" LEST WE FORGET "
During the night
of the 6th of April 1945 near Smith 's Knoll off the Norfolk coast three MTBs of 22nd MTB Flotilla (MTB 493, 494 &
497) based at Lowestoft clashed with their German counterparts from 2. Schnellbootsflotille based at Den Helder
Just after 02.12 hrs on the 7th April 1945 MTB 494 (Lt.John May) was rammed and sunk by S 176 (Lt. Friedrich-Wilhelm
Stockfleth). Only three crew members of MTB 494 survived, the other fourteen members of the crew onboard MTB 494 that night all perished.
Amongst those who paid the price with their lives was my cousin
Able Seaman Other casualties from MTB 494
Charles Augustus "Gus" Holland
P/JX 262015
23 years old
Ty Lt. Jack May RNVR
Anthony Dandie AB C/JX 378644 age 20
Douglas Chudley O/Sig P/JX 700850 age 18
Frank Crowder AB C/JX 354779 age 23
Leslie F Vine AB P/SSX 35669 age 22
MISSING
The death of each person listed below was subsequently confirmed.
Ty Sub Lt Ian Turner Macfarlane RNVR age 21
Ty Midshipman Ian Rochester Naylor RNVR age 18
Ralph E Jones Leading Seaman D/JX 349131 age 21
George R Shoosmith AB C/JX 559374 age 19
Charles Simmons AB Stoker P/KX 153796
Jeffrey Slater Act Ldg Stoker D/KX 139 149 age 24
Arthur Treece Tel P/JX 402999
Victor Wheeler P.O MM P/MX 543586 age 28
Each person listed above has their own web page on the DEBT OF HONOUR REGISTER
on the Commonwealth War Graves Commision web site CWGC
SURVIVORS
Slightly Injured
Charles Coombes AB P/JX 389691
Herbert Markham Telegraphist P/JX 201176
Aubray Taylor AB P/JX 297405
Prisoners of war from German E Boats involved in the battle stated that :
" Although cut in half and sinking MTB 494 continued to fire her guns ".
used in this web site and also to Mrs Joan Hamilton for sending me a photo of her brother Gus Holland and to her daughter Mrs Wendy Stevens for her valuable and generous help. Until 10 Nov 2005 I only knew that 2 men had survived the battle between MTB 494 and some German E-boats . But this was to change dramatically when right out of the blue on the said date I received an email from a Mr Bert Markham who told me that he was a member of the crew of MTB 494 who had survived that night. Bert's desciption of the battle as he experienced it first hand was related to me by him over the phone from his home in England. It therefore gives me great pleasure to add Bert's unique eye witness contribution to the events depicted concerning the tragic fate of MTB 494.
Bert, who was by now age 88, told me that he was a Telegraphist on MTB 494 on that fatal night. It was a conversation that I will never forget and I will always be indebited to Bert for taking the trouble to contact me. Bert then gave me a detailed eye witness account of what happened to Gus. He told me that after MTB 494 had been rammed by the German E-Boat S 176 it turned upside down and began to sink. Bert who was below deck found himself trapped in the upturned hull of MTB 494 and although he was totally disorientated and in pitch darkness he was able to find an escape hatch and climb out onto the keel of MTB 494 where he saw Gus and a Radar rating sitting on all that remained of MTB 494. He said that the whole battle area was as bright as daylight from the numerous flares which had been fired into the pitch black night sky.
MTB 493 was lying immobilized in the water nearby. It too had been badly damaged, only a small section of its bow was left intact. However, although MTB 393 was unable to move her crew continued to fire a Lewis gun mounted on her stern at the enemy. Someone on board MTB 493 called out to Bert, " We are badly damaged and can 't come across to pick you up you will have to swim across to us ". Bert swam to the stern of MTB 493 and once he was onboard he asked the crew, " Where is Dutch ? " They told him that Gus had swum to the badly damaged front section of MTB 493. Bert looked forward and saw Gus holding on to the shattered remains of the forecastle. Bert called out to him, telling him to swim to the stern, but before Gus could do so he lost his grip and floated away, according to Bert, Gus was not wearing a life jacket and was last seen disappearing into the darkness.
Subsequent examination of his body indicated that Gus did not drown but was killed by concusion most likely from the explosions that occured when the two badly damaged German E-Boats, lying in the water near by, were blown up by their crew.
Out of a total of 17 medals awarded to the officers and men from the various units involved in the battle, only the officer in command of MTB 493, Ty.Lt.Alexander Duncan Foster, was awarded a medal, the DSC, for his gallantry on that tragic night.
Bert later received a mention in dispatches for his outstanding services during the D-day landings. There is also an article about Bert and MTB 494 written by Hazel Tomlins (2006), a reporter with the " Scanthorpe Telegraph" . Bert Markham.MID
According to Gus's sister, by the time MTB 494 had became involved in the deadly encounter with S 176 Gus had already been wounded three times during three separate earlier engagements with the enemy. Ironically, during WW1, his father who served in the Royal Scots regiment won the DCM medal for conspicuous gallantry. His medal was subsequently donated to the regiment and is now in the Royal Scots regimental museum in Edinburgh Castle.
In the book, " Air-Sea Rescue in World War Two. " (1995) by Alan Rowe and T.D. Andrews, the authors devote the final Chapter," The End of the E-Boats " (Ch.19 p.105-106) to the tragic events of the 6th. April 1945 when MTB 494 and S 176 were engaged in the very last battle between MTBs and E-Boats of WW2 . They say, (p.106) that on the following day, RAF launch HSL 2558 found 5 British and 3 German life-rafts. All were empty. Later another raft was sighted which HSL 2558 found contained the bodies of Ty.Lt Jack May and three of his crew from MTB 494. No one knows exactly what happened to them after the sinking of MTB 494. Bert told me that he at first swum to a nearby life-raft which had come from MTB 494 but when he saw that it contained the badly wounded Jack May and two other men he swam back to MTB 494 and then swam across to MTB 493. Subsequently, HSL 2558 had the sad task of bringing back more bodies from MTB 494 which included the First Lieutenant, the Midshipman and eleven members of the crew. In the evening, of the day after the battle, Bert told me that he went down to docks and saw bodies being unloaded from HSL 2558 and was sure that he saw Gus among them.
In conclusion, in regard to the fate of the crew of MTB 494, Rowe and Andrews say, " Only a few weeks after they gave their lives, so heroically, and in some ways so unnecessarily, the rest of us were celerating the end of the war in Europe" (p.106)
The fine Photo of MTB 494 was kindly sent to me by the late Bert Searle.
All Rights Reserved 23/04/2007