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LORD ASHCROFT’S
“HERO OF THE MONTH”
LEADING SEAMAN
JAMES MAGENNIS VC
BRITAIN’S BEST SELLING
MILITARY HISTORY MONTHLY
SUICIDAL
VALOUR
The King’s former bodyguard
in wartime ‘mission
impossible’
4
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400TX
Issue
71
MARCH 2013
£4.20
HMS AUDACIOUS:
MINED 1914
THE KING’S VISIT TO THE D-DAY BEACHES
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Notes from
the Dugout
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‘Britain at War’ Magazine is published on the last Thursday of the
proceeding month by Key Publishing Ltd.
ISSN 1753-3090
Printed by Warner’s (Midland) plc.
Distributed by Seymour Distribution Ltd. (www.seymour.co.uk)
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‘Britain at War’
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or damage. Opinions expressed in this magazine do not necessarily
reflect those of the Editor or Key Publishing Ltd.
Whilst every effort had been made to contact all copyright holders,
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many cases, obscure. The publishers will be glad to make good in
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When I last visited the Extraordinary Heroes exhibition in the Imperial War
Museum in London, my attention was immediately drawn, as it always is, to
the diving suit that dominates the first row of exhibits. Whilst I was aware
that this was the very suit worn by Acting Leading Seaman James Magennis
during his Victoria Cross action on 31 July 1945, the full significance of this
fact fully hit home after reading the first instalment of Lord Ashcroft’s new
series, detailing his “hero of the month”, which starts on page 45.
Whilst wearing this suit, Magennis struggled to exit his X-craft and then
proceeded to carry out his allotted tasks beneath the hull of the Japanese
cruiser
Takao,
all whilst firmly inside Japanese-held waters. He then overcame
exhaustion to repeat the exercise. Through Magennis’ endeavours, and those
of his fellow crew members, the enemy cruiser was badly damaged.
That Magennis’ was the first Victoria Cross acquired by Lord Ashcroft
made his story an ideal way to commence the series. Over the coming months,
Lord Ashcroft will examine other individual acts of gallantry. Next month,
for example, it will be the remarkable story of John Bythesea VC – though
subsequent features in the series will not be restricted to only those acts that
resulted in the award of a Victoria Cross or George Cross.
The splendidly-named Bythesea was a Lieutenant in the Royal Navy when
he was awarded his Victoria Cross for the first major clandestine mission of
the Crimean War in August 1854. He and a comrade from HMS
Arrogant
slipped on to the enemy-controlled island of Wardo in the Baltic to intercept
important military despatches from the Czar. They successfully ambushed
the five Russians carrying the documents (capturing three of them) despite
being armed with just a single pistol. Needless to say, I am looking forward
to reading more!
Martin Mace
Editor
COVER STORY
© Key Publishing Ltd., 2013
www.britainatwar.com
The last weeks of the
Tunisian campaign saw
Allied fighters, including
those of the South African
Air Force, take a huge toll
of Axis transport aircraft
and, as Andrew Thomas
describes in “Giant
Killers” on page 25, end
Hitler’s hopes of winning
the Desert War.
This month’s cover
illustration, by Mark
Postlethwaite GAvA,
depicts Lieutenant
“Robbie” Robinson at the
controls of his 1 Squadron
SAAF Spitfire Vc, JG959
AX-N, shooting down a
Messerschmitt Bf 109 of
6/JG 27 off Cape Bon
on 22 April 1943. Two
lumbering Messerschmitts
Me 323
Gigants
can be
seen below trying to
escape.
(Courtesy of Mark
Postlethwaite;
www.posart.com)
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BACK ISSUES
ISSUE 71
MARCH 2013
Editor’s Choice:
Page
65
STAND BY FOR RAMMING
The German U-boats prowled the distant waters of the mid-Atlantic
in search of prey. They found it in the form of a lightly-protected
convoy heading for the UK. For days the Allied warships and the
Axis submarines fought a bitter duel in which the combatants met at
extremely close quarters.
Page
72
Page
35
Features
Page
94
Page
81
25
35
41
GIANT KILLERS
The last weeks of the Tunisian campaign saw Allied fighters
take a huge toll of Axis transport aircraft.
THE KING’S VISIT TO THE D-DAY BEACHES
When King George VI went ashore on the Normandy
beaches in June 1944, he did so by amphibious truck.
We tell the story of the “Royal DUKW”.
COLLISION OVER SARK
Page
45
Page
106
Debris from a Martin B-26B Marauder reveals a fascinating
episode in the wartime history of the Channel Islands.
45
52
LORD ASHCROFT’S “HERO OF THE MONTH”
In the first of a new regular series examining his “Hero of
the Month”, Lord Ashcroft reveals the remarkable actions of
Acting Leading Seaman James Magennis VC.
POLEGATE AIRSHIP TRAGEDY
A solitary grave marked by a CWGC headstone is the bleak
reminder of an accident that took place more than ninety
years ago.
Beat the price increase!
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Britain at War
and make great savings.
See Pages 50 and 51 for details.
106
SUICIDAL VALOUR
a bridgeKing
Wired for destruction,
in
Germany defied capture until
George VI’s former bodyguard
intervened to pull off a wartime ‘mission
impossible’ with an act of near-
suicidal daring. Steve Snelling tells a
remarkable story of individual courage.
58
65
72
83
94
SEARCHLIGHT SUCCESS
When a German bomber crashed in May 1941, the
people of the village acted fast – not only to try and help
the surviving member of the crew, but to also “liberate” his
parachute.
Regulars
6
20
32
44
81
BRIEFING ROOM
FIELDPOST
Your letters.
News, Restorations, Discoveries and Events from around the UK.
STAND BY FOR RAMMING
For days the Allied warships and the Axis submarines
fought a bitter duel in which the combatants met at
extremely close quarters.
IMAGE OF WAR
9 November 1940: Disaster in Bromley.
A GLIDER PILOT AT ARNHEM
KEY MOMENTS IN THE HISTORY OF THE
BRITISH ARMY
3: Victory in the Desert – The Second
Battle of El Alamein.
Mike Peters
relates the experiences of one of the glider
pilots who were thrown into the fighting at Arnhem in
September 1944.
DATES THAT SHAPED THE WAR
We chart some of the key moments and events that affected
the United Kingdom in March 1943.
DRACULA’S DAY IN THE SUN
Shaun Corkerry
investigates the actions of one tank, D16
Dracula,
at the time when tank warfare was born.
THE SHIP THAT DIDN’T SINK
Her loss to a mine would be a great shock to the British
people so, officially, HMS
Audacious
was not lost in 1914.
90
WEIRD AND WONDERFUL WINGS
The Vickers Windsor.
101
RECONNAISSANCE REPORT
A look at new books and products.
WOULD
A FIRE
114
WHAT I
Jolly Roger
SAVE IN
HMS
United.
A “Stork”
flag from

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