The day we realised it wasn't a drill any more

Graf Spee captain Hans Langsdorff had been responsible for the loss of nine Allied merchant ships in three months.

Early in the morning, 65 years ago this Monday, Eddie Telford, now 82, cursed Captain William Parry, the skipper of the British warship HMS Achilles.

Mr Telford was a seaman boy on the 7100-tonne British light cruiser. Half the 550 crew were New Zealanders and Mr Telford had been asleep less than an hour when action stations sounded shortly after 6am on December 13, 1939.

Less than an hour before, the crew had scurried to dawn action stations to fine-tune their skills as they hunted the German raider, the Graf Spee, in the South Atlantic.

After doing the midnight to 4am watch, Mr Telford was in no mood for another practice.

"We all thought 'my God something must have upset the captain, we've just had dawn action stations'." Mr Telford said.

The alarm was not a drill. It was the beginning of one of the most significant naval battles of the war.

"As soon as we closed up at action stations we realised it was the Graf Spee. This was not a training run. It was going to be the bloody test match."

By that December morning, barely three months after Britain had declared war on Germany, the Graf Spee under the command of Captain Hans Langsdorff had sunk nine Allied merchant ships, remarkably without the loss of any lives.

However, although the fighting spirit and efficiency of the German crew was the equal of any in the world, the Graf Spee desperately needed shore maintenance after its missions.

During the 90-minute battle the 11-inch main armament and 5.9-inch secondary armament on the German ship sent the British cruiser HMS Exeter limping off to the Falkland Islands, ablaze and with virtually all her guns out of action. On board were 61 dead and 23 wounded crew.

Exeter's departure left the Germans to slug it out with Achilles and HMS Ajax, both armed with six-inch guns.

Both ships hit Graf Spee repeatedly, badly damaging her and forcing her into Montevideo, where Captain Langsdorff sought a 72-hour reprieve for repairs.

However, instead of bringing his badly damaged ship out to fight again, Captain Langsdorff, described by many of his opponents as a fine naval officer and a gentleman, scuttled his ship to avoid it falling into enemy hands.

He believed there was no way he could win against what he thought was a superior British force and decided scuttling was a better option than causing more death on both sides.

Days later he dressed in his best naval uniform, pulled out his Luger pistol and shot himself in the head. His body was found lying on the Graf Spee's battle flag.

Mr Telford, one of 30 surviving members of the River Plate Veterans Association, said talking about the battle was not important this weekend.

While he said there would be time for memories, most of the talk would probably be about anything other than the battle of the River Plate.

"This is one of the big ones being the 65th.

"It brings back memories of what happened. It was in the early part of the war and none of us anticipated the war was going to go on for another five years."

The reunion was also time to remember shipmates who did not survive the battle.

He said the start of the battle was incredibly exciting and it was not until after that they realised the brutality of war four men on the Achilles, 61 on Exeter and seven on Ajax had been killed.

"We all recall the four who were lost on the Achilles," said Mr Telford.

"It was a very sobering thought when we learned some of the lads had been killed and that brought you up with a jolt."

Mr Telford's action station was in the transmitting room. . Information about enemy course and speed was fed through the transmitting rooms to the guns.

He hardly had time to feel scared amid the excitement. That came later when they believed the Graf Spee was going to come out of Montevideo and take up the fight again.

They were unaware Captain Langsdorff believed the propaganda of Winston Churchill, then First Sea Lord of the British Admiralty, that a substantial British force had assembled outside the port to wait for its escape bid.

The heavy cruiser HMS Cumberland had arrived but the British aircraft carrier, HMS Ark Royal and the battle cruiser HMS Renown, were still some distance away.

Had Captain Langsdorff elected to fight, many of the sailors on the three ships lying in wait believed he would have done heavy damage to them and escaped.

The British ships were no match for the Graf Spee's guns and even a badly damaged Graf Spee was a formidable and very worrying force.

Mr Telford said nerves really began to show in the few days they waited before the Graf Spee was scuttled.

This weekend's reunion, which will include a dinner and a service at Devonport naval base, will be attended by the 30 survivors of the battle and 70 widows, sons and daughters from throughout the country.

The chief of Navy, Rear Admiral David Ledson, and other naval guests were also expected to attend.

BATTLE OF THE RIVER PLATE

* What: One of the first major sea battles of World War II.

* Where: The South Atlantic and Montevideo, Uruguay.

* Who: The German pocket battleship Graf Spee faced Royal Navy ships Achilles, Ajax and Exeter. Half the Achilles crew were New Zealanders.

* When: December 13, 1939.

- NZPA