On This Day ... in 1643 & Others
Parliament's isolated garrison in Exeter was forced to surrender at the end of the Second Siege of Exeter. During the Civil War, Exeter was besieged three times
In April, the Earl of Stamford marched his Parliamentary forces to Cornwall to face Hopton's army; the battle of Stratton didn't go well for Parliament and their forces were routed, leaving the remnants to limp back to Exeter, with the King's army in hot pursuit. By June, Exeter was again surrounded by the King's army, this time commanded by Sir John Berkeley, forcing the Parliamentary defenders to spend £2,000 to strengthen their garrison.
On the 1 June 1643, Mercurius Aulius, a Royalist propaganda sheet produced by Sir John Berkenhead, of 1 June, 1643, stated
"if the old observation be of any credit, that cats and mice doe commonly forsake a ruinous and decaying house, that Citie (Exeter) is not like to continue long in the Rebels' hands"
A relieving Parliamentary fleet carrying 970 sailors and 200 Dorset musketeers, under the Earl of Warwick, appeared off Topsham, threatening the small town's Royalist defenders. On the 21st July, Warwick's fleet bombarded Topsham for three or so hours, and then lighters and longboats went in to land troops along the river front, but the Royalists had previouly sunk boats filled with stones to hamper their efforts. In the attempted landing, two lighters were sunk, and on the turn of the tide, three of the ships in the fleet went aground, one of which caught fire, and the other two captured, with the loss of 38 guns and 17 barrels of powder. The Earl's forces couldn't break through to relieve Exeter, so they withdrew to Poole, leaving Exeter to her fate.
It seemed hopeless for the defenders, but they managed one more strike before capitulation. On the 31st July, a force of 1,100 men crossed the Exe Bridge to engage and destroy the Royalists occupying St Thomas. The Royalist stronghold at the West Indies Inn was demolished and a Battle at Hayes Barton, next to the modern Flowerpot Fields Estate, destroyed the ancient manor house. The Parliamentary forces lost 16 killed and 50 taken prisoner, and claimed that they had captured 80 Royalists. Recent archaeological excavations at Hayes Barton uncovered many lead bullets and a canon ball, indicating a fierce fight. The action allowed reinforcements to reach the city.
On the 27th August 1643, Prince Maurice arrived at Heavitree with a large army to supplement the forces of the besiegers. The defenders tried to strengthen the outworks, in preparation for the assault. On 3rd September an artillery barrage fired granades into the city settng fire to buildings and damaging the walls; in addition, buildings in the suburbs were also fired. There was a lull for terms of surrender to be offered, but they were refused, so a second assault quickly took the outworks, and the Mount Radford outpost. The Royalist troops turned the captured artillery back upon the defenders. The position was hopeless for the city, and a treaty agreed on the 4th September after a 16 day siege.
The humiliated Puritan army marched out of the Westgate, across the Exe Bridge and on to Alphington, all the time, taunted by the victorious King's army. The Royalist troops poured into the city, breaking into Puritan houses, looting and beating up Puritan citizens. Half a century of Puritan reform came to an end that day. On the 8th of Sepember, the Mercurius Aulius printed a full account of this latest victory for the King.
The Royalists wasted no time in taking control of Exeter, and Hugh Crocker, who had withdrawn from civic affairs the year before, was made Mayor and along with John Colleton, Nicholas Spicer and Robert Walker, took control of the Chamber. The new rulers of the city had a different enemy to fight, when, in October, war typhus broke out amongst the population, only to subside at the end of the year. Military control was stiffened when Sir John Berkeley was appointed governor, making Bedford House his head quarters, and the city loaned £500 to the Kings fighting fund, never to be repaid.
Troops were billeted across the city with Captain Benet's troops occupying the Ship Inn in Martins Lane. He wrote "I have quartered my men at the Ship in St Martin's Lane, an excellent place with good wine, victual and forage."
1916: British troops supported by a naval squadron captured Dar-es-Salaam during the campaign against the German colony of East Africa.
1939: Seven RAF bombers were lost attempting daylight raids on German ports, the first of a series of costly failures which were to prove that unescorted bombers could not normally operate safely by day.
1940: Fleet Air Arm Swordfish aircraft from Illustrious and Eagle mounted an air strike against airfields on the island of Rhodes. Over the UK, airfields in the south-east remained the focus for German attacks, as well as the Vickers Armstrong aircraft factory at Weybridge.
1942: The Japanese were forced to begin evacuating their troops from Milne Bay in New Guinea, the first time that one of their amphibious assaults had been driven back. Corporal French, an Australian soldier serving there, destroyed three Japanese machine-gun nests, despite suffering fatal wounds in the process. He was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross.
1943: Lieutenant John Bridge, RNVR, was awarded the George Cross for leading the bomb disposal work at Messina in Sicily with the Royal Navy's Port Clearance Party 1500. P1500 had started work on 25 August, attempting to make the port useable in time for the Allied invasion of mainland Italy. P1500's original officer and four divers were killed at the start by booby-trapped depth charges. Under Bridge's leadership, over 250 booby-traps ashore, and forty in the water, were made safe. Bridge himself made 28 dives to disarm two large clusters of depth-charges.
In New Guinea, Allied forces including the veteran Australian 9th Division landed at Lae, a key Japanese port. The garrison was eliminated in heavy fighting by 16 September.
1944: 11th Armoured Division liberated Antwerp, securing a major port for the supply of the advancing Allied forces, although much work was needed to clear minefields and German coastal batteries before shipping could safely make use of the port.
Comments
It seems that the Naval Parties were made up mainly (In the officers) of VR ranks. They answered the call and were magnificent, a few stayed on after the war and continued in the same jobs till retirement!
Posted by: TimC | September 7, 2007 8:52 AM