Website: Landing Crafts at Juno Beach Centre

Landing Crafts and Other Ships at War, WW2

LCA 1050 leaving side of HMCS Prince David, loaded with soldiers of the

Régiment de la Chaudière, 9 May 1944. Photo by R.G. Arless. DND

The information presented here concerns various landing crafts manned by Canadians during World War 2. More facts, details and photos (and links to info concerning other types of crafts, e.g., motor torpedo boats) can be found at the website entitled Juno Beach Centre which deals with Canada in the Second World War. The link is provided below.

A brief introduction to the material follows:

Landing Crafts

The different landing operations, in Dieppe, in Sicily and in Normandy, required that new types of ships be built, especially designed for carrying troops and material in preparation for an amphibious assault.

Landing Ship Infantry (LSI)

The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) bought two pre-war steamers from Canadian National Steamships, which were converted for transporting troops: HMCS Prince David and Prince Henry. They could carry 550 infantrymen, as well as six LCAs and two LCMs. Their role was to get within a few kilometres from the landing beach and to launch the LCAs and LCMs tied to the davits.

Troops of 1st Canadian Scottish practice loading into LCA

Please use this link to view Landing Crafts at Juno Beach Centre

As well, please link to Website: Sicily, Operation HUSKY, July 1943

Website: Sicily, Operation HUSKY, July 1943

Sicily 1943

Front Cover of Brochure

The link provided below will take you to an online history book/brochure prepared in the U.S. Army Center of Military History by Andrew J. Birtle. A short introduction by GORDON R. SULLIVAN, General, United States Army, Chief of Staff, leads the way.

Though the book is a part of a series of books about the U.S. Army Campaigns in WW2, readers interested in locales where Canadians in Combined Operations (in four landing craft flotillas) were also active may enjoy the history lesson as well.

Four Canadian flotillas of landing craft (ALCs and LCMs), manned by members of

Combined Ops., participated in British Eighth Army Landings, lower right on map

The online book begins as follows:

On the night of 9-10 July 1943, an Allied armada of 2,590 vessels launched one of the largest combined operations of World War II, the invasion of Sicily. Over the next thirty-eight days, half a million Allied soldiers, sailors, and airmen grappled with their German and Italian counterparts for control of this rocky outwork of Hitler's "Fortress Europe." 

We read that the invasion of Sicily was at the heart of much conflict between UK and US (Allied) counterparts:

The British strongly supported the invasion because Britain had long-standing political and strategic interests in the Mediterranean. They argued that Sicily's conquest would not only reopen Allied sea lanes to the eastern Mediterranean, but also give the Allies a base from which to launch further offensives in the region. Moreover, the occupation of Italian national territory might shock the war-weary Italians into dropping out of the war altogether.

American strategists, led by Army Chief of Staff General George C. Marshall, argued that the Allies should focus their energies upon a direct thrust at Nazi Germany and not waste their time nibbling at peripheral Axis outposts like Sicily. Marshall wanted to launch a cross-Channel attack into northern France as soon as possible, and every man, tank, and ship sent to the Mediterranean reduced the forces available for an invasion of northern Europe.

After much argument and negotiation a final plan was set:

The final plan called for over seven divisions to wade ashore along a 100-mile front in southeastern Sicily, while elements of two airborne divisions landed behind Axis lines. The British Eighth Army would land four divisions, an independent brigade, and a commando force along a forty-mile front stretching from the Pachino Peninsula north along the Gulf of Noto to a point just south of the port of Syracuse. A glider landing would assist the amphibious troops in capturing Syracuse. To the west, Patton's Seventh Army would land three divisions over an even wider front in the Gulf of Gela. The assault would be supported by parachutists from the 505th Parachute Infantry Regimental Combat Team and the 3d Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry.

Troops and supplies unloading near Gela on D-day. Page 9 (National Archives)

Though one will have to look elsewhere for records of successful landing by Canadians in Combined Ops, some of the flavour of the entire operation and invasion are contained in this U.S. online history. For example: 

After landing on a hostile shore, they had repelled several counterattacks, forced the enemy to withdraw, and relentlessly pursued him over sun-baked hills until the island was theirs. In thirty-eight days they and their British colleagues had killed or wounded approximately 29,000 enemy soldiers and captured over 140,000 more. In contrast, American losses totaled 2,237 killed and 6,544 wounded and captured. The British suffered 12,843 casualties, including 2,721 dead. Sicily was also a victory for the logistician and the staff planner. Although overshadowed by the Normandy invasion a year later, Operation HUSKY was actually the largest amphibious operation of World War II in terms of the size of the landing zone and the number of divisions put ashore on the first day of the invasion. 

For those interested in further reading from a more complete point of view, the history book ends with some recommendations, including the following:

For the official British and Canadian views of the campaign, see C. J. C. Molony, The Mediterranean and Middle East, volume 5 (1973), and G. W. L. Nicholson, The Canadians in Italy, 1943-45 (1967). 

Please link to Sicily, July 9 - August 17, 1943

A bunker covers the beach near Sant'Agata. (National Archives)

Please also link to another Website re Combined Operations

Website: The First Day's Operations Against Oran

OPERATION TORCH, North Africa, November 8, 1942

At the website the above map can be greatly enlarged

A website book, over 680 pages in length, (U.S. Army in World War 2 - Mediterranean Theater of War. Northwest Africa: Seizing the Initiative in the West by George F. Howe) concerning the U.S. Army's activities and contributions to WW2 in the Mediterranean Theater, can be found at this link.

However, if one wishes a narrower focus, e.g., on particular activities that include the contributions of Canadians in Combined Operations, one should turn to Chapter XI - The First Day's Operations Against Oran.

Brief explanation:

One doesn't have to read Ch. XI too long before coming across references to landing craft that were used at beaches familiar to Canadian officers, seamen and coxswains. 

E.g., when one reads 'The Landings at Les Andalouses (Y Beach)' on page 199, a connection to the adventures and trials of PO RN Neil McLean may be recognized. Read more about PO Neil McLean.

"Photo from PO McLean's story reveals a tarp-covered gun, centre-left" 

"Photo from Chapter XI reveals the same covered gun, centre"

As well, when one reads about 'The Landings Along the Golfe d'Arzew' on pages 205 - 208, more perspective can be related to Leading Seaman Doug Harrison's story re the same day. Read LS Harrison's account here.

 "Canadian LS Harrison (centre) delivers U.S. troops to N. Africa's shores"

Photo Credit - Imperial War Museum (IWM), London, UK

 "Harrison and mate handle anti-broaching lines as U.S. troops unload" (IWM)

"Photo from Chapter XI reveals the same scene, later in the day"

As one reads Chapter XI many remarks are made about events, including difficulties, related to the busy landing beaches and landing crafts, and (therefore) members of Combined Operations, many of whom were Canadians.

WHITE BEACH on the bay of Mersa Bou Zedjar. Photo from Chapter XI

Link as well to another Website re Combined Operations

Website: The Dieppe Raid, August 1942

Canada at War -The Dieppe Raid

There are many links to the Dieppe Raid and one fine one, with numerous clear photographs of the day, can be found at a website entitled 'Canada at War'.

Click here 'Canada at War' to go to information related to The Dieppe Raid. You will see information collected under the following headings: Casualties, Assault troops, Numbers, Map, Rationale, The Raid, etc. Details are concise and photos are authentic. You may find the accompanying Video and Photo Gallery very useful and informative.

Thumbnail photographs from the site (photos can be enlarged at the website):

"Treating casualties during rehearsal in England"

"Landing craft taking part, laying smokescreen"

"Captured Canadian troops"

Website 'Canada at War' also provides links to a Forum, Virtual Memorial, Battles, Photographs, and more, including a Search Engine. E.g., related to Operation Husky (Sicily invasion) books, photos and newspaper archives are accessible.

"The initial waves of assault troops were unopposed" (in Sicily) 

One can also find a link to The National Film Board Archives and WW2 film footage from various parts of the globe. More than meets the eye. Good hunting.

Link to more websites re Combined Operations

Website: Don Kemsley's Journal - Part 2

Don Kemsley - RCNVR and Combined Ops

 "Members of Combined Ops on their way to Sicily.

Please note Don Westbrook, top row, first on left"

"These men are aboard HMS Keren, photo dated 1943"

Mr. Kemsley, a member of RCNVR, trained in Halifax in the fall of 1942, and ultimately volunteered for Combined Operations. He travelled to Scotland near Christmas time in the Queen Elizabeth with 17,000 other Navy and Army troops and soon found himself training on all sorts of landing craft in southern England. From his notes it appears he then travelled back to Scotland before being shipped off to Sicily the long way 'round, i.e. by travelling aboard HMS Keren around Africa and to HMS Saunders in Egypt for more training.

"Comb. Ops at HMS Saunders. Tents in background. Don Westbrook
appears in back row, 4th from left, in large shorts (due to dysentery?)"

About his experience during the invasion of Sicily he writes, in part:

     The beaches were small and very shallow so we had difficulty getting

     up far enough on them to make a dry landing. The anti-aircraft guns on

     the beaches and on the ships at anchor kept the aircraft up high but there

     was constant bombing and straffing of the beaches for many days. We

     were harassed by German and Italian planes and the second night we

     were there they bombed and sunk a hospital ship* that was anchored and

     brightly lighted some distance from our beach.

Don certainly travelled a lot of miles before reaching Sicily, during the invasion and many more afterwards. His notes are full of information about his duties with Combined Ops, and because he spent some time with the 80th Flotilla shipping all the materials of war from Sicily to Italy in September, 1943 (two months after the invasion of Sicily), I feel he may have crossed paths with my father more than once.

I say thank you to Sandy Kemsley, Don's daughter, for making the effort to share her father's wartime journal with others.

Please link to and read Combined Operations in the Canadian Navy, 1943 by Don Kemsley.

* the hospital ship was likely the Talamba. Many medical staff perished

Photos by GH

Website: Don Kemsley's Journal - Part 1

Don Kemsley - RCNVR and Combined Ops

Much WW2 Combined Ops training took place in Inveraray, Scotland

Canadians in Combined Ops unloaded US troops at Arzew, North Africa (Nov. 1942)

This photo and the one above it are from Imperial War Museum

Don Kemsley was a member of RCNVR and Combined Operations during WW2 and his daughter Sandy has placed excerpts from his journals online that touch on several matters related to Canadians in Combined Ops. For example, in an entry entitled 'Goodbye to the Combined Operations' (link below*) names of other former members are noted, as are some memories related to Comb. Ops actions, dates re the formation of a Combined Ops Association after the war, and remarks about some members and membership activities over the years.

Included in the remarks is the following pertinent information:

"In 1983 Clayton Marks put together, and had printed, a book on the history of the Canadian Combined Operations during the 2nd World War that was well received and very informative and the first 2 printings sold out in a very few years. David Lewis had a 2 volume edition printed in 1997 that was an extension of the works of Clayton containing more pictures and stories."

Clayton's book is entitled COMBINED OPERATIONS and will soon be reprinted by his family members (and one other interested individual). More details will be shared in due course about the book. David Lewis' two-volume set was printed in the 1990s and is a rare set to find intact. Perhaps one day it will be reprinted as well. The set is entitled ST. NAZAIRE TO SINGAPORE: The Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945 and more information is shared here.

 Clayton Marks, top left. Photo from Combined Operations

Combined Operations inspired two more volumes of WW2 stories

*Please link to Mr. Kemsley's journal entry entitled Goodbye to the Combined Operations

Link to more Websites re Combined Operations

Unattributed Photos by GH

Website: Six Years of War, Department of National Defense

Six Years of War, DND, Canada

Canadian Tanks in Sussex: Watercolour - Major W.A. Ogilvie

Readers can link to Six Years of War, Volume 1 and be introduced to the Official History of the Canadian Army In the Second World War, Volume I, SIX YEARS OF WAR - The Army in Canada, Britain and the Pacific by Colonel C.P. Stacey, O.B.E., C.D., A.M., Ph.D., F.R.S.C., Director, Historical Section, General Staff.

One will find sixteen long chapters of Canadian wartime history including some references to Combined Operation training centres and activities. Each chapter is sub-divided into numerous parts and these are accompanied by a wealth of Appendices, Charts and Tables, Maps, Sketches and Illustrations.

Combined Training Operation in Canada. Assault training at the

Combined Operations School, Courtenay, B.C., January 1944.

Photograph courtesy National Film Board. Page 114

About Combined Operations: Chapter headings and various sub-headings lead us to several mentions, particularly in Chapters X, XI and XII, related to Major Raiding Projects 1942, The Raid on Dieppe, 19 August 1942, and Dieppe: Losses, Comments and Aftermath.

In my opinion, the patient reader will be occasionally rewarded with good information related to the Combined Operations organization.

Training in Assault Landings. Canadian division troops embarking

in personnel landing craft, October 1942, while undergoing training

at the RCASC Battle School located at Cickmere Haven

Photo Credits - Six Years of War, online site

Please link to more Websites re Combined Operations

Website: The Imperial War Museum, London England

The Imperial War Museum

By searching online at "Imperial War Museum Combined Operations" a number of links will lead to WW2 films and photographs, often accompanied by descriptions of, and links to, more materials and resources. Happy hunting, I say.

Link to the following to see some of the many possible items one can locate easily:

1. Combined Operations: Beach Organisation : A film, 24 minutes in length, from the extensive Imperial War Museum website.

Comments: A British Army instructional film made prior to the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 describes with animated maps, graphics and live action sequences the role, structure and organisation of a Beach Maintenance Area during the initial stages of an amphibious landing on an enemy coast. (Courtesy of IWM website). A full, lengthy description is provided linked to the film's timeline. Live action views of various landing craft are provided.

Some views of beach terrain closely resemble that between Irvine and Troon, Ayrshire, Scotland. Associated places include Saunton Sands, Devon, England, UK. 

Associated events Operation Husky, Allied Invasion of Sicily 1943, Italy, Second World War

2. Combined Operations Commando Raid on Dieppe, 1942

Caption: Landing craft of No 4 Commando running in to land at Vasterival

on the right flank of the main assault at Dieppe. The unit achieved its objective,

the destruction of the 'Hess' Battery in a copybook action, the only success of the raid.

A wrecked Churchill tank bogged down in the Dieppe sand.

Tanks and landing craft burning on the beach after the Allied raid on Dieppe.

There are hundreds if not thousands of photographs just waiting to be found.

Link to Websites re Combined Operations

Photo credit: Imperial War Museum

Websites: Combined Operations Command

Combined Operations Command

There are several websites one can visit in order to learn more about the activities and significance of the Combined Operations organization. There is none better or with more pertinent information or with more well-informed links than Combined Operations Command, created and studiously maintained by Scotsman Geoff Slee.

Photo: Geoff Slee (left) and Gord Harrison at Geoff's home, south of Edinburgh.

Link to Combined Operations Command by Geoff Slee, Scotland

Link to Memories of a WW2 Landing Craft by Lloyd Evans, a Canadian veteran of RCNVR and Combined Operations

Link to Operation Husky re invasion of Sicily, significant Combined Operations action

If you desire a thorough education related to Combined Operations, please visit Geoff's website regularly.