Interested in RAF Bomb Disposal casualties around D-Day and was looking for background info concerning the following: - I believe LCT 1025 was involved in rescuing survivors. Middlesex Chronicle from 20 January 1945 Is there a list somewhere of which units were on which ships/crafts? Casualties for LCT 390 I can find naval personnel: HAWES, Daniel G, Ty/Act/Leading Seaman, C/JX 315161, MPK HILLYARD, Clifton, Stoker 1c, D/KX 136480, MPK HOWARD, George J, Act/Able Seaman, C/JX 395156, killed NYE, John H P, Leading Wireman, D/MX 102969, MPK RICHARDS, Roy H, Ty/Lieutenant, RNVR, MPK YARNELL, Wilfred H, Wireman, D/MX 105209, MPK Were there RAF BD guys on LST 715 or is it LCT 715, as finding references to both - "LCT 715 was torpedoed and sunk by an E-boat off JUNO beach, #127 Wing RCAF Headquarters was onboard, Cpl. H.W. Boyd, driver Sgt M.W. Card, Cpl M.F. Kimmerly, LAC N. Somolenko and nine other airmen among those lost at sea." "LST 715 was torpedoed and sunk in the English Channel off Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue, Manch by S 100, S 142, S 150 and S 168." Possible casualties from '715' or '390' include - HANNAH, EDWARD ARTHUR Flt Sgt 545959 - 6225 Bomb Disposal Flight GOODWIN, WILLIAM VICTOR Cpl 1529279 - 6225 Bomb Disposal Flight HENLEY, ROY HENRY Cpl 1529285 - 6225 Bomb Disposal Flight SHARP, THOMAS CHARLES LAC 1874201 - 6225 Bomb Disposal Flight STOTT, HAROLD LAC 1534309 - 6225 Bomb Disposal Flight BAINES, ARTHUR JAMES LAC 1449013 - 6225 Bomb Disposal Flight HARMAN, HERBERT KENNETH LAC 1464926 CROFTS, JACK HENSON LAC 1678283 3207 Servicing Commando MARKWICK, STANLEY RONALD FREDERICK LAC 1117534 F/Lt Herbert DRURY - 115811 - Runnymede Panel 202; F/Lt Kenneth GATE - 115817 - Runnymede Panel 202, and AC1 Alan B. ROUTELEDGE - 1798971 - buried Bayeux War Cem. Another RAF BD guy, Sgt John Cavill, landed on Omaha Beach on D-Day+1 with a Mobile Radar unit. Maybe he landed from a different vessel? He was wounded on the beach and evacuated to an American hospital at Malvern. On recovery he was posted back to his previous BD role at Holmsey South and was disposing of bombs around Gosport in July 44. And even more confusing is 6205 BD Flight Corporal MIDDLETON, ELDRED FRANCIS 1285110 recorded as having died on 6 June - "Killed in action, D-Day, at Omaha Beach, Bayeux War Cemetery." Assume the date of death on his gravestone was a guestimate and he was one of those lost in the next couple of days as not aware of any RAF BD units landing on the 6th. Any more background info relating to any of the above, or photos of vessels, would be much appreciated.
No photos of any of the three vessels unfortunately. On D Day: LCT(3) 390 of 4 LCT Flotilla, "K" LCT Squadron was planned to be LTIN 1002 carrying DD tanks of 1st Hussars to MIKE GREEN. LCT(4) 715 (not LST 715, which was laid down in the USA on 7 June 44!) of 30 LCT Flotilla, "K" LCT Squadron, also part of Force "J", was tagged as "spare". LCT(4) 1025 of 48 LCT FLotilla, "I" LCT Squadron was part of Force "S". Her CO is given as Skipper Walter Seymour HILL, RNR (seniority 1 Aug 40). Michel
Hello Chris - I'm also trying to research HMS LCT 390 - my great granduncle Daniel Hawes died during service on this ship I believe - you have him listed in your first post: "Is there a list somewhere of which units were on which ships/crafts? Casualties for LCT 390 I can find naval personnel: HAWES, Daniel G, Ty/Act/Leading Seaman, C/JX 315161, MPK" I just wondered where you found that information, and whether you were able to find any info on the ship when he died etc? Best wishes, Cristi
Hi Cristi, Since posting that 5 years ago, I have collated all the information I have on this and wrote it up as follows, (apologies for any duplication within my original posting and that my focus was more on the RAF Bomb Disposal connection) - RAF Bomb Disposal – D-Day Disaster Many different types of military units were involved in the Normandy landings, and although Bomb Disposal personnel were not at the forefront of the assault, their services would be quickly needed in order to consolidate any bridgehead secured, helping to clear mines, booby-traps and other explosive type obstacles. The RAF’s bomb disposal organisation were included as part of the invasion force, tasked with clearing captured airfields to ensure operations could be conducted from them without delay, whether it be for air attacks against the enemy, resupply, or the evacuation of wounded. Although RAF Bomb Disposal were not officially among the first to go in on D-Day, Corporal Eldred Middleton of 6205 Bomb Disposal Flight was attached to the RAF 1st Echelon of 21-BDS (Base Defence Sector), who landed who on Omaha Beach on 6 June 1944. This was a mobile radar/signals unit, there to assist with air defence and control of the skies over the invasion beaches. Middleton was killed later that day by heavy machine gun fire as he drove up and down the beach in a jeep with a medic collecting the wounded. He is buried in Bayeux War Cemetery. Another Bomb Disposal man, John Cavill, (pictured above leaning on the nose of the bomb), was also attached to the Mobile Radar unit and was wounded on Omaha Beach D-Day+1. He was evacuated to an American hospital at Malvern. On recovery he was posted back to his previous unit, 6213 Bomb Disposal Flight, at Holmsley South airfield, Hampshire. Memorial to six RAF men, (including Corporal Middleton), that lost their lives on Omaha beach. Notice the German gun emplacement overlooking the beach just behind. In the days prior to D-Day, 6225 Bomb Disposal Flight under Flt Lt Charles (Wyn) Cartwright prepared for their part in the landings. The Flight consisted of 30 personnel, with 6 three ton lorries, 2 Jeeps, 1 Water trailer, 1 Fordson 15 Cwt truck, and 1 motorcycle. Flt Lt Charles (Wyn) Cartwright On 3 June 1944, the unit moved from Alton to the Concentration area at Old Sarum to the north-west of Southampton. Then on the 5th they relocated to their marshalling area at Fareham, near Portsmouth. It was late in the day on the 7 June that they embarked in a small convoy across the Channel to Normandy. However at around 4am on the 8 June their convoy was attacked by E-Boats, and then by shelling from a battery some 4 miles away at Le Havre. Their war diary held at The National Archives states - ‘The craft LCT No390 was hit by a shell from the coastal battery and sank in less than two minutes.’ Photographs of LCT 390 are rather elusive, however, I believe it was of a similar design, (Mk3), to this one above - LCT 465. Source: IWM A20681 I believe it is also similar to LCT 7074, the last surviving Landing Craft Tank (LCT) from D-Day, preserved at the D-Day Story Museum, Portsmouth. The German coastal Battery at Vasouy that once defended Le Havre is now a much more tranquil place. Photo - Dennis Peeters. In later life Flt Lt Cartwright recalled the moment the shell struck their landing craft: - ‘German ‘E’ boats forced us close to the French coast near Le Havre where we became sitting targets for the German coastal batteries. Eight of our convoy sank, ours included. A shell dropped on our explosives vehicle, blowing a hole in the bottom. At this time I was talking to my sergeant who was looking forward to a short leave to be with his wife at the birth of their first baby. He was killed immediately as the boat sank. Fortunately, another boat, also out of control bumped into us and some of us were able to jump aboard. It was most distressing to be towed through hundreds of troops drowning. These boats had a wide concrete overhang which made rescue impossible. Still under heavy enemy fire the ships had to press on to safety.’ Another BD man on LCT 390 that day was LAC E Harwood. In a newspaper article in 1945 his experience was recorded. – ‘LAC E Harwood, of 93 Hamilton Road, Feltham, a member of a RAF bomb disposal unit. He was blown 60 to 70 ft into the air; fell into a sea of blazing oil; had his thigh broken and an eye injured, and was picked up for dead after 14 hours in the sea. Describing his experiences, he said, ‘I was sitting on the tailboard of a motor-truck on a landing craft, watching the coast of France getting nearer and nearer, when a lorry immediately in front of mine received a direct hit. It was loaded with high explosives, and the next thing I know was that I was going up in the air. Another man was in the air beside me, so close that I could have touched him. I must have gone up 60 or 70 feet, because below me the landing-craft looked quite small. It broke up in flames and the sea around was a mass of blazing oil from the engines. Fourteen hours later I was picked up and pulled into another ship. The first I knew of it was when I heard a voice asking ‘Is he dead?’ The blast from the explosion had stripped off all my clothing under my Mae West, and my boots. My face was burnt, but, as I was unconscious in the water, only my face was exposed and my hands were only slightly burnt.’ The newspaper article goes on to say that LAC Harwood was one of only four survivors on the landing craft. The war diary states that 6225 BD Flight’s casualties comprised of 6 in hospital, 7 missing and 1 prisoner of war. Those killed, included 23 year old LAC Arthur Baines, previously a Bookstall Assistant from Bermondsey, Cpl William Goodwin aged 22, a Butcher’s Roundsman from Southend-on-Sea, Flt Sgt Edward Hannah from Liverpool, LAC Herbert Harman, aged 34 and previously a London bank clerk, Cpl Roy Henley, aged 23, previously a hairdresser from Portsmouth, Londoner LAC Thomas Sharp, aged 19, and LAC Harold Stott aged 23, a motor mechanic from Liverpool. Of these only Baines and Harman have known graves, (Baines’ at Cayeux-sur-Mer Communal Cemetery, and Harmans’ at Abberville Communal Cemetery Extension), the others names being recorded on the Runnymead Memorial to the missing. Of course there wasn’t only Bomb Disposal personnel aboard the Landing Craft. Members of the craft’s Navy crew also lost their lives. They were Lt Roy Richards, aged 35, and 20 year old LS Daniel Hawes, both of which were posthumously Mentioned in Despatches. Also 22 year old Sto Clifton Hillyard, AB George Howard, aged 20, Ldg/Wmn John Nye, and Wmn Wilfred Yarnell aged 19. Of these, only Hawes has a known grave in Ste. Marie Cemetery at Le Havre. Leading Wireman John Henry Percy Nye, of 17 Elmgrove Road, Littlehampton, had worked as a solicitor’s junior clerk prior to the war. As he has no known grave, his name is included on the Plymouth Naval Memorial to the missing. (Photo from newspaper article dated 21 July 1944). Also named on the Plymouth Naval Memorial is Lt Roy Harold Richards. The anguish of the family can be sensed in this notification from the Birmingham Mail of 16 September 1944. The war diary of 6225 Bomb Disposal Flight states that 90% of their equipment was lost. Fortunately, two lorries were saved, as they had been put on another landing craft. It was around midday on the 8th June when the remnants of the unit landed at Mike and Nan beaches. As for the member of the unit taken prisoner, this was F/Sgt John Stanley Freeman. He was aged 26 at the time of D-Day. ‘Stan’ – F/Sgt John Stanley Freeman, of 6225 BD Flt, 83 Group 2nd Tactical Air Force, spent some 24 hours in the water before being taken prisoner. His survival may have been helped by the fact he had spent much time in his youth, swimming in the River Trent. ‘Stan’ as he was known, had been blown into the Channel and spent some 24 hours in the water, before finally washing ashore covered in diesel oil at Étretat on the Normandy coast, approximately 16 miles North of Le Harve. Étretat, where Flt Sgt Freeman, one of the survivors of the destroyed landing craft, washed up. On the 15th of June 1944, back home in Nottingham, his wife Ena received a telegram from the War Office, saying he was reported missing and believed to have lost his life on a vessel due to enemy action at sea. However, in October ‘44 a post card sent from the London area was delivered to her address, stating that a radio broadcast from Germany had mentioned that Stan had been listed as a P.O.W in Germany. She then contacted the Red Cross to try and find out where he was. Initially held in Amiens, France, Stan had been transferred to Stalag Luft 7 prison of war camp at Bankau, Germany, (now Bąków Opole Voivodeship, Poland ) arriving there on the 13th July 1944. This camp had opened on 6 June 1944, and by July held 230 RAF prisoners. They were joined later by members of the Glider Pilot Regiment captured at Arnhem. By January 1945, the camp held over 1,500 prisoners of various nationalities. Stan was held at Stalag Luft 7 until 21st January 1945. At 5am that morning a roll call was held, and the inmates were informed that, due to the Russians advance, they would be marching to another camp. The temperature was freezing with a bitterly cold blizzard blowing and heavy snow. After a journey taking over a month, they finally arrived at Luckenwalde P.O.W camp south of Berlin on the 25th of February 1945. This camp already held 20,000 prisoners. Stan stayed there until the Russians arrived on Sunday 22 April 1945. Being scared of the Russians, the German officers surrendered to their former prisoners, rather than the Russian troops who liberated the camp’s inmates. Instead of waiting for the Western forces to arrive Stan decided to make his own way to meet them, crossing enemy territory full of German snipers to reach the Americans on the West bank of the Elbe. To get to them meant he had to swim across the Elbe in the depths of a freezing winter. An American soldier who saw him as he emerged was apparently so shocked he dropped his rifle. John Stanley, one of the few survivors from the landing craft explosion, finally arrived home some 12 months later, weighing less than seven stone. Those that made it ashore on the 8 June, temporarily attached themselves to 6220 BD Flt, also in theatre, pending replacement personnel and equipment. It was 4 July before 6225 BD Flt, based at Sainte-Croix-sur-Mer, (just a short distance from where the new British Normandy Memorial has been built), once again became operational in their own right. Cristi, I realise the above contains a lot of information peripheral to your research, but hopefully it is still of interest in relation to the broader story. You asked where I obtained the information on your great grand uncle, and to be honest I can't actually remember, but I believe it was probably from his Commonwealth War Graves Commission entry, as H.M.L.C.T. 390. is mentioned. Do you have any photos of your great grand uncle? It would be great to put a face to a name.
Hello Chris! Thank you so much for sending this, it was such an interesting read and amazing how you pieced all of that information together. Really appreciate it, I love to try and imagine everything that was happening on those days. I'm trying to build a network of the others who were onboard LCT 390 as well so there's alot of infomation I can use for that as well. Unfortunately I don't have a photo of Daniel Hawes, although have recently been talking to some 3rd cousins hoping to see if there are any photos around. If I do manage to find out I'll for sure share it with you as well. Thanks again, this was really brilliant!
Hello Chris, I was able to find a relative who had a photo of Daniel! I've attached here. Best, Cristi
