HMS Undaunted at Normandy

From the D-Day Overlord site.

The HMS Undaunted had only been in British service for just over three months at D-Day.

Its first action was escorting a convoy to destroy the German battleship Tirpitz in Norway.

In May 1944, it joined Bombardment Force K, which became part of Bombarding Force G  as part of Operation Overlord.  It escorted convoys across the English Channel on the night of 5 June 1944,heading for Gold Beach.  On D-Day it participated in fire support of English troops.

On June 7, the Undaunted embarked General Eisenhower, Admiral Ramsay and part of Overlord's staff to Portsmouth.  It then patrolled  on the Bay of the Seine and across the English Channel while occasionally pursuing its mission fire to the benefit of land forces.

--GreGen

LST-325 Comes to Dubuque, Iowa, This Weekend

The famed World War  II LST-325 is coming to Iowa this weekend and will be at Dubuque and is currently moored there.  It will be open for tours from Thursday, Aug. 23 to Monday, Aug. 27.

Then it will visit Bettendorf, Iowa, from August 30 to Sept 3 and then to Chester, Illinois, September 6 to Sept. 9.

Hoping to visit it in Dubuque.

This ship, the LST stands for Landing Ship Tank, for one of its major jobs,  and was at D-Day and the follow up.  6 June 1944, it carried 59 vehicles,  30 officers and 396 enlisted men to the beach at Normandy, and then returned with 38 casualties.

Over the next nine months, the ship made more than 40 trips across the English Channel carrying thousands of men and pieces of equipment.

Then, later it was in the Greek navy.

The ship is 327 feet long and has a 50-foot beam.

A Lot of History Here.  --GreGen

First Look Inside Abandoned English WWII Tunnels

From July 20, 2015, ABC News.

Used during World War II along England's coast.  They were called the Fan Bay Shelter and were built in 1940 through 1941 and were used to house a defensive gun battery that was housed at the White Cliffs of Dover in the southeast corner of the country.

The battery was there to prevent the Germans from using the English Channel.

These tunnels have recently been reopened.

--GreGen

PBS History Detectives Look for Glenn Miller-- Part 2

What really happened to noted American musician Glenn Miller?  He took off from England December 15, 1944, on a flight to Paris where he was going to do a holiday concert in the newly liberated  City of Lights,  Neither he or his plane ever arrived.  What happened is still unknown and probably will remain so until the wreckage is actually found.

Theories abound.

Was he really a spy on a mission to overthrow Hitler?

Was he killed by friendly fire from the British?

Did his plane experience problems causing it to crash into the English Channel?

These are things the three history detectives are going to investigate.

--GreGen

Britain's Guernsey Island in World War II

From Wikipedia.

This past week I posted two articles about German defense mines being found back in 2012 on the island of Guernsey and the opening of a German bunker. I have several other 2012 items to write about as well as I play catch up on my World War II articles.

I was completely unfamiliar with the existence of this island or its occupation by the Germans during the war before the blog, so here is a little background information.

In my War of 1812 blog, I found out that British war hero Isaac Brock, commander of British forces in Canada in the first year of the war, was also born there in 1769.

Guernsey is a British Crown Dependency, one of what is called the Channel Islands, in the English Channel off the coast of Normandy. It includes the main island of Guernsey and several smaller nearby ones.

The Bailiwick of Guernsey was occupied by German forces during World War II. Before its occupation, most of the island's children were evacuated to Britain where they lived for the duration of German occupation. Some never returned. In addition, some Guernsey residents were sent to camps in southwest Germany.

The island was heavily fortified by the Germans "out of proportion to the island's strategic value."

With the war's 70th anniversary upon us, Guernsey has taken steps with its heritage.

Remembering. --GreGen

The SS Empire Javelin

The last several days, I have been blogging about the LST-325 and mentioned how in December 1944, it rescued more than 700 men after the SS Empire Javelin, a troopship, was sunk.

The Empire Javelin was classified as LSI (Large), and infantry landing ship and built by the Consolidated Steel Corporation of Wilmington, California, and launched October 25, 1943.  Lend-leased to Britain, at D-Day it carried members of the 1st Battalion 116th Infantry Regiment of the US 29th Division.

It was sunk in the English Channel Dec. 28, 1944.  It was initially thought that the U-772 sank it, but it was later found that ship had been sunk a month prior.  The U-322 then became the candidate as it was known to have been active in the area at the time., but it was sunk December 29, 1944.  Now, it is thought the Empire Javelin might have been sunk by a mine.

GreGen

Receives Silver Star 66 Years Late

From the June 18, 2010 Raleigh (NC) Telegram.

Edwin Stevens, 94, received the honor 66 years overdue, the third-highest military award.

In June 1944, he was a B-17 pilot.  He and his crew of ten were on a mission over France and the plane was hit 151 times by AA fire.  Three of the four engines failed over enemy territory, but the plane managed to get back over the English Channel, but couldn't clear the White Cliffs of Dover, some 300 feet high.

In a split-second decision, Stevens headed for the beach at the base of the cliffs.  The cockpit split from the rest of the plane on the rough landing, but all the crew survived.

Said Stevens, however, "I don't know why I should get this special medal."

Like I Said, The Greatest Generation.  --GreGen