Photos Dated May, 1942, Possibly Related to the Practice
Exercises in Preparation for the Dieppe Raid
landing craft Lockeyear, Walter Thomas (link to 1 - 30 of 3853 photos)
Associated themes - British Army in Britain 1939-1945
Introduction:
Well may one ask, "Where were the following photographs taken?" And I would be the first to admit that I don't have the answer. But I do have a guess, a (somewhat) educated guess.
The date on the back of the photographs shared below suggests the training took place approximately 1 - 2 months after Operation Chariot (the raid at St. Nazaire, France, late March, 1942) and 2 - 3 months (approx.) before Operation Jubilee, the Dieppe Raid, August 19, 1942. (A raid on Dieppe called Operation Rutter was cancelled in early July, 1942).
Related photo:
Original caption: Final exercise prior to assault landing at Dieppe.
(And please click on the link provided here for more information about an excellent book re the raid at St. Nazaire)
A lot of training aboard landing crafts took place in Scotland, e.g., at Inveraray and Irvine (no. 4, no. 13 and 14, below), as well as at numerous locations in England.
A lot of training aboard landing crafts took place in Scotland, e.g., at Inveraray and Irvine (no. 4, no. 13 and 14, below), as well as at numerous locations in England.
Map and training establishments as found in Combined Operations,
by Londoner Clayton Marks
Because of some clues in the background of the photographs shared below, e.g., well built-up port, sand dunes, I think the photos were taken on England's south coast, e.g., near Southampton or on the Isle of Wight. However, I am open to suggestions, email me at gordh7700@gmail.com
A short set of photographs by Walter Thomas Lockeyear under the heading A Landing Exercise follow:
If interested, please click here for more information re Puttnam, Leonard Arthur
More photographs by Walter Thomas Lockeyear to follow.
IWM (H 20020) (2/2) Associated Themes - British Army 1939-1945
IWM (H 20021) (1/2) Troops embarking into assault landing craft
Readers - Q: Where along the coast of England would one find such a build up of buildings?
IWM (H 20021) (2/2) Troops embarking into assault landing craft. (No new
information is shown on the reverse side. This is true for several others below)
IWM (H 20022) Military police, complete even to road signs,
waiting their turn to embark. (No new details on the reverse)
IWM (H 20023) (1/2) Officers watching landing operations
IWM (H 20023) (2/2) Officers watching landing operations
IWM (H 20024) Troops landing from assault landing craft. On reaching shore
they rush to their pre-arranged positions, to overcome enemy strong points.
Only a few seconds pass between the similar photos that follow:
IWM (H 20025) Troops landing from assault landing craft. On reaching shore
they rush to their pre-arranged positions, to overcome enemy strong points.
IWM (H 20026) Troops landing from assault landing craft. On reaching shore
they rush to their pre-arranged positions, to overcome enemy strong points.
And where did the landing craft training possibly take the British soldiers and crews of the Landing Craft Assault (LCAs)? I am assuming, because of the date on the photographs (May, 1942, about four months after 100 - 200 Canadian sailors had volunteered for Combined Operations and had been transported to Scotland, then onward to HMS Northney (on Hayling Island) and HMS Quebec (on Loch Fyne just south of Inveraray for training aboard LCAs and LCMs)) that a few Canadians were sprinkled among the crews in the above photographs, soon to be involved in the upcoming Dieppe Raid, then onward to Operation TORCH (invasion of North Africa, November, 1942), then onto Operation HUSKY, the invasion of Sicily in July, 1943, then next to Operation BAYTOWN at the toe of Italy's boot in September, 1943.
British troops landed on Sicily's eastern coast south of Syracusa beginning July 19, 1943, and four Canadian Flotillas of Landing Craft (55th, 61st, 80th and 81st) served in that region during and well after D-Day Sicily. E.g., the 55th and 61st landed British troops at HOW Beach (north of Avola near Gallina) and GEORGE Beach (a few miles south of Syracusa at Fontane Bianche) before returning to N. Africa after a few days. The 80th and 81st served at GEORGE and HOW respectively, unloading all manner of materials of war from troop and supply ships onto landing crafts into the first week of August. The 80th Flotilla (including my father, LS Doug Harrison) remained in the Mediterranean for three months, and returned to the U.K. in late October, eight weeks after D-Day Italy (beginning on Sept. 3, 1943 with Operation BAYTOWN at e.g., Reggio di Calabria).
Original photograph of Canadians in Combined Ops, members of the
81st Flotilla of LCMs, establishing a beachhead on July 10, 1943 at HOW
Beach, north of Avola and near Gallina, Sicily (Operation HUSKY). Photo
by Major Wilfred Herbert James Sale, MC. At National Army Museum, UK
Please click here to view more photographs by Major Sale, re Canadians in Combined Operations.
Photos by Lt. Lockeyear now continue:
IWM (H 20027) Troops, climbing the cliffs after landing from assault landing craft.
IWM (H 20028) Troops, climbing the cliffs after landing from assault landing craft.
IWM (H 20029) Troops carrying mortar shells after landing on an"enemy" beach
I did check to see the next photograph, i.e., H 20030 as catalogued in the extensive collection (reportedly 11,000,000-plus) at IWM, i.e., Imperial War museum. Would there be more photos of 'troops carrying mortar shells' or - one could only hope! - a close up of the sailors manning the assault landing crafts. "Any Canadians in Combined Ops in the crowd?" I ask myself.
Not this time:
IWM (H 20030) (1/2) The C-in-C working at his desk on his special train.
It will be noticed that he has a telephone with which he can carry on communi-
cations during stops. Credit to Lt. L. A. Puttnam, official WWII Photographer
IWM (H 20030) (2/2)
Unattributed Photos GH
