Evening star., 1940-02-18
BY J. C. STARK,

BY J. C. STARK,
Associated Press Foreign Correspondent.
LONDON, Feb. ia conQuering
British destroyer came home tonight
with 300 Britons rescued from the
Nazi prison ship Altmark, leaving
the German prison vessel rammed
fast in the ice and rocks of a Nor
wegian fjord after a defiant and
furious fight on the very shores of
a frightened neutral nation.
Like a chapter from the exploits
of Drake or Nelson, boarding party
from H. M. S. Cossack, one of at
least three British destroyers in
volved, swarmed over the decks OF
the dingy, l2,000-ton Altmark, freed
the seamen-prisoners taken months
ago by the now-scuttled Admiral
Graf Spec and killed five Germans
and wounded five others.
The officer-leader of the boarding
party sprang eight feet to the lower
deck of the Altmark. knocked aside
a German guard and raced to the
bridge to send the Altmark hard
ashore with a full speed astern"
ring of the engine-room telegraph
Then he rushed to the captain S
cabin and flung open the door only
to be wounded in the arm by a
pistol fixed in "booby trap"
Real Old-Style Scrap"
The fight on the Altmark was de-
scribed by crewmen from the Cos
sack as "a real scrap in the old
style"
Led by an officer" one seaman
said. the first boarding party of
about II bluejackets jumped the
8 or 10 feet which separated the
Cossack from the Altmark.
The others followed and there was
a grand melee on the deck 1t lasted
for several minutes before the Ger
mans gave in.
Some of the Germans who jumped
to the ice fired at the boarders."
In u spectacular side show to the
battle the 5,805-ton German tanker
Baldrr, cornered offshore by the
British destroyer Ivanhoe, was scut-
tied by her crew-"in German FASH
ion," as the British admiralty put it.
Counter Representations Made.
The British foreign Office received
Norway's protest over the seizure
with counter-representations over
Nor yot a Inv n
lease the British prisoners during a
search prior to last nights incident.
This failure, it said, left Britain no
alternative but to take matters into
its own hands and free the captives.
An admiralty communique, de-
scribing the boarding of the Altmark
in official language, said shots were
fired by both sides and asserted the
boarders found two pompom guns
and four machine guns on the Alt
mark 1t also described the rescue
OF one Altmark crewman from the
ice-filIed water and told how the de-
stroyer Ivanhoe rescued the crew Of
the Baldur.
This naval account of the boarding
blamed the grounding of the Alt
mark largely on her efforts to break
free from the ice of Gjessingfjord
despite British commands, and on
an attempt to ram the Cossack as
she pulled alongside.
The Cossack answered by flinging
graphing irons aboard the Altmark
and boarding her.
Gunner Severely Wounded.
Firing then broke out on both
sides and Mr., J. j. F. Smith, gun
ner in charge of one of the board
ing parties, was severely wounded"
the communique said.
THE British prisoners were found
locked in shell rooms and store
rooms and in an empty oil tank.
While these captives were being
released number of German armed
guards, put on board by the Graf
Spec, escaped over the stern Of the
ship and making their way across
the ice reached an eminence on
shore from which they opened fire
with rifles.
The fire was returned by the
British and two Germans who were
scrambling across the ice to join
those already on shore were hit.
"At the same time another Ger
man fell into the water amidst the
broken ice. Two of the Cossacks s
officers plunged overheard and saved
him.
Twice Visited, but Not Searched.
"One of the officers stated that
she had twice been visited while
in Norwegian waters but had not
been searched. This would explain
the fact that 800 British prisoners
on board who were clamoring for
release were not noticed.
AS soon as the boarding party
and all the British prisoners had
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