Sunday, November 20, 2016

A - Z DIRECTORY. Start Here

1,000 Men, 1,000 Stories: Archive by Gord Harrison

Inspired by WWII Navy Memoirs of Doug Harrison 


Canadians in RCNVR and Combined Operations, 1941 - 1945
Back L - R: Don Westbrook (Hamilton), Chuck Rose (Chippawa), Joe Spencer (Toronto)
Front L - R: Joe Watson (Simcoe), Doug Harrison (Norwich), Art Warrick (Hamilton)
Their stories and more appear below. Photo - D. Harrison, circa 1945. Comox, B.C.

THE A - Z DIRECTORY

A - Z Directory was last updated on September 19, 2026. Total entries - 836

Introduction:

This website/archive of materials is growing slowly but surely. Patient readers will see it is mainly related to the 950 - 1,000 (approx.) Canadians who enlisted in the Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve beginning in 1941, and then - shortly thereafter - volunteered for Combined Operations as well, i.e., a British wartime organization dedicated to offensive (vs defensive) operations. The first operation that the earliest group of Canadian sailors - including my father, Doug Harrison - trained for was the Dieppe raid.

Contributions from readers and countless visits to other resources and online sites (e.g., microfiche at the University of Western Ontario, and digitized newspapers) have helped a great deal.

As well, I present my father's own newspaper articles and self-published memoirs alongside many other related self-published materials by Canadian WWII veterans. I include copyrighted written materials and photographs with accurate attributions or credits wherever possible. Readers who wish to use/share any materials found here are encouraged to also use accurate attributions and credits to this site (or those I mention) in the spirit of fair play.

Questions or comments can be addressed to Gord Harrison at gordh7700@gmail.com

Each entry or post listed under the headings below will lead to one of the many articles, audios, books, etc. (Every entry under the headings are 'live links' and if I've goofed up please let me know). And just about every entry is linked to an earlier entry that is closely related, which is also linked to an earlier entry that is closely related, and so on. Some headings will link to a full set of related entries (e.g., Doug Harrison, "Dad, Well Done" (Parts 1 - 13)), a more convenient way to navigate a 'related set'.

Additional posts or entries will be added month by month, as time allows.

"Happy hunting," I say.

A - Z DIRECTORY

Articles re Combined Operations

Why Dieppe?

Roy Burt, WW2 Experiences

Norwich Boys in Two Invasions

Norwich Sailor Sees Mediterranean Action

Merchant mariner True Hero

Malta's Role in Operation Husky

Landing Craft in Malta

Friends Reunite After WWII

We Chattered All the Way Home

Canadian Soldiers Showed Up Everyone

Canadian Seamen - A Motley Crew

Recalling a War-Time Christmas

The Invasion of Italy

Lt. Comdr. Jacob Koyl

Stout Heart Required in War-Time England

Dad Had Sailed These Same Waters

Only "Highest Standard" Troops at Dieppe (Parts 1 - 3)

Only "Highest Standard" Troops at Dieppe (1)

Only "Highest Standard" Troops at Dieppe (2)

Only "Highest Standard" Troops at Dieppe (3)

The Official Statement on the Dieppe Operation

News Clips Linked to the 'Dieppe Report'

Canadian War Correspondents on the Move

The Navy Commando Dotes on Fighting

Loading Coal and Unloading Rum

1943 Issues of Gangway, Navy News

Joe Watson, RCNVR and Combined Operations, 1941 - 45

Down Memory Lane by Doug Harrison

Canadian Flotilla of Landing Craft in Italy (Parts 1 - 4)

Canadian Flotilla of Landing Craft in Italy, Part 1

Canadian Flotilla of Landing Craft in Italy, Part 2

Canadian Flotilla of Landing Craft in Italy, Part 3

Canadian Flotilla of Landing Craft in Italy, Part 4

"First Wave of Invaders..." Italy, by Alan Moorehead

The Navy Had Its Own Language

Six Canadian Sailors Make Headlines (1)

Six Canadian Sailors Make Headlines (2)

Six Canadian Sailors Make Headlines (3)

Six Canadian Sailors Make Headlines (4a)

Six Canadian Sailors Make Headlines (4b)

Six Canadian Sailors Make Headlines (5)

Six Canadian Sailors Make Headlines (6)

Six Canadian Sailors Make Headlines, Parts 1 - 6

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operation Rutter/Jubilee (1 - 9)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operation Jubilee (1)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operation Jubilee (2)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operation Jubilee (3)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operation Jubilee (4)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operation Jubilee (5)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operation Jubilee (6)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (1)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (2)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (3)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part1)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part2)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part3)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part 4)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part 5)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part 6)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part 7)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part 8)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part 9)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part 10)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part 11)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part 12)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Part 13)

Operation Torch, North Africa, 1942 (Parts 1 - 13)

75th Anniversary of Operation Husky, WWII




















Italy, September 1 - 2, 1943 (Part 1)

Italy, September 3, 1943 (Part 2)















British 8th Army Lands in Sicily, LIFE Magazine





Audio re Combined Operations































The Comox District Free Press 1944 - '45 (6)

Some History - HMCS Givenchy III, 1940s (1)

Some History - HMCS Givenchy III, 1940s (2)



Context re Combined Operations

Nova Scotia on Alert, 1941

Uncle Sam's Merchant Fleet

Training in Commando Work

Canadians Hit St. Nazaire

HMS Belmont Sunk, January 1942

Tales of Gallantry

Corvette Beats Up Submarine

Four-Stacker Takes a Fish

Happy New Year 1942

Some Successes in Early 1942

Smaller Items, Bigger Story

Shipping Out, December 1943

Commandos, Landing Craft...

Frank Gillard, BBC News

Herbert Jones, on Reina Del Pacifico

The Link to Commandos

First Convoy for Canadians in Combined Ops

Some Good News in Scotland

More News From Irvine, Scotland

"Navyman Sent to Jail" in Scotland

Days Before Operation Husky (Sicily)

Tide Turns as Operation Husky Nears

Sicily Blasted As Operation Husky Nears

D-Day Sicily But Three Days Away

D-Day Sicily Two Days Off

The Day Before D-Day Sicily

Operation Torch, North Africa, Nov. 1942 (Part 1)

Operation Torch, North Africa, Nov. 1942 (Part 2)

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) Part 1

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) Part 2

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) Part 3

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) Part 4

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) Part 5

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) Parts 1 - 5

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (Entries 1 - 13)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (1)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (2)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (3)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (4)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (5)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (6)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (7)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (8)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (9)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (10)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (11)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (12)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operations Rutter/Jubilee (13)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operation Jubilee (1)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operation Jubilee (2)

Dieppe Raid 1942 - Operation Jubilee (3)



Correspondence

































Lloyd George Campbell, London Ontario (Part 4)

Lloyd George Campbell, London Ontario (Parts 1 - 4)


Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) (1)

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) (2)

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) (3)

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) (4a)

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) (4b)

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) (5)

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) (6)

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) (7)

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) (8)

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) (9)

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) 10a

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) 10b

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) 11a

Operation Baytown (Italy WWII) 11b

Operation Baytown Series, Parts 1 - 11

"Practice Made Perfect For RCN in Sicily"

From 'Saturday Night' News, 1939

FO John Anthony Vasicek RCAF

Norwich Boys Share WWII Experiences

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 1

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 2

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 3

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 4

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 5

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 6

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 7

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 8

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 9

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 10

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 11

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 12

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 13

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 14

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 15

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 16

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 17

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 18

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 19

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 20

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 21

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 22

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 23

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 24

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 25

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 26

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 27

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 28

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 29

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 30

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 31

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 32

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Part 33

Invasion of Italy - The Montreal Star, Parts 1 - 33

Canadians in Combined Ops Return Home (Parts 1 - 21)

Canadians in Combined Ops Return Home (1)

Canadians in Combined Ops Return Home (2)

Canadians in Combined Ops Return Home (3)

Canadians in Combined Ops Return Home (4)

Canadians in Combined Ops Return Home (5)

Canadians in Combined Ops Return Home (6)

































































The RCN and Overseas Operations (1939 - 1945)


















Lieut. Jake Koyl, "You Never SawAnything Like It"



On Leave



Origins of Combined Operations

Origins of Combined Operations (1)

Origins of Combined Operations (2)

Origins of Combined Operations (3)

Origins of Combined Operations (4)

Origins of Combined Operations (5)



Passages from WWII Books, Stories

Dieppe, The Landing, by Robert McRae (Lt., RCNVR)

Ernie Pyle, American War Reporter

The Liberation Trilogy, by R. Atkinson

Canadians Train With Commandos

Little More Than Sardine Cans, by Farley Mowat

If the Bullets Had Hit the Gas Cans (Sicily)

Six Years of War Volume 1 (re Dieppe)

Canadians and the Maple Leaf

Heaven and Hell

The 12 Hours Before D-Day Normandy

Comox Spit and Polish

Working Like Bees, on Beach Z, North Africa

The Great Invasion Fleet, by Farley Mowat

Airborne Glider Mishaps, Sicily

Eye Witnesses With Backs Bent

Lifelong Memories

'HERE IS YOUR WAR' by Ernie Pyle (Parts 1 - 3)

'HERE IS YOUR WAR' by Ernie Pyle (1)

'HERE IS YOUR WAR' by Ernie Pyle (2)

'HERE IS YOUR WAR' by Ernie Pyle (3)

Sholto Watt, War Correspondent for The Montreal Star (1)

Sholto Watt, War Correspondent for The Montreal Star (2)

"Ticket to Hell via Dieppe" by A. Robert Prouse (1)

"Ticket to Hell via Dieppe" by A. Robert Prouse (2)

"ECLIPSE" by Alan Moorehead (1)

"ECLIPSE" by Alan Moorehead (2)

"ECLIPSE" by Alan Moorehead (3)

"ECLIPSE" by Alan Moorehead (4)

"ECLIPSE" by Alan Moorehead (Parts 1 - 4)

They Left the Back Door Open (1)

They Left the Back Door Open (2)

They Left the Back Door Open (3)

They Left the Back Door Open (Parts 1 - 3)

Operation Baytown - Invasion of Italy, 1943 (1)

Canadian Sailors in Convoys

"The Second World War" by Antony Beevor

Writers on World War II, An Anthology (Part 1)

Writers on World War II, An Anthology (Part 2)

Ernie Pyle's War - America's Eyewitness (Part 1)

Ernie Pyle's War - America's Eyewitness (Part 2)

Combined Operations: The Official Story of the Commandos

Combined Operations: The Official Story of the Commandos (2)

'DIEPPE: August 19' (1) by Eric Maguire 

'DIEPPE: August 19' (2) by Eric Maguire



Photographs










Coming Back from Dieppe and Sicily (Joe Spencer's Collection)















































Invasion of Sicily, July 1943 (1)












Allied Landings at GEORGE and HOW Beaches, Sicily, 1943 (2)









Presentation re Combined Operations

All Background Notes, Resources - Dad's Navy Days (Parts 1 - 11)

Dad's Navy Days (Part 1)

Dad's Navy Days (Part 2)

Dad's Navy Days (Part 3 (1))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 3 (2))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 3 (3))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 4 (1))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 4 (2))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 3 (3))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 4 (4))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 5 (1))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 5 (2))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 5 (3))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 5 (4))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 6 (1))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 6 (2))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 7)

Dad's Navy Days (Part 8 (1))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 8 (2))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 9)

Dad's Navy Days (Part 10 (1))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 10 (2))

Dad's Navy Days (Part 11)

Dad's Navy Days, Part 2 (1)

Dad's Navy Days, Part 2 (2)

Dad's Navy Days, Part 2 (3)

HMCS Prevost, London ONT, 2024 (1)

HMCS Prevost, London ONT, 2024 (2)



Quotes re Combined Operation

Trite but Sound, The Watery Maze

Norwich Sailor Sees Action



RCNVR Records



Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day 2015

Remembrance Day 2106

Remembrance Day 2020

Remembrance Day 2022 (1)

Remembrance Day 2022 (2)



Short Stories re Combined Operations
























































































The Invasion of Sicily

Operation HUSKY - Invasion of Sicily

Canadian Army Newsreel - Sicily

Fox Movietone Newsreels - North Africa, 1942

Fox Movietone Newsreels - Sicily, 1943

British Pathe Newsreels - North Africa, 1942

British Pathe Newsreels - Sicily, 1943

At Imperial War Museum (IWM) - Sicily 1943 (1)

At Imperial War Museum (IWM) - Sicily 1943 (2)

Rare Footage of the Dieppe Raid

Nelson Langevin Remembers RCNVR, Combined Operations

Faint Footsteps, World War II (Part 1)

Faint Footsteps, World War II (Part 2)

Faint Footsteps, World War II (Part 3)

Faint Footsteps, World War II (Part 4)

Prep Work for Faint Footsteps, WWII, Pt. 5

Faint Footsteps, World War II (Part 5)

Prep Work for Faint Footsteps, WWII (Part 6)

Faint Footsteps, World War II, Part 6

Faint Footsteps, World War II, Part 7

Video: Dad's Navy Duffel Bag (No Music)

Faint Footsteps, World War II (Part 8)

Faint Footsteps, World War II (Part 9)

Operation Torch, the Invasion of North Africa, 1942

Combined Operations, Odds 'n' Sods

Operations Baytown and Avalanche, Sept. 1943 (Part 1)

Operations Baytown and Avalanche, Sept. 1943 (Part 2)

Operation HUSKY, Sicily, July 1943 (Part 1)

Operation HUSKY, Sicily, July 1943 (Part 2)


Allied Landings in Sicily, July, 1943 (at HOW and GEORGE Beaches)



War Correspondents

Alan Moorehead


Canadian Writers - Sicily 1943 (3b)

Canadian Writers - Sicily 1943 (3c)

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Context for Combined Ops: F. Gillard, BBC News

Frank Gillard, B.B.C. War Correspondent, WW2

Gillard speaking in the Netherlands in 1946
Photo Credit - Wikipedia

In a story posted earlier to this site (A Mediterranean Lighter Man by Bill Prout), we read that Mr. Prout was assigned, for a certain length of time, to assist Mr. Frank Gillard, a B.B.C. War Correspondent.

Shortly after Prout's assignment began, the ship they were on ran into rough seas. Prout writes:

....Soon we were steaming out of the harbour and as we came into the open sea it began to get quite rough. I guess Gillard didn't like this as I never saw him again during the whole trip. We sailed along very peacefully and finally we were off the toe of Italy and the Island of Sicily..... It was September 9th, about 7 p.m. and still light. Suddenly we had an announcement that Italy had surrendered. This had been broadcast from radio Algiers and everyone cheered as we thought the landing would be easier. As darkness came on we sailed on our way and up to now we had seen no action. Meanwhile the B.B.C. correspondent I was supposed to look after had recovered and was doing his job. I was put on an Oerliken ack-ack gun in the bows.

Bill Prout then goes on to tell more of his own story (link provided below). Mr. Gillard's work, however, received no further mention at that time, but there are undoubtedly several ways for readers to learn about his activities during WW2. I have listed a few items below, with links for those interested.

From Wikipedia:

He became a war correspondent attached to Southern Command and witnessed the Dieppe raid. In 1942 he went to North Africa to report on the campaign of the Eighth Army under Montgomery. He then reported on the Sicilian and Italian campaigns before returning to the UK ready for the D-day landings. He made memorable reports, often under fire, throughout this period, including eyewitness accounts of the Battle for Caen.

For more details please link to Gillard - Wikipedia

From WW2 People's War:

And whereas in the western desert there I was with one recording engineer, and that we were the BBC, when we landed in Normandy there were 32 of us, and we were with the airborne troops, we were with the infantry landing on the beaches, we were with the airforce during the bombardments, we were with the Navy and, what's more, we took ashore with us our recording equipment, and within a few days we had our own transmitters which we took around with us from that time onwards right across Europe.

For more details please link to Gillard - WW2 People's War

From the book War Report: The Extraordinary Eyewitness Accounts that Revolutionized Journalism one reads Gillard speak about his relationship with 'Monty':

Gillard was told by the Field Commander's assistant that 'Monty' would like Gillard to get him a puppy.
"But why me?" said Gillard.
He was told he could just mention it in his next broadcast, but Gillard knew he would then receive 1000s of puppies. So, he searched for one instead, and eventually "discovered a Frenchman with a Scotch terrier pup for sale."
Monty "instantly named him Hitler."

Excerpts from, and details about the book by D. Hawkins, including work by Gillard and other correspondents, can be found at War Report -Amazon.

Another possible link may be found at Archive British Radio Recordings 

Frank Gillard died on the 20th of October, 1998 (aged 89), London, UK

Mr. Gillard's Obituary is found in The Independent. 

Please link to Story: A Mediterranean Lighter Man

Unattributed Photos GH
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Saturday, November 19, 2016

Context for Combined Ops: Commandos, Landing Craft....

Connections from The Memory Project

Photo from aboard a Landing Craft, Infantry (Large (LCI(L))

Please learn how to work your way around the scores of pages of veterans' stories and photographs at The Memory Project. Though the number of stories from Canadians in Combined Operations is small, there are many that shed light on the conditions at the time shared by all services.

For example, the top photo comes with the following caption:

Infantrymen of The Highland Light Infantry of Canada aboard LCI(L) 306 of the 2nd Canadian (262nd RN) Flotilla en route to France on D-Day, 6 June 1944.

It accompanies the memories of Mr. Herbert Foss who served in the Highland Light Infantry during and after the D-Day landings.

Please link to Mr. Herbert Foss for more details.

On page 106 one can find the memories of Glen Allen Ades, a member of the Canadian Navy who certainly knew how to handle small boats and landing crafts.

He says:

(In England just before the invasion, Glen was sent to the southern coast to assist others with landing craft skills.) And I got down there to help them break guys in for handling. As I say, I could take the regular landing craft, little twin engine landing craft, and I could make those things do anything I wanted. 

I said, “Now look, when you’re heading in, generally the artillery that’s taking shots at you will watch the trajectory, the path that you’re coming in and they will start lobbing shells in short. And as long as they’re dead on, they’ll time their shots so that you’ll run into one of the shots.”

So I said, "If you’re going in, depending on which way the wind’s blowing and the current’s going, increase the speed on the opposite engine. And you’ll end up going straight in, but you’ll go sideways. So by the time you go ahead 100 feet, you’ll be five feet to the right. So the shell will land where, where you would have been, in the water.” 

That was basically how to handle the landing craft.

More details are available at The Memory Project.

Commando Service Certificate presented to Marine Eric Saunders, March 12, 1946.
Photo Credit - Eric Saunders, as found at The Memory Project

Eric Alfred “Lofty” Saunders, Navy, Combined Operations (Commando) recalls the following:

Everybody volunteered but about five percent. So the No. 41 Royal Marine Commando was formed. From there on, it was just hard training. We had to go to commando school, we went to street fighting schools, we did everything under the sun and did a lot of pretty hard training. But it was fun. That was in Scotland, we had to go up to Scotland to get our commando training. After that, we went back to London, where we did our street fighting training in the east end of London which was all bombed out. It was just a perfect place to learn street fighting. The streets were just rubble.

No. 41 Royal Marine Commando, part of "X Troop", in Dundonald,
Scotland, 1943, just before leaving for Sicily. Eric Saunders

Though Mr. Saunders served with England's Navy and British Coomandos, he could easily have crossed paths with Canadians in Combined Operations in the UK, Sicily and Italy.

His lengthy memoirs and more photos can be found at "Lofty" Saunders, The Memory Project.

I include the following excerpt from The Memory Project because a photo of its subject and the man's timeline are similar to my father's, Doug Harrison.

About Geoffrey Smith, RCNVR, we read:

My name is Geoffrey W. Smith. My nickname is 'Jock.' I started off in the [Royal Canadian] Navy in 1941 as an Ordinary Seaman, and was discharged in 1945 as a Sub-Lieutenant. October of that year we departed Toronto for Halifax. In November/December of '41 I was sent to Montreal to pick up a new construction ship – HMCS Vegreville – and crew her to Halifax, which I did. In January - February, I took part in an anti-submarine course and became a qualified anti-submarine detector with ASDIC [Anti-Submarine Detection Investigation Committee] Rating. I was sent to HMCS Arrowhead, one of the original Flower Class Corvettes, as an ASDIC Rating and took part as an ASDIC Rating in the new command of the Londonderry runs. 

Jock Smith and a mate at HMCS Stadacona (Wellington barracks) 

Doug Harrison, Buryl McIntyre, HMCS Stadacona, 1941

The arches of Wellington Barracks (background left) reveal the pairs of men are standing in almost the same spot, the same year. The two men in lower photo volunteered for Combined Operations in November or December of that year and arrived in Scotland for training on landing craft at the end of January 1942. At various times they shuttled troops of many nationalities, along with Commandos, here and there for practise for future raids and invasions.

Roland "Roly" Black was an officer aboard HMS Glengyle (Landing Ship Infantry, Large) for a time and became familiar with landing craft as a member of the Canadian Navy, on loan to the Royal Navy and Combined Operations. 

Part of his memories follow:

In landing groups, normally a battalion at a time.... it was night raids and [in November 1941] we were scheduled to assist in [Operation Flipper] a raid on Rommel’s headquarters [in Libya], to capture him. And that night, it was discovered that when the troops went ashore, Rommel had already left to report back home to Hitler and you might say, it’s a disaster as far as the efforts there are concerned but still, it was an exciting experience....

It was usual after you were competent over a period of time, that you would graduate to the larger vessels. And take command and I guess that was perhaps the final exciting episode.

When I took my landing craft, I think my crew was something like twenty-six as I recall, twenty-six men. We took supplies, equipment and tanks and munitions and landed at El Alamein [Egypt]; came ashore during the night. And we were there for a day and a half, mainly loading invalided men and officers from the [Field Marshal Bernard] Montgomery [British Eighth] Army, which wasn’t too far away a distance from us on the shore.

More details can be read at Roly Black, The Memory Project.

Roland Black (R) in N. Africa during service with Combined Operations.
Photo Credits - Roland Black as found at The Memory Project

HMS Glengyle (Landing Ship Infantry, Large) in port in N. Africa

Roland Black's camp in North Africa early in the war

Please link to Context for Combined Ops, "Shipping Out, December 1943"
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