|
D-Day
Landings - The 'Beginning of the End' of the War in Europe
.
At
the Teheran Conference in 1943, in a reference to the projected
invasion of Europe , Winston Churchill said these words:-
"This
is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the
end, but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning."
The
allied invasion of Normandy
was certainly the 'beginning of the end' of the war in Europe
.
As
John's report of the D-Day Landings shows it even affected
the lives of small remote communities such as ours, with so
many local men fighting and dying in the enterprise.
This
report was written by John Morrison of 7 New Tolsta.
Having survived the war, John went on to have a distinguished
career in the Metropolitan police, reaching the rank of Commander
In
May 1944 when the cruiser HMS 'Diadem' headed south from the
Home Fleet base at Scapa
Flow
it was evident that D Day was imminent. It was a change
from the Russian convoy action. The invasion was coded
'Overland' with ' Neptune
'
its naval component. By 4 th June we were in the English
Channel ,
shipping all over the place with bad weather delaying operations.
Next day saw the armada of over 4000 transport vessels
and some 1500 naval ships heading for France
.
Overhead were wave after wave of bombers similarly
bound; an unforgettable scene.
The British landing beaches were named 'Gold', 'Juno' and
'Sword' spreading westwards from the coastal town of Arromanches
.
The American beaches were ' Omaha
'
and ' Utah
'
further west. 'Diadem' and the cruiser HMS ' Belfast
',
(now a tourist attraction at Tower
Bridge
on the Thames
),
were allocated as support to the 'Juno' landings. 'Diadem',
a new vessel, carried eight 5.25 guns in four turrets.
' Belfast
's
main armament was eight 6 inch guns. The troops engaged
at 'Juno' were mainly Canadians. 'Spotting' Officers
on shore relayed details of suitable targets, such as fortifications,
tanks, troops and buildings and the Naval forces duly obliged.
There were some 3000 casualties on the three beaches
on D-Day. The Americans fared far worse as their troops
ran into strong defences overlooking the beaches. Our
stock of shells was quickly exhausted and it was a case of
running back and fore between Normandy
and Portsmouth
to restock. This went on until July when our guns were
outranged as the ground action moved inland and concentrated
round the town of Caen
,
which was not liberated until mid-august. 'Diadem's
last 'Overlord' action was in the Bay
of Biscay
in late august, when a German merchant vessel was intercepted
and sank. The action pleased our gunnery officer, an
innovative character. Towards the end of our time off
the beaches, when our guns were firing at maximum range he
would list the ship to get a bit more elevation so that our
shells went that few yards extra.
There were surprisingly light losses at sea overall.
This was due to air supremacy over the beaches and Channel
waters. One of Hitler's secret weapons, the V1 flying
bomb carrying some 1000 pounds of explosive was seen over
the landing areas, but did no damage.
Two villagers died off Normandy
.
Young Angus Campbell of No. 7 ( Mac
a'Ghlasaich ) was lost when his trawler HMS 'Gairsay'
was destroyed by a German explosives boat being driven into
it (a forerunner of the current land suicide bombers).
Alexander Morrison of No. 8 ( Alex Mhurchaidh
) was a much older casualty, when the tug HMS 'Sesame'
on which he was a Chief Petty Officer was lost in June 1944.
Alex was in a comfortable post at a Scottish base,
recruiting and posting seamen to the tug service, when he
decided to post himself to more active service.
A near miss was the case of Murdo Morrison
of No. 5 (Sprink), who went down with his ship HMS 'Loyalty',
but the sea refused to have him! He surfaced in an
air bubble, was picked up and lived to a ripe old age.
Alex Morrison's volunteering was typical of a seaman's outlook.
In 1943 Merchant Navy personnel were asked if they
were willing to serve on vessels likely to be engaged in the
invasion. The response in favour was just short of
100%.
Two British inventions were of immense value to the Allied
cause. They were the Mulberry
Harbours
and Pluto. The former consisted of 6000 ton boxlike
concrete constructions, which were towed across the channel
to France
and beached to form quays at which vessels could discharge
their cargoes in sheltered waters. Pluto (Pipe Line
Under The Ocean) was laid under the Channel to Normandy
shortly after the Invasion and thereafter provided fuel for
the services all the way across France
.
Two locals were engaged in the pipelaying ;
Donald Macinnes of 4 Gress ( Mac Iain a' Bhrogadh
ex. Tolsta) was on HMS 'Lilac' and Alexander
Macdonald of No. 9 (ex. No. 48 Mac Phuilleim
) was on the tug HMS 'Algerian'. 'Pluto' was so
secret and important that it warranted a visit to the 'Algerian'
by no less than Mr Churchill and General Eisenhower.
Full time air cover was provided for the vessels engaged on
the operation.
Seeing what the army had to face on the beaches made me thankful
that I had opted for the Navy. My next door neighbour,
Murdo Mackenzie of 1 New Tolsta, who served with the army
in the Caen area often reminded me that Navy life was soft
compared with service in the army. I agreed with him!
Murdo
Maciver of 67 North Tolsta (Blastan) served on board the minesweeper
HMS 'Tadoussac' in June 1944.
When
the war was over some members of the crew wrote, from memory,
an account of the war efforts of HMS Tadoussac' and Annie
Mary (67) has kindly given us a copy for the Comann Eachdraidh.
An
extract from their story
'The
4 th day of June 1944 and the days to follow proved momentous
for HMS 'Tadoussac' and many other British and Canadian minesweepers.
In the Port of Plymouth, surrounded by so many ships
of various sizes and shapes, we were preparing to leave for
the Normandy Beaches. In sweeping formation we sailed
at 4pm. After several hours operations, and experiencing
inclement weather, we were recalled to Plymouth.
Twenty-four hours later we recommenced our task ahead of the
American forces and it is believed that eleven other minesweeping
flotillas were bound for the French Coast that day.
By 10.30 pm we could not believe our eyes to witness the coast
of France so plainly visible, some seven miles from our vantage
point (5 th June).
A signal was received to continue minesweeping as close to
the beaches as possible to enable the armada of ships to land
in the Transport Area.
At 2am on 6 th June all was let loose by the shore batteries
whilst our own bombing aircraft were operative overhead.
On 6 th June HMS 'Tadoussac' was hit by an unexploded shell,
fired by a German battery. The Engineer Officer with
some help removed it and discharged it overboard. A
very brave feat!
We escorted various ships, one of which HMS 'Plover' was laying
mines. Another ship was laying dan bouys to mark a
safe channel to allow Winston Churchill to visit the beaches
once it was safe for him to do so.
We remained in the area for two weeks before returning to
England for a refit'.
Murdo
Maciver (Blastan) was later 'mentioned in despatches' and
the certificate he received read:-
By
the KING'S Order the name of
Ty.
Leading Seaman Murdo Maciver
was
published in the London Gazette on
28
th November, 1944,
as
mentioned in a Despatch for distinguished service.
I
am charged to record
His
Majesty's high appreciation.
A.V.
Alexander
First
Lord of the Admiralty
|
