How trace a ww2 landing craft?

[Roverload]

I saw a thread earlier about a chap trying to find the owner of a German arm I.d. Book and it reminded me that I have some digging of my own to do. I've always wanted a clear idea of what happened to my grandfather during the war, his photos from d-day are incredible and the story behind how he came to land on a u.s. Beach (supposedly) is amazing. It's a little known fact (according to my nan(deceased) ) that there were British landing craft at Omaha, the yanks suffered losses whilst training off the Devonshire Coast due to e boat attacks. I've been to the beach where it happened incidentally. Anyhow, I'd like to trace the craft which is pictured and maybe even some of the crew if possible. Kew has been precisely zero help due to a fire some years ago. The photo of Churchill is supposedly taken on d day at a British beach. The story goes that after doing the first wave at Omaha his boat travelled along the coast to carry on on British beaches, the photo however is totally different to the others taken on the day so I'm not so sure. Any help or ideas would be very much appreciated! If not just enjoy the photos!




(My grandad top row, far right Vincent Gowland)















I know some of you are extremely handy finding boats / ships so thanks in advance and hope you like the pics!

Ian

[Roverload]

Should mention that he was navy and that was his craft, he was an engineer on board.

[Huntsman]

I suggest starting with the coastal forces and BMPT forums.

[951TSE]

As I'm sure you're aware(?) LCT stands for Landing Craft Tank, so a heavy lift landing craft for vehicles rather than infantry. Both the RN and US navy used them so there 'may' be a duplication of numbers, something you need to be aware of in your research. The British ones are referred to as "HMS LCTxxxx"

http://www.uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/19531.ht...

So here's a starting point for you. If you read this thread:

http://www.ww2f.com/topic/49107-researching-histor...

Post number #8 from a user ID 'Biak' talks about "Assault Force "U" LCT "O" Squadron (British)" of which 2055 is one of those listed.

Now go to post number #16 a user named 'Fishermanscot' and in part of his post says

"Assault force "U", sailed from Torquay, Brixham, Dartmouth,and Salcombe on the 4th June. When DDay was postponed a day it sheltered off Portland. The convoy LCTs were crewed by RN personnel and were carrying US 4th Infantry Division forces for Utah beach, whose assistant commander was Brig. Gen Theodore Roosevelt Jr. On 6th June the convoy arrived of Utah Beach soon after 6am".

There's then talk of "beach landing tables" which I guess you can search out.

As for the Churchill story well sorry, not D-Day. This page:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/worldwars/wwtwo/dday_... talks about Churchill telling the House about the landings at 10:00 and then confirming their success at 18:00 so not really possible for him to have done the round trip in the time.

There's also loads of LCT stories on this website:

http://ww2lct.org/history/stories/

Although they don't mention your specific one there are a couple of stories about D-day that may give you some idea of what happened.

[SlipStream77]

There are a few sources online but they don't have a lot of detail.

This one has some photos though...

http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/18/180055.htm

ETA. It sounds like LCT2055 was scrapped in Poole in '46.

There's a sunk landing craft in Southampton that can be seen on google map...

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.9158434,-1.37611...

Edited by SlipStream77 on Monday 29th December 23:06

[mybrainhurts]

When you say trace it, what do you mean?

I think one is being restored somewhere, but wouldn't expect a hope in hell of any others having escaped the scrap yard.

[Roverload]

Wow thanks chaps! When I say trace it I mean really id like a crew manifest, there does spear to be a way in some cases to get the manifest along with a full log for each vessel, I'm waiting for my account to be approved on the coastal forces forum as that's where the info seems to be available so thanks for the link! Think I'm going to quite enjoy this. Id really like to trace some of the crew if possible, if any are still around see if they might perhaps talk to me. My grandad died in 95 when I was 10 so he never really talked to me about it.

[951TSE]

Couple more sites for you:

http://ww2lct.org/history/documents/Joes_docs/BRIT...

this one lists the commander of the flotilla that 'your' craft was part of and the regiment that was assigned to it so may help in your search.

As other's have said the letter 'A' added to the designation meant armoured. This page gives a brief overview of how they were used on the landings although this story refers to an American crewed one.

http://ww2lct.org/history/stories/lct_a.htm

Also as this type of LCT was originally delivered to the RN for use in the Mediterranean campaign I wonder if your crew in their shorts was pictured there rather than Normandy?

[yellowjack]

Roverload said:

...the photo of Churchill is supposedly taken on d day at a British beach. The story goes that after doing the first wave at Omaha his boat travelled along the coast to carry on on British beaches, the photo however is totally different to the others taken on the day so I'm not so sure. Any help or ideas would be very much appreciated! If not just enjoy the photos!

This one, I would suggest, is not a D-Day picture. White hat and shorts, shirtless crewman, and laundry on deck suggest it's not near any action, and possibly in sunnier climes. The lack of any landmass on the horizon tends to rule out the English Channel. Outside of the first waves, very few ships went back empty, often carrying the injured, and prisoners...



...which leads me onto this shot. The three smirking chaps stood behind the Bailey Bridge panel appear to be Germans. Prisoners no doubt, but I'd hazard a guess that the chap on the left wasn't front line infantry. Centre man retains his helmet, but none are wearing belts or carrying weapons or combat equipment of any kind. Again, there's a lack of action in the background, the photographer feels safe enough to be facing the beach and the subjects are happy enough to stand around away from cover. It's almost certainly Normandy on the assault beaches, but well after D-Day itself.



This one, again, is unlikely to be the D-Day beaches. For a start, the presence of a Nissen Hut suggests that the area has been occupied for some time. Churchill had wanted to sail with the invasion forces, but was dissuaded from doing so, and first travelled to France on the 12th June 1944, nearly a week on from the landings. On the far side, Churchill was accompanied almost exclusively by Army commanders, among them Field Marshall Sir Alan Brooke. What does strike me, though, is that your photo has Churchill in a similar outfit to that seen in many of the pictures from his visit. The fact that he is accompanied by Naval officers could indicate that he's being escorted to Portsmouth, where his party embarked on HMS Kelvin to travel to France.

Have a look at this... http://ww2today.com/12-june-1944-churchill-makes-a... ...as there is a photo of German POWs assisting the unloading of LCT 2045 on 11th June, partway down the page. It might explain the smirking prisoners in your Grandad's photo above. Plenty of photos of Churchill's visit on there too.

This page... http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/18/180055.htm ...has some photos which are apparently of LCT 2055 loaded and underway for Normandy.