GROUPS AND SINGLE DECORATIONS FOR GALLANTRY
“Rear-Admiral Wake-Walker, hurrying to Dunkirk itself in the M.T.B. which had picked him up, was dive-bombed, but not hit. All up and down the long, narrow channel of the roadstead there was havoc and the thunder of bombs. All up and down the roadstead were long and lamentable pools of oil which marked the new ship graves; and, with them, floating on the tide, was the pitiful wreckage of smashed boats and empty rafts, of battered furnishings and splintered planks. Within little more than an hour we had lost three destroyers, a Fleet minesweeper and a gunboat, and four destroyers had been damaged ...” (Dunkirk, by A. D. Divine, refers).
Stephens was awarded the D.S.M for his skill and gallantry in fighting off the Stukas. Dreyer wrote to him: “My warmest congratulations on your very well deserved decoration. The way you cared for your guns and your complete confidence in them, and the way you stuck to it in that uncomfortable little turret all those times, were a great help to me and gave me confidence that when any Jerry came too close he would get all he deserved - so that I was perfectly happy from that point of view on those trips. I hope the Jerries have not hit your pub. The best of luck to you.”
M.T.B. 102 has been preserved, and in 2012 she led the procession of vessels participating in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames. She is cared for by The M.T.B. 102 Trust. Her hastily created Rear-Admiral’s pennant also survives.
St. Nazaire - Posthumous “Mention”
On 26 February 1942, Commander R. E. D. Ryder, R.N., was summoned to a meeting in London chaired by the dynamic new Director of Combined Operations, Lord Louis Mountbatten. Ryder listened as Mountbatten unveiled an audacious plan to destroy an unspecified enemy port, utilising a destroyer packed with explosives and a landing by Commando troops of the Special Service Brigade. Mountbatten went on to announce that Commander R. E. D. Ryder, R.N., would command the operation's naval forces. Having coolly confirmed his acceptance, Ryder was introduced to his army opposite number, Lieutenant-Colonel A. C. Newman.
Newman bombarded him with questions regarding the naval side of the operation. Still ignorant of the target's location, an exasperated Ryder demanded to know the name of the port they were supposed to hit. “Haven't they told you?”, asked the astonished Newman, “it's St. Nazaire.” Thus Operation Chariot was born. The strategic value of St. Nazaire was paramount to the Kriegsmarine, as it contained the only dry dock on the Nazi-occupied Atlantic seaboard capable of berthing the battleship Tirpitz. This vast facility, known as the 'Normandie' Dock after the French transatlantic liner, measured 1148 feet in length and 164 feet across, and formed a passageway between Europe's largest wet dock, the Bassin de Penhoet, and the Loire estuary. It was sealed by sliding lock gates, or 'caissons', strong enough to withstand the tremendous outside water pressure and accidental collision by ships.
After the London meeting, Ryder and Newman had just one month to organise the raid down to the last detail. The chosen destroyer, H.M.S. Campbeltown, was sent to Devonport for a four and half ton high explosive charge to be positioned and wired up just behind the forward gun support pillar. This area was then enclosed in a specially constructed steel tank and encased in concrete, to prevent the Germans from accessing, making safe and dismantling the charges after the Campbeltown had rammed the caisson.
Meanwhile, a suitable armada of Naval craft, chiefly
M.Ls to carry the Commandos, was assembled. Ryder chose M.G.B. 314 as his Headquarters Ship because she was equipped with a radar set and echo sounder, necessary aids to lead the assault force over the Loire estuary mudflats and into battle. A Fairmile 'C' class boat of mahogany hard-chine construction, M.G.B. 314 was commanded by Lieutenant D. M. C. Curtis, R.N.V.R. Powered by three 850 h.p. supercharged engines, producing speeds of up to 26 knots, she was heavily armed, with a Rolls semi-automatic 2-pounder aft, two twin heavy machine guns amidships and a 2-pounder Vickers pom-pom forward, at which Able Seaman W. A. ‘Bill’ Savage was to win his V.C. and Stephens his posthumous mention in despatches.
Stephens joined M.G.B. 314 as a replacement gunner to take over the forward pom-pom from Savage, just a few days before the raid. James G. Dorrian’s Storming St. Nazaire tells the story: ‘As he [Bill Savage] was unable to carry out his duties, Curtis brought on board, as a replacement for Bill, the extremely competent 'regular' gunnery rating, Able Seaman ‘Lofty’ Stephens. Although he had been relieved by Stephens, Bill remained on board and, when he was sufficiently recovered, returned to his post on the pom-pom, in his turn displacing Stephens. The new man should, by rights, have left at this point; however with Chariot coming up Curtis was loathe to part with such a valuable rating and so Stephens remained with the crew. Ironically, and each man having had legitimate excuses to be elsewhere, it was these two who were destined to die within feet of one another, right at the fag end of the action and with the gunboat almost within sight of the open sea and home.’
On 18 March, M.G.B. 314 joined the attacking force at Falmouth - Campbeltown, M.T.B. 74 and sixteen
M.Ls which carried Commando squads divided into small demolition, protection and assault parties, each detailed to specific assault tasks. Two destroyers, H.M.S. Atherstone and H.M.S. Tynedale, were assigned to escort the expedition on its outward journey. The strength of the raiding force was 345 Naval officers and ratings, and 257 Commandos. Nearly 170 would be killed.
At 1400 hours on Thursday 26 March 1942, the raiding force set sail from Falmouth in anti-submarine formation under a protective umbrella of R.A.F. Spitfires. To conserve fuel, M.G.B. 314 was towed by H.M.S. Atherstone. At 2000 hours on the next day, 75 miles off St. Nazaire, M.T.B. 74 and M.G.B. 314 discarded their tows. The Gun Boat drew alongside Atherstone to take Ryder, Green (the navigator), Newman and his staff aboard. The escorting destroyers broke off and the convoy assumed attack formation with M.G.B. 314 leading Campbeltown and two columns of
M.Ls.
Towards midnight, as the ships cruised on between the closing banks of the Loire estuary, Bomber Command aircraft began a diversionary air raid. At 0122 hours, Force Chariot's luck began to run out. Two shore searchlights swept and settled on Campbeltown, whose profile had been modified to resemble a German destroyer. Other lights were switched on and soon the whole force was illuminated in a blaze of light. A German lamp winked out an identification demand. Standing on the bridge of M.G.B. 314, Leading Seaman Pike signalled back in German, temporarily baffling the defenders. Still Force Chariot was pushing on to its target. The Germans, unable to identify the ships in mid-river, opened fire.
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