Research: Three Months in the Mediterranean, 1943 (26)

 Monty's Eighth and Canadian Army are Earning Their Keep

German Defensive Line at Mount Etna (Sicily) 'Cracked'!!

Allied forces are working their way toward Messina, upper right

Click here for more details and maps re Operation HUSKY, 1943

Introduction:

The news goes on and on and on. Beginning on July 10, 1943, Operation HUSKY was launched and Allied forces worked their way from the south eastern coasts of Sicily to its upper right hand corner into early August. Excellent coverage - on a daily basis, sometimes twice! - was provided for the folks back home by way of newspaper, radio and film reports. 

Readers will find below extensive news columns from the Montreal Gazette written by well-known (by now), battle-tested, sometimes bone-weary reporters, e.g., Ross Munro and Lionel Shapiro (two of my favourites).

Questions or comments can be addressed to Gord H. via email. gordh7700@gmail.com

First up, Lionel Shapiro, author of  They Left the Back Door Open

Though I tend to focus on the heroics of the sailors in RCNVR and Combined Operations, please find below 'July figures' (only July, mind) related to how the air force(s) are doing!

Please find below, two articles for the price of one:

Oh, and about that "seven point proposal" mentioned in the first of the two articles above:

What's on the menu for Berliners these days? Read below:

The head of Bomber Command, Arthur Harris, did face some opposition to his approach to "the area bombing of German cities." Click here for more information, from Wikipedia. 

Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Travers Harris, 24 April 1944. Wikipedia

Along those same lines...

The De Havilland Mosquito Bomber. Photo and details, Wikipedia

Click here to read about a Canadian link to the Mosquito

The news article continues...

Most of Monty's 8th Army landed between Cape Passero and Syracuse (red

arrow). Canadian Army landed west of Cape Passero (red arrow). Both armies

made up the Eastern Task Force (yellow oval). Four Canadian Flotillas of

Landing Craft (LCAs and LCMs, i.e., 'landing craft assault' and 'landing craft

mechanized', landed British troops and all materials of war during Operation 

HUSKY, July - Aug. '43 (lower blue oval). One Canadian Flotilla of LCMs

(the 80th, incl. my father) landed Canadian troops (a first) and British troops

- and all supplies - during Operation BAYTOWN on the toe of the boot of Italy

beginning Sept. 3, '43 (top blue oval) 

The news article continues:

Though the Allies are "making life hot for the Axis" and "gains are promising", someone should make sure the back door is not left open!

Too late to close it!!

Meanwhile, back at the Atlantic Ocean...

The need for a base hospital, for Canadians, manned by Canadian nurses, was likely quite high and I haven't spotted too many articles about such an establishment:

Though the nurses were seemingly looking forward to helping where their skills were needed, it must be remembered that they likely knew that they would conceivably be working in a hostile environment. Shortly after Operation Husky began (July 10, 1943) an Allied hospital ship (HMHS Talamba) was set ablaze and sunk by bombardments from the Luftwaffe just off the coast of eastern Sicily, very close to where the 80th and 81st Canadian Flotillas of Landing Craft were at work (near Avola) transporting reinforcements and all material of war for Monty's Eighth Army.

Click here to read more about the sinking of HMHS Talamba as found in Navy memoirs by Doug Harrison, RCNVR/Combined Operations.

Click here to read about "Revenge for HMHS Talamba"

Ross Munro, a frequent eye witness to the movements and work of Canadian troops while in Sicily, again provides a very readable and detailed account re Monty's Eighth and Canadian forces near Mount Etna:

A Canadian tank rumbles through the old-world streets of Regalbuto.

Image courtesy of Seaforth Highlanders of Canada.

Men from the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, part of the 1st Canadian

Division, enter Modica. Photo - Remembering Operation HUSKY

With "a Bible clenched between his teeth?"

Please read on, a lot more news from August 4th, 1943 is shared below:

Meanwhile, back in the Atlantic Ocean...

For more details concerning 'the battle of the Atlantic' I recommend the following books:

(On my reading list for December and January!)

Not only was the German Defensive Line at Mount Etna (Sicily) 'Cracked'!!

Don't mess with miners!!

Hometown readers of the Montreal Gazette would likely be very happy to see this final news clip:

More news from The Montreal Gazette will be shared at a later date. Stay tuned!

Please click here to view Research: Three Months in the Mediterranean, 1943 (25)

Unattributed Photos GH

Article: Landing Crafts in 'The Med' Sink a German Convoy

  You Didn't Know? Landing Crafts were out Hunting, with Ammo

You Didn't Hear? Well, a Guy Named Cyril Stole the News, Eh!

Lest We Forget. Author N. Beckett kept the news rolling during WWII.

Now we benefit, even if we are not from Staffordshire in the U.K.

Introduction:

For a couple of years I produced a number of Little Free Libraries for people in my neighbourhood (at first) and then in surrounding areas (after word spread). One particular neighbour who lives less than two blocks away knows I read and write about WWII and drops off relevant books once in awhile into my mailbox.

I was more than happy to read through a book full of stories from a newspaper and its editor Norman Beckett, a life-long resident of North Staffordshire, England. (More information about the Sentinel and author appears at the bottom of this entry). And happier still to come across one story, very rare in my opinion, about a trio of landing crafts that rode out into the Mediterranean Sea in 1944 'loaded for bear'!

Operation Gun? What the heck!

Regular readers of this blog, i.e., "1,000 Men, 1,000 Stories" will likely be well aware by now of the operations that many of my 1,000 men were involved in during WWII, in particular Operation Jubilee (Dieppe Raid - August 18, 1942), Operation Torch (invasion of North Africa - beginning November 8, 1942), Operation Husky (invasion of Sicily beginning July 10, 1943), Operation Baytown (invasion of Italy at the toe of the boot beginning September 3, 1943), and Operation Neptune (the Navy's role in Operation Overlord, the invasion of France beginning on D-Day Normandy, i.e., June 6, 1944).

But Operation Gun? I had never heard of it. Now, Exercise Pirate, another rare item, yes I've heard about that one. Even have a link to a WWII video about it. But Operation Gun. Not a thing... 'til now.

Norman Beckett, News Editor of the Sentinel continues:

     The Royal Navy force, led by Commander Bobby Allen, comprised three L.C.G.s - tank landing craft* which had been checked over and fitted with two 4.7 inch guns.

An example of an L.C.G.(L)**. More details can be found at the

important Combined Ops website created by Geoff Slee, Scotland

* tank landing crafts were generally called L.C.T.s (Landing Craft, Tanks)

** along that same line, L.C.G.(L) would signify Landing Craft, Guns (Large)

Norman Beckett, News Editor of the Sentinel continues:

Motor Torpedo Boat (MTB) in the Mediterranean February 1945

Photo Credit to Wikipedia

An up-armoured (F-Boat) F-Lighter, somewhere in the Mediterranean. You

can see the twin-barrelled 20mm cannons amidships, with the shadow of

a larger calibre gun towards the stern. Photo Credit - Warlord Games

Gulf of Genoa, in NW Italy. Photo credit - Google Maps

Bennett's article continues:

     "The F-boats just didn't know what hit them. They fired up at the star shells and obviously thought they were being attacked by aircraft," said Mr. Holland.

     A short description of Operation Gun in 'Gunboat 658' by L. C. Reynolds, pays remarkable tribute to the shooting of the Marines.

     "The leading L.C.G. had fired star shells and then it had almost been a question of target practice."

Available for under $8.00 U.S. at AbeBooks! : )

Bennett's article concludes below:

Some say that "All's well that ends well," so maybe Mr. Holland shouldn't have knicked that typewritten sheet from his ship's notice board. I mean, if it eventually led to the loss of three months' pay, in today's dollars that might be worth a mortgage payment, or two!

Not to be outdone by marksmen of the Royal Navy aboard the three aforementioned landing craft, Norm Mitchinson, RCNVR and Combined Operations, brought down planes as well.

In his navy memoirs my father writes:

Norm Mitchinson of Niagara Falls was credited with two planes shot down during the course of the war; one at Dieppe and one at Sicily. Both were low flying bombers. His weapon was a strip Lewis 303. "Dad, Well Done" page 20.

Norm Mitchinson (front row, 2nd left) with several members of Effingham

Division outside Wellington Barracks, HMS Stadacona, Nov. 1941. Had these

men volunteered for Combined Operations by then? I am not certain, but this unit,

incl. my father, was the first draft of Canadian volunteers to do so

Photo from the collection of Joe Spencer, back row, 1st left.

A short note about four Canadian Landing Craft flotillas with a connection to their service in Sicily, 1943, can be found at the following link - Royal Canadian Navy and the Sicily Campaign: 9 July-5 Aug 1943

Note the additional text I've added to the following book cover:

The memorial (not atop the house) is east of Rugeley, Staffordshire

More about the author of "The War Around Us" and book is found on the front and back flyleaf, copied below:

Questions or comments can be addressed to Gord H. at gordh7700@gmail.com

Please click here to link to another article, Don Westbrook Attends 50th Anniversary of Normandy Landings

Unattributed Photos GH

Article: Don Westbrook Attends the 50th Anniversary of Normandy D-Day Landings

 Westbrook Represents RCNVR (and Combined Operations!)

in Normandy, France, on "D-Day Plus 50 Years" in 1994

Members of RCNVR/Combined Ops aboard H.M.S. Keren in

summer, 1943, on their way to the invasion of Sicily (July '43)

Don Westbrook, back row, first on the left. See below.

Photo from collection of Doug Harrison (RCNVR/Comb.Ops) who

was aboard S.S. Silver Walnut during same voyage around Africa

Introduction:

The news article below, featuring Don Westbrook (from Hamilton as I recall from my childhood, 1950s), was found in the rich collection belonging to Roy Burt (RCNVR during WWII), given to me by his daughter. A few other photos below are shared from my father's collection (Doug Harrison, RCNVR WWII) and other sources.

Don W. and Doug H. likely first met while training at HMCS Stadacona in Halifax, during the summer and fall of 1941, served together during the invasions of N. Africa (Torch, 1942) and Sicily (Husky, 1943) and were reunited at Canada's Combined Operations training school on Vancouver Island in January, 1944. Perhaps other sailors along with Don volunteered for duties with Canadian flotillas of landing craft at D-Day Normandy, beginning June 6, 1944.

("newspaper publisher J.B. Lamb" wrote The Corvette Navy and more!)

Don Westbrook, front row, center, with several members of the

Effingham Division, at HMCS Stadacona, Halifax in late 1941

Photo Gallery; Captions supplied by Editor GH

Don Westbrook, second from right, representing RCNVR at D-Day

50th Anniversary in France, June 1994. Photo - Roy Burt 

Roy Burt (second from left, with Don Westbrook, June 1994

Photo - Roy Burt Collection (RCNVR, Combined Ops)

Sightseeing, France

Roy Burt Collection

Canadians in Combined Operations at (perhaps!) Southampton or Portsmouth

L - R: Don Linder (Kitchener), unknown (back row), C. Dale,

Doug Harrison (peekaboo!), unknown, Don Westbrook (Hamilton)

Photo from Lloyd Evans, RCNVR, Combined Ops

Canadians in Combined Ops between exercises or operations

Back row, L - R: Unknown, C. Dale, Lloyd Evans, Don Westbrook

Front row, L - R: Don Linder, unknown, Doug (no match?) Harrison

Photo from Lloyd Evans, RCNVR, Combined Ops

Don Westbrook, outside a Bell tent, near Irvine, Scotland, 1942 

Photo from St. Nazaire to Singapore: Canadian Amphibious War

Don Westbrook (left) with unknown mates except for 

Jake Jacobs (front centre), perhaps in Scotland

Photos (above and below) from Doug Harrison,

RCNVR, Combined Ops

Don W. at Toronto train station, on way to Vancouver, well before

D-Day Normandy, 1944

Don and mates at Hornepayne ONT on way to Vancouver Island. Jan. 1944

L - R: Don Linder, Chuck Rose, Buryl McIntyre, Joe Watson, Don W.

Pit stop. West of Edmonton, January, 1944

At HMS Givenchy III, "The Spit" aka Goose Spit today, Comox, B. C.

L - R: Don W., Joe Watson, Chuck Rose, W. Bruce, and Ed Chambers (front)

I have some memories of Don, his wife and daughter (not his sons, younger than me) from times our families visited each others' homes in Norwich (our wee village) and Hamilton. Veterans' families held wee reunions I recall at each others' homes but only a few photographs are available to recall those happy days.

More from the Roy Burt Collection to follow.

Please click here to view Memoirs: The Roy Burt Collection, RCNVR and Combined Operations (4) re Remembrance Day 2012 from the Osoyoos Times, B.C.

Unattributed Photos GH