D-Day-False Alarm by Zen Karp (excerpt from H.L.I. and WWII)
3 June
After watching their own team defeat the SD and G's yet again in an afternoon baseball match, the men were issued camp cots, which were met with favor over the hard ground; however, it did nothing to quell uneasy spirits.
They had been quarantined; isolated from the surrounding community and thrown into the sausage machine to execute what they were eventually told was the real thing. But the more time spent idle gave to more tension, and even though most knew better, some rumors circulated to replace facts.
They knew the senior officers were aware of what was going on, they had been issued orders since 28 May, when the whole ritual began. Men were told to adopt the routine which they were familiar with and wait for more information to follow, which had been supplied in bits and pieces.
Word was passed there would be a move at 2230, but was postponed until 0400 in the morning of the following day. All this time the companies were shuffled around their area from one place to another, standing, sitting, laying on kit or trying to get some shut-eye around all of the organized confusion. They queued to receive "sea stores" which consisted of "Bags, vomit," sea sick pills, a "Mae West" and a "Tommy cooker."
Finally, the restless soldiers were shepparded at company level to various rooms of sufficient size for their briefing. Some companies filled portions of gymnasiums, others filled the spaces offered by warehouses and in these rooms, soldiers were either seated or sat cross-legged on the floor.
The officers watched their troops they would take now into battle fill the room. Officers are envied for their privileges, but the burden of command after a week of tension was now beginning to peak. Platoon commanders like Doug Barrie had to make a concentrated effort to look confident before the men.
On the walls, or on easels, one large map sat facing them. Tacked around the map were a number of photographs which the well trained eye knew to be reconnaissance photos, taken by planes equipped with sophisticated cameras. Training exercises before had provided all of this, no surprises yet for the men. The company commanders cleared their throats for the most important briefing they had given to date:
"Good day, men. I know the past few days have been difficult, but I now have our orders...THIS IS IT..."
The operation was called Overlord, the allied invasion of the continent, intended to bring the Third Reich to an unconditional surrender. The allies would cross the English Channel in their landing craft at a very wide stretch, to achieve surprise, and invade France at the province of Normandy.
There was some historical irony to the chosen place of invasion. In medieval times, Normandy was a Viking state. On the same beaches they were about to land, William the Conqueror's troops loaded ships to invade England in 1066. King Harold's army met them at Hastings, but lost, and Harold himself was killed in combat.
Once on land, the battalion, as part of the 9th Brigade, would assemble at a French town code named Elder and prepare the next day to launch an attack on an airfield, which was just south of a city code named Poland on the map before them (still no real names were used at this point, for security).
4 June 1944
0300 hours
They moved to the port of Southampton heavily burdened with equipment. The rifle company soldier’s battle load consisted was crushing. In addition to the ammunition for every weapon, rations, shovels, picks and additional clothing, they also had their bicycles to take ashore; which would be used to keep up with the advancing mechanized units. Combat support company loaded their vehicles with literally tons of ammunition.
In the darkness of an overcast evening, they squeezed into three Landing Craft Infantry, Large (LCI(L)). These boxy vessels bobbed only slightly while tied to the docks of Southampton harbor as the mass of men and material increased their weight substantially. Tracked carrier vehicles backed into special craft, jeeps and light trucks were all compacted into efficient parking spaces. All available space in the vehicles was jammed with kit, ammunition, petrol, food and water.
"This is definitely the real thing," someone joked, "do you think they would trust us with all this ammo if it wasn't?"
Into the human compartments the men were led. They had deposited their bikes on the deck, and now they descended into the soon stifling guts of the ship. With a maximum capacity of around 140 people, space was at a premium for these men in full battle load.
Private Bill Marshall moved into a hold with his fellow B Company mates lugging a 2" mortar, his SMG with ammo, all of his kit, a Mae West and other extra items. Soon it was unbelievably packed, and complaints started about how long they were expected to be in such a predicament. While the other craft had cots on tiers, B Company's ship had none, just cocoa matting lay on the floor. With a great deal of effort, the seventeen year-old private found himself a space on the floor.
"It was so bloody crowded that if you laid down and moved a leg, you couldn't put it back where it had been!"
Bill had lied about his age to be in the infantry. His father was in Italy with Canadian First Corps and his adopted brother had died in Dieppe back in August of 1942. He didn't want to be left out, and now finally he was going in.
More frustrating than the discomfort he and every man felt, though, came soon after. They were ordered to disembark because the weather at sea was too rough. Now the complaint was that it was a sick joke of an exercise, albeit a very elaborate one. A feeling of annoyance began to pervade. For hours, they had been crushed against each other and herded like cattle here and there, all in full kit.
Some relief was offered in that they bedded comfortably enough in a warehouse, in which a good dinner was served followed by access to a hot shower. Pay Sergeant Watchhorn set up a table for his strong box full of cash and his paymaster's records. There was now time for soldiers to line up and take advance withdrawals of pay to buy what last minute items they wished, and this served as a very good distraction to the atmosphere of rumors and tension.
After watching their own team defeat the SD and G's yet again in an afternoon baseball match, the men were issued camp cots, which were met with favor over the hard ground; however, it did nothing to quell uneasy spirits.
They had been quarantined; isolated from the surrounding community and thrown into the sausage machine to execute what they were eventually told was the real thing. But the more time spent idle gave to more tension, and even though most knew better, some rumors circulated to replace facts.
They knew the senior officers were aware of what was going on, they had been issued orders since 28 May, when the whole ritual began. Men were told to adopt the routine which they were familiar with and wait for more information to follow, which had been supplied in bits and pieces.
Word was passed there would be a move at 2230, but was postponed until 0400 in the morning of the following day. All this time the companies were shuffled around their area from one place to another, standing, sitting, laying on kit or trying to get some shut-eye around all of the organized confusion. They queued to receive "sea stores" which consisted of "Bags, vomit," sea sick pills, a "Mae West" and a "Tommy cooker."
Finally, the restless soldiers were shepparded at company level to various rooms of sufficient size for their briefing. Some companies filled portions of gymnasiums, others filled the spaces offered by warehouses and in these rooms, soldiers were either seated or sat cross-legged on the floor.
The officers watched their troops they would take now into battle fill the room. Officers are envied for their privileges, but the burden of command after a week of tension was now beginning to peak. Platoon commanders like Doug Barrie had to make a concentrated effort to look confident before the men.
On the walls, or on easels, one large map sat facing them. Tacked around the map were a number of photographs which the well trained eye knew to be reconnaissance photos, taken by planes equipped with sophisticated cameras. Training exercises before had provided all of this, no surprises yet for the men. The company commanders cleared their throats for the most important briefing they had given to date:
"Good day, men. I know the past few days have been difficult, but I now have our orders...THIS IS IT..."
The operation was called Overlord, the allied invasion of the continent, intended to bring the Third Reich to an unconditional surrender. The allies would cross the English Channel in their landing craft at a very wide stretch, to achieve surprise, and invade France at the province of Normandy.
There was some historical irony to the chosen place of invasion. In medieval times, Normandy was a Viking state. On the same beaches they were about to land, William the Conqueror's troops loaded ships to invade England in 1066. King Harold's army met them at Hastings, but lost, and Harold himself was killed in combat.
Once on land, the battalion, as part of the 9th Brigade, would assemble at a French town code named Elder and prepare the next day to launch an attack on an airfield, which was just south of a city code named Poland on the map before them (still no real names were used at this point, for security).
4 June 1944
0300 hours
They moved to the port of Southampton heavily burdened with equipment. The rifle company soldier’s battle load consisted was crushing. In addition to the ammunition for every weapon, rations, shovels, picks and additional clothing, they also had their bicycles to take ashore; which would be used to keep up with the advancing mechanized units. Combat support company loaded their vehicles with literally tons of ammunition.
In the darkness of an overcast evening, they squeezed into three Landing Craft Infantry, Large (LCI(L)). These boxy vessels bobbed only slightly while tied to the docks of Southampton harbor as the mass of men and material increased their weight substantially. Tracked carrier vehicles backed into special craft, jeeps and light trucks were all compacted into efficient parking spaces. All available space in the vehicles was jammed with kit, ammunition, petrol, food and water.
"This is definitely the real thing," someone joked, "do you think they would trust us with all this ammo if it wasn't?"
Into the human compartments the men were led. They had deposited their bikes on the deck, and now they descended into the soon stifling guts of the ship. With a maximum capacity of around 140 people, space was at a premium for these men in full battle load.
Private Bill Marshall moved into a hold with his fellow B Company mates lugging a 2" mortar, his SMG with ammo, all of his kit, a Mae West and other extra items. Soon it was unbelievably packed, and complaints started about how long they were expected to be in such a predicament. While the other craft had cots on tiers, B Company's ship had none, just cocoa matting lay on the floor. With a great deal of effort, the seventeen year-old private found himself a space on the floor.
"It was so bloody crowded that if you laid down and moved a leg, you couldn't put it back where it had been!"
Bill had lied about his age to be in the infantry. His father was in Italy with Canadian First Corps and his adopted brother had died in Dieppe back in August of 1942. He didn't want to be left out, and now finally he was going in.
More frustrating than the discomfort he and every man felt, though, came soon after. They were ordered to disembark because the weather at sea was too rough. Now the complaint was that it was a sick joke of an exercise, albeit a very elaborate one. A feeling of annoyance began to pervade. For hours, they had been crushed against each other and herded like cattle here and there, all in full kit.
Some relief was offered in that they bedded comfortably enough in a warehouse, in which a good dinner was served followed by access to a hot shower. Pay Sergeant Watchhorn set up a table for his strong box full of cash and his paymaster's records. There was now time for soldiers to line up and take advance withdrawals of pay to buy what last minute items they wished, and this served as a very good distraction to the atmosphere of rumors and tension.
posted by scot at 11:58 AM
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