DARING ATTACK

New Zealand Herald, Volume 81, Issue 24826, 24 February 1944, Page 5

DARING ATTACK

Tilli TOUPJSDOED TIBI'ITZ VICTORIA CROSSES WON (Heed. 5.35 p.m.) LONDON, Feb. 22 In their absence as prisoners of war, two midget submarine officers, Lieutenant C. B. Place and Lieutenant D. Cameron, have been awarded the Victoria Cross for a daring and successful attack 011 the German battleship Tirpitz (sister-ship to the ill-fated Bismarck) in the protected anchorage oil the ivaa Mord, .North .Norway, last September. Bear-Admiral C. B. Barry, Flag Officer Commanding Submarines, in a broadcast, said: "The submarines were so close 10 the Tirpitz that men 011 the deck of the battleship opened iire with small arms. The submarines disappeared as they were firing.

•'Shortly after there was an enormous explosion, it lifted the Tirpitz several feet into the air and when she fell back she was so thoroughly crippled as no longer to bo a lighting ship," Rear-Admiral Barry concluded. The official, announcement of the awards of the Victoria Cross are followed by a. vivid account of the exploit. "To reach the anchorage." the citation says, "necessitated the penetration of an enemy minefield and a passage of 50 miles up the fiord, known to be vigilantly patrolled and guarded by nets, gun defences and listeningposts. Having successfully eluded all these hazards and entered the first anchorage, Lieutenants Cameron and Place, with complete disregard of danger, worked their small craft close to the anti-suhmarine and torpedo nets surrounding Tirpitz and, from a position inside these nets, carried out a cool and determined attack. "They were still inside the nets when a fierce enemy counter-attack by guns and depth charges developed, making it impossible to withdraw. Lieutenants Cameron and Place, therefore. scuttled their craft and the majority of their crews, together with themselves, were subsequently taken prisoner " A number of other awards were made to the members of the crew.