RAMMING A BOOM

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 63, Issue 41, 27 November 1942, Page 4

RAMMING A BOOM

BRITISH WARSHIP AT ALGIERS, NEW ZEALANDERS ON BOARD. INTERESTING NARRATIVES. (Special Correspondent, N.Z.P.A.) (Ree. 12 n00n..) LONDON,. Nov. 26. Seven New Zealanders were in a warship which rammed the submarine bo,om at thej entrance to Algiers harbour during -the action of British and Americans. While shells and bullets were whining around above the ship she sought- three times to enter the , harbour, but’ was blinded by searchlights. "She shot out a searchlight and cut the boom “like a knife through butter,” tied, up at the jetty to allow the : Amerians to pour on to the land and occupy the port. •; Ordinary Seaman J. B. Butchers ’(Wellington), W. A. Day (Nelson), R. 'L. Gardiner (Matamata), P. Gurnsley (Christchurch), Telegraphist “Red” McElhiney (Invercargill), came out of the fight without a scratch. Ordinary Seaman W. D. Crombie (Christchurch) was killed. Seaman Gurnsey said: “Butcher’s and my job' was to wait on the forecastle, then when the ship reached the jetty we had to jump out and help tie up the ship. Gardiner was lookout jn the crow’s nest, and Day was on the bridge passing the gunner officer’s order's to the gunners. We were scheduled to attack before dawn. We were greeted by searchlights and guns and could hear .the shells whining as they approached. They seemed to purr as they passed overhead. We could almost imagine them spinning round. One shell exploded in mid-air about 20 yards from the ship, which enlivered the .proceedings. “After we shot out the searchlight, we were told to stand by for ramming. 'Dawn was just breaking as we made ’.the run against the boom. We could (see the string of barges linked up like a chain. There was a temporary Hull in the firing as we approached, (which was later accounted for by the fact that the defenders had mined the iboom and expected it would blow us Sky high. We lay flat on the deck, gripping on to anything we could, exv pecting to be thrown around when we hit the boom, but we did not notice anything. “Fifteen seconds later every gun and machine-gun opened up again. We could hear the bullets whining, spanking against the ship. When she cam 3 alongside the jetty we jumped about 12 feet and landed on a concrete floor. It was like jumping off a low house. We then tied the lines up and helped

to let the gangway down to allow the ashore. As they queued up, : ‘:t#o‘ sailors encouraged them: ‘ All on (shore! Going Ashore! Any more /Yanks for the Shore?’ Then we climbed back aboard, collected rifles, tommy- : guns and 1 revolvers, and spent a lively . .£tiine shooting up snipers. They fired, on -us from cranes, ships’ rigging and the f roof-tops of warehouses.” V Gardiner said: “It certainly was lively up in the crow’s nest. Approaching the harbour we were held by a searchlight from time to time while shells were whizzing round. I wished 1 had something active to do, hut did not have long- to wait once inside the -boom. Three machine-guns opened up

as we passed the mole. I was armed Avith a portable Lewis gun, so promptly shut them up. Then 1 spent air interesting time shooting* up limy snipers ;i could see. I later continued firing ; from the bridge.” ‘ Y ~:.;i‘T)(ay; said : “My job was gun commuhication on the bridge. I lay flat on my face \yhen we rammed the boom,, ,shouting orders' down the telephone. I whs lucky to escape when the man next me was wounded in the leg. After we tied up I collected a rifle and went to the joining in the shooting. We all admired the skipper. He was terrific- While we were lying flat on our faces lie was standing up as though everything was normal. There were several amusing incidents. One that made us all laugh was a tough Seattle, who, after helping tie up the ship, decided to join in with the Yankees. He was entirely uparmed ; and came on three machine-gunners. He shouted out: ‘ Hi, there.; hand over that bloody thing; come aboard.” Then he grabbed one man’s bayonet and waved them toward the ship. When lie reached the ship several aboard called out: ‘Hi, Jock; you had’better look out; you arc unarmed.’ He replied: ‘Ma word, I am not. You had better cover me.’ It certainly was a lively do and a very successful action.”

It was the first time those New Zealanders had been under fire; They will shortly be tailing commissions on the King Alfred.