大象传媒

Keith鈥檚 Wartime Diaries

Keith Hodgkin, a surgeon Lieutenant aged 25, joined the Navy in January 1944, but only started keeping a diary after D Day. The following chapters are based on extracts from personal letters and diaries typed up for Keith鈥檚 grandchildren to read. The family have been kind enough to give consent for extracts from the material to be reproduced.

Chapter One

D Day with the Yanks

Extract from a letter May 1944.

I have been posted to American LST (Landing tank Ship) with an American crew who have done all their training on the Mississippi. The ship is a huge flat-bottomed tub with a hollow centre. They can be beached and the bow opened and a ramp let down, so that the cargo can be discharged through the nose of the ship.

Quarters are comfortable but crowded 鈥� 3 doctors to one cabin. Food consists of a lot of tinned luxuries I haven鈥檛 seen for years, as lot I鈥檝e never seen. Exactly the same food for officers and men, served on a cafeteria system, so no separate messes. The whole ship is dry i.e. no alcohol on board.

May 1st. to July 8th. 1944

Came aboard in the Solent onto USS LST 493, which was about to set sail for target practice. It had to be converted into a semi-hospital ship. There was much to reorganize and improvise to convert the dirty tank deck, (300 by 30ft), which had no water, heating and drainage, into a hospital ward. Being a single handed, as the only one from the British navy aboard an American ship, made things difficult.

There were many fruitless visits. Visiting NSO, one got referred from office to office indefinitely; until you鈥檇 spent the day accumulation stores papers but no stores. Suddenly, one could get the stores and then find that there was so much that you couldn鈥檛 manage them. On several occasions I was reduced to pushing a trolley round Southampton.

Work was interesting and it was pleasant to have a little responsibility for a change. Fortunately there was a lot to do, for at times I was very lonely. Americans were very pleasant, but I found right up to the end that it could be a strain talking to them simply because one had so little in common. Towards the end of May further British rating turned up to be Sick Birth Attendants. I found I was in sole charge of the ratings 鈥� discipline; pay, welfare 鈥� quite an interesting experience.

D Day begins.
Everywhere one went one could feel the tension of the invasion with all its hundreds of preparations. No one knew anything very definite, but everyone was speculating hard. One got the impression that all the arrangements were completely haywire (SNAFU) and disorganised, but if you went into any particular matter and got the correct dope on it, you found that everything was remarkably under control.

Later we loaded up with our cargo of tanks and pongos, (soldiers). They were crack troops and we are promptly 鈥渟ealed鈥� up. We wondered whether this was the real thing, but no one knew exactly how long we were going to remain like this. Gradually, as we were sealed, people began to talk and we learned where we were going and what we were going to do.

The D Day programme for the invasion forces, run by the Germans, told us that it was going to be Monday. Sure enough, on Sunday we were briefed. It looked like Monday, but on Sunday evening nothing happened. It had been cancelled because of the weather. It was an appalling decision to have to make. It was especially hard on the pongos, who by now were very keyed up. The tension became extremely marked wherever one went. Add to this, strain of being overcrowded and cooped up.

Monday 5th June 1944.
The weather is appalling but everything was apparently on. Everyone depressed because the obvious inference was that they couldn鈥檛 wait for the weather and we鈥檙e going in regardless.

Monday evening.
Our little group of ships steamed out of the Solent around the Needles. I wondered if we were perhaps the only group that had not received the cancellation order and we would arrive to find that we were the only ships there. I think that the same thought occurred to the others but no one said anything.

However as dusk fell, on the horizon all around us, there were hundreds of lights flashing and little hulls just showing. At least we weren鈥檛 the only ones going and the weather was a lot better, though we were wallowing slowly in the remains of the sea. Went off to bed.

On going on deck in the morning, we found that the convoy was wallowing along 鈥� the same as us, but instead of being alone there were hundreds of ships around us gradually converging to a single point.

An upturned LCT floated by and we wondered what was going to happen to us in a little while. Gradually, as the line of France came into view, we heard and then saw the guns of the warships shelling much more spasmodically than I鈥檇 imagined. Then gradually the beaches and shells became visible and everyone was topside 鈥済oofing.鈥� In fact it was more like a football match or a grandstand view of Blackpool.

Pongos getting very anxious because they weren鈥檛 going ashore 鈥� poor devils. Rhinos had their hands full and everyone was getting very depressed by evening with no change of getting unloaded that night. K rations for supper because the galley staff had been goofing all day and did not cook anything.

Wind got up that night. The anchor dragged and after drifting and dragging we ran on to a British Hunt Destroyer, who only got away by a very nice bit of seamanship. Then we got ourselves involved with another United States LST stern cable, managing to twist ourselves once completely round the other cable by drifting out of control. LST 439 did not shine here either. Eventually freed.

Everyone was very much on edge because one felt that your one cargo was essential to prevent the bridgehead been pushed back into the sea. We received orders to beach that evening. We got the cargo ashore and everyone felt better. There were no casualties and so we went ashore.

It was lovely to see the stone chats and yellow iris and the same old strings of poplars. I went through the taped mine fields to Vers sur Mars. By now there were 100鈥檚 of supplies going in 鈥� trucks, ducks etc. streaming by filled with troops.

There were some rather frightened French villages, a lady gathering a bunch of radishes and scuttling home. I took home a large sign 鈥淎U Terminous de L鈥橝merica鈥� for 439 wardroom. Much enjoyed by the Americans. I saw a dead British Tommy killed by snipers. Then home the following day to Tilbury.

We went back and forth several times over the next few days. We went to Juno beach twice and Gold beach twice. Once to the American beach at Omaha. Here we picked up sixteen casualties and had a little difficulty over the various questions of responsibility. I used a lot of penicillin.

On one occasion we went over to the over side but couldn鈥檛 land because of the storm and came back. On our last trip to Courseille, we ran over someone else鈥檚 stern anchor and took a 6ft. hole in the bottom. The duty officers who were supposed to be on the bridge were playing poker in the wardroom. After unloading, we waited four days while it was concreted. During the time we got to know Courseille pretty well.

French people were by no means friendly. Natural I suppose if you鈥檝e had your homes blasted to bits. Through out the period of operations discipline was lax. No sentries at the doors of the ships, everyone wandering all over the place. French children coming aboard and joining the Captain鈥檚 food (chow) queues. A lot of ill feeling as a result.

Back in England too, no official liberty but everyone took it. Most unsatisfactory. One evening we shipped a British Colonel with our troops. Two of the US officers came in really tight. One was hurriedly put to bed, the other we rather foolishly warned to be on the lookout for the Colonel. He marched into the wardroom and said at the top of his voice, 鈥淲here the hell鈥檚 the ** Colonel.鈥� As he was only sitting about 2 feet away there wasn鈥檛 much doubt.

At one point in London the whole crew went on a bind in the dock area. Our next load of ships stores arrived with only a couple of hours before we sailed. The American watch were unrousable. They told their American duty officer to 鈥�**** off.鈥� Eventually our 30 Sick Bay Attendants volunteered for the job. The British Navy had saved the day.

While being guided into Tilbury, we bumped up against every conceivable object by the British pilot, much to our annoyance. During the process, while we were going through the dock and offices. The crew were all out goofing. One of the ratings on seeing a girl leaning out of a window, turned round and yelled to the Captain, who was about 20 feet up on the top deck. 鈥淪ay Cap鈥檔 鈥� nice pair of ***鈥檚 she鈥檚 got!鈥� I couldn鈥檛 help wondering what would have happened if that had been a British ship.

I happened to mention during this that I鈥檇 been supplied with Ethyl alcohol for cleaning up wounds. The American鈥檚 used to say, 鈥淕ee Doc, I鈥檓 giving a party in my state room cabin. I鈥檝e got some interesting flavourings if you鈥檒l bring along your alcohol along.鈥�

After being towed home to London, we went into dry dock at Rotherhithe and after a few days we received a signal to disband the medical party and proceed on a 7-day leave, which we did.

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