OVERLORD, D-DAY
OPERATION NEPTUNE, June 6, 1944
By Clayton Marks, RCNVR and Combined Operations
"What a mess! All manner of landing craft and materials of war."
Looking for a place to debark. Combined Operations, page 149
Introduction - The following story (presented here in six parts) can be found in Combined Operations by Clayton Marks of London, Ontario. The book was printed in 1993 (approx.), is extremely difficult to find, but is being reprinted by a London team. I present a short summary of Mr. Mark's 23-page-long account on this site.
OPERATION NEPTUNE, June 6, 1944 - Part 4
Assault landing craft (LCAs), laden with troops, neared the shore, and coxswains found the flat-bottomed crafts difficult to manoeuver due to brisk winds and choppy water. Men aboard were drenched and unable to see much of the beaches ahead except when the LCAs were perched - briefly - atop a wave's crest. Then a "smoking shoreline" and wreckage of "ruthlessly smashed" buildings from the bombing runs and naval gunfire could be seen in the distance.
Assault flights of Force J approached Mike and Nan beaches and friendly fire from behind them ceased. At 0827 a line of LCAs from Prince Henry "charged in through the surf" to the sounds of mortars and gun fire, accompanied by "the crash of boats tearing out their bottoms on obstacles" and mine blasts. Some LCAs struck concrete pyramids but still landed upon the beach, followed by others, including tank landing craft (LCTs), "pouring out their troops" amid fire from snipers. However, within a few minutes troops from several landing craft ran ashore and headed toward dunes only seen previously on neat 'recon' photos.
Prince David's LCA's landed a mile or more to the east, some paying dearly as they passed over fangs of obstacles and hidden mines. LCA 1138 was lifted by a wave, after troops had disembarked, and hit a mine while shrapnel burst overhead. Prince David sent five LCAs ashore but only one escaped undamaged. Still, troops were unloaded from each - with "a loss of five killed" - and most were rushing inland to face their first target even while German gun positions attempted to slow the advance.
Behind the shock troops and LCAs came other craft loaded with all manner of vehicles ("tanks, jeeps, lorries" and small 'dozers'), and they too faced numerous obstacles meant to maim and destroy. "The assault wave had had to smash its way in over them, reckless of loss." All along the shore, reinforcements were greeted with burning images of "drowning men, overturned tanks, craft hung at sickening angles on pronged obstructions."
The next wave of larger landing craft, including the 260th Canadian Flotilla, arrived at Nan and Mike beaches. They stalled while obstacle clearance parties worked in the surf ahead of them. A second group, aimed at the shore between St. Aubin and Bernieres, was not delayed. One ship, LCI(L) 298, spotted a gap in the rows of obstacles and beached at full speed. It hit the rocky shore undamaged and 167 soldiers hurried ashore while facing enemy fire.
Other ships faced greater challenges. Craft 121 missed several obstacles but, when it did hit one, nine of the soldiers aboard were killed before the rest could safely step ashore. Craft 249, "with mortar bombs exploding ahead of her", hit a mine and lost her port bow and landing ramps. Her troops struggled ashore in breast-high water while facing withering fire.
The twelve craft of the 262nd Canadian Flotilla received their beaching orders at 1128 after spending about two hours circling offshore. As they plunged through the surf, obstacles and exploding mines created havoc. Only one craft in the flotilla reached shore undamaged. The list of other craft mined and damaged is lengthy, and all the while the crews of ships coming to shore - and the troops they carried - saw and heard mortar and machine gun fire that roared from unsubdued German defensive positions.
And still, on came countless landing crafts and ships. Landed troops, "shaken by the tumultuous last lap of their journey", and tanks gradually milled into formation on the beaches shrouded by smoke and the rattle of fighting. All were heavily burdened with extra gear, which added danger and delay to the work of landing. Many soldiers had to heft a bicycle ashore while listening to the shouts of orders, the whistle of bullets and the sound of fiercer fighting inland. In strange contrast, a few of the soaking, sweating men in the landing craft saw a "French farmer emerging from an unscarred stone cottage not two hundred yards away and going placidly with a milk pail toward a meadow where his cow was grazing."
It is also recorded that the luckiest of all the Canadian Flotillas was the 264th. It received its beaching order at 1159 and the LCI(L)s kept in precise formation and touched down "within five seconds of the one beside it.... and put their troops ashore twelve feet from the high water mark."
Though one could see along the miles of beach in the British area many aspects of the desolation and chaos of war, i.e., "wrecked craft, vehicles burning at the waters' edge, milling masses of men, tanks and guns ashore," the landings went well. In the American area, fighting was fiercer, "but the footholds were being gained and held."
The butcher's bill (casualties among troops) was lighter than expected and among Naval crews of the landing craft lightest of all. Clayton Marks records that "not one Canadian sailor had been killed and only a handful wounded." Though many landing craft were damaged, some irreparably, they were considered expendable. In spite of that, many were recovered and made a return journey to the reinforcement pools.
More to follow.
Please link to Story: Overlord - Operation Neptune, D-Day - Part 3
Assault flights of Force J approached Mike and Nan beaches and friendly fire from behind them ceased. At 0827 a line of LCAs from Prince Henry "charged in through the surf" to the sounds of mortars and gun fire, accompanied by "the crash of boats tearing out their bottoms on obstacles" and mine blasts. Some LCAs struck concrete pyramids but still landed upon the beach, followed by others, including tank landing craft (LCTs), "pouring out their troops" amid fire from snipers. However, within a few minutes troops from several landing craft ran ashore and headed toward dunes only seen previously on neat 'recon' photos.
Prince David's LCA's landed a mile or more to the east, some paying dearly as they passed over fangs of obstacles and hidden mines. LCA 1138 was lifted by a wave, after troops had disembarked, and hit a mine while shrapnel burst overhead. Prince David sent five LCAs ashore but only one escaped undamaged. Still, troops were unloaded from each - with "a loss of five killed" - and most were rushing inland to face their first target even while German gun positions attempted to slow the advance.
Behind the shock troops and LCAs came other craft loaded with all manner of vehicles ("tanks, jeeps, lorries" and small 'dozers'), and they too faced numerous obstacles meant to maim and destroy. "The assault wave had had to smash its way in over them, reckless of loss." All along the shore, reinforcements were greeted with burning images of "drowning men, overturned tanks, craft hung at sickening angles on pronged obstructions."
The next wave of larger landing craft, including the 260th Canadian Flotilla, arrived at Nan and Mike beaches. They stalled while obstacle clearance parties worked in the surf ahead of them. A second group, aimed at the shore between St. Aubin and Bernieres, was not delayed. One ship, LCI(L) 298, spotted a gap in the rows of obstacles and beached at full speed. It hit the rocky shore undamaged and 167 soldiers hurried ashore while facing enemy fire.
Other ships faced greater challenges. Craft 121 missed several obstacles but, when it did hit one, nine of the soldiers aboard were killed before the rest could safely step ashore. Craft 249, "with mortar bombs exploding ahead of her", hit a mine and lost her port bow and landing ramps. Her troops struggled ashore in breast-high water while facing withering fire.
The twelve craft of the 262nd Canadian Flotilla received their beaching orders at 1128 after spending about two hours circling offshore. As they plunged through the surf, obstacles and exploding mines created havoc. Only one craft in the flotilla reached shore undamaged. The list of other craft mined and damaged is lengthy, and all the while the crews of ships coming to shore - and the troops they carried - saw and heard mortar and machine gun fire that roared from unsubdued German defensive positions.
And still, on came countless landing crafts and ships. Landed troops, "shaken by the tumultuous last lap of their journey", and tanks gradually milled into formation on the beaches shrouded by smoke and the rattle of fighting. All were heavily burdened with extra gear, which added danger and delay to the work of landing. Many soldiers had to heft a bicycle ashore while listening to the shouts of orders, the whistle of bullets and the sound of fiercer fighting inland. In strange contrast, a few of the soaking, sweating men in the landing craft saw a "French farmer emerging from an unscarred stone cottage not two hundred yards away and going placidly with a milk pail toward a meadow where his cow was grazing."
Bicycles carried aboard in England. Photo - Combined Operations, page 137
Though one could see along the miles of beach in the British area many aspects of the desolation and chaos of war, i.e., "wrecked craft, vehicles burning at the waters' edge, milling masses of men, tanks and guns ashore," the landings went well. In the American area, fighting was fiercer, "but the footholds were being gained and held."
The butcher's bill (casualties among troops) was lighter than expected and among Naval crews of the landing craft lightest of all. Clayton Marks records that "not one Canadian sailor had been killed and only a handful wounded." Though many landing craft were damaged, some irreparably, they were considered expendable. In spite of that, many were recovered and made a return journey to the reinforcement pools.
More to follow.
Please link to Story: Overlord - Operation Neptune, D-Day - Part 3
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