Daffodil, as already described, was prevented from landing her demolition parties in the prearranged manner, but some of them, led by Sub-Lieutenant F. E. Chevallier, had climbed into Vindictive and made their way to the Mole. Lieutenant C. C. Dickinson, commanding the demolition parties, and a party of his men on board Vindictive had landed at the commencement of the assault. They placed a couple of ladders, descended them, and then proceeded across the Mole, killing some Germans who were apparently making for the ladders. Demolition charges were placed in position, but not actually exploded owing to the presence of our own men in the vicinity. There is little doubt that the demolition parties would have been able to carry out considerable destructive work if more time had been available. Whatever the results of their efforts it is certain that Dickinson, Chevallier, and their men did all that was possible under the circumstances.
Iris had reached the Mole and dropped her anchor at the foot of the wall, about 12.15 A.M., her position being roughly one hundred yards ahead, i.e., to the westward, of Vindictive. The heavy swell was tossing her about like a cork, with the result that the use of the parapet anchors was extremely difficult. After several failures to get these parapet anchors hooked to the top of the wall Lieutenant Claude E. K. Hawkings, one of the officers of the storming party, ordered some men to hold up one of the scaling ladders. They could not actually lean it against the wall; the rough nature of the latter and the surging of the ship would have combined to break the ladder immediately. The ladder was, therefore, merely sloping towards the wall without any support at its upper end. Hawkings ran up it and leaped to the top of the Mole, the ladder being smashed to pieces a moment later. He sat astride the wall for the purpose of fixing an anchor and appears to have been immediately attacked by some enemy on the parapet itself. He was seen defending himself with his revolver before he was actually killed. It was terribly sad that his great act should have cost him his life.
Deaths of Hawkings and Bradford
Lieutenant-Commander George N. Bradford, who was actually in command of the storming party in Iris and whose duties did not include that of securing the ship, climbed up the ship's derrick, which carried a large parapet anchor and which was rigged out over the Mole side of the ship. The derrick itself was crashing on the Mole with each movement of the ship, which, in turn, was rolling and pitching heavily; a more perilous climb can scarcely be imagined. Waiting his opportunity, Bradford chose the right moment and jumped to the wall, taking the anchor with him. He placed the latter in position, but almost immediately was riddled with machine-gun bullets and fell into the sea between Iris and the Mole. Gallant attempts were made to rescue his body, but owing to the darkness and the rush of the strong tidal stream he was swept away beyond recovery.
Nothing could have been finer than Bradford's efforts to secure the ship. He had been a splendid fighter in the "ring"; it was against his nature to give in as long as there was the remotest chance of winning through; his death brought us the great loss of a great gentleman. Really, one cannot conceive greater bravery than was shown by these two officers, who have set an example which will surely never be forgotten.
The anchor placed by Bradford had either slipped or been shot away, with the result that Iris suddenly surged out from the Mole. It was then obvious that the difficulty of securing to the Mole was insuperable, so Commander Gibbs very rightly decided to land his men across Vindictive. He therefore ordered the cable to be slipped and then steamed round the stern of Daffodil and came alongside Vindictive. This change of plan, necessitated by the unfavourable state of the sea, showed a highly creditable degree of initiative. It must be realised that these movements and proceedings of Iris had occupied over half an hour; it was about 12.55 A.M. before Iris was secured to Vindictive. By that time the order for the retirement had been given. A few men scrambled out of Iris, but that ship was almost immediately ordered to shove off. She therefore left Vindictive and shaped course to the northward. She had barely turned when she came under a heavy fire from some enemy batteries. Two large shell and several small shell hit her, and were closely followed by three more large shell. The lookout house at the port extremity of the bridge was destroyed and a serious fire was caused on the upper deck.
Havoc in Iris
Valentine Gibbs, who had remained on the bridge throughout the operation, was mortally wounded. I had known "Val," as we had always called him, since he was a boy of thirteen. Even at that age he had shown himself to be absolutely fearless. Later in life he pad risen rapidly in his profession and would assuredly have been marked out for high command in due course. In peace days he had won the great race on the Cresta Run at St. Moritz, in war he had volunteered for every dangerous operation for which he had the remotest chance of selection. At last his opportunity had come and he lived for nought else than to put Iris alongside Zeebrugge Mole. I was told afterwards that in his short periods of consciousness after being wounded he asked and repeated but one question, "How are things going?" and he continued to ask how things were going until he died. I cannot write more of "Val"—words and phrases fail to do him justice.
The havoc in Iris was serious. From Vindictive she appeared to have been sunk, for she suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke and flame.
Major C. E. E. Eagles, D.S.O., in command of the Marine storming parties in Iris, was killed, and many of his men were killed and wounded at this period. Artificial smoke was emitted and a small motor boat also laid a smoke screen to shoreward of Iris—this probably accounted for her sudden disappearance from view.