Story: Normandy - Operation NEPTUNE Part 2

Operation NEPTUNE, the Naval Phase of OVERLORD

By Lloyd Williams

Troops board LCI(L) 276 in Southampton prior to D-Day Normandy, June 1944

Photo Credit - Combined Operations by Londoner Clayton Marks, Page 139

(Mr. L. Williams told the following story at the Maritime Museum of Vancouver in 1995. Some details were supplied by Jim Gibb.)

Mr. Williams says, "H-Hour, the touch-down time for the Eastern Task Force, was set for 7:25 in Sword and Gold Sectors, and was delayed from 20 to 30 minutes in Juno Sector so that the tide could rise higher and cover the off-shore rocks. The LCAs would be a little over an hour in making the trip from the assault anchorages to the beaches."

Navy guns rumbled behind the LCAs, screaming shells passed overhead and much action lay ahead. Troops hit the beaches and with them came "tanks, jeeps, lorries" and many other vehicles, e.g., bulldozers, on larger landing crafts. German beach obstacles provided no easy path to the landing parties, and one would see "swimming and drowning men, overturned tanks" and other crafts impaled upon obstructions.

The 260th Canadian Flotilla positioned itself about one-half mile off shore in front of Nan Red, Nan White and Mike Green and - when an opening seemingly appeared between obstacles - "went in for the beach at full speed."

"Craft 298 ground up on the rocky shore undamaged and her 167 soldiers scrambled ashore under mortar and machine gun fire," says Mr. Williams.

Nearby, due to rough going, another landing craft lost its starboard ramp and Lt. D. Botly (RCNVR) to the waves but, somehow, Botly managed to dive under his craft to emerge astern safe and sound. We are told the same craft next smashed into an obstacle and nine soldiers were killed or wounded before reaching shore. Williams goes on to mention many other craft by number that managed to arrive undamaged or faced stiff challenges from exploding mines and enemy machine guns and mortars.

"MEN WANTED": Poster re RCNVR at Maritime Museum of BC in Victoria

He says, "Craft 270, running in alongside 306, might have had the most serious casualties of all if her Commanding Officer, LT. A.C. Clark, RCNVR, had not ordered the soldiers out of her forward troop space." 

Clark felt his troops were not safe "down in the bows" and ordered them up on deck. Very shortly thereafter their landing craft (270) hit a mine and lost a good portion of their hull, but none of the soldiers. The same mines did extensive damage as well to many other crafts as hulls, propellors and engine rooms were blown away.

"Along the miles of beach.... the desolation of wrecked craft, the vehicles burning at the water's edge, and the milling masses of men, tanks and guns ashore, had now an appearance of chaos and yet the landings had gone amazingly well," says Lloyd Williams.

Troop casualties were below expectations and light among landing craft crews, especially among the Canadians ("not one... had been killed"). Most of the Flotillas, though expendable, were recoverable, and some soon returned to England as new shipping arrived in Normandy. Williams provides a damage report of specific landing craft, and says some remained in Normandy until temporary repairs could be made.

About the return to England on June 7th, Williams mentions there was almost no sense of "tremendous achievement." Without fanfare ships returned to ports "many of their men had never expected to see again." Long lines of ambulances greeted the sailors, "fortunately, more than needed."

There was time for men to rest and relax, but not too much time, for "the battle for the beaches was in full swing" and returning ships soon had to prepare for the next phase, i.e., reinforcing the troops already there, building up the beach-head.

Canadian maintenance parties worked strenuously to repair their landing craft flotillas and as June progressed Canada's LCIs carried 13,000 more troops to France, "plus another 7,000 in July and August." All manner of men and women and cargo were transported "through heavily mined waters." The threat of enemy attack was always present but "for the most part we got off lightly,' says Mr. Williams.

We are told the ferry work and many accompanying dangers persisted, so the hard working landing craft were continually in a state of repair and disrepair. Maintenance parties never stopped working. "By the end of the second week it was seen that no amount of patching could keep the craft in operation much longer."

And then, when ordered to return to England, a great storm not only made the passage very dangerous but threatened the very success of Operation NEPTUNE. The U.S and U.K. artificial harbours (mulberries) sustained great damage, and as Williams closes he says,"Of all the tossing ships in the crowded anchorages, the ones that suffered the most were the landing craft."

* * * * *

The six-page-long story by Mr. Williams can be found in full at St. Nazaire to Singapore, Volume 2, Pages 232 - 237.

It ends with 3 brief paragraphs, perhaps added by David. J. Lewis, and includes notes of praise for those that served, strenuously, aboard the landing craft.  

This from General Montgomery:

     I feel I must write and say how 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.

Please link to Story: Normandy - Operation NEPTUNE Part 1

Unattributed Photos GH

Story: Normandy - Operation NEPTUNE Part 1

Operation NEPTUNE, the Naval Phase of OVERLORD

By Lloyd Williams

Troops waiting for departure aboard 262nd Flotilla of LCI(L)s for D-Day
Normandy. Tied up alongside in Southampton during a day of bad weather.
CP Photo as found in St. Nazaire to Singapore, Page 231

(Mr. L. Williams told the following story at the Maritime Museum of Vancouver in 1995. Some details were supplied by Jim Gibb.)

 Maritime Museum of BC. in Victoria. 2012

Mr. Williams says, "Operation Neptune, the naval phase of Overlord, had the primary task of landing the armies of liberation on French soil, and secondly the maintenance of waterborne lines of communication and supply."

Canada supplied 110 ships and 10,000 seamen to the enterprise, about 4 per cent of the Naval contribution. HMCS Prince Henry and Prince David, luxury liners transformed into landing ships early in the year, assembled at Cowes (Isle of Wight) with other LSI(M)s and given D-Day assignments. Prince Henry, as a Senior Officer of Landing Ships (SOLS) in Force J would carry eight assault craft of the 528th Canadian Flotilla, and Prince David, as a Senior Ship in the same force, would transport six craft of the 529th along with six Royal Marine Boats. And shortly thereafter at Cowes, after lengthy training exercises, three Canadian Flotillas of LCI(L)s arrived, the 260th, 262nd and 264th, 30 craft in all.

Then began final exercises on a very large scale, the last of which (Operation Fabius) took place in broad daylight and later under a bright moon twenty-five miles south of the Isle of Wight, and likely was observed by the enemy, thus adding the risk of a possible attack. None came and the great force of ships and troops landed before dawn "under the thunder of supporting arms" east of Portsmouth and upon the beaches of Bracklesham Bay.

Williams says, "On May 24 the King inspected all the assault ships and craft.... (Officers and ratings were presented to the King) "after which the small ships were sailed past while His Majesty took the salute."

A signal announced the King's passing by his LCI(L)s in a barge

Officers and ratings await the Royal Sail Past in Southampton.

Photo by David Lewis, St. Nazaire to Singapore, Page 230

After final preparations and anxious days of waiting the Allied strike forces were organized to cross the English Channel for mass landings on the French coast at Baie de la Seine, "the longest stretch of open shore lying within effective range" of supporting aircraft. Williams supplies details related to the size, shape and depth of the bay, and the German defences. About "the great German mine belt" he says that slits would be created in it "through which the assaulting ships could pass" (after the dropping of airborne troops at 2400 hours on June 6) along a five-divisional front.

D-Day strategy involved "a night-long smashing by aircraft" followed by Naval bombardment at dawn directed toward Germany's strongest defences. Landing craft would approach designated beaches on swelling tidal waters "over the mines" and assorted defensive obstacles arranged systematically upon the beaches. "Depths and gradients along each foot of the shore were known" and assault craft were expected to find "exact beaching positions."

Allied aerial bombardment would be closely followed by tremendous Naval bombardment (supplied by seven battleships, 23 cruisers, 104 destroyers and more, i.e., monitors, gunboats and rocket-firing ships) and then seven divisions of soldiers expected to land within the first day, then reinforcements would arrive (more than one division per day).

"No sea-borne landing even remotely comparable in size had ever been attempted under such conditions," says Lloyd Williams.

The Normandy landings: U.S. and British Forces and Transports.

Canadians Among the British. St. Nazaire to Singapore, Page 232

Thousands of ships had to adhere to a highly organized timetable - and pass through only ten narrow mine-swept lanes - in order for Operation OVERLORD to be successful. Any disruption of the flow of troops, their supplies and reinforcements could cause "the most disastrous results." The threat of bad weather caused great fear among planners. Raging seas might delay heavily-burdened landing craft and storms would hinder navigation and decrease the support of air cover. As well, Germany had 230 surface ships - including destroyers and heavily-armed R-boats - within range of the Channel crossing zone, and a dangerous force of U-Boats based on the European coast.

"At 2400 on June 5, the 260th Canadian Flotilla slipped their lines from Southampton docks and proceeded to join a stream of similar craft threading its way down the crowded anchorage of the Solent," says Williams.

The LCI(L)s felt heavy in the water at slow, station-keeping speed, but the seven craft kept pace with their 1,300 troops on board (including 250 Canadians), as did the 12 craft of the 262nd Flotilla carrying 2,100 troops, mostly Canadian. The 264th Canadian Flotilla kept in its line nearby. And nine hours later followed the Prince Henry and David,  between them leading fourteen landing ships.

D-Day crossing: LCAs hang upon davits on landing ships

Photo as found in Combined Operations by C. Marks

The 264th Canadian Flotilla was bound for the Gold Sector, and all other Canadian ships were bound for Juno Sector. Larger ships that had left the Solent later in the morning passed smaller craft on their way to their positions (e.g., HMCS Algonquin passed Prince Henry) and it was noticed by some that LCI(L) flotillas were "tossing and bucketing as they fought to maintain course" in the choppy seas. Once through mine-swept channels, the ships spread out - at distances up to seven miles from shore -to face their target beaches.

"By 5:35 the (aforementioned Canadian) vessels were swinging at anchor in the eerie half-dawn light, each an exact 300 yards from the next," says Williams.

From the Prince David were first lowered two RN craft and at 6:17 one loaded with Royal Marines headed for Nan Beach to provide small arms support. At 6:35 the second craft headed toward the beach where Marines would work in waist-deep water "clearing mines and obstacles ahead of the assault craft."

Canadians emerged next from the troop decks and climbed into assault landing craft. Loaded LCAs were lowered from the David and Henry and soon joined swarms of craft from other ships in preparation for beaching. Some assault units were assigned to land at Mike Red beach "a mile to the east of Courseulles" while others were destined for Nan White, one and a half miles farther west.

More to follow.

Please link to Story: The Mine - Difficult Manoeuvres, 1944

Unattributed Photos GH

Story: The Craft of Landing

The Craft of Landing - LCI(L) 255

By Jack MacBeth, Lt. Cdr., RCNVR, (Rtd.)

Crew members of LCI(L) 255, aka "Da Bum", 264th Canadian Flotilla

Photo - Harry Trenholme, St. Nazaire to Singapore, Vol. 2, Pg. 216

The following short passage, found on pages 215 - 216 of St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945, Volume 2, is likely introduced by David Lewis. He writes that the passage was reprinted from Jack Macbeth's book entitled Ready Aye Ready by permission of the publisher Key Porter Books Ltd., Toronto, Ontario, 1989. It is claimed that Lt. Harry Trenholme, CO of LCI(L) 255, allowed Lt. 'Happy' Kidder to write the stories in the book.

David Lewis continues in the introduction by saying, "RCNVR Lieutenants Harry Trenholme and Kendall "Happy" Kidder had both served in the Mediterranean aboard RN 'minor' landing craft, the thimble-sized flit-abouts that could carry a jeep or two and maybe a platoon of soldiers into a hostile beach. With that experience, presumably, they were ideally suited to take command of one of the LCI(L)s (Landing Craft Infantry - Large) for the impending assault on fortress Europe. For short runs, these ungainly twin-ramped barges could carry up to 500 troops at speeds of about fourteen knots.

Lewis informs us that Trenholme and Kidder reported for duty aboard LCI(L) 255 in the spring of 1944 "at South Shields on the Tyne." They were to take the craft and crew of twenty to Southampton (southern coast of England) and join the three Canadian flotillas there (already involved in landing exercises).

Caption: Exercise Schuyt 1, before D-Day (Normandy): In this exercise,
the first of two involving LCI(L) 264 Flotilla, the orders called for soldiers
to re-embark as well as land. The weather having roughed up, a number of
soldiers were lost by drowning. Fortunately not so in our Flotilla. This is the
reason that the careful reader will have observed that the soldiers are walking
out to sea rather than into land. Following this tragic lesson (loss of men by
drowning) a crew member took a line ashore from each of our ramps to steady
the heavily laden troops in the water. A perilous task on defended beaches.
Photo - David J. Lewis, St. Nazaire to Singapore, Pg. 214

A Foretaste of the Future: A mad scramble after Exercise Fabius 2 to make
(reach) the anti-submarine gates into the teeth of a Force 9 Wind. Four days
of bad weather was to wreck one of the two Mulberries (artificial harbours
built by the Brits) and imperil the whole of the Normandy Beachhead. 

Photo - David J. Lewis St. Nazaire to Singapore, Pg. 215

Kidder recalls the trip to Southampton:

"Neither Trenholme or I had ever driven one of these big things before, but we seemed to be doing okay until we made our approach to the tidal dock at Grimsby at a pretty fair clip. At the appropriate time, Harry gave the usual order, full astern, to stop her. Nothing happened."

The LCI(L) came equipped with variable-pitch propellors but, without proper instruction, Trenholme and Kidder were both in the dark about how to slow or stop the craft.

"How in hell were we to know?" Kidder says. "So all we could do was grab hold of something and watch open-mouthed as we plowed straight into the dock gate."

The gate was quickly smashed wide open and the LCI's bow buckled. Because it was the time of ebb tide, water poured out of the dock in torrents and freighters were left "sitting there high and dry." Fortunately for our stalwart Canadian officers, though local navy brass didn't enjoy the crash-up, no issue was made of it.

"Happy" Kidder writes:

"Once the damage to our bow was repaired, we were allowed to continue southward (to Southampton)." And one night, while on route, Kidder noticed light escaping from around a poorly fitting door and ordered it repaired "real quick" in order to escape the attention of German guns at Calais.

"Next thing I knew, there was an unholy white flash that could have been seen all the way to Paris!"

Out of the fry pan and into the fire? One can read Kidder's account and its conclusion at the following link: The Craft of Landing

Lewis added this note as well to Kidder's account, "It is sad to report that the ever popular "Happy" Kidder has passed on, as has Jack MacBeth, author of several naval books."

Please link to Story: Hands to Beaching Stations (with Sketch)

Story: Introduction to the LCI(L) 271

LCI(L) 271: Lessons in Hope and Equanimity

By W. R. Sinclair

The Highland Light Infantry of Canada load onto Landing Craft, Infantry, Large,

LCI(L) at Southhampton, 4 June 1944. Photo credit - Highland Light Infantry

The following short story, about a young officer's early introduction to handling a large landing craft on his own, is found in St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945, Volume 2 (pages 209 - 211). The two-volume set of stories, by Canadian veterans of Combined Operations, was inspired by the book Combined Operations by Londoner Clayton Marks and produced in the mid-1990s. The collection is very rare but available for viewing at some large libraries (e.g., Toronto Public) and museums (e.g., Canada's War Museum, Ottawa). As well, it is available for viewing online at Our Roots, University of Alberta in Calgary as a PDF file.

The first two short paragraphs of the story by W. R. Sinclair follow:

"Early in April (1944) it was evident that the refit would soon be finished. Our crew of twenty-one was complete. The youngest was about eighteen and the oldest, the Chief Motor Mechanic, some thirty-five. I was Captain or CO, and twenty-three. We had another officer, the First Lieutenant. He was from Toronto."

"On 14 April, 1944 we had full power trials of our engines down the river Thames. First, we had the Locks Pilot (come aboard and man the bridge), then the River Pilot and finally a "Sea" Pilot as we neared the mouth of the river. That day we received a signal directing us to proceed to Southend-on-Sea, on the north shore of the Thames, for routing instructions."

Sinclair goes on to write that his Landing Craft Infantry, Large or LCI(L) would tag along behind a coastal convoy to Southampton "where the rest of the Canadian LCI(L)s were based." He was happy to hear about "tagging along" at the back because he had "never given a helm order" or commanded the landing craft himself until then. He recalled that the pilots that had come aboard "were uncomfortable working with LCI(L)s", likely because of their shallow draft, high superstructure and big differences in handling compared to a similar-sized freighter.

On Saturday, April 15 Sinclair's LCI(L) arrived at Southend-on-Sea in the early afternoon and anchored in the channel. The next day Sinclair was picked up and delivered by boat to a significant meeting on shore, where he was given sailing instructions - a single sheet of paper - for a lengthy trip (and one that turned out to be nerve-wracking) to Southampton. Though Sinclair was likely relieved to hear certain ships would lead him on his way, news that they "might encounter German E-Boats" would not have lifted his spirits.

Privately, Sinclair told a commander that "(he) had never had any vessel under (his) command" and that he was "most concerned about (his) ability to see the convoy through safely to Southampton."

The Officer put his hand on Sinclair's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, my boy, you'll get there somehow."

And somehow, though "very puzzled and disturbed by (a certain) turn of events", Sinclair made his way to Southampton, crash landing and all!

Readers will find the full story at Lessons in Hope and Equanimity

Please link to Story: 1944 - A Year of Climax, Reshuffle, Achievement

Story: 1944 - A Year of Climax, Reshuffle, Achievement

1944 - A Year of Climax, Reshuffle and Achievement

Assembling the Allied Armada for D-Day

Editted by David and Kit Lewis and Len Birkenes

Troops approach Normandy coast. Photo credit - Imperial war Museum

The following short story is found in St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945, Volume 2 (pages 207 - 208). The two-volume set of stories, by Canadian veterans of Combined Operations, was inspired by the book Combined Operations by Londoner Clayton Marks and produced in the mid-1990s. The collection is rare indeed but available for viewing at some large libraries (e.g., Toronto Public) and museums (e.g., Canada's War Museum, Ottawa). As well, it is available for viewing online at Our Roots, University of Alberta in Calgary as a PDF file.

The first paragraph follows:

"The Year 1944 continued and greatly amplified the amazing experiences we have covered to date. It was the fulfilment of what those years had led up to. We did have some weeks and months of leave which passed quickly enough. We found ourselves appointed to different ships and different waters. The Prince Boats were on the West Coast of Canada and getting to them brought us our first east west transcontinental trips, chugging along the CPR track, day after day for five days." (Page 207)

Five Canadians (Combined Ops) take a smoke break at Hornepayne, Ont.

during their 'transcontinental trip' to Comox, Vancouver Island.*

Photo credit - Doug Harrison, RCNVR, Combined Ops

David, Kit (Catherine) and Len then tell readers that some Canadian officers and sailors saw that the Prince Henry and Prince David "were being adapted to being Landing Ships Infantry - Medium", i.e., LSI(M)s, smaller but more heavily armed than LSI(L)s. After a commissioning ceremony the ships, with Canadian crews aboard, sailed via the Panama Canal to New York (on Prince David) and Bermuda (Prince Henry). Shortly thereafter they were "back in the Clyde Estuary at Gourock and Niobe" where they joined up with three Canadian Flotillas of LCI(L), the 260th, 262nd and 264th.

Aboard the LCI(L)s

We read "LCI(L)s were 160 feet long, heavily powered and swifter than any of the other landing craft but presented peculiarities that made them challenging craft. Their crew was 22 with two officers (three officers for invasions). They had four 20mm cannons. Their ability to carry men was 200 for longer distances and 500 as a short trip on a calm sea. As noted before, they could manage the Atlantic successfully, being sent over up to 20 at a time."

David, Kit and Len go on to say that some of the LCI(L)s were plagued with poor equipment that caused inconsistent handling. "Electrical breakdowns occurred.... steering errors were the most dramatic", and bumps and grinds along many a jetty took place "even after the skipper had learned to give engine room orders well ahead of time."

Canada planned to take part in the invasion of Normandy with 30 LCI(L)s for the Canadian troops and later included three LCI(L) Mark IIIs from the US. We are told the LCI(L)s "were good to live in and generally created a closer family atmosphere than had been the case in smaller Landing Craft and larger vessels."

The Canadians aboard the LCI(L)s participated in individual running-in exercises as well as flotilla exercises and witnessed the assembly of the "tremendous force" that was developed to invade France. "Thousands of ships, hundreds of thousands of men, skies full of planes" are recalled, as is the invasion and follow-up duties (albeit briefly).

The full story can be found at the following link:

St. Nazaire to Singapore, pages 207 - 208

*The six sailors, including D. Harrison (and several others), trained raw recruits and participated in other Combined Operations activities on 'The Spit', aka Givenchy III, Comox, from Jan. 1944 to late summer, 1945.

As well, please link to Story: Overlord - Operation Neptune, D-Day, Parts 1 - 6

Audio: George Richmond - Combined Ops, Normandy

George Richmond, Navy and Combined Operations

D-Day Landing with Life Line as found in Combined Operations, (Pg. 111) C. Marks

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 audio files at The Memory Project (Page 94) related to the activities of George Richmond, Navy, and Bill Renwick, Army, that touch on their memories related to war time experiences in France. George was a member of an LCI(L) crew, along with approx. 20 other Canadians in Combined Operations, in Normandy, June 1944. Bill, from Hamilton, was a member of the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion and before becoming a prisoner of war had a memorable experience shortly after landing in France.

Link to George Richmond, Navy, Combined Operations at The Memory Project

Part of George's transcript follows:

After fourteen months on the ship I joined a thousand other naval types and volunteered for combined operations. We found ourselves on a troop ship bound for England. We were assigned to repair and man three flotillas of infantry landing craft for the invasion of France. Altogether, they transported about forty-five hundred Canadian troops to the beaches on D-Day. When temporary docks were put in place, the smaller craft were not used as much and they began disbanding the landing craft flotillas.

Please link to Bill Renwick, Army at The Memory Project

Part of Bill's transcript follows:

I seen a man... I seen a man with a cart about the second day. We were going down to check out an area to see if we could find out how many Germans was in it. And he was walking up the road and he had his daughter in his hands and he had a tarp over the... the wagon. And one of our guys, who spoke pretty good French, asked him if he'd seen any Germans up the road. He took the time to say they were around the bend where we were coming, there was a German machine gun nest. He couldn't thank us enough for coming. And yet you could see he had been crying and that. And in that cart, we found out after when the tarp was moved, that his wife and his son, who had been killed by our bombs - our bombers. And yet he could take the time to try and explain to us because here we were finally setting them free after four years or so under the Germans. It don't make any sense. You lose a family and yet you're shaking somebody's hand or kiss them on the cheek and saying, "Thanks for coming." Your mind becomes fuddled when you start seeing some of these things. Three days after D-Day, I became a prisoner of war.

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

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"

Story: Overlord - Operation Neptune, D-Day, Parts 1 - 6

OVERLORD, D-DAY

OPERATION NEPTUNE, June 6, 1944

By Clayton Marks, RCNVR and Combined Operations

Historical photographs show the true scale of the D-Day landings, during which

some 156,000 Allied troops landed on five beaches along the Normandy coast.

Photo Credit - Imperial War Museum

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 nonetheless a pivotal book in explaining the role of the hundreds of Canadians who volunteered for hazardous duties overseas in the Combined Operations organization.

Shortly after Combined Operations was printed and distributed, e.g., at Navy or Combined Operations' reunions, two other related texts were inspired, full of stories written by Canadian volunteers and veterans of the Combined Ops organization. Two volumes of stories are entitled St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945, are extremely difficult to find, but can be borrowed from or viewed at some libraries and museums (e.g., Toronto Public Library, Ottawa War Museum) , and can be viewed online, story by story, at St. Nazaire to Singapore.

 OVERLORD, D-DAY - OPERATION NEPTUNE, Parts 1 - 6

NEPTUNE Part 1 - Assembly of Fighting Vessels

NEPTUNE Part 2 - Mighty Resources

NEPTUNE Part 3 - Canadian Ships Take Their Stations

NEPTUNE Part 4 - Canadian Landing Craft Hit the Beaches

NEPTUNE Part 5 - Canadians Wait for More Work

NEPTUNE Part 6 - The Hardest Worked Craft

Photo credit - From The Canadians at War, 1939/45

Please link to Story: Canada's Early Days in Combined Ops

Story: Overlord - Operation Neptune, D-Day - Part 6

OVERLORD, D-DAY

OPERATION NEPTUNE, June 6, 1944

By Clayton Marks, RCNVR and Combined Operations

Troops of Canadian 3rd Division, leaving their ship with bicycles, at

Juno beach along the coast of Normandy, France on D-Day, June 6, 1944. 

Photo credit  - Gilbert Milne, RCN photographer

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 6

Troops and landing craft were held back for other reasons. The hope that Cherbourg's valuable harbour would be wrestled from the Germans, in order to land troops easily and in great volume, slowed the process of moving men to Normandy's beaches. But German defenses held and their aircraft mined the approaches to Baie de la Seine again and more sweeping was required. These things were not explained to landing craft crews and the waiting chafed.

As well, landing craft flotillas were drawn from a pool as required and "some were worked to exhaustion" while others were not. So, "voyages were made as required to whatever beaches or sectors had need of troops" and though a myriad of personnel were moved across the channel (e.g., British infantry, marines, pioneers, air force ground detachments, infantrymen, artillerymen, sections of medical and engineering units of the Canadian Army, American medical detachments, parties of nursing sisters, pay corps men, stevedores, refrigeration companies, balloon units, and many others) not all landing craft crews enjoyed gainful employment.

Though the voyages that did occur involved crossing heavily mined waters and the danger of facing enemy attack, the Canadians generally got off lightly. LCI(L)s in action reported damage caused by enemy bombs and mines and pre-dawn brushes with the Luftwaffe and "a shelling from enemy batteries later in the same day". All crews emerged without casualties. 

It is reported that "ferry work, apart from enemy action, was far from easy." Any troop transport across "the rough Channel was always risky" and beach obstacles and mines - augmented by the wrecks of the craft - still endangered the approach to the beaches. Bombing and shelling had left great craters on beaches, which formed "hidden pools eight and ten feet deep". Charging craft could still be smashed and landing troops drowned.

At dusk on June 10th, five were drowned when LCI 276 beached in the Omaha area on a quickly rising tide. As sailors, clinging to a lead line, made their way ashore through shoulder high water "they began to slip among a nest of bogged-down, half- submerged vehicles". Burdened with heavy gear in a rising surf, men became panicky and let go of the hand ropes. "Struggling men floundered off into water", and before help arrived, five were lost.

Some of the hardest worked craft along the littered beaches were manned by Canadian crewmen, members of the 260th and 264th Flotillas. Their flat-bottomed landing craft were up to the strenuous work of transporting troops and all the material of war but suffered much damage as they dealt with pounding surf and working in proximity to much larger transports. "Propellers were sheared off, anchors carried away, and great gashes knocked in the hulls; and the steady process of attrition soon got ahead of the devoted repair men." Some craft, too badly damaged, were forced to return to England, but not before they experienced a terrible storm in the channel ("which blew up on the night of Monday June 19th").

For three days the gale threatened Operation Neptune. "The artificial harbour in the American sector at St. Laurent was almost entirely carried away. The British harbour at Arromanches was battered and broken" but later repaired. Other smaller shelters were beaten mercilessly and the craft that "suffered most were the landing craft."

LCI(L) 305 saw a section of the St. Laurent breakwater tear loose and was forced to take evasive action. She headed for the beach to anchor, "but within an hour.... she was tossing in the crowded harbour again." 305 was helpless against the storm, was lifted toward the beach and faced total destruction, but with engines at full power, "she swerved and bumped her way out through a mass of other vessels to a patch of clear water," and was saved, thanks to an emergency anchor, "for the next eleven hours." However, by mid-afternoon the next day, LCI(L) 305 was again battling to remain afloat. All manner of anchor cables broke, and "the zigzagging craft, terribly beaten by the wind and sea" was forced upon an obstacle in the water, severely damaged, and scrambled for safety, odds against survival. Finally, however, "around noon of the 22nd", she again risked a channel crossing and at midnight, in Calshot England, "her men (were) enjoying the first hot food and looking forward to the first dry sleep they had had in eighty-two hours."

Other crafts also experienced adventures of the same "melodramatic lengths" due to the horrendous June gale and barely managed "battered and holed, (to labour) across the Channel to Southampton."

The last paragraph of Clayton Marks' significant 23-page account follows:

In spite of similar trials, distributed over all ships in the Channel or at the Normandy anchorages, Neptune weathered the storm. With clearing weather during the latter part of June, the operations of the landing craft began to be stepped up. Craft held in reserve for a landing in the Channel Islands were released to the general pool as the possibility of that landing grew more remote. Canadian craft were to ferry over about thirteen thousand troops in July, and another seven thousand in August, before they were dispersed and their crews returned to general service.

Photo credit - From The Canadians at War, 1939/45

Please link to Story: Overlord - Operation Neptune, D-Day - Part 5

Audio: Carvil J. Ritcey, "Our Worst Engagement"

The Smell of Death was Everywhere

Carvil James Ritcey, Army

Carvil Ritcey landed on the beaches at Normandy in a landing craft

like this one. June 6, 1944. Caption credit - The Memory Project 

"But nothing stopped the shoreward movement. While men fell, and while

the morning air shook with the cacophony of exploding shells, the landing craft

methodically went about the job of disgorging men on to the sands of Normandy.”  

Credit for above quote and photo - G. Milne, RCN photographer (from H.M.C.S.) 

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 Carvil James Ritcey, Army, that touch on his memories related to his war time experiences in France after disembarking from an LCI(L), manned by Canadians in Combined Operations, in Normandy, June 1944.

A portion of Carvil James Ritcey's transcript follows:

When I got out of hospital, my regiment had moved to Italy and because I was F5 when I got out of hospital, they left me back in England. So instead of going with the Royal Canadian Regiment, I rejoined the Highland Light Infantry, and on D-Day, I went ashore with the Highland Light Infantry. We had quite an event there for the first month, because we were in combat practically every night. If you were lucky to get back, you were doing great. On July the 8th, we had our worst engagement. It was called 'Bloody Buron'.

[More about Bloody Buron can be found at Canada at War.]

We lost about two hundred and eighty men and practically all our officers in that engagement. Our unit was with the 12 Platoon of the Highland Light Infantry. We were attacked by eight tiger tanks, and if it hadn't been for the help of a self-propelled seventeen pounder, we would have been eliminated. They knocked out three of the German tanks, and the rest retreated. So that was our worst engagement. Then we went on to the Falaise Gap, and at the Falaise Gap, our Canadian corps was roughly about a hundred thousand men, and we captured over three hundred thousand Germans. It was the worst scene I'd ever seen in my life. There was nothing but dead horses, dead Germans, and broken and crippled tanks all over the place. That was about the worst memory I had during the war, because the smell of death was everywhere.

Please link to Audio: Ronnie Taylor, Navy, Utah Beach, D-Day 1944

Audio: Ronnie Taylor, Navy, Utah Beach, D-Day 1944

Ronnie A. Taylor, Navy and Combined Ops

At Utah Beach, D-Day Normandy, June 1944

Soldiers of the 4th Infantry Division wade ashore at Victor sector, Utah Beach,

on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Amphibious tanks are lined up at the water’s edge.

Photo credit - U.S. War Department/National Archives, Washington, D.C.

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 related to the activities of Ronnie Albert Taylor, Navy, that touch on his memories related to his war time experiences aboard an LCI(L) at Normandy, June 1944.

A portion of Ronnie Albert Taylor's transcript follows:

We landed at Utah Beach.... on the Cherbourg Peninsula. And we landed.... right around 7:00 in the morning. The Germans were on like a hillside and Omaha Beach was next to us. US soldiers were below where the Germans were, and the Germans were shooting down at the soldiers and landing craft. 

Our landing craft was a little to the left of Omaha, and we were hit by shrapnel on one side of the craft. Fortunately, no one was injured. We let the ramp down and tanks disembarked with the American troops on board. The tanks went around to the back of the hillside where the Germans were shooting down at our troops. The tanks got at the Germans. And that was a successful mission.... then after we discharged the tanks we pulled off the beaches and went to get more stuff. 

We kept on going in and out and there’d be cargo ships, big cargo ships coming and bringing stuff over and they put it on the landing craft. And the landing craft would take it into the beach. And then eventually, they built what they called Mulberry Harbour. And Mulberry Harbour was some cargo ships and a couple of old naval ships, and they sunk them there and made an imitation harbour. If it was bad weather or anything like that, they’d bring their landing craft in and they’d take it into Mulberry Harbour and they were protected from the weather then. And they’d load stuff onto the landing craft from the cargo ships and they could take it into the beaches then. But it was a really good experience.

Please link to Audio: Ed Rushbrook, Combined Ops, D-Day, June 1944

Story: Overlord - Operation Neptune, D-Day - Part 5

OVERLORD, D-DAY

OPERATION NEPTUNE, June 6, 1944

By Clayton Marks, RCNVR and Combined Operations

A new version of the book is being produced in London ONT.

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 5

Of Prince David's assault Flotilla, only one returned from the beach for new ferrying missions. Its pair of Royal Navy assault craft sank before reaching shore (their crews were saved) and four of five of her own landing craft were crippled by obstacles. The fifth, loaded with all the crews from the other crafts, was pushed aside and also onto beach obstacles by a charging tank carrier, part of the reinforcement detachment. Again, crews had to "flounder ashore again. There they waited until one o'clock when an outbound lighter carried them back to Prince David."

On the other hand, all of Prince Henry's craft returned from disembarking troops safely and were hoisted back on board by 12:30. New missions held some craft in the assault area for several days and by early afternoon both Prince David and Prince Henry were involved with taking wounded soldiers off the beaches. "Prince David took on board fifty-eight men, Prince Henry fifty-six" and acted as "sick bays and improvised hospitals.". Though the progress of the landings could be considered good, some of the "soaked and disheveled" soldiers were "horribly wounded by land mines and shrapnel." Some died before ever reaching an operating room or hearing last rites.

Later in the day a "limping procession of landing craft" could be seen heading back to England. Some were towed by other crafts after being shoved into "navigable water by bulldozers." Others had to be nursed slowly back to health by repair parties, during which time one Canadian crew found "time and room on the beaches for a baseball game." Others describe a lull in action on June 7th, and some men aboard LCI(L) 310 visited the "nearby town of Arromanches, returning with several German uniforms and a stock of less warlike souvenirs." And on the evening of June 8th, after some craft had been given the nudge by bulldozers to help them get underway, German aircraft dropped by with a few last bombs.

The first assault ships that returned to England late in the day on June 7th carried with them "little sense of tremendous achievement." They returned "without fanfare into the familiar waters many of their men had never expected to see again." Though a few cheers could be heard from other shipping vessels, crews on those first ships to return "were scarcely in a mood to reply." C. Marks describes the mood well: "The epic hour had come and gone; and had left in its wake only a numbing lethargy. Nerves tuned through many months to an almost unendurable tension had relaxed. Bodies were bone-weary; minds filled only with an apathetic distaste for the continuing task ahead."

Prince Henry and Prince David were among those first ships to return and following them came "battered processions of landing craft", Canadian Flotillas among them. They barely had time to take a breath. The first assault had occurred and the "battle for the beaches was in full swing", but "the long-range reinforcement programme know as the build-up" was next.

As the Allies attempted to expand their forces and bridgehead in Normandy they faced a "ferocious (German) defense" and angry weather, angry enough to handicap air support, the builders of important artificial harbours (i.e., Mulberries), and supply ships. A particularly bad storm, which began on the 19th of June, heavily damaged harbours at St. Laurent and Arromanches, one critically.

Focussed on the work of sea-supply, men on landing craft and larger ships may not have been fully aware of battles taking place inland. Days and weeks of boredom in English ports brought many weary sailors a stiff challenge. "Prepared for the most taxing effort, they spent days and weeks in tense, restless idleness." Crews of the Prince Henry and Prince David grew impatient sitting at anchor, e.g., at Cowes, Isle of Wight, until mid-June after a busy entry into the assault on Normandy. Though some missions back to Normandy followed in June and July, one could say they were few and far between for Canada's well-trained and disciplined officers and their crews.

"Meanwhile the Canadian landing craft Flotillas" were placed in one large pool of transports and "were drawn as required." Again, it was a case of few and far between, and reinforcement troops they carried in the remainder of June totalled "only 7,871, as against 4,617" carried on D-Day.

It is recorded that "the (common) inactivity.... was due (in part) to the generous surplus of transport (vs) loss by enemy action" as well as "the deliberate (Naval) policy to keep in hand a large lift-capacity for other landings which might be required." Weather, and progress of inland battles also was considered. In June and July, 1944, inland battles increased the demand for tanks and transport (trucks, jeeps) at a greater rate than troops, so landing craft were selected based on these needs.

The conclusion will follow shortly.

Please link to Story: Overlord - Operation Neptune, D-Day - Part 4

Audio: Ed Rushbrook, Combined Ops, D-Day, June 1944

Edward Rushbrook, Combined Ops, D-Day, June 1944

Photo Credit - E. Rushbrook, as found at 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 photos and a written transcript.

Please link to an audio file at The Memory Project (Page 96) related to the activities of Edward Rushbrook, Navy, that touch on his memories related to training and war time experiences aboard an LCI(L) at Normandy, June 1944.

A portion of Edward Rushbrook's transcript follows:

I volunteered for combined operations service. For a year we trained recruits from the Fishermen's Reserve, and from lumberjacks, to operate small landing craft. Worked in conjunction with Army and Air Force on combined training programs. Then in November of 1943, we were sent overseas. Picked up our Infantry Landing Craft, which were fairly large craft. They were 160 feet long. We had a crew of 25 with two officers. We could carry 200 fully-equipped troops and these landing craft were capable of cruising for a total of 1800 miles, if necessary. We operated with eight Grey Marine diesel engines, four on each shaft. And they were quite manoeuvrable even though they had flat bottoms. 

More training and then in May of 1944 we had our last full scale rehearsal. We went halfway across the English Channel and then turned around and came back and landed on the English coast. Then in the beginning of June, we took the same troops onboard, exactly as we had done before, and on the night of June 5, we set out for France. We had been delayed for 24 hours because of the poor weather. 

So the next morning, it was quite a sight out in the English Channel with 4000 vessels of various sizes proceeding towards France. We took the second assault wave in, but we were there when the first troops went in at 6 o'clock in the morning. We were held off cruising back and forth inside the line of battleships and heavy cruisers that were bombarding the coast. And five hours after the initial landing, we took the second wave in. We were the flotilla leader for our flotilla. We had two flotillas of Canadian landing craft... 12 in each. And then there was another half flotilla that were working with the Americans over in the Omaha Beach area. Our landing craft being the flotilla leader, we were the first ones to hit the beach and the others came in all around us. One came in on our port side and hit one of the mines, sprayed all out port side with shrapnel, wounded my captain and two of our crew. We got them all back safely to England, but we had six holes in the bottom. We lost one propeller. So it was a bit of a rough show, but we got out of there.

Please link to Audio re Combined Operations: William Kennedy, Normandy

Story: Overlord - Operation Neptune, D-Day - Part 4

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."

Bicycles carried aboard in England. Photo - Combined Operations, page 137

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

Video: Operation Overlord and Neptune (D-Day)

Operation Overlord & Neptune (D-Day documentary)

Landing Craft Infantry, Large 177 lands at Normandy with pontoon bridge.

Photo - Combined Operations by Clayton Marks, page 140

Introduction - YouTube is a reliable source for videos and films related to WW2 activities, and on occasion references are made and scenes are seen that involve men on landing crafts during raids or invasions, e.g., in Normandy, as is the case in this film, in colour. Not often will one hear of references to the Canadians who served in Combined Operations and operated some of the landing craft, but in spite of that, the videos and films are informative and educational for a variety of reasons.

The film, "Operation Overlord & Neptune" (making use of historical footage, reenactments, computer animation and veterans' interviews) can be found on YouTube as one episode.

Link to "Operation Overlord & Neptune"

Description - Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the operation that launched the invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II by Allied forces.

Duration - 1 hr. and 27 min.

Background re Operation Overlord from wikipedia - Operation Overlord was the code name for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied western Europe during World War II. The operation commenced on 6 June 1944 with the Normandy landings (Operation Neptune, commonly known as D-Day). A 1,200-plane airborne assault preceded an amphibious assault involving more than 5,000 vessels. Nearly 160,000 troops crossed the English Channel on 6 June, and more than two million Allied troops were in France by the end of August.

For more details link to Operation Overlord, wikipedia

As well, please link to Video: D-Day in Colour, Normandy 1944

Story: Overlord - Operation Neptune, D-Day - Part 3

OVERLORD, D-DAY

OPERATION NEPTUNE, June 6, 1944

By Clayton Marks, RCNVR and Combined Operations

Landing craft, manned by Canadians and filled with troops, are lowered

from the Prince David. Photo Credit - Imperial War Museum

Introduction - The following story (presented here in several 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 3

Canadian troop ships, i.e., Prince Henry and Prince David, carrying hundreds of assault troops (members of the Canadian Scottish Regiment and Regiment de la Chaudiere, and others), began their channel-crossing later in the evening.  Algonquin and Sioux, bombardment destroyers in Force J, were bound as well for Sword, Juno and Gold sectors in the British area. Group by group, "moving at set speeds", including the 264th Canadian Flotilla attached to Force G, took up their formations.

All manner of ships, i.e., warships, transports, special craft of every kind, arranged themselves in such a way to arrive at the right place at the right time off the beaches. Groups looked like individual convoys, "each separated by exact intervals from the one behind and the one ahead." Escort ships drew alongside them, and the whole assembly - in ten great streams - moved toward mid-channel positions.

After 2200 a brisk wind was noted and by midnight a full moon was overhead the endless series of wakes produced by what seemed countless ships pointing "southward toward Baie de la Seine", all under orders not to fire upon passing planes which were "almost certain to be friendly". Bombers bound for the enemy coast were overhead and an hour later would come transports and troop-carrying gliders "towed in long trains", with the men of the parachute divisions.

The advance some ships overtook others as they moved into their final stations and some elbowed aside returning mine-sweepers. Dimly outlined in the pre-dawn darkness, U.S. battleships, British and French cruisers (Glasgow, Montcalm, Georges Leygues), and Canadian ships could be seen among the hundreds moving into prescribed positions.

Prince Henry and Prince David emerged from their respective channels and positioned themselves seven miles off shore in Juno sector. Each turned "parallel to the coast", as did the ships that followed them,  and by 5:35 AM nineteen vessels were safely at anchor.

As daylight appeared, many other ships exited their swept channels and could be seen along the coast for many miles. Returning bombers were heard overhead, and in places "the shoreline glowed and smoked", revealing that bombs had left their mark. Soon there was an enormous roar overhead of the anchored landing ships. The "first salvoes of battleships and cruisers" screamed on their way to prescribed targets on shore.

Immediately thereafter landing ships sprang into action. The crews of assault craft on Prince Henry and Prince David took to their stations. Waiting soldiers below decks checked their gear one last time and listened for hardened commands from loud hailers overhead:

"Will move in... five... minutes"....

"Will move.... now".

Disembarking from troop ships. Photos as found in Combined Operations

Royal Marines "went over the side" first from Prince David to provide small-arms fire, and were followed by other Marines responsible for "clearing mines and obstacles ahead of the assault craft."

Then came the Canadians! Soldiers climbed quietly into flat-bottomed assault craft and were lowered over the sides of Prince Henry and Prince David. Two Canadian flotillas joined the mass of LCAs from other landing ships nearby. Immediately after groups formed, a motor gunboat at the lead, they began the seven-mile trip to shore. Flights and forces became "one vast inward movement" on its way toward the Baie de la Seine's 20-mile-wide shore.

H-hour, or touch-down time for the Eastern Tank Force, was set for 07:25 in Sword and Gold sectors; and was about thirty minutes later in Juno sector so that off-shore rocks could be covered by the incoming tide. LCA's would reach the beaches in an hour, travelling steadily while salvoes screamed overhead - "to be completed by the time they arrived."

Some LCAs, crew members and soldiers did not arrive ashore without hardship, others "were mentioned in dispatches for their bravery during the landings." As well, turbulence interfered "the launching plans for the amphibious tanks" but still, up and down the coastline "the movement was proceeding...  with uncanny precision." Destroyers and support craft closely engaged beach defenses and Army artillery fired as it came.

Fleet class destroyers opened fire, HMCS Algonquin and Sioux among them. Though dust from earlier air bombardments still obscured assigned targets, several of Algonquins salvoes fell directly on them and she then targeted "a row of houses sheltering snipers along Nan Red." Sioux silenced guns inside two large buildings, and later checked her fire to allow landing craft to approach shore.

Projectiles from "the terrible rocket-firing ships" hurtled inland "with a searing roar" and blasted anything in their way. Next came craft which went ashore to deposit Avre tanks of the Royal Engineers, tasked to "breach minefields and concrete barriers in the paths of the troops."

Still other craft - some under German fire - followed the Avres to drop the men responsible for clearing away mines and beach obstructions, all of which presented significant challenges, because the German-made reefs lined beaches for half a mile off shore.

For example, heavy steel gates, eight feet wide by ten feet high, projected from the bottom on Sword and Gold beaches. They directed landing craft onto obstructions behind them. On all beaches landing craft had to face many lines of sharp wooden stakes projecting from the sand, and behind the stakes stood an army of steel-pronged tripods capable of ripping the bottom of many vessels to shreds. "Many of the tripods were mined" and all manner of mines were found in the sand and upon concrete pyramids assembled to delay and destroy Allied forces.

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel inspecting Atlantic Wall defences, April 1944

Photo credit - Juno Beach at Wikipedia

More to follow.

Please link to Story: Overlord - Operation Neptune, D-Day - Part 2