Under way along the Horn of Africa
4 June 1942. Walter MacNab (1918-2015) is one of four DEMS gunners on Abbekerk. He and three colleagues man the two Lewis machine guns on the bridge.
Being a Gunner was rather boring at times and we were poorly paid but we earned extra cash by working in the officers’ mess as waiters and when in port as security guards on the gangways. The names of the DEMS Gunners were Robert Delaney, George Boneham, Parkinson and myself. Delany and myself were from Scotland and Boneham and Parkinson from England.
Walter MacNab, DEMS gunner
The story behind the article’s photograph: In 1942 Walter sent it home as postcard from Durban and this makes it the last photograph (chronologically) I have from Abbekerk. Walter sent me this original photograph in 2012 to use on this website.
Walter leaning against Abbekerk’s 4″ gun.
Glad to learn the photograph arrived OK. Sadly it is the only one I have. Apart from a few small items I lost the lot when we were sunk. This picture I had sent home but the censor had blocked out all I had written on the reverse side. It was dated April 1942 so I reckon we were somewhere in the Indian Ocean and Yes! It is the 4 “anti submarine gun which I mentioned was on a platform on the after deck.
I do remember your dad. He used to come up on deck after his shift in the engine room and sit on one of the hatches enjoying a long cool drink.
Walter MacNab, DEMS gunner
Censored backside of picture
Walter contacted me in 2005 after he found this website. We were in regular contact and he told me a lot about his time on Abbekerk and Abbekerk in general. I visited Walter late autumn 2009 in his house in Folkstone. It was a memorable day. I only stayed half a day and in retrospect it’s amazing how he managed to tell all the story’s he did in the short time I was there.
After my visit I stayed in contact with Walter by email. I was very sorry to hear he passed away February 5, 2015, 93 years old.
Peter Kik, son of engineer Adriaan Kik and maintainer of this website
Operation Ironclad
In the meantime Abbekerk sails southbound alongside the African coast. It seems very tranquil but appearances are deceptive. Earlier that month the English carried out Operation Ironclad in the North of the enormous isle of Madagascar. They took the deep natural harbour of Diego Suarez from the Vichy French who collaborated with the Germans. This was deemed necessary because the Allied forces were afraid the Japanese wanted to occupy strategic islands in the Indian ocean like Ceylon and Madagascar making it impossible for England to supply and reinforce its troops in Northern Africa and the Middle East and enabling Germany to occupy the Middle Eastern oil fields.
Hokoku Maru, armed merchant cruiser.
(source: combinedfleet.com, Ueda Kihachiro)
In reality the Japanese were only interested in destroying the allied navy and had no plans to invade the islands. To keep their German ally happy they did carry out a small operation around Madagascar. The intent being to disrupt shipping and keep the Allied warships tied up so they couldn’t be deployed somewhere else.
During the month of Juny 4 Japanese submarines ( I 10, I 16, I 18 and I 20) and two auxiliary cruisers ( Hokoku Maru and Aikoko Maru) were very effectively active around Madagascar.
Peter
