VC Boys

Of all the thousands of boys and men that trained in the shore establishment HMS Ganges from 1905 until 1976, only two are believed to have been awarded the Victoria Cross.

Able Seaman Albert Edward McKenzie of HMS Vindictive, was awarded the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the British and Commonwealth armed forces, following the Royal Navy's famous Raid on Zeebrugge in 1918.

He was chosen by his shipmates to be awarded the VC and it was presented to him by King George V at Buckingham Palace during the Summer of 1918.
He had almost fully recovered from his wounds when he caught flu in the epidemic which swept across Europe at the end of the Great War. He died at Chatham Naval Hospital in October 1918 aged nineteen.
An excellent website telling the story of Albert, his award and the Zeebrugge raid, researched and created by his great nephew Colin McKenzie can be accessed at: http://www.mckenzie.uk.com/zeebrugge/index.htm

Leading Seaman James Magennis was the only boy trained at HMS Ganges to be awarded the highest British medal for valour in world war two. Boy Seaman Magennis of Belfast, Northern Ireland joined HMS Ganges in June 1935 and on completion of training served in HM Ships Royal Sovereign, Dauntless, Enterprise, Hermes and Kandahar. Before being drafted for wartime service in HM Submarines and volunteering for special duties in midget submarines.

His medal citation read: "The King has been graciously pleased to approve the award of the Victoria Cross for valour to Temporary Acting Leading Seaman James Joseph Magennis, D/KX144907.
Leading Seaman Magennis served as diver in His Majesty's Midget Submarine XE3 for her attack on 31 July 1945 on a Japanese cruiser of the Atago class.

Owing to the fact that XE3 was tightly jammed under the target the diver's hatch could not be fully opened, and Magennis had to squeeze himself through the narrow space available.
He experienced great difficulty in placing the limpets on the bottom of the cruiser owing both to the foul state of the cruisers bottom and to the prominent slope upon which the limpets would not hold.
Before a limpet could be placed therefore Magennis had thoroughly to scrape the area clean of barnacles, and in order to secure the limpets he had to tie them in pairs by a line passing under the cruisers keel.
This was very tiring work for a diver, and he was moreover handicapped by a steady leakage of oxygen which was ascending in bubbles to the surface.
A lesser man would have been content to place a few limpets and then to return to the craft. Magennis, however, persisted until he had placed his full outfit before returning to the craft in an exhausted condition.

Shortly after withdrawing Lt. Fraser (Skipper of XE3) endeavoured to jettison his limpet carriers, but one of these would not release itself and fall clear of the craft.
Despite his exhaustion, his oxygen leak and the fact that there was every probability of his being sighted, Magennis at once volunteered to leave the craft and free the carrier rather than allow a less experienced diver to undertake the job. After seven minutes of nerve racking work he succeeded in releasing the mine carrier. Magennis displayed very great courage and devotion to duty and complete disregard for his own safety."
 

For more information about submariners see:        http://www.submarinersassociation.co.uk/