Royal Marine Alfred Hutchinson before the Raid in 1918 and below in 1997 - the last living survivor
of the Raid
Above the sound of the battle on the Mole, the assault troops heard an enormous explosion. The British submarine
C5 had managed to manoeuvre itself under the viaduct joining the Mole to the mainland and a few minutes after her crew had escaped she exploded, destroying the viaduct and consequently preventing the
German troops on the Mole from being reinforced.
The assault team heard the Morse code 'K' sign sounding on the Daffodil's
siren, indicating that the block ships were in position. The signal should have been given by the Vindictive
but German shell fire had destroyed much of her superstructure, including her siren and most of her funnel.
Lt-Cmd Adams ordered his surviving men back to the Vindictive, and where
possible they brought the wounded back with them. Adams went back and searched the parapet for survivors, but by now the whole area was being swept by vicious machine gun fire.
The raiding party on the Mole had suffered heavy casualties and had been unable to achieve some of its objectives.
But even though they had not been able to destroy the guns on the Mole, they had certainly drawn all their fire. Their attack had served its main purpose in that they had created an enormous diversion.
Whilst they attacked the German defenders on the Mole, drawing the fire of every German gun within range, the blockships had sailed into the harbour and positioned themselves across the mouth
of the Bruges canal. As they were scuttled and began to sink in position, their crews were being rescued by fast boat launches.
Alfred Hutchinson describes the Iris leaving the Mole
Capt Carpenter on the Vindictive
waited for ten minutes after the withdrawal signal, whilst the wounded were carried back across the gang planks. Because of the swell some sailors fell into the sea between the harbour wall and the ship and were drowned. Able Seaman Childs helped the badly wounded Albert McKenzie back across the gangplank and down into the sick bay.At last Capt Carpenter gave the order for the
Vindictive to pull away from the Mole. She had been along side for just 70 minutes.
As the Vindictive
moved away from the Mole she left the protection of the harbour wall and once again came under intense German shelling. The Germans continued their bombardment of the ship, even using gas shells, until she disappeared behind a smoke screen laid by fast patrol boats moving in behind her
