Photographs: Training on Landing Crafts (10).

Various Crafts and Camps: Isle of Wight to Irvine.

Don Westbrook (of Hamilton, Ontario) out front of a Bell Tent at Camp

Auchengate, near Irvine, 1942. Photo - St. Nazaire to Singapore, Pg. 44 

Introduction:

The number of servicemen who received training on landing craft at Combined Operation Centres and the types of landing craft used grew rapidly as WW2 continued.

Thousands of men (hundreds from Canada) would well remember significant practise operations at various locations on U.K.'s coast. 

Canadians in Combined Operations have fortunately written a few stories about their adventures related to training before several real operations took place. In my father's stories I learn that his early training in 1942 took place first at HMS Northney near Portsmouth (southern England) before moving to north-west Scotland (HMS Quebec at Inveraray, then to Camp Auchengate south of Irvine) prior to the Dieppe raid and invasion of North Africa.

Canadians also trained on larger landing craft [LCI(L)s] near the Isle of Wight in 1944 in preparation for D-Day Normandy.

To read two entries that touch on training prior to Operation Neptune, and the event itself, please visit the following links:

Story: Normandy - Operation NEPTUNE Part 1

Story: Normandy - Operation NEPTUNE Part 2

[Editor's note: The online links to the University of Alberta (Edmonton), home of the texts St. Nazaire to Singapore (two volumes of Canadian veterans' stories re Combined Operations - mentioned in the above links) has been lost.]

Several photographs follow concerning landing crafts and training operations. A few related stories recalled by Canadian veterans in Combined Operations are also provided.

For more information about Landing Crafts and training exercises, please visit Search Our Collections at Imperial War Museum (IWM).

A23755. Landing Craft Mechanized (LCM's) in line ahead followed by two

Landing Craft Gun (Large) LCG(L). Photo Credit - Lt. E.E. Allen, IWM.

A23759. Quarter Bow view of a Landing Craft Flak (LCF), underway during

an invasion rehearsal off the Isle of Wight. Lt. E.E. Allen, RN Photographer.

A23760. Landing Craft Rockets (LCR). Lt. E.E. Allen, RN Photographer,

Imperial War Museum, U.K..

A23762. Landing Barge Vehicles (LBV's). Lt. E.E. Allen, IWM

A23763. Various types of Landing Craft alongside in Southampton Docks before

or after an invasion rehearsal off the Isle of Wight. Lt. E.E. Allen, IWMuseum.

The following three photos are used with the permission of Lloyd Evans, RCNVR and Combined Operations (1941 - 45):

 Landing Craft alongside in southern England docks, circa 1942.

Canadians Don Linder (left), Doug Harrison (centre, peeking out),

Don Westbrook (far right)

  Landing Craft alongside in southern England docks, circa 1942.

A23764. Various types of Landing Craft alongside in Southampton Docks. 

Lt. E.E. Allen, RN Official Photographer, IWM.

A23766. Mess deck scene on board a Landing Craft Gun (Large) (LCG(L)).

Spare guns crew while away time playing cards, reading and resting.

Lt. E.E. Allen, IWM.

A23771. Passing 4.7 inch projectiles through the hatch of a Landing Craft

Gun (Large) (LCG(L)) during an invasion rehearsal off the Isle of Wight.

Note the crew wearing anti-flash clothing. Lt. E.E. Allen, IWM.

Related to the above projectiles, my father recalls the following story while aboard the Dutch liner Volendam on his way to Scotland from Canada in January 1942, prior to any training aboard landing craft:

Late at night I was on watch at our stern and saw a red plume of an explosion on our starboard quarter. In the morning the four-stacker was not to be seen. The next evening I heard cries for help, presumably from a life-raft or life-boat. Although I informed the officer of the watch, we were unable to stop and place ourselves in jeopardy as we only had the Firedrake with ASDIC (sonar) to get us through safely.

Navy mates Doug Harrison and Buryl McIntyre

stand outside Wellington Barracks, Halifax, 1941

After some days we spotted a light on our port stern quarter one night. It was the light of the conning tower of a German submarine. How she failed to detect us, or the Firedrake detect it, I will never know. I was gun layer and nearly fell off the gun (4.7 gauge). I informed the Bridge and the Captain said, “Don’t shoot. Don’t shoot. It could be one of ours.” But as it quickly submerged we did fire one round to buck up our courage. Navy memoirs, Page 8

A28990. Landing craft in the harbour at APPLEDORE.

Lt. J.E. Russell, RN photographer, IWM.

Heading with above photograph: HMS Appledore, Combined Operations Training Base. June 1, 1945. North Devon. Headquarters for the Landing Craft Obstruction Clearance Unit (LCOCU) to which the Navy Frogmen belong.  

A29872. The parade ground at HMS DUNDONALD, Troon.

Lt. E.A. Zimmerman, RN Photographer, IWM.

HMS Dundonald was located adjacent to the ocean 2 - 3 miles south of Irvine, Scotland. Navy boys were accommodated at Camp Auchengate farther south down the road or beach from Irvine, and north of Troon. I believe many ratings stayed in Bell Tents and officers stayed in Quonset huts.

Coxswain Joe Spencer (Toronto, Canada) at Irvine. 

Photo - St. Nazaire to Singapore, Pg. 44 

Map displays the RAF and navy camps, landing strips, bogs, etc.

As found at Combined Operations Command by Geoff Slee

A29875. General view of the beach at HMS DUNDONALD, Troon, where many

Tank Landing Craft tests were carried out. German prisoners are working in the

foreground. Lt. E.A. Zimmerman, Admiralty Official Collection, IWM.

The next three photographs were taken by Editor while in Irvine, 2014. Looking north from Irvine's beach toward Troon.

Doug Harrison, RCNVR and Combined Operations 1941-45, recalls staying at Camp Auchengate and carrying out significant training exercises there on landing crafts.

We were stationed at Auchengate camp outside Irvine at the time in bell tents and all washing facilities were outside. We never went ashore the regular way under inspection of an officer. O/D Art Bradfield, who was confined to barracks, inspected us, lifted the fence and said, “Be back on time you guys.” And we always were. Navy memoirs, Page 17

Len Birkenes returning On Board at Irvine through a makeshift gangway.

Photo - St. Nazaire to Singapore, Pg. 44 

Art Bradfield of Simcoe may have been confined to barracks as a result of an earlier incident in Inveraray. Doug Harrison writes:

Boy, but was it dark up there amongst the heather and the hills (in Inveraray).

As well, gambling in any form was not allowed in the navy for fear the losers might steal, but a friendly game of craps with pennies was going on one night when rounds were being made. O/S Bradfield of Simcoe, the winner, couldn’t sweep the pennies under his hat fast enough and was caught and severely punished. Navy memoirs, Page 12.

A29877. Seamanship class in progress at HMS DUNDONALD, Troon, with

(right background) REME units learning wire splicing from a naval instructor.

Lt. E.A. Zimmerman, RN Photographer, IWM.

A29880. The quarterdeck and main avenue at HMS DUNDONALD, Troon.

Lt. E.A. Zimmerman, IWM.

More photographs from Irvine and Inveraray, etc., will follow.

Please link to Photographs: Training on Landing Crafts (9).

Photographs: Training on Landing Crafts (9).

Types of Landing Craft Grow in Number

Canadians waiting for departure aboard 262nd Flotilla of LCI(L)s for D-Day

Normandy. Tied up alongside in Southampton during a day of bad weather.

CP Photo as found on Page 231 in St. Nazaire to Singapore

Introduction:

As World War II continued, the number of Combined Operation Centres that dotted the shorelines of the UK, of servicemen who received training on landing craft at those centres, of the types and sizes of the landing crafts used, rapidly grew.

Thousands of men would have surely remembered their first, second, third (etc.) practise operations in southern England, north-west Scotland or on the mighty Thames - east of London, England - because embarking on an assault landing craft and later disembarking onto a shingle beach was no picnic on rough seas.

Canadians in Combined Operations, initially acquainted with ALCs and LCMs in Scotland before the Dieppe raid and invasion of N. Africa in 1942, and later introduced to other types of craft - including Landing Craft, Infantry (Large), aka LCI(L)s - in, e.g., the English Channel in preparation for D-Days in Sicily, Italy and France (and more), have stories about sea conditions, how troops fared on board unfamiliar crafts, and other matters about training.

Mr. L. Williams told the following story at the Maritime Museum of Vancouver BC in 1995. Some details were supplied by Jim Gibb.

Maritime Museum of BC. in Victoria. 2012

Mr. Williams says, "Operation Neptune, the naval phase of Overlord, had the primary task of landing the armies of liberation on French soil, and secondly the maintenance of waterborne lines of communication and supply."

Canada supplied 110 ships and 10,000 seamen to the enterprise, about 4 per cent of the Naval contribution. HMCS Prince Henry and Prince David, luxury liners transformed into landing ships early in the year, assembled at Cowes (Isle of Wight) with other LSI(M)s and given D-Day assignments.

Prince Henry, as a Senior Officer of Landing Ships (SOLS) in Force J would carry eight assault craft of the 528th Canadian Flotilla, and Prince David, as a Senior Ship in the same force, would transport six craft of the 529th along with six Royal Marine Boats. And shortly thereafter at Cowes, after lengthy training exercises, three Canadian Flotillas of LCI(L)s arrived, the 260th, 262nd [see top photo] and 264th, 30 craft in all.

Then began final exercises on a very large scale, the last of which (Operation Fabius) took place in broad daylight and later under a bright moon twenty-five miles south of the Isle of Wight, and likely was observed by the enemy, thus adding the risk of a possible attack. None came and the great force of ships and troops landed before dawn "under the thunder of supporting arms" east of Portsmouth and upon the beaches of Bracklesham Bay.

Williams says, "On May 24 the King inspected all the assault ships and craft.... (Officers and ratings were presented to the King) "after which the small ships were sailed past while His Majesty took the salute."

A signal announced the King's passing by his LCI(L)s in a barge

Officers and ratings await the Royal Sail Past in Southampton.

Photo by David Lewis, St. Nazaire to Singapore, Page 230

To read the entire address, please visit the following links:

Story: Normandy - Operation NEPTUNE Part 1

Story: Normandy - Operation NEPTUNE Part 2

[Editor's note: The online links to University of Alberta, home of the texts St. Nazaire to Singapore (two volumes of Canadian veterans' stories re Combined Operations) has been lost.]

For more information about Landing Crafts and Operation Fabius (training exercise in English Channel), please visit Search Our Collections at Imperial War Museum (IWM):

A23732. A Flotilla of Mark IV Landing Craft, Tank or LCT's at exercise.

Photo Credit - Lt. E.E. Allen, RN Official Photographer, IWM.

The following heading accompanies the above photo and several that come next:

Invasion craft rehearsal. 24 to 28 April 1944, off the Isle of Wight. Various craft during an invasion rehearsal.

A23733. Three LCT Mark 4 craft (LCT 804 and LCT 530) in line ahead during

an exercise off the Isle of Wight before the invasion of Normandy.

Lt. E.E. Allen, RN Official Photographer,

Imperial War Museum (IWM).

A23739. One of the latest landing ships infantry (LSI), HMS MONOWAI.

Photo - Lt. E.E. Allen, IWM.

A23740. One of the latest landing ships infantry (LSI), HMS MONOWAI.

Lt. E.E. Allen, IWM.

A23742. A Landing Ship Tanks (LST) belonging to the US Navy.

Photo - Lt. E.E. Allen, RN photographer, IWM.

A23743. Landing Ship Infantry (LSI) HMCS PRINCE DAVID ("would

transport six craft of the 529th along with six Royal Marine Boats").

Lt. E.E. Allen, IWM.

A23745. A British LCT Mark 1 in coastal waters off the Isle of Wight

during exercises for the Normandy landings. Lt. E.E. Allen, IWM.

A23746. Mark IV LCT's, Landing Craft Tanks.

Lt. E.E. Allen, RN Official Photographer

Heading with photographs: INVASION CRAFT REHEARSAL. 24 TO 28 APRIL 1944, OFF THE ISLE OF WIGHT. VARIOUS CRAFT DURING AN INVASION REHEARSAL.

A23747. A Landing Craft Rockets (LC(R))

Lt. E.E. Allen, RN photographer, IWM.

A23748. Mark IV LCT, Landing Craft Tanks.

Photo - Lt. E.E. Allen, IWM.

A23752. Gun crew of Landing Craft Gun Large [LCG(L)] close up at action

stations on a 4.7 inch gun during an invasion rehearsal off the Isle of Wight.

Further landing craft can be seen in the distance. Lt. E.E. Allen, IWM.

A23753. Landing Craft Gun, Large (LCG(L)) take up position for a

beach bombardment. Lt. E.E. Allen, RN photographer, IWM.

A23754. View of a Landing Craft Gun, Large (LCG(L)).

Lt. E.E. Allen, Imperial War Museum (IWM).

More photographs of various landing craft in training exercises prior to D-Day Normandy will soon follow.

Please link to Photographs: Training on Landing Crafts (8).

Unattributed Photos GH

Editor's Column: As Published in Norwich Gazette (4).

FAINT FOOTSTEPS, World War II

Dad on guard duty at Northney with "a rifle with no ammunition")

From the collection of Doug Harrison. Feb. 1942

Dark and Lonely Nights

Early in 1942 Doug Harrison of Norwich, and about 100 other members of RCNVR and Combined Operations (C.O.) arrived safely by ship at Gourock, Scotland. Before they had time to unbutton longcoats they were sent by bus to a Canadian manning depot and barracks (HMCS Niobe) a few miles away in Greenock. And shortly after sitting down they were sent somewhere else.

Doug says, “We spent little time at Niobe but entrained for Havant in southern England, to H.M.S. Northney I (on Hayling Island), a barracks with a large building for eating and cabins with four bedrooms. This was January, 1942 and there was no heat at all in the brick cabins. The toilets all froze and split. But we made out. (At least) our eating quarters were heated.”

In memoirs, veterans recall that at Niobe and Northney they were finally told what some of their specific responsibilities were while under the command of the C.O. organization.

My father recalls the day they were filled in about ‘special duties’: “It was revealed to us that we were to serve on landing craft. The strange new world of landing craft, tides, currents, cold wind, rain and darkness” lay ahead for these raw recruits.

Lloyd Evans of Markham says, “We discovered we had volunteered to operate Landing Craft for future raids and landings.”

If recruits asked what ‘future raids and landings’ were planned they would not learn a thing. Only on the morning of a raid - or just hours before an invasion - would they learn their purpose and destination. Their duties, however, for the Dieppe Raid (seven months later), and invasions of North Africa (Nov. 1942), Sicily and Italy (both in 1943) would be well practiced.

While performing some initial duties at Northney camps new recruits were given a time and location.

Both Doug and Lloyd Evans tell about dark and lonely nights ‘on guard.’

Lloyd says: “Some nights I stood guard duty at the end of a long pier as lookout for German raiding parties. In the lonely darkness this inexperienced 18-year-old discovered the power of the imagination! It seemed the end of the watch would never come.... I was gaining a sense of the terrible nature of modern warfare as I realized in my imaginings how easily they could be turned into brutal and bloody reality.” (Pg. 9, My Navy Chronicles)

My father, three years older than Lloyd, had a less worrisome outlook: “We were issued brooms for guard duty in some cases at Northney, sometimes a rifle with no ammunition, and they were expecting a German invasion! Rounds were made every night outside by officers to see if we were alert and we would holler like Hell, “Who goes there? Advance and be recognized.” When you hollered loud enough you woke everyone in camp, so sentry duty was not so lonesome for a few minutes.” (Pg. 11, “Dad, Well Done)

Perhaps Dad was as worried as Lloyd, but he certainly found a practical way to overcome it.

Eight young Canadians in Combined Operations at HMS Northney, Feb. 1942

L - R: Al Addlington, London; Joe Spencer, Toronto; Chuck Rose, Chippawa;

Doug Harrison, Norwich; Art Bradfield, Simcoe; Don Linder,

Kitchener; Joe Watson, Simcoe; Jake Jacobs (city unknown).

Photo used with permission. Collection - Joe Spencer.

During the day at Northney the Canadians gained early experience driving landing crafts in varying tides and currents, with three dozen soldiers aboard Assault Landing Crafts (ALCs) and heavy machinery and materials of war (e.g., Bofor guns, lorries and tank mesh) on Landing Crafts Mechanized (LCMs).

At night some used navy mattresses as bed covers “in a vain attempt to keep warm” while listening to heavy bombing raids - “courtesy of the Luftwaffe” - a few miles west at Portsmouth and Southampton.

“What an unforgettable sight it was with ack-ack fire arcing upwards and bombs dropping,” says one veteran.

Soon they were on another train to another camp, this time near Inveraray, Scotland “where the real work began.”

Please link to Editor's Column: As Published in Norwich Gazette (3).

Articles: Invasion of Italy. Sept. 8 - 17, 1943 - Pt. 2

News Clippings From The Charlottetown Guardian

A half-track and 6-pounder anti-tank gun coming ashore from landing craft

at Reggio, 3 September 1943. Photo Credit - Sgt. Loughlin, No. 2 Army

Film & Photographic Unit, NA6204, Imperial War Museum (IWM) 

Introduction:

News articles gleaned from The Charlottetown Guardian (digitized; as found at - Island Newspapers) about the invasion of Italy provide some details about the role of Canadians in Combined Operations related to the manning of various landing crafts - used to transport Allied troops and the materials of war to Italian shores beginning at Reggio Calabria, on the toe of the Italian boot.

The articles, clippings, photographs and product ads, along with other details of battle also provide a good deal of context for the work being done on landing crafts.

Some information will be similar to that featured in earlier posts from The Winnipeg Tribune, and some will be new.

Also featured will be a few sentences and paragraphs from the memoirs of those who worked aboard landing craft and had, as a result, a first-hand view of invasion day action and subsequent events, some during times of simply 'standing easy.'

Questions, concerns and comments are welcome and can be directed to the Editor of 1,000 MEN, 1,000 STORIES in the comment section below each post.

* * * * *

The top photo, NA6204 from the IWM, shows landing craft (some manned by Canadians) at Reggio di Calabria on D-Day Italy.

(Many other IWM photographs, films, audio files, etc., (high quality, authentic, informative) can be found by visiting Search Our Collections.)

* * * * *

Clippings now follow from The Charlottetown Guardian, issues from Sept. 8 - 17:

By September 8, 1943 a large supply of troops and materials of war had already been landed on the toe of Italy's boot. The bridgehead, born on September 3rd, grew steadily for good reasons: The invasion at Reggio had been unopposed; large landing crafts shuttled materials from Messina, Sicily to Reggio like clockwork, hour after hour; and well-trained Canadians were involved in every service pulling duty in that region.

Edward Kennedy, an Associated Press War Correspondent, both famous and infamous, writes the following:

Much has been written by and about War Correspondent Edward Kennedy. For example:

Edward Kennedy (c. 1905 – November 29, 1963)[1] was a journalist best known for being the first Allied newsman to report the German surrender at the end of World War II, getting the word to the Associated Press in London before an official announcement was made. This angered Allied commanders who, for political reasons, had imposed a news embargo until the official surrender announcement. After being forced stateside, Kennedy was fired by the AP for his actions.[2] In 2012, the Associated Press apologized for the incident, saying "It was handled in the worst possible way."[3] (As found at Wikipedia)

Readers may find, as I do, the story 'about' Mr. Kennedy to be quite interesting. For example, a modern day news article states the following:

Edward Kennedy, a correspondent for Associated Press news agency, was furiously denounced and then expelled from liberated France after being first with the news of Germany's surrender in 1945.

Tom Curley, chief executive of AP, acknowledged: "It was a terrible day for the AP. It was handled in the worst possible way."

Kennedy's problem was that he broke an embargo on the news. Then a 40-year-old correspondent with US forces in Europe, he was hastily flown in a C-47 transport plane to witness the formal surrender of German forces facing the Western Allies at 2.41am on May 7, 1945. (As found at The Telegraph, May 2012)

More details can be found at Wikipedia, The Telegraph and other sites online.

A well-known scientist also made the news on Sept. 8 1943:

* * * * *

Booby traps left behind in Sicily by German troops are mentioned in Doug Harrison's navy memoirs memoirs (re the invasion of Sicily) and in The Charlottetown Guardian. Firstly, Doug writes (in 1975):

I had 27 days at Sicily living on tomatoes and Bully Beef. I swore I would kick the first bull I saw in Canada - right in the posterior - if I got back. Everywhere I looked there were anti-personal hand-sized grenades that needed only to be touched to go off. They were built to maim and not kill because it takes men to look after the wounded, but if you’re dead, you’re dead. We threw tomatoes at a lot and exploded them in that manner. (Page 33, "DAD, WELL DONE")

In a later article for his hometown newspaper (The Norwich Gazette, early 1990s) Doug tells about life at The Savoy, a limestone cave near Avola, Sicily (during the bridgehead buildup in Operation HUSKY, i.e., Sicily, July 1943). Booby traps are again mentioned briefly:

The cauldron (rudimentary cooking stove) was raised on stones and heated by pouring gasoline on the limestone underneath. This worked out quite well. The cook scrounged tomatoes (pomadori) which were plentiful and we managed (to find) some bully beef (the same way as we had earlier found some rum, a barrage balloon and the cauldron). This was all stirred up together and one night we had tomatoes and bully beef, and the next night we had bully beef and tomatoes. Once in a while we threw in a sea boot to add a little flavour.

Although we were like a bunch of orphans, spirits always remained high. There were hundreds of cleverly contrived anti-personnel bombs about, but we and the cook were well-schooled on these. (Page 105-106, "DAD, WELL DONE")

Though Italy surrendered the war on its mainland continued for many long months in order to defeat the Germans there or their forces north and off the peninsula. Stubborn battles between Allied and German troops would rage into June, 1944 with many lives lost for every mile of Allied advance.

Canadians in Combined Ops would work aboard their landing crafts into the first week of October 1943, living in remnants of houses in Messina (Sicily), about a seven-mile distance across the Messina Strait to Reggio.

About that time Doug Harrison writes:

How long we worked across the straits I cannot really recall, but perhaps into October. One of our stokers set up a medical tent for the civilians at Messina and treated them for sores and rashes. We fed them too but when pregnant women came we had to close up shop.

After a time we were sleeping in casas or houses and I had a helper, a little Sicilian boy named Pietro. First of all I scrubbed him, gave him toothpaste, soap and food. He was cute, about 13 or 14 years of age, but very small because of malnutrition. His mother did my washing and mending for a can of peas or whatever I could scrounge. I was all set up.

When Italy caved in there was a big celebration on the beach, but I had changed my abode and was sleeping with my hammock, covered with mosquito netting, slung between two orange trees. I didn’t join in the celebration because I’d had enough vino, and you not only fought Germans and Italians under its influence, you fought your best friend. (Page 35, "DAD, WELL DONE")

In July and September 2018, the invasions of Sicily and Italy (respectively) will reach their 75th anniversaries. And Libby's Beans will be 150 years old and still taste AOK - better than tomatoes and bully beef!

While Allied progress appeared positive on the toe of the boot, farther north on the Italian peninsula every inch was hard-gained and not without several close calls.

The accommodation that Canadians in Combined Ops found for themselves while in Messina was mentioned briefly by Doug Harrison earlier in this post. More details - beginning on D-Day September 3, 1943 - are provided by an anonymous landing craft mechanical engineer in a story found in a book entitled Combined Operations:

On the beach, while the troops were unloading, gay banter could be heard from the boats' crews. And so easy was the first permanent invasion of Europe! How true Churchill's words proved, "We shall strike the soft under-belly of Europe!"

Nowhere on the toe were the landings opposed by a single shot, nor was a single enemy plane in sight overhead. But there were planes, ah yes, the faithful Spitfires droned reassuringly as dawn broke.

This was but the initial landing in Italy. Our next job was to act as ferry service across the Straits to keep a steady stream of vehicles and supplies to Monty's Men. This was first done from Teressa and later from beaches north of the Messina harbour.

In the latter place we were able to billet the (80th Canadian) Flotilla in houses close to the beaches. The various crews each had their own Italian boys to clean up after meals and tend to their dhobie (laundering, mending). Pay for this service consisted of 'biscottis'. (Page 100. By Clayton Marks of London Ontario)

Editor: I believe "Miss Canada" was the name of a Canadian landing craft,

perhaps an LCI(L) that landed in France in June, 1944.

The next photo with detailed description gives some evidence that landing craft were being produced in Canada and transported by rail. The landing craft may have been built on the West Coast and transported to the East Coast.

Help Wanted: Editor would love better photos of landing crafts

on Canadian soil, or waterways!

I only have a few. For example:

As found in St. Nazaire to Singapore. Wooden LCM at Givenchy III,

Comox, BC. Circa 1944 - 45.

As found in St. Nazaire to Singapore. Wooden LCM parked in the

Courtenay Slough, near Lewis (baseball) Park. Circa 1944 - 45

Photos and details as found in Canada's War at Sea

By Stephen Leacock and Leslie Roberts

More to follow from The Charlottetown Guardian.

Please link to Articles: Invasion of Italy. Sept. 2 - 7, 1943 - Pt. 1

Unattributed Photos GH.