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 1st
November 1944. The first landings were to be at Flushing .
The 4th Royal Marine Commandos were to be the troops used. They
consisted of the 4th 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 4th 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
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 1st 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 1st 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 1st
November 1944.
Onboard
the Kingsmill with Commander Pugsley was Brigadier B.W. Leicester who was the
Commander of the 4th 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 41st RM Commando with the 10th
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
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