The Raid on Zeebrugge - 23rd April 1918

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The assault teams charge up the ramps onto the Mole

Royal Marine Alfred Hutchinson  - the last living survivor of the Raid, describes the ladders used to climb onto the Mole and the action on the Mole

THE ASSAULT ON THE MOLE

The storming party's first objective was to silence the guns mounted on the end of the Mole, covering the entrance to the harbour. Having done this they were to hold their position, causing as much damage and diversion as they could,  until the blockships were safely in position at the mouth of the canal.

The assault troops had expected to land on the Mole behind the trenches which the Germans had built to defend their heavy guns at the end of the Mole. But the Vindictive's manoeuvres in trying to avoid the fierce German gun fire had sent her slightly off course and she came alongside a few hundred yards from her planned position. From this new position the British troops were faced with fighting their way back up the Mole, making a frontal attack on the German trenches which they had hoped to attack from the rear.

The raiding party soon discovered that ten of the Vindictive's twelve specially built gang planks had been smashed by gun fire or by crashing into the side of the Mole and to add to the confusion only one officer - Lt -Cmdr Adams - was left to lead the attack.

The attack along the top of the Mole

A side view of the partially demolished Mole (1998)

... Smoke screen

ARRIVAL AT MOLE

It proved impossible to secure Vindictive to the Mole using grappling irons and the Daffodil had to hold her in position throughout the raid. Despite the fact that two German shells exploded in her engine room the Daffodil's engineers managed to maintain full steam with her old coal-fired boilers. During this very difficult manoeuvre Harold Campbell was hit in the head by a piece of shrapnel and blinded in one eye, but he still remained at his post throughout the attack.

Holding the Vindictive in position meant that the assault team on the Daffodil could not climb across the cruiser to get to the Mole and none of them were able to take part in the raid.

But the other Mersey ferry Iris did come alongside the Mole, a few hundred yards ahead of the Vindictive. She also had difficulty staying close to the harbour wall and was in danger of drifting away again. But as she heaved up and down in the swell Lt Cmdr Bradford jumped onto the parapet wall. He managed to secure the Iris to the Mole but as he did so, he was hit by a burst of machine gun fire. He fell into the sea between the ship and the Mole. Petty Officer Hallihan dived into the sea to rescue him, but they were both drowned

The top of the Mole today and just after the War

ON THE MOLE

Adams, seeing that half his men had been killed or wounded on board the Vindictive, quickly gathered together as many survivors as he could and led them across one of the two remaining gang planks.

Adams was the first man onto the Mole and his hastily assembled team included Albert McKenzie and Able Seaman Childs, the two surviving members of their Lewis gun crew.  Despite having to carrying two men's equipment - a Lewis gun plus 400 rounds of ammunition, Albert followed Adams across the gangplank and onto the Mole. 

As they charged onto the Mole the only covering fire the Vindictive could provide came from a heavy machine gun mounted high up on her superstructure, since all her heavy guns were now below the top of the Mole. This machine gun was manned by Sgt Albert Finch and his position soon attracted all the German fire. Despite several direct hits on his position and being severely wounded Sgt Finch continued to man his machine gun.

Adams, with McKenzie at his side, led his party down the path which ran along the top of the parapet wall. Fifty yards past the stern of the Vindictive they came across a concrete observation post. There was an iron ladder next to this post and Adams sent some of his men down it onto the main deck of the Mole.  McKenzie opened fire on German soldiers escaping from their living quarters to the safety of a destroyer moored on the far side of the Mole.

Adams then led his team, which now included Cmd Brock, further along the path and they came under heavy fire from all directions. They tried to fight their way through the German positions to reach the heavily fortified end of the Mole, but many of them were killed or wounded in the attempt.

The Assault ...