Gallymont was a tiny "pop-up" 19th century village between Cowra and Blayney that briefly flourished on the back of a minor gold strike. It has long since been abandoned. The old homes have either burnt down or been demolished for scrap and the more substantial buildings were moved to larger communities.

All that remains are the old diggings, some signs and a run-down slab hut on a ridge overlooking a little creek.

Gallymont's connection with the April 23, 1918, " 11 VCs before breakfast" Royal Navy raid on the Belgian harbour of Zeebrugge is a human one.

It comes in the shape of a man I could loosely describe as my uncle, albeit several times removed, James Strong.

He had been born at Carcoar, the nearest hospital, a very long way from the sea, on November 10, 1893.

His parents, James and Emily Strong, apparently made their living from a combination of rural and mining pursuits.

James, the eldest of their four children, signed on for a five year term with the newly established Royal Australian Navy on January 1, 1913.

He joined the crew of the Indefatigable class battle cruiser, HMAS Australia, as a stoker on August 5, 1914. This was just in time to take part in the Australian attack on German New Guinea in September.

James, who at 1.7 metres tall was quite small, was to spend his war in the belly of the beast, shovelling thousands of tonnes of coal over a four year period in which HMAS Australia sailed 91,565 km.

His ironclad home was shared with a crew of 820, was 180 metres long, 24.4 metres wide, weighed 18,800 tonnes and could max out at 25 knots (more than 45km/h).

A collision with her sister ship, HMS New Zealand, robbed Australia of her chance to take part in the Battle of Jutland on May 31 and June 1, 1916, and by February 1918 James and many of his mates were itching for some action.

Fortunately for them Rear Admiral Sir Roger Keyes had an escapade in mind.

He wanted to sink three block ships - obsolete vessels filled with cement - in the entrance and channel at Zeebrugge Harbour in Belgium to stop the passage of enemy submarines.

Leading Stoker N. J. McCrory, who served with James Strong aboard HMAS Australia, takes up the tale.

"We received a wireless asking for volunteers to the number of 11 men (seamen and stokers) for special service," he said.

The chosen, who included McCrory and Strong, reported to HMS Hindustan for training.

"Our jobs came along, the seaman to learn all about trench warfare, bomb-throwing and special bayonet drill (so they could land from the HMS Vindictive to attack the mole or breakwater) at Zeebrugge.

"The Australia's stokers joined HMS Thetis (an obsolete vessel whose holds had been filled with cement to make her sink quickly). Their work did not allow for much rifle-drill, but they did their share and learnt their ship from stem to stern."

While Keyes's battle plan did not survive contact with the enemy and the attempt to permanently block the channel failed, there was no questioning the courage of those who took part.

Of the 1700 Imperial sailors and marines who took part 200 were killed and 300 were wounded, most in the desperate hand to hand fighting on the mole.

While the stokers were not directly exposed to enemy fire their position was possibly even more precarious than that of the landing party.

They formed a skeleton crew aboard a ship that had been deliberately rigged to sink and which was under relentless fire from shore batteries and German ships.

"The means of retreat of the (Australia's) stokers from Thetis was only one life boat," McCrory said.

"We had to pull about half a mile before we were picked up by a motor boat, one of the submarine chasers."

The Australians who took part in the raid were: Engineer-Lieutenant Edgar; Leading Seaman Bush and Leading Seaman Rudd; Able Seaman Gillard, Newland and Staples and Stokers Bourke, Hopkins, McCrory and Strong.

James Strong returned home to Australia safely and died in Balmain in 1972.