Henry Ritchie
Henry Peel Ritchie | |
|---|---|
 Henry Peel Ritchie, VC | |
| Allegiance |  United Kingdom |
| Service |  Royal Navy |
| Years of service | 1890 to 1917 |
| Rank | Captain, R.N. |
| Unit | Royal Navy |
| Battles / wars | Raid on Dar-es-Salaam |
| Awards | Victoria Cross |
Captain Henry Peel Ritchie, VC (January 29, 1876 - December 9, 1958) was a Scottish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for valour "in the face of the enemy" that can be given to members of the British and Commonwealth armed forces. Ritchie received one of the first VCs awarded to naval personnel during the First World War for his actions during a commando raid on the German colonial harbour of Dar-es-Salaam in November 1914, which left him seriously wounded.
Despite the courage of his actions during the raid, Ritchie was not initially recommended for the Victoria Cross. Delayed by discussion at the Admiralty concerning the correct medal to award, it was not until 25 November 1916 (almost two years later) that the medal was presented. Ritchie never fully recovered from his wounds and was forced into early retirement the following year. Although he lived another 31 years, he never again commanded at sea.
Early career
Born in Edinburgh to Dr Robert and Mary Ritchie, Henry was educated at George Watson's Boys' College and Blair Lodge before, in 1890, he enrolled on the training ship HMS Britannia at the age of sixteen. Rapidly rising in the navy due to keen intelligence and impressive strength,[1] Ritchie was promoted to lieutenant six years later, and served for the next fifteen years as a junior staff officer at Sheerness Gunnery School. In 1900 Ritchie became the armed forces lightweight boxing champion, and achieved runner up in the same contest the following year.[1] Whilst stationed at Sheerness, he met and married Christiana Lilian Jardine, with whom he would have two daughters.
His shore service finally ended in March 1911, when he was posted as senior lieutenant to the pre-Dreadnought battleship HMS Goliath. Promoted to commander later that year, he managed the ship's gunnery exercises and procedures whilst Goliath was part of the Channel Fleet stationed in British waters (until the outbreak of World War One). It was said by one of his junior officers that "Ritchie had the reputation of being very strict, but I always found him most fair".[2]
War service
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At the outbreak of World War One the Goliath was ordered to the Indian Ocean to lead a blockade of the German colony of German East Africa (now part of Tanzania), and specifically its main port at Dar-es-Salaam. It was feared by the Admiralty that the German navy would use its colonial ports to support commerce raiding cruisers such as the SMS Emden or the SMS Konigsberg (both of which were known to be operating in the Indian Ocean at that time).[3] This concern was amplified by the fact that the Konigsberg, currently blockaded in the delta of the Rufiji River,[4] had operated from Dar-es-Salaam in the early months of the war and had sunk the British cruiser HMS Pegasus on a raid from the port. Remaining in Dar-es-Salaam's large natural harbour were the German cargo ships SS Konig and SS Feldmarschall, the hospital ship SS Tabora and several smaller coastal vessels - all of which could conceivably be used to resupply the trapped cruiser should they leave port.
Despite a declaration from the German Governor Heinrich Schnee that neither the harbour nor its ships would be used for military purposes, the decision was taken by British Admiral Herbert King-Hall that the shipping in the port must nevertheless be neutralised.[4] The Germans had pre-emptively scuttled a blockship in the port's entrance channel, with the intention of preventing Goliath and the other heavy British warships from entering the harbour to shell the undefended city. With close-range bombardment impossible, the British assembled assault teams with volunteers from the small blockading flotilla. Their mission was to augment the existing blockage by immobilising or sinking those cargo ships trapped in the port, thus denying its use to the Germans as well.[4] Command of the assault was given to Commander Ritchie as the second most senior officer present, and he commandeered two small auxiliary gunboats, Dupleix and Helmuth, to carry his raiding parties.
Raid on Dar-es-Salaam
The day prior to the raid the unusual decision was taken that, in order to allow the Germans time to evacuate the target ships and minimise casualties, they would be warned of the British intentions. In a brief parley the German defenders requested that the British conduct their operations under a white flag, which request was denied. Ritchie was informed that he could begin his assault on the following morning of 28 November 1914.
Due to a breakdown aboard the Dupleix before it reached the harbour, Ritchie had to begin his assault with just one gunboat (the Helmuth), along with a handful of small boats and launches from the blockading ships. There were no signs of life on the target ships as Ritchie's flotilla moved uncontested into the port, and the shoreline was descibed by officers in the raiding party as "utterly deserted" and "cool and inviting".[3] Shortly after 10:00 a.m. the raiders proceeded to lay charges on the abandoned Konig and Feldmarschall. However they were soon challenged by the port's commanding officer, who questioned their right to be in the anchorage and demanded to be permitted to observe their actions in order that he could make a report. In a meeting aboard the Helmuth it was explained to him that British orders were to disable German assets in the harbour and that, being at war, his permission was unecessary.
After some discussion he was persuaded to disembark so that the Helmuth could continue operations.[5] Leaving demolition parties aboard the cargo vessels, Ritchie then took the Helmuth further down-river to check for other shipping, but grounded. Assuming the way was blocked, he returned to the two cargo ships on one of the expedition's small launches. It was at this stage, whilst conducting a final inspection, that he made the discovery of a large number of empty ammunition cases and discarded bullets in the holds of the cargo ships. Deducing that the German crew had armed themselves before they left their vessels, he suspected preparations were underway to ambush his force when it attempted to leave the harbour.[5]
Despite this discovery Ritchie resolved to continue as ordered. He took the precaution of sending the Helmuth to the harbour entrance to cover the withdrawal, and gathered together several small boats moored in the harbour. These he secured around his launch, providing added bouyancy in case it received fatal damage in the engagement he was sure would ensue.[6] With preparations complete, one of Ritchie's boats (from the cruiser HMS Fox) moved to the harbour entrance. It was met with a hail of fire from the shore, where the hidden German crews and town garrison had indeed prepared an ambush. The Helmuth was next to be attacked, but despite sustaining severe damage both craft were able to limp to safety, carrying several wounded. From outside the harbour the Fox and the Goliath responded with a heavy barrage, demolishing several streets of the town and the Governor's Palace. Ritchie, aboard the only remaining British boat in the harbour, attempted to pick up one of his officers who had earlier gone aboard the German hospital ship SS Tabora to conduct a medical inspection.[7] However the effort was not a success, and on leaving the harbour Ritchie's launch came under sustained fire from machine guns, rifles and light artillery.[8]
With most of his crew grievously wounded, Ritchie refused to relinquish his place at the helm until he had steered his boat to safety. He was discovered "simply smothered in blood and barely conscious" by Goliath 's crew when they went to his aid in the battleship's pinnace. Ritchie was rushed to the sick bay, where it was ascertained that he had been hit in eight separate places.[8] The raid had cost the British one dead, fourteen seriously wounded and twelve captured after they were left behind in the confusion. The raiders had in turn immobilised three large merchant vessels and destroyed several shore installations, as well as taking thirty five prisoners.[1]
Two days later, with the wounded hospitalised in Zanzibar, Goliath and Fox returned to Dar-es-Salaam and reduced most of the seafront to rubble, setting fire to several other districts of the town as well. This reprisal served only to turn the hitherto neutral local populace against the British.[1] Feelings ran high in both camps following the raid, with the British claiming that white flags flying from several shore installations should have precluded any German attack, and the Germans insisting that the British had attempted to capture their merchant vessels' crews despite promises not to do so. According to Stephen Snelling in The Naval VCs, both sides had in fact entered the operation with the intention of breaching their agreements.[1]
Retirement and the Victoria Cross
Nine men were honoured for their role in the operation, seven receiving Distinguished Service Medals, two the Conspicuous Gallantry Medal and one, the grievously wounded Ritchie, the Victoria Cross. Ritchie had not initially been recommended for this award; its presentation was approved at a later date by a still-unidentified figure in the Admiralty. Snelling speculates that the Admiralty's change of heart was possibly a morale boosting measure, although Ritchie's courage was never in question.[1] The shrapnel and bullet wounds he sustained in the raid were extensive, including injuries to his forehead, left thumb, left arm (twice), right arm, right hip and a badly broken right leg after being hit by two high calibre machine gun bullets.[6]
Ritchie spent six weeks in hospital in Zanzibar before he was considered well enough to be transported home. In England he recovered during the spring of 1915 at Plymouth Hospital, with his family present. Although judged fit in late February, Ritchie was assigned light duties and was not returned to Goliath; a disappointment which proved fortunate for him when she was sunk off the Dardanelles in May 1915 by the Turkish destroyer Muavenet with the loss of five hundred lives.[1] His Victoria Cross was presented by King George V at Buckingham Palace in November 1916, two years after the action and shortly before his retirement as a Naval Captain, having been deemed unfit for further service as a legacy of the wounds he had received.[2]
Following his retirement Ritchie settled with his family back in his home city of Edinburgh, and lived a quiet and uneventful life. He was not involved in any official capacity during the Second World War, and died at his home in 1958. Ritchie was cremated at Warriston.[9] There are no memorials or headstones dedicated to him today, and his Victoria Cross is not on public display.[2]
Victoria Cross citation
Admiralty 10th April 1915
The King has been graciously pleased to approve of the grant of the Victoria Cross to Commander Henry Peel Ritchie Royal Navy for the conscious act of bravery specified below -
For most conspicuous bravery on the 28th November 1914 when in command of the searching and demolition operations at Dar-es-Salaam East Africa Though severely wounded several times his fortitude and resolution enabled him to continue to do his duty inspiring all by his example until at his eighth wound he became unconscious The interval between his first and last severe wound was between twenty and twenty five minutes
THE LONDON GAZETTE, 9th April 1915 [10]
Notes
- ^ a b c d e f g P.6, The Naval VCs, Stephen Snelling
- ^ a b c P.7, The Naval VCs, Stephen Snelling
- ^ a b P.1, The Naval VCs, Stephen Snelling
- ^ a b c P.2, The Naval VCs, Stephen Snelling
- ^ a b P.3, The Naval VCs, Stephen Snelling
- ^ a b first-world-war.com, How Commander Henry Peel Ritchie Won The V.C. At Dar-es-Salaam, Retrieved on the 27 May 2007
- ^ P.4, The Naval VCs, Stephen Snelling
- ^ a b P.5, The Naval VCs, Stephen Snelling
- ^ Grave location for holders of the Victoria Cross in the city of Edinburgh, Retrieved on the 27 May 2007
- ^ London Gazette, 9th April 1915, Retrieved on 17 January 2007
References
- The Register of the Victoria Cross. This England Books. 1997. ISBN 0-906324-27-0.
- Arthur, Max (2004). Symbol of Courage, A History of the Victoria Cross. Sidgwick & Jackson. ISBN 0-283103-51-9.
- Harvey, David (1999). Monuments to Courage. Naval & Military Press Ltd. ISBN 1-843423-56-1.
- Snelling, Stephen (2002). VCs of the First World War - The Naval VCs. Sutton Publishing. ISBN 0-750913-95-9.