGHLIN MAY GO OVER

Former Third Baseman of Washington and Detroit Wants to Help Boost Baseball. Bill Coughlin, former third baseman of Washington. Detroit Tigers and later a minor league manager and player, has applied to the Knights of Columbus for work in the athletic department of the organization and hopes to be sent to France to help boost base* ball over there.

CANADIANS PERFORM MOST UNUSUAL FEAT

Seventeen Players Out on Same Number of Pitched Balls. Remarkable Game Played at Braneshott, England, by Soldier Teams - —Some of Men Had Experience in United States. • Sergeant E. L. Sweetman, a member of a Canadian detachment now in camp at Bramshott, England, writes of a remarkable game of ball played by two Canadian soldier teams some time backend submits it as a record never equaled in baseball. The feat was the retiring of no less than 17 batters on the same number of pitched balls. The tcums playing were made up from the Twentieth and Thirteenth Canadian reserves and Included several players in the States and in Canada. The details of the unusual series <rf outs are thus given by Sweetman: “Twentieth reserves went to bat in the first half of the fifth Inning. Parlee, first man to bat, grounded out. pitcher to first. O’Regan filed out to second baseman. Craft grounded out, shott to first. “Second half of fifth, Thirteenth reserves batting: Campbell filed out to third base. Crowley grounded out. third to first. Massey was out, short to first / “Sixth inning, Twentieth batting: Garnett filed out to third. Hatfield grounded out, second to first Heyck out, short to first. “Second half of sixth: Ferguson out. pitcher to first. Lavelle out, on a fly to second. Donohue out, pitcher to first. “Seventh inning: Arsenaut, O’Keefe and Duke In turn grounded out, second to first. “Second half of seventh inning: Thom out, short to first. Green out to catcher on foul. The next man singled and the remarkable run was over, after 17 batters had hit the first ball pitched in turn and each had been put out.” ’ Sweetman, writing of the strange record, says: “I never saw the like of it and probably never will again. Of course the pitchers, Parlee and Ferguson, had the batters at their mercy, as the score of the game, which waa 2 to 2 in ten innings, will indicate, but that it took some classy pitching !• shown by the fact that we had some good men in the game. ‘•Ferguson, who pitched for thd Twentieth reserves, I believe, played in the New England league and had a tryout with Providence in the International. He is the best man in the Camp league here. Massey was In the United States army for a time. Burns had a tryout with Minneapolis several years ago. Roberts played in the New York State league and In the New England league. Harris played for Akron and Toledo. Donohue played with Bridgeport and also won fame as a boxer under, the name of ‘Kid McAuliffe.’ “All of these men of the Twentieth, however, were not in the game I write about, because some of them have gone across to France, or have been sent back to Canada."

RUSSELL FORD IS DRAFTSMAN

Former Spitball Artlat With New York Yankees Is Now Employed in a Shipbuilding Yard. Russell Ford, of spltball fame, formerly with the New Tork American

Russell Ford.

league team. Is working in a shipbuilding yard. Ford is draftsman and plays ball two or three times a week.

THREE DEAD HEATS ARE RUN

At Trotting Meet in Dublin, Ireland, Two Horses Make Most Remarkable Record. In an open handicap for £25 at a trotting meeting in Dublin, Ireland, Terry and Lord Drogheda trotted a. heat in 2:41. *. ' 1 . As the owners would not divide the stake, the pair were again sent over the course and made another dead heat in 2:41%. This did not improve matters any, so the pair trotted another mile, which was also declared a tie. in 2:42%. The owners then agreed to divide, after having placed on record the first triple dead-heat performance in light harness racing. k•. • . - s -