Zeebrugge Raid Centenary 2018 – Call for Papers

Britain’s Royal Navy Museum is inviting papers for a conference in April 2018 marking the Centenary of the Zeebrugge Raid.

The symposium will focus in particular on the planning of the attempt to close the Belgian coast to U-boats, its consequences and the challenges of unforeseen situations that arise in covert raids.

Proposals must be submitted by 1 December 2017 to Christopher Gale, Senior Curator at the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Portsmouth. See the NMRN website for details.

The conference will be held at Portsmouth Historic Dockyard on April 20/21.

Papers addressing the following areas will be especially welcome:

* The Flanders Flotilla and their influence on shipping in the English Channel

* Keyes, Bacon and the planning of the operations on the Belgian ports

* Overcoming unforeseen difficulties in covert raids

* The use of propaganda following the Zeebrugge Raid

* The social and cultural impact of the Zeebrugge Raid

*Lessons learned from the Zeebrugge Raid

On 23 April 1918 – St George’s Day – the Royal Navy and Royal Marines sank blockships in an attempt to close the ports of Zeebrugge and Ostend to German U-boats. Although unsuccessful, the Zeebrugge Raid came to be remembered as one of the most daring operations of the First World War. Eight Victoria Crosses were awarded. Admiral Roger Keyes, the Dover Patrol commander who led the attack, was promptly knighted.

Information & images supplied by the National Museum of the Royal Navy

Posted by: CN Editorial Team