Up about 7 o’clock. Busy in hospital all day. Received orders in the afternoon to pack up and stand by. Many rumours in from the line.
Heard of attack on Zeebrugge1.
The Zeebrugge raid, with the simultaneous smaller raid on Ostend, took place on 23/24 April and was intended to prevent German access into the North Sea for blockade and military/naval purposes. It was approved in February 1918, but originally suggested by Admiral Fisher in 1917, partly as an attempt to outflank the Western Front (allegedly related to the Passchendaele campaign.) The Zeebrugge element was largely ineffective, mainly due to failure of the smoke screen and consequent failure of the main warship to get to the right place and silence the shore batteries, with the result that the concrete-laden blockships did not get into the harbour. The Ostend attack failed totally, as the British warships did not even reach the harbour entrance. Nevertheless, the raid was presented to the British public as a great achievement and 8 Victoria Crosses were awarded. ↩