D-day order of battle

[von Poop]

Bart's looking for Naval order of battle though.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Gotthard Heinrici]

Aaagghhhhh Wrong thread!!! Sorry losing it today!

[sapper]

Yes they were inland, but they arrived pretty damned sharp.
Sapper

[Bart150]

Thanks for the responses, particularly Jeff and Adam.


At the moment of D-day my father was on HMS Whitshed. This was a destroyer based at Chatham (at any rate in the months before June 1944). The only thing he ever said was this: we went out into the Channel to exercise a few times; then one time, they told us we weren’t turning back, this time it was the real thing.

I had found some indications that Whitshed was one of the destroyers that bombarded Gold beach, but since she was only a short-range escort destroyer, this seemed odd to me.

After much wearisome Googling I had almost given up trying to validate my theory when I found this site: Royal Navy in World War 2 and Post-War, and Ship Histories I’m sure it wasn’t there last time I searched for Whitshed.

For Whitshed in 1944 it tells me:
April 18th In action with E-Boats carrying cut minelay in English Channel.
(Note : Enemy craft abandoned their attacks after sustaining damage.

May Nominated for duty with Escort Group 104 based at Nore for defence of convoys to Normandy beachhead with HM Destroyer MONTROSE, HM Corvette BORAGE and HM Corvette LOOSESTRIFE during planned allied landings (Operation NEPTUNE).
Continued escort of mercantile convoys.

June Joined Escort Group 104 at Southend..
4th Escorted Convoy EIL1 comprising 12 Landing Ships, Tank and 24 Landing Craft, Tank from Southend to Eastern Task Force Area.
6th Arrived in Area with convoy and then returned to Southend with Escort Group for escort of Build-Up convoys.

July Released from NEPTUNE and reamed convoy escort and patrol duties at Harwich.

This site is a marvellous resource, with that kind of detail on over 1000 British ships in WW2. Thought you’d like to know!

BTW I’m now curious about the exercises beforehand that Dad mentioned. Did they really load up all the landing ships of Convoy EIL1 and sail out from Southend and come back again?

Bart

[Slipdigit]

Good website, Bart

[James Harvey]

Please could anyone tell me the names of the boom defence vessels involved with operation neptune.

My grandfather earnt the France and Germany star, the only ship that he served on during the qualifying date was HMS Kerriemoor a Boom Carrier and Thames Boom Defence,
The thames Boom dfence was based on the river thames so did not qualify for the star so that only leave s the HMS Kerriemoor.

Any Help greatly appreciated

James

[Compo]

James, try this link, more info in Operation Neptune than you probably want. Written by the US Navy but includes British etc ships, has to really, 70% were Brit and Canadian.
HyperWar: Administrative History of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, 1940-1946

[4th wilts]

just finished reading a utah site,and was quite suprised to see that the term reverse lend-lease was used alot.this is sprecially interesting because it seems lots of landing craft,were in fact built to british specs.i always understood landing craft were all designed and built by some bloke called higgins from new orleans,yours,4th wilts.

[Compo]

4th Wilts
The Higgins landing craft were indeed built in New Orleans by a company owned by an Irish American called Higgins. They were wood and had a flat bottom, initially to land and drag off from the shallow shores of swamps.

The reverse lend lease craft were LCT (Landing Craft Tank) metal craft built in the USA, many ordered by Britain under lend lease who then thought it a good idea to add some armor and it was these craft which found a function on the US beaches, hence the reverse lend lease.

These craft did not receive names, only numbers, and so would not be relevant to the question on this thread since, I think, the original question was the part played by a ship which would have to have a name except; I cannot find the mention of which name that might have been.

[4th wilts]

i understood this thread is about the naval order of battle,so a ship without a name,just a number is not part of the naval order of battle.is this what you are saying.i bet the poor blokes in the numbered ships thought they were in a battle.4th wilts.