Look Back PR campaigns Riddle of HMS Jackal (Appeared in the Gibraltar & London press) 1998 Plymouth campaigners are appealing to the Chief Minister of Gibraltar to help solve perhaps one of the biggest mysteries of the Second World War. And the ‘disappearance‘ of Westcountry shipmates from the Rock nearly 62 years go this month. City residents‘ are demanding the MoD finally reveals the truth about the fate of Plymothians who ‘disappeared‘ after a mutiny in Plymouth Sound. Nearly 63-years-ago the Jackal was sunk 200 miles off Alexandria by enemy aircraft in a secret mission code named operation M.G.2. In which she was operating under orders in company with three other destroyers. In secret papers released by the MoD the Captain at the time named has (D) said: ‘All secret books and papers were collected before the ship was torpedoed by HMS Jervis in steel chests before she went down‘. That contradicts statements made to war veterans that logs, lists, and paperwork was lost in the Second World War. By releasing such details it can finally disprove all the rumours about what happened back in 1941. One veteran said before he died recently: “Some of the men left the ship and were never seen again by their shipmates.”. HMS Jackal was ordered into Plymouth in March 1941 by Winston Churchill to give the city artillery cover. When the German Luftwaffe bombed the naval port in one of the most devastating raids of the War. Men on the Jackal are understood to have closed water tight doors in the face of the Naval Officers in protest. They only relented when they were granted shore leave. There are differing first-hand accounts of what happened after the mutiny-with some wild rumours that the men had been shot in Gibraltar. Kevin Kelway spokesman for the Plymouth Party said: “This month marks the 62nd anniversary of the firebombing of Plymouth. And the 62nd anniversary of the uprising against the Queen`s uncle Louis Mountbatten, who was in command of the 5th flotilla which included the Jackal. “City residents are calling on the Chief Minister of Gibraltar to help find out if the rumours and speculation are true or not? The Rock is where the mystery of the Jackal ends-and the time for openness, and transparency by the MOD must surely be now?”
Posted on: Sat, 03 Aug 2013 19:51:39 +0000
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