大象传媒

Thou openest thy hand, they are filled with good. Thou hidest thy face they are troubled.

Thou takest away their breath, they die, and are returned to their dust.

PSALM 104.

l joined the Royal Navy in 1942 along with Ron Haworth. We both did a signal course at HMS Royal Arthur,Skegness.
From there we went to Chatham and then were drafted to Combined Opps Hayling Island, and then on to Loch Fyne in Inverary. After training on Landing Craft we were sent to the Signal School at Strachur. We were then drafted to our LCGs. Ron went to Manchester to LCG8 and myself to LCG19 in Birkenhead.

The officers on LCG19 were Lt.Archie Walls RNVR and the Marine Officer Lt.S Stanford R.M.(known by the crew as"the boy").

Before we sailed from Birkenhead, after the loss of the LCGs at Milford Haven on the Welsh coast, the well of LCG19 was decked in as a safety measure.

We sailed for Falmouth. The weather was so bad we had to put into Fishguard and then to Milford Haven.

When we arrived at Falmouth we joined a large convoy of Landing Craft on passage to Gibraltar. On leaving Gib we made for Algiers an then on to the small port of Djidjelli. Each night we were there we moved out from the harbour and anchored in the bay. This was because of the constant air attacks. We would return to harbour next morning.

We sailed from Djedjelli for the landings on Sicily, taking the US troops into the town of Licata there was not a shot fired !!!
l remember swimming for an hour or two after the landings.

We returned to Djedjelli and then on to Tripoli to prepare for the mainland landings on ltaly.

Unfortunately for me l fell down the hatchway and was taken to hospital in Tripoli, having damaged my leg in the fall.
Further to my recovery l was taken by LCT to the Royal Naval Hospital in St Paul's Bay, Malta. While at this hospital l saw some of the ltalian ships surrender. A wonderful sight.

On leaving Malta l rejoined LCG19 at Djidjelli and then on to Messina, which was to be our main base in the Med.

We then sailed to the Adriatic port of Bari, and then on to the coast of Yugoslavia,shelling German gunsites along the way, and then back to Bari.
We left Bari for Messina and then on to Naples to prepare for the landings on Elba. l remember we had two LCTs with us loaded with mules. These mules upset all the plans. When the LCTs beached the mules would not leave the craft. lt was while we were waiting for these LCTs that we struck a mine under the Engine Room. We were drifting between the two points on the headland and the Germans started shelling us.
Fortunately for us they missed !!! After a time a Royal Navy China River Gun boat manaaged to get a line on us, we were towed clear.

And then on to Ajaccio, Corsica. Then we were towed to Taranto, to the dockyard for repairs. The crew were transported by train, in cattle trucks, to Messina, our main base after seven days leave in the Eighth Army Rest Camp.

On my return to Messina l spent my time at the signals office.
Back to Taranto to pick up LCG19 after the refit. Then we sailed to Naples for the Anzio landings.

Arriving at the Beachhead there were constant air attacks. There was a lull in the firing. so part of the gun-crew on the pom-pom went below for a meal. The Hospital Ship St David was leaving the beachhead, full of wounded and fully lit-up, and with red cross markings, when it was attacked by a German plane. The plane dropped a bomb on the ship, and then came round again.
Jock Cowie, who was the only gunner left on the pom-pom shouted to me a signalman,"Bunts, jump on this gun and fire"
We hit it!

l remember all the crew cheering !(Sippers all round)THIS WAS THE FIRST AND LAST TIME I FIRED A POM-POM.

When we returned to Naples l was informed l was awarded the DSM.

After Anzio we returned to Bastia in Corsica, we were to intercept GERMAN LANDING CRAFT loaded with fuel for their troops at Cassino. Each day we would leave Bastia at 1600 hrs to arrive at Spezia at about midnight to intercept these German craft. l can remember how worried we were should our escort of USA NR boats and our own MTBs not arrive on time.We depended very much on these craft because of their speed.

The first two nights we sank four to six of these German Landing Craft. The third night the E boats were waiting for us. They came between the LCGs and opened fire.
Only one of our crew, Seaman Costello was injured, he got a bullet through his thigh.

We arrived back at Bastia safe and sound, after which we sailed to Ancona, Italy, in the Adriatic.

The war in Europe ended.
We left the Adriatic for Messina, and then Falmouth arriving on my birthday July 4th, needless to say what state l was in.
LCG19 was a happy craft, unfortunately to end her dasys at Hayle scrapyard about 2 miles from my home.
BIRKENHEAD
FISHGUARD
MILFORD HAVEN
FALMOUTH
GIBRALTAR...... AJACCIO
DJIDJELLI...... ELBA
BIZERTA...... SPEZIA
ALGIERS...... PIOMBINO
TRIPOLI....... GENOA
GOZO....... TOZI
MALTA ...... ZARA
LICATA...... PAG
PALERMO...... RAB
MESSINA...... UMAG
NAPLES...... KRK
CASTELLAMARE...... ANCONA
POMPEI...... MESSINA
LIPARI ISLAND...... FALMOUTH
TORRIE
SALERNO 1944
ANZIO
ISLA CAPRI
MANUELLIA
BASTIA
AJACCIO
TARANTO
BARI......................KENNETH PAYNTER

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