Thursday, October 31, 2019

Editor's Research: Invasion of Italy (5) - Montreal Star (Sept. 6, '43)

Monday, September 6, My Dad's Birthday. 
Monty's 8th Army Successfully Lands on the Toe of Italy

On September 6, 1943 my father turned 23-years-old and likely spent the day delivering men and materiel of war in heavily-laden Landing Crafts (LCMs) across the Strait of Messina. On return trips he may have seen many prisoners of war and people of all ages waving white handkerchiefs. They were not celebrating his birthday, though they may have been wishing him well, along with all of the other members of Allied forces, and demonstrating their joy that German forces were being pushed north along the Italian Peninsula.

Whatever the case, I say "Happy birthday, Dad! Keep your head down."

British, Canadian and Soviet forces made the news on Sept. 6, as did the heavy bombings taking place in some of Germany's vital centres.

A report from Canadian War Correspondent Ross Munro (Thrilling Story of Invasion) puts us right up close to the Canadian Navy boys who were operating the landing crafts at this time in Italy.

Here are some photos and news items from The Montreal Star:

These smiling Canadians are in Kiska, Alaska


Canadian troops, likely delivered to Italy in some of the Canadian landing crafts for the first time, are working alongside of Monty's 8th Army:


Ross Munro, a prolific writer, accompanied Canadian troops. The small italics print below says the following: (In the following dispatch Ross Munro, Canadian Press war correspondent, describes the sea crossing from Sicily to Italy as the invasion was launched and the first phases of the assault.)


About the article above: Mr. Munro mentions Matthew Halton of the CBC. Matthew's son David also worked for the CBC at a later date and put stories related to his father in a very good book entitled "Dispatches from the Front." (link)

Matt Halton, far left. Photo as found in Dispatches From the Front.

Munro also mentions that he was on board a Canadian landing craft under the command of "Lieut. Jack Coyle of Saskatoon". I have seen three spellings for J. Coyle, Koyl, Koyle. 

My father called him Uncle Jake, with the officer's permission, and has written two stories about him. Koyl is also mentioned in news articles found in The Winnipeg Tribune re the earlier invasion of Sicily along with a few sailors who were my father's mates. Contact the Editor at gordh7700@gmail.com for more details re J. Koyl.

We also see the name Don Filmore, from Stellarton, Nova Scotia, a field wireless operator. Let's call that a good lead for more information, for those that do research in that area.





The photo below gives us a good look at Lieut. J. Koyl and several members of the Canadian landing craft flotillas:


The photos below give us a look at a few members of RCNVR and Combined Ops on their way around Africa on their way to the invasions of Sicily and Italy. They are aboard HMS Keren.

Several of the above served at HMCS Givenchy III at Comox, BC
from 1944 - 1945, along w my father, after the invasion of Italy

Below is more information from the story entitled Combined Operations in Sicily and Italy (Reminiscences of a Canadian LCM Flotilla Engineer Officer) as found in COMBINED OPERATIONS by Londoner Clayton Marks. Here we read more about the camp that Canadians stayed in after arriving in Egypt after their trip around Africa aboard, e.g., HMS Keren, S.S. Silver Walnut, etc.

Our first land base in the Middle East presented a grim exterior. Tents, tents, sand, tents, sand and more sand met the eye beyond an unimposing but sturdy 'HMS Saunders' sign-board. Imagine the extreme change of environment from a ship's decks to a barren waste of sand! And though it was only the beginning of May, the heat was most oppressing. So with sadly dejected spirits the boys dumped their micks and kit bags off the trucks at the Quartermaster's tent.

The Officer of the Day assigned the tents and messes and we, satisfied that all was in good order, walked over to the 'Wardroom' tent. Here we were greatly surprised to find a very commodious and comfortable arrangement of several large marquees adjoining each other. The bar was good and long, a feature which is always noted with satisfaction. And surprise of surprises, they had a fair stock of Canadian beer on ice! Gee what a treat after expecting a dim and dreary wardroom. The meals too, were excellent.

Very happy are the memories of that wardroom, for in it we met the other Officers of our Flotilla and other Flotillas as their ships came into the harbour a dozen or so miles distant. There were bull-sessions late into the night during this period as each one gave an account of some particularly interesting occurrence of his trip out from the UK.

Dave*, one of our Officers in charge of a goodly number of Ratings, spent ninety days on the trip, while others of us had arrived in five or six weeks. His particular ship had unfortunately encountered engine trouble and several times they were floating with both engines stopped in the middle of nowhere with probably unknown numbers of enemy subs lurking in the same waters. However, some providence brought them into port safely at last. There was great rejoicing on their arrival, for we had begun to fear that if they did arrive, it would be too late for our first operations.

(*Dave refers to Dave Rodgers. His name appears on a Navy hammock along with with other members of the 80th Flotilla, including Doug Harrison, Ed Corbett and others mentioned in this series of stories from The Med. You don't suppose Dave wrote this story about his own adventures during WW2?)

The above account would lead one to think that this camp, because of its location in a sandy area, would be a rest centre for the whole Flotilla. On the contrary a great deal of hard work was done here, for we had brought our boats to a small lake a short distance away from the camp and each day boats' crews and maintenance staff worked from 0700 till noon and often again in the afternoon. If the afternoons were too hot we adopted tropical hours and did some work in the cool of the evening. I say cool, but I suppose that there was no evening when the perspiration wouldn't roll off one's brow even when standing still. But everyone threw their heart and soul into the job for they all knew that great things would be expected of them and their boats. Previous operations had taught the Officers and men that boats and boat equipment are essentially the heart of the force and if they are not in perfect condition much of the 'punch' is lacking on 'D' day. (Page 90 - 91, Combined Operations)

Later in the same story we read an excerpt that mentions Lieut. Jack or Jake Koyl:

It was in the second air attack on 'D' day that our Flotilla Officer and his crew narrowly escaped annihilation.

Jake had just beached his boat and was engaged in off-loading the vehicle it carried when a dive-bomber attacked the beach. An LCT was unloading a few yards to port and an LST only a few yards to starboard. The bombs dropped so close to Jake's LCM that the blast carried right over their heads, but completely wiped the bridge of the LST and killed the entire personnel on the LCT, with the exception of one Officer, who was very badly shrapnelled and burned.


In a shorter time than it takes to tell, Jake and his boys had their craft off the beach and rushed to pick up injured from the two unfortunate large craft. This occupied them for the remainder of the afternoon and it was to the hospital ship I have already referred to that the wounded were taken.

That night she was sunk and the next morning Jake had the gruesome business of taking what few survivors that were still alive from the two instances to another hospital ship. My one and only hope is the crews of the enemy planes that sank the hospital ship stink in the hubs of hell forever and ever!

(Page 95, Combined Operations)

In the memoirs of Navy officers and ratings one reads the vast difference between the action at Sicily (July 10, 1943) and then Italy about two months later.

As we read about the advances of Monty's 8th Army as described in The Montreal Star (and other reports) and the work of Canadians in Combined Operations aboard landing crafts, we will see more instances of good progress during the initial stages of the landings. But tough slogging did lay ahead.

More details from The Montreal Star, with an eye on the work of Navy boys on landing crafts, will soon follow.

Monday, October 28, 2019

Editor's Research: Invasion of Italy (4) - Montreal Star (Sept. 4, '43)

Finally. A Report From Montreal Star Reporter
Could This be Our Guy?

20-Mile Gains Are Reported by Sholto Watts, 1st news article (left)
The Star's War Correspondent at the Messina Strait

My research continues in hope of finding a news report by a Montreal Star reporter who travelled across the Messina Strait to mainland Italy with a Canadian landing craft crew, among which may have been my father, Doug Harrison, RCNVR, Combined Operations.

On this front page of The Star we see an article by Sholto Watt and I have known for some time he travelled to The Mediterranean Front with several other Canadian newspaper reporters. A news article - revealing the names of the reporters - was displayed on this website several months ago when I was sharing new articles found in The Winnipeg Tribune about the invasion of Sicily. What I do not know is if Mr. Watt was the Who in the reminiscences of a Canadian Navy Officer who mentioned his crew took a Star reporter aboard his vessel (When?) one day near the end of the stint performed by our Canadian 80th Flotilla of landing crafts.

But, we now know that Mr. Watt is in the right region and when the pace of ferrying troops and war supplies relaxes, perhaps he will step aboard a landing craft for the seven-mile ride to the toe of the boot.

New reports from along the way:

 Future landings will take place at Salerno and Anzio (right and left of Naples)
It is known Canadians will take part in Operation Avalanche at Salerno.










Ed Corbett, one of the members of the 80th Flotilla of Canadian landing crafts and whose name appears on the same Navy hammock that my father's was listed upon (in an earlier post in this series) kept a diary from July 1 - September 9 and took a few photographs as well that relate to the entries I am making on this site. 

There is more to the diary than I am listing below, and the diary can only be found in a pair of books created by Canadian veterans of Combined Ops. The books are mentioned on this site, are as rare as hens' teeth, but are available for viewing or on loan at a few libraries and archives, e.g., The War Museum in Ottawa, and public library system in Toronto, and a reader may be able to gain access through their local library by ordering them from Ottawa or Toronto. Occasionally a single volume or pair comes up for sale at AbeBooks.com and, on a trip to Vancouver Island, I found a pair at the Courtenay Museum and Archive, donated by Ed Corbett!! 

Here is an excerpt from Ed Corbett's diary, free of charge and with a lot less hassle:

As above - "Ed Corbett * photographs? *" Yes, I have two for you.
  

The diary and photos are as seen in St. Nazaire to Singapore:
Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945

In the photo directly above we see nine Canadian members of the 80th LCM Flotilla, and though my father was a member and I have seen several photos of his mates, I can only say I see a bit of a familiar posture or facial appearance from two of the nine. The two are the farthest left, i.e., one rating standing, one officer - with a beard - sitting down at the makeshift table.

I make mention of who I recognize to some degree because the officer who wrote about his time in Sicily and Italy (two excerpts have been posted already here in this series of posts) mentioned he was trying to grow a beard* and was called "Ginger" as a result. Is Ginger the seated officer above, farthest left? Is Ginger the same officer seen in the photo below?

*Excerpt from the Officer's memoirs related to his beard:

It was at one of these (baseball) games (while stationed at HMS Saunders) that I acquired a nick name which has stayed with me to this day. I was coaxing along a fair growth of quite red hair on that portion of my anatomy where beards are usually grown. Someone shouted "strike Ginger" just at the wrong time. I struck alright, at the air, amid the loud boos from the gallery! So now when we are at a party or in a friendly gathering I have to answer to the name 'Ginger'. Oh well, I guess I deserve it for not being able to grow a real beard. (Page 92, Combined Operations  by Londoner Clayton Marks)

As well, another photo found in St. Nazaire to Singapore: Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945, reveals that Chief Petty Officer of London, Ontario had sprouted a beard during the Italian campaign. He too was with the 80th Flotilla and had his name listed on the same Navy hammock as Ed Corbett and Doug Harrison. Hmmm... the plot thickens. 

Is Hugh Houston of London (my current hometown!)
the writer I am searching for now?

Navy hammock is found at the Navy Museum in Esquimalt, B.C.

I'm not sure if I can positively identify the writer of the article that mentions the delivery of a Montreal Star reporter to the Italian mainland, but I think I'm getting warmer. I'm looking for 'Ginger', a bearded officer, who had a hand in managing maintenance crews for landing crafts. Time will tell if I find some success in tracking him down, along with related stories from The Star.

More news reports from The Montreal Star will soon follow.

Please link to Editor's Research: Invasion of Italy (3) - Montreal Star (Sept. 3, '43)

Unattributed Photos GH

Editor's Research: Invasion of Italy (3) - Montreal Star (Sept. 3, '43)

Landing Barges and Invasion Craft Make the News

"This is IT! Montgomery" from The Montreal Star, Sept. 3, 1943

As I continue to search for news articles and photographs related to the 500 to 1,000 Canadian Navy men (RCNVR) who also volunteered to join the Combined Operations organization - and work aboard various types of landing craft during the Dieppe Raid and Allied invasions of North Africa, Sicily and Italy, for starters - I will display on this site some of the significant discoveries I make along the way.

re the invasion of Italy as reported in The Montreal Star:

I know already that Canadian sailors (members of the 80th Flotilla of Landing Crafts) assembled near Messina, Sicily before the invasion date of Italy, September 3rd, 1943. They transported troops and all the materials of war in Assault Landing Craft (ALCs), Landing Craft, Mechanised (LCMs), and other crafts, across the seven-mile-wide Strait of Messina to Reggio di Calabria, on the toe of Italy's boot, for the duration of Operation Baytown, i.e., for 30 or more days. And once their 'days on, days off schedule' was more stable, some Canadians toured a bit of Southern Italy... and on one such trip they carried with them a reporter from The Montreal Star.

Operation Baytown began on September 3rd and many Canadian newspapers and newsmen recored stories from that day. The Star was one and in it we read some details that point to steady action from landing craft crews (Doug Harrison, my father, was on LCMs at this time).

Headlines and associated stories follow:

"Monty's Men," incl. Canadian troops, were transported by
Canadians in Combined Operations.

In the following article from Page 1 we read a few items connected to landing crafts and invasion barges:


I have shared other articles by Reynolds Packard while he was stationed at Allied Headquarters in North Africa:


Packard's article is quite lengthy and follows the map of "the toe" below :



In the second paragraph above we read, "Hundreds of invasion craft carried the war-tempered veterans of Africa and Sicily across the water gap to open the second fighting front on the Continent of Europe."

R. Packard is likely referring to British troops, Monty's Eighth Army, but other 'war-tempered veterans of Africa and Sicily,' as well as the army or infantry, were the Canadian Navy men who had operated many of the landing crafts in November, 1942 in N. Africa (Operation Torch) and July, 1943 in Sicily (Operation Husky). On September 3, there would have been one significant difference from the point of view of the Canadian landing craft operators: Prior to the invasion of Italy they had not had the honour or pleasure of transporting Canadian troops in their own flotilla of ALCs or LCMs.

If video exists of what the airmen saw during the initial stages of the invasion (i.e., airmen "saw an endless stream on invasion barges flowing swiftly from Sicily to Italy under the protection of manned warships") I would be very pleased to see it and add it to this website. <gordh7700@gmail.com>

Packard's article continues:


Above we read of the "tremendous land, sea, and air bombardment" that took place prior to the invasion. Canadians in their small landing crafts would likely recall something of such action.

From the memoirs of Doug Harrison, RCNVR, Combined Operations:

From Malta, late, August or early September, 1943: "We took a Landing Ship Tank (LST) back to Mili Marina, Sicily, and if memory serves me correctly, attacked Italy at Reggio di Calabria across Messina Straits on my birthday, September 6, 1943.

(Editor: The attack began on September 3).

There was no resistance. The air force had done a complete job and there wasn’t a whole building standing and the railroad yards were ripped to shreds. How long we worked across the straits I cannot really recall, but perhaps into October. (Page 31 - "DAD, WELL DONE")

Also from the memoirs of Doug Harrison:

At midnight on September 3, 1943 our Canadian landing craft flotilla, loaded once again with war machinery, left the beaches near Messina, Sicily and crossed the Messina Strait to Reggio Calabria in Italy. The invasion of Italy was underway...

It was no different touching down on the Italian beach at Reggio di Calabria at around midnight, September 3, 1943 than on previous invasions. Naturally we felt our way slowly to our landing place. Everything was strangely quiet and we Canadian sailors were quite tense, expecting to be fired upon, but we touched down safely, discharged our cargo and left as orderly and quietly as possible.

In the morning light on our second trip to Italy across seven miles of the Messina Straits we saw how the Allied artillery barrage across the straits had levelled every conceivable thing; not a thing moved, the devastation was unbelievable and from day one we had no problems; it was easy come, easy go from Sicily to Italy.


Invasion of Italy, Operation Baytown, Sept. 3rd, 1943 


Photo credit - W. S. MacLeod, RAF Beach Units 

We operated our landing craft under these conditions with skeleton crews and we enjoyed time off. Some of us went to Italy, hitched rides on army trucks, went as far as we were allowed to go and had a good look at some of Italy. We lived on the edge, because not far from the shoulder of the asphalt road were high cliffs and we could look down on the Adriatic sea, its beautiful beaches and menacing rocks. 

I remember one of the many refugees of war, a barefoot lady dressed in a black sleeveless dress, carrying a huge black trunk on her head. I suppose it contained all her earthly belongings or it was very dear to her, and she walked along the coastal road back toward Reggio, to what, I’ll never know. I couldn’t have carried that load.

Our living quarters was a huge Sicilian home (in Messina) and some nights I slept on my hammock on a beautifully patterned marble floor. However, since that was a hard bunk I sometimes slung my hammock, covered with mosquito netting, between two orange trees in the immense yard. Canned food was quite plentiful now and several young Sicilian boys, quite under-nourished, came begging for handouts, especially chocolota, as they called our chocolate bars.
(Page 113 - 114 - "DAD, WELL DONE"

Packard's article continues:

 

The last section of the story, under the heading Allied Leaders Hinted Invasion follows:


A few other articles describing Allied actions on the first day of the invasion appear below, all from microfiche (UWO) of The Montreal Star:





An interesting phrase describing the flotillas of landing craft appears again below, i.e., "invasion barges, that same mosquito fleet that made the landings in Sicily..." I shared an article related to Sicily that said the Canadian navy boys did not want people to call their landing craft 'barges.' I wonder how they felt about mosquito fleet. My father made one comment about the size of landing crafts, with a positive tone: "Small landing crafts make a small target."


Colourful scenes from matchbook covers:



More news reports from The Montreal Star will follow.

Please link to Editor's Research: Invasion of Italy (2) - Montreal Star (Sept. 2, '43).

Unattributed Photos GH