Passages: They Left the Back Door Open (2).

Lionel Shapiro: "It Was All Too Dull!"
 He Was at the Wrong Sector

The writer for The Montreal Gazette travels by troopship toward Sicily

Introduction:

There were many Canadian war correspondents (among many more from the UK and USA, etc.) scattered aboard troopships heading toward Sicily in July, 1943. They would have to land on Sicilian shores in the same manner as the Allied troops about which they wrote, i.e., aboard a landing craft of some sort. As the war had progressed the small Assault Landing Crafts (ALCs) were joined by larger Landing Craft Mechanised (LCMs), and during Operation Husky (Sicily) the larger still Landing Craft Infantry (Large), also known as LCI(L)s, became more popular.

30 - 40 'average Joes' hit the beach in N. Africa in an ALC, aka LCA

Photo Credit - The Imperial War Museum (IWM), Nov. 1942

Shapiro likely got to see landing crafts of all sizes, along with crew members of all ages. What he did not see was the German resistance to Allied landings in various sectors. His proclamation that the landings were dull can only mean one thing. He did not travel with the Canadians in Combined Ops who landed near Avola, south of Syracuse.

Lionel Lands at George Beach with His Motley Crew

     It was in the darkness of early morning
     that our troopship made contact with an L.C.I.
     somewhere in the waters between Malta and Sicily.
     The transfer from the bulky liner to the bobbing L.C.I.
     was a tricky business in the dark and we almost lost
     the brigadier and my typewriter...

     The skipper of our L.C.I. was a middle-aged Ayrshire farmer
     who dabbled with yachts before the war. The chief engineer
     was a stripling of 19; the coxswain was a beardless boy of 17,
     and the first officer a wizened old sailor of 55 recalled from
     retirement by the war after serving 41 years with the Royal Navy.
     This, I thought, was a small example of Britain
     rising to a supreme occasion. Just such motley crews
     saved an army at Dunkerque.

Shapiro spotted Pachino beach first, then sailed north to land

at an inlet "some six miles south of Syracuse" (read below)

Map - As found in Combined Operations by C. Marks

     At first light there was a shout from the bridge.
     The skipper pointed above the prow of the craft - and we saw
     the mountain peaks of Sicily bathed in morning purple.
     Our landfall came at Pachino beach and we moved up
     the east coast of Sicily. We put in at Syracuse, listened for
     a few minutes to the artillery barrage raging for Augusta,
     eleven miles north, then bobbed along the shoreline
     to the brigade's designated off-loading point at an inlet
     dubbed George Beach, some six miles south of Syracuse.

     Passages from page 35 - 36

"Every strip of usable beach was organized as a miniature port."

A view of supply and infantry landing craft on a beach near Syracuse.

Photo - Facing page 15 in They Left the Back Door Open 

*  *  *  *  *

Two triangular signs, perhaps marking suitable landing areas, are seen on the beach.

Between the two triangles another sign appears. Is it marking Beach II? Perhaps.

The photograph above, from Shapiro's book, has been enlarged here in order to review some of the details in it. It appears that the beach has been organized in a substantial manner, i.e., rubble has been moved by bulldozer or tractor, and a floating pier has been built to make the process of transporting troops and materials of war much easier.

An LCP (landing craft, personnel) or DUKW* is seen approaching the floating pier on the right of the photo, and already tied up along the left side of the pier are two other landing craft, an LCM closest to the beach and an ALC behind it, i.e., closest to the viewer. I suspect that many of the workers are Italian infantry who surrendered soon after the Allies landed in various places along the eastern coast.

Photo Credit - David J. Lewis, as found in St. Nazaire to Singapore:

 The Canadian Amphibious War, Volume 1

The reference to the 55th and 61st LCA flotillas, as seen in the map shown earlier, points to the landings at Noto, which lies north of Pachino Beach and south of Avola.

Also to be noted, writer Lionel Shapiro mentions that he landed "at an inlet dubbed George Beach, some six miles south of Syracuse".

It is recorded in memoirs by Canadian Lt. Cmdr. Jake Koyl that Canada's 80th Flotilla of Landing Crafts were active at 'GEORGE' beaches, and my father was a member of the 80th Flotilla.

Koyl writes:

     Sectors and Beaches - Sicily

     The beaches worked by the Canadian Flotillas

     were in what was known as the "ACID" area controlled by

     Rear Admiral Troubridge and comprising all the beaches

     on the eastern side of Sicily north of Avola.

     These beaches were divided into three sectors,

     from south to north "JIG", "HOW" and "GEORGE".

     The majority of the 81st Flotilla worked "HOW" beaches,

     while the 80th worked "GEORGE" beaches.

     In each of these sectors there were three L.C.M. Flotillas

     and three LCT's, while LCI(L)'s and LST's worked whatever beaches

     were available at the time of their arrival from Malta or North Africa.

     Combined Operations by Clayton Marks, London, Ontario. Pages 175 - 176

So, I have to ask myself if correspondent Lionel Shapiro and Combined Ops member Doug Harrison appear - as small specks - in the same photo of the floating dock?

I'm going to say, "Not very likely," based on elements of the paragraph above, other stories and research I have found.

*DUKW - see next entry below

*  *  *  *  *

Shapiro had been expecting "blood and thunder" when he landed in Sicily. What he surveyed on July 10, 1943, was quite different. There was but one murder... maybe two.

"It Was All Too Dull!"

     The scene was less exciting
     than many landing exercises I had witnessed in England.
     Although the invasion was only hours old, two pontoon quays
     were already in operation, and hundreds of Italian troops who
     had rushed down to the beaches in frantic anxiety to surrender
     were hard at work unloading ships and laying down wire netting
     to give added traction to supply trucks moving from the beachheads
     to the coastal road some 200 yards inland.

     The coast from Pachino to Syracuse was alive
     with our shipping. Dozens of freighters lay offshore and supplies
     were being transferred to landing craft and "ducks."*
     Every strip of usable beach was organized as a miniature port,
     so widely dispersing our supply system that the Luftwaffe was
     thrice confounded. An occasional bombing attack could no more
     damage this supply organization than a hastily thrown brick
     could harm Ford's Willow Run plant.

*"ducks"; a term used in reference to a DUKW, a military, amphibious vehicle, i.e., 2.5-ton six-wheel amphibious truck used in World War II... Its primary purpose was to ferry ammunition, supplies, and equipment from supply ships in transport areas offshore to supply dumps and fighting units at the beach.

DUKW - amphibious truck . Photo credit - National Archives, Washington, D.C.

DUKW is a manufacturer’s code based on D indicating the model year, 1942; U referring to the body style, utility (amphibious); K for all-wheel drive; and W for dual rear axles. Called a “duck,” the vehicle was shaped like a boat. It had a hollow airtight body for buoyancy and used a single propeller for forward momentum. It was designed according to Army criteria and was based on the Army’s 2.5-ton truck. Source - The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica; See Article History

Troops disembark on D-Day Normandy from L.C.I. (L) 299, ramps down.

Photo Credit - RCN Photographer, Gilbert A. Milne 

Shapiro continues:

     Our L.C.I. (Landing Craft Infantry)
     lowered its ramp on the seaward side of a pontoon quay
     and I walked ashore like a summer tourist.
     Two Italian prisoners rushed forward to carry my baggage
     and I might have flipped them a coin for their trouble
     if a burst of ack-ack hadn't reminded me
     this was war and not a conducted excursion.
     A German reconnaissance plane whistled in from the sea,
     climbed high and made off,
     probably with a picture of the beach.

     That incident and the stench of a dozen still unburied
     bodies lying among the weeds high on the beach
     were the only evidences of conflict.
     I who had steeled myself
     for a blood and thunder assault
     at the gate of Fortress Europe!
     It was all too dull.

     The sun was overpowering.
     I reclined on the beach beside a British Marine commando
     who wore nothing but shorts and a steel helmet.

     "Anything exciting in the landing?" I asked.
     "Nothing except a murder," he said.

     "One son of a bitch of an Eyetie grabbed
     our padre and locked him up in that little hut.
     You can see it up there - at least what's left of it.
     When we go for the hut, the Eyetie bastard
     opens the door and throws a live grenade in.
     He was a good chap, the padre.
     Well, we got the Eyetie.
     He'll never pull that trick again."

     Passages from page 36.

Lionel Shapiro said about his landing, "It was all too dull."

I think he missed some pretty hot action on GEORGE Beach, and there's a reason for that. He was on the wrong GEORGE Beach.

The "ACID" zone was quite extensive, it covered several miles, and we have learned earlier that it included three sectors designated for Allied landings, i.e., JIG, HOW and GEORGE. And it is very likely that each sector was subdivided into several landing zones (e.g., GEORGE 1, GEORGE 2, etc.), and those zones might have been far apart.

I have not found a map or diagram that reveals how the sectors were subdivided but in an earlier invasion (North Africa, Nov. 1942) Canadians in Combined Ops landed at Arzew (east of Oran) on Z Beach, and it was really quite wide and subdivided into numerous smaller landing zones, with guidance given by reconnaissance teams re where the best spots were.

 Z Beach is upper right. A flotilla of landing crafts 10 - 15 vessels, would not all

aim for the same landing beach. Landing spots would be widely dispersed.

Beach Z, east of Arzew, is seen to be quite wide (above right)

Photo credits - Combined Operations, by Clayton Marks

Caption: Troops and ammunition for light guns being brought ashore from a

landing craft assault (ramped) (LCA 428) on Arzeu beach, Algeria, N. Africa,

while another LCA (287) approaches the beach. during Operation 'Torch',

November 1942. Photo - RN Photographer F. A. Hudson

Imperial War Museum (IWM)

The above photo from a North African beach depicts a smooth landing in calm waters for American troops disembarking from a British landing craft manned by Canadians (the sailor welcoming Yanks off the ramp is my father, Doug Harrison).

My father, a member of the 80th Canadian Flotilla of Landing crafts did not have a peaceful landing in Sicily. Though designated to transport supplies to one of the GEORGE beaches, where he may have had the opportunity to cross paths with war correspondent Lionel Shapiro, he was not sent in at the Shapiro's location. Items from Dad's memoirs makes it sound like his first 3 days in Sicily were the worst part of his war.

We read earlier, in memoirs by Canadian Lt. Cmdr. Jake Koyl that Canada's 80th Flotilla of Landing Crafts were active at 'GEORGE' beaches (plural), so I am lead to believe there was more than one GEORGE, maybe around a point of land, or much farther south from Syracuse, away from Shapiro's peaceful corner.

Though my father's 80th Flotilla was assigned to GEORGE beaches, Jake Koyl also writes the following:

     This theoretical arrangement was not adhered to during

     the stresses of the operation and LCM Flotillas soon found

     that it was not practicable to operate as a Flotilla.

     Such constant adjustments were necessary to meet changing

     requirements and breakdowns in craft that LCM's were in fact

     used as individual craft almost regardless of their Flotilla.

     Combined Operations by Clayton Marks, London, Ontario. Pages 176

After reflecting on Koyl's report and Shapiro's statements that "it was all too dull" and that he had prepared for "blood and thunder," I have come to the conclusion that Shapiro was at the wrong GEORGE beach and should have tagged along with my father on his LCM. Because Dad experienced "chaos and carnage," and it was either on another GEORGE Beach farther south from Shapiro or during a detour to one of the the JIG or HOW Beaches:

He writes:

     We started unloading supplies with our LCMs about a half mile

     off the beach and then the worst began - German bombers.

     We were bombed 36 times in the first 72 hours -

     at dusk, at night, at dawn and all day long, and they said

     we had complete command of the air.

     Stukas blew up working parties on the beach once

     when I was only about one hundred feet out.

     Utter death and carnage.

     Our American gun crews had nothing but coffee for three

     or four days and stayed close to their guns all the time.

     Once, with our LCM loaded with high octane gas

     and a Lorrie, we were heading for the beach when we saw

     machine gun bullets stitching the water right towards us.

     Fortunately, an LST loaded with bofors (guns) opened up

     and scared off the planes, or we were gone

     if the bullets had hit the gas cans.

     I was hiding behind a truck tire,

     so was Joe Watson (Simcoe).

     What good would that have done?

     "Dad, Well Done", pages 31 - 32

We will have to use our imaginations as we think about how Lionel Shapiro would have handled that trip into shore behind a truck tire.

More about the above episode can be explored in Joe Watson's newspaper interview, given after his return to Canada in December, 1943.

More passages or excerpts from Lionel Shapiro's excellent book will follow.

To read earlier passages listed on this site, please link to Passages: They Left the Back Door Open (1).

Unattributed Photos GH