Story: D-Day Normandy - Lt. Anderson's Diary (2)

Lt. Jack Anderson's Diary Aboard LCI(L) 311

Photo - G. Milne, as found in Combined Operations by C. Marks, London

Introduction -

This diary, written by Lt. J. Anderson, R.C.N.V.R., during the D-Day landings, was discovered in a locker aboard LCI(L) 311 by Jock Menzies of New Zealand when he purchased 3 former LCI(L)s (Landing Craft, Infantry - Large) from Harland and Wolf Shipyards in Belfast, Ireland in September or October of 1944. Records indicate the Skipper of LCI(L) 311 was Lt. David J. Lewis, R.C.N.V.R., who later created, with the help of others, a rare book re Canadians in Combined Ops entitled St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War, 1941 - 1945 (Volume 1).

LCI(L) - 311 "DIARY" By Lt. J. Anderson

An abbreviated version of details follows:

On Thursday, June 8, D+2 (D-Day plus 2 days), Jack Anderson writes, in part, that the night was "about the same as the last" with several German planes overhead. A gunner tried to get one but failed. Anderson slept through the noise again and worried he'd be given "continuous duty as an aeroplane spotter." 311 unloaded quite a few troops that day, including about 400 Royal Engineers, Pioneers, and others from the "Leopoldville". They spent much of the evening searching for more troops to unload and later returned to the anchorage.

Friday, June 9 D+3

Anderson writes that a German plane was shot down during the night and that "two men were killed and one wounded during the raid the night before last" and an L.C.P.V. was sunk nearby. Orders came to move Merchant Seamen from "corn cobs", i.e. derelict ships used, upon sinking them, to form a sea wall a harbour. A mixup occurred. 311 was given the wrong number at "Kingsmill" and had a lengthy search for the "Elswick Park", to take its 123 men aboard.

311 eventually collected the crews of three ships - Greeks, Portuguese, Rumanians, a few Scotsmen, Englishmen "and God only knows what else." Anderson said that one Captain, perhaps a Lithuanian, "forgot all his ship's papers in the wheel house of his ship. There's one in every crowd I guess." He also noted that, according to Lt. D. Lewis, "after reading the London papers, everyone seems excited about the invasion except us that sits here near the beach."

Saturday, June 10 D+4

"There is still no sign of any troopers," begins Anderson's diary. He starts to think that the German stories about sinking them in the Channel may be true. Mid-morning, however, 311 receives a signal to go quickly to the troop ship "Lairds Isle". They took off 75 men but, due to so many different directions - some led to wild goose chases - they had trouble finding more troops for some time. Eventually 311 collected about 400 troops from several other LCI's which couldn't beach properly.

Later LCI(L) 311 went alongside H.M.S. "Adventure" for a medical case and Ian (Barclay) went aboard, picked up 60 loaves of bread before and "told the big shots about their lack of organization."

Sunday, June 11 D+5

Early the next morning 311 was told us to tow a LCT (Landing Craft, Tank) again, writes Anderson. They got underway and towed "the damn LCT with great difficulty" alongside a U.S. LCI going back to the U.K. They then hurried to unload the "Biarritz" where they collected 438 men but again hit a delay on the beach. Time weighed heavy and Ian Barclay was convinced he should go ashore to explain 311's situation "to all the big wigs." "Anderson could see planes landing and taking off on shore and that the beach organization improved over the day. He notes that among the German prisoners captured in this area was a Russian boy, aged 13, who had been press-ganged into the service sometime ago.

Monday, June 12 D+6

Anderson writes that his ship was on the way by 9 AM on June 12 to unload the "Queen Emma", as well as a Dutch ship. They later drew alongside "Neuralia" and took a record load to date - 492 men. While landing the troops they ran aground on a "so-called pontoon" and had to be towed off, with great difficulty. A lone Fokke Wolfe 190 came over at that time and dropped half a dozen bombs. Nothing was hit as far as Anderson could see. Spitfires took care of the menace.

Anderson remarks that the battle "must not be going so well inland as the cruisers are still giving covering fire."

The "Neuralia", carrying reliefs for many of the shore party and some of the troops inland, arrived two days late for unloading. From the bridge of 311 Anderson could see that beach organization looked better than a few days earlier, although a goodly number of various-sized landing crafts were stuck in the sand. He writes, "LST's are being beached every day so apparently Rhino ferries did not turn out so well."

Photo - G. Milne, as found in Combined Operations by C. Marks, London

Tuesday, June 13 D+7

311 unloaded troops from "Prince Leopold" in the morning and crews spent the rest of the day at their leisure and "complaining that war was hell."
More to follow.

Note from Editor: The diary, in its entirety, can only be found in Combined Operations by Clayton Marks of London, Ontario. The book was printed in 1993 (approx.) and is extremely difficult to find. However, three of Clayton's family members and I are now in the process of readying the book for reprinting. It should be ready for sale and delivery by June 2016, and an announcement will be made on this site.

Please link to Story: D-Day Normandy - Lt. Anderson's Diary 1

Story: D-Day Normandy - Lt. Anderson's Diary 1

Lt. Jack Anderson's Diary Aboard LCI(L) 311

Allied troops disembark in France on June 6, 1944, from LCI(L) 299
Photo - Gilbert Milne, RCN photographer (Combined Operations)

Introduction -

This diary, written by Lt. J. Anderson, R.C.N.V.R., during the D-Day landings, was discovered in a locker aboard LCI(L) 311 by Jock Menzies of New Zealand when he purchased 3 former LCI(L)s (Landing Craft, Infantry - Large) from Harland and Wolf Shipyards in Belfast, Ireland in September or October of 1944. Records indicate the Skipper of LCI(L) 311 was Lt. David J. Lewis, R.C.N.V.R., who later created, with the help of others, a rare book re Canadians in Combined Ops entitled St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War, 1941 - 1945 (Volume 1).

LCI(L) - 311 "DIARY" By Lt. J. Anderson

On Monday, June 5, D-l (D-Day minus 1 day), Jack Anderson wrote, in part, that the day started "as a normal day" but Dave (Lt. David J. Lewis) was annoyed a group photo was not working out and Ian, another officer, left the ship at 8:45 AM to search for liquor. By noon, Ian returned with Guinness for each craft.

The officers spent the day filling out various forms and learned by 5 PM that the invasion "was definitely on", resulting in a surge in the crew's morale. Their LCI(L) pulled away from the jetty by 7:30 that evening to a very small audience and a few "goodbyes and good lucks". Anderson says he found himself almost alone on the bridge, until Ian came up from below decks, and as they passed the old docks a few soldiers and dockyard mates raised their hats and cheered. The troops onboard the LCI(L)got the idea and cheered back again.

Once past Calshot, the crew aboard a minelayer were lined up to cheer as twenty craft left Southampton. Anderson adds that two Hunt class destroyers joined the flotilla of LCI(L)s at about 10 PM and he and Ian were relieved shortly thereafter by D. Lewis. A bottle of Guinness and bed time followed.

Tuesday, June 6 D-Day

Anderson writes (in part) that he returned to the bridge at about two AM to find Dave "curled up in a corner trying to sleep." Nothing much occurred until 4 AM "when great white flares were dropped about twenty miles on our port bow." The trip was uneventful until the LCI(L) slipped between two mines before arriving, at 9 AM, in the waiting area. Ships were everywhere to be seen, and cruisers fired a few salvos toward the beach while LCI(L)s circled until ordered to land at 11 AM. They split into lines abreast and charged at the beach. Though large numbers of crafts crowded the beach LCI(L) 311 landed nicely and troops disembarked quickly,  in part because Dave yelled into the loud hailer, "Get off my bloody ship!" The troops apparently felt he meant business and poured down the ramps.  

Anderson saw about 150 German prisoners marching along the road and heard a few rifle shots coming from a nearby LCT (Landing Craft, Tank). "Ain't war hell!" he writes. Shortly thereafter 311 left the beach and anchored one mile from shore. Only after supper was there a hint of enemy resistance from the air, and Anderson was called to action stations at 10:30 PM, "so I had to get out of bed." He watched tracer fire for a few minutes, yawned, and went back to bed. He says he slept "right through two later air raids."

Wednesday, June 7 D+l (D-Day plus 1)

Anderson writes that at about 10:30 AM they received their next orders, to unload "five infantry carriers arriving at 1700". By 11:00, LCI(L) 311 began to search for them and found three in Force J area. Unable to find the other two LCI(L)s the crew of 311 unloaded the Bibby liner "Cheshire" and took 250 Cameron Highlanders and about 150 Pioneers to shore. In the midst the action Jack Anderson saw Dave Lewis jump into the water to help a sergeant that had fallen off the Jacob's ladder.

J. Anderson and D. Lewis grapple with the sergeant in the water

Photo credit - Combined Operations, page 136

Anderson then climbed down the rope ladder with a knife in his teeth, pirate style, to assist.

Anderson climbs to safety. Lewis and sergeant still in the water

Photo credit - Combined Operations, page 136

During this rescue mission, Ian (Barclay) shared his unvarnished opinions - about the Allied landings - on the B.B.C. As well, the announcer was genuinely concerned about the salvos that were fired regularly from the cruisers, and concluded (incorrectly) there was an air raid on, and so he broadcast that bit of news as well.

Anderson draws near the last of his notes for the day by stating, "One amazing sight is the number of cruisers and destroyers which are anchored off the beach. They serve no apparent purpose, but they do look nice."

More to follow.

Note from Editor: The diary, in its entirety, can only be found in Combined Operations by Clayton Marks of London, Ontario. The book was printed in 1993 (approx.) and is extremely difficult to find. However, three of Clayton's family members and I are now in the process of readying the book for reprinting. It should be ready for sale and delivery in three months, and an announcement will be made on this site.

Please link to Short Story: "Details about the Silverwalnut"

Video: CWACs, Seaforth Highlanders, Messina Crossing, 1943

CWACs, Seaforth Highlanders, Messina Crossing to Italy in Sept. 1943

Troops from 2nd Battalion, The Northamptonshire Regiment wait to board

landing craft at Catania, Sicily, for the invasion of Italy, 2 September 1943.

Photo Credit - Histomil Historica

Introduction: One can find a wealth of excellent quality documentaries (approx. 10 min. length, free for the viewing) at Histomil Historica (along with very good quality photographs) that were produced as Canadian Army Newsreels by the Canadian Army Film Unit at Merton Park Studios (South Wimbledon, London).

Though the film unit's chief subject is the Canadian Army, other branches of the Canadian Armed Forces are seen participating in various aspects of World War II. I will provide links to just a few of the films produced at Merton Park, ones which draw some attention to Canadians in Combined Operations and their work on landing crafts of various kinds in different parts of the war theatre.

This film shows a short (rare) and informative clip of Canadians on landing crafts during the Messina crossing to Italy, Sept. 3, 1943 and more.

Link to Canadian Army Newsreel No. 16 - Messina Crossing, Sept. 3, 1943

Synopsis, in part:

Princess Mary Inspects C.W.A.C.s - The Princess Royal visits the Wellington Barracks to inspect the women’s division of the army corps; Major General P.J. Montague meets Princess Mary with Chief Comptroller Jean Knox; the troops parade by Lieutenant General E.W. Sansom, Brigadier A. Roger, Brigadier J.H. McQueen and Brigadier E.G. Weeks.

Sicily Snapshots - Battalion reunion of the Seaforth Highlanders in a Catania Stadium; pipe bands perform; Mule race with riders in silly costumes, betting booths, and a real horse race; General Bernard Montgomery visits soldiers in Sicily before the Italian invasion; General A.G.L. McNaughton informally visits the 1st Division.

And Now Italy! - Plans for Italian attack; light barrage, landing craft move in on Sept.3, 1943; Messina crossing; 8th Army moves across Calabria Hills; General Montgomery; engineers fix bridge; Carleton and Yorks at captured airport outside Reggio de Calabria; 8th Army on the move.

More Canadian Army Newsreels at Histomil Historica

Please link to Video: Canadians Train for Invasion Day

Video: Canadians Train for Invasion Day

Allied Troops at Scottish and English Invasion Training Centres

Troops coming ashore from a landing craft under a smoke screen during

Combined Operations training at Inveraray, Scotland, 9 October 1941.

Photo credit - World War 2 Today

Introduction: One can find a wealth of excellent quality documentaries (approx. 10 min. length, free for the viewing) at Histomil Historica (along with very good quality photographs) that were produced as Canadian Army Newsreels by the Canadian Army Film Unit at Merton Park Studios (South Wimbledon, London).

Though the film unit's chief subject is the Canadian Army, other branches of the Canadian Armed Forces are seen participating in various aspects of World War II. I will provide links to just a few of the films produced at Merton Park, ones which draw some attention to Canadians in Combined Operations and their work on landing crafts of various kinds in different parts of the war theatre.

This film shows a short (rare) and informative clip of Canadians on landing crafts at Inveraray, Scotland, and more.

Link to No. 17 - Canadians Train for Invasion Day

Synopsis, in part:

Canadians Train for Invasion Day - Allied troops at Scottish and English Invasion training centres practice beach landings.

Cross-Channel Exercise - Soldiers board train and arrive at an English port for exercises; landing craft and ships move across the English Channel towards the French coast.

Italy - New huge tank landing ships at beach landing; War correspondents radio engineers Alex MacDonald and Paul Johnston of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation; cutting a record; Getting through enemy demolitions on the roads; 8th Army troops and mule train in the mountains; German wreckage by the roads, moving through villages; happy Italian crowds.

LCM (Landing Craft, Mechanized) at Inveraray, Scotland

Photo - A 12062. Part of ADMIRALTY OFFICIAL COLLECTION

Canadians in RCNVR who volunteered for Combined Operations learned

how to drive and handle landing craft at Inveraray. Photo Credit - IWM

Happy hunting! More Canadian Army Newsreels at Histomil Historica.

As well, on this site please link to Video: Allied Troops Land in Sicily

Video: Allied Troops Land in Sicily

Allied Troops Land on the Beaches of Southwest Sicily

Planning and Preparations, January - July 1943:

View of the dockside of Sousse Harbour, Tunisia. Landing craft are

loaded with vehicles and equipped in preparation for the invasion.

Photo Credit - Histomil Historica

Introduction: One can find a wealth of excellent quality still photographs at Histomil Historica, as above, along with very good quality documentaries (approx. 10 min. length, free for the viewing) that were produced as Canadian Army Newsreels by the Canadian Army Film Unit at Merton Park Studios (South Wimbledon, London).

Though the film unit's chief subject is the Canadian Army, other branches of the Canadian Armed Forces are seen participating in various aspects of World War II. I will provide links to just a few of the films produced at Merton Park, ones which draw some attention to Canadians in Combined Operations and their work on landing crafts of various kinds in different parts of the war theatre.

Link to No. 13 - British, Canadian and American troops land on the beaches of Sicily

Synopsis, in part - Sicily, July 10, 1943: British, Canadian and American troops land on the beaches of Southwest Sicily; group convoy in the Mediterranean; life aboard the ships; landing on the beaches of Pachino; Sequences on: ships in Mediterranean; unloading of vehicles, tanks, guns, ammunition, and supplies; landing of Canadian reinforcement troops in North Africa – shots of huge base camp, nursing sisters and soldiers swimming in the sea. 

Please link to Histomil Historica for other Canadian Army WWII Newsreels

And on this website, please link to Video: Allied Equipment Unloaded in Sicily, 1943

Photographs: Operation HUSKY, Sicily 1943

Operation HUSKY, Sicily 1943

General view of one of the invasion beaches, with Italian prisoners

being made to remove barbed-wire in the foreground, 9 July 1943.

Photo credit - pinterest photographs

Canadians participated in goodly numbers in the invasion of Sicily. How members of the Canadian Army were involved is well documented in books, photographs and film. There are fewer details about Canadian members of RCNVR and Combined Operations, many of which operated LCAs (landing craft, assault) and LCMs (landing craft, mechanized) and delivered troops and all the materials of war from ship to shore. That being said, each year more war records or materials come to light  and with careful examination one can trace the more parts of the path blazed by Canadians.

As well, by exploring links I provide to resources at other sites one can find WW2 film documentaries that were, e.g., produced at Merton Park Studios for the Canadian Army Film Unit. Their collection of ten-minute videos are of excellent quality and some include rare scenes that include Canadians in Combined Operations at work on their landing craft.

I will post some of the films on this site, under the heading 'Video', with appropriate links. In the meantime, happy hunting.

Men of 2nd Seaforth Highlanders embarking onto landing craft

at Sousse en route for Sicily, 5 July 1943. Photo - Histomil.com

Please link to Photographs re Combined Operations

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