大象传媒

Normandy 1944

What did you do at the invasion of Normandy then ?

Me ? Oh, I collected lemonade-powder.

Yes, it does require some explanation. In June 1944 my ship - HMS 鈥淧earl鈥�,
600-ton Asdic Trawler of the Royal Naval Patrol Service - was taken off her usual duties of escorting the Coastal Convoys between the Solent and the Welsh ports and, with her sister-ship 鈥淐ornelian鈥� and the Whaler 鈥淓llesmere鈥�, was attached to the escort of the American 鈥淔ollow-up force鈥� from Salcombe to UTAH Beach.

After seeing them ashore, our instructions were to anchor in the Unloading Area some 7 miles offshore and await orders. Instead, while still quite close inshore, we saw that 鈥淐ornelian鈥� had apparently been hit, but it was actually the steam from her anchor-winch. Her Skipper flashed 鈥淚鈥檝e got a five-bob seat, so I鈥檓 going to stay鈥�, and naturally we, and 鈥淓llesmere鈥� followed suit. The Royal Naval Patrol Service -鈥淗arry Tate鈥檚 Navy鈥� - was like that !

In the afternoon we saw what appeared to be a big oil-slick drifting down on us.
It was, however, a huge mass of Cellophane packets of lemonade-powder, red, green and yellow, and everyone hung over the side scooping them up as they drifted past, oblivious to the fate of the world being decided a mile or so away - I had three large stacks of each flavour on the Wireless Room table by tea-time. They had come from the tons of 鈥淜 Rations鈥� dumped on the beaches and not cleared before the tide came in again. The cardboard containers had disintegrated, but the Cellophane packets in each had floated away intact.

Also drifting past though, were dead GIs, floating face-downwards, because their lifebelts, unlike the 鈥渋nferior鈥� British Naval issue, went right round them and so didn鈥檛 turn them onto their backs when they lost consciousness. I was always surprised at how long it was after the War before that requirement was written into British Standards for yachting lifejackets.

We were anchored opposite the village of Vierville, behind OMAHA Beach, and in the early evening there was an enormous explosion, putting a huge smoke-ring into the sky. This obviously vexed the Americans ashore, and within a few minutes their battleship 鈥淭exas鈥�, about a mile out beyond us, opened up with all her heavy guns.
On Charge 1 for short range, and at low trajectory, you can see shells that big as they go over, and feel the wind of them - it was a bit like standing on the platform of a country station while a series of express trains rushed through.

At last she flashed us - 鈥淧lease go away - you are interfering with our gunnery鈥�, so we upped anchors and made our way out to where we should have been all along.

We made 11 trips to the beaches with supply convoys, losing our escort leader, the destroyer 鈥淏oadecia鈥�, on the second, and we came to see the purpose of the strange concrete structures we鈥檇 been escorting round the coast to the Solent for the best part of the previous year. Then, on D+13, came the gale that washed away many of them, the supply convoys had to stop, and we patrolled outside Bournemouth Bay where over 400 ships were anchored - a perfect target for the Luftwaffe and the E-boats if they had still existed. It was in fact the point at which we could well have lost the war, with huge armies ashore and in need of vast daily supplies, and no possibility whatsoever of a 鈥淒unkirk鈥� if those supplies didn鈥檛 get ashore to them. But we got the ships sorted out into the correct order eventually, and on to the British 鈥淢ulberry鈥� which had been less seriously damaged in the storm.

The lemonade powder lasted us for months !

Jack Yeatman, 鈥淪parks鈥� in 鈥淧earl鈥� 1943-44-45

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