Zeebrugge and Ostend Raids: One hundredth anniversary

Today marks the one hundredth anniversary of the raids on Zeebrugge and Ostend. The main purpose of the raids was to block the seaward exits of the canals that linked Bruges to the sea, and to prevent the German submarines and destroyers that were based there from gaining access to the English Channel.

I first became aware of the raid when – as a young child – I saw the model of HMS Vindictive in the Imperial War Museum as she was at the time of the raid. As I grew older I read more and more about the events of 23rd April 1918, and it has become a scenario that I have always wanted to recreate on the tabletop but never quite got around to. More recently my wife discovered that one of her relatives – Able Seaman Sydney G Digby (J36259) – was one of the Royal Navy volunteers who took part in the raid, and who was killed very early on in the action.

---

The Zeebrugge Raid

The raid on Zeebrugge began with an assault on the mile-long mole. This was intended to disrupt the German defences – particularly the gun batteries on the mole – and was undertaken by a mixed force of Royal Navy personnel and Royal Marines.

The main assault force was carried aboard the heavily modified Arrogant-class cruiser HMS Vindictive. Additional troops were carried aboard the requisitioned Mersey ferries Daffodil and Iris. Two obsolete C-class submarines (C1 and C3) that had been turned into floating bombs by the addition of five tons of explosives in their bows, were tasked with crashing into the viaduct that connected the shore to the mole. Once in place, the explosives were to be detonated after the crews had been evacuated by motor boats.

To help to obscure events from the shoreside defenders and coastal defence batteries, motor launches and coastal torpedo boats were fitted with smokescreen equipment developed by Wing Commander Brock (of the famous family of firework manufacturers) and were supposed to lay a dense smokescreen offshore.

Whilst this diversionary attack was taking place, three old cruisers that had been converted in blockships – HMS Thetis, HMS Intrepid, and HMS Iphigenia – were supposed to sail into the mouth of the Bruges-Zeebrugge canal and then be scuttled so that they blocked it.

Things began to go wrong as soon as the operation began. The wind blew the smokescreen out to sea rather than inland, and the Vindictive came alongside the mole in the wrong place. Many of the assault force were killed before they even made it ashore, and those that did had a very hard fight in their hands trying to beat off the German defenders and to reach and neutralise the mole gun batteries before the blockships arrived.

The three blockships did manage to reach the outer entrance to the canal but sank before they had blocked it completely. One of the submarines – the C3 – did manage to reach the viaduct (the other had not managed to reach Zeebrugge in time due to a broken tow rope) and when its explosive charge went off, it not only destroyed the viaduct but also killed a number of German bicycle troops that were crossing it at the time.

The raid was not a 100% success – the Bruges-based submarines and destroyers were soon able to use the canal again after some dredging work had taken place and the canal entrance had been widened – but it took place at a time when even a reasonably successful aggressive action was welcomed by the British government.

Of the 1,700 men involved in the operation, 227 were killed and 33 wounded. Eight Victoria Crosses were awarded, and the recipients were:

• Major Edward Bamford DSO (Royal Marine Light Infantry)
• Lieutenant Commander George Nicholson Bradford (Royal Navy)
• Commander Alfred Francis Blakeney Carpenter (Royal Navy)
• Lieutenant Percy Thompson Dean (Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve)
• Sergeant Norman Augustus Finch (Royal Marine Artillery)
• Lieutenant Commander Arthur Leyland Harrison (Royal Navy)
• Ordinary Seaman Albert Edward McKenzie (Royal Navy)
• Lieutenant Richard Douglas Sandford (Royal Navy)

---

The Ostend Raids

The attack on Ostend was an altogether smaller affair and involved a much smaller force. Only two blockships were involved – HMS Sirius and HMS Brilliant – and there was no assault by Royal Navy personnel or Royal Marines. There was considerable fire support from four Lord Clive-class and three M15-class monitors and they engaged the German coastal defences.

Just as at Zeebrugge, the smokescreen was blown away from the land by the prevailing wind, and meant that the blockships could not see their target. They tried to navigate by dead reckoning and using a navigation buoy that marked the channel towards the canal. Unfortunately, the buoy had been moved by the local German commander and both ships ended up sinking in the wrong place.

This raid was a total failure, and a second raid was mounted on 10th May in which HMS Vindictive was used as the blockship.

A further three Victoria Crosses were awarded for the second raid. The recipients were:

• Lieutenant Commander Roland Bourke DSO (Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve)
• Lieutenant Victor Alexander Charles Crutchley, DSC (Royal Navy)
• Lieutenant Commander Geoffrey Heneage Drummond (Royal Navy Volunteer Reserve)

This was second raid slightly more successful, but it proved impossible to block the seaward exits of the Bruges-Zeebrugge and Bruges-Ostend canals.