The Portsmouth Naval Memorial in Hampshire includes a Memorial Panel for both Lt. David Carey (Panel 88) and Lt. Bruce Enzer (Panel 90), Column 2. Both men served in X-craft submarines during WWII. They also both died during midget submarine exercises off Mon Repos in July 1945. [4]
There is also a memorial to both men at Burnett Heads, Hervey Bay, Queensland. The Burnett Heads Submariners Memorial is located at Memorial Park, at the corner of Zunker and Moss Streets, Burnett Heads. It was unveiled in 1995 and some of the Australians who served in X-craft were in attendance. [5]
The Burnett Heads Naval Memorial
(Photo taken by Greville Knight)
The Submariners Memorial at Burnett Heads
(Photo taken by Greville Knight)
The plaque for the memorial reads:
“Australia Remembers 1945 - 1995
In Memory Of
LT. D. CAREY RN AND LT. B. ENZER RNVR OF HMS BONAVENTURE
WHO PAID THE SUPREME SACRIFICE DURING MIDGET SUBMARINE EXERCISES OFF MON REPOS IN JULY 1945
LEST WE FORGET”
The plaque for the memorial
(Photo taken by Greville Knight)
According to Wrecksite , a torpedo incident was the cause of Lt. David Carey’s death, although he was initially reported as dying in a mid-air collision in a Sea Hornet.
On 21st February 1945, HMS Bonaventure, and six XE-craft midget submarines (35 ton) were despatched to the Far East under the command of Captain W.R. "Tiny" Fell, DSC, Royal Navy. Fell was the Commanding Officer of the 14th Submarine Flotilla, formed from the 12th Submarine Flotilla.
HMS Bonaventure
(Source: https://www.ozatwar.com/navy/xe-craft.htm )
,
One mission given to HMS Bonaventure and the six XE-craft midget submarines was to cut the undersea telephone cable between Singapore and Tokyo, which runs via Indochina and Hong Kong.
The six secret XE craft trained on a lonely part of the Queensland coast about one hundred miles north of Brisbane. The location was chosen to avoid the possibility of being spotted by any Japanese reconnaissance aircraft. Here they practised placing limpet mines on imaginary Japanese cruisers and strengthened their teamwork. The submarine depot ship, HMS Bonaventure, was anchored nearby. The XE-craft were involved in simulated attacks on enemy shipping. Captain "Tiny" Fell, the Commanding Officer of the 14th Submarine Flotilla was keen to have the unit fully operational via this training.
One of the tasks to be simulated was to cut the underwater cables used by the Japanese for sending and receiving High Command messages. The exercise was in readiness for an attack on the underwater telephone cables from Singapore and Hong Kong. They simulated this task off Mon Repos* near Bundaberg, by attempting to cut a disused submarine telegraph cable that ran between Mon Repos and New Caledonia. It was originally laid in 1893 and abandoned in either 1895 or 1898.
The crew of XE.3
L-R: Able Seaman Magennis, Lt. Ian E. Fraser, Lt. David Carey and Engine Room Artificer Maughan
(Source: https://www.ozatwar.com/navy/xe-craft.htm )
XE-3
(Source: https://www.ozatwar.com/navy/xe-craft.htm )
During this cable cutting exercise, Lt. Ian "Tich" Fraser decided that this would be a good opportunity to test the "free" diving equipment. The diver wears a sort of oxygen apparatus plus a regenerative fitment. First Lt. David Haversham Carey, Royal Navy and Lt. Ian Fraser were both familiar with this equipment and they agreed to give it a try.
At the end of the exercise, Lt. Fraser gave the order for the XE-submarine to surface. As they surfaced, Lt. Fraser saw Lt. Carey jump over the side and disappear. That was the last time that 22-year-old Lt. Carey was seen, and his body was never recovered.
When Lt. Fraser returned to the HMS Bonaventure, he felt that he had been in some way responsible for the death of Lt. Carey. Captain Fell ordered Fraser to repeat the exercise the following day with a different diver. The other XE-craft were also involved. Lieutenant Bruce Edward Enzer, R.N.V.R. was the diver in the XE.2 commanded by Westmacott. He went through the cable cutting exercise and was in the wet-and-dry compartment when Westmacott realised something was wrong. He immediately surfaced near the accompanying motorboat. Enzer exited the wet-and-dry compartment wearing his "free" diving equipment. The officer-in-charge of the motorboat pulled alongside the submarine and asked Enzer if he was alright. Enzer then punched the officer on the jaw and then jumped overboard and was also never found again. Two divers had now been killed in two consecutive days.
Upon investigation it would appear that both divers had gone too deep. 30 feet was the safe working depth for the "free" diving equipment. David Carey had gone down to 47 feet and had worked very hard against the tide during his dive. The "free" diving apparatus was a closed-circuit system which was used to avoid any air bubbles coming to the surface during dangerous missions in enemy held areas. The carbon monoxide that the divers breathed out passed through an alkaline chemical known as Protosorb. This chemical - soda lime granules comprising mostly CaOH - would partially regenerate the carbon monoxide back to pure oxygen. If divers worked below the safe depth of 30 feet and were involved in very energetic activities, the risk of oxygen poisoning increased. Oxygen poisoning affects an individual's mind such that they believe they are not in danger and able to cope with anything.
Siebe Gorman “Proto”, seen from the front
at the National Coal Mining Museum for England
(Coincidentally, David Carey 's cousin, Donald Alastair Carey Brock perished when HMS Bonaventure was sunk near Crete by the Italian submarine Ambra on 31st March 1941, killing 138 men out of the crew of 480. According to the web page found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Bonaventure_(31) , “Bonaventure and two destroyers were ordered to join the Mediterranean Fleet on the afternoon of 28 March, as the British were in the middle of fighting the Italian Fleet during the Battle of Matapan. …… At about 02:55 on the morning of 31 March 1941, Bonaventure was hit amidships on the starboard side by two torpedoes fired by the Italian submarine Ambra. ….. The consequent severe flooding caused a severe list to starboard within minutes and the ship capsized within six minutes of the attack south of Crete at coordinates (33°20′N 26°35′E) ….. She was the largest warship sunk by an Italian submarine in World War II.”)
Here is a photo of the memorial to Donald Alastair Carey Brock: -
Above and below - David Carey 's cousin, Donald Alastair Carey Brock
Donald Alastair Carey Brock
Here are some more of Greville Knight's photos of both the Naval Memorial and Submariners Memorial at Burnett Heads: -
REFERENCES:
[1] Notes of Lorraine Hinschen (nee Pearce).
[2] "A History of Closed Circuit Oxygen Underwater Breathing Apparatus." Royal Australian Navy, School of Underwater Medicine.
[3] Old Elizabethans Killed During WW2 (https://elizabethcollege.gg/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/WWII_OE_Fallen.pdf )
[4] XE-Craft Submarines of the 14th Flotilla (online article) - "Of the 14th Submarine Flotilla in Exercises off Sydney and off Mon Repos Beach near Bundaberg during WW2".
[5] “XE-craft in Australia” in “Divers in Time”.
FURTHER READING:
(My thanks go to Lorraine Hinschen for her assistance with the above details and to Greville Knight for his photos.)
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