This account of Mona's Isle IV part in Operation Dynamo was written in July 1943 by Denys Thorp, 1900-1981.
It is displayed here with the kind permission of his son Martin.
Denys Thorp was brought up in Lancashire and volunteered for the RNVR in 1936. He joined HMS Mona's Isle in September 1939 after taking a gunnery course.Mona's Isle was the first ship to leave Dover when Operation Dynamo started and she brought out a total of 2634 troops in two round trips. Mona's Isle's sister ship, HMS Mona's Queen, also went to Dunkirk but was sunk at 05.30 on 29 May 1940,after detonating a magnetic mine which broke her back. Initially the BBC got the ships' names reversed so Martin's mother had three hours of anguish before they corrected the mistake. Mona's Isle later served as convoy escort. Some time in 1943 Denys Thorp was made Lt. Cdr. and transferred to HMS Khedive, a Ruler class aircraft carrier built in Seattle, which served in the Mediterranean campaigns.
HMS Mona's Isle
With HMS Mona's Isle in Operation "Dynamo" May 1940.
Before the memory dims with the passage of time I thought I would put on record my impressions of the part HMS Mona's Isle played in the lifting of the British and French troops at the evacuation from Dunkirk in May 1940. I have no log or written notes to which I can refer and must rely on my memory of that exciting week in this ship's history.
The week prior to the evacuation we were in the Downs as an armed boarding vessel and were there when the first ships arrived immediately after the fall and invasion of the Netherlands, and with others our job in this capacity came to an end. On May 16th or thereabouts we sailed for Sheerness, I imagine so that we should be on call for any work that might be required of us. The war news in the Press and wireless was dismal and menacing and we, like everyone else, heard many disquieting and depressing rumours. On Sunday forenoon May 26th we heard that we should probably be requested to sail that evening on what was described as a dangerous mission. In the afternoon of that day we returned to the Downs and received our instructions. These were quite simple - "Proceed to Dunkirk and Naval Officer in Charge there will give you instructions as to what will be required of you". I remember discussing the point with the navigator, Sub-Lieutenant A R Y Irvine-Neave RNR (now Lieutenant DSC) when we decided that we would probably be returning with refugees. We sailed in the evening watch at approx. 2100 and were given a route across the Channel via the South Goodwin Light vessel and up the Dunkirk approach channel.
The Executive Officer personnel was as follows:
Commander D K Dowding RD RNR (now Commodore 2nd Class DSO,...) in Command
Lieutenant Commander J J Stevens RNR 1st Lieutenant
Lieutenant D Thorp RNVR
Sub-Lieutenant A R Y Irvine-Neave RNR navigator
Before we were half way across the Channel two large fires were seen ahead on the French coast which turned out later to be the burning towns of Calais and Boulogne. We turned up the approach channel, so far without any incident, and could see in the distance, fine on the starboard bow, a large fire on the South side of Dunkirk harbour. Some two miles from the port we fell in with a French tug and stopped and hailed them. Their English was non-existent and our French elementary so some half hour was wasted for no information.We pushed on until we were within a few cables of the harbour entrance, having attempted to make contact with the 10" lamp with no success at all. While we were backing and filling waiting for a signal from the harbour we managed to pick up a wire on the port propeller. So far things did not look too good and there were no signs of there being anybody at home. So at midnight we decided to wait until dawn and see what happened. We remained outside with nothing to do but watch the petrol tanks burning.Every now and then flames shot up to a great height and billowing clouds of dense black smoke spread themselves over the town, harbour and beaches either side.
At approx. 0400 we could make out ships inside the harbour and saw a destroyer (French) coming up the entrance channel and it was decided to enter. This we did and had no sooner got inside when there was a sharp air attack and all ships opened up, the noise being terrific. It was difficult to see any aircraft because of the covering overhead of smoke. The firing died down and we proceeded up the harbour and found a likely looking billet alongside a quay wall on the starboard hand. There did not appear to be any reception committee so Captain Dowding said that he would turn the ship round as he thought it would be a good thing to have her bows out at all events. This was accomplished with some difficulty, made worse by the French destroyer endeavouring to occupy our berth while this was going on.A RN Commander whose name I don't know took our lines and we made fast. The scene in the port was depressing in the extreme, partly owing to the artificial darkness due to the smoke. There was a good deal of bomb damage and debris and the only signs of activity were a number of French labourers picking over the debris to see what they could find. Astern of us was a British V & W destroyer looking very dirty and battle stained. At about 0530 the troops began to arrive and we were told to take as many as we could and take them back to Dover when the ship was full. When they did arrive there seemed to be an endless stream, no wounded but they were dog tired and dirty and looked as though they had been through many ordeals. There were many from many different units, officers and men separated. They came on board in an orderly stream and distributed themselves about the ship. I remember being approached by one young officer who told me that the general would be arriving shortly and would like a bath. I had to break it to him that we had no bath on board. However when he did appear I found a berth for him in the chart room and felt very sorry for him as he was obviously suffering from great strain.
My only other recollection is of a French officer asking me for a tin opener; I obliged with my pen knife and was rewarded with a tin of caviar. It seemed at the time an odd place to indulge in this diminutive but luxurious fare. By this time the ex-Manx ship (Mona's Queen?) was in the harbour and Commander Dowding had a few words with her Captain, Commander Elliott RNR. It was difficult to keep an accurate check on the number of troops boarding but as far as we could estimate we had fifteen hundred on board and were given permission to leave. We shipped and cleared the harbour at approx. 0700 and set a course down the Dunkirk approach channel parallel to the French coast. When Gravelines was four points on the port bow things began to happen as ahead of us a hospital ship could be seen under shell fire from a battery or batteries on the beach. The Captain sent me down to warn the chief engineer (Lieutenant H Kelly RNR) that it would probably be our turn next and that the faster we could steam the less time we would be exposed to this danger. By the time I was half way to the bridge we were being accurately straddled from the Gravelines battery. We altered course to starboard to increase the range and were under fire I suppose only for some few minutes or so and were hit twice at least, one small shell entering and smashing up the donkeyman's cabin and the other hitting the hull abeam of the engine room. This shell appeared to have hit a hard plate and no damage was reported. We were recovering from this excitement and about to try and find out exactly what damage, if any, had been done when a number of aircraft, probably eight, were seen on the port bow and flying in a circle from which they began peeling off one after the other to attack the ship. The aircraft were all ME109E's some armed with machine guns and some with cannon.
Our antiaircraft armament consisted of one 12 pounder aft and a pair of Lewis guns on each wing of the bridge. I was near the port Lewis gun when the aircraft were identified as enemy and opened fire on them as they peeled off. This was not however effective. Most of the attacking runs were made from the starboard quarter and our view was thus obscured. The Lewis gunner (M/B Maltby) had by this time taken over and I was acting as loader. The next thing that happened was a violent explosive crack in our immediate vicinity and I found myself lying on the deck together with the Lewis gunner. He said "Are you all right, sir?" and I said "Yes - are you?" and he said he thought he was. So I said well, we had better get on with it, so we continued firing at what targets presented themselves. It was apparent that a cannon shell had passed between us and hit a stanchion a couple of feet behind us. The aircraft circled round until their ammunition was exhausted and then flew of towards the coast.To say I was glad to see the last of them is an understatement. Everyone was suffering from shock in a greater or less degree but nobody on the bridge was injured except the quartermaster (Wellington) who pulled a piece of wood from the back of his head and carried on with the job. The 1st Lieutenant and I left the bridge to survey the damage in order to report to the Captain the situation. When I went down I was appalled by the scene and the condition of the ship. With so many men on board, perhaps half of them on the upper and shelter decks, it is not surprising that there were so many casualties. It was estimated that there were about thirty killed outright and sixty more or less seriously injured. Of the ship's company one officer (Lieutenant Neave) was wounded by shell fragments in the leg, and one rating (A/B Bushnell) was killed while standing outside the chart room door. If he had lain down his life would have been saved.
Four or five ratings were wounded. Petty Officer Pope RNR though badly wounded in the wrist closed some ready use lockers in the 12 pounder enclosure after the 12 pounder crew were knocked out, in the face of heavy machine gun and cannon fire and afterwards received the DSC. The plight of the soldiers wounded was more tragic as after what they had endured in France they came aboard this ship thankful to be in the Navy's care and bound for home with the feeling that their troubles were for the moment at an end. I was very upset by this aspect at the time and it took me a long time to forget that no doctor was carried and no sick bay attendant, but their mates came to their help and did what they could for them. The ship was in a sorry state and when the damage was assessed the situation did not look too bright. It was found that the tele-motor pipes were severed and the ship could not be steered as the hand steering gear had been removed when the ship was converted. All the boats were shot up and rendered useless and the wireless aerial had carried away, the W/T set out of action. Many steam pipes were leaking and steam and hot water were issuing from unexpected places. The DG system which was then outboard had been rendered useless. The compasses were intact and the cliffs of Dover could be seen in the distance. A boat compass was taken down to the engine room platform and we proceeded in the direction of Dover steering by adjusting the speed of the screws. We arrived within about four or five miles off Dover harbour and were able to contact the destroyer HMS Windsor which came alongside and her surgeon boarded us together with an SBA with medical supplies and they immediately set to work on the seriously wounded cases, which we had been patching up as best we could, one grim scene having been enacted in the galley where the cook removed a soldier's leg.
Outside Dover there was a long delay owing to the congested state of the harbour but eventually the tug Lady Brassey and one other made fast and we entered the harbour in the late afternoon and eventually secured. Immediate steps were taken to get the wounded off and a party boarded from the shore and carried them into the waiting ambulances.The troops were then landed and entered the trains which were waiting on the quay.