D-Day - 6 June 1944
Close to D-Day all leave was cancelled and we knew the invasion was close. We expected it to be the 5th June and when it was cancelled because of the weather, I thought for sure there would be a massive bombing raid on the Solent but nothing happened.
The 24-hour delay was a time for reflection and thinking especially when scrubbing and brassing the mess deck flat. The ship was like a new bloody pin and the coxswain had been told to work us to death but he could not give the two sigs anymore. We now had three officers to look after although the new one was as green as grass and did not like taking responsibility.
We left the Solent about 0030 on the 6th June and sailed around the Needles and three miles out came upon three landing ships wallowing in a roughish sea running at about 6 feet high. Took signals from the LCTs – two had flooded engine rooms and one had a failed engine. There were others that broke down during the crossing and I thought if this goes on like this we would be in big trouble.
Arriving at the invasion beaches at approximately 0600, about 3 to 5 miles out, the landing ships troopers were disgorging their soldiers into the LCA(I) and it was quite a problem as the six to seven foot sea was making it a very difficult situation for loading. When one considers that quite a number of the men were in a poor condition due to seasickness and also in full battle dress and had to climb down 30 feet plus scaling a ladder-like frame into these bucking and rampaging assault craft is rather a fearful experience. Apart from the rise and fall of the sea that was quite the worst to be encountered through all the exercises the lateral movement of the smaller craft being forced away from the parent ship was quite severe.
The troopers sides had been criss-crossed with vertical timbers 4”x3” and the horizontal timbers 3”x2” fixed at about 12” to 15” centres to form the ladder steps for descending. In some troopers this system was replaced by 1” diameter bars welded to the ship’s side.
On D-Day considerable damage had been done to the timber arrangement to the lower 10 feet due to the constant barging and scraping action of the assault craft, so it meant the soldiers had one hellish leap to arrive in the LCA(I) with all the attending injuries this would entail. It’s quite an alarming process with a two-foot sea running, as the movements are very exaggerated so my heart went out to those fellows. Having had to perform the procedure a number of times myself when attached to the Empire Lance undertaking beach party exercises.
I remember the two regiments that were tasked with assaulting the beach – the Dorset Regiment and Hampshire Regiment¹.
Normally the assault craft is crewed by two Marines; a corporal acting as helmsman and engineer, plus an attendant Marine. On D-Day I did notice others were present in some cases endeavouring to hold the craft steady – an impossible task under the atrocious conditions that meant the loading casualties must have been fairly heavy. Not a pleasant thought to be injured and still have the beach to face!
A number of assault craft were circling fully loaded but it was not a healthy situation as the enemy shore guns had the range and were endeavouring to hit the troopers so we proceeded through this conglomeration to Gold Beach Area. We headed for the cliffs east of Arromanches, noting a destroyer had been beached on the west side, nicely protected from the shore guns by the cliffs. The Gold Area ranged from around Port-en-Bessin in the west to La-Riviere, about 9 miles long with about half unapproachable due to cliffs from Port-en-Bessin to Le-Hamel.
To the east of Arromanches lies a range of cliffs that gradually slope down to an area called “Le Hamel” that appeared to be well fortified and were causing considerable trouble on the beach. A landing craft (guns) armed with artillery was endeavouring to tackle the problem with its 4.7” guns at virtually point blank range but was taking considerable punishment in return.
After returning from dealing with the sniper in Juno area, this LCG appeared high and dry and seriously damaged and out of action with others lying at various angles, a couple broadside to the beach. Others had retreated with the tide and the damaged landing craft were wallowing in a quaint disturbing motion, as if out of control. It had been a most severe morning for these lads, at ten in the morning our Gold Beach still appeared in considerable confusion and as our RT sets were not yet in full working order, trying to find the various communication channels, I was only getting a fraction of the “chaos and bloody confusion”. It was an outstanding feature of the invasion, but only to be expected in such a larger operation.
After the war I saw a painting by a top American war artist showing the beaches with a lot of landing craft laid neatly side by side like on parade and I thought that silly bastard had only seen the invasion beaches from a trooper five miles out with the heavy haze over it. In fact the beaches were a complete mess with landing craft and other vessels at all angles. The beaches were strewn with discarded material as well.
Considering this had surprised the Germans or so they said, the defence the enemy put up and getting into position so smartly, one has to hand it to the Germans. It begs the question, does the bombardment from the RAF and naval ships (for what damage they done) only serve to advertise the impending invasion and wake up the enemy to give them time to prepare before assault forces land?
The sigs were informed to keep a constant watch on the Bulolo as we had been detailed as her runner along with another ML. This was the first we knew about it and actually it was in the written orders delivered by hand a couple of hours before sailing (the orders were opened and actioned two hours after sailing). Actually, there was quite a scribe in the envelope but the crew were only told about a few points. I read it all when it was left in the officers’ quarters the next day (one advantage of waiting on, one could read the log and other necessary information sharing the news with the other sig, which kept us in the picture).
The film “The Longest Day” was well named because the officers and two sigs got very little sleep from about the 4th June. What with the cancellation due to the bad weather on the 5th and then being in action stations from leaving the Solent right through D-Day and we recommenced regular watch keeping, myself taking the middle watch – 0001-0400 – on the 7th June on a 4 hour on, 4 hour off basis plus closing up for action stations when required which was quite often for the first week. The two junior officers were 4 on, 4 off like the sigs with the Skipper on regular call full time (never more than two hours) because of the panics and emergencies especially when the third officer was on watch - he was rather a greenhorn in many respects.
Early morning on D-Day we reported to the Gold Sector HQS HMS Bulolo. We were one of two MLs allocated to be her runners’ 24 hours per day - a real bloody bind. Our first job was to deal with a sniper in the Juno Area. They gave us the co-ordinates over the WT and it turned out to be in Courselles. The Canadians were assaulting this beach and were in deep trouble just getting off the beach, and taking heavy casualties.
The first impression I had was the French people must be very religious because on first sighting there appeared to be umpteen steeples and churches along the coast. Another snag was the six-foot sea that was running presented considerable problems. Our practising off the Isle of Wight at a parachute flare was dead simple compared to this and then we were rationed to six shells and one depth charge. At Juno Beach it was about the fourteenth shell that hit the target, by which time Herr Sniper would be back in Berlin. I was under the impression at the time that our lads would be in the vicinity of the church and be on the receiving end of our shells but following up history 60 years later I found Courselles was a tough nut to crack and survived until late afternoon, so we must have nailed a few Jerries but the other part of the equation is what about the French civilians in and around the church? I also found out at the same time that the constant flat crack that I had been aware of since 0630 was German 88’s firing. All I can say they must have had a hell of a lot of them. The medal is in the post!
By this time we had picked up 4 “RT” sets from Bulolo, the wiring was all over the bridge and we were trying them out on the way, but it was a further 48 hours before we were fully familiar with them. Believe it or not there was one for “Officers Only” listening to the spiel on this RT was a real eye-opener. One was Bulolo only, which was a nuisance, as we could not get a break from her. The other two were great for following the battle and covered all the progress of the army with channels for the RAF and calling in strikes, even tank commanders communicating with HQ and each other.
95% of the language was in plain English and as I now understand the Jerries tuned into these sets and got a wealth of information as I consider quite a lot was careless information and appeared unnecessary really (but what do I know???). Very little scrambling appeared to be used, it amazes me they must assume the Germans don’t speak English.
A big information provider for us, and our favourite, was “Hello Bedmate, Hello Bedmate – This is Bedpan, Over”. That sticks in my mind even now some 60-odd years later. I wonder who they were although definitely army, God bless them. Thanks fellows, we enjoyed your crack – and they were Geordies to boot!
The night of 6th June and for the rest of the month’s nights there were amazing pyrotechnic shows due to all the anti-aircraft fire being put up against supposed Luftwaffe attacks against the anchorage. When I thought that perhaps the tracers were every sixth to tenth shot, the amount of ordnance being let loose was tremendous – and it happened night after night. I would think somewhere in the region of 600 ships were involved at any one time, and it seemed every gun was adding to the barrage.
I’ve always thought about where all that ordnance finally came down. I never hearing of any injuries being mentioned regarding falling anti-aircraft fire, but some poor sod must have caught a piece. Looking back, I consider it to be more a reassurance exercise, as no sane pilot would have attempted to run the gauntlet of that barrage.
The 24-hour delay was a time for reflection and thinking especially when scrubbing and brassing the mess deck flat. The ship was like a new bloody pin and the coxswain had been told to work us to death but he could not give the two sigs anymore. We now had three officers to look after although the new one was as green as grass and did not like taking responsibility.
We left the Solent about 0030 on the 6th June and sailed around the Needles and three miles out came upon three landing ships wallowing in a roughish sea running at about 6 feet high. Took signals from the LCTs – two had flooded engine rooms and one had a failed engine. There were others that broke down during the crossing and I thought if this goes on like this we would be in big trouble.
Arriving at the invasion beaches at approximately 0600, about 3 to 5 miles out, the landing ships troopers were disgorging their soldiers into the LCA(I) and it was quite a problem as the six to seven foot sea was making it a very difficult situation for loading. When one considers that quite a number of the men were in a poor condition due to seasickness and also in full battle dress and had to climb down 30 feet plus scaling a ladder-like frame into these bucking and rampaging assault craft is rather a fearful experience. Apart from the rise and fall of the sea that was quite the worst to be encountered through all the exercises the lateral movement of the smaller craft being forced away from the parent ship was quite severe.
The troopers sides had been criss-crossed with vertical timbers 4”x3” and the horizontal timbers 3”x2” fixed at about 12” to 15” centres to form the ladder steps for descending. In some troopers this system was replaced by 1” diameter bars welded to the ship’s side.
On D-Day considerable damage had been done to the timber arrangement to the lower 10 feet due to the constant barging and scraping action of the assault craft, so it meant the soldiers had one hellish leap to arrive in the LCA(I) with all the attending injuries this would entail. It’s quite an alarming process with a two-foot sea running, as the movements are very exaggerated so my heart went out to those fellows. Having had to perform the procedure a number of times myself when attached to the Empire Lance undertaking beach party exercises.
I remember the two regiments that were tasked with assaulting the beach – the Dorset Regiment and Hampshire Regiment¹.
Normally the assault craft is crewed by two Marines; a corporal acting as helmsman and engineer, plus an attendant Marine. On D-Day I did notice others were present in some cases endeavouring to hold the craft steady – an impossible task under the atrocious conditions that meant the loading casualties must have been fairly heavy. Not a pleasant thought to be injured and still have the beach to face!
A number of assault craft were circling fully loaded but it was not a healthy situation as the enemy shore guns had the range and were endeavouring to hit the troopers so we proceeded through this conglomeration to Gold Beach Area. We headed for the cliffs east of Arromanches, noting a destroyer had been beached on the west side, nicely protected from the shore guns by the cliffs. The Gold Area ranged from around Port-en-Bessin in the west to La-Riviere, about 9 miles long with about half unapproachable due to cliffs from Port-en-Bessin to Le-Hamel.
To the east of Arromanches lies a range of cliffs that gradually slope down to an area called “Le Hamel” that appeared to be well fortified and were causing considerable trouble on the beach. A landing craft (guns) armed with artillery was endeavouring to tackle the problem with its 4.7” guns at virtually point blank range but was taking considerable punishment in return.
After returning from dealing with the sniper in Juno area, this LCG appeared high and dry and seriously damaged and out of action with others lying at various angles, a couple broadside to the beach. Others had retreated with the tide and the damaged landing craft were wallowing in a quaint disturbing motion, as if out of control. It had been a most severe morning for these lads, at ten in the morning our Gold Beach still appeared in considerable confusion and as our RT sets were not yet in full working order, trying to find the various communication channels, I was only getting a fraction of the “chaos and bloody confusion”. It was an outstanding feature of the invasion, but only to be expected in such a larger operation.
After the war I saw a painting by a top American war artist showing the beaches with a lot of landing craft laid neatly side by side like on parade and I thought that silly bastard had only seen the invasion beaches from a trooper five miles out with the heavy haze over it. In fact the beaches were a complete mess with landing craft and other vessels at all angles. The beaches were strewn with discarded material as well.
Considering this had surprised the Germans or so they said, the defence the enemy put up and getting into position so smartly, one has to hand it to the Germans. It begs the question, does the bombardment from the RAF and naval ships (for what damage they done) only serve to advertise the impending invasion and wake up the enemy to give them time to prepare before assault forces land?
The sigs were informed to keep a constant watch on the Bulolo as we had been detailed as her runner along with another ML. This was the first we knew about it and actually it was in the written orders delivered by hand a couple of hours before sailing (the orders were opened and actioned two hours after sailing). Actually, there was quite a scribe in the envelope but the crew were only told about a few points. I read it all when it was left in the officers’ quarters the next day (one advantage of waiting on, one could read the log and other necessary information sharing the news with the other sig, which kept us in the picture).
The film “The Longest Day” was well named because the officers and two sigs got very little sleep from about the 4th June. What with the cancellation due to the bad weather on the 5th and then being in action stations from leaving the Solent right through D-Day and we recommenced regular watch keeping, myself taking the middle watch – 0001-0400 – on the 7th June on a 4 hour on, 4 hour off basis plus closing up for action stations when required which was quite often for the first week. The two junior officers were 4 on, 4 off like the sigs with the Skipper on regular call full time (never more than two hours) because of the panics and emergencies especially when the third officer was on watch - he was rather a greenhorn in many respects.
Early morning on D-Day we reported to the Gold Sector HQS HMS Bulolo. We were one of two MLs allocated to be her runners’ 24 hours per day - a real bloody bind. Our first job was to deal with a sniper in the Juno Area. They gave us the co-ordinates over the WT and it turned out to be in Courselles. The Canadians were assaulting this beach and were in deep trouble just getting off the beach, and taking heavy casualties.
The first impression I had was the French people must be very religious because on first sighting there appeared to be umpteen steeples and churches along the coast. Another snag was the six-foot sea that was running presented considerable problems. Our practising off the Isle of Wight at a parachute flare was dead simple compared to this and then we were rationed to six shells and one depth charge. At Juno Beach it was about the fourteenth shell that hit the target, by which time Herr Sniper would be back in Berlin. I was under the impression at the time that our lads would be in the vicinity of the church and be on the receiving end of our shells but following up history 60 years later I found Courselles was a tough nut to crack and survived until late afternoon, so we must have nailed a few Jerries but the other part of the equation is what about the French civilians in and around the church? I also found out at the same time that the constant flat crack that I had been aware of since 0630 was German 88’s firing. All I can say they must have had a hell of a lot of them. The medal is in the post!
By this time we had picked up 4 “RT” sets from Bulolo, the wiring was all over the bridge and we were trying them out on the way, but it was a further 48 hours before we were fully familiar with them. Believe it or not there was one for “Officers Only” listening to the spiel on this RT was a real eye-opener. One was Bulolo only, which was a nuisance, as we could not get a break from her. The other two were great for following the battle and covered all the progress of the army with channels for the RAF and calling in strikes, even tank commanders communicating with HQ and each other.
95% of the language was in plain English and as I now understand the Jerries tuned into these sets and got a wealth of information as I consider quite a lot was careless information and appeared unnecessary really (but what do I know???). Very little scrambling appeared to be used, it amazes me they must assume the Germans don’t speak English.
A big information provider for us, and our favourite, was “Hello Bedmate, Hello Bedmate – This is Bedpan, Over”. That sticks in my mind even now some 60-odd years later. I wonder who they were although definitely army, God bless them. Thanks fellows, we enjoyed your crack – and they were Geordies to boot!
The night of 6th June and for the rest of the month’s nights there were amazing pyrotechnic shows due to all the anti-aircraft fire being put up against supposed Luftwaffe attacks against the anchorage. When I thought that perhaps the tracers were every sixth to tenth shot, the amount of ordnance being let loose was tremendous – and it happened night after night. I would think somewhere in the region of 600 ships were involved at any one time, and it seemed every gun was adding to the barrage.
I’ve always thought about where all that ordnance finally came down. I never hearing of any injuries being mentioned regarding falling anti-aircraft fire, but some poor sod must have caught a piece. Looking back, I consider it to be more a reassurance exercise, as no sane pilot would have attempted to run the gauntlet of that barrage.
¹ These two assault regiments were to land on beach sectors Jig Green (1st Battalion The Hampshire Regiment) and Jig Red (1st Battalion The Dorset Regiment).