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Remembering the Battle of the River Plate Aidan Toase The sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War Two has been marked by Falkland Islanders. While in the UK a series of events took place to mark the occasion, on Sunday veterans of the war living in the Falklands were joined by residents and military representatives at Stanley's Christ Church Cathedral for a service of commemoration then later at the Falkland Islands Defence Force Hall for a civic reception. During the reception, a power point presentation, organised by Mr Michael Stevens, Chairman of the Royal British Legion, played a number of images of Islanders during the war, to the accompaniment of distinctive music from the era. The veterans were later hosted by His Excellency the Governor and his wife for lunch at Government House. During the Cathedral service, the Reverend Paul Sweeting read 'A Veteran's Tale', the story of one man's war. Aidan Toase served with the Royal Marines in the Second World War and his story took listeners into one of its most famous battles, the Battle of the River Plate. He married an Islander and lived for many years in the Falklands. Aidan was aboard HMS Exeter in December 1939. This is his account. On the morning of December 13, 1939 I was keeping the morning watch: my particular job was to keep the lookouts awake and doing their job. I was a junior lieutenant in the Royal Marines and was second in command of the Royal Marine Detachment. Humphrey Woods was the Captain of Marines and at action stations he was in charge of B turret, manned by the Royal Marines. I had tried to get charge of the turret myself a few weeks earlier, but Captain Woods was not having any of it, and I had to remain with my lookouts. At about 0600 the Graf Spee was sighted well down on the horizon and the bugler sounded 'Action Stations' over the tannoy. I remember my heart went well down into my boots as everyone was hurrying to his position. Very soon two great clouds of fire and smoke burst from the enemy as he fired his first broadside and about a minute later a line of shells landed in the sea about 300 yards short. The next enemy broadside was correct for range but fell about 300 yards astern. Thereafter we were receiving our punishment but managed to get within gun range of the Graf Spee and scored several hits. B turret was hit by an 11 inch shell and everyone in front of the breeches were killed including Captain Woods. Splinters from this shell cut all communications so the ship's captain, Captain Bell, came aft to fight the ship from the after control position. Very soon both A and Y turrets were put out of action because their electrical supplies were cut off, so Captain Bell said within my hearing, 'I'm going to ram the…' Captain Bell went on to say, 'It will be the end of us but it will sink him too.' So off we set. Fortunately the electricians managed to get Y turret working again so we turned away and carried on firing with Y turret. Lookouts were no longer required so I went to look at B turret. There was some burning debris on top of one gun loading tray and immediately under it a naked charge ready for loading into the gun. It looked a nasty situation so I removed the charge by chucking it overboard and put out the fire. Marine Russel was badly injured but was rallying some leaderless crew and putting them to work. When we got back to Stanley Marine Russel was taken into the hospital and appeared to be making a good recovery. However, he needed a minor operation, and died under the anaesthetic. He was buried with full military honours in Stanley. During the battle, people just worked under their leaders and got on with the job: no panic. Panic is liable to start if men are left leaderless by the leaders being killed or wounded. While we were taking our punishment, Commodore Harwood in the Ajax and the Achilles were scoring hits on the Graf Spee from the disengaged side. It was clear that the Graf Spee was trying to get into Montevideo so Commodore Harwood signalled us to report the state of the ship and then ordered us to go back to Stanley. Ajax and Achilles followed the Graf Spee until she was interned in Montevideo and waited outside for reinforcements in case she tried to get away. That evening we buried about fifty of the ship's company at sea. I well remember our reception in Stanley. Nothing was too much for people to do for us. Many were taken into people's homes. In the Falkland Islands, the removal of a threat of a raid by the German pocket battleships was a great relief. It took about six weeks to get the ship seaworthy. We had a lot of steel plating sent up from the whaling station in South Georgia. I had a very happy time in Stanley as I made the acquaintance of a young lady called Cora Newing. Whenever I could get ashore I would seek her out and she would provide a horse and we would go out to the lighthouse or some other beauty spot. In the piece read out in the Cathedral service, Aidan then told of his postings away to the Mediterranean, and his involvement with Malta and the invasion of Sicily and Italy. Meanwhile Cora had travelled to the UK to be part of the Marens, the Royal Marines branch of the Wrens. Aidan was sent home in time for Christmas 1944, so met Cora for the first time after a five year break. The couple were married by Aidan's father, who was a priest, one week after he got home. Aidan and Cora celebrated their diamon wedding on 30 December, 2004. First published in the Penguin News on 15 July 2005, and reproduced by kind permission of the Editor
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Introduction, Brief
History, Timeline, 1982
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Timeline, 1982 Documents, Articles,
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