In The Zeebrugge Raid 1918: The Finest Feat of Arms, author Paul Kendall tells of one Armley soldier's role in the incident, which went down in military history.

The Zeebrugge raid of April 23, 1918 – St George's Day – was nothing short of a suicide mission as the Royal Navy attempted to bring an end to the devastating German U-boat attacks on Allied shipping in the Atlantic.

The plan was to sink three war ships across the port entrance at Zeebrugge, thereby trapping the Germans.

The incident has been the subject of a number of other books but none which has gone to such lengths to discover more about the roles of ordinary rank-and-file soldiers.

Lance Corporal George Calverley was a participant of the Zeebrugge Raid and was born in Armley on July 20, 1898.

Calverley had tried to enlist in the Royal Field Artillery in September 1914, when Kitchener called for volunteers at the outbreak of the First World War but he was turned away because at 16 he was too young to join up.

Calverley worked as a solicitor's clerk in Leeds – one of his duties was to serve County Court Writs to debtors.

On one occasion during March 1915, Calverley was returning back to the office after issuing a writ when he passed the Royal Marine recruiting office in Leeds. Still under the age limit, he was determined to do his bit for his country and passed the height requirement by raising himself on his toes.

The recruiting sergeant either did not notice, or decided to turn a blind eye. Calverley served as a Royal Marine on the Thames guardship HMS Prince George until September 1916, then he was transferred to HMS Hibernia and patrolled the North Sea.

He was assigned to the 4th Battalion Royal Marines Light Infantry in February 1918 and began training for the Zeebrugge raid. Calverley was part of the Royal Marine landing party aboard the requisitioned Mersey ferry boat HMS Iris whose objective was to assault the mole – a large jetty – at Zeebrugge, in an attempt to create a diversion which would allow the three blockships, the Intrepid, Iphigenia and Thetis to pass.

HMS Iris was unable to land her Royal Marines on to the Mole but as she left, a shell struck the vessel, killing a hundred men. Calverley was blown five yards from where he was standing by the explosion, but survived.

Mr Kendall said: "There were many men who took part in the Zeebrugge Raid who received no honour or recognition for their role in the raid but did deeds worthy of the highest military honour.

"There was one consolation for those who were not recognised because, all those men that took part in the Victoria Cross ballot in all participating services had recorded on their service records 'Participated in ballot
for V.C. granted for operations against Zeebrugge and Ostend, 22-23 April 1918. London Gazette 28/07/18.' Calverley has these words written on his service record."

He added: "Descendants of those that took part in the raids are very proud that these words are written on their forebears service records, because they were so close to being a recipient of the prestigious award for valour, the Victoria Cross.

"I wanted to take the research a step further and try to make contact with living descendants of the men who took part in the Zeebrugge Raid. I successfully contacted over a hundred descendants, who were pleased to contribute photos and information to the book. It is a way of paying tribute to their fathers, grandfathers and great grandfathers."

The book, available from on-line book sellers amazon, is being published to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the incident.