LST (491) - Naval Cruise Book

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OPERATION OVERLORD of these two men, but the wounds were so severe that their efforts came to naught. We all admired the fine work of Doctor Daugherty and Doctor Lawrence, our Pharmacists Mates and corpsmen, and also the Army Doctor and staff that were aboard for the invasion. Early on june 10 we sailed from Portland. We had a heavy load of vehicles, tanks, half-tracks, and trucks and several hundred American soldiers. There was still plenty of action on the French Coast and our passengers all looked mighty serious. They cleaned their guns with diligence and skill as they realized that their guns would be most helpful friends when they would disembark. We arrived late that evening, but could not beach as the tide was low. During the morning of June ll, at about 0400, we had our first real air-raid. The jerries were over-head dropping bombs all around us. All of the ships were making smoke and the heavens were covered with tracer shells from the anti-aircraft batteries ashore. We beached at daylight and off-loaded our troops and vehicles. Before retracting we received about 85 American infantry men who had been wounded in battle. Most of them were ambulatory patients, but were suffering from severe shock. We also received 14 German prisoners who were badly woundedg they were in serious condition and one died before we reached England. We entered the port of Southampton this trip and in eight hours were off-loaded and re-loaded and soon on our way back to France. VVe carried a British Armored unit this time, and many of us saw for the first time the Churchill and Cromwell tanks. On 25-

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,Al K ,fx l i-' .A at Q ' N T1 ., A x f 4 .-' U . 3, , ...e.,..f., mf -ff' ' vw, ' 7 s wi 2 is ,,, 1 ,X i. x 'ls The LCVP Expeditersn Standing, from left to right: Johnston, Mil- jour, Gerhart, Gillespie, Carey. Seated, left to right: Scott, Anastasi, Welge, Capstick, and Lena. The Black Gang Lovergine Re- ports Manned and Ready X xx l We W Q, -. V 'f ll-

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THE OL DOUBLE TROUBLE arrival in Normandy, we were ordered to off-load at Gold Beach, a British Beach which was under the con- trol of the Eastern Task Force. Everything went well, and we unloaded in good time with very little confusion. We sailed on june 16 for Tilbury, which is located on the Thames River about twenty miles South of Lon- don. To get there we had to pass through the Straits of Dover. That night during the 20-24 evening watch we noticed what at first appeared to be aircraft return- ing from the French Coast. These strange looking craft were showing a bright light and made a terrific roar as they passed overhead. We were ordered not to fire on them by our escort, but as they approached the shore of England, all of the British Anti-Aircraft batteries opened fire. They succeeded in knocking one down, but the others proceeded inland devastating the area where they exploded. Mfe learned the next morning from the Thames River pilot that they were the dreaded flying pilot-less V-l bombs and that the great city of London was receiving most of them. The people in Tilbury were calm but much concerned as three of the V-l's had landed in their town during the night causing considerable damage and killing a great number of people. We loaded a unit of the Royal Highlander Engineers, a part of the Royal Air Force. On June 17 we were underway again proceeding to Juno Beach in France. On June 18, about 2245, we proceeded to beach just as an air raid was starting. The area was covered with smoke and it was difficult to see the beach. As we beached we struck the stern anchor of another 26