Photographs: Operation Baytown, Invasion of Italy, 1943 (1)

 Invasion of Mainland Italy, September 3, 1943 and Landings

at Charlie Beach, by Canadian 80th Flotilla Landing Crafts

NA 6149 - Original wartime caption: A picture which shows the complete

accord with which Allied soldiers have been received by the people of Sicily.

This Sgt. Major of the Highland Division held no terrors for this charming

Sicilian who greeted him with grapes, and a ready welcome to Messina.

Credit - Photographer Chetwyn, Leonard Production date - 1943-08-30

No. 2 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit

Imperial War Museum (IWM)

Introduction:

According to news reports of the time the Canadian Navy was represented in the Mediterranean in 1943 (serving in Operation HUSKY, the invasion of Sicily beginning July 10, and Operation BAYTOWN and AVALANCHE, the invasion of Italy beginning September 3 at the toe of the boot and September 9 at Salerno on the shin) by 400 Canadian sailors, many in RCNVR and Combined Operations. The Imperial War Museum (IWM), London, England, claims to possess over 11,000,000 WWII photographs and I was very happy to locate a good handful related to Operation BAYTOWN taken by productive photographers, a few of whom will already be familiar to readers who have found good collections of pictures shared on this site re Operation TORCH and HUSKY already. 

Lt. L. Chetwyn (link to his collection - Chetwyn, Leonard) provides the first and last two photographs in the series in this post and Sgt. Palmer, also a member of No. 2 Army Film and Photo Section, Army Film and Photographic Unit, provides the rest. More photographs will be shared from this series in a second post.

Based on the first two photographs the series looks like 'all sweets and goodness' but that's before the bombardment of the toe of the boot began in the early morning of September 3rd.

"(We) attacked Italy at Reggio di Calabria across Messina Straits... there was no resistance. The air force had done a complete job and there wasn’t a whole building standing and the railroad yards were ripped to shreds. How long we worked across the straits I cannot really recall, but perhaps into October." (From "Dad, Well Done" Navy memoirs by Doug Harrison, RCNVR/Combined Operations, page 35)

And now for one last look at the "sweets" before the bombardment. All photographs are found at the Imperial War Museum (IWM):

Heading - SICILY : "SWEETS" FOR THE SERGEANT MAJOR

NA 6150 - A picture which shows the complete accord with which the

Allied soldiers have been received by the people of Sicily. This Sgt. Major

of the Highland Division held no terrors for this charming Sicilian who

greeted him with grapes, and a ready welcome to Messina. 

Photo - L. Chetwyn, No. 2 AFPU (IWM)

Heading - FIRST PICTURES OF THE INVASION OF THE ITALIAN MAINLAND

NA 6151 - From Messina, Sicily, medium guns of the Scottish Horse

bombard the Italian mainland prior to the initial landings. Photographer -

 Sgt. Palmer Production - 1943-09-03 No. 2 Army Film and Photo Section,

Imperial War Museum (IWM)

About 'the Scottish Horse' as mentioned above on side B of photo NA 6151. At Wikipedia we can glean some details re so-named artillery regiment:

"The Scottish Horse was a Yeomanry regiment of the British Army's Territorial Army raised in 1900 for service in the Second Boer War. It saw heavy fighting in both the First World War, as the 13th Battalion, Black Watch, and in the Second World War, as part of the Royal Artillery." (More details @ Wikipedia)

Howitzers of the 79th (The Scottish Horse) Medium Regiment during a

training exercise, Banffshire, Scotland (May 1941) Credit - Wikipedia

Please click here to read more from the Regimental Scottish Horse Archives.

Heading - THE ALLIED LANDINGS IN ITALY, SEPTEMBER 1943: REGGIO, TARANTO AND SALERNO

NA 6152 - Reggio, 3 September 1943 (Operation Baytown): British

artillery bombards the Italian mainland from Messina in Sicily prior to

the initial landings at Reggio. Photo - Sgt. Palmer No. 2 AFPU. IWM

Heading - FIRST PICTURES OF THE INVASION OF THE ITALIAN MAINLAND

NA 6153 - From Messina, Sicily, medium guns of the Scottish Horse

bombard the Italian mainland prior to the initial landings.

Photo - Sgt. Palmer No. 2 AFPU. IWM

NA 6154 - Seated on a wall overlooking the harbour (at Messina)

troops watch the Invasion craft leaving for Italy.

Photo - Sgt. Palmer No. 2 AFPU. IWM

About the invasion craft leaving for Italy, one sailor manning a landing craft mechanised (LCM) as a member of the 80th Flotilla of Canadian LCMs writes: 

 It was no different touching down on the Italian beach at Reggio di Calabria at around midnight, September 3, 1943 than on previous invasions.

Naturally we felt our way slowly to our landing place. Everything was strangely quiet and we Canadian sailors were quite tense, expecting to be fired upon, but we touched down safely, discharged our cargo and left as orderly and quietly as possible.

In the morning light on our second trip to Italy across seven miles of the Messina Straits (7 miles equals a round trip? GH Editor) we saw how the Allied artillery barrage across the straits had levelled every conceivable thing; not a thing moved, the devastation was unbelievable and from day one we had no problems; it was easy come, easy go from Sicily to Italy. (From "Dad, Well Done" by Doug Harrison, page 114)

NA 6155 - The scene as amphibious "Ducks" enter the water at Messina,

loaded with men and equipment. Photo - Sgt. Palmer No. 2 AFPU. IWM

NA 6156 - The scene as amphibious "Ducks" enter the water at Messina,

loaded with men and equipment. Photo - Sgt. Palmer No. 2 AFPU. IWM

Please note the large stone or cement blocks at the lower left corner of the above photo. There were such blocks in a photo re WWII and landing crafts in the Allied Invasion of Sicily WWII Museum in Catania when my son and I visited Sicily in 2023:

The landing craft above seem to be going in the same direction as those

in Sgt. Palmer's photos. Same day (Sept. 3, 1943)? More details needed. 

Below are my own photographs taken from the beach at Mili Marina, south of the city of Messina, Sept. 2023, 80 years later:

Was this spot in Mili Marina used by Allied forces to embark to Italy's

mainland on Sept. 3, 1943? It's very possible. (Or a spot close by).

Compare the coastline and background hills of Italy at Reggio di Calabria (straight across the strait) in the following photos and that of the children with the best (stone) seats in town:

I am opposite Reggio di Calabria in late September, 2023. GH

Photo Credit GH

Pictures taken by Sgt. Palmer continue:

Heading - THE ALLIED LANDINGS IN ITALY, SEPTEMBER 1943: REGGIO, TARANTO AND SALERNO

NA 6157 - Reggio, 3 September 1943 (Operation Baytown): Amphibious

DUKWs loaded with men and equipment, enter the water at Messina in Sicily

to cross to the Italian mainland. Photo - Palmer, Roy H. No. 2 AFPU. IWM

NA 6158 - The scene as amphibious "Ducks" enter the water at Messina,

loaded with men and equipment. Sgt. Palmer No. 2 AFPU. IWM

NA 6159 - The scene as amphibious "Ducks" enter the water at Messina,

loaded with men and equipment. Sgt. Palmer No. 2 AFPU. IWM

Heading - THE BRITISH ARMY IN NORTH AFRICA, SICILY, ITALY, THE BALKANS AND AUSTRIA 1942-1946

NA 6160 - Infantry marching through the streets of Messina to embark

on Invasion craft. Photo - Leonard Chetwyn, No. 2 AFPU. IWM

NA 6161 - Infantry marching through the streets of Messina to embark

on Invasion craft. Photo - Chetwyn, Leonard, No. 2 AFPU. IWM

My son and I marched "through the streets of Messina" as well! It is a city that demands a return visit.

Literally from "the streets of Messina." GH

More photographs will follow in the near future.

Please click here to view Articles re Combined Operations, "Norwich Sailor Sees Action"

Unattributed Photos GH

The Dieppe Raid: Photographs by Lt. L. Pelman, RN (2)

 The Combined Operations Daylight Raid Had Some Highlights

for Commandos. Very Few for Canadian Troops and Sailors

A11234 - Light naval craft covering the landing during the Combined

Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. MGB 321 is nearest the camera (partly

obscured by some sailors in the foreground) whilst submarine chaser Q 014

can be seen in the middle distance. Photo Credit: Lt. L. Pelman, Royal Navy

official photographer. Imperial War Museum (IWM)

Introduction:

A few notions and opinions that were held by my father (Doug Harrison, RCNVR, Combined Operations, 1941 - 45) about the Dieppe Raid were shared in Part 1 of this series related to photographs taken by Lt. L. Pelman, Royal Navy official photographer. (A link to his full collection of over 1,200 photos is also provided in Part 1).

Doug strongly felt that the raid "on August 19, 1942 should have been aborted too" - as Operation Rutter had been about five weeks earlier. More from his memoirs follow:

I wasn’t there because I was on leave but came back early (because, though I didn’t know where, I knew there was a raid coming) and was in position to see the Duke of Wellington carrying barges, my oppo and other buddies to Dieppe and certain death for the soldiers. There was a mishap before they even got to sea, i.e., soldiers were readying hand grenades and one somehow exploded and four were killed and many injured. It was an ill omen.

Much has been written about Dieppe so I will not enlarge upon it too much. My opinion is - it was a senseless waste of blood. The Germans were ready because we (i.e., the Allies) ran into a German convoy in the channel. The element of surprise was lost. The times of arrival at beaches were to be during the night, but some turned out to land in full daylight up against cliffs unable in any way to be scaled.

No softening up of defences by bombing was ever carried out. I will make it short and say I will remember it as a complete, useless waste of good Canadian blood and no one - even those who say we learned a valuable lesson there - will ever change my mind. No mock raids were held, as for St. Nazaire against home defences. It was simply a mess.

I lost my first comrades at Dieppe. Others were wounded. O/S Kavanaugh - killed. O/S Jack McKenna - killed. A/B Lloyd Campbell, London, Ontario died of wounds after his legs were nearly cut off by machine gun fire. Imagine Higgins boats made of 3/4 inch plywood going in on a beach like that.

Lt. McRae became a POW at Dieppe, 1942. Photo 

Credit - St. Nazaire to Singapore: Volume 1

Lieutenant McRae, our commander, Stoker Brown, and others I can’t recall were taken prisoner. And lots of people don’t even know Canada’s navy was represented at Dieppe. (The only other comrade I lost was Coxswain Owens, the man who left me stranded that night in Irvine. He was killed in North Africa, our next safari).

I was on leave at Calshot Camp in Southampton at the time, but was asked to go and clean up ALCs as they struggled back from Dieppe. I absolutely refused. I was so incensed I also refused to go to church there. I went to the door but never went in.

Nothing became of my refusals. In fact, I went through the war without one mark against my record.

A 1989 reunion of two shipmates at Dieppe. (L-R) R.W. Brown (stoker),

D. Harrison, Robert McRae (back), Art ‘Gash’ Bailey Photo credit -

St. Nazaire to Singapore: Volume 1

From “DAD, WELL DONE” Naval Memoirs of G.D. Harrison, Page 20 - 21

Please click here to read a significant, rare piece of prose by Lt. McRae concerning his eye-witness account of the Dieppe Raid. The first few lines are shared below:

Toronto made me, Dieppe undid me;
26, RCNVR, ordinary seaman to lieutenant
by '42, RN destroyers and mine-sweepers
in the North Sea, then from May the same year
hitched up to a new RCN flotilla
learning Combined Operations, 100 men, 15 sub-lieutenants
working our butts off up in Scotland making landings
in anything that floated - then in August ordered to Southampton
where persuasive talkers wanting men and boats
for a mystery job took us in hook, line and sinker,
our officers and men sprinkled through the fleet,
not going in as a unit, the price to be paid
for a chance at some close-in action...

Photographs taken by Lt. L. Pelman now continue:

Heading - THE ROYAL NAVY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR: THE DIEPPE RAID, AUGUST 1942

A11228 - Two of the landing craft, one containing a Bren-carrier, alongside a 

destroyer after returning from the beaches during the Combined Operations day-

light raid on Dieppe. The landing craft mechanised are (left to right) LCM(1)

169 and LCM(1)2. Photo Credit: Lt. L. Pelman, Imperial War Museum. IWM

A11229 - Two of the landing craft, one containing a Bren-carrier, come along-

side a destroyer after returning from the beaches during the Combined Operations

daylight raid on Dieppe. The landing craft mechanised are (left to right) LCM(1)

169 and LCM(1)2. Photo Credit: IWM

A11230 - A naval motor-launch seen with four of the landing craft personnel

(large) used during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. The landing

craft are numbered (left - right) LCP(L)85, LCP(L)41, number not visible and

R145. (IWM)

A11231 - A landing craft (possibly LCP (L) 32) approaching the shore under

the cover of a smoke-screen during the Combined Operations daylight raid on

Dieppe. Several more landing craft can be seen in the background. (IWM)

Heading - THE BRITISH NAVY'S PART IN THE COMBINED OPERATIONS DAYLIGHT RAID ON DIEPPE. 20 AUGUST 1942.

A11232 - A close view of Dieppe with light naval craft manoeuvring

close inshore. (IWM)

Heading - THE ROYAL NAVY DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR: THE DIEPPE RAID, AUGUST 1942

A11233 - Light naval craft covering the landing during the Combined

Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. MGB 321 is in the foreground whilst

submarine chaser Q 014 can be seen in the middle distance. (IWM)

The next photo in Lt. L. Pelman's series, i.e., A11234, is found at top of this page. GH

A11235 - A general view of some of the small naval craft covering the

landing during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. (IWM)

A11236 - Wounded soldiers being brought on board a destroyer after

the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. (IWM)

A11237 - A German plane dives into the sea after being shot down

by gunfire from British warships. (IWM)

In Part 1 of this two-part series I shared a few paragraphs from my father's Navy memoirs including this note about a sharp-eyed Canadian sailor in Combined Operations (with my father and about 950 - 1,000 other Canadians by the end of WWII): 

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)

The plane in the photo above (circled) is quite small and in the distant background - and I'm not 'sharp-eyed' enough to see if it's a bomber. GH

A11238 - A British destroyer rescues soldiers from a landing craft which was

sunk during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. The men are

using nets to clamber up the side of the destroyer, they are being helped by

sailors wearing anti-flash gear. (IWM)

A11239 - A British destroyer rescues soldiers from a landing craft which was sunk

during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. The men are climbing

out of the water and up the side of the destroyer using a scramble net. (IWM)

A11240 - A British destroyer rescues soldiers from a landing craft which was sunk

during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. One man holds on to

a rope thrown from the destroyer whilst two more men are close by. (IWM)

A11241 - A British destroyer rescues soldiers from a landing craft which was

sunk during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. Two men can

be seen hanging on to a scramble net on the side of the destroyer. (IWM)

A11242 - HMS BERKELEY settling down in the water after being bombed

during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. One of the destroyers

boats is still alongside, empty but still attached to its davits. BERKELEY was

torpedoed shortly afterwards by British forces. (IWM)

Help Wanted: Why would British forces torpedo their own damaged ship? Too costly to repair? Fear that if Germans towed it to a dock they would learn of a few worthy innovations re ship-building? Comments from readers are welcomed. GH

A11243 - The last men leaving HMS BERKELEY as she settled down in

the water after being bombed during the Combined Operations daylight

raid on Dieppe. (IWM)

A11244 - HMS BERKELEY being torpedoed by our own forces after being

bombed during the Combined Operations daylight raid on Dieppe. Note how

the plume of water caused by the explosion dwarfs the destroyer. (IWM)

A11245 - The end of HMS BERKELEY. Photo - Lt. L. Pelman (IWM)

Another post featuring other WWII photographers and their photographs re "Canadians in Combined Operations" will soon follow.

While posting the second set of Pelman's photographs I was reminded of something the son of a WWII RCNVR and Combined Ops veteran (Don Westbrook, 1941 - 1945) said to me from his home near Ottawa, related to the Dieppe Raid:

Don shouted those words from his landing craft to officers on the deck

of a destroyer, off the coast of Dieppe, France. Aug. 19, 1942.

Please click here to view The Dieppe Raid: Photographs by Lt. L. Pelman, RN (1)

Unattributed Photos GH