3BadgeMarine
09-09-02, 11:18 AM
St Georges Day 1918, The 4th Battalion of the Royal Marines attacked the U-boat base at Zeebrugge on the Belgium coast,
a raid from the sea which anticipated by some twenty-five years
the great Commando operations of World War 11. The basic plan
for the Zeebrugge raid was to block the canals which U-boats
used to reach the sea from their shelters in the interland around
Bruges.The Marines were to storm the protecting mole while
block ships were to be sunk in the harbour. The storming party
comprised 200 sailors and 700 Royal Marines of the 4th Battalion
under Lt-Col Elliot, carried in HMS Vindictive and two Mersey ferry
boats, the Iris and the Daffodil. HMS Vindictive came under heavy
fire when only 300 yards from the Zeebrugge mole. Lt-Col Elliot
was killed and the storming parties suffered heavy casualties, but
the ships ran alongside the mole and the Marines landed against
all odds and stormed the batteries and staying ashore for an hour
before the riddled Vindictive recalled them and pulled away. The
4th Battalion lost almost half its strength in the Zeebrugge raid and gained two Victoria crosses for the Corps,it was decided that these two V.C.s would be awarded by Ballot by the men who took part in the assault on the mole.the VCs were awarded to
Captain Bamford RM and sergeant Finch. this Raid the aniversary
of this raid is commemorated every year.
a raid from the sea which anticipated by some twenty-five years
the great Commando operations of World War 11. The basic plan
for the Zeebrugge raid was to block the canals which U-boats
used to reach the sea from their shelters in the interland around
Bruges.The Marines were to storm the protecting mole while
block ships were to be sunk in the harbour. The storming party
comprised 200 sailors and 700 Royal Marines of the 4th Battalion
under Lt-Col Elliot, carried in HMS Vindictive and two Mersey ferry
boats, the Iris and the Daffodil. HMS Vindictive came under heavy
fire when only 300 yards from the Zeebrugge mole. Lt-Col Elliot
was killed and the storming parties suffered heavy casualties, but
the ships ran alongside the mole and the Marines landed against
all odds and stormed the batteries and staying ashore for an hour
before the riddled Vindictive recalled them and pulled away. The
4th Battalion lost almost half its strength in the Zeebrugge raid and gained two Victoria crosses for the Corps,it was decided that these two V.C.s would be awarded by Ballot by the men who took part in the assault on the mole.the VCs were awarded to
Captain Bamford RM and sergeant Finch. this Raid the aniversary
of this raid is commemorated every year.