Audio: C. W. Robinson, "We Had to Crawl Back"

"It Blew a Hole in Our Engine Room"

Charles William Robinson, Navy

Photo from Normandy after the battle. Landing craft on Normandy beach.

Photo credit - Charles Robinson, The Memory Project

Introduction: One will find hundreds of audio files related to the experiences of men and women associated with many branches of Canadian Armed Forces and Canadian organizations (e.g., Red Cross, CWAC, etc.) at The Memory Project. Most audio files are accompanied by authentic WW2 photos and a written transcript.

Please link to an audio file at The Memory Project (Page 95) related to the activities of Charles William Robinson, Navy, that touch on his memories related to his war time experiences in France as a member of an LCI(L) crew in Normandy, June 1944, and a full crew often consisted of approx. 20 Canadians in Combined Operations.

Information included with bottom group photograph: Back in Canada after combined operations duties during the Allied invasion of Normandy are these men of the Royal Canadian Navy’s Landing Craft Flotillas. The Canadian sailors manned the landing barges that carried thousands of troops onto the beaches. All veterans of the first waves of craft to reach the beaches told of seeing landing craft blown to bits by German mines, of the gun fire from the shore, and snipers as the Commandoes marched up the beaches, and the hail of lead, shrapnel and bombardment from the air during D-Day operations.

A portion of Charles William Robinson's transcript follows:

We got on the landing craft, we did all kind of training there before landing troops. You know, so this is it, we were just practising back and forth.... And then they called us in together and they said, this is a secret move, don’t talk to anybody about it at all. But you’re going to go overseas from here. (We) got on our landing craft [LCI(L) 118 of the 2nd Canadian (262nd Royal Navy) Flotilla]. The skipper on our landing craft said, Robinson, when they come aboard, (to) load onto the landing craft.... they may need some seasick pills, so pass them out to them.

And (when) the North Nova Scotia Highlanders come aboard, they said, what’s that for. I said, they’re pills for seasick[ness]. Oh, we don’t need that. I said, wait a minute, I said, you’d better take them, you may need them and they were sick like hell going over because we had a big storm going over. Oh boy. And they were all sick, sick. And they had to go into battle.

We had to circle around the [obstacles] when we got there a few times until the tide raised up. We couldn’t land right away. And the Germans are in there, as we were circling around. The skipper was up on the bridge and he got wounded, just going in to land. We had beach obstacles and mines on that. And it blew a hole in our engine room.

And we got the army off and then we headed back to England again. We had to crawl back because it was dangerous, (we kept) the engine-pump water going, pulling it out because it got lopsided. We had to get home, get repaired and then go back again. And that’s what we did.

Photo of Navy officer and seamen that fought with Mr. Robinson, September 1944. 

Photo credit - Charles Robinson, The Memory Project

Back from Normandy S-2099 (RCN Photo by P.O. Photog. R.D. Keegan, Sept. 1944)

Parmi les hommes de la marine Royale Canadienne de retour en Canada pour un repos bien merite il y a ... matelots du Quebec.

Front (L - R): P.O. Guy J. Gravel, RCNVR, Montreal; A.B. Maurice Fleming, RCNVR, Lachine; A.B. Edward Chipman, RCNVR, Verdun; Ldg. Sto. Gabriel Canuel, RCNVR, Rimouski.

Back (L - R): Sto. Paul Conway, RCNVR, Lachine; A.B. Guy Charbonneau, RCNVR, Montreal; Ldg. Sto. Barney Groves, RCNVR, Montreal; Ldg. Sto. William Bryson, RCNVR, St. Andrews; A.B. Charles Robinson, RCNVR, Verdun.

Please link to Audio: Carvil J. Ritcey, "Our Worst Engagement"