cl mcmahon
TRANSCRIPT
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My Grandfather's Memories
Of WWII andD-Day
I was a pharmacist mate third class when I
served in the United States Navy. Like most of
my ship mates, I was in my teens and had an air
of invincibility. It was the 1940s and we all hada patriot fervor and wanted to serve our country.
In March of 1944, after boot camp, hospital
corpsman school and hospital training at the
Charleston Naval Hospital, I was assigned to anaval medical evacuation group designated
"FOXY - 29". This group was assembled at
Lido Beach, Long Island, NY, where training
and shots were given in preparation of going
overseas. A group of 40 corpsman and 2
medical doctors were selected as a unit and sent
to Bayonne, NJ naval base and depot. Although
we were assigned to a Landing Ship Tank
(LST), we were not part of the ship's company.
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While docked in Bayonne, NJ, the ship's tank
deck was loaded with trucks and topside with a
Landing Craft Tank (LCT). After the ship wasfully loaded with equipment, army troops were
taken aboard as passengers.
, ,
I remember very little about the engineering
specifications of the a LST but I know what it
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looked like. It was about 220 ft long and 60 ft
wide. The bow of the ship had two large doors
that opened up to allow a ramp to be lowered onwhich vehicles gained entry to the tank deck.
The crew's quarters were in the stern of the ship
accommodating about 60 sailors. Additional
accommodations were available on both the port
and starboard sides, running almost the full
length of the ship. The bunks were attached tobulkhead or stanchions and had to be lashed up
when not in use. The officers quarters were
topside near the stern of the ship in front of the
ship's galley
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Leaving Bayonne, NJ, we set a course for
Boston, MA, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Finallythe British Isles. We only got as far as Boston
when we experienced engine trouble. We had to
lay over while the rest of the convoy continued
on to Halifax. A week later we resumed our
voyage and set sail for Halifax. We arrived atHalifax without any incidents and then awaited
the assembly of ships to sail in a convoy
heading for the final leg of the journey. This
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part of the journey was perilous. German Wolf
Packs (subs) dogged American convoys, picking
off stragglers or other victims sailing on thefringes of the convoy. Fortunately, LSTs have
shallow drafts and torpedoes go under the keel
of the ship.
Sailing the North Atlantic in winter is rough
particularly for a ship that hasn't a keel. TheLST was designed with a flat bottom in order toland on the beaches. This feature was a
disadvantage in the North Atlantic. Three story
waves would lift the ship on to their crest and
the ship would shutter from the vibration of the
screws (propellers) then slam down where thewaves receded. Fortunately or unfortunately, the
voyage lasted 23 days. Everyone aboard
suffered from some degree of sea sickness, the
more serious cases experienced nausea and
dehydration and could not get out of bed to
perform their duties.On the 23rd day, after
leaving Halifax, we sailed or floated into
Plymouth Harbor. The same port from which
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the pilgrims sailed to America. The harbor pilot
came aboard our ship and steered to a dock
called Tamar Quay, where the equipment andpassengers were unloaded.
My unit left the ship to go for additional training
in a small rustic town in Devon called Fowey.
We returned to our ship a week later and found
out that our ship was part of a fotilla on atraining maneuver when German E-Boatsattacked and inflicted heavy casualties. This
incident (Tiger) was not reported until recent
years. Our unit was happy that we were not on
board when this incident occurred even though
our ship was unscathed. Sadly, some of myfriends on other ships were lost.
The weeks prior to the Normandy invasion, life
aboard ship was dull because of confinement.
The week before D-day, the ship began to load
up men and equipment. Now it was a case ofhurry up and wait and wait we did. Finally, the
day came and we weighed anchor and set sail
for the continent. Our army passengers were
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members of the 29th Division (The Blue And
Grey). This division was originally a National
Guard outfit activated prior to Pearl Harbor incase of emergency. These older fellas served in
the Alleutian Island for one year before being
reassigned to the European Theatre Operation.
They had been stationed in England two year
prior to this event. These men had been away
from home for 3 years without any furlough.The attitude of these soldiers was remarkable.
Although they faced great danger and even
death, they were fearless and anxious to get it
over with so they could go home to their
families. We could not show fear in the
presence of these brave men.
The trip across the English Channel was a
spectacular sight. There were thousands of
allied ships as far as one could see. Our planes
flew above us in such large numbers it seemed
that we were spectators at an airshow. The
enemy had been cleared from the sea and the
sky. The army personnel knew were they were
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going to land since maps indicating Vereville
Ser Mer Sermer on Omaha Beach as the
location. Our forces arrived at Omaha Beach onthe morning of the second day. We saw
wreckage of landing crafts strewn across the
approaches to the beach. German Eighty-Eights
were firing cross fire on the troops attempting to
secure the beachhead. The battleship New York
and the cruiser Augusta were lobbing shells onthe German position. Our skipper steered the
ship toward the beach but was intercepted by a
Coast Guard Cutter who instructed him to turn
back because he was endangering his ship and
all on board. We turned back to a safe distance
where we loaded the army personnel onto our
small boats that ferried them to the beachhead.
We had no difficulty unloading the soldiers but
the equipment was another story. This problem
was resolved by providing the CB sailors
(Construction Batallion) a case of beer to unloadthe equipment from our ship. These sailors
operated the Rhino, used for transporting
equipment to the beachhead. The Rhinos were a
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number of platoons welded together and
propelled by outboard motor. These courageous
sailors did a tremendous job in supporting thetroops on shore.
Our stay at Omaha Beach was not over yet. We
had to wait in order to evacuate casualties.
Small boats returning from the beachhead had
casualties on board who had to be transportedback to England for treatment. Ropes were tiedto the stretchers bearing the injured men and
then manually hoisted on board. When the ship
was filled to capacity we sailed back to South
Hampton, England where the injured were taken
off the ship and transported to medical facilities.The trips between England and Normandy
continued until ports such as Cherbourgh and La
Havre became secure for allied ships.
The amphibious ships continued their operations
in the European Theatre, ferrying men suppliesand prisoners to various sectors. Inland ports
that were used by amphibious ships were
Antwerp, Belgium and Rouen, France. When
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