Special Boat Squadron by Pitt Barrie

Author:Pitt, Barrie [Pitt, Barrie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sharpe Books
Published: 2018-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

FOUR — The Aegean Island Raids

NOVEMBER ’43 — AUGUST ’44

Ian Lapraik’s patrol were the first into action, even while the last of the fighting on Leros in November was still in progress. He and his men had, in fact, been ordered to Leros as reinforcements before the fate of the island had become obvious, and following the collapse there, with everything in readiness for operations of some sort, they sailed northwards seeking for targets of opportunity. And for Lapraik, Simi would always provide those.

Since Lassen’s reconnaissance, the Germans had arrived in strength on Simi and garrisoned it to some purpose. A German major and two Italian captains commanded nearly seventy Fascist militia and eighteen German soldiers, in addition to the original carabiniere , and they had established strong positions in the governor’s house, at Molo and at Panormiti. A patrol led by Lieutenant Bob Bury attacked the governor’s house in bright moonlight — not the favourite conditions for such an attack, nor over the best approaches for as a result of the recent Stuka raids, broken glass littered the narrow pathways leading to the house. Nevertheless, Bury found his way through a large open window on the first floor, located a light machine-gun post on the ground floor and threw in a grenade, then left hurriedly after first depositing a twenty-five pound charge against one wall which in due course effectively blew out the end of the house.

In the meantime Sergeant ‘Tanky’ Geary, covering the entrance to the house, had watched the gathering of seven German soldiers unknowingly blocking the escape route to the quay, and, as soon as Bury’s grenade exploded and the Germans began to react, he emptied a Schmeisser magazine into the group and then hunted and killed the three who had dived into cover.

Lapraik himself visited another known German billet and threw in a grenade while his two companions dealt with those occupants who promptly ran out through the back door, after which the three moved to the caique yard and set fire to the rope walk, an accumulation of general stores and three small craft moored by the jetty. Nor was this all. Three more of Lapraik’s men led by Sergeant Whittle blew up the power station and then engaged Italian machine-gun posts around the small harbour to such effect that all three parties could withdraw in comparative peace and quiet, and an hour before dawn Lapraik and his two caiques were at sea again.

They then made first for Nisiros where Lieutenant Brimrose went ashore to blow up the telegraph station, crater the airstrip, and burn several more caiques under German charter, and while this was happening, more men visited Piscopi to blow up another telegraph station and disarm the carabiniere . By the time Lapraik and his men turned south they had used up most of their explosive, but they still possessed ample supplies of ammunition so he took them back to Simi — an island which seems to have held great attraction for him.

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