SUBMARINE HEROES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXIII, Issue 136, 11 June 1942, Page 6

SUBMARINE HEROES

TWO NEW V.C/S WON

LONDON, June 9.

Two young men, Lieutenant Peter Scawen Roberts, aged 25, and Petty Officer Thomas William Gould, aged 38, have been awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous gallantry while serving in H.M.S. Thrasher, which is one of Britain's latest and best submarines, the constructional details of which are still a secret. | In pitch darkness and on a tumbling i sea they gambled with death for 50 minutes, and saved their ship and shipmates. ! The citation states that in daylight the Thrasher attacked and sank a heavily-escorted supply ship. She was immediately attacked with depth chargesi and bombed from the air,'and the presence of two unexploded bombs in her gun casing was discovered when, after dark, she surfaced and began to roll. VOLUNTEERED FOR WORK, Roberts and Gould volunteered to remove the bombs, which were of a type unknown to them. The danger of dealing with the second bomb* was very great. To reach it they had to go through ''the casing,. which, was so low thatiithey had to lie flat full length to move the bomb through this narrow space. In complete darkness they pushed and dragged the bomb for 20 feet until it could be" lowered over the side. Every time the bomb moved there was a loud twanging noise like a broken spring,, which added nothing to their peace of mind. Their deed was the more gallant because the Thrasher's presence was known to the enemy., She was close to the enemy coast and in waters where patrols were known to be active day and night, and the Thrasher might have had to crash-dive while they were in the casing. Had this happened they must have been drowned.

A submarine's casing is the structure built on top of the hull to form a flat deck for the gun crews. The whole of this superstructure fills with water when the submarine submerges.