Operation "Pedestal" was a fifty ship convoy which was sent from Britain to Malta with badly needed supplies in August, 1942. Malta, when the convoy sailed, had only a few weeks' supply of aviation fuel, vital for defence of the island and also for the island's offensive operations - the sinking of enemy ships supplying German and Italian forces in North Africa.
The reaction to the convoy's appearance in the Mediterranean was violent, with attacks from warships, including submarines which sank one of the aircraft carriers, and from the air. German forces were worried that it was headed for a landing in North Africa but, whatever its destination, it represented a serious threat.
GALLANT END.
THREE CARGO SHIPS SUNK.
ECHO OF SIEGE OF MALTA.
LONDON, Dec. 2S.
“How three of the latest and fastest motor cargo vessels of the Shaw Savill fleet, the Waimarama, the Wairangi, and the Empire Hope, were lost while raising the siege of Malta in August, 1942, can now be told,” says “The Times.”
“The Waimarama brought many thousands of tons of wheat, meat, and dairy produce from New Zealand and Australia to Britain before the war, and the loss of these large refrigerator-capacity vessels had its effect on the food situation in Britain. The Empire Hope was a new vessel, an exact sister ship of the Waimarama.
“Malta was critically short of food and petrol for Spitfires when an armada of the Merchant Navy’s finest ships was dispatched for its succour. The convoy’s naval protection was acknowledged to be inadequate, particularly in air cover.
“High-level bombers first attacked the Empire Hope, but she escaped unscathed, although H.M.S. Eagle, close astern, was torpedoed. The loss of the Eagle made it impossible for the convoy to pass through the Sicilian Narrows (‘Bomb Alley’) without heavy losses. Massed attacks concentrated on the Empire Hope the following evening, the enemy scoring 18 near misses in 30 minutes. These damaged the engines and made her a sitting target.
“The gun crews were blown out of the gun positions, and more than once crawled back to the guns. Some of the crew were blown overboard and swam back to the ship and their guns. Two direct hits set the ship, which was carrying kerosene and explosives, on fire. The destroyer Penn, towing a damaged tanker, picked up the survivors of the crew.
“The Wairangi became a casualty the following day about the same time as the Waimarama. After evading several aerial torpedo attacks she was hit and badly damaged by an enemy torpedo-boat. The crew scuttled the ship to deny the enemy the munitions she was carrying. The destroyer Eskimo picked up the entire crew.
\“The Waimarama met a sudden and tragic end. The enemy scored three or four hits near the bridge, which disappeared completely with everybody on it. Petrol caught fire and she went down in less than four minutes.
“H.M.S. Ledbury gallantly tried to rescue the crew, but the greater part were lost, including the commander, Captain Pearce.
“The Ceramic, another well-known liner, was torpedoed in December. Only one survivor has been reported of the passengers and crew totalling 656.
“Captain G. Williams, commander of the Empire Hope, and the third officer, Mr G. V. Connolly, Captain H. Gordon (now Sir Henry), commander of the Waimarama, and the chief engineer, Mr A. Chalmers, were all awarded the Distinguished Service Cross.” -Ashburton Guardian, 29/2/1944.
Many New Zealand papers reported that Phillip Connelly's experience in "Bomb Alley" was the reason for his being awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. But he was being referred to as "Connelly DSC" before that Operation "Pedestal."
Biographical Sketch
Mr Philip George Connolly was born in Dunedin in 1899 and was educated at the Macandrew Road School, the Otago Boys’ High School, and the King Edward Technical College. He entered the Hillside Workshops as an apprentice, and on the completion of his apprenticeship joined the Union Steam Ship Company, Ltd., as a marine engineer. For several years he served in various coastal, inter-colonial, and foreign-going ships and was subsequently elected a member of the Institute of Marine and Power Engineers (N.Z.).
During the past nine years he has been associated with numerous local organisations, on which he has served in presidential and executive positions. He was treasurer for a term of the Macandrew Road School Committee, secretary of the Caversham-Macandrew Road Dental Clinic Committee, and vice-president of the School Committees’ Association of Otago. He was chairman of the Hillside branch of the Amalgamated Society of Railway Servants and is at present the secretary of that body. He is a past-president and past-secretary of the Otago Labour Representation Committee, the local governing body of the Labour Party. He has held commissioned rank in both the land and sea forces of the Dominion. In 1934, his name was added to the approved list of Parliamentary Labour candidates. -ODT, 10/5/1939.
FORTUNATE ESCAPE
LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER CONNOLLY
SHIP ATTACKED DURING ABSENCE
While Lieutenant-commander P. G. Connolly, D.S.C., was on leave in London his ship was attacked by enemy planes, and his cabin was badly damaged. The incident is mentioned in a letter to the Mayor, Mr A. H. Allen, dated May 29, in which Commander Connolly comments on his good fortune in being absent from the ship at the time. He also expresses his thanks to all who supported his candidature in the recent local body elections, and congratulates other successful councillors.
Mr Connolly states that he had lately been very busy, and had been "somewhere at sea." "I did, however," he says, "manage to obtain leave to attend the Anzac service at St. Martins-in-the-Fields, and this historic church, which has suffered from enemy bombings, was filled to capacity. At the service I saw Lord Galway, Admiral of the Fleet Sir Dudley Pound, and Sir Charles Portal, of the R.A.F. They occupied seats immediately in front of the four New Zealand R.N.V.R. officers who attended — Commander Newman, of Christchurch; Lieutenant-commander J. Hilliard, of Auckland; Lieutenant Palmer, of Auckland; and the writer. Mr Menzies (Prime Minister of Australia) and Mr Jordan read the lessons, and Padre Les. Groves, late of Dunedin, delivered the address. The service was most impressive, and there is no need to say how one's thoughts drifted back to past Anzac Days spent at home, parading with the Otago Division and later attending the service at our own Town Hall and St. Paul's.
Attacked by Messerschmitt
"Next afternoon I returned to our base, and there learned that in my absence my ship had been divebombed, and although the bombs missed by a couple of hundred yards, a Messerschmitt also came in firing cannon shells, and one officer and one rating were wounded. My cabin came in for more than its share, so I was perhaps a trifle lucky in obtaining leave to attend the Anzac service.
"The weather here now is really grand, and with two hours of 'summer time' it is daylight until 11 o'clock. The countryside is looking lovely, too. Oh, how really beautiful the English countryside is. and with all the trees in full blossom — especially in Kent — the sight is one which will always remain in my memory. The white cliffs of the Channel as seen with the setting sun give one quite a thrill, for here is the 'Home' to which all colonials refer and which to-day we are proud to have the opportunity of defending against the invader.
Delivery of Mail
"Our mail has been arriving regularly lately, and although newspapers are often some months old, ordinary mail has been received seven to eight weeks after posting. I have had Clipper air mail 15 days after posting in Dunedin, which is most satisfactory. Parcels, too, are coming through well, and yesterday we received our sixth parcel from Mrs Wardell, of the Columba Old Girls' Association. Of course, it is difficult to check on all which is forwarded, but our losses from enemy action have not been very heavy so far as we can ascertain....
"I read in one of the New Zealand papers that criticism was being levelled at the powers that be about the delivery of cablegrams to the troops over the Christmas period. The difficulty was due to the fact that the second echelon left these shores some time in December, and hundreds of cablegrams arrived just after their departure, which had to be kept secret. Then, due to the heavy demand of official messages for the three services, it was found impossible to cable personal messages to their new destination, and they had to be forwarded by a different method. When one considers the huge volume of cablegrams and mail which have to be handled, for the services and the fact that post offices are not immune from bombings, I believe we have little to grumble about.
Appreciation of Comforts
"What a splendid response there has been to the various war funds back home, and the people of Otago are to be congratulated." the letter concludes. "I quite appreciate the position concerning the supplying of comforts to the men of my command, and the work of the Columba Old Girls' Association and the Hillside Socks Club will always live in my mind. I was desperate for a time as there was great difficulty in obtaining sufficient articles here, and the severity of the winter and the work we were doing demanded that the men be adequately protected if we were to maintain them in good health." -Otago Daily Times, 15/7/1941.
Philip Connolly was in command of the HMNZS Moa from August 12, 1941, to 1943 when the Moa was sent to the Pacific. The Moa was a minesweeper which, in 1943 under the command of another officer and in concert with the HMNZS Kiwi, took on and sank a large Japanese submarine.
NAVAL DECORATIONS
DUNEDIN MEN HONOURED
D.S.C. TO LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER CONNOLLY
Two Dunedin men are included in awards to members of the New Zealand Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve for distinguished services abroad, these being Lieutenant-commander Philip George Connolly, who was. awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, and Telegraphist James L. Leckie, who was the recipient of the Distinguished Service Medal. Lieutenant-commander Connolly, who was a member of the Otago Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, until he left for service overseas, is a member of the Dunedin City Council, to which he was elected in 1938, He left New Zealand in April, 1940. Born in Dunedin in 1899, he entered the Hillside Workshops as an apprentice fitter, and on the completion of his apprenticeship joined the sea-going staff of the Union Steam Shipping Company as a junior engineer, being subsequently elected a member of the Institute of Marine and Power Engineers (N.Z.). In 1918 Mr Connolly left Dunedin with the last reinforcement draft to undergo a special n.c.o. course, but, the war terminating,' he returned to Dunedin. He was shortly afterwards gazetted as a second lieutenant in the Territorial Forces. In 1928, when the Otago Division of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve was farmed, he was one of the original officers, and rose to the rank of lieutenant-commander, He is also vice-president of the wardroom officers and chairman of the Small-bore Rifle Club. In 1938 he contested a by-election as a Labour candidate for a seat on the City Council, and was returned. He was employed at the Hillside Workshops at the time of his departure for overseas service. -Evening Star, 24/3/1941.
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