大象传媒

MY LIFE MY WAR

By
Bernard Hallas

Chapter 12c - Back on board (Cont)

The next morning it was up bright and early and the condemned man ate a hearty breakfast. Then it was out cleaning gear and polishing up the uniform, ready for the ceremony. Arriving in plenty of time at St John鈥檚,Crawshawbooth I sat with my best man, my eldest Brother Jim. I had received my instructions. Do not look back when the bride walks down the aisle, it鈥檚 considered unlucky.

At this wedding no one was going to depend on luck. There was a hush as the organ started to play 鈥淗ere Comes The Bride鈥�, I couldn鈥檛 help myself I turned round and just looked straight into those lovely eyes, and I remained, looking at her until she stood by my side. There are many lovely brides and no doubt there will be many more, but at that moment in time, Ruth was the loveliest bride that ever breathed. We took our vows and kissed and we were convinced that 鈥淯ntil Death Did Us Part鈥�, we would both be as one and so it was for over 57 years, and so it will be until we meet once more. After the ceremony, we left the church and found that our cars were held up by a military parade in aid of 鈥淲ings for Victory鈥�.

The Parade Marshal, seeing that I was in uniform, opened a space in the formation and ushered our driver into it. The band immediately struck up with 鈥淩oll me over, lay me down and do it again鈥�, and to the cheers of the crowd, we were escorted into the town centre. Eventually we arrived at the Liberal club and our refreshments. Friends had arrived from Manchester and further a field.

We had the usual speeches and cutting of the cake and then settled down for an evening of enjoyment. At some time in the evening I did hear my new Mother in Law say to my wife, 鈥淲ell, you have made your bed, now you have to lie on it鈥�. Taking Ruth on to one side, I told her, 鈥淚t won鈥檛 be too bad, so long as your mother doesn鈥檛 try to get into it鈥�. Her mum looked quite puzzled when her newly wed daughter ran laughing all the way to the toilet. As always, these things come to an end and everyone made their way home.

The Ribble bus company laid on a special bus to take most of the locals home and my eldest half brother gave his usual rendering of a very sick George Formby on his banjo. The remainder of the week we spent between my brother鈥檚 house and the sea front at Blackpool. It was everything that I had dreamed of and I never wanted it to end, but unfortunately, it did and at the end of an unforgettable week, I was once again saying a fond farewell to my loved one. In no time at all we were once again on our way to the Mediterranean Fleet.

This time to cover the invasion of Sicily, standing by as watch dogs was not to the liking of our captain who approached the admiral and stated that we would be better employed doing a spot of gunnery. 鈥淪icily is a big island Sir, and I鈥檓 sure that if I tried I could hit it.鈥� The admiral smiled, saying, 鈥淚 doubt it, Warspite was always the worst gunnery ship in peacetime.鈥� Our doughty captain was quick with his reply, 鈥淎nd in wartime Sir?鈥� The admiral was just as quick, 鈥淪he never missed, and she is one of those all right on the night ships鈥�.

The very next day, Our captain received a very much better answer. On the 17th of July the Warspite received orders that in company with HMS Valiant, they were to bombard to the north of the Sicilian town of Catania. Unfortunately, before receiving the orders, in entering the Maltese harbour of Marsaxlokk, the Valiant fouled the nets of the boom defence and became entangled.

Timing was of the essence, so we had to travel on our own and at maximum speed to arrive at the target area on time. Shortly after 1830 pm we commenced firing. Because of the heavy smoke covering the area, we were unable to see the fall of shot, but the gunnery officer who had the whole section marked off in squares seemed to be quite happy with the result. Compared with previous engagements it had been a short action, but nevertheless it was quite active in our own area. A destroyer came in to attack us and was chased off; we were machined gunned by FW 190鈥檚.

We were constantly closed up throughout the night and the AA guns were firing at close intervals until the early morning, and at about 0700 hrs we were safely back in Malta. The 鈥淔lagship鈥� had duly noted our burst of speed and a signal from Admiral Cunningham read, 鈥淲ell done, when the old lady lifts her skirts she can run鈥�.

That signal from the Admiral put a tag on the Warspite that remained with her until the end of her service, 鈥淭he Old Lady鈥�. It took just over a month for the allied troops to occupy the whole of Sicily, we found out at a later date that in manpower the invasion of Sicily was on a much larger scale than the invasion of Normandy.

The French landings were comprised of five divisions and the Sicilian landings were more than six divisions. The overall total of the Normandy landings however, were far in excess as the Naval forces involved were much greater. Now, preparations were in hand to invade mainland Italy. Once again the deadly twins Warspite and Valiant were detailed to bombard the southern end of Reggio and to engage a six-inch gun battery on the coast. For more than half an hour, we poured fifteen-inch shells into the area, the fall of shot being reported by our own Swordfish Bi-plane.

The pilot by the name of Webb was so excited; he forgot the formal routine for spotting and shouted over the radio. 鈥淥.K. O.K. You got 鈥榚m, give 鈥榚m the works鈥�. I spoke to him later in the Wardroom, and he said it was the best time of his life. The whole of the operation had been a resounding success and there had been no real retaliation from the Italian forces.

Little did we know that shortly, on our next mission, we were to get the biggest and most upsetting shock of the war. It is now the 8th of September and the British and Allied forces were to land on the beaches of Salerno. Accompanied by three other Battleships and our two carriers we sailed up and down the coast in close support.

Immediately we became the target for squadrons of German aircraft. As soon as it was dark, except for the moonlight, they attacked with both bombs and torpedoes. In one instance, if it had not been for the prompt action of Captain Packer, one of the torpedoes would have blown our stern off. The next day, we were still alive and kicking and received instructions to proceed, along with our faithful; consort, HMS Valiant to the port of Bone.

Accompanied by our escort of destroyers, we preceded to the appointed map reference and waited, we were to accept the surrender of the Italian fleet. At breakfast time on the 10th of September, the first of the Italian ships came into view. Just in case, we were closed up at our action stations, our guns were trained fore and aft, but as a precaution all the gun loading cages were ready for instant use. First came our old enemy, the 15-inch battleship the Vittorio Veneto and the battleship the Italia, followed by five cruisers and nine destroyers.

Warspite and Valiant took up position ahead of them and led them towards the island of Malta. The Commander in Chief, Admiral Cunningham came out in a destroyer to watch the surrender, as he passed Warspite he sent the following signal, 鈥淕lad to see my old Flagship in her proud and rightful position at the head of the line鈥�, to which, Warspite replied, 鈥淭he Old Lady will look after them all right鈥�. On the 11th September At 0900 hrs we reached Grand Harbour and Cunningham sent his famous signal: 鈥淭he Italian Fleet now lies at anchor under the guns of the fortress of Malta鈥�. On the evening of the 12th, we set off to collect two more Italian ships, one of them was the ship we had hit with such devastating effect at Calabria way back in 1940, the battleship Giulio Cesare.

We escorted them both to join the remainder of the captive Italian fleet. It was now decided that the 鈥淥ld Lady鈥� had come to the end of a rather busy part of her life and it was now time to give her a rest and a major refit, and to go into dock for an overhaul. Accompanied by the ever present Valiant and the carrier HMS Illustrious, we sailed for home. By now the good news was common knowledge and the ship鈥檚 company were jubilant.

Imagine then if you can, at 20:00hrs on the 18th, what their feelings were when the bridge received a signal via a Catalina that our services were urgently required back at Salerno. The American 5th Army were bogged down under intense fire and a bombardment from battleships at sea was required to relieve them. Among the ship鈥檚 company, there were many expletives directed at our American cousins as we turned full circle and turned back.

Pr-BR

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