Walcheren aftermath.

In the end the losses and damage were;

Sunk or sinking:-                         LCG(L) 1 & 2, LCF 37, LCG(M) 101 & 102.                                                                            On fire and abandoned:-              LCF 38.

Damaged and out of action:-       LCG(L) 11 & 17, LCT(R) 334 & 363, LCM 42 & 36, LCS(L) 260

Damaged but continuing:-           LCG(L) 10, LCF 35 & 32, LCH 98.

The five hour battle saw 172 killed and 236 wounded out of the little force. That their sacrifice was not in vain was very evident as Operation Calendar got underway on 3^rd November, even before the island was fully taken. This was the sweeping of the Scheldt for mines. In the end 269 mines were removed and the navigation was declared open 25^th November. The first large ship to discharge in Antwerp was the ‘Fort Cataraqui’, and soon the port was discharging 22000 tons of cargo a day which speeded the run to the Rhine and ultimate victory in Europe.

There were plenty of Honours handed out too. Commander Pugsley was awarded an OBE. Commander K. Sellars was awarded a DSO. Two Royal Marine and twenty two Royal Navy Officers were awarded the DSC and twenty seven RM and RN NCO’s were awarded DSM’s.

After the withdrawal at 1230 the majority of the SSEF withdrew to Ostend. HMS Kingsmill and LCH 269 remained anchored 5 miles off the beach. Apparently the vessels that were anchored received intelligence that they would be attacked by mini submarines and frogmen so the order was given to drop explosives over the side every three minutes. This could have been the incident that I remember Dad talking about, rather than off the Normandy Beaches, until around 1345 when they too left the field. The Warspite, Robert and Erebus withdrew for the night but were able to offer further support the following day before leaving the area. It was to be Warspite’s last action. She had fired 350 rounds of 15” shells between 0800 and 1800 on the 1^st November, which is said by some to be the highest number fired of any vessel. LCH 269 and a hospital craft were thought seaworthy enough to continue to Poole. However the weather blew up and as the landing craft were flat bottomed and high sided they made a lot off leeway. LCH 269 could also only steam at slow speed due to the hole in her bow. Unfortunately the two vessels ended up in the English defensive mine field and they didn’t have charts. The hospital vessel was struck amidships by a mine, lifted bodily out of the water amidships and came down in two pieces and sank in seconds. There were no survivors.

The LCH 269 was the only vessel to return to Poole unscathed. It was very sad to see all the beds that would not be filled again. They were also very upset as some of their personal possessions had been stolen. The vessels of the SSEF were repaired over the next day before wending there way back to Poole. One of the landing craft had 47 plugs in the hull to keep the water out.

Once the survivors had returned to Poole and carried out full repairs and maintenance and prepared the vessels for the next task they were on stand by. Dad remained with the SSEF until 30^th June 1945 but the small ships were not called to fight again. Dad must have been billeted ashore around Poole or Portsmouth but I have no way of knowing where. Earlier in 1945 the small fleet were told to prepare their craft for the Far East as the tide of conflict moved to the Pacific. They were never to go there though In June and July the fleet of vessel were moved round to Appledore where they were laid up for the long term and the remaining crews dispersed.

The only vessel to return to Poole unscathed was LCH 269 and the 16 crew in the next few days decided to raise a fund for a memorial for their fallen friends. Commander Sellars also chipped in a large amount. A wooden plaque was erected outside St Michaels Church, Hamworthy, as the closest to their base, until such time as material and money were available. The plan was to build a lych-gate to the churchyard. It was not until early 1952 that the Admiralty contacted the church and Commander Sellars visited with plans. There was a scheme to enlarge the churchyard so the lych-gate would be incorporated in this. The fund was still too small so the church agreed to fund the base, brick pillars and curved wall whilst the Navy and Marines would find the oak for the woodwork and pay for the two memorial stones that were to be carved by local craftsmen. It was on 5^th July that the Bishop of Salisbury blessed the new churchyard and gate and the Royal Marine Band marched up the road. Admiral Philip Vian and Commander Sellars were among the speech makers and then over 200 enjoyed tea on the Rectory lawn. As far as I know it should still be there.

Memorial Lych-Gate at St Michaels Church Hamworthy

Memorial Plaque sited 5^th July 1952

There are two S206 personal report forms from his time in the SSEF. The first is dated 30^th April 1945 and so several months after the action at Walcheren. It is for recommendation for accelerated promotion  (Admiralty Fleet Order 4067/44). It states his position as Cypher and C.B. Officer. (I think that CB is Confidential Books and were the codes of the day, orders and secret maps etc that were for restricted viewing and were supposed to be kept in a weighted pouch when not in use. It would have been Dad’s duty in a sinking or capture to ensure that the pouch got thrown overboard to prevent them falling in to the hands of the enemy). His general conduct is given as satisfactory (the only other choice is unsatisfactory!). His habit is given as temperate.

Professional Ability 7, Personal Qualities 6, Leadership 6, Intellectual Ability 6, Administrative Ability 7. The general opinion of the Officer is ‘This young Officer has served for a considerable period (as a rating) on various Admiral’s staffs and has knowledge of procedure and customs of the service are wider than is usually found in the Special Cypher Officers. His usefulness in the Squadron has been manifest in many ways, and his willingness and ability to undertake duties not normally expected of his branch, has been marked. He has good organising ability and, as a cypherer, is in the first grade’.

He is recommended for immediate promotion to Special Cypher, and it is signed by his reporting officer Commander L.C.A. Leefe, RN, on 13^th May 1945. Commander Leefe was the Deputy Senior Commander of the Support Squadron, Eastern Flank. His Senior Officer, Captain A.F. Pugsley, RN writes Forwarded, concurring and signed 30^th April 1945. Unless Captain Pugsley has made a mistake it seems that he has originated the report as he dated his part prior to the reporting Officer? This is a much better report than his previous one by a long way so Dad must have acquitted himself well during the Battle or at least during the reorganisation following.

There is then a little mystery as only two weeks later, on 22^nd May there is almost the same report but this time his position is given as Squadron Cypher and CB Officer. It seems that he got a sort of promotion as he is now looking after the whole squadron. However this one is dated 22^nd May by Commander Leefe and 30^th May by Capt. Pugsley. There is a further mystery as the previous merits points have been crossed out and each lowered by one and added in by hand. He is still recommended for immediate promotion though. I wonder if they have reconsidered, or Dad has got bored after almost 6 months of doing not very much and got into trouble, or Commander Leefe liked him less than Capt. Pugsley. We will never know now. I have also found a very short report also written Commander Leefe which states Dad had conducted himself ‘to my entire satisfaction. A keen, zealous and hardworking Officer. Always cheerful and ready to undertake and duty asked of him’. I think this is a much better report as it was shown to the Officer to which it was about rather than the S206 form which was a confidential report and sent to the Admiralty.

Staff Officers, Support Squadron, Eastern Flank. Probably taken in May 1945. (Dad 6^th from left).

Left to Right; Sub. Lt. Robinson, C.O.C.O., Capt. Hiley-Jones B.L.O., Lt. Taylor, S.R.M.O. Admin., Lt. Steel, Squadron Secretary, 2^nd. Off. Summer, Asst. Sec., Sub. Lt. Porter, S.C.Y.O.,  Lt. Comm. Leefe, D.S.C. S.S.E.F., Mr. Hatfield, Bosun, Commander Sellar, C/O., S.S.E.F., Lt. McCormick, S.O.A., Capt. Fisher RM, S.O.R.M., Lt. Legard, S.O.O., Lt. Eastwood, S.O.N., Lt. Thompson, C.O.C.O.,  Sub. Lt. Douglas, Asst. S.C.Y.O., Mr. Toll, Gunner.

Officers of the Support Squadron, Eastern Flank. Dad is at the far right on back row.

 

Inspection of Support Squadron, Eastern Flank by Vice Admiral Sir Harold Burrough at Poole in May 1945. Admiral Burrough was the Allied Naval Commander in Chief, Expeditionary Force until July 1945.

The above three photographs were taken by the Bournmouth Times. Some sources state that the lower photograph was taken prior to the Walcheren Raid. Somebody has written on the back of Dad’s photograph that it was taken in May 1945. The vessels in the background are, from left to right, LCT(Flax)36, LCT(Gun) 536 (very difficult to read but I have not been able to trace a number like this to the Battle of Walcheren), LCT(Headquarters)269, ( I thought Dad may have been on this vessel as it was the close-in HQ vessel with Commander Sellars aboard but on balance as Dad was the Squadron Cypher Officer he was probably on the Kingsmill). It is interesting to note though that he had an assistant, Sub. Lt Douglas.

It looks like the Support Squadron Eastern Flank was disbanded in  June 1945 as the Officers that I can trace all seemed to change postings at this time.

Walcheren landings.

 

41 RM Commando landing from LCI(S) to the north of the gap.

 

The second wave of 41 RM Commando landing from LCT. She has just been hit by a shell. The small tracked vehicle is a Weasel and the large a Buffalo.

41 RM Commandos advancing through Westkapelle with the lighthouse in the back ground. Later used as a radar station by the British.

A flail tank landing from an LCT in the foreground and a buffalo in the background.

The first landings were made by 41 Commando to the north of the gap. They were 25mins later than the planned landing time due to the heavy fire and the need for the SSEF to draw the fire before letting the troops approach the landing. The vessels of the SSEF were sailing up and down the coast engaging the heavy gun positions and machine gun posts. They sustained heavy damage and vessels were sunk and caught fire. The first vessel had been hit at 0920 whilst they were still out of range for their own guns to bear. The LCG(M)’s took the brunt at first as they were able to get the closest to the beach LCG(M) 102 was hit in the stern and was starting to sink. Another craft tried to tow here clear but was hit or caught a mine and had to look after her self. LCG(M) 101 was hit on the beach and suffered great loss of life. The remaining guns continued to fire into the enemy until the vessel had to be abandoned completely.

LCG(M)102 starting to sink.

LCG(M)102 sinking off the beach at Westkapelle.

Survivors from LCG(M) being rescued.

However the landings were proceeding well and the second wave beached and disembarked in their Buffaloes and Weasels. Some of them were able to drive right through the gap in the dyke and others were lost on the beach. 41 Commando moved north from the landing beach at the gap and were able to capture the gun emplacement W15 and the town of Westkapelle just around midday. The troops fighting to the south took the radar station there very quickly but there had a bitter battle to take position W13, finally taking it in the evening. The island was fully taken on 7^th November after the Canadians had forced their way over the causeway too. Instead of the expected 4000 German troops over 8000 surrendered. From the land forces of Infatuate 103 lost their lives, 325 were wounded and 68 were missing. Despite the great loss of live and the hardships the local population had suffered they came out in the streets when ever the Marines arrived. In fact the locals put themselves at risk by travelling through the floods to pass on information to the troops. When the Marines were finally left due to leave the islanders arrived at a hall bringing a bottle of what ever they had available. It was all poured into a big tub and everybody just dipped in their mugs. There were some very ill people the next day.

 

Destroyed gun emplacements on Walcheren.

In the best traditions of the Royal Navy they had sacrificed much to protect the troops in their care. The final tally saw only 7 craft that were fully fit to fight out of the 27 that had started the battle for the SSEF. They had faced a fierce wall of fire from 0900 to 1230 when Commander ‘Monkey’ Sellars advised Commander Pugsley, the Commander of the operation on the Kingsmill that he was withdrawing his ships and it was up to the large vessels offshore to provide support from then.

Dangerous Times

The Landings on Walcheren were called Operation Infatuate. The landings at Flushing were Infatuate I and at Westkapelle Infatuate II. The Operation was scheduled for 1^st November 1944. The first landings were to be at Flushing. The 4^th Royal Marine Commandos were to be the troops used. They consisted of the 4^th Commando. They left Breskens on the east bank of the Scheldt at 0440 just as the artillery bombardment of 300 guns started up from the Breskens pocket to subdue the landing site. At 0620 the first landing craft hit the beach to little opposition and moved in land. A second wave landed shortly afterwards. Although the landing was lightly opposed there was heavy fighting in the town with numerous snipers hidden in the gantries and cranes of the port and dock yard. The town was finally taken on 4^th November.

Infatuate II was to have the jump off port of Ostend. The code for the Naval group was Force T with Commander Pugsley RN in command. Force T consisted of the bombardment craft of HMS Warsprite with monitors Erebus and Robert. The HQ vessel was HMS Kingsmill (K484), a Captain Class escort destroyer. She had her keel laid in Boston, USA, on 9^th July 1943. She was launched and fitted out on 13^th August 1943, a very speedy 35 days. She was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 29^th October ’43. She was 289’ long and 35’ beam with a draft of 11’. Four General Motors engines driving two shafts moved the vessel at 19kts. She had a compliment of 156 men. Her armaments were 3 x 3” guns, 4 x 20mm AA guns, and 4 depth charge projectors. She was scrapped 17-Feb-47 so only had a life of 3.3 years!

HMS Kingsmill K848 Captain Class Escort Destroyer

HMS Kingsmill in Portsmouth Dry Dock December 1944

Dad was probably aboard the Kingsmill as he was a staff Officer, and this was the Headquarters vessel, but it was Force T Headquarters ship. The rest of Force T consisted of 27 vessels of the SSEF which were commanded by Commander K.A. Sellar, and the transport craft used to land the Commandos. The Support Squadron Eastern Flank Headquarters vessel was LCT269 with Commander Sellar aboard. I have a photograph of Dad as a Staff Officer of Support Squadron Eastern Flank. To my mind that could mean that he would be with the C/O of that unit rather than Force T. In this case Dad would have been right in the thick of the action as we will see. However there is a report that after the battle the crew of LCT(H)269 was 18 men. I think the normal complement was about this number so it sounds as though extra hands, as in staff officers were not aboard. However Mum tells me that Dad suffered nightmares after the war as he had witnessed a crew mate next to him being hit in the head. Apparently it was somebody that he had done training with previously. He had come aboard with a Senior Officer for a quick up date of orders. Whilst waiting and chatting at the ship’s rail the other bloke was hit in the head and died. Mum says that dad volunteered to take his place and go back with the Senior Officer.  She felt sure that this had been at Walcheren. This could have been when Dad was on the Kingsmill and returned to one of the close support squadron landing craft, or maybe when he was on the LCH 269 and then went aboard one of the other landing craft. Mum thinks that it was a contemporary of Dad’s so looking in the lists of Temp. Act. Sub Lieutenants lost on 1^st November there are none for Kingsmill or LCH 269 but there are plenty from other vessels. We will never know I suppose.

Force T assembled at Ostend and then left there approx 0030 1^st November 1944. There were great worries that a big shore battery at Knokke on the Belgium coast would be a real problem to the fleet. It was supposed to have 4 x 11” guns which could have played havoc with the small vessels. In the end nothing happened. It was latter found that Canadian Forces over ran the fortifications a few hours before the landings. It was also found that the 11” guns had never been fitted. It was a lucky escape for the flotilla. During the night there was a scare when LCH 269 picked targets moving at speed on her radar. They could only be E Boats and Actions Stations were called. They could have caused severe casualties if they had got amongst the fleet. As it was a British destroyer had also seen them and her larger guns drove them off and caused some damage to the Germans. The Commander of the Destroyer just happened to be the old commander of LCH 269 who had been replaced by Commander Sellar! Another lucky escape!

Convoy to Walcheren morning of 1^st November 1944.

Onboard the Kingsmill with Commander Pugsley was Brigadier B.W. Leicester who was the Commander of the 4^th Royal Marine Special Service Brigade, which consisted of Nos 41, 47 and 48 Commandos. These two had to make the final decision as to whether the landing should take place. It was known that the aerial bombing would not take place as the French and Belgium airfields were shut due to low cloud (although Walcheren was clear) and the damage already caused to the fortifications was unknown. The War Office, despite knowing how desperately important the lifting of the blockade of the Scheldt  was, had given the last word to the field commanders. Their orders stated that they should not attack if it was felt that the German defences were ‘ more than very weak’. The sea state was calm, which may not occur again for along time at that time of the year, and with the possibility that the low cloud would lift and air support would be available later, and being fully aware of the urgency of getting supplies to the front lines, they gave the code for the commencement which was ‘Nelson’. They must have had great anguish knowing that the odds against the SSEF escaping with light casualties were small.

 

One of the German fortifications on Walcheren.

The shore guns opened fire on the motor launch that was marking the anchorage spot for the Kingsmill at 0809. This was about 5 miles west from the beaches and was also where the hospital craft would wait. At 0820 the Warspite and the Roberts opened fire as they were easily in range. The Erebus had developed a problem with her turret so was unable to join in until later. As the Warspite had had one of her turrets put out of action when damaged in the Mediterranean there were salvos of 10 15” shells going over. Afterwards it was found that due to the lack of air spotting due to the weather the accuracy wasn’t very good compared to later in the day when trained spotter planes were able to direct the guns. It was found later that the naval bombardment had knocked out two of the guns, at W15 (location on the map above).

The SSEF were to go closer to the beach and protect the convoy of landing craft that were to land the Marines. The plan was for 47 and 48 Royal Marine Commandos to land to the north of the gap and the 41^st RM Commando with the 10^th International Allies Commando consisting of Norwegian and Belgium troops, to land south of the breach. The first few troops ashore would land directly from LC(I)’s, landing craft Infantry, and those following would go ashore in tracked vehicles called Buffaloes and Weasels. There would also be some tanks, all landing from LC(T)’s., landing craft Tank.

Part of 47 Commando Royal Marines on LCT4 that was hit on the beach later. The large tracked vehicles on the right are Buffaloes and the smaller one on the right a weasel.

On the run in to the beach the artillery from the Breskens side of the river was to lay down a barrage and just as the first craft were approaching. The SSEF were to close the beach and offer support for the actual landings. At 4000 yards out the vessels of the SSEF were taking heavy hits. One of the rockets ships was hit and there was a premature detonation of the missiles. It is variously reported that they caused destruction on their own forces but from other reports it sounds as though there were several very close calls and a very real scare to many of the other landing craft. Even before the first landing craft had beached some of the SSEF vessels had been rendered useless. As they closed the beach they could see that their guns were just bouncing off the concrete embrasures. Commander ‘Monkey’ Sellars ordered them to get even closer to the shore to fire directly into the slits. It had been noticed on previous landings that the German guns were very likely to concentrate their fire on the vessels that were actually attacking them, rather than the ships carrying the men or material that was to be landed. Thus drawing the German fire they allowed the troop carrying craft to close the beach with few casualties. They also found that they were so close that many of the guns could not depress low enough to fire at them. However the 88mm guns were deadly.  Just as the first troops were about to land 12 rocket firing Typhoon fighters from No.183 Squadron that had managed to get air borne despite the low cloud and arrived to add their weight to the safety of the landings by picking targets close to the beach.

A team of war correspondents went with the troops so recording some remarkable photographs and film of the Support Squadron’s actions and battle.

Movietone film of the Battle  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=doq8s68Xoo8

Norwegian movie newsreel    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIber1VFkn4

Dutch Newsreel showing flooding and repair of dykes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fg7zGo9Wy08

The next Battle.

SUPPORT SQUADRON, EASTERN FLANK.               7-Jul-1944  to  30-Jun-1945

Dad wasn’t to be away from the action too long it seems. Again it is extremely difficult to track him down to specific places and times as he was not on any particular vessels books that we can track. He is still down as an additional to HMS Odyssey the ‘hotel in Ilfracombe’. His duty is written as special service for cipher duties on the staff of the Supports Squadron Eastern Flank. This is also the time that he was again promoted to the dizzy rank of Temporary Sub Lieutenant. If you remember he was only ‘Acting’ previously. He is Temporary due to the fact he was RNVR, hostilities only, draft.  He actually is recorded as going back on the Secret list on 25^th July 1944. This may indicate that this was when he went aboard a vessel and not ashore.

Dad’s final report for this phase in his career is signed by Commander Anthony F. Pugsley RN. This chap was the commanding officer of the support squadron so once again Dad was at the centre of things. I cannot find much about Commander Pugsley, or for that matter the Support Squadron, Eastern Flank SSEF. It seems that the SSEF was formed after the Normandy Landings and was the follow up to the ‘Trout Line’ that was established on the eastern side of Sword beach. This utilised the smaller assault ships that had participated in the landings. At night they were anchored in a long line around the large units, very close to each other to provide a barrier against the attack of E Boats (Called E boats as it was ‘Enemy’! The Germans called them Schnell S Boats), unmanned explosive boats, human torpedoes and drifting mines. The earliest reference to the SSEF I can find is about 5 days after D Day. The vessels had been used to support the landings but as the battle had moved in land they had become redundant for their primary role. Dad had spoken of being involved in throwing hand grenades over the side and patrolling all night to protect the ships from human topedoes and I had always assumed this would be in the Mediterranean as I didn’t know that the Germans had them. He also spoke of driving DUKWs so I assume that this was when he was with the SSEF.

The SSEF was made up mainly of LCG (L) and (M)’s (Landing Craft Gun, large and Medium), LCF (Landing Craft Flak) and LCT(R) (Landing Craft Tank (Rocket). As an aside the LCF’s were the only RN vessels to have a German name as Flak is German for anti aircraft fire! All these craft were landing craft for tanks that had the deck space plated over and magazines and accommodation put under. The LCG’s had two 4.3” guns and some machine guns mounted and a crew of 40, 24 of whom were Royal Marines to man the guns. The LCF’s had Oerlikons and Pom Pom guns. The LCT(R) had 1080 6” rockets fitted in ranks that were fired off by a 12v battery, They were fired off in salvos at the beaches to clear obstacles etc.

LCF 37 at Portsmouth before D Day. Note PLUTO reel in background.

LCG(L) 2 before Operation Infatuate

LCT(R) showing details of rocket launch apparatus.

Another photo of the deck of an LCF.

There were also LCH’s Landing Craft Headquarters and landing craft used for hospital first aid stations.

Dad was specifically on the staff of the Support Squadron. I am not sure whether this means he was attached to a particular vessel or moved with the Commanding Officer or not.

The Support Squadron, Eastern Flank’s big battle was one of the bloodiest and funnily enough one of the least known of the Second World War. It was also in a place where British Forces had been humbled previously whilst trying to open up a second front. On 30-Jul-1809 during the Napoleonic wars 300 ships landed 42000 men on the island of Walcheren. Their task was to open up a second front, to capture a French fleet in Holland, to capture the arsenal at Antwerp and deny the use of the Scheldt to the French. They never left the island as they were literally bogged down as the French had flooded the place. The troops suffered a terrible disease that became known as Walcheren Fever. 8000 died and 10’s of thousands were too sick to do anything. They eventually withdrew to lick there wounds.

The same island was to be the site of a decisive battle once again as the tide of war again broke on the beaches of the Scheldt. Following the D Day landings the fighting had moved from the beaches and the supply lines were getting ever more stretched. Eventually the French Channel ports were taken but these were already far from the lines. Montgomery was urged to move on Antwerp and the Belgium and Dutch ports but he waited until his supplies had built up but finally took Antwerp in early September. However it could not be used as a port as the river access to it was protected by very heavy gun emplacements on the island of Walcheren. Polish and Canadian troops were ordered to take the ground between Antwerp and Walcheren and then storm the island. The island had a causeway to the mainland that was about 30yds wide and dead straight for nearly a mile. Either side were marsh and mud flats. The Canadians fought their way to the causeway over the next weeks and continued to try to cross the causeway. It was decided that a three pronged attack should take place to speed up the taking of the island. The island had perhaps the most heavily fortified coastline in the world. It had 30 batteries in various types of fortifications. There were 50 to 60 guns of 75 to 220mm calibre. The guns were manned by Lieutenant General Dasser’s 70^th Infantry Division. They were known as the ‘white bread men’ as most of them had gastric complaints so were not fit of front line infantry. It was thought there were approximately 4000 German troops.

Map showing the German defences of Walcheren and the landings of the Allies.

After much soul searching and discussion it was decided that to try to disable the guns the dykes surrounding the island should be breeched which would mean most of the island would be inundated. It was obvious that there would be loss of life amongst the inhabitants so on 2^nd October they were warned by radio, and by pamphlets dropped by planes. Most chose to stay. Between 3^rd and 11^th October the dykes were pounded with 2378t of explosives and 4 large breaks were created. The fields were completely flooded and at certain states of the tide a 6kt current flew in and out of the breeches. However there was little damage caused to the gun emplacements as they were either built on the dykes them selves, or were sufficiently elevated to avoid been flooded. Communications between them and the ease of supply were severely disrupted though. In Westkapelle only 50 house were left habitable.

Air reconnaissance photograph showing the breech at Westkapelle and the damage to the town.

There were further air raids in the run up to the invasion for which the date had been set when there were the first favourable tides, 1^st November 1944. It was decided that heavy bombardment by airplanes would be required to ‘soften up’ the opposition despite the belief that only direct hits would have any effect on the fortifications. On 28^th October 261 bombers dropped 1189t, on the 29^th 327 planes dropped 1562t and on the 30^th 89 planes dropped 555t of explosives. Six aircraft were lost during these operations. Further bombardments were to have taken place just prior to the landings but there was much political to’ing and fro’ing about the priorities of Bomber Command, and in the end the weather was not good enough for the planes to take off any way.

The three pronged attack was for the Canadians to the east, who were fighting to establish a bridgehead on the island end of the Causeway, to continue their attempt. The second prong was for a force of Royal Marine Commandos to go ashore from Landing Craft in the area of Flushing to the south and the third would be a landing from the sea at Westkapelle to the north west. Dad and the SSEF were to be the protection for the third Prong to Westkapelle.

After the Landings.

AFTER THE LANDINGS.

In the early hours of D Day +1  the code for the approach of enemy E Boats was given (Influenza) nothing came of it but all would have been tense and I suppose that it would have just added to the tiredness of those aboard. About this time a low flying plane was shot down and crashed near the Largs. It was later found that it was actually carrying paratroops. I wonder if this was felt as a disaster for the Combined Ops on the HQ Ship as there job was to try and prevent this sort of thing happening. The person nominally in charge was put on a charge but exonerated at the hearing. The shore glowed with an incandescent light as the rockets from the landing craft had phosphorus warheads. The noise was added to when HMS Rodney was blazing away with her 16” guns right over head of the Largs from 500ft away. The vibration and noise were shattering. During the day the enemy batteries around Le Havre and the rest of the coast would range in on the ships anchored off the beaches. When they got a bit close to Largs they picked up the anchor and just steamed around in circles around their allocated spot. ‘Action stations’ were called in the second day as there were warnings of glider bombs being directed at them. Through out the first week the signallers were doing four hour watches, watch and watch about, so they would have been extremely tired as the noise would have made sleep difficult at the best of times.

The early morning of D Day +2 saw the Largs called to action stations as there had been a warning of glider bombs being aimed towards them but nothing came of it. During the day Rodney and Ramilies were still finding targets ashore. The crew of Largs were witnesses to 100’s of bombers going over head and the air war got a little too close to them when a pair of FW109’s broke through in the afternoon and attacked. One of them was shot down and the pilot was picked up and taken aboard the Largs.

From D Day +3 things started to quieten down but on D+6 dive bombers again attacked the ship which came through unscathed. A few days later they managed to detonate a mine but only minor damage was caused to the hull. They had lived a charmed life until a German battery that was still active around Honfleur managed to find their range and they sustained a 4 foot hole just above the waterline. This was quickly repaired at sea by a small repair ship coming alongside and drilling holes and holding a plate up to the hole and bolting or riveting it into place! This was fortunately the last damage done to the ship. As the beachhead was extended, and the frontline got further from the beaches, the ships standing off were released. On D Day +24 HMS Largs sailed back to England. I suspect that Dad stayed with the vessel until it went up to Greenock on the Clyde. Here it was repaired and updated and made ready for it’s next landing which was to be the invasion of Southern France. Dad’s file says that he left the Staff of the Naval Force Commander Force S on 6^th July, a month to the day after the landing. HMS Largs sailed from Greenock on 18^th July for the trip to the Mediterranean.

Dad won no awards or medals for his part in the Normandy. He won no Mention in Dispatches, but like the vast number of other participants he got the grateful thanks from a whole nation and the high appreciation of his Admiral.

Citation presented to Dad following D Day, signed by Rear Admiral A.G. Talbot.

There is a personal report S206 for dad for the period of his appointment with Staff of Flag Officer Commanding Force ‘’S’’. 15^th Feb 44 to 6^th July 44. The reporting Officer is Captain A. Duckworth for Rear Admiral Commanding Force ‘S’.

He is reported as having satisfactory general conduct (rather than unsatisfactory) and to be of temperate habit.

His Professional Ability is 5, Personal Qualities 4, Leadership 4, Intellectual Ability 5, and Administrative Ability 4. (Out of 10).

The general Opinion of the Officer is ‘A hard working officer who pulled his weight in the Cypher organisation of H.M.S. Largs during Operation Neptune’. He is recommended for promotion in the ordinary course! Not exactly a glowing report!!

D Day begins.

The bombardment warships for Sword Beach started up around 0500’ish. These vessels were HMS Warspite, Ramilies and the monitor Roberts. The Warspite alone fired over 300 15” shells in two days. In less than a week she had to withdraw to have new gun barrels fitted and re-ammunition! There were also waves of bombers and gliders going over to drop paratroops to secure vital areas ahead of the main landings. Destroyers and landing craft close inshore were making a smoke screen to conceal the build up of the fleets of landing craft. From out of this smoke came a number of German E boats. They dashed in and fired off eighteen torpedoes in all. Two were aiming at the Largs but a fast thinking Officer of the watch rang ‘Full Astern’ and this meant the torpedoes  just passed a few feet ahead of the vessel. Unfortunately the Norwegian destroyer Svenner was not so lucky and at least one of the torpedoes struck her amidships. She was no more than 200yds on the Largs port side. The Svenner immediately broke her back and folded in half forming a ‘V’. She sank until she was sitting on the bottom with her bow and stern still showing above the water. There was high loss of life due to the speed of the sinking. Just after the sinking of the Svenner HMS Wrestler struck a mine again very close to the Largs. She sustained major damage and had to be towed back to Portsmouth and was never repaired.

The Normandy Landing beaches and positions of major Naval units on D Day.

Actual H Hour for Sword beach was 0725, (the different beaches had different H Hours as the tide time was different for each of them) and by 0600 the Landing ships were embarking their troops into the smaller craft and assembling them ready for the assault. At about 0800 the Midget Submarine X23 was alongside the Largs. She had been laying just off the beaches for more than 48 hours to mark the way for the incoming vessels. The sight of the small landing craft streaming towards the beaches must have been a fantastic sight. There were over 2000 of these boats built during the war and 371 lost, 267 in 1944. They were made of teak hardwood with some armour plating. They were 12.6m long and 3m wide and a draft of only 1.5m. They could carry 36 men, a platoon plus, with a crew of 4 at a speed of 7kts. The troops had benches to sit astride and could exit in minutes through the bow doors. One was blown up by a mine just a hundred yards from HMS Largs.

An early model LCA the turret is the Bren gun position. The Coxwain’s position was on the st’bd side. One of the two steel doors, that were just inside the bow ramp can be seen open. The ramp was operated from aft where the Stoker sat between the two V 8 petrol engines.

HMS Warspite and Ramilies off Sword Beach June 1944. 

Sword Beach after D Day.                          .

At 0900 the Largs moved closer inshore to be able to more easily fulfill its role as HQ Ship for Sword Beach and the Commanding Officer of the 3rd Battalion went ashore. Throughout the day gunfire from the German heavy guns around Le Havre would land around the Largs. The bombardment Naval Vessels would then respond to shut them up. HMS Rodney and assorted cruisers joined in. There were regular sorties from planes going in to France on bombing raids and Landing Craft (Rockets) would shoot off their 100 rocket salvo in minutes. The beaches had the benefit of constant fighter cover and later in the evening there were several waves of bombers and then bombers with their gliders, maybe 300 of each. They were very low and the German flak was bursting around the gliders as after they were released they circled losing height and tracer was running up to them. One of the tow aircraft, a Sterling bomber, was ditching with its engines on fire and finally crashed about 100yds from HMS Largs. That first night there was an air raid warning and they made smoke. One bomb landed close to the st’bd side. The noise of the battle must have been deafening and when the air raid was in place the sound and sights must have increased. The tracer crossing the skies with flares being dropped and the gleam of action ashore and flash of the capital ships gun salvos must have made sight not to be forgotten.

The last few days.

Force S was the force that was designated to take Sword Beach. This was the most eastern of the landing beaches and could be the most crucial as this would be where the Panzer tank reinforcements would first make an impact on the battle to create a bridgehead. The Sword landings were to take place along a front of 5 miles. The Eastern Task Force covered Sword (British), Juno (Canadian) and Gold (British) Beaches, east to west.  Apparently these beaches were to be called Swordfish, Goldfish and Jellyfish, but Winston Churchill said that if men were to give their lives on the beaches they shouldn’t be named after fish. The western Task force was American and the beaches were called Omaha and Utah (east to west).

It is well known that the invasion was supposed to take place on 5^th June but had to be postponed due to a summer storm in the Channel. Even the following day the soldiers in the flat bottomed landing craft suffered badly from seasickness, and no doubt some were extremely glad to see the land, no matter what reception awaited them. The majority of the invasion fleet were embarked on the night of the 4^th June. They eventually left on the 5^th. All ships passed through area Z (called Piccadilly) from where they made for their separate beaches down buoyed and lit channels through the German minefield. These had been cleared by minesweepers just ahead of them. Ten channels of 600 feet wide were swept through the minefield and marked with small light buoys for the following ships. Two midget submarines, the X20 and X 23 were used as light vessels to mark the way with green lights.

I haven’t found any evidence of how Dad spent the build up to D Day, but he was allocated to the Staff of the Flag Officer Commanding Force S from the middle of February 1944, which I take to mean working for Rear Admiral Arthur Talbot above. He would have been practising on his equipment for codes and cypers and more than likely being involved in the various scenarios that were envisaged. For D Day Rear Admiral Talbot was to be aboard one of the HQ ships, to be stationed off Sword Beach. The role of the HQ ship had evolved from bitter experience of past raids and landings. It was found that there was greater need of coordination of the army, air force and navy at these crucial chaotic times. It was essential that each could talk to the other and that each understood the needs of the other. This was one reason why Combined Operations Command was set up by Winston Churchill in 1940. Admiral of the Fleet Roger Keyes was it’s first head until Lord Louis Mountbatten took over in 1941.

A Combined Operations Command team for communicators were placed on an HQ ship so each would be able to direct their own forces but could easily interact with the others to enable plans to be quickly changed when things went wrong and to quickly take advantage of a situation when things went right, or targets of opportunity presented themselves. To this end they were linked with observers ashore and the actual ships and planes. They could tell landing craft to move further up the beach, or naval bombardment vessels to direct fire to a particular fortification, or receive signals from spotter aircraft etc. They were of course also linked back to the Flag Ship of the Task Force and back to the UK. One of the HQ ships recorded 2300 messages a day! That is one or two every minute of the day. Therefore it can be seen that Dad would have to learn quite a lot of new things as well as get very proficient at his job.

HMS Largs in Largs Bay Jan/Feb 1943.

Rear Admiral Talbot’s  HQ ship was to be HMS Largs. Largs started out as the Charles Plumier (named after a French Botanist), built at Port du Bouc near Marseille, as a fruit carrier. At the outbreak of the war she was requisitioned by the French Government for duty as an armed auxiliary cruiser (X-11). With the invasion of France by the Nazis and the setting up of the Vichy Government the Charles Plumier was seized by HMS’s Faulknor and Forester 110’ off Gibraltar. She was then converted into an HQ vessel. She was re-launched using a bottle of rum. I think she was in dry dock at Birkenhead at the end of April Beginning of May and then moved to Portsmouth where she spent most of the next five weeks alongside the Railway Pier.

I can’t be sure when Dad joined her, but if he joined at the same time as the Rear Admiral it is likely to have been fairly close to the time of departure. However it could have been that the lesser staff were aboard much earlier so as to integrate with each department and to set up the systems etc. If this was the case there is every chance that Dad was aboard on 25^th May 1944. HMS Largs moved out into the Solent to anchor and there they had some VIP visitors in the shape of King George VI, with Admirals’ Ramsay, Vian and Talbot. Before sailing Winston Churchill, Field Marshal Smutts and Aneurin Bevin (Foreign Secretary) also came aboard. As Churchill stepped on to the wharf after the visit he turned back to the ship and doffed his hat in salute to the crew

King George VI visiting HMS Largs in the Solent 25^th May 1944.

The next time that HMS Largs moved from Portsmouth was on Monday 5^th June 1944. This was the start of the ‘Longest Day’ and Dad was seeing it at first hand. They were anchored in the Solent as slower ships passed out to sea. They weighed anchor and moved out at 2130 along with a couple of Landing Ship Infantry vessel. These were ex cross channel ferries that had been converted to carry troops close to the beaches and then lower them in their landing craft to directly assault the beaches. They were escorted by destroyers and MTB’s (Motor Torpedo Boats). Their first objective was ‘Piccadilly Circus’ which was the assembling area for the convoys to set up and head up the ‘spout’ for their individual beaches and through their designated swept and buoyed channel. (See The Routes to Normandy map in previous blog). There were at ‘action stations’ from 2300 on 5^th June.

Force S; The build up to D Day.

FORCE S                        15-Feb-44     to    6-Jul-44

Dad was still on the books at HMS Odyssey but was now working on the staff of the Naval Force Commander of Force S. As you may have gathered from the dates this was the build up to and during the Normandy Landings. The whole battle was called Operation Overlord and the naval part of it was called Operation Neptune. It seems that many lessons had been learned through the various landings and attacks that had been carried out by Allied Forces, including the disastrous raid on Dieppe, and the planning and training stages were exhaustive. Part of these lessons was that the three branches, army, air force and navy, must work together and be well coordinated for success to be assured. This was achieved by forming the Combined Operations. I think Dad was now part of the Combined Operations team. I remember seeing the Combined Ops Badge in a drawer at home. Each member retained their usual structure within their branch though so this does not appear in Dad’s record.

After his posting to Cameron Barracks in Inverness it becomes very difficult to follow what Dad actually did in the run up to D-Day. By the way, the hour of the landings was called H-Hour. Not too imaginative really. The North European landings were so secret that they invented a further category of secret beyond the highest ‘Top Secret’. This was ‘Bigot’ and apparently was the backward form of ‘To Gib’ which was written on personnel’s orders when being posted for the North African Landings, Operation Torch, which Dad took part in.  Mind you there was a real panic about security in May 1944 as the very popular Daily Telegraph crossword had the answers of Utah and Omaha in them and these were of course the names of the American Landing beaches in Normandy. On 2^nd June 1944 two more suspicious answers appeared, Overlord and Neptune, which of course were the code for the whole operation and the landings. The same compiler was involved, and MI5 very quickly interviewed him. It was found to be sheer coincidence. He was a 54 year old teacher and frequently asked his 6^th Form pupils for words to include and as the school had been evacuated to an area that was full of Americans they gave him words that they had heard them saying.

Dad’s records show that he was admitted to the secret list on 10-Feb-44. I can not find what this specifically meant but must assume that as a Cipher Officer he had a raised level of clearance to use higher codes so he would have had to be ultra careful and would be more closely scrutinised than someone not on the secret list. In his parent’s photograph album of the war years it states that Dad ‘came south via the North of Scotland, Liverpool and Portsmouth so this sounds as though he was on a ship rather than staying ashore with the Admiral. The ship was probably HMS Largs, more of which later.

The D-Day landings have been portrayed in many films and still are the largest amphibious landings ever carried out. Though maybe telling you something you may already know I feel I should give some background to the whole battle. Operation Overlord was the code for the Battle for Normandy. Operation Neptune was the initial part of the Battle for Normandy, the transport of the troops, the landings and the establishing a bridgehead and the first month. The landing was to be over a 50 mile stretch of Normandy’s northern beaches. The 50 miles was to be divided into the Western and Eastern Sectors.

The Routes to Normandy.

The Supreme Allied Commander was Dwight Eisenhower. The Deputy Supreme Commander was actually Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder. The Allied Commander of Ground forces was General Bernard Montgomery and of the air Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory. In charge of Naval Forces was Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay and in charge of the western task force Naval forces was Rear Admiral Alan G. Kirk and Eastern Forces Admiral Philip Vian.

Admiral Ramsay had actually resigned from the Royal Naval in 1938 but was coaxed back by Winston Churchill to help in the coming war. He was in charge of Operation Dynamo which was the retreat from Dunkirk where he masterminded the saving of a third of a million allied troops from the beaches. He was knighted for this work in 1940. Following this he was in charge of defending the coast from the threat of invasion and then was Deputy Commander of the North African Landings and Naval Commander of the Eastern Task force for the invasion of Sicily. This gave him plenty of experience for his job as Naval Commander for Operation Neptune. Unfortunately he was killed when his plane crashed on 2^nd Jan 1945 leaving an airport SW of Paris to attend a meeting with General Montgomery in Brussels.

Standing L to R; Lieutenant General Omar Bradley, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, Air Chief Marshal Sir Trafford Leigh Mallory, Lieutenant General Bedell Smith

Seated L to R; Air Chief Marshal Arthur Tedder, General Dwight Eisenhower, General Sir Bernard Montgomery. The Operation Overlord team.

Rear Admiral Philip Vian had been a gunnery expert and had won the Distinguished Service Medal for his actions early in the war off the then neutral Norway, aboard the ‘Cossack’ when he safely took the German ship ‘Altmark’ that held 300 British Merchant Seamen that had been captured by the German raider ‘Admiral Graff Spee’. He was nominated as the Naval Commander of the Eastern Naval Forces for Overlord.

The Rear Admiral for Sword Beach was Arthur George Talbot. I can’t find out too much about Admiral Talbot. He had a nickname of ‘Noisy’ for some reason. Just prior to D-Day there was a send off do in the gymnasium of HMS Victory. When a destroyer Captain said he had to sail with in the hour so had to leave ‘Noisy’ Talbot said ‘Goodbye Cox, and good luck. I don’t suppose we will see you again’. Not the big confidence boost the assembled throng were looking for on this particular day. However he did do better with a missive distributed to all under his commander that is shown below.

                                    

Rear Admiral Philip Vian Commander Eastern Naval Task Force.

                   

   Rear Admiral Arthur George Talbot, Naval Commander Force S.

D Day Message from Rear Admiral A.G. Talbot Naval Commander Force S, June 1944.