Whilst these moral results undoubtedly were felt after the operation, they were not the military reasons, reasons alone which justified so complex and difficult an undertaking, reasons which were never lost sight of during the planning and carrying out of the operations.
The plan was surely laid; simple in general design, details were worked out with foresight and exactitude. The factors of surprise, mystification, and diversion were utilised to the utmost. The resources of science were given full scope. Training to carry out the plan proceeded with energy and understanding, co-ordination and co-operation being apparent throughout. It was carried out with determination.
In Captain Carpenter's book we are let into the full secret, and are led step by step through the various phases referred to above, which were to be crowned by the glorious achievement of St. George's Day, 1918. His pages bring out once again the moral and military virtues of the British Navy, Officers and Men. They demonstrate that the spirit which existed in our Naval Wars of past centuries, wars which laid the foundation of the Empire, remains undiminished in the naval personnel of to-day.
It is for us to ensure that these glorious traditions are understood by all, and in being understood are handed on to those who come after us. This book, in placing on record the matchless qualities displayed by all concerned in the blocking of Zeebrugge, I welcome for this purpose.
BEATTY
Admiral of the Fleet
19th July, 1921
APPRECIATION
BY MARSHAL FOCH
C'est dans un sentiment de solidarité que s'est réalisée l'union des Alliés, en 1914, quand la cause de la Civilisation s'est trouvée menacée.