Hi I was wondering if it was possible to trace which Buffalos were carried on what number LCT during the landings at walcheren during Infatuate 2 or is that information not available cheers Jeff
Hi Jeff, Sorry for nor noticing your post earlier. You might want to ask the moderator to move it to The War At Sea or the North West Europe sub-forums for better visibility. The answer to your question is "it depends", because the some units did record this info while others did not. See for example this post: 228040 John Holland SAUNDERS, 1 Troop, 80 Assault Squadron, Royal Engineers What are you looking for more precisely ? Michel
Thanks for answering me when I posted this I was wondering if I could maybe track down which LCT carried Sandpiper then I might be able to find out which beach my father landed on before he had to in is own words abandon sandpiper as been unfit for further use due to hitting a mine thanks Jeff
Jeff, If your father took part in INFATUATE II, he was probably driving not SANDPIPER (at least the one we see on photos, with callsign 2C then 7B), but another one, because he told you his LVT was mined and abandoned and the photo of 7B (showing the same vehicle as that of 2B) was shot later. He would have been in one of the 17 LVsT placed under command of the Aslt Sqns RE for the Op: 5 with 26 Aslt Sqn RE 9 with 79 Aslt Sqn RE 2 with 80 Aslt Sqn RE 1 with 82 Aslt Sqn RE Unfortunately, with a couple of exceptions, none of which mentions the vehicles as having been mined, attached 11 RTR LVsT are not identified in orders or reports for the Aslt Sqns RE. The War Diary for 11 RTR might have indications, but I do not have it. Do you know if you father's Buffalo was mined during the assault on Westkapelle or later on Walcheren Island? Any additional information or snippet you may have might help narrowing down the choice. Michel
Thanks for that it looks like you are correct when you say this is not the sandpiper in other photos we see I dug out is old and very tatty copy of the story of the 79th armoured division and among the loose pages are some photos of lvts coming ashore on walcheren and he as noted what he refers to has sandpiper 2 being one of these so it looks like he did make it ashore
Jeff, Thank you posting these photos, which I have studied at length in the past. The LVT marked as "SANDPIPER II" is actually LVT4 "SWALLOW" from 11 RTR but now under command of 26 Amphibious Assault Squadron RE, where it carried the call sign 4B (2nd vehicle in No. 4 Troop). It was the third LVT off LCT(4) 1109 (Serial 15), prececed by LVT4 "SANDFLY" 4A, then LVT4 4C and followed by LVT4 4E "SPHINX" (a casualty carrier), all from 11 RTR. Your father's identifying it as "SANDPIPER II" might simply be a mistake, or might mean that your father was loaned as a driver on SWALLOW when it was transferred from 11 RTR to 26 Amphib Aslt Sqn and he nicknamed it after his previous mount SANDPIPER. This would explain the "II", which would not have been used if this LVT was actually named SANDPIPER, because contrarily to some other units, 11 RTR did not add a number to the successive vehicles bearing the same name. However, SWALLOW was not mined on the beach, because it was photographed in Middleburg on 6 or 7 Nov 44. It might have been mined later though. Do you have your father's Service Record, which might show whether he was temporarily transferred from 11 RTR to another unit, or loaned to one? Michel
Some photos of SWALLOW. First, when still part of 11 RTR. Note the call sign '4' (with no letter) and the Sqn symbol (Red triangle), meaning 1st vehicle (Troop Leader's), 4 Troop, 'A' Sqn, 11 RTR. I haven't looked closely at the date, but that probably was during Op SWITCHBACK or Op VITALITY prior to INFATUATE II: then, landing at Westkapelle from LCT 1109 around 1035 hours, 1 Nov 44. Note that a 'B' in different style has been added to the '4', which itself did not warrant a change because SWALLOW was now part of 4 Troop, 26 Aslt Sqn RE. Oddly enough, the Sqn symbol seems now to have disappeared, when it could also have been retained since 26 Aslt Sqn's was the same: In Middelburg, Walcheren Island, probably 6 or 7 Nov 44: The above three photos show the same vehicle. Next one shows a different vehicle, i.e. the vehicle replacing the original SWALLOW in 11 RTR, shown here during the Rhine crossings in March 1945. Note that there is no numeral following the name (such as "SWALLOW II" or "SWALLOW III"), in spite of the fact that this is at least the second incarnation of SWALLOW. Although the call sign is not visible, by early May 1945 it was 4B. Michel
Hi thanks for the research and information like you say he could have miss identified the lvt in the photo I will try and obtain is service record to see if he did get loaned out to another unit can you tell me where I can get the record from thanks for all your help Jeff
See for example this post by our much regretted forum member Tricky Dicky: Help needed please. James Lee
