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The D - Day Landings
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The D - Day Landings
Location: Hampshire
After all the months of preparation, in the early hours of Tuesday, June 6th. 1944, the largest maritime invasion force in history descended upon the coast of France, with landings over a 60 mile stretch of the beaches of the Baie de la Seine, between St. Vaast in the west and the river Orne in the east. This episode in the story of Cricket Camp relates some of the experiences of the individual flotillas and units which had trained at H.M.S. Cricket and participated in Operation Neptune, (the designation for the naval section of Overlord.) They have been put together from documentation and written reminiscences sent to the author but represent only a small part of the history of these units -there are many, many stories still to be told.
H.M.S. CRICKET (Cricket Camp) - MANOR FARM COUNTRY PARK
PART 2: The D - Day Landings
The King's Speech
On the evening of June 6th., by which time it had become clear that the landings were well under way, H.M. King George VI broadcast to his people. The speech was heard by those who remained at Cricket but more particularly by the men on the later waves of landing craft heading for Normandy. One marine recalled part of the broadcast years after the event. "Now, once more, a supreme test has to be faced. This time the challenge is not to fight to survive but to fight to win the final victory for the good cause. After nearly five years of toil and suffering we must renew that crusading impulse in which we entered the war and met the darkest hour. We and our allies are sure that our fight is against evil and for a world in which goodness and honour may be the foundation of the life of men in every land."
A few days earlier His Majesty had inspected the assembled invasion force in the Solent and had taken the salute at H.M.S. Vectis (J-Force HQ, Cowes) as a large fleet of the small landing craft sailed in formation past the Royal Yacht Squadron. The landing craft which departed from the Hamble on the 5th. and 6th. June were but a small section of this vast armada; none the less, they played a vital and representative part in the seaborne assault.
The LCA (Hedgerow) Flotillas Nos. 590, 591
The LCA (Hedgerow) craft left their moorings in the upper Hamble on the Sunday evening before D-Day. These flotillas, whose vessels were designed to move close inshore in order to destroy beach obstacles, had quickly become known as "The Crazy Gang" and each crew member earned extra danger money - 3d. a day! It would certainly seem that their operations posed quite as much of a hazard to the crews as they did to the enemy. Every Hedgerow craft carried 24 spigot mortars, Heath Robinson devices which each fired a rocket onto the land with a long length of hosepipe attached. The hoses had delayed action fuses at each end and were quickly filled with liquid explosive from a tank on board the LCA which then, leaving the hoses lying on the beach, backed off at high speed to await events!
The Hedgerows were small and relatively unseaworthy craft but were considered, for fairly obvious reasons, to be too dangerous for transportation on the large assault ships. It was therefore arranged that they would be towed across the Channel by LCTs and LCFs. The flotillas loaded up from the armament store at HMS Cricket and then moved down to the hards at Hamble to pick up their full crew. Having passed out into the Solent they met up with their "Mother" towing craft and commenced the extremely dangerous journey across to France. The sea conditions during the night of their transit were unexpectedly rough and so the first hazard faced by their crews was a natural one rather than anything caused by the enemy. Of the two groups of nine boats that left the Hamble six craft of group G2, commanded by Lieutenant (later Lt. Cdr.) Irwin, RNVR., made it to their offshore beach positions but only one boat from G1 survived the crossing.
In all, some twelve of the type sank under tow, two were reported missing and two were towed back to the South Coast. Obviously the losses incurred by these units were heavy. A number of officers and ratings were drowned in passage and a friend of Lt. Irwin, Sub Lt. Bruce Ashton, RANVR., was killed, together with his three-man crew, as they worked off the beach. The Hamble based craft did, however, mainly succeed in their mission as enough obstacles were destroyed at La Riviere, on Gold Beach, to allow the landing of flail and DD floating tanks.
No. 480 Flotilla LCP(R)
HMS Cricket had played a part in the development of the DD (Duplex Drive) floating tanks, one of a number of the specially designed types known as "Hobart's Funnies", of which much has been written elsewhere. The LCP(R)s of 480 Minor Landing Craft flotilla had, prior to D-Day, participated in the trials of the floating tanks and the training of the crews, involving several practice exercises along the South Coast. 480's role on the day was to escort the tanks to the beaches, to tow them if they broke down and to rescue the crews should the tanks founder.
Nos. 513, 514 Flotillas LCA
The 'assisted' flotillas of LCAs received their initial training at Cricket before being despatched to their allocated assault ships, usually a LSI (Landing Ship Infantry), to practice landings with troops. They would only return to the base if their LSI was dry-docked or if work was needed on the craft themselves. The LSIs were all mercantile conversions and the ship which would carry the six LCAs of 513 was HMS Brigadier, an ex-Southern Railway cross-channel steamer, now under the command of Cmdr. H. Paramore, RN (Ret.). To protect her complement of troops and landing craft Brigadier had only four 20mm. AA guns and a single 20 pounder surface weapon, little enough defence against enemy action. With the LCAs hoisted on the davits she sailed out through the boom at Spithead and joined the rest of the invasion force in Area Z, south east of the Isle of Wight. As part of force J2 she landed Canadian soldiers of the North Shore Regiment via her landing craft and this group crossed Juno beach with little difficulty, although they met with stiffer opposition later as they entered the small town of St.Aubin.
Another converted Southern Railway vessel, the former cross-channel steamer Maid of Orleans, was host ship to the six LCAs of 514 Flotilla. While in Cowes Roads Captain Payne mustered the crew of the Maid in the saloon and gave a rousing speech, part of which went as follows. "Our job is to deliver the troops and keep on delivering. Joan of Arc, the Maid of Orleans, liberated France - the Maid will help to do the same, by the grace of God." In the early hours of June 6th. the ship entered the swept channel and reached the appointed lowering place by 5.50 a.m. At 6.05 her six LCAs were hand -winched down to land men of 3, 4 and 45 Commando at Ouistreham on Sword beach. As the commandos leapt from the LCAs, with shells bursting around them, Brigadier Lord Lovat's kilted piper, Bill Millin, piped them ashore with ' Highland Laddie' and ' Road to the Isles.'
Five surviving LCAs were re-embarked between 9.50 and 10.30 that morning, the ship having to manoeuvre to provide a lee and pour oil to windward to stem the breaking waves. At this critical juncture the Maid came under shell fire and had to change her position again before all were safely on board. The Maid of Orleans made several more trips to Normandy but was lost by mine, on28th. June, 1944. HMS Brigadier regained her former title when she returned to civilian service in 1946.
D-Day Landings continued >>
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