Photographs: The Roy Burt Collection, RCNVR and Combined Operations (1)

Dozens of Excellent Photos and a Story or Two by Roy Burt

And Wouldn't You Know It, He was a Poet!

Roy Burt, RCNVR, closest to viewer, center, with black cap and wet shorts.

Unloading Landing Craft, Mechanised (LCMs) at HOW Sector/Beach on

east coast of Sicily (perhaps near Gallina), from July 10 - August 9, 1943

Introduction:

I knew about Roy Burt because I knew first about Clayton Marks (also RCNVR, Combined Operations, WWII) of London, Ontario. Clayton wrote a book in the late 1980s or early 1990s entitled Combined Operations, my father had purchased it in May, 1993, and it was part of a collection of materials he left behind when he passed away in early 2003. The book has been an integral part of this blog since I began work on it in February, 2015. 

Clayton and Burt volunteered for Combined Operations a short time after the first draft of sailors did so (i.e., the Effingham Division) in late 1941 while completing their training at HMCS Stadacona, and a good bit of Burt's navy history will be shared as part of a series of posts featuring his collection of rare and significant photographs. 

Part 1 begins below and includes a few related maps and photos to provide some context for interested readers. Contact me at gordh7700@gmail.com with questions or comments. 

R. Burt, a member of the 81st Canadian Flotilla of Landing Craft, transported 

all materials of war for Monty's Eighth Army onto beaches at HOW Beach.

Names of ships to be unloaded appear above, e.g., O Henry, US Liberty ship

Map is found in a book of veterans' stories (RCNVR/Comb.Ops), pg. 179

80th and 81st Can. Flotillas of LCMs operated south of Syracusa, above right

Roy Burt, likely with wet shorts, appears in back row, fourth from the left.

At a Navy training camp, perhaps near Victoria, Vancouver Island

Three Canadians, raw Combined Ops recruits, at HMS Northney on

Hayling Island, early 1942. Roy Burt, centre. Clayton Marks, right

C. Marks, centre, from London ONT. Author of Combined Operations

HMS Northney was sub-divided into 4 camps, (I - IV)

Also at HMS Northney, 8 members of the first draft to Combined Ops

L - R: Al Adlington (London), Joe Spencer (Toronto), Chuck Rose (Chippewa),

Doug Harrison (Norwich), Art Bradfield (Simcoe), Don Linder (Kitchener), Joe

Watson (Simcoe), and Jake Jacobs (unknown town of origin). February, 1942

Roy B. at HMS Quebec, I believe, in spring, 1942. Stationed on Loch

Fyne at No. 1 Comb. Ops Training Camp, for training on landing craft

 

More Canadian ratings in large (Nissen?) huts, south of Inveraray

Sailors went to Glasgow while on leave, got their pictures taken

Photo found in Combined Operations by C. Marks, back row

Don Westbrook, at Camp Auchengate, just south of Irvine, Scotland.

Sailors were accommodated in huts and bell tents, Spring 1942

Canadians trained aboard LCAs on Loch Fyne, south of Inveraray

Photo Credit - Imperial War Museum (IWM)

Members of the 81st Flotilla on their way around Africa to get to

the Red Sea, then on to Sicily. Late spring - summer, 1942

Roy is back row, left side

Roy's mates C. Marks and C. Michael in front row, right side

Roy may be in the back row, centre. Prior to invasion of Sicily

Sailors may be getting tired of the grub! Roy is in middle row, left.

Clayton has had enough with the photos! Middle row, right side : (

Would Roy Burt have taken this photo while on board a supply ship?

The beach is part of HOW Sector, south of Syracusa and 80th flotilla

"Bombs dropped and guns did bark, then smoke curled up from a freighter." (Roy Burt

I think this is a bit farther south from Roy Burt's part of HOW Beach

Photo - "They Left the Back Door Open" by L. S. Shapiro, pg 15

Lionel S. Shapiro at ease on board a transport ship, east coast of Sicily.

Mr. Shapiro was a war correspondent with The (Montreal) Gazette

See the first article listed in July 29, 1943 issue of the newspaper here

Photo - No. 21545, Album 61, Canadian Army Film Unit (CAFU)

Work continues at HOW Beach. Note: Shrubs have been flattened in two

locations so that supply trucks can travel to nearby road.

LCMs belonging to the 81st Flotilla. Two are numbered... 81-8, 81-6

Landing craft, likely LCMs of the 81st Flotilla, are heading toward

The Grand Harbour, at Valetta, on the island of Malta. Aug. 9, 1943

LCMs of the 80th Flotilla, having completed the transport of all materials

of war at GEORGE Beach, just north of HOW, are heading to Malta as well.

Photo from the collection of Joe Spencer, used with permission

The Grand Harbour, at Valetta, on the island of Malta, August, 1943

I believe this is Anthony Bouchard, RCNVR/Combined Ops who was

a member of the 80th Flotilla. Sipping tea in the Grand Harbour?

More photos from the Roy Burt 'foto files' will soon follow.

And for those who didn't know, including myself until recently, Roy Burt was a poet and I didn't even know it:

BON VOYAGE

We set sail from Scotland,

Never knowing where we were bound,

Never knowing that within a year

We would travel the world round.

We never imagined the things we'd see

Or that twice we would cross the line. (equator)

See a place where rations were not known,

And see the southern stars that shine.

We saw albatross and flying fish,

Sharks and porpoi too.

But the grub we had was awful,

And we were glad when the trip was through.

They landed us in Egypt.

Where we had tents upon the sand,

And we all thought that we'd be glad -

To see the sight of land!

We stayed there a couple of weeks,

Beating off bugs and flies.

When we read of lovely Egypt now,

We know how the author lies!

We spent some leave in Cairo,

In Alex and Port Said,

And in all the stories that we've heard,

Who says the Red Sea's red?

Then came talk of invasion.

Arguments as to where it would be,

But none of us ever imagined

We'd end up in Sicily.

They put us on a transport

And we started on our way,

But then we did not know to where,

Nor did we know the day.

We stopped three days in Alex., (Alexandria)

All the leaders they did meet,

Then away again into the west

With most of the "Med" fleet.

Five days we spent in going there,

But on the first, we heard,

Sicily was to be the place,

But do not breathe a word!

Two days from our destination

Disaster struck us blind.

A German sub was lurking,

And one ship was left behind.

The tenth of July was the day,

At two-four-five A.M.

The assault craft, they had landed.

Good luck to all of them.

At three o'clock they piped for us.

They told us to prepare.

Everyone was up and ready.

We knew we were next in there.

At four-three-five we manned our boats.

The ones left behind were sighing.

As we looked ahead through the darkness

We could see red tracer flying.

At five-two-five o'er the side we went,

And all the boys were wondering

If the guns we could hear in the distance

Were ours that were a-thundering.

Our boats went roaring through the dawn,

To the beaches we were bound,

There to let our boats all go

And come back for another round.

We worked away the morning

And it was drawing nigh to noon,

When a sudden shadow crossed the sun

And boy, it wasn't the moon!

The first one was a nightmare.

Bombs dropped and guns did bark,

Then smoke curled up from a freighter.

A bomb had found its mark.

The smoke came pouring out of her.

Ammunition burst in the sky,

But there was no time to save it.

Jerry was back for another try!

The raids at first, came thick and fast,

But our losses were not tall.

Of all the raids, and stuff they dropped

Three ships they got, is all.

For weeks we went without a rest.

We worked by night and day,

And waited for the slightest news:

How goes it? Are we making any way?

The slightest change in news was good,

It kept our spirits flying,

And we needed a lot of bucking up

To keep us really trying.

One day the buzzes came to rest,

At last we were returning,

But no one told us where it was,

And our curiosity kept us burning.

Then on the morning of the ninth, (August, '43)

Our boats up to their best,

We headed down the coastline,

And at dark dropped the hook to rest.

The next day, before daylight,

We headed out to sea.

All the boats in line ahead,

And fifth in line was me.

And so across to Malta.

From there no one knew where,

But all of us were hoping

That we wouldn't linger there.

They put us up in a rest camp,

Our own pleasure for to seek,

But now the days got longer

And slowly grew to weeks.

We're still here now, and do not know

If ever we'll be leaving,

But we still have our thoughts of loved ones

With whom we can spend the evening.

And so, dear Jean, I leave you now,

And my love for you grows stronger,

Just as the days grow into weeks.

But the time can't be much longer.

* This was written to Jean* while we were sitting in Malta waiting to see what happened next.

Roy Burt.

*Jean. Roy and Jean married after the war and were together for 77 years. More details in a future post.

And what happened next? The 81st Canadian Flotilla of Landing Craft returned to England via Gibraltar. The 80th Flotilla were sent north from Malta to participate in the invasion of Italy, Operation Baytown, beginning September 3, 1943.

Roy made it home from the war in Europe and enjoyed different occupations,

at home on the West Coast of Canada

More photographs - maybe even another poem! - from the Roy Burt collection, as given me by his daughter Laurel Pinske, will follow.

Please click here to view Photographs: Coming Back from Dieppe, Sicily (Joe Spencer Collection)

Research: Three Months in the Mediterranean, 1943 (21)

The Last Few Days in July, 1943, Kept Allied Forces Very Busy

Then There was an Incident Related to a Sicilian Turtle!!

Myrtle the Turtle held by LT David Lewis, with her keeper, AB Funnell,

(who) looks on. With beard in background is AB Murray. RCN Photo

(More information below from Editor and an undetermined newspaper)

Introduction:

At some point during June or July, 1943, before the 55th, 61st, 80th and 81st Canadian Flotillas of Landing Craft began transporting General Montgomery's troops, reinforcements and all materials of war from Allied ships onto eastern coastal beaches of Sicily (for Operation HUSKY, a few miles south of Syracusa), a Canadian Navy officer took time to pick up a small turtle "somewhere along the route" between South Africa and Sicily. And it later became a mascot, in the care of AB (Able-Bodied Seaman) Funnell (RCNVR/Combined Operations), which is just a bit more unusual - in my opinion - than a small monkey that accompanied one of the four aforementioned landing craft squadrons.

Ephus P. Murphy, motor mechanic and "a devil-may-care type of

sailor". Photo with mascot Jocko - CombinedOperationsCommand 

The monkey, purchased by E. P. Murphy (also RCNVR/Comb. Ops) was likely purchased at some port in South Africa as Allied ships made their way toward landing craft destinations associated with the invasion of Sicily beginning July 10, 1943. Unfortunately, the monkey mascot did not survive the invasion of Sicily. Please click here to read about the 'monkey mishap', a story told by a WWII veteran of Combined Ops who was involved with the landings in Sicily. And again unfortunately, Myrtle did not survive the war as well. Details to follow.

A significant selection of news clippings from the Thursday, July 29, 1943 issue of The Montreal Gazette now follow:

Click on the headlines above

in order to read the full set

Lionel Shapiro, regularly providing more than one story per issue of The Gazette, was again featured on page 1. Signs "of German weakening" are now evident:

Well-armed Canadians. Photo 22236, Album 61, Canadian Army Film Unit

Empty streets in Sicily. Photo 22200, Album 61, CAFU

Red circle - Leonforte, Nissoria, Agira. Blue circle - Canadian 80th Flotilla

of landing crafts at Fontane Bianche, home of Myrtle the Turtle

In the next article Canadian and American troop advances are featured:

Canadians in Combined Operations (80th and 81st Flotillas of Landing Craft)

transported materials of war to Monty's Eighth Army while in Sicily (see red circle),

and the 80th Flotilla (my father included) later supported Canadian troops in Reggio

Di Calabria "on the Italian toe" beginning Sept. 3, 1943 (blue circle).

Photo - page 76 Combined Operations by Londoner Clayton Marks

"Advance in North" concludes below:

More news about the significance of Reggio di Calabria (mentioned above) will be featured in September issues of The Gazette re the invasion of Italy at the toe of the boot beginning on the third day of that month. However, the "three months (spent) in the Mediterranean" by Allied forces (including Canadians in Combined Operations) are moving very slowly because there is still a lot of information to sort out from the Montreal newspaper - and I haven't got to The Montreal Standard files yet!! Be patient : )

And now some news from Rome Radio, a voice that declares Italy must "continue to fight" in spite of Allied threats and strength:

(Perhaps some in Italy were a bit peeved by the previous day's headline in The Gazette!)

News clipping as found on microfilm at University of Western Ontario

The article "First Rome Radio Explanation" concludes:

Air raids - some "near to Berlin" - involving American, British and Canadian forces make headlines as well:

And now for a quick overview from the War News Digest*:

*Note to self. Is there an archive dedicated to the War News Digest? Good resource material.

Clapper's Column provides good resource material too concerning the importance of air power:

The last paragraph above says a lot about the Allied ability to produce not just 1000s of various types of landing craft but, more importantly, man them with trained sailors.

Troop ships and LCT in background. British-made LCAs manned by British and

Canadian sailors unload American Army troops in North Africa, November 1942

Photo as found at army.mil (2008-10-30) and Imperial War Museum

Left and right American L.S.T.s unloading tanks and vehicles. 

British-made LCI(L) in middle. Photo 21092-1 CAFU

Clapper's Column concludes below:

Action off the coast of France is reported. And eleven months forward there will be a lot more action in the same area: 

"They'll be comin' around the mountain..." ['Lava Flow, Sicily 1943']

Towering Mt. Etna, backgr. Photo - National Army Museum Copyright

Interpreting the War News by Kirke Simpson concludes below:

Some Sicilian prisoners of war cheerfully helped Canadian sailors unload landing crafts on the east coast of Sicily. Others were sent to prison camps. A story about their responses would include the following:

Sicilian POWs assist sailors in 81st Canadian Flotillas of landing craft

near Noto and Gallina. St. Nazaire to Singapore, Volume 1, pg. 185

Members of 81st Canadian Flotilla on east coast of Sicily, near Gallina

Photo - From the collection of Roy Burt, (RCNVR/Comb. Ops), centre,

closest to camera. Used with permission of Laurel Pinske

An account of observations of another member (officer*) of RCNVR, from off the southern coast of Sicily concerning "naval shelling" July 10, 1943. 

Canadian troops landed in Sicily west of Pozzallo, see blue circle.

(Red circle shows area where Sicilian POWs assisted 81st Flotilla)

Sub. Lt. Drennan's account continues:

* officer Drennan hailed from Westmount, Montreal, Quebec, as did Sub. Lt. David Lewis (seen holding Myrtle the Turtle in top introductory photograph. Coincidence? Yes.

I promise. This is the only news clipping about undergarments. But talk about your tough times!

Though photographs stored on microfiche continue to be of poor quality, at least the captions can still be read:

And now, a word from our sponsors!

Penguin: The TIC TOC is "Montreal's Only Air-Conditioned Cabaret!"  

Be there, be square!!

About Montreal cabarets: "The history of Montreal cabarets extends from the early 1920s to the 1970s. They have undoubtedly created a social, economic and cultural phenomenon that has contributed to radically transforming the Montreal and Quebec entertainment scene... However, the New York and later Montreal mafia had very close ties with the world of Montreal cabarets. The vitality of the cabarets was ultimately affected by the popularity of television and by a campaign of public repression led in particular by Mayor Jean Drapeau in the late 1950s. In the early 1970s, the cabarets disappeared from the Montreal scene." 

About TIC TOC: "From chic cabarets such as El Morocco, Tic Toc and Normandie Roff... Montreal's nightlife scene is populated with unparalleled diversity and vitality. Cabaret Samovar, El Morocco and Tic Toc even offer shows "every hour on the hour."

(see Wikipedia - Montreal Cabarets for more details)

The above photo was found in The Montreal Gazette. Readers are aware that the quality is not the best, and likely for a few reasons. However, Sub. Lt. David J. Lewis was able to locate one of better quality from the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) at some point during or after the war, and a copy of it appears at top of page and now below, with the complete caption he provided in his collection of WWII veterans' stories:

Caption and further details as found in St. Nazaire to Singapore:

The Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945, Volume 2, pg. 383

David Lewis was also able to locate and then later share the story of 'Myrtle the Turtle' - as told by another RCNVR officer - in his two-volume set of salty tales (self-published and distributed in the mid-1990s). Unfortunately, the right edge of the photo covers the first word or two in the early paragraphs of the story... and we are left to use our own imagination for several lines. I've tried my best! : )

Lt. Bill Sinclair's account begins below

The 80th and 81st Flotillas served near one another south of Syracuse.

No clues are given re which flotilla Sinclair was attached to in 1943.

Sinclair's account concludes below:

I think the second-last paragraph above should read, "I know I

learned some things that came in mighty handy later."

And May She Rest in Peace

While visiting Sicily in September, 2023, 80 years after my father spent three months in the Mediterranean with the 80th Flotilla, I spotted one rugged turtle in a very safe location after my friend and host Fabrizio Sergi pointed me in the right direction!

More news clippings from The Montreal Gazette will follow.

Please click here to view Research: Three Months in the Mediterranean, 1943 (20)

Unattributed Photos GH