Photographs: Training For Combined Operations, July 1942 (1)

 Canadian Troops and Sailors Train for a Significant Exercise

Likely for the Dieppe Raid, Held in August, 1942

IWM (H 21355) - Canadian troops loading equipment on landing craft*.

https://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205493918

*and because small landing craft are involved in the exercise, so too may several members of the RCNVR be involved, i.e., about half of those who had volunteered earlier for Combined Operations to serve on small craft and dangerous duties overseas (and who had arrived in the UK prior to the raid).

Please click here to read an article entitled Why Dieppe?

 
Introduction:

As readers perhaps already know, there are many books written about the Dieppe Raid, aka Operation Jubilee, held on August 19, 1942. And for every book one can find about the raid there are likely 1,000 photographs at the Imperial War Museum or other archives in several countries around the world, especially in British Commonwealth countries, e.g., Canada.

Recently I located about 2 dozen photographs at IWM under the same heading, 'Training For Combined Operations,' taken by Lts. Arthur James Tanner and Walter Thomas Lockeyear, (British) War Office Official Photographers in July, 1942. The chief subjects are Combined Operations Commander Lord Louis Mountbatten, Canadian troops, sailors from the RN and RCNVR*, and the occasional landing craft.

I encourage readers to make the effort to locate more photographs taken by Art Tanner and Walt Lockeyear (if I can be so bold as to use their first names). Some help finding their WWII collections is provided under the next photograph shared below.

*about 100 members of RCNVR - those who had volunteered for Combined Operations in late 1941 while under going training at HMCS Stadacona (including my father Doug Harrison, volunteer no. V8809) - were in the UK at the time, though only about half were assigned to take part in the Dieppe Raid in August (not including my father). 

Training For Combined Operations, from Imperial War Museum:

IWM (H 21350) - Original wartime caption: Vice Admiral Lord

Louis Mountbatten discussing the scheme with troops taking part.

Please click here to view the above photograph at the IWM. The page includes a 'search line'* with the number H21350. Click on the 'magnifying glass icon' or the small-sized photo (or its heading) to go to a larger, cleaner original version of the photograph.

Or, click here to quickly go to the larger, cleaner original version.

*re 'search line.' If you are reading a book re WWII that includes numbered photos from IWM, delete H21350 and replace it with the number your book supplies. Go to the original photo and note the links suppled to other related material including names and links to the official photographers (e.g., Lts. Tanner and Lockeyear), giving you access to other WWII photos they took at various times during WWII. (Warning - searching for sets of particular photos re the Dieppe Raid (August, 1942), Operation Torch (invasion of North Africa beginning in early November, 1942) and/or 1000s of other topics can become addictive!)

Information on back of each photo was also provided by IWM. I have shared the 'back photo' of only three photographs because in all cases except one the back is the same as the original caption. Below is the exception, because it acts as a fitting introduction to the full set of photographs:

Lord Louis Mountbatten, the second commander of Combined Operations, continues the discussion re an upcoming scheme (or exercise):

IWM (H 21351) - Original wartime caption: Vice Admiral Lord

Louis Mountbatten discussing the scheme with troops taking part.

IWM (H 21352) - Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten

with personnel taking part in the exercise.

More about Lord Mountbatten and his role in Combined Operations can be found in a very important book entitled The Watery Maze. Please click here to view several details about the book.

IWM (H 21353) - Canadian troops taking part in the exercise,

listen to a talk by Vice Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten.

IWM (H 21354) - Troops waiting to embark on landing craft. It

will be noticed that they are wearing Mae Wests (inflated life belts).

IWM (H 21356) - Canadian troops waiting to go aboard landing craft. One

has a portable wireless set or "Walkie Talkie" as American troops call it.

IWM (H 21357) - Canadian troops waiting to embark

on landing craft for the exercise.

IWM (H 21358) - Air Force and Royal Navy wait to go aboard land-

ing craft for the exercise. The RAF man has a portable wireless set.

IWM (H 21359) - Canadian troops embarking in landing craft for the exercise.

IWM (H 21360) - Canadian troops embarking in landing craft for the exercise.

Soon to follow, more photographs related to 'Training For Combined Operations, July 1942' as found at the Imperial War Museum (IWM).

Link to Imperial War Museum in London, England here.

Please click here to view photographs related to Canadians in Combined Operations and their role in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily, beginning July 10, 1943.

Unattributed Photos GH

Books re Combined Operations: The Far Distant Ships (3)

 First Canadian Draft to Combined Ops Trains for Upcoming Raids

Unbeknownst to Our Sailors the Port at Dieppe was on Their Menu

British prisoners of war* taken at Dieppe marching through the country-

side en route to a prison camp. (Keystone Press Agency LTD, London)

(Photo as found in Dieppe: August 19 by Eric Maguire)

Please click here to learn more about the book Dieppe: August 19 

*re the POWs - most were Canadian soldiers

Introduction:

In the first few months of 1942 after arriving in the United Kingdom in late January, my father's division (Effingham, RCNVR) plus one other Canadian division (name unknown) - totalling about 100 new or raw volunteers for Combined Operations - trained in several locations for upcoming raids, underlined in yellow on map below). They visited HMS Tormentor (#31 on map below) near Southampton, HMS Northney I - IV (#29) on Hayling Island, HMS Quebec (#4) near Inveraray, RAF Dundonald  (#13) near Irvine (sailors were right next door at Camp Auchengate), and other camps for short stints, e.g., Chamois near HMS Quebec and another camp on Loch Long (perhaps #1) likely related to Commando training. 

Map as found at combinedops.com

(I forgot to underline number 21, HMS Westcliffe)

Canadian RCNVR/Combined Ops officers always knew more than they were telling about the purpose of the training and where/when/why specific operations were taking place. For example, Able-Bodied Seaman Al Kirby (in photo below), in Navy memoirs re the Dieppe Raid, writes that he only learned he was on the way to Dieppe when part way across the English Channel in the very early morning on August 19, 1942. He was told by the soldiers he was transporting in his landing craft. 

"Al Kirby meets with other WW2 Combined Ops veterans"

Please click here to read Al Kirby's "very, very rare" 25-page report concerning the Dieppe Raid

Significant details about the months leading up to the Dieppe Raid are found in The Far Distant Ships by Joseph Schull (published in Ottawa in 1950) and some of them are shared here.

On page 145 we read the following:

Already the combined operations force, now being built up under Lord Louis Mountbatten, was a colourful body. Methods of training were, of necessity, as fluid and unconventional as the situations with which the men would have to deal. Each cross-channel raid - and there were many of them - brought new experience and demands for the revision of tactics, equipment and technique. "Haven't you heard? - it's all been changed" - the most familiar greeting in the force - had become a byword and a slogan tacked up in its headquarters even by the time the first Canadian draft arrived.*

*the first Canadian draft arrived after an eventful journey across the Atlantic Ocean. Please click below for more details from sailors' memoirs:

From the Queen of Bermuda to the Volendam by Doug Harrison (RCNVR, Combined Ops) of Norwich, Ontario

Queen of Bermuda versus Chebucto Head  by Al Kirby (RCNVR/Combined Ops) of Woodstock Ontario

Schull continues:

However unconventional, the standard of discipline and the requirements as to fitness and adaptability were very high. The first Canadian draft, and the drafts which succeeded it, soon began to take on the character of the parent organization. Canadians took part with British commando forces in some of the small, nameless raids, each of which provided its lurid adventures, brought back its quota of information and is now forgotten. There were some of our men in the important raids on Bruneval and St. Nazaire; but even by the time of the Dieppe raid in August 1942 the Canadian naval contribution to combined operations was small. Page 145

In two books entitled St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War, Volumes 1 and 2 (stories written and compiled by Canadian members of Combined Operations, most from RCNVR), one will find a few references to the raid on St. Nazaire that took place on March 28, 1942. The first mention is made by John K. Burgess, Naval Historian, found in Volume 1, page 34:

In the same volume two photographs follow with informative captions, pages 35 - 36:

An excerpt from a two-page report by (Lieut.) John O'Rourke*, RCNVR, re his experiences during the raid on St. Nazaire follows:

There is another page-and-a-half to the report. Please click here to gain access to all of St. Nazaire to Singapore: The Canadian Amphibious War, Volume 1  and go to pages 37 - 38.

Shared below is a fitting conclusion to O'Rourke's report by an editor and contributor to the two volumes of Canadian Navy/Combined Ops stories:

By David J. Lewis, St. Nazaire to Singapore (Vol. 1) page 38

More details from The Far Distant Ships will soon follow.

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

Please click here to view Books re Combined Operations: The Far Distant Ships (2)

Unattributed Photos GH

Videos, Films: Allied Landings in Sicily, July, 1943

Canadians in Combined Ops Transport Troops and Supplies

 in Sicily, 1943. At HOW Beach and GEORGE Beach

The 81st Flotilla of Canadian Landing Crafts (LCMs), at HOW Beach, 

near Gallina (eastern Sicily) in July 1943. Photo property of Roy Burt

Unloading Allied supplies at HOW Beach, in July '43. Photo - Roy Burt

Unloading supplies at HOW Beach, in July '43. Photo - Roy Burt (center)

July 10 map shows the position of several liberty ships, e.g., Mayo

Brothers at B3. HMHS Talamba sunk by German planes. Map found in

St. Nazaire to Singapore, the Canadian Amphibious War, Vol. I

Readers who would like to learn more about the book St. Nazaire to Singapore, the Canadian Amphibious War, Vol. I can email Editor - gordh7700@gmail.com

Introduction:

HOW Beach on the map above is pretty easy to find, the green ink and arrows are bright enough for all to see. The RED and AMBER sectors of HOW Beach are located at modern day Gallina, seen more clearly on the map below.

GEORGE Beach just peeks at us on the top edge of the map above, the bit of black outline for the curved, mile-long beach is just a start. It was the beach where my father served, unloading landing crafts (LCMs) for about one month, beginning July 10 until about the end of the first week in August. GEORGE Beach is located at modern day Fontane Bianche, and at the south end of the beach are located two cattle caves in which the Canadian sailors sought shelter for about 3 weeks. The caves were damp, "lizardly" (said my father) but had thick limestone overhead so were safe from bombings.

Map (screenshot) of Gallina di Avola as found at beachoo.com

1. Film One - PREPARATION FOR THE INVASION OF SICILY [IWM AYY 493/3]

Descriptions below are found at the Imperial War Museum -

Object description; Transport, vehicles and equipment being loaded onto landing craft at Tripoli for the invasion of Sicily.

Full description: Close up of a ramp being lowered. Men moving onto the ramp. A lorry backing onto the landing craft. Close up of wheels of the lorry moving onto the landing craft. A petrol lorry backing onto the landing craft. Men on the landing craft waving as the ramp is raised. Men moving onto the landing craft LST. The lorry backing up. Men moving onto the ship LST. Close up of men moving along the gangway. Men unloading bombs from the lorry. Unloading bombs on the crane. Loading bombs onto the ship LST. Bombs swinging on the crane. Tanks moving on to the landing craft.

Please click here to view Film One

The 80th and 81st flotillas unloaded "heavy shells off into LCMs".

Photo Credit - David J. Lewis, as found in St. Nazaire to Singapore,

The Canadian Amphibious War 1941 - 1945, Vol. 1, page 180

2. Film Two - GOC 50TH DIVISION ADDRESSING TROOPS; CONVOY APPROACHES SICILY; LANDING OF THE INVASION FORCE IN SICILY [IWM AYY 502/7/1]

Descriptions below are found at the Imperial War Museum -

Object description: The 50th Division landing in Sicily.

Content description: Major-General S. C. Kirkman briefs the troops prior to invasion and explains the plan of attack. A convoy approaches the beach near Avola. The navy shelling the coast. A Bofors gun is set up to cover the rest of the troops against air attack as they land at Avola. Panning shot of landing craft in the background. Landing craft running onto the shore. A long file of Italian prisoners being brought in. Infantrymen landing. Lorries on the beach. Infantry landing. A tractor tows lorries off a craft and through the water and onto the beach. Prisoners of war. A tractor tows a jeep out of the sand. Infantry advancing to forward positions.

Please click here to view Film Two

55th and 61st flotillas of LCAs (blue oval) transported British troops to shores

near the coastal town of Avola. (Avola is also a region along the east coast). The

80th and 81st flotillas (red oval, middle) transported supplies for Monty's Eighth

Army in the Avola region south of Syracusa once the 55th and 61st were done.

The 80th also served in Italy beginning Sept. 3, 1943 - Operation BAYTOWN

Map found on page 76, Combined Operations by Londoner Clayton Marks

British landing craft (LCM foreground) at Pachino.

Credit - Imperial War Museum (IWM)

3. Film Three - INVASION OF SICILY [IWM AYY 502/1/6]

Descriptions below are found at the Imperial War Museum -

Object description: The 17th Infantry Brigade in Sicily.

Content description: Burning Allied equipment after being hit by enemy mortar fire. Tanks, Priest guns, carriers etc coming through a gap in the wall after a detour around the burning equipment. A military policeman directs the operation.

Internet: The British 17th Infantry Brigade landed in Sicily on July 10, 1943, as part of Operation Husky, contributing to the Allied assault on the island's southeastern coast near Pachino and the Gulf of Noto. Working alongside the 51st Highland Division and Canadian forces, they faced moderate resistance, successfully securing coastal areas to support the rapid Allied advance inland. Key details regarding the 17th Infantry Brigade and the broader landing: Part of the 5th Infantry Division: The 17th Infantry Brigade was a component of the British 5th Infantry Division, which landed between Avola and Syracuse on Acid South and North beaches.

Please click here to view Film Three

Editor: JIG Sector (south of Gallina) was reportedly not active. No map in

my records reveals 'Acid Centre'. Map at Commando Veterans Archive

Editor: If these are Canadian landing craft then they are likely to be at

HOW Beach. GEORGE was not heavily treed along the shoreline.

Photo - Combined Operations by C. Marks, RCNVR/C. Ops

Film Four - INVASION OF SICILY [IWM AYY 502/1/1]

Descriptions below are found at the Imperial War Museum -

Object description: The 17th Infantry Brigade on its way to Sicily.

Content description: A sailor signalling to another ship with a lamp and flags. Troops disembarking from the ship onto an LCT. The landing craft on the move. Troops practising disembarking into assault boats. Troops lying on deck during the voyage. The convoy.

Please click here to view Film Four

Film Five - PREPARATIONS FOR ASSAULT LANDINGS; INVASION OF SICILY [AYY 496/3 - 1]

Descriptions below are found at the Imperial War Museum -

Object description: Preparations at Sfax harbour for the invasion of Sicily.

Content description: 6 July. Various shots of troops bathing from landing craft in Sfax harbour. Troops marching onto quayside. Landing craft coming alongside quay. Troops going aboard. Close up of troops going aboard. Shots taken from the LCI as it leaves the quay. Shots taken from the LCI of Sfax harbour. Long shot coming alongside the Landing Ship, Tank. Troops transferring from LCI to LST.

Content description: 10 July. Various shots of landing craft lying off the shore of Sicily. View of the shore from the LST. An amphibian truck leaves the ship and goes ashore under its own power. Craft unloading in the water.

Content description: 11 July. Various shots of pontoon and LST unloading a tank transporter. Another LST comes onto the pontoon, the doors open and ramps come down. Vehicles leaving the craft and going ashore.

Please click here to view Film Five

Film Six - Combined Operations - Beach Organisation (Two Parts) [IWM ADM 1163]

Descriptions below, found at the Imperial War Museum, are but three paragraphs of many - 

Object description: A British Army instructional film made prior to the Allied invasion of Sicily in July 1943 describes with animated maps, graphics and live action sequences the role, structure and organisation of a Beach Maintenance Area during the initial stages of an amphibious landing on an enemy coast.

Full description: START 00:00:00.Opening titles and credits that inform its intended audience that this military training film has been supervised by the officers of Combined Operations Headquarters appointed by the General Staff. A roller caption "The purpose of this film is to show part of the organisation required to land and maintain a force over enemy beaches until a port can be captured and used. The earlier sequences would normally take place in the hours of darkness but for photographic purposes have been filmed in daylight".

Full description: 00:00:49 The film shows how the planning a combined operation on an enemy coast begins with the gathering of intelligence on beaches where an amphibious force can land, firstly by aerial reconnaissance. This idea is illustrated with shots of an Royal Air Force Vickers Supermarine Spitfire Mk V in flight, a section of shoreline as seen from the air and an Army Captain at Combined Operations Headquarters examining an aerial reconnaissance photograph under a view-finder. Once a suitable section of coastline has been chosen, it is divided for operational planning purposes into sectors each three thousand yards long. Sectors considered suitable for amphibious operations are divided into anything up to three beaches, each of which carries a code-name, for example 'Amber', 'Red', 'Green' etc. The film proposes to examine the planning and operation of the establishment of a Beach Maintenance Area (BMA) in just one of these beach sectors, starting with the First Key Plan, the planning template for the oganisation of the BMA by the Beach Group, the unit responsible for the movement of troops, personnel and supplies onto the enemy coast in the first phase of the invasion. Animated graphics over an aerial reconnaissance photograph of a section of coastline are used to illustrate the multitude of specialist units - mechanical and combat engineers, medical services, supply corps, signals and military police - that will be crammed into this small area.

Please click here to view Film Six (links to Part 1 and 2 are provided at IWM)

Please click here to view more film related to Allied landings in Sicily.

Unattributed Photos GH 

Memoirs: Roy Burt Collection, RCNVR and Combined Operations (5)

Looking Back 50 Years to 1944. Women Signed Up for 'War Work'

News Article from the 1994 Toronto Star

Standard issue gas mask makes quite the fashion statement!

Introduction:

If you were looking for work to support the war effort in the 1940s I think you wouldn't have too much trouble finding a job that suited your skill set, as long as you, for example, knew one end of a Sten gun from the other. But if you're looking for the reason why Roy Burt (a member of RCNVR and Combined Operations during WWII) included this article from 1994 in his vast collection of memorabilia I think the answer might not be exact, or immediately apparent.

However, I know Roy got married (like my father) while in uniform, and his new wife may have wanted to break out of the mold (re women staying in the home) and get a job making Sten guns, or the ammunition, or one of hundreds of other jobs that had been in the sole domain of men for many years.

Roy also played a role in D-Day Normandy in 1944, and in remembrance activities in France in 1994, so any related news articles would have been recommended reading when they came off the press.

A Lucille Ball look-a-like spotted Roy's flashy ring!

Or his brawny bicep, built by bacon!

Is she the inspiration for Edward Scissorhands??

More material from the Roy Burt Collection will follow in the near future.

Please click here to view Memoirs: The Roy Burt Collection, RCNVR and Combined Operations (4)

Unattributed Photos GH