Salerno - Where did No. 5 beach group land ?

Does anybody know which beach No. 5 Beach group landed on at Salerno ?

My Gt- grandad landed as part of the above group with 280 bty, 87th HAA regt, RA.

In James Holland's 'The Savage Storm' he identifies the British beaches as Red, White and Green but as yet there is nothing more specific.

Any help narrowing it down would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.
Mac.

 

According to information on Wikipedia, No. 5 Beach Group was not at Salerno, but Sword for the D-Day landing. Beach groups - Wikipedia

I am going to hazard a guess and suggest it may have been No. 3 Beach Group. A map showing it's location here: Salerno WW2 Map

 

That's interesting , thanks very much for that pointer.

I received the info from someone else but it does mention 279 bty of the same regiment in no. 3 beach group which would tally.

I'll do some more digging around that.

Mac.

 

Mac, the other thing is, in all the books I have on Salerno there is no White beach. There are landings at Uncle, with a red and green beach, at Sugar, with amber and green beaches, and Rodger, also with amber and green beaches. I shall organise a copy of one of the maps shortly.

 

This map is from the book Operation Avalanche (cover included in case you need more info).



This one is from the UK Official History


I hope this helps with your research.

 

Thank you, I really appreciate your help and the book recommendation.

It looks like I can really start to pin it down from your info.

I'm travelling today so will have a proper look tonight or tomorrow.

Mac

 

I may be able to help with more, just give me a “yell” if you think I can.

 

No. 3 Beach Group was initially supporting 167 Brigade which would mean Roger Beach.

No. 21 Beach Group supported 169 Brigade landing on Uncle and Sugar.

Was the battery an integral part of No. 3 Beach Group (like 252 Bty, 80 HAA Regt was part of No. 21 Beach Group) or did it land through No. 3 Beach Group? I do have all the Avalanche landing tables and a quick skim through 167 Bde doesn't show the unit.

The quickest way is to look at the WDs of the battery - Royal Artillery: 279 Heavy Anti-Aircraft Battery (RA HAA) | The National Archives.

 

some maps etc here, in WD for 4 beach group
WO 169/13673 - War Diary - 4 Beach Group - Aug - Oct 1943 | WW2Talk

 

So the above seems to confirm that 279/87 HAA Bty were an integral part of 3 Beach Group, arriving on LSTs 161 and 166. I believe these were planned to land on Roger Green beach.

 

Thanks all, a bit if a head scratcher !

Gary, I'm not sure where 280 bty fitted into the ORBAT. I've attached the initial reply that I received elsewhere on this site.

Interesting that you've located 279 bty and not 280 though. I wonder where the rest of the regiment was ? I guess they could have filtered through the beaches at a later date . I checked The Official history last night and no mention in there either.

I've seen mention (on Wikipedia) of 12 AA bde which is at the top of the document you posted which I'mled to believe initially subsumed the regiment as a whole for later operations elsewhere .

You're absolutely right, the WDs will confirm either way. Doing that is easier said than done but i think I'll have to make the effort and solve it once an for all .

 

I'll be down in Kew on Saturday, if I have time I'll take a look.

 

That is very decent of you to offer Gary.

 

So, having finally got my hands on 280 battery and 87 HAA war diaries i have a bit more clarity.

280 battery were never part of No. 5 Beach group (despite what i was told).

According to the diary 280 bty landed independently (albeit with 37 LAA bty) at 1200 hrs, 19 September at Spinetta. Both batteries were in action by 1730.

As always seems to be the case, this provokes a couple of questions;

1) Where is Spinetta ? Is it Spineta Nuova ?
2) Where was "Fig beach" ? I can't seem to find any mention of it.

And on the 25th 280 bty joined No. 4 Beach group to move to Castallamare.


Thanks , Mac.

 

Spineta Nuova would make sense. It was in the 56 Inf Div sector.

Frank

 

Thanks Frank, any ideas about 'Fig beach' ?