22nd Dragoons, "C" Squadron, 1st Troop - Unit Structure

The only 22 Dragoons Flail tanks not scheduled to land at H Hour on D Day were one each of 1 & 3 Tps, A Sqn and 3 & 4 Tps, C Sqn (four Flails), plus two complete troops of C Sqn (1 & 2 Tps, ten Flails total).

According to 8 Cdn Inf Bde Gp Landing Table dated 2 May 44, two LST, Serials 1560 (Force J) & 1565 (Force L), each carried 5 Sherman Tks (Flail) to be landed on MIKE SECTOR at H + 7 hrs & H + 9hrs resp. These were respectively HM LST 323 and US LST 517.

This matches the Green List giving HM LST 323 as part of Force J and US LST 517 of Force L, and is confirmed by this still of LST 517 with its hull number inside the Yellow Square specific of Force L:


Because Lt Thwaites specifies that he was in a US LST, he, and presumably the rest of his 1 Tp, must have been in US LST 517 (1565) of US LST Division 98, while 2 Tp must have been in HM LST 323 (1560) of 2 LST Flotilla.

For good measure let me throw in the only photo I know of HM LST 323 still in her D Day colours:

LST 323. © IWM (BU 648)IWM Non Commercial Licence

Michel

 

The photo of "You've Had It" was taken in 1947 when Ian Hammerton went on a battlefield tour (more a trip down memory lane, not an organised tour as we know them today). By that time is had been stripped down quite a bit but there are still indications of flail equipment on the hull.