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- 524 LCA FLOTILLA - by former Royal Marine H.R.‘Lofty’ Whitting (1994). Some larger landing craft made their own way across the English Channel to Normandy while others were carried on large mother ships and lowered into the water from davits when close to their destination. The procedures were similar to that employed today in lowering lifeboats on Channel Ferries that ply the same waters. Lofty's Landing Craft Support (Medium) [LCS(M)] was one of the latter on board SS Arquebus. The LCS(M)s were manned by Royal Marines and their primary task was to assist in the establishment of beachheads for the oncoming waves of regular troops about to land. Until the beaches and their environs were cleared of the enemy the Royal Marines were exposed to heavy fire.
Unbeknown to me at the time my immediate preparations for D-Day began on May 30th 1944. With several other royal marines I arrived at the Royal Marine Barracks at Deal to begin a routine junior NCO’s course. The following day, before our course had even begun, a signal was received requiring some of us to return to our unit at Sandwich in Kent. We had no idea what was going on or what was in store for us in the next few days. At Sandwich we were ordered to proceed to Poole in Dorset the following day to locate the Royal Navy Landing Craft Assault (LCA) Flotilla 524. Attached to this particular flotilla were three Royal Marine manned Landing Craft Support (Medium) [LCS(M)s] one of which, I was to join. [Although not recorded in Lofty’s writings here the three craft carried in Empire Arquebus were the Mk3 LCS(M) 78, 109 and 112. The Landing Craft Assault or LCAs carried on Arquebus comprised 602, 654, 656, 663, 733, 920, 921, 926, 1005, 1008, 1009, 1010, 1026, 1254 and 1384. Those shown in Red are war losses sustained during the Normandy campaign. Lofty records below that all the craft of 524 Flotilla survived the D-Day assault. Certainly on June 19th 1944 the craft are recorded embarked in Arquebus, but, it was on that day the ‘Great Storm’ hit the Normandy coast. It's possible that the craft were lost during that three day period.] Tony Chapman LST & Landing Craft association. The next day I travelled to London and onward to Poole. Arriving late in the afternoon I reported to the guard room and was given a medical, a meal and a billet for the night. By then the 524 Flotilla had moved to Hythe near Southampton! While making my way there I called at several camps on the way including HMS Mastadon (Exbury Hall) on the River Beaulieu. On arriving at Hythe I had more medicals and enjoyed the same lack of success in tracing the 524 LCA flotilla. Once more I was given a temporary billet for the night. The following day I discovered that my LCS(M) was on board a ship in the Solent. I was taken to Southampton where a ‘liberty’ boat from SS Empire Arquebus picked me up. As I climbed aboard I was asked, 'You know where you're going tomorrow? Before I had time to reply the answer was provided... France!' So I was to be part of the biggest amphibious invasion force in history. This was my first sight of an LCS(M) although I had been trained to man these craft and knew what was expected of me. I was, therefore both unfamiliar with the craft and the men I would work alongside. These unusual circumstances were explained when I learned that I had replaced someone who had failed to return to duty after home leave. 524 Flotilla consisted of 15 Landing Craft Assault (LCAs) manned by the Royal Navy in company with our three LCS(M) manned by Royal Marines. The LCAs of 524 had pictures and names of songs painted on them such as Blaydon Races, Swannee River and Polly Wolly Doodle. Our crew comprised our officer, Lieutenant Richard Hill, Corporal Powell, Coxswain Andrews, Stoker Rowbotham, Marine Martin who took charge of the CSA Smoke-Laying equipment, Gun Loader Jock Smith, Signalman Crispen, Smoke Mortar men Green and Howe and finally, Lewis gunners Pugh and myself. Corporal Powell manned the twin 0.5 inch Lewis gun in the Boulton Turret. Sunday June 4th was cold and miserable with heavy rain, gale force winds and a very big swell on the sea. On the messdeck at breakfast I met ‘Ginger’ Waters. He had been given a draft at Sandwich twenty four hours after me arriving on the Empire Arquebus during the hours of darkness. Ginger had not trained on LCS(M) but on Landing Craft Flack (LCF) as a gunner. I spent that Sunday, June 4, scrubbing equipment and getting familiar with the craft, stowing away the stores as well as attending meetings and a final briefing on our part in the great hazardous adventure that lay ahead. During the day we learned that D-Day had been postponed owing to the bad weather. The next day the weather had not improved so we attended more briefings and further studied our orders and instructions. I went to bed early that evening but could not sleep. As I lay there I felt the shuddering of engines and movement as the ship went forward. The sea was still rough and we were rising and falling as we made our way into the channel. I went on deck the see what was happening but all I could see were ships! Exhausted I eventually fell sleep. Reveille next morning, June 6th was about 0330. We had a good breakfast of fried eggs and bacon with fried bread and butter. We were back on deck and beside our craft by 0430. Then, it was time to go. Fully laden we lowered away, slipped our lowering gear on reaching the water and cast off. We were soon away from our mother ship and travelling under our own steam. Such was the swell that at times we were riding on the crest of a wave and then in a trough between two waves with nothing around us but sea. The LCAs we escorted in were off another ship so we had to rendezvous with them. The troops carried by SS Arquebus were from the Hampshire Regiment but we had no idea who was being carried by the LCAs. On board our craft we all felt very queasy and I was sick just once. Mortar man Howe suffered most. Going into the beach all hell let loose. The big ships of the Royal Navy fired shells over our heads. Rocket firing craft went forward towards the beach firing several salvos each comprising many rockets. Each time there was an almighty ‘woosh’ followed by bang after bang as the rockets exploded on the beach. Our craft moved towards the beach-head with Lieutenant Hill standing on the deck by the 0.5" twin machine gun turret. It was firing towards the beach. An enemy shell burst to our right and our officer shouted to the coxswain to make towards the shell burst as no two shells ever landed in the same place. The coxswain appeared not to hear the order and carried on moving forward, which, as it transpired, was just as well since another shell exploded in almost the same position! The shells came from a German 88mm. There was also enemy machine gun fire to our right which we could see hitting the water. There was so much noise from the big guns, rockets and our own guns that we never heard our own officer give us the order to fire our Lewis guns. He scrambled towards our position in the mortar well to make himself heard. We were sailing towards the village of Le Hamel which stood on the western flank of Gold beach. Our target was a pill-box on the top edge of the beach in the sand dunes. I can see it now, with a lone house to the right of it. This was our landmark and target.
By this time ‘Jock’ Smith the gun loader beneath the turret had loaded the twin Vickers so Pughy, our other Lewis gunner and myself ceased firing. Corporal Powell continued manning the Vickers. As we neared the beach we were ordered to cease fire but to ‘stand by’ in case we were needed. The main job we had come to do was over, the assault troops of the 50th Division were on the beach. During the morning it became obvious that we had shipped a fair amount of water although we did not know know why. We appeared to be sinking by the bows and we could not get ashore. We made contact with a frigate or a similar vessel and our officer requested assistance. They signalled back asking that we come alongside which we did, they then pumped us out. While we were being pumped out some of their crew made some hot soup and passed it down to us, it was greatly appreciated and went down a treat. As the day wore on the weather steadily improved, the rain eased off and eventually stopped. By early afternoon the cloud was lifting and later the sun began to shine. We cruised around keeping out of the way of other craft but in constant radio contact in the event of us being needed. The meals issued to landing craft crews consisted of a twenty four hour ration pack for each day. There were little blocks of concentrated meat, dried potato, tea mixed together with sugar, 5 glucose sweets, a bar of chocolate and 5 cigarettes and matches. Water was in containers aboard our craft. By the evening of D-Day things had quietened down so we were able to get closer to the beach. There were craft of every description both on the beach and cruising around like us. I saw an LCS(M) like ours capsized on the beach with shell damage. Her crew had been less fortunate than we had been. Later in the evening we hove-to alongside the other two LCS(M)s of our flotilla and the officers signalled the latest orders and instructions. One signaller picked up news from the BBC and we heard a correspondent giving an account of the landing. In particular he mentioned how the masses of assault landing craft were sailing in formation towards the coast of France, escorted on the flanks by miniature destroyers. That was us! Late evening found us looking for a place to moor for the night. We tied up alongside an LCG (Landing Craft, Gun), a big craft with 4" guns and slept till the following morning. At dawn we patrolled the beach to lay smoke in the event of an air attack. Operating the CSA smoke-laying gear was the domain of Marine ‘Mary’ Martin. By daybreak our task was complete so we continued patrolling the beach until advised that we were no longer required and should return to our mother ship Empire Arquebus. When we were hoisted back on to her deck with the rest of our flotilla alongside us including the other two LCS(M)s. All the craft off Arquebus had returned safely but, unfortunately, a sailor named Bayliss had been killed and his boat officer injured. They were the only casualties sustained by our flotilla. We were all relieved and thankful to have survived the initial landings. [AB Stanley Bayliss of 524 LCA Flotilla was a native of Minster Lovell in Oxfordshire, he was aged 19 on the day. He rests in the cemetery at Bayeux.] Tony Chapman of the LST and Landing Craft Association. We enjoyed a good wash and change into clean clothes followed by a hot meal. We later held debriefing sessions where every man gave an account of how they had seen events of the day. Later we all got together and spoke informally of what we had done. As the enemy were driven inland from the beach area the landings became easier and less hazardous but by no means safe. Many troops were now disembarking from bigger craft directly onto the beaches. We were ordered back to Southampton to pick up more troops to carry back to France but, as far as we were concerned, the flotilla’s primary task was at an end. Our job had been to help with the initial landings and to secure a beach-head. We dropped anchor off Cowes on the Isle of Wight on or about June 10 and were allowed ashore for a few hours. For a while it was very strange to walk on dry land again since it heaved and tossed as though we were still riding the waves! I cannot remember much of events after this period except that we returned to Hythe and lived under canvas there. During this period Britain was subjected to attacks from the air by Hitler’s new secret weapon, the V1 which fell from the sky when the fuel ran out. We dived for cover many times including under the table in our mess tent! After our stay at Hythe we were drafted back to HMS Empire Arquebus. When she was no longer required to carry troops to France Arquebus was stood down and laid up in the River Clyde in Scotland. I recall sailing down the channel, passing Plymouth and Lands End and then through the Irish Sea to Helensburgh where our craft were lowered away for the final time and moored alongside the quay there. It was sad for us to leave behind the craft that had been our home and protector and, of course, to say goodbye to the Empire Arquebus as we left Helensburgh to returned to HMS Westcliffe in Essex. Having recorded these recollections shortly after the 50th Anniversary of the D-Day landings I began to wonder if I had imagined it all. However, four months ago during June of this year (1996) I managed to make contact with my D-Day commanding officer, Lieutenant Richard Hill RM. Richard was delighted to hear from me after all the years that had passed. We had a long conversation and exchanged many memories of particular events and general impressions. He himself had given thought to writing a book about his D-Day experiences. His memories too had become somewhat clouded by the passage of time but my arrival on the scene gave us both the opportunity to strengthen our recollections. We spoke of our LCS(M) taking water and going alongside a naval vessel to be pumped out. Richard had told the story many times over the years believing that our craft had hit something in the water or had been holed by flak or machine gun fire. Having returned to the Empire Arquebus he found a bullet hole in one of his trouser legs and on further inspection three bullet holes through our Battle Ensign flying from the stern! He also told me that one craft of our group of three had been forced to return early to the Empire Arquebus because her Vickers gun had jammed. This craft may have been commanded by Lieutenant Blackler RM, the remaining craft of our group being under the command of Lieutenant Dan RM. [Tony Chapman of the LST and Landing Craft Association writes on August 25th 2007: At the time of writing it is impossible to determine which officers was in commanded of specific LCS(M)s assigned to 524 Flotilla off Empire Arquebus.
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