FREEDOM OF EXETER
RIVER PLATE HERO HONOURED. LONDON, Oct. 14. Rear-Admiral Sir Henry Harwood, commander of the British squadron in the Battle of the River Plate, was admitted to-day to the honorary freedom of Exeter. In a speech follow ing the ceremony I he gave an account of the action. He . said that he had signalled his plan 1 of battle on the day before the fight. 1 During the action he saw H.M.S.' Exeter surrounded by flashes and smoke and for a time he feared ,he was going to lose her, but the cruiser gallantly remained in action, enabling the Ajax and the Achilles to close in to decisive gun range. He said that he received the new'S that the Admiral Graf Spee had blown herself up from the aircraft of the Ajax. “It was one of the proudl est moments of my life,” he declared. “Sailors came up from every hatch : and ventilator, and the New Zea- • landers on the Achilles jsang their ' Maori song.’’ The Rear-Admiral's wife and naval ■ cadet son were among the audience.
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Bibliographic details
Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 244, 16 October 1940, Page 6
Word Count
178FREEDOM OF EXETER Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 84, Issue 244, 16 October 1940, Page 6
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