Royal Marines Armoured Support Regiment (2RMAS) Juno, D-Day

Discussion in 'Commandos & Royal Marines' started by 0xonian, Nov 26, 2013.

  1. Mike P

    Mike P New Member

    Hi. I'm new to this forum and just came across this reference t the church spire in Rots. My father, Capt Perrott mentioned earlier, was awarded an MC because his part in the destruction of the church spire in Rots. I am trying to piece together his movements leading up to the destruction of the tower and plan to visit Rots early in 2018. Unfortunately my father is now dead and never spoke about his time in the war so piecing together information is hard work.
     
  2. Mike P

    Mike P New Member

    Delighted to find this information - I now know which Troop my father (K R M Perrott) was in and the sector he landed. I have vague memories of a Q flag being used as a childhood toy. Now I know where it came from!
     
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  3. canuck

    canuck Closed Account

    A pair of burnt out Canadian M4A2 Shermans of the 10th Armored Regiment (The Fort Garry Horse) at the foot of the church at Rots – June 1944
    rots.jpg
    Rots_eglise_1944.jpg
     
  4. Chris C

    Chris C Canadian

    Forgive me if I've posted this before, but I transcribed a post-D Day report about the RMASG and put it on my blog, when I was updating that.

    CHARACTERISTICS AND EMPLOYMENT OF ROYAL MARINE ARMOURED SUPPORT GROUP IN OPERATION “OVERLORD”

    The Royal Marines Armoured Support Group
     
  5. Mike,

    Not just for his part in destroying the church spire, but for his whole conduct from landing to 12 June! See his Recommendation for Award (attached), which I just came across. Hopefully this will help you in your quest, perhaps by looking up the War Diary of the Nth NS Highrs and of 46 RM Commando (some of it in Drew's post here), as your father seems to have supported them (among others units) during these days.

    Michel
     

    Attached Files:

    Last edited: Jun 13, 2018
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  6. Simon Biggs

    Simon Biggs Member

    Attached Files:

  7. Mike Mabbott

    Mike Mabbott New Member

    Hi Michel

    I wonder if you can help me, I'm very new to this forum but I'm visiting the D-D beaches shortly and would really like to visit the beach on which my father landed. He was Bernard Mabbott, listed above as Act. Tempy. Maj. B. J. Mabbott. in the 1st Armoured Support Regiment. I have a photo of his war diary (attached to this post) which shows him as landing at 0830 but I'm not quite sure exactly where he landed. His record states that his party landed on Jig sector of Gold Beach (Le Hamel) so is there any way to pinpoint that area during my visit because Le Hamel doesn't seem to exist any more.

    Please excuse me if I've posted this in the wrong place but any information you can give me will be gratefully received.

    Many thanks

    Mike Mabbott
     

    Attached Files:

  8. DannyM

    DannyM Member

    Hi,
    Attached is a 1944 map showing Jig Sector, Gold Beach.

    Regards

    Danny

    1.jpg
     
  9. Welcome to the forum Mike!

    Danny has already provided you with a better answer than I would, so I'm just adding the only photo I have of your father's craft LCT(4) 1073 (Serial 2140), seen here with a few (!) others in Southampton docks before D Day. Her hull number is visible on her port bow, just behind the port end of the horizontal jig below the radar cylindre on top of LCH 317:
    1073 LCT(4) U49 att D33 - IWM A23731 - gahetNA 25055_031.jpg

    The above is a better version of IWM photo A23731. The online versions at the IWM website are of surprinsingly poor quality, even the largest, zoomed ones:
    ALLIED PREPARATIONS FOR D-DAY

    Only a large analog print made directly from the negative (without any digitization in the process) would give good results, and I believe that IWM might still provide this service for a fee, especially for a veteran's son.

    As you can see, LCT 1073 wears "U49", meaning 49 LCT Flotilla, "U" LCT Squadron, on her bridge (over a large blue stripe denoting craft bound for GOLD Area), but on D Day she was attached to 33 LCT Flotilla, "D" LCT Squadron, along with five other craft of her Flotilla, to reach the total of eighteen craft necessary to carry the three Field Regiments attached to 50 Division for the assault.

    The complete planned load for Serial 2140 can be found in Trux' grandiose thread on GOLD here:
    GOLD BEACH.

    2140 is an LCT IV carrying [B Tp 413 Bty Edit: E Tp 511 Bty, 147 Fd Regt RA]
    2 Carrier Universal from 147 Field Regiment RA
    2 M14 Halftracks from 147 Field Regiment RA
    4 Ram SP 25pr from 147 Field Regiment RA
    2 Sherman OP tanks from 147 Field Regiment RA
    1 Jeep from 147 Field Regiment RA
    5 Motorcycle from 147 Field Regiment RA
    63 men from 147 Field Regiment RA. Includes 3 Officers.
    2 men from 1 Royal Marine SP Regiment
    1 Jeep with 2 crew from Forward Observation Bombardment Party. For 1 Dorset Regiment.
    4 men and an airborne trailer from 4 Survey Regiment
    1 man from 69 Field Company RE

    Apparently the actual load saw an increase of the 1 RMASR party from two men with no vehicle to three men, one of which was your father, plus a Jeep (it seems there was always room for one more Jeep in a LCT, even if the craft looked already full!).

    Enjoy your trip to Normandy!

    Michel
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2019
  10. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    Le Hamel was the seaside resort area of Asnelles. Most of the coast was low lying and prone to flooding so habitations were further inland in earlier times.

    The problem of the extra Jeep was that while there appeared to room for one more this often put the craft over its weight limit. This affected its stability and increased the draught so that it beached in deeper water than planned.

    I hesitate to comment on Michel's use of the word grandiose since it is a word of French origin and he has a far greater competence in both French and English than do I. But while grandiose in French usage means impressive in concept, style and content in English usage it means to be pretentious, aiming or claiming to have more than it actually has. I am happy to accept the word in the spirit in which it was written (deliberately ambiguous).

    I am reminded of King Charles II who described the new St Pauls Cathedral as awful and artificial. In those days the words meant that it filled him with awe and the building was a fine example of design and craftsmanship.

    Mike
     
    Last edited: Jul 29, 2019
  11. Mike Mabbott

    Mike Mabbott New Member

    Thanks for your help Danny that's perfect

    Best wishes

    Mike
     
  12. Mike Mabbott

    Mike Mabbott New Member

    Many thanks Michel this is really interesting. I'm looking forward to our visit even more now that i can put some context to what I know already
     
  13. Mike (Trux),

    I recognize (in the sense of "acknowledge with a show of appreciation") your ever elegant and generous way of time and again finding laudatory reasons for what really are lazy oversights on my part.

    I'll therefore continue to not look up the dictionary before I use blatant Gallicisms and false friends, so you can go on showering me with compliments while helping me improve my command of the wonderful English language, blessed as it is with such a rich vocabulary from its mixed Saxon and French (and assuredly a few more) origins, and with the correspondingly numerous traps for the uncautious writer from the Greco-Latin persuasion, hoping that more ambiguous meanings arise, preferably less derogatory as my last (totally unintentional and equally lamented) one.

    Back to craft loads on D Day, I remember reading somewhere in a War Diary the apt if perhaps unintentional mention of "Operation Overload"...

    Michel
     
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  14. Oops! Just noticed I made a mistake in my post # 89 above: the Troop from 147 Fd Regt which LCT(4) 1073 LTIN 2140 carried was not B Tp (413 Bty) but E Tp (511 Bty). I've just edited the post accordingly.

    Michel
     
  15. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    Michel,

    That is a truly splendid sentence. It is of considerable length with several clauses and sub clauses and yet does not waver from the point. Truly elegant (graceful and stylish while remaining simple).

    Mike.
     
  16. Mike (Mabbott),

    For an aerial view of your father's LCT 1073 landing on JIG RED Beach, see this post (and make sure to go the link provided and download the two high resolution photos too).

    Michel
     
    Last edited: Sep 19, 2019
  17. vestingjager

    vestingjager Well-Known Member

    I was wondering what the uniform and battledress insignia looked like for the Royal Marine Armoured Support Group on D-Day?

    I guess they will have worn a Navy Blue beret?
     
  18. Simon Biggs

    Simon Biggs Member

    This is a good read....mentions the church

    We ran in on Juno Beach, firing ahead of a Company of the 3rd.Canadian Division, then turned the fire on to St.Aubin, on our left, which would be the landing place for 48 R.M. Commando. As our ramp went down a Navy Beach Officer directed us to a steep passage, cleared of mines. With the benefit of the slope, and maximum elevation, two guns destroyed the wooden spire of Berniere's church, from which sniper fire continued. Further damage from our guns was stopped by a furious Artillery Major-"That's to be the best O.P. for my guns. The Canadians are going up now, to deal with the bastards-without knocking it down!"

    BBC - WW2 People's War - A Journey Through War: Royal Marine Commandos

    Then check out my RMASG mapped pins here...good luck
     
  19. Simon Biggs

    Simon Biggs Member

    Drew,

    I am building a Geo History of the Royal Marines, I would love to have access to both those war diaries if possible?

    Many thanks

    Si
    www.royalmarineshistory.com
     
  20. Sotonian

    Sotonian Member

    Hi guys. This is a most interesting thread. I'm about to embark on modelling an RMASG Centaur and Sherman and this is the most comprehensive listing of identified tanks I've come across. As I wanted to make vehicles from the same troop, I seem to be stuck with H Tp from 2 Bty where we have the Sherman HUSSAR and a selection of Centaurs. I fancy HOUND as most people favour HUNTER as per the kit decals. So far so good.

    I had hoped to be able to establish the LCT markings for H Tp, but I note from an earlier post that this is not feasible.

    In photos, some Centaurs have deep wading gear fitted while others do not. None of the 3 identified Shermans have wading stacks. There are several photos of HUNTER and none show wading gear. I'm assuming that COPP surveys may have showed that some beach profiles would allow beaching in water depth that did not need deep wading gear. I'm also extrapolating from Hunter that H Tp tanks weren't fitted for deep wading, which may affect the choice of colour.

    Does anyone here know where 2 Bty or H Tp landed, planned or actual? And would anyone have any idea whether they might have been fitted for wading or not?
     

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