8 April 1942 Part 1

8 April 1942 St Malo convoy diary

Weather: SW moderate breeze, visibility ten nautical miles, slight to moderate sea. A small improvement should allow the held-up convoys to proceed. Correction to 7 April: items 3 and 5 went only as far as Jersey owing to weather.

Situation: V 206/08 ready Guernsey, overnight Holland with troops to St Malo; V 207/13 Jersey–Guernsey with Stade and Gaulois; V 204/11 ready Jersey, overnight Schockland and Siebel ferry to St Malo; V 209/10 St Malo–Granville without convoy, 13:00 Favorit and Rheinland Granville–Jersey, 17:00 RO 8 Jersey–Guernsey, overnight RO 8 troop convoy Guernsey–Alderney; V 1510/704 ready Guernsey, weather permitting Gaulois to Cherbourg that afternoon; V 212 boiler cleaning St Malo; V 205 dock Cherbourg. Escorted tonnage initially 5,085 GRT, corrected on 9 April to 5,500 GRT.

Intentions for 9 April: V 206/08 convoy St Malo–Jersey–Guernsey; V 207/13 ready Guernsey; V 209/10 ready Alderney, overnight RO 8 troop convoy Alderney–Guernsey; V 1510/704 Gaulois Guernsey–Cherbourg if not completed on 8 April, otherwise Cherbourg readiness; V 204/11 ready St Malo, V 211 coal and compensate; V 212 boiler cleaning; V 205 dock Cherbourg.

15:30: a steamer and two Kriegsfischkutter are to leave St Malo without convoy at 22:30; I notify V 204/06/08/11 of expected encounters. 20:30: owing to slow teletype transmission to Guernsey, the night convoy order reaches V 206/08 too late for them to be ready. V 207/13 are substituted. Otherwise the night convoys are carried out as planned. The commander of Siebel ferry 108 telephones about taking over Schockland’s escort Jersey–St Malo; I order him to follow the convoy leader, V 204’s commander. When the ferry subsequently reports that it does not intend to sail because of weather, I expressly leave the decision to V 204’s commander, who brings it along.

T-1022 Roll 2423, PG 38000, scans 0306.