WAR TOPICS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 4, Issue 164, 6 October 1941, Page 6

WAR TOPICS

LEANDER'S STORY

MANY TIMES IN ACTION

ONLY TWO OF CREW LOST

Further interesting details of the .activity of H.M.S. Leander, which left New Zealand in the early pari of last year for foreign service, are given in an official account which has just been released lor publication. This continues the narrative which recorded the Leandcr's doings up to the end of last February:

For the first few months of the war the Leander's service was performed in New Zealand waters, giving protection to the New Zealand coast and tp shipping between there and Australian rentes. Then followed a long, fast voyage to the Mediterranean, during Avhich the cruiser covered about 10, GOO miles in 24 days in May of last year. The ship's stay in the Mediterranean wa r only a short one, and early in June She passed through the Suez Canal to begin a long period of convoy work in the Red Sea. This period, according to the official account, was throughout the lied Sea mer and was an uncomfortable one, hut interest was sustained by the ever-present possibility of attack by the Italian surface, submarine and A.ir forces from enemy bases on the (lank of the convoy route.

Only once, however, did the Leander have the opportunity of engaging enemy surface craft. This, curiously enough, happened in the early morning of Trafalgar Day, when two enemy destroyers delivered a long-range attack on the convoy. As a result of the action, one of the destroyers Avas sunk by li.M.S Kimberley. High-level bombing attacks by enemy aircraft were common, but they Ave re iiiA'ariably ineffective.

At the end of NoA'cmber the Lennder had a spell from active service. and was ordered to Bombay for dockin£ and refit. The men had a very pleasant time Avhile there, and returned to Avork at the end of December much refreshed.

In the Red Sea

After a further short spell of convoy Avork in the Red Sea the Leander Avas transferred to the Indian Ocean for the purpose of protecting shipping from the attentions ol enemy surface raiders. For the most part, seiwice in the Indian Ocean consisted of steaming many thousands of miles in considerable heat, but the ship had the good fortune to experience tAvo which broke the monotony of this lonjj patrol. On February 27 she met and sank the small Italian German suppi j r ship, Ramb L, and early in March, when H.M.A.S Canberra sank the German supply ship Goburg and the captured Norwegian tanker Ketty BroA'ig, the Leander Avas shortly afterwards on the scene, and picked up a number of German prisoners and some Norweg'jin survivors.

"Shortly after Easter our employment Avas varied by having the honour of hoisting the flag of the Com-mander-in-Chief, Eiist Indies, and conveying him at high speed from Colombo to the Shatt-el-Arab, in the Persian Gulf, in connection Avith the coup d'etat of Raschid Ali and the subsequent occupation of the country by British troops," continues the official narrative.

"Early in June, as a result of the severe losses sustained by the Mediterranean Fleet in the evacuations from Greece and Crete, the Leander was transferred to the Mediterranean, and once more found herself in Alexandria. The return to this port made possible many pleasant reunions between ourselves and members of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force in the Middle East.

"Activity by the Italian Navy, still marting from the defeat at Cape Matapan, was ati a low ebb, and avc did not have the good fortune to go into action against them, though bombing and mine'aying raids at Alexandria and Haifa were frequent. Action Off Syria "We avc re fortunate in seeing action on the Syrian coast in support of the Australian forces adA'ancing along the coast road to Beirut. The Australians did a Avonderful job against particularly strong defences held Avith determination. On two occasions avc intervened activity bv j

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bombarding enemy strong points at the Damour River, but our principal duties were to ensure that the destroyers which were working close inshore, were not molested by the French destroyer forces from Beirut, and to assist our own air force in protecting them against enemy air interference. The former threat did not materialise, but at times Italian and Vichy French bombing attacks were delivered. These, though mild in comparison with those which our Fleet mates had encountered from the German Stuka divebombers, kept us well occupied.

"On another occasion we were present Avhen a British force fought a brief but inconclusive night action against two French destroyers supported from coastal defence artillery near Beirut, from which our force withdrew 7 without damage."

Transport of Soldiers

Not long after tlic Syrian campaign the Leandcr Avas employed in transporting soldiers and airmen from "somcAvherc to somcAvherc else in the Middle East." This task required careful organisation if some hundreds of men, Avith their kit and stores, Avcre to lie embarked and transported in reasonable comfort and then disembarked in an orderly manner, probably by night, at their destination. "Everything AA'cnt Avithout a hitch," comments the official account, "and Ave haA*e reason to belieA r e that our efforts on behalf of our guests Averc duly appreciated."

At the end of July, the situation in the Mediterranean permitted the withdraAval of the Leandcr and, Avith an appreciate signal from the Com-mander-in-Chief for her serA T ices while under his command, the ship left for duty elscAvliere.

During the Avliolc of her active sen-ice the Leandcr has lost only lavo members: of her complement. These Avere tAVO members of the strolcehold creAV Avho Avere killed on shore during an air raid on Alexandria. The health of the ship's company. lias remained A r erv good under trying climatic conditions, the most common of the minor sicknesses

! imong the complement being due to heat. There have, however, been no cases of sunstroke.