LST (491) - Naval Cruise Book

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Y...-ww--W-W---Y-E..-W, -Q ,.., v..,,,, , W ,c ,,,,,w,,,w A OPERATION OVERLORD Allied landings on the Normandie peninsula have been effectively carried out between the hours of 0600 and 0800 both from the sea and from the air supplied by allied warships and planes. Practically all the coastal guns have been silenced and did not prove to be as diffu- cult to silence as had been expected. Effective airborne landings have been carried out be- hind the enemy lines. More than 4,000 ships and 11,000 aircraft are involved in this morn- ing's and yesterday's attacks. General Mont- gomery is in full command of the troops. Dwight D. Eisenhower This certainly was good news and a big cheer came from the troops who were listening attentively while lounging on their vehicles on the main deck. We arrived at the transport area at 1500 on D day, and found the sea covered with ships, and the sky filled with planes. We dispatched our LCVP boats to the boat control ship and then proceeded to unload at Utah Beach. It was quite difficult to off-load as we had to use a rhino ferry. We were all extremely tired as we remained at Battle Stations for a very long period. The Germans came over that night as they did for several nights thereafter, dropping their bombs Non our forces ashore and laying mines in the transport area, where most of our ships were anchored or 'laying to.' On June 7 we moved to the Omaha Beach area as 23

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gf' HQKFWFAHW 5 Gperation Uverlord We sailed in convoy C36 LST'sj on the morning of june 5. It was quite an exciting day for all of us as we knew that the following day would be a bloody one. All of the LST's were loaded to capacity with men and cargo and we proceeded towards the coast of France in perfect formation. That evening a fleet of combatant ships, QBattleships, Cruisers, and Destroyersj was sighted on the horizon astern. They were part of the task force which sailed from Belfast, Ireland, and as they passed the following signal came to Commander Blair from Admiral Kirk, who was aboard the flagship U.S.S. Au- gusta, You look good. As the British Battleship War- spite passed we noticed that everybody seemed to be topside and we heard their famous Three Cheers come our way. It seemed a bit more comforting to have those big boys out ahead leading the way. We knew that their job was to come first in that they would bom- bard the coastal invasion beaches and give protection to the assault ships and boats. Une of their primary tar- gets would be to knock out the coastal guns and pill boxes which housed the famous German 88 and other guns. Cn the morning of June 6 about 1100, we re- ceived the following message by radio from the Supreme Commander, General Eisenhower: 22

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THE OL' DOUBLE TROUBLE some of our troops and equipment had to be put ashore in that vicinity. This beach we fOl1f1Cl YO be II1UCh more active and the Battle-wagons fthe Nevada and Arkan- sasj, were throwing big shells inland to destroy the Nazis as they retreated from the beach areas. We succeeded in oil-loading the remainder of our vehicles and troops and proceeded to the transport area to await orders. We had not been anchored long when two Coast Guard cutters moored alongside, each loaded with casualties from the Destroyer Escort, USS Rich. The Rich had sunk after striking a mine, and all of the casualties were in serious condition. We also received survivors from the SS Susan B. Anthony, which had been sunk as part of the new breakwater operation which was be- ing constructed to protect the beach. We received about 115 glider pilots who were part of the pre-H Airborne assault forces. They had made their way back to the beach area from the interior of France after accomplish- ing their mission. There were also numerous merchant ship crews taken aboard, as they had scuttled their ships to helps build the port of Mullberry and Gooseberry. Late in the afternoon on June 8, 1944, we sailed for Portland, England. It was good to see the shores of England again. We all rested more comfortably, know- ing that D-Day had come and gone, and that we were still all well and very much alive. We had several pa- tients though on the tank deck who were seriously wounded and in severe pain. One Naval Officer and one enlisted man from the Destroyer Escort Rich died during the night on the way back to England. Our Doc- tors did all they possibly could to try to save the lives 24 , 1 A v, . fb , -. v , , .g 1 , .