大象传媒

The following story by Terence Robertson is out of copyright and appears courtesy of and with thanks to Mike Kemble, and Captain Frederic John Walker.

At Derby House, Walker met several of the officers who had taken the USS Milwaukee to Russia and were then on their way back to the United States. When the Stars and Stripes had been lowered and the Red Flag hoisted in its place, the USS Milwaukee had become, in the official words: 鈥淭he first sea fighting Unit of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics to be named the Murmansk.鈥� After a brief rest at home with Eilleen and Gillian, who stayed at 鈥淭he White House鈥� when off duty, Walker was called back to sea again, this time to sail with Tracker, for final mopping-up operations prior to the invasion of Normandy. The main U-boat force was being pulled back into the Western Approaches, but the few still marauding along the convoy routes could inflict heavy losses on the pre-invasion build-up of supplies if allowed to operate unhindered. They had to be harried and chased until they withdrew to more favourable battlegrounds. Walker seemed to be tanned and fit. The craggy jaw was, perhaps, a little craggier; the wide-set eyes more sunken than usual; and the crinkly, brown hair receding a bit from the forehead and showing the first signs of greyness at the temples. But the effect was that of an athlete at the peak of his training, that is, to anyone who didn鈥檛 know him well. Possibly the only person who noticed these first signs of strain and weariness was Eilleen. His energy was amazing, and unfortunate mistakes by the Group鈥檚 commanding officers could bring either a witty, ready rejoinder or a biting blast from which the sting had been taken by his choice of language. His standing among the Liverpool authorities was higher than ever and this was amply illustrated when he showed his contempt for red tape by having Starling鈥檚 鈥渇oxer鈥� anti-gnat device put ashore because the long trailing wires once fouled her propellers. The equipment was landed on the dockside with not a word of protest from Derby House. Although it was known among the staff ashore and the Group鈥檚 officers that he was working hard and shouldering far more responsibility than his rank warranted, none of them could see that it was having any effect other than to stimulate him in his grim determination to help destroy the enemy. But the constant strain of being in the fight for longer than any other officer afloat was relentlessly taking toll of mind and body, wearing thin the machinery of his heart and gnawing at the delicate mechanism of the brain. Had he been given a shore appointment then, this story might have taken a very different course. There were few in those days who would have dared to try and part Walker from Starling, and it became a simple matter of how long he would last before some part of him collapsed.
On this voyage, surrounded by Wild Goose, Magpie, Wren, Whimbrel and Tracker, he cruised along the Atlantic battle front and, within a few days, was engaging the enemy in a final fight. The striking force reached their patrol area on May 1st, sighting only a large buoy bearing a tall mast-like affair which they had photographed before sinking it by gunfire. It looked as if the Atlantic had at last been freed of the U-boat pincers. But before this hope could settle into certainty, U-473 an impertinent 740-tonner carrying a crew of fifty-two, slunk across the black sea before dawn on May 3rd and sank the American destroyer, USS Donnell, then about 200 miles southwest of the Group. Walker received news of this attack from Liverpool and further signals from the Admiralty gave the estimated position of the enemy according to interceptions of his radio chattering to France. He detached Whimbrel and Magpie to proceed at full speed to the assistance of the American warship and with Wild Goose, Wren and Tracker headed for the search area. It was a classic hunt which took the Group back more than a year to their first scalp, U-202. That time it had taken nearly fifteen hours to destroy the enemy; this was going to take even longer. Walker鈥檚 instinct nosed out the U-boat. Although the enemy could have been almost anywhere inside a radius of 200 miles from the scene of the Donnell attack, he steered on what he hoped would be an interception course and proved right first time. Also in accordance with tradition, Wild Goose gained asdic contact first and carried out a swift anti-gnat depth charge attack before handing over the echo to Walker in Starling. Tracker was sent out of the danger area while the three sloops lined up for the run-in on a series of creeping attacks. At one time, Starling had to cut close to Wild Goose, and an angry voice bellowed from Wemyss鈥� quarter deck: 鈥淕o find one of your own to play with. We started this little game and this time we want to finish it. Away with you.鈥� There were grins in both ships which soon began to fade as one attack after another failed to produce evidence of destruction. In U-473 they had encountered a slippery opponent. He went on zigzagging steadily ahead with depth charges falling about his ears and twice tried to escape by turning complete circles and reversing course in attempts to pass back between the sloops. Cunning as he was, hurried manoeuvres by the Group foiled each wriggle. So it went on all day and into the night. This was, in fact, more of a repetition of the U-202 hunt than had at first been thought possible. Nearly 900 feet鈥攁nd the depth charges were exploding well above. Walker decided to wait for him to surface through lack of air or run-down batteries, but towards midnight the enemy varied the depth and came up to fire a shower of 鈥済nats鈥� in a vain chance of breaking up the hunting formation. Starling counter-attacked rapidly with twenty-six depth charges which inflicted the first damage. After this Walker suspected he would surface at any moment.
U-473 came up shortly after midnight, the noise of blowing tanks heralding the battle鈥檚 dramatic close to the waiting, listening Group. Starshell and flares silhouetted his tiny conning tower as he attempted to run away at full speed. The three sloops, rolling horribly, opened fire with all they had as the enemy set off at a cracking pace across their bows. The water in the vicinity of the U-boat became a mass of foam as the combined fire fell around him; a salvo of four-inch guns from Wren struck home on the conning tower; then two more from Starling, followed by excited claims over the R/T from Wild Goose. Walker, always a spectator when the guns took over from his beloved depth charges, clambered to the highest spot on the bridge and watched as an evil red glow spread from the conning tower to the enemy鈥檚 deck. Machine-gun tracer bullets streamed and bounced off armour plating in colourful fountains of light. On Starling鈥檚 bridge, Walker shouted above the sound of the salvoes: 鈥淐ome on, Burn. Give the blasted Boche hell. . . . Oh, well shot, someone, that鈥檚 another direct hit. . . We have got him this time.鈥� Through binoculars it was possible to see the U-boat鈥檚 crew scamper from their action stations; then the gun on the foredeck vanished in a creamy whirlpool. Men were still manning the shattered stump of a conning tower and, after twenty minutes of pitched battle, the victim turned towards her enemies, fired off a cloud of 鈥済nats鈥� in a last desperate effort to take at least one of the sloops with him to the bottom. But the deadly torpedoes missed, the U-boat commander pointed his bows at Starling and lunged forward in a brave attempt to ram. Walker stopped cheering suddenly and, with some alacrity, conned Starling out of danger only just in time. As the enemy passed across their bows another salvo from Wren crashed into him. It was the death blow. The crew were seen to leap over board while U-473 shuddered to a stop. Then with nose pointed downwards, it sank, leaving thirty of the crew to be picked up by Starling and Wild Goose. Starling alone had fired nearly 150 rounds of ammunition. A few minutes later a signal was sent to Liverpool saying that U-473 the sinker of the USS Donnell, had been destroyed and our Allies avenged. The Group resumed patrolling but there was nothing to disturb the peace for the next few days and, somewhat bored, they set sail for home. If the battlefield remained quiet, it was not so peaceful in Starling. At dawn on the 8th a sentry, guarding the sleeping U-boat prisoners, fired his revolver accidentally and wounded a German in the left shoulder. The revolver, a six-shooter, had one chamber empty for safety. One sentry pulled the trigger to see if the chamber was empty. It was, so he handed it over to his relief, saying: 鈥淚t鈥檚 quite safe. You pull the trigger and nothing happens.鈥� But he had forgotten to reset the chambers. Later, the relief decided to find out for himself and pulled the trigger. The result was one wounded prisoner. Fortunately, the wound was not serious, but Walker worried that the incident might lead to a rash of atrocity stories in Germany with reprisals against Royal Navy prisoners. He sent for the German, apologised on behalf of the Navy and then asked the senior German prisoner aboard, who happened to be a Petty Officer, to sign a statement testifying that it had been an accident. While this was prepared, he held a quarter deck inquiry which led to severe punishment for the sentry responsible. On the 17th the Group returned to Liverpool where Sir Max Horton was waiting impatiently to discuss the role of the Western Approaches Command in the coming Allied return to the Continent, the D-day landings. Eilleen, who had thought for some time that her husband was overdoing it at sea, noticed now how haggard he had become. 鈥淚 was aghast,鈥� she recalls, 鈥渁t the toll being taken of his strength and resistance.鈥� Nevertheless, on that first night when his most urgent need was for sleep he was summoned to Derby House to dine with the Commander-in-Chief and other senior officers. He returned home late, flopped on his bed and said: 鈥淚鈥檓 all right, although I feel pretty tired now. You see, I stay on the bridge for as long as possible. I see the sailors looking up and know they are thinking: 鈥業t鈥檚 all right, the old man鈥檚 up there.鈥� It does give them confidence, you know.鈥� Then he added somewhat na茂vely, and with boyish pride: 鈥淎s a matter of fact, I can stay on the bridge much longer than any of the young chaps.鈥� That was the trouble; he could and did. As a result he was killing himself; gradually but inevitably. The following day he was sent for again by Sir Max to be given the first indication of his future in the Royal Navy鈥攁s the Admiralty saw it. 鈥淚 think we are on top of this U-boat war at last, Walker,鈥� said Sir Max, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 largely due to your efforts.鈥� - 鈥淣ot all mine, Sir. The Group鈥檚 as well.鈥� - 鈥淭hat may be, but there is no need now to kill yourself over this business in the Atlantic. Bigger things are coming up. I have had a word with Their Lordships and it seems to have been decided that you should have a complete rest for two months after we have got our troops securely entrenched in Europe. That should be in about August. It won鈥檛 be a desk job, but a proper rest.鈥� 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think that will be necessary, Sir. I feel fine and the Group have got used to me being around. I should like to finish the war with them. Then I can retire fairly gracefully.鈥�
鈥淚鈥檓 afraid not,鈥� the Commander in Chief smiled. 鈥淵ou are slated to take command of an aircraft-carrier to get you accustomed to air procedure and, somewhere about the end of the year, you will be promoted to Flag rank and given a carrier task force to take out to the Pacific. That war looks as though it might drag on for quite a while yet and there will be a real need for you out there. How does that sound?鈥� 鈥淲onderful, Sir. But frankly I have been thinking seriously about retiring after the war and giving some time to my family, home and garden. I鈥檝e had my share and it would be a waste for the Admiralty to promote me for the sake of a few months. Why not let me finish up doing the work I know best?鈥� 鈥淚鈥檓 sorry,鈥� replied Sir Max, 鈥渂ut I don鈥檛 think the Admiralty will let you retire. You are too valuable an officer, Johnnie, and there is going to be a crying need for Admirals with your experience after the war. I鈥檓 afraid Their Lordships will insist you take both the promotion and the appointment, or else. . . . Anyway, think about it, and meanwhile I鈥檒l arrange for you to be sent on leave somewhere in August when the invasion business has sorted itself out.鈥� Walker repeated the conversation to his wife later that night and she was mostly relieved to hear that he was to be given a rest. But the more he talked the more upset he seemed to become. 鈥淚 told the Elephant! (A western Approaches nickname for the Commander in Chief) I wanted to retire when all this is over,鈥� he said almost plaintively, 鈥渂ut he said I could forget that as they would never let me go. Think of what a mess I shall make of the peacetime Navy.鈥� The matter was left in abeyance while he prepared for D-day.

Continued.....
'This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by 大象传媒 Radio Merseyside鈥檚 People鈥檚 War team on behalf of the author and has been added to the site with his / her permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions.'

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.