The Benson signal., 1918-06-08


| and leap Of flames which called to the
guns.
"Over the town a flame suddenly
| appeared high in the air and sank
slowly earthwards-the signal that the
airplanes had seen and understood.
Almost coincidently with their first
| bombs came the first shells, whooping
up from the monitors at sea. The sur
prise part Of the attack was sprung.
"The surprise, despite the Germans
watchfulness, seems to have been COM
plete. Up until the moment when the
torpedoes Of the motorboats exploded
there had not been shot from the
| land-Only occasional routine star
shells.
Great Batteries Blinded.
"The motor launches were doing
their work magnificently. These pock-
ct warships, manned by officers and
men of the Royal Naval volunteers
reserve, are specialists at smoke pro-
duction. They built to either hand Of
the Vindictive's course the likeness of
a dense sea mist driving landward
with the wind Star shells paled and
were lost as they sank in it; the
beams of searchlights seemed to break
off short upon it's front. 1t bliNded
the observers in the great batteries,
which suddenly, upon the warning OF
tn, explosions of guns, roared into ac-
tiOn.
"There was while of tremendous
uproar. The coast about Ostend is
ponderously equipped with batteries.
These now opened fire into the smoke
and over it at the monitors and ma
rines. And the monitors replied.
meanwhile the airplanes were bomb
ing methodically, and anti-aircraft
guns were searching the skies for
them. Star shells spouted up and
fioated down, lighting the smoke banks
with spreading green fires, and those
strings of luminous green balls, which
the airmen call Flaming onions"
scared up to lose themselves in the
clouds.
Through all this stridency and blaze
Of conflict the old Vindictive, still un-
hurrying, was walking the lighted wa
ters toward the entrance. 1t was then
that those on the destroyers became
aware that what seemed to be merely
smoke was wet and cold; that the rig
ging was beginning to drip, and that
there were no longer any stars. A sea
fog had come on.
Air Attack Suspended.
"The destroyers had to turn on their
lights and to use their sirens to keep in
touch with each other. The air attack
was suspended, and the Vindictive,
with some distance yet to go, found
herself in gross darkness.
"There were motor boats on either
side of her escorting her to the en-
trance.
"The vindictive then put her helm
over and started to cruise to find the
entrance. Twice she must have
washed across, and at the third turn.
upon reaching the positions at which
she first lost her way, there came rift
in the mist and she saw the entrance
and the piers on either side, and an
opening dead ahead. The Vindictive
steamed in.
''The guns found her at once. She
was hit every few seconds after she
entered, her SCARED hull broken
afresh in a score Of places, her decks
and upper works swept by machine
guns.
"After the control tower was demol-
ished by q shell which killed all the
occupants, including Sublieut. Angus
Fl. MacLachan, who was in command
of it, the upper and lower bridges and
the chartroom, swept by bullets, Com
mander Godsal ordered the officers to
go with him to the coming tower.
They observed through the observa-
ton slit in the steel wall Of the con-
ming tower that the eastern pier was
preached some 200 yards from the sea-
ward end, as though at some time a
ship had been in collision with 1t.
Nose Against Pier.
Immediately after passing the
breach in the pier Commander Godsal
left the coming tower and went on
deck, the better to watch the ships
movements. He chose a position and
called in through the slit of the con-
ming tower his order to starboard the
helm. The Vindictive responded and
laid her battered nose to the eastern
pier and prepared to swing her 32O feet
of length across the channel.
''It was at that moment that a shell
from the shore batteries struck the
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