Churchill's Thin Grey Line by Bernard Edwards

Author:Bernard Edwards
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: HISTORY / Military / World War II
Publisher: Pen and Sword
Published: 2017-11-29T16:00:00+00:00

There seems to have been no logical reason for Carl Emmerman to open fire on the Athelknight while her boats were being lowered. It must have been quite obvious to him that the tanker was stopped and being abandoned. Furthermore, these were very remote waters, and there was little likelihood of anyone coming to her help, even if the tanker’s radio officers had managed to get away an SOS. This can only be seen as a wanton act of destruction, and the deaths of the four men who died as a result of the shelling as murder. Emmermann’s generosity in allowing Captain Roberts to return to his boat, and the gift of loaves of bread, even if they were mouldy, was in stark contrast to his earlier actions.

Although the leak in the hull of the lifeboat had been plugged, despite continuous bailing the water level rose during the night. When daylight came the gunwales were again awash, and it was obvious to Captain Roberts that the boat would not stay afloat for much longer. Salvation came later in the morning, when Second Officer Douglas Crook’s boat hove in sight. The two boats came together, and Roberts and his crew were taken off. The transfer had only just been completed when the waterlogged boat sank.

Crook’s boat now had a total of thirty-nine men on board, and to say that the survivors were packed like sardines in a can would have been an understatement. It was fortunate that during the day they met up with the other lifeboat to survive the sinking of the Athelknight, which was under the command of Chief Officer David Davies. Third Officer Bill Cook, who was with Davies, wrote in his log:

We took 13 men on board our boat making us 25 in all and leaving them 26, two of whom were severely injured. The Captain told us the sub had promised to radio our position when he was clear of the area. The sub had given No. 3 boat a bucket to bail with and several loaves of hard German black bread. The Captain passed two loaves over to us.

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