Lives of the First World War

HMS Vindictive, on which Bertrand served

THE OFFICERS & MEN WHOSE NAMES APPEAR BELOW DIED IN ACTION ON THIS VESSEL AT ZEEBRUGGE FIGHTING GLORIOUSLY FOR KING & COUNTRY APRIL 23RD 1918 ------------------------------------------------------------- ( There follows a list of officers & men of the Royal Navy, Royal Marine Artillery & Royal Marine Light Infantry, including Able Seaman Trees)

The landing parties mounting the ramps, so as to storm the Mole at Zeebrugge.

HMS Iris II alongside HMS Daffodil. Able Seaman Trees's name appears on the Iris plaque, as one of the Naval Landing Party who died at Zeebrugge.

flag and motto

Under the terms of clause 13 of the VC statutes, in cases where a body of men was deemed to have been so gallant, the best way to select VCs was by a ballot, enabling the men themselves to decide. Following on from a ballot for the Royal Marine participants, a ballot was held for the Royal Navy participants. These latter were the ships crews of Vindictive, Iris II, Daffodil, as well as the 200 men of the Naval Storming Party. Captain Carpenter of the Vindictive, and AB McKenzie who belonged to B Company of the seaman storming party, were awarded the VC as a result of the ballot. Unfortunately, the six page list does not break out the parties by company and embarked ship.

Painted in 1918 by the artist Charles John De Lacy (1856–1936), this picture is displayed at Britannia Royal Naval College, Dartmouth, Devon. De Lacy has chosen to show the dramatic moment when British troops land from HMS 'Vindictive' to storm the mole, while troops on the ferryboats 'Iris' and 'Daffodil' are poised to follow. IWM Catalogue number: Art.IWM ART 871. Shared and re-used under the terms of the IWM Non Commercial Licence http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/7331

Under the terms of clause 13 of the VC statutes, in cases where a body of men was deemed to have been so gallant, the best way to select VCs was by a ballot, enabling the men themselves to decide. Following on from a ballot for the Royal Marine participants, a ballot was held for the Royal Navy participants. These latter were the ships crews of Vindictive, Iris II, Daffodil, as well as the men of the Naval Storming Party. Captain Carpenter of the Vindictive, and AB McKenzie who belonged to B Company of the seaman storming party, were awarded the VC as a result of the ballot. Unfortunately, the six page list does not break out 1. the parties by company and embarked ship, nor 2. who was crew on HMS Vindictive. In addition to what was on the original list, a "prior posting" column has been added, as well as the company if known. It can be seen that the men tend to be grouped by ship