大象传媒

This article is taken from a transcription of an interview with Ken 鈥楴obby鈥� Clark which took place on 11 November 2004. The article records Nobby鈥檚 memories of the Dunkirk evacuation. A longer article which relates Nobby鈥檚 service in H.M.S. Hood before the war and his wartime service after Dunkirk is being prepared. When finished this will be posted in the H.M.S. Hood Association web site www.hmshood.com

Part 2: Back to Dunkirk

When we went back we went to Dunkirk itself. It was getting a bit bad over there. You could see the planes flying over in formation and dropping a mass of bombs on the place. Then they would hit a ship and you would see it blow up. It was really deadly it was. And yet all the time we were over there 鈥� 3 days in all 鈥� we never got touched.

You could see the blokes swimming around. There was one matelot who came back with us on the last trip who had a twin screwed launch that would carry 50 people. But he got into difficulties in the cross current and ended up going aground and couldn鈥檛 get one of the screws out of the sand. He told us that there was an officer there with a line of soldiers and asked us if we could give him a hand to get the launch into the water again. But the skipper could only reply that he had his own job to do and regretfully couldn鈥檛 help out. It was all confusion by that time and we had to leave that boat there and it could have carried 50 people. We brought the matelot back though. That鈥檚 what killed a lot of people that cross current and the swell.

The second or third time we went across I remember being on deck and hearing someone shouting 鈥淗elp! Help!鈥� I looked around and there were no boats nearby. Then I saw a soldier hanging on to the bottom of a ladder on the side of the ship. He had two fingers holding on to this ladder but was slipping under the ship. I shouted to some others 鈥淗ere! Give me a hand, there鈥檚 a bloke in the water here.鈥� We got him in and the first thing he said was 鈥淵ou got a diver on board?鈥� 鈥淎 diver? What for?鈥� I replied. He said 鈥淭here鈥檚 a fortune down there.鈥� 鈥淲hat are you on about?鈥� I asked. He explained, 鈥淎s I was coming through the town there was a jewellers shop and all the windows had gone so I saw a couple of bags and picked up as much as I could 鈥� necklaces, bracelets, all sorts of things. I had two bags of this stuff round my neck but when I got to the ship I couldn鈥檛 carry them any more or I鈥檇 have gone under.鈥� I suppose the weight of them was taking him down as he was hanging on to the ladder. We didn鈥檛 have a diver so I often wonder what happened to that lot. How he got to the ship I don鈥檛 know because he would have had to get through the cross current and we were about 400 yards off shore. That鈥檚 a long way to swim 鈥� a quarter of a mile.

At one stage on that trip I went down to the Engine Room and thought 鈥淲hat the heck鈥檚 this? We鈥檙e sinking!鈥� There was a column of water going up to the deckhead. I went up to see the skipper and said 鈥淲e鈥檝e sprung a leak! There鈥檚 a column of water shooting up from the bottom.鈥� The engine was still going. What it was in the end, they coun鈥檛 get the bilge p[ump going and the Engine Room was getting flooded. We were leaking somewhere but the bilge pump had packed in. I stopped the engine, found out what it was. Then we had to get the water out. So all the soldiers that we had on board got baling out with their hats. Eventually, we got the bilge pump going again. The three badge bloke wasn鈥檛 there again. But eventually we got enough water out to start the pump again. Then I thought 鈥淚鈥檝e got to start this engine now.鈥� I thought back to what I had been shown 鈥� push this up, that down鈥� but it didn鈥檛 start. I remembered that he had said 鈥淚f you do it a second time, you鈥檒l blow the top off the engine.鈥� At that point the skipper came down to see how I was getting on. 鈥淚鈥檝e tried,鈥� I said 鈥渂ut it didn鈥檛 go. We鈥檒l have another go.鈥� I did the starting cycle again and Bang! A hell of a bang. I thought 鈥淚t鈥檚 blow up鈥� but the engine started. The skipper appeared again, 鈥淲hat are you doing? What鈥檚 happened Nobby?鈥� 鈥淚 started the engine鈥� I replied. He said 鈥淭here鈥檚 flames and smoke coming out of the funnel. I thought the ship had blown up!鈥� That was on the second trip across.

We weren鈥檛 getting much sleep as we had 12 hours there, 12 hours back each time. And it wasn鈥檛 just a case of crossing from Dunkirk to Ramsgate. You had to go up the channel because of the minefield. It was a long way round.

The, the third time across, that was really bad. There was everything let loose then. You never knew when you might get hit. But we never were. We never got a scratch anytime. There were ships just a few yards away that went up but we never got hit.

On that trip we had to leave at midnight. It was just coming up to half past 11 when the skipper said, 鈥淲ill somebody have another go?鈥� It took about half an hour to go there, get them and row back again. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got time to get some more if you can find them.鈥� The skipper said. By then it was getting really bad with shells and everything going up on the beach. I saw one building the whole of which seemed to lift and collapse. That鈥檚 one thing that stands out in my mind. Then a young seaman said, 鈥淚鈥檒l go.鈥� I said to him 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think you ought to go on your own, I鈥檒l come with you.鈥� All I had on was a boiler suit and a pair of socks. Just after we set off a plane came over machine gunning. You could see all the yellowy green phosphorous down in the water by that time. The seaman said 鈥淪top rowing or they鈥檒l see us!鈥� But the never hit us or the ship. We started rowing again then we seemed to get aground. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 funny,鈥� I thought. So we put the oars in and found that there was plenty of water there. Eventually we got ashore but found that we had lost the red light on the ship that we needed to guide us back. There was nobody about on the beach. The seaman said he would go along the beach and see if he could see the ship鈥檚 red light again. In a while he came back 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the matter?鈥� I said. 鈥淣othing,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut there鈥檚 nobody there.鈥� 鈥淚鈥檒l have a go. I鈥檒l walk up then,鈥� I said. Then I heard somebody talking and thought 鈥淥h, dear! Who is it? What language is he talking?鈥� 鈥淎nybody there?鈥� I called out. 鈥淗ey!鈥� Came the reply. 鈥淥ver here!鈥� It was a Corporal and 4 soldiers. He said 鈥淲hat are you dong here?鈥� I said 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a ship out there to take you back 鈥� if we can find it!鈥� 鈥淥h, that鈥檚 good.鈥� He said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get the boat under way though,鈥� I said. At this point all the soldiers jumped in 鈥淣o!鈥� I said, 鈥淒on鈥檛 jump in.鈥� Then the Corporal got out a gun and said, 鈥淕ot out of that boat and obey this sailor or I鈥檒l shoot you!鈥� 鈥淚 don鈥檛 want you to shoot anybody,鈥� I said. I explained to the Corporal that there were too many of us and that we could only take 3 or 4. 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 matter he said. As long as we get back to Blighty!鈥� 鈥淎nyway, we鈥檝e lost the position of our ship. We had a light to follow back but we can鈥檛 see it any more.鈥� I told him. 鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 matter, 鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can row back to Blighty!鈥� Row back to Blighty in this? I thought 鈥� You鈥檒l be lucky. When we got the boat back afloat and everyone got in the water was about 3 inches from the gunwhales. I said 鈥渢he first thing is that we鈥檝e lost the ship. When we were coming in we ran aground but there seemed plenty of water under us.鈥� 鈥淚 know what that was,鈥� said the Corporal. 鈥淚t was trucks.鈥� He explained that during the evacuation all the Army trucks had been run into the sea. Then the tide had come in. They had taken all the canvass off the tops of the trucks and just left the metal hoops at the top.. That鈥檚 what we had got caught on and why it felt like we had run aground yet there was water under us. What with that and the plane coming over machine gunning and the cross current we had lost our position and could no longer see the red light on our ship to guide us back. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 easy!鈥� said the Corporal. He got the other soldiers rowing 鈥� he wouldn鈥檛 let us row. He again said 鈥淲e鈥檒l row back to Blighty if we can鈥檛 find the ship!鈥� 鈥淭hat鈥檒l be heavy going,鈥� I thought. But he went on 鈥淲e鈥檒l row out to the cross current, then we鈥檒l row against it.鈥� That sounded a better idea and was what we did. After a while rowing against the cross current I spotted the red light on the ship.

When we eventually got back to the ship the skipper met us and said, 鈥淲here the hell have you been Nobby?鈥� I told him all about everything that had happened. 鈥淚t鈥檚 half past 12 now!鈥� he replied. 鈥淲e should have left at midnight.鈥� 鈥淲hy didn鈥檛 you then? I asked. 鈥淲e can鈥檛 get the Lister started to get the hook up,鈥� he explained. 鈥淲hat all these blokes here and they can鈥檛 start it? All these Army blokes and they couldn鈥檛 start the Lister?鈥� I said. Mind you, it was awkward to start because it was in a sort of case. You had a handle to wind outside and the compression cock was inside. You had to lift the compression cock up, get out and turn the wheel, get it at the right speed and then it started. That Lister saved us! It started straight away for me but I always wondered. 250 Army blokes on there and they get it going to get them home.

On the way out we had to have a bloke on the bows guiding us through the wrecks. We couldn鈥檛 shut our eyes despite the fact that we鈥檇 had hardly any sleep for 9 days. Once we were out of the area with the wrecks the bloke came off the bows and the skipper thanked him.

When we got back to Ramsgate they had set up a big centre for all the Army blokes where they could get something to eat and have a wash. I went there myself to have a wash and found that I hadn鈥檛 got a towel.

After that we went to Poole. Magnetic mines had been laid in the entrance to the harbour. The next morning they cleared it and we went in. We got in OK but one of the other boats coming in hit a mine. Again I was lucky.

A longer article covering Nobby鈥檚 entire service career will be posted on the H.M.S. Hood web site www.hmshood.com

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