Hi, I am trying to find out which ship carried 212 Battery of 53rd Air Landing Regiment from Newhaven. . I have been studying ConvoyWeb and can only find 2 ships that sailed from Newhaven around that period in June The Empire Hearth and the Samos. There appears to me a mistake in the Convoyweb website as it lists both ships as part of convoy FTC.5, but when I look at the details of that convoy, it seems to be a convoy of 8 other ships and 2 escorts that were sailing from Seine Bay to Southend. But when you search ships leaving Newhaven, it lists just the Hearth and Samos. I can see the sailing convoy of the Empire Capulet as mentioned in the war diary and they match the tdate and place shown on Convoyweb, but is there a way of finding the logbook and finding out wherethe Empire Hearth and Samos ships sailed to and from, as I can't find anything else that comes close to the details in the war diary regarding the sailing to Sword Bach. I have found and downloaded the movement cards for all the ships mentioned from TNA, but they don't show anything of help, just marked as 'Special Service' for that period in time. If someone can help me, I'd be grateful. Regards Caroline Excerpts from 53 AirLanding war diary: 8th June 1944 0800 - The Regimental Marching Party left for marshalling area at NEWHAVEN. 11th June 1944 Awaiting orders to move. The ship containing 212 A/L Bty with acting C.O. joined the assembly ships. Masters of the ships went to Southend Pier for convoy orders. 12th June 1944 0615 - Moved off in convoy from Southend. Approached STRAITS OF DOVER approx 1100 hrs. 13th June 1944 1000 - Anchored off LUC SUR MER on the Normandy Coast. The Regimental marching party, who had sailed from Newhaven and joined the convoy, passed and landed. Unloading commenced slowly.
Hi Caroline, Was Newhaven just the forming up point but Southend the actual port they sailed from? Also, have you tried the CLIP database? If you search for ship name, it will give you the ship's official number, and a link to TNA. Sadly, the documents haven't been digitised and I have no idea what information they hold. I'm waiting to get a copy of all my granddad's ships as, I do believe, these documents hold crew manifests. My grandad was a RA DEMS gunner and should be listed as crew/deck hand on all his merchant ships. Crew List Index Project Best, John.
Hi Caroline, Could you post the War Diary page where CAPULET is mentioned, and also the pages for 8 to 10 June included, and any page that gives the details you mention regarding the sailing to SWORD Area? There might be hints as to what the other ships could be. Michel
Empire Capulet looks like your ship Caroline, SS Empire Capulet - Wikipedia "In the immediate aftermath of the Allied Invasion of Normandy, Empire Capulet was pressed into service as a troopship. She embarked troops from the 53rd (Worcestershire Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment, Royal Artillery at Newhaven, East Sussex on 9 and 10 June 1944, and sailed to an assembly area off Southend on Sea, Essex, from where the convoy which had assembled sailed on 12 June". D-Day Owing to a shortage of gliders, only 211 Battery participated in the British airborne assault on D-Day, 6 June 1944. Together with the 6th Airborne Division, they were tasked to seize and hold the high wooded area behind the city of Caen, which would see very heavy fighting during the Battle for Caen in the weeks to come, on the eastern flank of the Normandy bridgehead. 211 Battery landed near Caen in 27 gliders on 6 June.[2] The Regiment's other Batteries, 210 and 212, were sent to Normandy on Empire Capulet, which had been pressed into service as a troopship. Both quotes taken from Wikipedia. Regards John.
Hi John, Always beware of wiki articles. They are useful in giving an overview and pointing to sources, but are often mistaken, particularly where details are concerned. In this case the sole source given for both articles is the War Diary as posted in the excellent Pegasus Archive website (53rd (Worcestershire Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment, RA). However, the War Diary is misinterpreted by the wiki author(s): there was not just one ship (CAPULET) carrying all of 53 Airlanding (less 211 Bty) but three, as apparent from the War Diary itself: One for "RHQ and 210 A/L Bty vehicles" loading at Victoria Docks, London. This was EMPIRE CAPULET. One for 212 A/L Bty Vehicle Party, also embarking from London area, but not necessarily at Victoria Docks. This "ship containing 212 A/L Bty with acting C.O. joined the assembly ships" at a "ship assembly area" off Southend on 11 Jun. One for the Regimental Marching Party, which embarked at Newhaven and later joined the convoy, although it is not clear where and when she joined, but obviously after it had passed Dover. The War Diary relates events for the three parties (but mainly those regarding the RHQ & 210 Bty vehicle party to which the author belonged) in a parallel, intermingled way (source: Pegasus Archive website): Month and year: June 1944 Commanding Officer: Lt-Col ADM Teacher 1st to 5th June 1944 Place: Bulford Preparation for action. 6th June 1944 Place: Bulford D-Day; the Regiment less 211 A/L Bty received its orders to move to the marshalling area. 211 A/L Bty went into action by glider from FAIRFORD aerodrome - passed over Bulford Camp at approx 2000 hrs towed by Stirling aircraft. For details of activities of 211 Bty from 6-15 Jun. See Appx I. 7th June 1944 Place: Bulford Movement order for the regt to move to marshalling area were issued. Regt cleared up Bulford Camp preparatory to evacuation. 8th June 1944 Place: Bulford 0200 - Regimental vehicle parties left Bulford to rendezvous at Staines, Middx. Met Metropolitan Police who escorted convoy through London on the North Circular Road to marshalling area (West Ham Stadium). Vehicles sorted into ship loads. Foreign currency, emergency rations and maps issued. 0800 - The Regimental Marching Party left for marshalling area at NEWHAVEN. 9th June 1944 0500 - RHQ and 210 A/L Bty vehicles to Victoria Docks for loading. Capt RAM Goldthorp RA Adjutant as OC ship "EMPIRE CAPULET". Major FE Allday, acting CO, to NEWHAVEN to brief the marching party. Newspaper reported Major ME Gubbins RA as a prisoner of war (according to German News Agency). 10th June 1944 1000 - Loading of RHQ and 210 Battery vehicles completed. The "Empire Capulet" sailed at mid-day; this ship had never transported troops before and was not well equipped to do so. The men were in high spirits and shouted jokes at dockside workers. Anchored at a "ship assembly area" off SOUTHEND-ON-SEA in the evening. 11th June 1944 Awaiting orders to move. The ship containing 212 A/L Bty with acting C.O. joined the assembly ships. Masters of the ships went to Southend Pier for convoy orders. 12th June 1944 0615 - Moved off in convoy from Southend. Approached STRAITS OF DOVER approx 1100 hrs. All men were ordered to wear steel helmets from then on and all were ordered below deck while passing through the danger of the Straits. An uneventful journey at 9 knots along the British coast. Convoy turned south towards evening. 13th June 1944 Place: Normandy 1000 - Anchored off LUC SUR MER on the Normandy Coast. The Regimental marching party, who had sailed from Newhaven and joined the convoy, passed and landed. Unloading commenced slowly. 2330 - Enemy aircraft attacked shipping in the harbour with anti-personnel bombs: a raft at the "Empire Capulet's" side semi-loaded with vehicles was set alight. Raft was cut loose and allowed to burn. 210 Bty lost 2 3-ton vehicles including an ammunition truck and 1 lt wt motor cycle. 16 casualties on board "Empire Capulet" - no regimental personnel injured seriously - treated by Naval M.O. 14th June 1944 Place: Normandy 0330 - Further attacks on shipping off LUC-SUR-MER by aircraft - no damage done. Unloading of RHQ and 210 Bty completed. Loads proceeded to COLEVILLE-SUR-ORNE ("HOMER") on landing and dug in for the night. Remainder of regiment assembled at "HOMER" as they were unloaded from ships. 15th June 1944 Place: Normandy 0600 - RHQ, 210 Bty and 212 Bty joined 211 Bty in action area 1075-1175 (On East bank of RIVER ORNE near BENOUVILLE). EMPIRE CAPULET was part of Convoy ETM7. Apart from CAPULET, three other ships (with a possible addition of six more LST) were bound for SWORD: EMPIRE FARMER, FORT FORK and LST 327: If it was planned to land in SWORD Area (and this is a big "if"), the 212 Bty Vehicle Party was therefore almost certainly embarked on either EMPIRE FARMER, FORT FORK or LST 327. If planned for JUNO, the choice is obviously much wider. As regards the Marching Party which embarked at NEWHAVEN, it is not likely that it was embarked in either an MT ship or one of the six LST expected to join the convoy, because NEWHAVEN did not have adequate facilities for either type of vessels, but was dedicated to LCI(L) and LCT. More probably, it was embarked in an LCI(L) which joined the convoy after it had passed Dover. This would better match the description of its landing: "The Regimental marching party (...) passed and landed.", meaning its ship did not anchor and wait for ferry service but went on directly to land its troops, as an LCI (or LCT) would do, but not an MT ship or an LST. Finding out which LCI(L) that was is not going to be easy, if at all possible. She should have been in a convoy coded ETM7X (ships from NEWHAVEN joining Convoy ETM7), but so far I have not found any reference to such a convoy, possibly because she was the only ship in that "convoy". Michel
A few more snippets. As of 21 May 44, plans for loading for the three MT ships in ETM7 bound for SWORD were as follows: EMPIRE FARMER (M.T.51) loading at TILBURY Berth 33. Commences Y+3 0800. Completes Y+4 1200 EMPIRE CAPULET (M.T.45) loading at VICTORIA DOCK Berth E. Commences Y+3 0800. Completes Y+4 1200 FORT FORK (M.T.70) loading at VICTORIA DOCK Berth B. Commences Y+4 0800. Completes Y+5 1200 Finding out more details about the embarkation of the 212 A/L Bty Vehicle Party would help finding its ship. Michel
My mistake Michel, I actually read the war diaries before seeing the wiki pages, clearly I'd not read them closely enough. On reading through everything though I'm not sure, for any certainty, we can name the vessel that shipped 212 Bty. Quite possibly, the BT381 series at Kew could help but I'm not sure if they detailed the load, in this case 212 Bty. Regards. John.
I doubt that very much John. The ship's Official Logbook rarely discloses that kind of detail. If anything at all, I would expect it to be more generic such as embarked troops. You will need to know the name of all the ships he served in to do this. Regards Hugh
Hi Hugh, Do you know if the BT381 series list the crew? When I started researching my granddad's WW2 service, I was told there are documents at Kew that list the crew, and DEMS gunners would be listed as crew/deck hands. Amazingly, when I obtained a copy of his Army Record of Service, all his ships, with dates, were listed. Using the convoy website, I've managed to chart his various journeys, quite literally all around the world. Getting to see his name on the crew list would be the icing on the cake. Regards. John P.S. sincere apologies Caroline for hijacking your thread.
Thank you, everyone, for the info. I'm fairly sure my Grandad was in 210 battery, but I can't completely rule out 212 battery at the moment, which is why I'm researching this. His embarkation date was 10 June 1944 (record card attached). I haven't seen any reference to the 212 battery vehicle party, but I'll keep looking.
