Confused on D Day landing date

Hi,
My granddad has an entry in his records saying;
- Embarked UK 11-6-44 for NWE

He was with 3CLY at the time, but the war diaries state they landed in Normandy on 7 June.
Can anyone shed any light on why these dates may not match up?






Thanks
Steve

 

Cannot help with your question but just did an internet search for 3CLY and found this site.View - The Sharpshooters

Not sure if you have seen it.

 

Landing that early in the operation, the priority was self-contained fighting units. It's probable that the regiment shed some of it's admin elements who followed up a few days later. If you have any operation orders/instructions amongst the diaries, they might explain the situation more clearly.

 

I would say he was on one of the LCTs which was excessively overloaded and had to return to the hards, but as they were used for causalities they had to go somewhere to unload and reload. So the records were right, as it would be around the 11th when the LCTs would be allotted a new space, in the queue of ships crossing and re-crossing the channel.

 

It was normal for the unit to take three or four weeks to get everyone and everything across the Channel. Partly because as has been said priority was given to the fighting elements. Administrative elements followed as space on craft allowed. A small party remained behind for some time to tidy up, complete paper work, despatch equipment and stores, return surplus stores, complete unit accounts etc.

Mike

 

(What everyone else said plus..)
Do you know his role in the unit? The bulk of the 'tail' elements including 'B' echelon transport often followed days behind operational units - it is mentioned in many unit and personal accounts that they 'had to wait days for the unit transport to catch up' (usually with the first mail).

There may also have been personal reasons to miss the main group - medical, admin, even training. He could just have 'missed the boat' for some reason and frustratingly had to await the next available transport. Also (I have to mention) whilst procedures were in place in most units to speed up disciplinary procedures to specifically avoid anyone deliberately avoiding a 'push' like this, you never know.

 

David Render (SRY) - Render, David Desmond (Oral history) (22099)

Has an interesting account, i.e. 3rd Reel - circa 6 mins in. Ordered to report to Southampton, he hadn't a clue what was going on and was "met" and thought he was there to deliverer some tanks... these he put on board a ship circa 10mins in - and was about to disembark himself to go back for some more tanks, when he saw that they had already sailed - he met up with his Regiment who had been fighting for some days.

For the 24th Lancers, after the Assault party there were later troops of First Line Reinforcements, as well as admin. Losses and congestion in the first parties were expected to be high, so they didn't all arrive in one go.

I've also seen one mention of someone in the SRY being on a charge for answering back to a corporal, and hence missing D-day by 14 days... D-Day survivors tell their stories

My grandfather wrote an account of his journey and arrival: 24th Lancers - LST Query

"These tank landing craft are flat bottomed; the crew were American as also was the boat. We pulled away from the dock but we were too busy below to see anything until the anchor dropped and there we were, alone between the Isle of Wight and the mainland. We were there a week and watched the ships build up behind us until I swear we could have walked back to the docks without wetting our feet."

I sometimes think it's a real wonder that they had even a clue what day it was! Though they could often find a radio, mail and newspapers were mostly out of date.

And especially with the way the US noted the date i.e. month first, then the day of the month. Good job perhaps it is remembered now as 6/6/1944!

Rm.

 

Thanks all for your help, I got an official response from the Kent and Sharpshooters Yeomanry Museum too (who they became part of).

"Military forms imply a neat, orderly process of events which is rarely borne out by the facts. Whilst the large part of the Regiment did indeed land on 7th June, there was an advance party who landed on the evening of the 6th to establish forming up points and liaise with higher command, plus a long trail of Echelon and administrative troops who would have been considered lower priority, and so would have been fitted onto subsequent sailings."

As he was a tank driver he likely went with the F Echelon (fighting vehicles) later.
F Echelon – Contained the essential personnel and vehicles for fighting. In a Field Regiment, the F Echelon consisted of the reconnaissance parties, the Regimental Headquarters group and the gun groups. The ammunition vehicles were often also grouped within this echelon.