Voyage Through “E-Boat Alley”

Northern Advocate, 7 October 1941, Page 3

Voyage Through “EBoat Alley”

LONDON, October 6. On his 100th run through "E-boat Alley” the captain of a Newcastle collier was accompanied by a naval correspondent, who gives the following account:— We stood together on the bridge of his little ship, gazing out into the darkness. Ahead, astern and on the beam were the dark shadows of the other ships of the East Coast convoy. Many were colliers or similar small craft. Ahead was one of the “flat irons,” as the men of the coast call these squat little craft with hinged masts and funnels which fold dowmto pass under the bridges of the Thames. Battle of North Sea The officers and men of those ships have probably seen more action in this war than any other seafarer. The battle of the North Sea is more concentrated than the battle of the Atlantic. The collier’s captain, who comes from Darlington, has spent his life at sea and has sailed on the East Coast ever since the last war. He is one of a band of officers who have all made 50 to 100 trips through “E-boat Alley.” They have been attacked time after time by dive-bombers and E-boats. Some have escaped from ships sunk by bomb or torpedo, but they still carry on. All In The Day’s Work They have learned to look at it as all in the day’s work. At dusk we had listened carefully for sounds of aircraft, but nothing came. Soon after darkness closed in there had been some activity ahead amongst the leading ships. Tracer bullets could be seen streaming skywards like a string of red hot beads. We were on the alert, but nothing happened. We were listening for a sound like the engine of a racing car ticking over or a motor boat running slow. For this was “E-boat Alley.” German Sea Wasps It looked the same as another stretch of sea. but this was a stretch where those German sea wasps, the E-boats, sometimes lie in wait, so we stood and peered into the darkness and listened. Away to port shore searchlights scanned the skies. The captain, from the darkness, began to talk quietly. “Dive-bombers used to be the worst trouble on this coast,” he said. “A convoy we were in once was attacked by a bunch of 25 dive-bombers. It was a pretty hot show while it lasted. Another time one aeroplane came out of the clouds and dropped bombs all around us, but did no harm.” He stopped talking for a while and stared ahead into the darkness. Thanks To Russians “But we have not seen much of the dive-bombers lately,” he went on. “1 suppose we have got to thank the Russians for that. The Germans are still sending over aeroplanes, but the divebombers must be busy in the East. “We are getting near E-boat corner now,” he added. “It is just about here. I saw one of them a few trips ago. I just got a glimpse as he raced away laying a smoke-screen. The mate is a good man with a Lewis gun. He knows how to hold his fire until the right moment —even when an aircraft is diving right at him.” So through the night we sailed on up “E-boat Alley” just one of the many ships which make this adventurous trip many times a year. At dawn we were again listening for aircraft, but all was quiet. It was one of those quiet voyages.