Captain Hallahan, who
commanded the bluejackets, was amidships. The word for the assault had
not yet been given when both leaders were killed.
The mere landing on the mole was a perilous business. It involved a
passage across the crashing and splintering gangways, a drop over the
parapet into the field of fire of the German machine-guns which swept
its length, and a further drop of some sixteen feet to the surface of
the mole itself. Many were killed and more wounded as they crowded up
the gangways, but nothing hindered the orderly and speedy landing by
every gangway. The lower deck was a shambles, as the commander made the
round of the ship, yet the wounded and dying raised themselves to cheer
as he made his tour.
The Iris had trouble of her own. Her first attempts to make fast to the
mole ahead of the Vindictive failed, as her grapnels were not large
enough to span the parapet. Two officers, Lieutenant-Commander Bradford,
and Lieutenant Hawkins, climbed ashore and sat astride the parapet
trying to make the grapnels fast, till each was killed, and fell down
between the ship and the wall. Commander Valentine Gibbs had both legs
shot away, and died next morning. Lieutenant Spencer though wounded,
took command and refused to be relieved.
[Illustration: Layout of harbor; North sea at top, with lighthouse, quay
and wireless station.
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