Three Officers Know Their Stuff. One Even Wins the Grey Cup!
Ian Barclay and Wally Charron "won the Grey Cup in 1944".
Photo Credit: St Nazaire to Singapore, Volume 2
Photo Credit: St Nazaire to Singapore, Volume 2
Introduction:
When I found Richard L. Sanburn's article entitled "Seamen of Ottawa Transport Troops As Italy Invaded" on microfilm (full article here), I almost fell out of my chair at the Weldon Library (on the campus of the University of Western Ontario (UWO)), in London ONT.
Because the chair had sturdy arm rails I held steady.
From previous research and home visits I knew I had several names of Canadians in Combined Operations - mentioned therein, and associated with Ottawa - locked solidly into my brain pan.
The name 'Lloyd Evans' immediately sprang to mind. I'd found his memoirs fully presented (and very similar to my father's in many ways) on a well-organized, detailed website born from Scotland, created and managed by the indefatigable Scotsman Geoff Slee.
Lloyd and I eventually met face-to-face, thanks to Geoff's help. We traded memoirs for memoirs, i.e, his for my father's, and we both felt it was a really good deal.
This is a rare photo from the collection of Lloyd Evans. Lloyd is back row,
2nd from right. My Dad is front row, 1st right, ready to light up a smoke.
Geoff and I eventually met face-to-face as well, during my first trip to Scotland:
Geoff (left) and Gord in rugby shirts. Don't mess with Combined Ops.
Please visit Geoff's site at Combined Operations Command
Five of the seven names listed by R. Sanburn in his article were known to me, including two of the three names of the Canadian officers mentioned. E.g., 'Jack Koyl' jumped out at me; my father wrote his own newspaper article about the man. Koyl's memoirs are in a book my father purchased in the 1990s, i.e., Combined Operations by Londoner Clayton Marks.
'Ian Barclay' is not far behind. Some of his photographs and memories about Combined Operations are found in another book in my father's collection.
'Ian Barclay' is not far behind. Some of his photographs and memories about Combined Operations are found in another book in my father's collection.
Officer Jud Whittall I do not know, but will see what I can find in the resources available to me. If material from/about him is found, I will present it here for readers' perusal as soon as possible.
For the convenience of readers I will share the section of R. L. Sanburn's news article (from the Ottawa Citizen) that refers to the aforementioned three Canadian officers:
First we hear of Jack Koyl, Canadian Flotilla Officer. Photographs and memoirs follow:
LANDING CRAFT MECHANIZED MARK I (L.C.M.) (1) (BRITISH)
These Craft, designed to be carried and lowered from ships, used to rush ashore equipment required by the initial assault troops. Their length is 44 ft. 8 ins. with a beam of 14 ft., their displacement light is 19 tons, loaded 35 tons. The L.C.M.s are equipped with twin Chrysler engines with a loaded speed of 7.5 knots. These are all steel built but do not afford much protection against enemy fire. These Craft have done excellent work in invasions and are especially useful where larger Craft cannot approach the beach. Great endurance is required by the crews as their task is one which often lasts several weeks with the minimum facilities for food or sleep.
LANDING CRAFT MECHANIZED MARK III (L.C.M.) (3) (U.S.A.)
A newer type of L.C.M. designed and built in the U.S.A. and used in great numbers by the R.N. They are designed to carry a load of 30 tons. Their length is 50 ft. and beam 14 ft. Their displacement light is 22 tons, loaded 52 tons. They are powered with twin Gray, Buda or superior Diesels, the first named having proved itself the most sturdy. The advantage of this Landing Craft is the fact that it is quite seaworthy and capable of cruising about 1,000 miles at a speed of 6 knots. The maximum speed of the Gray Diesels is 8 knots with a full load.
The second excerpt is lengthy in comparison to the first, and touches on a variety of topics, from a "crystallization" problem, to the size of the flotilla, to Italy's surrender, to Monty's praise for "the great efforts made."
Canadians linked to D-Day Sicily. Photo Credit - St. Nazaire to Singapore
Four Canadian flotillas took part in the invasion of Sicily
An earlier photo from the same book; Koyl is far right, likely outside a Quonset or Nissan hut near Camp Auchengate (for Navy), adjacent to RAF Dundonald, a couple of miles south of Irvine, Scotland.
Navy veterans at a reunion in Vancouver. Jake Koyl is far right with Ed Corbett (first on the left) and Clayton Marks (centre).
In the book Combined Operations we find Officer Koyl's memories of his time in RCNVR and Comb. Ops during WWII. His 12-page account is knowledgeable and rare and can be found in full in the 'short stories re Combined Ops' section of this site. (See right hand margin, under "click on Headings" to explore the blog. Click here to read the 12-page report.
I share below two excerpts that include information related to the invasion of Italy, i.e., the subject of R. L. Sanburn's fine newspaper article. The first provides information, in part, about why only the 80th Canadian Flotilla of Landing Crafts was used during the invasion of Italy:
LCM(iii)s vs. LCM(i)s* -
The 80th but not the 81st Flotilla was used for the invasion of Italy across the Straits of Messina which began on the morning of September 3rd. It was only at the last minute that it was decided not to use the 81st. The decision to use the 80th and not the 81st was made because of the great superiority of the LCM(iii)s of the 80th over the LCM(i)s of the 81st. The LCM(iii) is a diesel-engined craft with an endurance of about 800 miles while the LCM(i) has internal combustion engines of less than half the LCM(iii)s horsepower.
I share below two excerpts that include information related to the invasion of Italy, i.e., the subject of R. L. Sanburn's fine newspaper article. The first provides information, in part, about why only the 80th Canadian Flotilla of Landing Crafts was used during the invasion of Italy:
LCM(iii)s vs. LCM(i)s* -
The 80th but not the 81st Flotilla was used for the invasion of Italy across the Straits of Messina which began on the morning of September 3rd. It was only at the last minute that it was decided not to use the 81st. The decision to use the 80th and not the 81st was made because of the great superiority of the LCM(iii)s of the 80th over the LCM(i)s of the 81st. The LCM(iii) is a diesel-engined craft with an endurance of about 800 miles while the LCM(i) has internal combustion engines of less than half the LCM(iii)s horsepower.
Therefore the 80th were able to proceed to Messina directly from Malta under their own power. The 81st would have had to make the passage by stages or else carried by ship, and ships were at a premium. The LCM(iii)s had the further advantage of being a little faster (nine knots) although noisier, of having more power in reverse for coming off the beach, of being somewhat larger and therefore capable of carrying up to thirty tons of stores, almost twice the capacity of an LCM(i).
Even more important was the inroads that sickness had made into the 81st Flotilla. At one time in Malta, only four stokers remained off the sick-list. Seamen could have been used for stokers but the Flotilla was considered too weak. Most of the other Flotillas were shorter of craft than of personnel.
Combined Operations, Page 183
*Editor's note - Koyl is referring to LCM Mark III vs LCM Mark I.
*Editor's note - Koyl is referring to LCM Mark III vs LCM Mark I.
Clayton Marks, the author of Combined Operations, included a brief description of the two types of LCMs earlier in his book. I include the pertinent passage here:
These Craft, designed to be carried and lowered from ships, used to rush ashore equipment required by the initial assault troops. Their length is 44 ft. 8 ins. with a beam of 14 ft., their displacement light is 19 tons, loaded 35 tons. The L.C.M.s are equipped with twin Chrysler engines with a loaded speed of 7.5 knots. These are all steel built but do not afford much protection against enemy fire. These Craft have done excellent work in invasions and are especially useful where larger Craft cannot approach the beach. Great endurance is required by the crews as their task is one which often lasts several weeks with the minimum facilities for food or sleep.
LANDING CRAFT MECHANIZED MARK III (L.C.M.) (3) (U.S.A.)
A newer type of L.C.M. designed and built in the U.S.A. and used in great numbers by the R.N. They are designed to carry a load of 30 tons. Their length is 50 ft. and beam 14 ft. Their displacement light is 22 tons, loaded 52 tons. They are powered with twin Gray, Buda or superior Diesels, the first named having proved itself the most sturdy. The advantage of this Landing Craft is the fact that it is quite seaworthy and capable of cruising about 1,000 miles at a speed of 6 knots. The maximum speed of the Gray Diesels is 8 knots with a full load.
LCMs were known as a "D-Day Workhorse"
Combined Operations, Pages 13-14The second excerpt is lengthy in comparison to the first, and touches on a variety of topics, from a "crystallization" problem, to the size of the flotilla, to Italy's surrender, to Monty's praise for "the great efforts made."
From the files of Lt.. Cdr. J.E. Koyl, DSC, RCNVR (deceased):
*Editor's note: re ten craft. In the previous entry I made a guess about the number of landing crafts, and officers and ratings that would make up the flotilla. I said "the minority" (of the "hundreds of ships" that Sanburn saw) would be Canadian crafts.
Koyl continues:
The ferrying job across the Messina Straits went on for thirty-two days with much the same sort of discomfort as had been experienced south of Syracuse, but the organization was rather better and- Flotillas were usually able to operate as a team instead of as individual craft with better results.
At their camp near Messina the Flotillas were better off than in their cave on "GEORGE" beaches, but supplies of all kinds were still hard to get, and medical services in particular were badly strained. The Flotilla personnel were in worse shape than at any time since the operations commenced and sores developed from the slightest scrape. The Flotilla ran their own Sick Bay under the charge of a Duty Officer and sores were dressed as well as amateurs could do it. Not only the Flotilla had to be attended to but the local Sicilian population. At first only the children presented themselves for treatment but soon the whole family came along. The very poor condition of the population was typical of that of the Italian prisoners who were often ferried by the LCM's on their return trip from the Toe.
The news of Italy's surrender was received with as much joy by the Sicilians as among the Allied Forces. The Canadians heard it from a Sicilian family who had it from the B.B.C. Italian Service Broadcast shortly before the news was broadcast in English. All the landing craft were along the beaches on the Sicilian side for the night and each craft let off a couple of 47-round pans of Lewis Gun ammunition, including tracer - at least fifty guns going strong.
To end this report, the following signal from Flag Officer Sicily to all landing craft concerned in the Messina operation gave everyone well-earned praise:
General Montgomery's praise for the Canadian contribution:
"I feel I must write and say how very grateful I am for the great efforts made by the Royal Navy in maintaining such a high volume of traffic over the ferry.
"This was one of the major factors which enabled us to advance so rapidly and resulted in the linking up of the Fifth and Eighth Armies. I shall be most grateful if you will pass on my thanks to your staff, the crews of the landing craft and others concerned. Ends."
Combined Operations, Pages 184-185
The following link will take you to a goodly amount of information about Jake Koyl, an officer who made a distinct impression upon my father when they first met face to face (re military action due to my father's disobedience to an order). Be prepared for a long read!
Link - Officers: Lieut. Jake Koyl, Big Shoes to Fill.
* * * * *
Mr. Sanburn's article mentions three officers, two that I know well - i.e., Lt. Cdr. Koyl and Sub. Lt. Ian Barclay - by way of their contributions to books (and honourable mention in some) found in my father's collection, now in my possession. The two are listed by name in close proximity in Sanburn's piece; the same is true in the aforementioned book Combined Operations.
In Koyl's 12-page report, most of which deals with details re the invasion of Sicily, we read the following about the sinking of a hospital ship:
The hospital ship sunk at dusk on the 11th was the "TALAMBA", to which Lieut. Koyl had taken casualties from the LST. It was a grim business for him and his Flotilla to search the wreckage for survivors during the night.
Sub Lt. Barclay of the 80th took a prominent part in this work and describes the great difficulties of transferring wounded men from an LCM to the cruiser, H.M.S. "UGANDA", in the heavy swell that was running. Stretchers were improvised and the "UGANDA'S" aircraft derrick used for hoisting them inboard. Although a large number of the wounded were saved, most of the medical and nursing staff went down with their ship - a tribute to their heroism and devotion to duty.
Combined Operations, Pages 177-178
Readers can click here for more information about the sinking of the HMHS Talamba.
Combined Operations, Pages 177-178
Readers can click here for more information about the sinking of the HMHS Talamba.
Talamba was marked with several red crosses, ignored by the Luftwaffe.
In books (two volumes) full of RCNVR veterans' stories, inspired by the release of Combined Operations by C. Marks, one finds three entries by Sub. Lt. Barclay. In the first we learn how he became an officer of 'notable rank' in Combined Operations in 1941 or 1942.
Excerpts follow from the first entry:
Excerpts follow from the first entry:
St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941-45 Volume 1, Page 10
Barclay continues:
"The name, Combined Ops, could not be better, for although clad in blue and paid by the Senior Service, nearly all the work is with the Army. It is very difficult to tell where the Navy leaves off and the Army takes on. On approaching an opposed beach, the Navy and Army officers together have to decide whether it is advisable to land or not, and each thinks of the other's problems before coming to a decision. Our work entails not only landing Commando and Assault troops, but also tanks, guns, heavy lorries, jeeps, ammunition, gas - petrol, as they call it here - water, and many supplies. So we deal with every branch of the Army."
Barclay goes on to describe the scene during the invasion of North Africa, beginning November 10, 1942:
St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941-45 Volume 1, Page 10
Link to St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941-45 Volume 1
Barclay goes on to describe the scene during the invasion of North Africa, beginning November 10, 1942:
St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941-45 Volume 1, Page 10
Link to St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941-45 Volume 1
Barclay and my father were in the Center Task Force,
on the right- hand side of the three-pronged attack
Enlarged map of Centre Task Force at Oran. Arzew is upper right, near
Beach Z. American Rangers and other US troops landed there.
Photo Credit - The Campaign for North Africa by J. Coggins
Photo Credit - The Campaign for North Africa by J. Coggins
Typical scene in N. Africa, with Army and navy personnel working together.
Doug Harrison, RCNVR and Combined Ops, centre - knee deep in water -
transports US troops and supplies to beaches near Arzeu (Arzew).
Caption with above photograph, part of a vast collection found at Imperial War Museum, UK:
My father's description of the same landing (cf Sub. Lt. Ian Barclay):
On November 11, 1942 the Derwentdale dropped anchor off Arzew in North Africa and different ships were distributed at different intervals along the vast coast. My LCM had the leading officer aboard, another seaman besides me, along with a stoker and Coxswain. At around midnight over the sides went the LCMs, ours with a bulldozer and heavy mesh wire, and about 500 feet from shore we ran aground. When morning came we were still there, as big as life and all alone, while everyone else was working like bees.
There was little or no resistance, only snipers, and I kept behind the bulldozer blade when they opened up at us. We were towed off eventually and landed in another spot, and once the bulldozer was unloaded the shuttle service began. For ‘ship to shore’ service we were loaded with five gallon jerry cans of gasoline. I worked 92 hours straight and I ate nothing except for some grapefruit juice I stole.
American troops manning their landing craft assault from a doorway in the side
of the liner REINA DEL PACIFICO. Two of the landing craft are numbered LCA
428 and LCA 447. American troops climb into assault landing craft from the liner
REINA DEL PACIFICO during Operation 'Torch', the Allied landings
in N. Africa, November 1942. Photo Credit - Imperial War Museum
My father continues:
I then had to climb hand over hand up a large hawser (braided rope) to reach the hand rail of Reina Del Pacifico and here my weakness showed itself. I got to the hand rail completely exhausted and couldn’t let one hand go to grab the rail or I would have fallen forty feet into an LCM bobbing below. I managed to nod my head at a cook in a Petty Officer’s uniform and he hauled me in. My throat was so dry I only managed to say, “Thanks, you saved my life.”
The Reina was a ship purposely for fellows like me who were tired out, and I was fed everything good, given a big tot of rum and placed in a hammock. I slept the clock around twice - 24 hours - then went back to work. In seven days I went back aboard the Reina Del and headed for Gibraltar to regroup for the trip back to England. During the trip I noticed the ship carried an unexploded three inch shell in her side all the way back to England.
"Dad, Well Done," Page 25 - 26
The Reina was a ship purposely for fellows like me who were tired out, and I was fed everything good, given a big tot of rum and placed in a hammock. I slept the clock around twice - 24 hours - then went back to work. In seven days I went back aboard the Reina Del and headed for Gibraltar to regroup for the trip back to England. During the trip I noticed the ship carried an unexploded three inch shell in her side all the way back to England.
"Dad, Well Done," Page 25 - 26
Barclay finishes his story about the value of Army experience on two positive notes. He mentions that his work, and the work of other Navy officers and rating, was made easier with the Army in N. Africa... "a lot easier." As well, he provides the names and home cities of "some fine lads" he worked with during Operation Torch.
Well done, Officer Barclay!
St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941-45 Volume 1, Page 11
Readers can learn more about one of the "fine lads" mentioned by visiting The Memory Project to hear Coxs'n Lysle Sweeting's audio file.
I have not read anywhere that Officer Barclay was involved in the Dieppe Raid, but he was definitely involved in three subsequent D-Days or operations (Operation Torch in Africa; Husky in Sicily; Baytown in Italy) as well as D-Day Normandy in June, 1944.
In the second volume of RCNVR veterans' stories and salty dips (St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941-45), we will find Ian Barclay's four-page record of diary entries that are dated from (D -1) June 5, 1944 to (D +14) June 20th. No need for me to say that Barclay's diary is a rare item.
I provide here a brief excerpt from the diary and a link to the remainder:
Barclay writes:
D-Days Diary While Attached to LCI(L) 311 by Ian Barclay
D-1, Monday, 5 June:
Packed up the LCI(L)* 264 Flotilla office on the Southampton Docks and went to LCI(L) 311. Slipped (from the dock) at 1930 and went down Solent. Passed cruisers whose decks were lined with cheering matelots (sailors). We carried 193 troops of the Glouster Regiment, the same ones that were here for Exercise Fabius. During the waiting time they made dockside sheds into reading rooms - pay office - sleeping accommodations - basketball courts - writing rooms - cookeries and wash places. Army was in very fine spirits and sang most of the way down. Weather fairly rough. Observed occasional firing off our ....beam at 2330.
D-Day, Tuesday 6 June:
Like North Africa and Sicily weather - rough and heavy swell running. Cruisers and destroyers firing. Circled for two hours and twenty minutes before being called in. Beach was full of damaged craft, LCTs, LCMs, LCDs, OD Tanks, nearly all broadside. Had to go to wrong sector to dodge obstacles and craft. Observed at low water that we had gone over two steel rows of obstacles to get in, and at the spot where we touched down six mines later exploded. So goes luck!
Obstacles stretch for miles. They had mines attached to them. Explains why so many craft on beach. Though we did go in at neaps (Editor's note: a tide in which the difference between high and low tide is the least), it seems strange that Gerry built so many miles of underwater obstacles that we could get over. There was little or no barbed wire. Place was lousy with mines. Six-inch battery gave first wave a bad time. Terrific tank ditches had been dug but road was still intact. Our ships and planes had messed things up. Eight alerts but no planes overhead till after dark, dropped bombs in anchorage but no damage caused.
For more details from the diary of Ian Barclay, please link to St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941-45 Volume 2.
*LCI(L) - Landing Craft Infantry (Large), a type of craft that was more like a small ship than large (flat-bottomed) landing craft.
In St. Nazaire to Singapore, Volume 2, several Navy veterans submitted their thoughts about what they learned in Combined Operations. Ian Barclay wrote the following:
There is nothing you can't do if you want to. It was a very assuring experience. The effect of being in a good group. Combined Operations really suited the Canadian temperament, particularly resourcefulness. Small boats, ability to relate independently of rank in the crew, ability to scrounge effectively under circumstances when normal communications and supplies were absent. Canadians then responded with initiative and good group relationships.
St. Nazaire to Singapore, Page 391
One photo appeared in St. Nazaire to Singapore with a comment from another veteran:
Ian likely appears in the following photo of Combined Operation's officers. Look for someone who looks like a football player or Commando!
More to follow related to the 1943 newspaper article by Richard Sanburn, war correspondent for the Ottawa Citizen.
Please link to Articles: Canadian Flotilla of Landing Craft in Italy (2).
Unattributed Photos GH
Lysle Sweeting, front and centre, with several more members of RCNVR.
Photo Credit - The Memory Project.
I have not read anywhere that Officer Barclay was involved in the Dieppe Raid, but he was definitely involved in three subsequent D-Days or operations (Operation Torch in Africa; Husky in Sicily; Baytown in Italy) as well as D-Day Normandy in June, 1944.
In the second volume of RCNVR veterans' stories and salty dips (St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941-45), we will find Ian Barclay's four-page record of diary entries that are dated from (D -1) June 5, 1944 to (D +14) June 20th. No need for me to say that Barclay's diary is a rare item.
I provide here a brief excerpt from the diary and a link to the remainder:
Barclay writes:
D-Days Diary While Attached to LCI(L) 311 by Ian Barclay
D-1, Monday, 5 June:
Packed up the LCI(L)* 264 Flotilla office on the Southampton Docks and went to LCI(L) 311. Slipped (from the dock) at 1930 and went down Solent. Passed cruisers whose decks were lined with cheering matelots (sailors). We carried 193 troops of the Glouster Regiment, the same ones that were here for Exercise Fabius. During the waiting time they made dockside sheds into reading rooms - pay office - sleeping accommodations - basketball courts - writing rooms - cookeries and wash places. Army was in very fine spirits and sang most of the way down. Weather fairly rough. Observed occasional firing off our ....beam at 2330.
D-Day, Tuesday 6 June:
Like North Africa and Sicily weather - rough and heavy swell running. Cruisers and destroyers firing. Circled for two hours and twenty minutes before being called in. Beach was full of damaged craft, LCTs, LCMs, LCDs, OD Tanks, nearly all broadside. Had to go to wrong sector to dodge obstacles and craft. Observed at low water that we had gone over two steel rows of obstacles to get in, and at the spot where we touched down six mines later exploded. So goes luck!
Obstacles stretch for miles. They had mines attached to them. Explains why so many craft on beach. Though we did go in at neaps (Editor's note: a tide in which the difference between high and low tide is the least), it seems strange that Gerry built so many miles of underwater obstacles that we could get over. There was little or no barbed wire. Place was lousy with mines. Six-inch battery gave first wave a bad time. Terrific tank ditches had been dug but road was still intact. Our ships and planes had messed things up. Eight alerts but no planes overhead till after dark, dropped bombs in anchorage but no damage caused.
For more details from the diary of Ian Barclay, please link to St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941-45 Volume 2.
*LCI(L) - Landing Craft Infantry (Large), a type of craft that was more like a small ship than large (flat-bottomed) landing craft.
Photo of LCI(L) 299 found in Combined Operations by C. Marks
Photos as found in St. Nazaire to Singapore, Volume 2
In St. Nazaire to Singapore, Volume 2, several Navy veterans submitted their thoughts about what they learned in Combined Operations. Ian Barclay wrote the following:
There is nothing you can't do if you want to. It was a very assuring experience. The effect of being in a good group. Combined Operations really suited the Canadian temperament, particularly resourcefulness. Small boats, ability to relate independently of rank in the crew, ability to scrounge effectively under circumstances when normal communications and supplies were absent. Canadians then responded with initiative and good group relationships.
St. Nazaire to Singapore, Page 391
One photo appeared in St. Nazaire to Singapore with a comment from another veteran:
Photo Credit - Combined Operations by Clayton Marks
Please link to Articles: Canadian Flotilla of Landing Craft in Italy (2).
Unattributed Photos GH
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