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VICE CHAIRMAN’SAugust Word
Well I’m back in circulation but only temporarily. My sincerethanks to all who sent
their well wishes for me after myrecent “Timpanomastoidec-tomy”. That after having suffered with “malignant otitisexterna” for about 9 months.
I won’t go into detail, in caseyou are having your teashortly, but they are not finished with me yet as I amwaiting for a date for some“reconstruction surgery”. Sobelieve me when I wish everyone of you the best of health.
Thanks to Alan for producingthe word while I was not available.
August 2010Issue 122
HON PRESIDENTJohn. V. Hart 01229 821831
CHAIRMAN & Hon. Chaplain
Alan Jones 01229 463150
VICE CHAIRMANJohn F Houlding
01229 812593
SECRETARYBarrie K.Downer
01229 820963
TREASURERMick Mailey 01229 821290
4 Jesmond AvenueBarrow-in-Furness
LA13 9AW
SOCIAL TEAMColin Hutchinson
01229 474927Jeff Thomas 01229 464493
NEWSLETTER EDITORRichard Britten
01229 820265
WEB MASTERRon Hiseman 01229 828664
STANDARD BEARERSDudley Davenport
Pedlar Palmer 01229 828120
Ginge Cundall
WELFARE COMMITTEEDave CravenAlan Jones
Peter LorkingColin Taylor
The first duty I must perform isto inform all members andreaders of the sad loss of Chris(Windy) Breeze and new member Ben Skeats who transferred from the AustralianSubmariners Association.
Alan will undoubtedly givemore details of these later but Ifeel I must on behalf of thebranch pass on our sincere condolences to the families andfriends of both members.
I must now continue with asimilar plea as Alan included
and that is to all you forgetful members who according to thetreasurer’s records have not asyet paid your subscriptions for2010. If you feel you may be anunpaid member please make aneffort to forward your subscriptions (£10 ONLY) tothe treasurer as soon as possible.
Continued on page 2
2) Social Secretary
3) HMS Olympus
4)The Secretary
5 & 6 Loss of INS Dakar
7) RN Submarine Museum
8 & 9 HMS Utmost
10) Chaplains Dit
11) Operation Frankton
Memorial Update
12) Obits
13) General info
14) Quiz page
Our secretary is sending out aletter to all who our recordsshow as unpaid. If you get sucha letter please respond in one ofthree ways:
a) Send your subs as quickly aspossible; b) If you believe you have paidand the record is incorrect contact the treasurer.c) If you agree you have not paidbut for some reason do not wishto maintain your membership ofthe Submariners Associationand/or the Barrow Branchplease tell us so we can stop paying the £5 National member-ship on your behalf.
If you agree that you may, likeme, be forgetful and would likethe opportunity to pay your sub-scriptions regularly, from yourbank to the branch bank direct-ly, please contact the treasurerfor details on how to do this.This opportunity is also avail-able to all members should theyprefer to pay in this manner.
Moving onto the social sceneand the next planned eventwhich will be the Ladies NightDinner Dance. It is early daysyet but we already have around60 names for this do so we urgeyou all to contact Colin or anymember of the committee to getyour name on the list. If you canfill a table of 8 to 10 send all thenames together - come on youdeserve a good thrash.
Those of you with internetaccess may have noticed that thenext meeting of the Espana Levante branch will be at theHotel Pueblo, Benidorm on theweekend commencing Friday19th November 2010. If youmissed the last visit because ofthe volcanic ash why not makethis a note in you diaries andstart making plans with yourpals for a visit. I can assure youof a really warm welcome andan excellent weekend.
We discussed Faslane visits atthe last meeting and I have confirmed that the Barrow inFurness branch together withthe Northern Ireland branch arenow booked in for the weekendcommencing the third Friday inJuly 2011. I know it is a yearaway but as for previous visits
numbers are limited so I willstart a list and open a dialoguewith our buddies in Belfast toensure that between us we fill allavailable places. I will ask for a£20 deposit but this will bereturnable up to end March2011. Any cry-offs after that willunfortunately lose their depositto protect the escalating costs ofthose remaining on the list.However should someone elsewish to join us after this dateeither from Barrow OR NI theywill release your deposit.
Anniversary “50 years of building Nuclear Submarines inBarrow in Furness” in Octoberthis year you will find details ofthis later in the news letter.
Talking about Socials, it reallywould be great to hear from asmany of you as may wish to takeup the challenge of forming anew social team. As you knowColin has decided to stand downat the end of the year and I fearthat if we can’t maintain someform of social programme ofevents through the years aheadthe branch will suffer. So rallyround; there must be some ofyou who would not mind havinga go and the more of you whovolunteer and share the workthe easier and more enjoyable itwould be.
While we are one of thestrongest branches in the associ-ation “on paper” and have beenregarded as very strong sociallyand been the envy of otherbranches, we are I believe indanger of letting it all go.
Enough now, I promise I willnot include either ‘subscription-s’ or ‘social secretary’s position’in next months word. I hope youenjoy the rest of this news letterand submit articles and sugges-tions to us for publication infuture editions.
Best Regards
John HouldingVice Chairman
It was with great regretthat we took the decisionnot to go ahead with theannual BBQ this year. Iam afraid the numbers
we received that showed aninterest, just did not make theevent viable and I am afraid thateven we can not make large loss-es on social events. For me, it’snot just the financial side of itbut also the atmosphere that islacking when numbers aresmall, that in turn leads to lessenthusiasm for the next socialbecause folk think the “do” willbe the same as the last one. Johnat the Lisdoonie tells me that hisbookings are well down andwith many clubs closing I don’tsuppose we are immune to thepresent financial climate either.My apologies go to those thatwere looking forward to it.
For those that normally attend,the annual Trafalgar night din-ner will be taking place in Octo-ber, this event is organized bythe Sea Cadets and no doubt itwill be advertised at the nextcouple of meetings.
I really would like to make theLadies night dinner dance onNovember 12th an event to beproud of. It is the normal formatfor Ladies night i.e. Black Tiewith a splendid menu and enter-tainment the cost is £27:00 perhead and includes wine. Whynot treat your Ladies and bringfriends and have a great nightout?
The list is already in circulationand will be circulated at everymeeting up to October so getyour names down early, letsmake this event a well attendedsuccess as it is the best social ofthe year.
Well that’s all from me for thismonth.
See you all next month!!
Colin Hutchinson Social Secretary
Page 2August 2010
Social Secretary
August 2010
Page 3 August 2010
Barrow Submarine Series: issuenumber 16 HMS Olympus
HMS Olympus (S12) was an Oberon-class submarine serving in the
Royal Navy and later with theC a n a d i a n s.
The boat was laid down on March 4 in1960 at Vickers-Armstrongs andlaunched on June 14 in 1961.
The boat was the sixth of the Oberon-class and was named by Mrs R.HWright, wife of Vice-Admiral R.HWright CB, DCS, Flag Officer, Scotland.
It was not the smoothest launch everseen at Barrow.
For three minutes after she had beennamed the new boat refused to budgean inch on the slipway.
A mechanical fault in the launchinggear was to blame, levers operating thegear had jammed.
It was thought to have been the firsttime this had happened at the Barrowya rd .
The launch day saw Barrow shipyardplaying host to three new boats withradically different means ofp ro p u l s i o n .
Ol ympus was of the traditional diesel-electric form but was keeping companywith the nuclear-powered D re a d n o u g h tand with Ex calibur which made use ofhigh speed hydrogen peroxidep ro p u l s i o n .
Olympus was sold to the Canadians in
1989 and was stationed as a non-operational training boat in Halifax.
The boat was never commissionedand was disposed of along with theother Canadian Oberon-classsubmarines in late 1990s.
Canadian naval officials looked forbuyers and at one stage it was hopedOl ympus might return to Barrow as amuseum exhibit.
S TAT I S T I C S :Displacement: Surfaced: 2,030 t (2,000
long tons)
Submerged: 2,410 t (2,370 long tons)Length: 295.2 ft (90.0 m)Beam: 26.5 ft (8.1 m)Draught: 18 ft (5.5 m)Propulsion: 2 × 3,680 hp Admiralty
Standard Range V16 diesels2 × 3,000 hp electric motors, diesel-
electric2 shaftsSpeed: Surfaced: 12 knots (22 km/h; 14
mph)Submerged: 17 knots (31 km/h; 20
mph)Range: 10,350 nautical miles (19,170
km; 11,910 mi) at surface cruisingspeed
Test depth: 650ft (200m)Complement: Six or Seven officers
and 62 other ratingsSensors and processing systems: Type
1002 surface search and navigationradar
Type 187 Active-Passive attack sonarType 2007 long range passive sonarArmament: 6 × 21 in (533.4 mm) bow
tubes, 20 torpedoes2 × 21 in (533.4 mm) short stern tubes,
2 torpedoesForward torpedo payload could be
replaced with 50 × mines.
SPLASH TIME: The new Barrow-built submarine Olympus going down the slipway on June 14 in 1961
BIG MISSION: In 2004 there were plans tobring HMS Olympus back to Barrow as astatic exhibit. Her sister boat HMS Onyxdid make the trip. Shown on the deck ofOlympus are Alan West, Brum Tovey, KenCollins, Bill Cole and John Houlding
DSC
I’m sure you all noticed summeris here, the kids are on theirschool holidays and the rainyseason has started and we have ahosepipe ban in the Lake District! You couldn’t make itup!
The July Branch Meeting wasn’t as well attended as mostof our meetings recently but Ithink we can put that down toholidays. For once we had moreapologies received than we didmembers attending the Meeting!To avoid duplication I will leaveColin Hutchinson and the ViceChairman to cover the SocialScene and Subscription issues. Iwill, however mention ourrecent sad loss of two of ourMembers ‘Crossed the Bar’‘Ben’ Skeates and ‘Windy’Breeze and I thank all our Members and some from theMorecambe Bay Branch whotook the time to attend bothfunerals – ‘Windy’s’ at theThorncliffe Crematorium andBen’s at St Mary’s in Whalleyand after at the Bury Cremato-rium. For ‘Windy’ we hadenough Members to form a double Guard of Honour and, asa result there were not enoughseats for everyone for the Service. Ben, although a veryrecent Member of the Branch,left a request that donationsshould be made in lieu of flowersand that any donations receivedbe made to the Barrow Brancha very generous request. Bothfamilies have expressed theirthanks to the Branch for honours at both funerals.
An article by Ben Skeatesappears on pages 8 & 9 of thisnewsletter.
Following these sad losses wenow have 188 Members newMember ‘Ben’ Rodgers a ‘longdistance’ Member in PrinceEdward Island in Canada hasrecently been enrolled welcomeBen but don’t expect to see himat too many meetings!
Our recent efforts to catch upwith Members and update theBranch Records has brought us
up to date with Tom Kennedy-Wilson who, his wife tells me,although not fit enough toattend meetings following arecent set back in his recoveryfrom his previous illness, isremaining as a Branch Memberand will be pleased to receive hisminutes and Newsletters bysnail mail in the future. I havealso had news of one of our ex-ASTUTE members JasonCostello, who many will recallsuffered a stroke at a very earlyage and, as a consequence hasbeen recently ‘invalided’ out ofthe service. His mother tells methat he is recovering slowly butthat, for the present, wishes tolapse his Membership althoughhe may rejoin the Association atsome point in the future. I havesent our best wishes to both Tomand to Jason and wished themboth well in their recovery. Wealso send our best wishes toJohn Dalton who ended up inFurness General after a fall athome and hope that he will soonbe back occupying his usual seatin the Legion.
The updated Branch List nowincludes all recent ‘E’ Mailchanges and some updatedaddresses. If you have moved,changed your phone number oryour E Mail provider please letus know as soon as possible sothat we can keep in touch andmake sure you get all yourBranch information. I knowthere are a few E Mail Addresses which are currentlynot responding and expect thereare a few more changes I don’tyet know about so don’t be shylet me know! Can I also makeyet another plea for those of youwho have provided BAE ‘EMail’ addresses up to now to letme know your home ‘E Mail’address (if you have one) as soonas possible.
At the last Committee Meetingwe decided that we would writeto all Branch Members shortlyto ask them to update their Contact records and to giveeveryone the option of payingtheir Subs by Standing Orderdirect to the Branch Account ifthey prefer. Paying by StandingOrder takes away that old problem of trying to rememberwhether you have paid up or notand means that you get your
Membership Card as early aspossible in the Year. It alsomakes the Membership Secretary’s job a lot easier andwill keep us on the right side ofthe National Membership Secretary and National Treas-ure! Letters should be going outto all Members some time in midAugust after the next BranchCommittee Meeting.
Elsewhere in the News Letteryou will see updates about theSubmarine Heritage ‘PaintingsCollection’ which is almost complete all paintings are now‘sponsored’ and ‘commissioned’and Tom Murphy should becompleting his work on the lastfew paintings in the next month.Plans to produce a ‘Big Book’version of the whole collection(possible title ‘Barrow BuiltSubmarines the Best’) to co-incide with the 50th Anniver-sary of Nuclear Submarines arealso well advanced and TerrySpurling will update you onprogress elsewhere in thisNewsletter.
Another book which is due forpublication shortly is the Submariners Association‘Anthology of Submarine Poetry’ now given the title of‘Voices from the Deep’.Again, with luck, publication ofthis book will co-incide with the50th Anniversary of NuclearSubmarines.
A report on the plans for thenew Memorial in France to the‘Cockleshell’ heroes and HMSTUNA are progressing well andagain there is an update elsewhere in the Newsletter.
The Lord Provost of Dundee &the Dundee City Council havegranted permission to hold anannual Memorial Service at thenewly built Submarine Memorial in Dundee. ThisMemorial to commemoratethose lost during WWII fromthe old 11th Submarine Flotillawas unveiled last September bythe Duke of Gloucester. The firstAnnual Memorial Service willtake place on Saturday 11thSeptember 2010 at 1100. All areinvited to participate, however itis important that Dundee Coun-cil know the numbers whointend being there.
Page 4August 2010
Barrie Downer
Secretary
Names of any Members andStandard Bearers attending areto be passed to Jim McMastervia the Secretary final numbersneed to be known by August.Book now to avoid disappoint-ment!
HMS ASTUTE will finally‘Commission’ at Faslane in lateAugust. Ex HMS ASTUTE (thefirst one) Members were advisedsome time ago of the details butnone of our ex-ASTUTE BranchMembers are able to attend.
Finally as you may have read inthe Evening Mail on 27th Julythat we now have evidence thatJohn Henry Curtis (who died in1902)the occupant of the‘Unmarked Grave’ in Thorncliffe Cemetery was a Submariner and that he servedin Torpedo Boat No. 2 otherwiseknown as Holland No. 2.
We will now be progressing withour plans to place a suitableheadstone on his grave to recog-nise him as the first SubmarinerCasualty and are continuingefforts to locate any descen-dants.
And now my usual monthly pleaif you are unable to attend aBranch Meeting(s) remember tosend us your apologies. If youare not keeping too well let usknow and we will see if there isanything the Welfare team canhelp with. Remember to let usknow if there are any BranchMembers or former Membersthat you know (or their wives,girlfriends or partners) who arenot too well sometimes they maybe too busy or pre-occupied withevents to let us know themselves.If we don’t know we can’t help!
That’s about it for now againhopefully I haven’t missed outany events or anybody’s namesI think all the dates are right aswell! See you all at the AugustBranch Meeting Tuesday 3rdAugust usual time usual place.
Regards
Barrie
The Submarine Heritage Centreand the Submariners Association of Barrow in Furness have commissioned aseries of paintings, by a notablelocal Marine Artist, of all theClasses of Submarine built inthe local Shipyard over the last120 years.
It is worth noting that this Shipyard has been involved withthe design and built over 72% ofall UK Submarines and quite afew for foreign countries.
This series is intended to represent to all the developmentof the Submarine over thatperiod. It reflects the develop-
ment of the submarine, from avery basic vessel, to the sophisti-cated Nuclear Vessel of the 21stCentury.
As part of that programme ofHeritage we now are puttingtogether a “Big Book” to showthese paintings and the allieddata to the world.
The Book will contain Plates ofthe 44 Classes of Submarine ,together with a number of Submarines built for othercountries. We shall also includetwelve decade paintings reflect-ing the products, other than theSubmarine, produced by theShipyard over that same period.The Book will be a “CoffeeTable” Hard Backed productwith the Painting Plate on theright hand page with associatedinformation on the left handpage. The collection is now
complete. We now need toattract funding for the publica-tion of this unique product.
We are planning on 1000 copiesof the Book. For this we shallrequire sponsorship of £20,000.We are approaching those Companies involved in the over-all Build and Supply of materialfor Submarines to ask if theywish to become involved asSponsors of the Project. Clearlya simple sum suggests that if 25persons, or organisations,offered £1K each we would behome and dry.
We intend that each Sponsorwould have a few lines of scriptwithin the acknowledgementsection of the Book definingtheir link with submarines ortheir support of submarines.
Our intention is to publish theBook in time for the 50thAnniversary of Nuclear Submarine Build, which occursin October 2010.
We believe this project will high-light a major section of the UKSubmarine History and is therefore really worthy of yoursupport.
Please contact Submarine Heritage Ltd. On :-
[email protected] or01229 820993 or 07900 920385.
Dakar left Portsmouth on January 9th 1968. She wasscheduled to carry out a surfaced transit to Gibraltar,call into Gibraltar for a fewdays after which she would
transit , dived, to arrive inHaifa at end January 1968.
She carried out a routine communication with Haifa justafter midnight on 25th January1968. She was never heard fromagain. Dakar was the last of anumber of ex RN Submarinessold to Israel. HMS Turpin andHMS Totem were two thatbecame INS Leviathen and INSDakar respectively. In earlieryears HMS Springer and HMS Sanguine had similarly beensold and became INS Tanin andINS Rahav.
I was part of the Crew of Totemand we took her to Malta in 1956having commissioned her atDevonport Dockyard after a twoyear refit. I served on her for 2 ½happy years with my familyoften coming onboard when Iwas duty. By a strange coincidence I had served on bothHMS Turpin (1953-1954) andHMS Sanguine in 1968.
The loss of Dakar was to be atotal mystery for the next 31
Page 5 August 2010
BIG BOOK APPEAL.
THE LOSS OF INS DAKAR.
years. Israel over all that timerepeatedly found funds tosearch for their lost vessel and,of course, to locate the grave oftheir fallen comrades.
The reasons for much of theinability to locate the wreck iswell documented in a bookcalled Never Forgotten byDavid W Jourdan. Well worthreading for those interested inSubmarine and the search problems and solutions whenlooking for a small object in alarge and deep ocean.
This article can only mention afew.
One year after the loss one ofthe Dakar Escape Buoys waswashed up on a beach in Gaza.During the initial search periodit had been established that alistening station in Cyprus hadpicked up weak signals whichmight have come from Dakar. Itwas reasoned that it might havecome from this buoy.
Israel was to spend a number ofyears analysing the condition ofthat buoy. It had clearly onlyever been at a reasonable depthie not deep as it had not beencrushed. The assumption therefore was that it had brokenaway from Dakar, ThereforeDakar was in fairly shallowwater?
Much chemical and many otheranalysis was carried out on thebuoy to establish an area for thesearch. Subsequent eventswhere to prove that the buoywas total distraction leading upthe well known “garden path”Another distraction was questions about the state ofmind set of the Captain ofDakar - Commander YaacovRa’anan. He was a very experienced Submariner butwas known for being somethingof a rebel. Indeed the Israeli’sthemselves have often statedthat he was typical of those incommand in Israel. The distraction hinged around thefact that Dakar seemed to bebreaking records for the transitof the Med. Why was he travel-ling so fast? Why had he askedfor permission to arrive in Haifa
Page 6August 2010
much earlier than planned?Permission was not granted.
There was much debate as towhether he had decided todepart from his planned routehome and test his onboard intel-ligence listening devices in anumber of areas east of Cyprus.If he had then he could be lost ina great many places. Most of the above would support the view that Dakarwas in relatively shallow water.Israel spent many years lookingin those possible sites.
In 1998 Israel agreed a packagewith an American CompanyNauticos Corporation, withsome support from the USNavy.
Nauticos was very experiencedin wreck location. They hadfound the Japanese Submarine I52 in very deep water in theAtlantic. Some of their peoplehad been involved in thelocation of the Titanic.
The process of how theyeventually decided to look forDakar in deep water is well covered in the book. The bottomline was to assume that theDakar would be found along aroute to Haifa from which theCaptain had not strayed. Theywere very much assisted by thefact that, due to the years ofwork carried out by the earlierIsrael searches they knew verywell where Dakar was not.
After many months of reviewingall the previous years of workthe Dakar was eventually foundon Friday May 8th 1999. Shewas laying at 3000m with muchof it scattered around the bot-tom.
After a great deal of inspectionby ROV and after forensicanalysis of the finds an eventualscenario could be proposed.There could be no clear decisionregarding precisely how she waslost. Much can be assessed fromthe wreck. She lies on the bot-tom with the forward partalmost completely unscathed ieforward of the Bridge Fin –Fore ends and Accom. Space – isin an uncrushed state. The rest –Control |Room areas, ER andAft end are completely twisted
and crushed. There is no evi-dence of mortal remains.
The scenario proposed –
She was probably snorting, orhad just stopped snorting.
A massive flooding in the for-ward end of the vesseloccurred. That flooding exceed-ed it’s buoyancy reserve. Henceit would pitch forward in a steepand rapid dive. The floodingwas such that no recoveryaction could be of use. It is pos-sible that a second failure mighthave also occurred wherehydraulic power to the EngineClutch was not available – thisgiving no propulsion poweravailable for the shaft. ( Thosewho know T Conversion willunderstand that particularproblem). For sure the ROVinspections showed the forwardhull intact but the remaininghull was completely twisted andcrushed. This is easily explainedas being due to the forward endbeing filled by flooding andequalising the pressures on theway to the bottom. The remaining hull was subjected toall the pressures and damageonce Dakar had passed it’scrush depth.
Eventually part of the BridgeFin was raised and is now themain attraction of the Submarine Memorial in Haifa.Also on show is the Escape Buoythat had led to such mis-infor-mation. Also raised was one ofthe crews dress shirt, still in it’swrapper with his name tag onthe breast. He had been ready todress for his arrival in Haifa. Imet a number of the families ofthe Dakar crew. Indeed the wifeof the 1st Lieut – “Boomy”Barkay has signed my copy ofthe book.
As did the Author David Jourdan who was one of themain guests at the InternationalSubmariners Meeting in Israellast May. The families of thosewho were lost have stated :
They had to have Dakar foundto give them a final resolution tothere loss. The final words of theofficial report into the tragedyalso gave great solace to the fam-ilies of those lost stated “ For thecrew of the Dakar those last sec-onds before the hull collapsedwould have been very busy withthem all working as a team totry to save the vessel. When theend came it was instantaneousas if someone had turned off thelight. TO THE UNDYINGMEMORY OF THE MEN OFDAKAR.
Post Script. Lying alongside thewreck of DAKAR is a plaque onwhich is engraved –
The men of INS Dakar
Never Forgotten
For those interested in buying acopy of the book it is
NEVER FORGOTTEN by David W. Jourdan
RN Submarine Museum UnveilsPlans to Restore HMS AllianceAmbitious plans to restore andconserve the iconic World WarII submarine HMS Alliancewere announced today by theRoyal Navy Submarine Museum, where the vessel hasbeen on display to the publicsince 1982.
The project is the First SeaLord’s top naval heritage prior-ity, and for good reason.Exposed to sea water over cradles by the Museum quay-side, her outer structure has corroded so badly that parts areliterally in danger of falling intothe sea below, a rusting processthat has proved hard to arrestdue to difficulties of access.Without urgent action,Alliance’s future will be one ofaccelerating decay, which can-not be allowed to happen.
Vice Admiral Sir TimMcClement, Chairman of theAlliance Appeal said today ‘Theouter skin of Alliance is deterio-rating at such a rate that wehaven’t a moment to loose, sofunding for the work must befound as quickly as possible.’
The official memorial to the5,300 men who fought and diedin submarines, HMS Alliance islisted in the UK’s historic ship’sregister, sitting alongside theCutty Sark, the Mary Rose, andHMS Victory in the Core Collection list, and she is theonly remaining WW II submarine in the UK that’s opento the public. Designed duringthe war for service in the MiddleEast, she was launched in 1945,as victory was achieved. Shethen began a distinguished 28year career until she retired asthe centrepiece of the Submarine Museum.
HRH Prince William of Wales isthe Royal Patron of the HMSAlliance Appeal that aims toraise the £6 million that the conservation work is budgetedto cost. Over £4.6 million infunds and pledges has alreadybeen achieved, including £3 million pledged by the Heritage
Lottery Fund. A further £1.5million is required for a newAlliance gallery.
The preservation work has threemain planks: repair, conserva-tion, and a dry hard standing:the repair or replacement ofrusted component parts,restoration to her pristine exterior condition, and facilitiesfor a future maintenanceregime.
To provide access for low costmaintenance, land underneaththe submarine must bereclaimed. Using a cofferdamand backfill, a new, dry hardstanding will allow access to thewhole vessel for routine exteriormaintenance and also give visitors the opportunity to viewthe underside of the hull.
Repair and presentation toHMS Alliance will be in a formas close as possible to when sheentered active service, preserv-ing some of her subsequentadaptations, while at the sametime providing safe access forvisitors. As much as possible ofthe original fabric of the boatwill be preserved and like-for-like features and materials willbe used.
Sir Tim McClement is calling onall sectors of the community tohelp raise the funds needed,from individuals to groups andsocieties, and from schools tobusinesses.
Please get in touch with theHMS Alliance Appeal Office on023 9251 0354, or visit the Museum web site:
www.submarine-museum.co.uk
Page 7August 2010
RN Submarine Museum
H.M.Submarine Utmost, of the10th Submarine Flotilla, Malta..She was built by Vickers Arm-strong at Barrow-in-FurnessLancashire. She carried 4loaded torpedo tubes, (in thetube compartment right for'd),and four spare torpedoes in spe-cial racks, two on each side ofthe 'fore-ends' (the next com-partment aft).
The 'fore-ends' also served asthe crew's messdeck and thecoconut matting on the deck wastheir sleeping compartment.
After several successful patrolswe had our first encounter withthe Italians. It was May 1942,and our skipper was Command-er Richard D (Harmonica Dick)Cayley, and we were preparingfor our next patrol. Utmost wasa small 32-man boat, capable ofoperating in both deep and shal-low water.
It was during the period later tobe known as the 'Siege of Malta'; just after a particularlybad air raid by JU88's, operat-ing from Italy.
This particular raid was concen-trated on 'Grand Harbour' andthe Naval dockyards. Normallythe missiles at first 500lb bombs,and then parachute mines weredropped indiscriminately.After we had completed mainte-nance routines; re-armed, re-fuelled, and provisioned wesailed for the usual 'unknown'destination.
Our destination turned out to bethe Italian 'Bay of Taranto', andour first duty was to carry out avisual reconnaissance of thewarships in the Italian Navalbase at Taranto.
We arrived on on the 19th Julyand proceeded inside the har-bour roads at periscope depth;with the Captain at theperiscope taking bearings. Thenavigator noting the types andnumber of Naval ships along-side, any changes, such as shipsboilers firing up and the like,making ready for sea.
August 2010 Page 8
HMS UTMOST AND A TARANTO PATROL
From the radio room wereceived a routine signal fromthe Admiralty to say that the RA F reconnaissance had report-ed that a Naval force was due toleave Taranto within the next 48hours. We were instructed totake up station in the centre ofthe instep which formed the baysouth of Taranto.
The areas immediately to thesouth of Utmost would be covered by two more 10th Flotil-la boats, H.M.SubmarineUpright, and the last byH.M.Submarine Upholder.Suddenly the skipper who wasstill scanning the area with theperiscope; remarked that therewas a Catalina flying boat cir-cling low over the Navy ships inthe harbour.
At that same moment the bow ofthe 'Utmost' started to rise.Theduty officer used the trimpumps to flood 'Z' and 'A' bal-last tanks; but she still contin-ued rising. Then the externalballast tanks were flooded,; thefor'd hydroplanes were at fulldive as were the rear, and themotors were at full astern both.This had no effect and we final-ly came gently to a dead stop.We had almost completely sur-faced on the top or side of anuncharted sandbank.
During our attempt to get theboat off the sandbank we madeone hell of a muddy swirl; withthe saddle tanks emptied, andthe port motor running fullahead and the starboard at fullastern to swing her away fromthe bank. A running commen-tary from the Captain informedus that there were greatcolumns of sand and water aswe blasted the ballast tanks freeof water to lighten her. He couldeven see people and cars movingalong the sea front Esplanade,and several boats were also ply-ing in the harbour. None ofthese took the slightest notice;even if they did see us they musthave assumed that we were anAxis boat. Finally twisting freeand sliding off the sandbank,and still apparently un-detect-ed; we dived to fifty feet for onehour, then continued to com-plete our reconnaissance of theItalian Naval activity.
The next day we received a further signal from Admiraltyon a routine broadcast; that theR.A.F plane had also intercept-ed a cipher. It contained thesailing date; course and speed ofa force of three 10,000 ton 'Tri-este' class Italian Navy cruisersand escorting destroyers.
This was the squadron that wehad been detailed to watch, andthey were shortly leaving Taran-to. We assumed station in whatthe Captain decided was thebest position for an attack onthe last of the three cruisers.The obvious reason for selectingthe rear cruiser was; if we firedat the first cruiser the look-outson the other two wouldundoubtedly have been alertedby the luminescent wake of thetorpedoes at night.
They would then take evasiveaction, and the destroyer escortswould have a sure-fire track towhere to look for us.Following the normal routineduring action stations; the POTel took over from the asdicoperator. At 23:43 he picked upthe HE (hydrophone effect) ofsome of the escorting destroy-ers.
The Captain was absorbing notonly the details for lining up theboat for torpedo firing; but alsothe numerous bearing andrange reports that the asdicoperator was continually updat-ing him with. This gave him thepositions of the three cruisersand the destroyer screens, theirspeed and course. By three min-utes to midnight Asdic had iden-tified the tail ender of the threeTrieste class Cruisers, withrange and bearings.
The Navigating Officer had cal-culated the speed from thisinformation and we approachedthe moment of truth.At three minutes past midnight;having positioned the boat forfiring the skipper gave theorders "Fire one", "Fire two","Fire three" and "Fire four" atappropriate intervals. Hereceived the four confirmationsby telephone from the torpedoroom "Torpedoes fired sir", andconfirmed by the asdic. Thenoise of the torpedo motors asthey left the boat, also
confirmed that each of the torpedoes were "running sir".
We waited with bated breath forwhat seemed an eternity; thetime that had elapsed since thefirst 'fish' was fired indicatedthat it had missed. That meantthat at least two of the otherthree should hit.
In fact all three remaining torpedos hit the cruiser, andbefore giving the order to divedeep. Then the Captain called tothe navigator to record that thefirst torpedo had apparentlycontinued on it's course, and hitan ammunition ship furtherafield on the same bearing. Boththe cruiser and the ammunitionship were later confirmeddestroyed by Royal Air Forcereconnaissance aircraft beforewe arrived back in Malta. Com-mander Cayley entered the sink-ing of the cruiser on my servicesheets together with a recommend for MID.
Almost at once, and certainly nolater than we had dived to 90feet; we commenced the cat andmouse game of evasive action.Five of the destroyers turnedback towards the survivors; atleast that was what we thoughtby the direction they were heading. Instead of first tryingto save their men from the cruis-er; they started at once drop-ping depth charges ad-lib allover the area with no concernfor the hundreds of men in thewater, who must have been des-perately trying to attract theirattention.
From the number of close depthcharges in those first few min-utes, it is certain that they killedmore of their own men than wehad with the torpedoes. Some ofthe charges were explodinguncomfortably close to us.When their initial panic dieddown; they started a bit moresystematically to try to locate uswith sonar, and then run in withdepth charges.
One of the torpedo men in thefore ends chalked up eighty fourclose ones in the first eighthours. One sprung hull rivet,was plugged immediately by thedamage control unit with one ofthe specially prepared wooden
pegs carried by all of our boats.Apart from a number of bulk-head fittings such as fuse boxes,high and low pressure airlines,and overhead lights breakingloose and blowing a few fuses -they were all secured to thebulkhead on welded brackets -we escaped serious damage.
The enemy counter attack lastedthroughout the remainder of thenight, and the following day.The Captain ordering continualchanges of course; heading forthe gaps between the attackingdestroyers that appeared fromthe bearings the navigating offi-cer received from the asdic.When all the enthusiasm seemedto have dissipated up top; theskipper suggested that the sec-ond operator should take overfor a spell so that the PO Telcould take a break; but for himto stand by, just in case.
Back in the mess, with one of thejunior operators manning theasdic, he sat down beside theElectrical artificer (EA) whowas reading a book. He noticedthat there was a wheezing noiselike an old bellows, and so men-tioned it. The EA replied that itwas due to the lack of oxygen,and everyone was having diffi-culty breathing.
We had been submerged over 24hours, and had no facility forreplacing the oxygen. The lackof oxygen was slowly contract-ing our breathing ability. At lastwhen everyone was near col-lapse, and wheezing as if theywere being slowly strangled wesurfaced, and just before we hitthe surface the skipper gave theorder to start main engines.
The diesels roared out, until thevacuum produced by the airintakes was almost high enoughto burst our ear-drums. He thencalled up to the seaman waitingon the conning tower ladder; toopen the hatch. In rushed a vastquantity of fresh air and saltwater, it really smelt like nothingI have ever smelt before or since.It was disgusting enough tomake one vomit, but it wasbecause we had been withoutoxygen for so long that our senseof smell had grossly deteriorat-ed. No sooner had the Duty Offi-cer arrived on the bridge than
the asdic operator picked up HEfrom one of the destroyers.
The PO Tel was recalled forwhat was obviously a continua-tion of the counter attack. Thedestroyer was winding up hermotors with a view to coming inwith another depth chargeattack. They must have beenlying under quiet routine waiting for us to make a move.
We crash-dived again using theten ton quick diving tank "Qtank"; ‘Q’ could be flooded andevacuated by a three ton perminute Drysdale centrifugalpump. This took on additionalballast to get down to ninety feetagain as quickly as possible.
The surfacing operation was tous a complete success; as apartfrom the two or three minuteson the surface, which incidental-ly was a crucial factor in ourescape, we had been dived fortwenty odd hours. We had, bystarting the diesels before
opening the conning towerhatch, and using the resultingpartial vacuum, replaced mostof the oxygen starved air in theboat.
We were able to continue tododge the enemy destroyersuntil eventually; after we hadjettisoned a load of oil and cloth-ing through one of the torpedotubes -to give the illusion of having been hit-, we broke sur-face.To everyones' relief; at23:00 hrs or eleven P M on thesecond night after the attack wewere clear of the enemy.
We transmitted a signal toMalta via Admiralty in the UK,to inform Captain 'S' 10 Simpson (the Officer in Charge10th Submarine flotilla), that wewere leaving the patrol area tore-load torpedoes.
The Captain received a Bar tohis DSO (Distinguished ServiceOrder) and for his effort, andthe PO Tel received the OakLeaf (mention in despatches).The remainder of that patrolwas uneventful as we proceededto Malta at 90 feet.
by
Ben Skeates
Page 9August 2010
I started writing my ChaplainsDit very early this morning fullyaware that I had missed yesterday’s deadline for thenewsletter. As such I was verytempted because today is alsomy birthday, to send the aboveGeorge Burns quote and callthat my August contribution.When suddenly my laptopspeaker kicked into life “Youhave E-mail” and the followingmessage arrived. Dear MrJones. My husband, son and Imade the sad journey north lastweek to attend the funeral of myex-husband Chris Breeze andwe just wanted to say howimpressed we were with theguard of honour that the submariners association gave. Imarried Chris whilst I was aserving Wren and it was justafter our marriage that heapplied to join the submarineservice after being drafted toPortsmouth Fleet MaintenanceGroup, which he found 'boring'.He felt he wanted somethingmore from the Navy at thattime, and I know that he lovedbeing a submariner. You guysdid him proud! Kind RegardsAnne and Ron Miller, and Geoffrey Breeze.
I must admit that I have neverseen so many people attendingthe crematorium service. TheMinister Ron Wilson read theSubmariners Prayer, and I amtold by some of our membersthat attended the Wake in theDalton Cricket that Windy hada traditional Submariner sendoff for his Last Patrol. The second funeral for Ben Skeateswas a quieter and smaller familyaffair in the ancient parishchurch of St. Mary’s & AllSaints Whalley. Four of us wereable to travel down to Black-burn and take the ensign andstandard to support the familywho provided the choir to honour their Grandfather. Thefamily were very appreciativethat we were able at short noticeto muster a team and invited nayordered us that we joined themat a local hostelry for eats. Ireceived an E-mail over theweekend to say that Ben ashes
had been scattered at sea inaccording with his wishes. Thereis still a story to tell of our old-est and shortest serving Branch Member, that will have to comelater.Thinking about birthday’scan be quite scary when werealise how the years are stack-ing up. But I am taking solacefrom one of the cards I receivedthat quoted -
Its not the years in your life thatcounts. It’s the life in your years.As of this moment I am feelingfine.
The secret of a good sermon is tohave a good beginning and agood ending; and to have thetwo as close together as possible.George Burns
Regards Jonsey
The American Defence Newspaper has reported that Germany has reconsidered thefunding of a sixth submarine forthe Israel Navy, even though itexpressed willingness in the pastto help finance the project. Thepublication said the Germanshad told Israel that, despiteexpectations, Germany wouldnot fund about one-third of a$1.6 billion transaction thatincludes Israel's sixth Dolphin-class submarine and two warships made in Germany.Germany funded more than 80percent of the cost of Israel'sfirst three Dolphin submarinesin the 1990s, and is currentlyaccounting for a third of the costof two more submarines beingmanufactured in Germany. Bar-bara Opall-Rome, the DefenceNews' Israel correspondent,reported that the Germans haveresponded negatively to a seriesof Israeli requests that includeda direct appeal by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuto German Chancellor AngelaMerkel. It was reported thatduring a meeting in Berlin onJuly 7 involving an Israeli delegation headed by DefenceMinistry Director General EhudShani and aides to Merkel andher defence minister. The Germans reportedly told Shani
they were suspending contactsover the aid package.
Shani reported that the Germans were facing a difficulteconomic situation, so it wasunderstood they could not assistIsrael with the deal, which willnow have to be re-evaluated.Defence News said the collapseof the deal presents the IsraelNavy with major difficulties inrenovating its aging fleet ofships and submarines. The German retraction has alsorevived a difference of opinionin Israel between politicians whosupport the acquisition of a sixthsubmarine and planners in theIsrael Defence Forces who pre-fer to buy ships.
Ode to the TOT
In the days of Admiral NelsonOr it might havebeen before.The Navy gotits heritage in customs andits law.
Now some of these weregood things. And some ofthese were not.But they’llnever find how to replaceThat little daily Tot.
It isn’t served haphazardLike tea or even beer utwith pencil book and water.And other useless gear.
Jack dusty and his wingerPerform the sacred riteTh-ey brew a swill called“Two and One”On which we have to fight.With bottle jug and FannyWe muster at the shrine“Get into line you Sailors!That first Fanny’s mine”
Then with murmuredincantations. Such as“seven one and two”.Thehigh priest and his acolyteDispense the Holy Brew.
Page 10August 2010
World News
Chaplains Dit
When the seas are breakingover.And you feel you’vehad enough.When the chefhas dropped his tatties. Andhis ‘oppos’ burnt the duff
When your locker’s full ofhogwash. And your hammocks gone to rot.There’s nothing quite cantouch it;
YOUR DAILY LITTLE TOT.
Operation Frankton Memorial Update
To remind everyone the Opera-tion Frankton Memorial‘Frankton Souvenier’ - to give itits French title is a joint Anglo-French project to establish apermanent Memorial to the‘Cockleshell Heroes’ at theentrance to the River Gironde inthe Aquitaine Department inFrance.
The Submarine interest in this isthat the Royal Marine canoeistswho took part in this ‘SpecialForces’ Operation trained forthe Operation, were transportedto and launched on their way intheir ‘Cockles’ in HMS TUNA a‘T’ Class Submarine.
The Project formally got under-way with a public appeal follow-ing a Meeting at the RoyalMarine Museum in March 2009to raise the funds needed. Originally it was thought thatsome £100k would be revisedbut, following several revisionsof design and costs this has beenset at £80k of which almost £70khas been raised to date. Currently the Project is well oncourse to meet the target ofestablishing the Memorial inFrance in the Spring of 2011.
The National Committee,Branches and individual Members of the SubmarinersAssociation have contributed tothis total but the bulk of thefunds have been raised withinthe Royal Marines and SpecialBoat Service Associations.
More recently the Salisburybased artist John Lawrence hasdonated a painting of the launchof the ‘Cockles’ by HMS TUNAto assist in both the fund raisingdrive and to be the basis of arelief plaque on the Memorial inFrance.
This painting was ‘Unveiled’ asa small ceremony at the home inDorset of Major MalcolmCavan, Royal Marines (Retired)who is driving the British end ofthe Project. Malcolm previouslywas the Senior Officer of theSpecial Boat Squadron of theRoyal Marines.
The ‘Unveiling’ was attended bythe Artist, Malcolm Cavan, RamSeeger (also a former command-er of the SBS), Barrie Downer(representing the SubmarinersAssociation) and Francois
Boisnier and Erick Poineau(both representing the FrenchEnd of ‘Frankton Souvenier’.
The Artist spoke of his difficulttask of deciding how best topaint a camouflaged submarineon the surface on a dark moonless night launching camouflaged ‘Cockles’ withtheir crews in dark clothing andwith their faces darkened a bitlike trying ‘to find a black cat ina coal cellar at night with thelights out’. In the end the resultis very good showing a view onthe port bow of HMS TUNA inthe background with the five‘Cockles’ in the foreground withthe crews paddling away fromthe boat.
The result, as I think all willagree, is a success.
STEEL WON'T STOP IT
A British military technologyfirm (BAE) has developed awireless communications systemwith a signal that can passthrough several inches (over 7cm) of steel. This is importantfor submarines, where currentconstruction methods requireover 200 extra expensive pres-sure hull penetrations for eachboat. The new wireless systemsaves hundreds of millions ofdollars, and makes the boatssafer. The new wireless tech alsohelps in constructing surfaceships, but not as much as forsubs. The tech is also useful forarmored vehicles, and in manycivilian applications.
Page 11August 2010
The painting was unveiled by Francois Boisnier (left) and Erick Poineau (right)
A Team player, who is the
Branch member in HMS
Excalibur’s Football Team
1958
FAMILY RESEARCH
The third part of the Familyresearch article due to be included in this months edition(Researching Naval Officer Relations) is not available forpublication at the time printingHopefully I can include it in theSeptember Editon.
REMINDER
The National annual draw tickets and monies should bereturned at the August branchmeeting in time for returning tothe National Committee by Saturday 11th September.
They may be returned to Mickor Barrie or any other committee member or sent toMicks postal address.
WE WILL REMEMBER THEM
Barrow Branch
July 2010
Christopher (Windy) Breeze
Chief Petty Officer
D069819C
Aged 63
Submarine Service 1972 - 1986
Repulse, Churchill,Cachalot,
Spartan & Renown
Barrow Branch
16th July 2010
B L (Ben) Skeates
Petty Office Telegraphist
P/JX145516
Aged 91
Submarine Service 1940 - 1947
Ursula, Upright, Upmost, P311
Strategem, Stygian, Tally Ho
Regent
Non Member
July 2010
John Malwa Reece Lutley
Lieutenant Commander
Submarine Service from 1942
Sibyl, Unbroken,(IL),
Shakespeare, Trump & Tapir
Non Member
2nd July 2010
T D A (Terry) Thompson CBE
Captain
Submarine Service from 1955
Sentinel, X-Craft, Auriga,
Walrus, Turpin(CO),
Grampus (CO)
Repulse (port) (CO)
Brierley Hill Branch
14th July 2010
P R (Phil) Poole
Able Seaman (RP3)
Aged 85
Submarine Service 1942-1945
in
Stoic
THANKYOU
To all the members and therewifes that came to my surprise 60th birthday partyat the legion. It was a greatnight for me and was madeeven more special becausemembers turned up to helpme celebrate.
Thanks for the PrezziesCheers
Tony Griffiths
August 2010 Page 12
Non Member25th July
James Barry WallaceCaptain
Submarine Service Artemis (CO), Ocelot (CO)including a Polaris boat.
and became SM 10
Lord these departed shipmateswith Dolphins on their chest
are part of an outfit known asthe best. Make them welcome
and take them by the handyou’ll find without they are thebest in the land. So Heavenlyfather add their names to theroll of our departed shipmatesstill on patrol let them know
that we who survive will alwayskeep there memories alive.
Non Member
3rd July 2010
Sir Lancelot Richard Bell
Davies KBE
Vice Admiral
Submarine Service 1945-1968
Tally Ho, Anchorite,
Tireless (IL), Subtle (CO),
Explorer(CO)
Captain SM 7
Non Member
20th July 2010
Ray Pallester
Charge Chief WEA
Submarine Service including
Resolution
Non Member
July 2010
John E Moore
Captain
Submarine Service from 1944
Trident, Rover, Vigorous,
U-994(IL), Trenchant(IL)
Tradewind (IL), Totem(CO)
Alaric(CO), Tactician (CO)
Telemachus(CO)
Non Member
9th July 2010
Gordon (Scouse) Birchall
Petty Office Chef
aged 66
Submarine Service including
Valiant and Sovereign
Portsmouth Branch
July 2010
J W (John) Wilson
CPO M (E)
P/KX 769568
Aged 81
Submarine Service 1947 - 1969
Tiptoe, Tradewind
Sanguine, Auriga, Solent
Acheron, Telemachus, Teredo
Andrew & Opossum
Over the last few years, Chinahas been sending its submarineson longer voyages. In the lasttwo years, there have beenenough long voyages by Chinesesubs for the crews to discoverthat the food (lots of cannedmeat and rice, not many vegetables and no fruit) normal-ly carried, did not survive voyages of more than a week orso. Most Chinese subs are hot,with high humidity. With somuch of the food going bad,which was sometimes realizedonly after it was eaten, the crewswere coming back sick and malnourished. So the navy cameup with new rations, designed tosurvive shipboard conditionsand keep the crew healthy.
Before 2008, this was not aproblem. The 50-60 Chinesesubs went out on only six patrolsin 2007, versus two in 2006 andnone in 2005. Before that,through the 1990s, Chinese subsaveraged 1.2 patrols a year. Theone Chinese ballistic missile sub(SSBN) has never, in its 25 yearsof existence, gone out on apatrol. But since 2008 there havebeen a lot more patrols, withsome of these boats being spotted in the central Pacific.
This is not to say that the Chinese boats didn't go out at allbefore 2008. There were lots ofday trips, moving off shore intothe open water, in order to trainand test the equipment. But thisis no replacement for the longterm (two months or more)tours American boats have beendoing since World War II. Whilethe Chinese are modernizingtheir submarine force, half theirboats are still basically obsoletediesel-electric designs. The U.S.nuclear submarine fleet containsmore than half the nuclear boatsin service worldwide.
Page 13 August 2010
Chinese Food
News Letter
Contact InformationDo you have a story to tell or
have information you feel
should appear in the news letter
then ring Ben Britten on 01229
820265 (evenings) or if you
wish to send me an article
please ring for postal address.
or send your contribution by
e-mail to:
Constructive suggestions about
the news letter are very
welcome. The news letter will
be published in the last week of
each month IE last week of
August for the September 2010
issue please try and have any
information with me by the
15th of each month. Thank
you to everyone who
contributed to this edition.
DISCLAIMERThis Newsletter is published bythe Submariners Association(Barrow in Furness) and is (c)2010. The opinions expressed inthese pages are not necessarilythe opinion of the Editor, The Submariners Association, theMoD or the Submarine Serviceunless otherwise stated. The Submariners Association may notagree with the opinions expressedin this Newsletter but encouragespublication as a matter of interest.Nothing printed may be construedas policy or an official announce-ment unless so stated. Otherwisethe Association accepts no liabiltyon any issue in this Newsletter
August 2010
W.McLaughlin 03/08P.Andrew 05/08J.Rogers 05/08A.West 09/08R.Hagen 10/08G.Walker 11/08D.Jenkins 14/08R.Church 16/08M.McCormick 18/08D.Parsons 18/08E.Budgen 18/08D.Harwood 21/08K.Mullen 25/08G.Skippings 27/08D.Sales 29/08K.harding 30/08
New Member
Joining in July
F (Ben) RodgersFrom Prince Edward
IslandCanada
A warm welcome to you
Tuesday 3rd Monthly meeting2000 RBL
Tuesday 17th Branch Committee Meeting 1930 RBL
Tuesday 7th Monthly meeting(Social Ladies) Quiz 2000 RBL
Tuesday 21st BranchCommittee Meeting 1930 RBL
August
September
August 2010 Barrow SA Puzzle page no 23
Solve the monthly submarine quizWe hope you enjoyed last month’swordsquare.
If any of it proved tricky, thesolution is at the foot of thepage. This month we have cluesbased on the Normandy D-DayLandings in June 1944.
If you have any comments orsuggestions on how our puzzlescan be improved ordeveloped, drop an email to BillMyers at [email protected]
1. ARROMANCHES2. JUNO3. SWORD4. GOLD5. PEGASUS6. MERVILLE
7. NORMANDY8. CAEN9. BAYEUX10. OUISTREHAM11. OVERLORD12. CHERBOURG
Find the Normandy D-Day Landings clues
LIBERATED: Bayeux was the first major French town taken intactafter the D-Day Landings in June 1944. This view of the cathedral istaken from in front of the Bayeux Military Cemetery
Last month’s wordsquare solution (below)
