World's War Events

Nineteen dispatches from the war's last two years, told by the people who were there — a destroyer officer's diary, Pershing's own report, the raid on Zeebrugge, the fighting Czecho-Slovaks — ending with the Armistice terms and the treaties that redrew the map.

HomeBottling Up Zeebrugge and Ostend › Bottling Up Zeebrugge and Ostend: Daffodil

Bottling Up Zeebrugge and Ostend: Daffodil

The Daffodil's part in the fight.

The Daffodil, after aiding to berth Vindictive, should have proceeded to land her own men, but now Commander Carpenter ordered her to remain as she was, with her bows against Vindictive's quarter, pressing the latter ship into the Mole. Normally, Daffodil's boilers develop eighty pounds' pressure of steam per inch; but now, for this particular task, Artificer Engineer Sutton, in charge of them maintained a hundred and sixty pounds for the whole period that she was holding Vindictive to the Mole. Her casualties, owing to her position during the fight, were small--one man killed and eight wounded, among them her Commander, Lieutenant H. Campbell, who was struck in the right eye by a shell splinter.

Iris had troubles of her own. Her first attempts to make fast to the Mole ahead of Vin- The Iris finds her work difficult. dictive failed, as her grapnels were not large enough to span the parapet. Two officers, Lieutenant Commander Bradford and Lieutenant Hawkins, climbed ashore and sat astride the parapet trying to make the grapnels fast till each was killed and fell down between the ship and the wall. Commander Valentine Gibbs had both legs shot away and died next morning. Lieutenant Spencer, R.N.R., though wounded, conned the ship and Lieutenant Henderson, R.N., came up from aft and took command.

← Bottling Up Zeebrugge and Ostend: CommanderBottling Up Zeebrugge and Ostend: Iris →