LCI (542) - Naval Cruise Book

Page 11 text:

7 us past it and up into the shallow reaches of the River Plymg it .was finally necessary to drop the bow anchor in order to turn the ship into the wind. On 4 May came the first real indication of the coming invasion, some of the ships had been out on maneuvers, but the 542 had not. Now we were told to strip ship and attempt a beaching trim. - All that day and the next we loaded spare parts and supplies into an LCVP for storage in a tent ashore. Much of it was never seen again. Since it was thought that the LCIS would load their troops at Harvey's Wharf, QAB, we practiced docking there on three different-days. We also beached at Whitsand Bay 5 o-n 11, May, while approaching the beach, the electric steering gave out, and Lt. Com. Brown almo-st restricted the ship. On the 13th another anti-aircraft practice outside the harbor was cancelledg so casualty drills were held instead, during which every- one in our conn had to play dead. Despite a strong wind on May 16 we managed to maneuver alongside St. Budeaux Hard long enough to get fuel and water, but in returning to T-15 nudged the newly con- verted LCH 520 and crumpled her ventilating intake o-n the gundeck- the first of many collisions. A few days later the 419, to- which we were moored, provided some excitement by losing the mooring ,cable and casting both ships adrift, together with some small boats along- side. That afterno-on another anti-aircraft p-ractice was cancelled due to bad weather, we were getting scant opportunity to become good gun- ners-nopractice s-ince shakedown. Saturday, May 20, after Captain's Inspection the irst photographs of the crew were taken. 22 May a full supply of army K and C-rations were put aboard, and Pvt. Zimrie Akins reported to guard them. Things were begin- ning to happen, for that afterno-on all of Flotilla 12 sailed for Fowey, a pre-invasion diversion move, by 2200 the 542' was moored to LST 56 in Fowey Harbor. There followed a week-of fine weather in a quiet, peaceful and beautiful corner of Cornwall, a week which was the more appreciated because of the battle that everyone knew was now not far off. Small things meant much and were lo-ng remembered: Wicks' favorite record No Letter Todayv which W0kC US at reveille and ran as continuous-ly as the generator 5 the five gallons of fresh milk, the only real milk we tasted While away from 11011163 the brief visit of Lt. Co-m. H. V. Say of the Navy Public Relations Department, the spectacular air raid on Falmouth about midnight ofthe 29th, which from our distance looked like the Fourth of july. Then 011 the 30th we returned to- Saltash, mooring to T-14 with 418 and 420. T116 11CXt day Lt. Kutz came aboard with five men, Donohue, Mulle11S, BFOWI1, Collett and Walker, to arrange the billeting of our invasion cargo. .

Page 10 text:

6 For the most part the days passed uneventfully. There was a five-minute air alert in the early morning of the 10th, while on the 12th Howard, returning fro-m liberty, thought the boathook on the liberty boat was a handrail and fell into the Tamar for Che saidj a refreshing swim. The next day Commander Camero-n, ComFlot 12, arrived in the 414, with 413, 415, 416, 417, 418, 537 and 538, unfortunately Commander Henry and most of the skippers were not there to greet him, being off at Torquay. Thus it was that the fol- lowing morning 'Mr. Littlejohn had to take the ship to Cattedown for deperming, a hair-raising experience, what with the tide, moored Stir- ling bomber planes, the annoyance of the captain in command of Queen Anne's Battery, who happened to be watching, and the lack of co-operation on the part o-f the liberty ship to which we had to moor. The Skipper, returning from Torquay, finally found the ship there after searching for several hours. One day shortly afterward Clenney followed Ho-wardls example and jumped into the Tamar instead of the liberty boat. Another day we entertained a WREN boat crew at lunch-big occasion for johnson. April 21 we steamed out of the harbor fo-r anti-aircraft drill but fo-und it too cloudy, thor- oughly indoctrinated by now, however, we rendered honors four dif- ferent times, coming and going, to ANcoN, U. S. S. AUGUSTA, Cominch Plymouth, and a commodore in a transport. When we returned to Saltash, we found the 488 there, after which old home week ensued. The next day the ship was swung in a novel method, tied to a buoy in Iennycliff Bay. I l On 26 April Lt. Com. Brown arrived in the 420, with 419, 421 and 556 5 ComGroup 35, as SOPA, became the Lord of Saltash Water. A few days after this the 542 proceeded to Baltic Wharf and the marine railway at QAB for a much-needed overhaul. By 1300 she was out of the water, and all hands set to work on the bottom, securing at nightfall. At 0312 the following morning, April 30, the Germans began a blister- ing air raid which lasted an hour: bombs meant for the cruiser anchor- age dropped in the water near by and blew up a neighboring garage, there was heavy gunfire and a hail of shrapnel on the deck. We felt helpless, mustered in a messhall, with the ship high and dry in the middle of it all, although Bruce and a couple of others had to be physi- cally restrained from venturing out on the gundeck to watch. At last it was over, and there was a chance to get a little sleep. Later that morn- ing the painting of the bottom was finished and the ship waterborne once more shortly after noo-n. May 2, after recompensating com- passes in .Iennycliff Bay in a high wind, we stood by Turnchapel Wharf awaiting a chance to unload excess fuel onto a barge. Arriv- ing at the barge proved difficult, for wind and incoming tide swept

Page 12 text:

8 1 june 1944 was loading day, for hours the Tamar buzzed with LCVPS bringing the troops up from Plymouth to our LCls and also to the square-conned Mediterranean veterans that were to be part of the Utah Beach assault force. f0ur group of 13 LCIS was assigned to Follow-up Force Baker and scheduled to land its troops 12 hours after H-Hour.j At 1322 Company E, 26th Infantry, First Division, First Army, began to come aboard-193 men and 9 officers under the command of Captain Ozell Smootg they were tough, battle-hardened veterans of Africa and Sicily, and their quiet conidence was: hearten- ing to us. That afternoon Pvt. Akins went regretfully ashore, having been an adopted member of the crew for ten days. The ship- was sealed, and we w.ere ready to go g all hands knew the destination was France, since our guests lost no time in displaying their 100-franc notes. The day had not been decided upo-ng so we waited. Half of Lt. Com. Henry's Group had left to join the Coast Guard LCIS in the Omaha assault force, and the 419 had also departed after conversion into an army headquarters ship. 'There was a false start on june 3, when all ships got under way in a rush, only to anchor in Iennycliff Bay for the night and return. Finally, at 1215 on 5 June, we slipped the cable and proceeded down the Tamar to anchor in formation in Cawsand Bay. Shortly afterwards an RAF barge came alongside and tied a barrage balloon to the fantil, which floated just above the top of the mast. At last the word came: 6 june was to be D-Day. Promptly at 0030 on that day we sailed from Plymouth in formation of two co-lumns as Task Gro-up 126.3. LCH 414 was the flagship, in company were LCICLJS 401, 403, 415, 416, 417, 418, 420, 537, 538, 539, 542 and 556. All night we steamed at full speed Q14 knotsj along the coast of Southern England, the DE MALOY, Force Flagship, the AKA ACHERNAR, and an LSD joined us, together with some corvettes and a rescue cutter. The voyage was rough but suffered no enemy inter'- ference. At 1315 the Cherbourg Peninsula was sighted 5 two- hours later we entered the assembly area off Gmaha Beach and anchored. Conditio-ns were confused, loaded landing craft, rescue craft, patrol vessels, and small boats weaved aimlessly in and out among the. anchored ship-s. German artillery was shelling the landing forces, while allied destroyers, close in, returned the fire. Farther offshore to port lay a large French cruiser, her decks filled with civilians and a gigantic tricolor Hying from her stern. It was obvious from the number of assault force ships still lying to fully loaded that the situation on the beach was precarious and that our landing would have more of the character of an assault than of the peaceful reinforcement we had expected. After being anchored only four minutes, we started for the smoke-shrouded beach 3