ATTACK ON ZEEBRUGGE

Evening Star, Issue 20468, 26 April 1930, Page 3

ATTACK ON ZEEBRUGGE

LECTURE BY REV. G. B. HINTON Tbero was a largo attendance of at tlio Uctagou Theatre to hear the Rev. 0. 13. Hinton deliver a lantern lecture on the attack of the, British Navy upon Zeebrugge, in his in trod notary remarks 31 r Hinton said that the gathering was not merely an entertainment, it was in some sense a service. The thoughts of all wore cent red upon that which lay behind the observance of the day—the honouring of the men of Anzau of whom the day spoke. The Rev. H. E. Bellhouse, in the course of a short address, said that it was fifteen years ago’ since the men of Australia and New Zealand landed on the nigged shores of Gallipoli and stormed the heights,'winning lor themselves a deathless renown. Anzao Hay was a day to celebrate invincible daring ami reckless sacrifice. Some had said tho sacrifice had after all been 'productive of no lasting good, but was there not a permanent value in all sacrifice? Were not tho most thrilling episodes in history stories of sacrifice? To these traditions belonged the story of Anzac—a story that would glow more brilliantly in the years to come. That which followed on the contemplation of so much sacrifice and heroism was a feeling of indebtedness. Those who had fallen had given their all, and they who were left were for ever debtors 'and must seek to repay tho debt. Although fifteen years had passed, the obligations of the , living were as great to-day as ever, and the responsibility lay on them to see that there should be no more ;war. It was, amazing the short memories most people had concerning the war. Surely all needed to pray “Lest wo forget! ” It »was good, stated tlio speaker, to recall the sacrifices of those war years, ami Abo services rendered by all tor the common good- Rut with the cessation of hostilities tho old condition of affairs had reasserted itself. 'The various classes of society, brought together during the conflict, had drifted apart, former sympathy and understanding had been lost, and tho floodgates of moral nastiness had been flung wide open, lb was impossible not to feel tho irony of the statement that “ the war was fought to make England a place lit for heroes to live in.” The country was largely breaking faith with the dead. Ecw realised the tragedy of the war. They should think, of the 9,000,000 dead, the 130,000,000 maimed, the millions of broken hearts, and the tremendous economic waste, as well as the moral degeneracy and decay which followed in the, wake of war. The one hope. of tlio world, said Mr Bellhouse, ■ was the League of Nations, which had already done a great deal to preserve peace among the nations, and he urged all present to afford it all tho support in their power, as -the strength of thp League Jay solely in •public opinion. The dream of a warless world was a heavenly-inspired dream, and, therefore, would seine day come to pass. (Applause.) Before throwing on to the screen tho pictures of Zeebrugge, Mr Hinton said that although in the course of his remarks ho might say some tilings unpleasant about our former enemies, it was done with no feeling of ill-will. Ho hoped to show that war was a terrible catastrophe. He hoped that by seeing the horrible side of war tho audience might bo . brought more ardently to desire peace. . , The first slides shown depicted the strategic position of Zeebrugge as a point of attack on British shipping. The coastline waters were remarkably shallow, but channels had befiii dredged to allow of the passage of vessels to the deep sea beyond. This was later to play an important part in the blocking of Zeebrugge. The whole coastline had been heavily fortified by the Germans, and slides Were thrown on the screen showing the immensely power!id guns which were used in tho forts, making any attack on those shores apparently hopeless. By the end of 1916 a total of 12,000,000 tons of Allied shipping had been sunk, and it had become imperative to do something to counteract the menace of tho German submarines. The only thing which appeared to offer hope of.lasting success was the complete destruction of both Zeebrugge and Osteiul. The speaker, with the aid ot slides, showed the enormous difficulty of this task, owing to tho elaborate system of defence, and explained the British plans for the attack. So hazardous was the undertaking that it was decided to man the vessels engaged only by volunteers, but of these far more were forthcoming than were required. Scenes were shown of the actual attack on The mole, and the sinking of the ships which effectually blocked the exit from the inner harbour and destroyed Zeebrugge as a base for submarines. Ostend was similarly treated, and England was saved from the effects of a blockade. Tho final part of the programme was devoted to tlio screening of pictures of vessels sinking as the result of torpedo attacks. These had been taken by German officers on board the attacking sub'marines, mid were, therefore, absolutely authentic. Photographs of German medals and of cartooils, the work or German officers, showed the attitude of tile German military caste towards what other , nations regarded as atrocities, and in the words of tho lecturer demonstrated how war '“completely destroyed the moral sense of those'erigaged.”