LST (491) - Naval Cruise Book

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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

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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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OPERATION OVERLORD LST, which was already beached, ripping a hole in our bottom and causing the main engine room to take wa- ter. When the tide went down we off-loaded our troops and cargo, and the engineers and ship-litters repaired the hole. We retracted from the beach about 0400, june 19, and sailed for Southampton that day. We were awaiting orders to enter the dry-dock for repairs, but no space was available. After a delay of several days we sailed on june 23 for Newport, Eng- land. The night before a liberty party had gone ashore. A large number of the men could not get back to the ship as the liberty boat developed motor trouble, and thus those left behind had to travel over land from Southampton to Newport. In a few days we arrived in Newport and there entered the dry-dock for repairs. The bottom was repaired, scrapped, and painted and the screws changed. N'Ve all enjoyed our stay in New- port. It was a friendly little town and not damaged by the bombers. On july 3, we moved to Penarth, Wales, where we proceeded to load the gear and equipment of the Amphibious Repair Base for transfer to the Mediterranean Area. We had an extended stay in Penarth and thus it was possible for all hands to receive a 48-hour liberty to visit London and other places of interest. We shall not forget the American Red Cross Station in Penarth. The Red Cross girls were very kind to all of our men. There were a half dozen or so Eng- lish women who came to the Red Cross Station three times a week to sew clothes for the American Sailors. This was their way in saying Thanks to the Yanks, 27