CAPTURE OF THE ALTMARK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26771, 14 May 1948, Page 5

CAPTURE OF THE ALTMARK

CHURCHILL MEMOIRS

Events in “The Twilight War”

By WINSTON S. CHURCHILL.

The end of the year 1939 left the war still in its sinister trance. An occasional cannon-shot or reconnoitring patrol alone broke the silence of the Western Front. The Armies gaped at each other from behind their rising fortifications across an undisputed “No-Man’s-Land.”

not provide an equal entertainment each time.

So far no ally had espoused our cause. The United States was cooler than in any other period. I persevered in my correspondence with the President, but with little response. The Chancellor of the Exchequer groaned about our dwindling dollar resources. We had already signed a pact of mutual assistance with Turkey and were considering what aid we could give her from our narrow margins. The stresses created by the Finnish War had worsened our relations, already bad, with the Soviets. Any action we might undertake to help the Finns might lead to war with Russia. The fundamental antagonisms between the Soviet Government and Nazi Germany did not prevent the Kremlin actively aiding by supplies and facilities the development of Hitler’s power. Communists in France and any that existed in Britain denounced the “ Imperialist-Capitalist War, and did what they could to hamper work in the munition factories. They certainly exercised a depressing and subversive influence within the French Army already

A vivid episode now sharpened everything in Scandinavia. The reader will remember my concern to capture the Altmark. the auxiliary of the Spee. This vessel was also a floating prison for the crews of our sunk merchant ships. British captives released by Captain von Langsdorff according to international law in Montevideo Harbour told us that nearly 300 British merchant seamen were on board the Altmark. This vessel hid in the South Atlantic for nearly two months, and then, hoping that the search had died down, her captain made a bid to return to Germany. Luck and the weather favoured her, and not until February 14, after passing between Iceland and the Faroes, was she sighted by our aircraft in Norwegian territorial waters. Altmark at Bay

wearied by inaction. We continued to court Italy by civilities and favourable contracts, but we could feel no security, or progress towards friendship. Count Ciano was polite to our Ambassador. Mussolini stood aloof.

All January the Finns stood firm, and at the end of the month the growing Russian armies were still held in their positions. The Red Air Force continued to bomb Helsingfors and Viipuri, and the cry from the Finnish Government for aircraft and war materials grew louder. The delays about Narvik continued interminably. Although the Cabinet were prepared to contemplate pressure upon Norway and Sweden to allow aid to pass to Finland, they remained opposed to the much smaller operation of mining the Leads. The first was noble; the second merely tactical. Important Papers Captured

In the words of an Admiralty communique, “ certain of his Majesty’s ships which were conveniently disposed were set in motion.” A destroyer flotilla, under the command of Captain Philip Vian, of H.M.S. Cossack, intercepted the Altmark, but did not immediately molest her. She took refuge in Josing Fiord, a narrow inlet about half a mile long surrounded by high snow-clad cliffs. Two British destroyers were told to board her for examination. At the entrance to the fiord they were met by two Norwegian gunboats, who informed them that the ship was unarmed, had been examined the previous day and had received permission to proceed to Germany, making use of Norwegian territorial waters. Our destroyers thereupon withdrew. When this information reached the Admiralty I intervened and with the concurrence of the Foreign Secretary, ordered our ships to enter the fiord. I did not often act so directly! but I now sent Captain Vian the following order:

On January 19 anxieties about the western front received confirmation. A German staff major of the 7th Air Division had been ordered to, take some documents to headquarters in Cologne. Wishing to save time for private indulgences, he decided to fly across the intervening Belgian territory. His machine made a forced landing; the Belgian police arrested him and impounded his papers, which he tried desperately to destroy. These contained the entire and actual scheme for the invasion of Belgium, Holland and France on which Hitler had resolved. The French and British Governments were given copies of these documents, and the German major was released to explain matters to his superiors. I was told about all this at the time, but it seemed to me incredible that the Belgians would not make a plan to invite us in. But they did nothing about it. It was argued in all three countries concerned that probably it was a plant. But this could not be true. .. There could be no sense in the Germans trying to make the Belgians believe that they were going to attack them in the near future. This might make them do the very last thing the Germans wanted—namely, make a plan with the French and British Armies to come forward privily and quickly one fine night. I therefore believed in the impending attack. But such questionings found no place in the thought of the Belgian King, and he and his army staff merely waited, hoping that all would turn out well.

“February 16, 1940, 5.25 p.m. “ Unless Norwegian- torpedo-boat undertakes to convoy Altmark to Bergen with a joint Anglo-Norwegian guard on board, and a joint escort, you should board Altmark, liberate the prisoners and take possession of the ship pending further instructions. If Norwegian torpedo-boat interferes, you should warn her to stand off. If she fires upon you. you should not reply unless attack is serious, in which case you should defend yourself, using no more force than is necessary, and ceasing fire when she desists.” " The Navy's Here 1

In spite of all the German major’s papers, no fresh action of any kind was taken by the Allies or' the threatened States. Hitler, on the other hand, as we now know, summoned Goering to his presence, and, on being told that the captured papers were in fact the complete plans for invasion, ordered, after venting his anger, new variants to be prepared. It was then clear at the beginning of 1940 that Hitler had a detailed plan involving both Belgium and Holland for the invasion of France. Should this begin at, any moment, General Gamelin’s plan “ D ” would be put in operation, including the movement of the Seventh French Army and the British Army. Plan “D” had been worked out in exact- detail and required only one single word to set it in motion. This course, though deprecated at the outset of the war by the British Chiefs of Staff, had been definitely and formally confirmed in Paris on fiTovember 17, 1939. On this basis the Allies awaited the impending shoes, and Hitler the campaigning season, for which the weather might well oe favourable from April onwards. During the winter and spring the B E.F. were extremely busy setting themselves to rights, fortifying their lines, and preparing for war. whether offensive or defensive. From the highest rank to the lowest, all 'Yfr r< r hard at it, and the good showing that (hey eventually made was due largely to the full use made of the opportunties provided during the winte*. The British was a far better army at the end of "The Twilight War. It was also larger. The awful gap, reflecting on our pre-war arrangements, was the absence of even one armoured division in the British Expeditionary Force. In early February Mr Sumner Welles looked in upon us after a trip to both sides on which he .had been sent by the President. Mr Chamberlain asked me to meet him at Downing street after dinner. Lord Halifax and some others were there. I must have acquitted myself satisfactorily, for a few days later, when the Prime Minister was going to the Supreme War Council in Paris, he invited me for the first time to go with him. .1 suggested that we should go by sea, which I could arrange: sq we all sailed from Dover in a destroyer and reached Pans in time for a meeting in the evening. On the way over Mr Chamberlain showed me the reply he had given to the peace suggestions which Mr Sumner Welles had gathered. This struck roc favourably, and when I had read it in his presence, I said to him: “I am proud to serve in your Government.” He seemed pleased at this. This meeting on February 5 was all about "Aid to Finland.” and plans were approved to send three or four divisions into Norway, in order to persuade Sweden to let us send supplies and reinforcements to the Finns, and, incidentally, to get control of the Gullivare orefield. As might be expected, the Swedes did not agree to this and, though extensive preparations were made, the whole project fell to the ground. Mr Chamberlain conducted Uie proceedings himself on our behalf, and only minor interventions were made by the various British Ministers attending. I am not recorded as having said a word. The next day, when - we came to recross the Channel, an amusing incident occurred. We sighted a floating mine. So I said to the captain: ‘‘Let us blow it up by gunfire.” It burst with a good bang, and a large piece of wreckage sailed over towards us and seemed for an instant as if it were going to settle on the bridge, where all the politicians and some of the other swells were clustered. However, it landed on the forecastle, which was happily bare, and no one was hurt. Thus everything passed off pleasantly. From this time onwards I was invited by the Prime Minister to accompany him. with others, to the meetings of the Supreme War Council. But I could

Vian did the rest. That night in the Cossack with searchlights burning he entered the fiord through the ice floes. He first went on board the Norwegian gunboat Kjell and requested that the Altmark should be taken to Bergen under a joint Anglo-Norwegian guard and escort, for inquiry according to international law. The Norwegian captain repeated his assurance that the Altmark had been twice searched, the she was unarmed, and that no British prisoners had been found. Vian then stated that he was going to board her, and invited the Norwegian officer to join him. This offer was eventually declined. Meanwhile, the Altmark got under way ,and in trying to ram the Cossack ran herself aground. The Cossack forced her way alongside, and a boarding party sprang across, after grappling the two ships together. A sharp hand-to-hand fight followed, in which four Germans were killed and five wounded; part of the crew fled ashore and the rest surrendered. The search began for the British prisoners. They were soon fAund in their hundreds, battened down, locked in storerooms, and even in an empty oil-tank. Then came the cry, “ The navy’s here." The doors were broken in and the captives rushed on deck. Altogether, 299 prisoners were released and transferred to our destroyers. It was also found that the Altmark carried two pom-poms and four mschine-guns, and that despite having been boarded twice by the Norwegians, she had not been searched. The Norwegian gunboats remained passive observers throughout. By midnight Vian was clear of the fiord and making for the Forth. The rescue and Captain Vian's conduct aroused a wave of enthusiasm in Britain almost equal to that which followed the sinking of the Graf Spee. Both these events strengthened my hand and the prestige of the Admiralty. “The navy’s here.” was passed from lip to lip. March 12 was the long-desired date for the reoccupation and use of Scapa as the main base for the Home Fleet. I thought I would give myself the treat of being present on this occasion in our naval affairs, and embarked accordingly in Admiral Forbes’s flagship at the Clyde. Visit to Scapa

The fleet comprised five capital ships, a cruiser squadron and perhaps a score of destroyers. The 20-hour voyage lay through the Minches/ We were to pass the Northern Straits at dawn and reach Scapa about noon. The Hood and other ships from Rosyth, moving up the east coast, would be there some hours before us. The navigation of the Minches is intricate, and the northern exit blrely a mile wide. On every side are rocky shores and reefs, and three U-boats were reported in these enclosed waters. We had to proceed at high speed and by zigzag. All the usual peace-time lights were out. This was therefore a task in navigation which the navy keenly appx-eciated. We were perhaps half an hour's steaming from the entrance to Scapa when a signal reached us saying several German aircraft had dropped mines in the main entrance we were about to use. Admiral Forbes thereupon decided that he must stand out to the westward for 24 hours until the channel had been reported clear, and on this the whole fleet began to change its course. “ I can easily put you ashore in a destroyer if you care to tranship,” he said. “ The Hood is already in harbour and can look after you.” As I had snatched these three days from London with difficulty. I accepted this offer. Our baggage was rapidly brought on deck; the flagship reduced her speed to three or four knots, and manned by 12 men in their lifebelts was lowered from the davits. My small party was already in it, and I was- taking leave of the admiral when an air-raid alarm sounded, and the whole ship flashed into activity as all the ack-ack batteries were manned and other measures taken.

We soon found our way to the Hood, where Admiral Whitworth received us, having gathered most of his captains, and I passed a pleasant night on board before ihe long round of inspections which filled the next day. This was the last time-1 ever set foot upon the Hood although she had nearly two years of war service to perform before her destruction by the Bismarck in 1941. More than six months of constant exertion and the highest priorities had repaired the peace-time neglect. The three main entrances were defended with booms and mines, and three additional block ships, among others, had already been placed in Kirk Sound, through which Prien’s U-boat had slipped to destroy the Royal Oak. Many more block ships were yet to come. A large garrison guarded the base and the still-growing batteries. We had planned for over 120 ack-ack guns, with numerous searchlights and a balloon barrage to command the air over the fleet anchorage. Not all these measures were yet complete, but the, air defences were already formidable. Many small craft patrolled tire approaches in ceaseless activity, and two

or three squadrons of Hurricane fighters from the airfields in Caithness could be guided to an assailant in darkness or daylight by one of the finest radar installations then in existence At last the Home Fleet had a homo It was the famous home from whic' in the previous war the Royal Nav had ruled the seas. (World Copyright Reservedi