Uncle at DE Day

Only found out this week that one of my uncles was on the DE celebration programme on BBC. I never knew he was involved! Apparently he was in the Navy and was a Tank Landing craft driver/pilot. He told his story.

In his first run to the beach he dropped the front gate and the first tank rolled forward, but it suddenly stopped. However hard they tried they could not get it to move. It took a long time before they eventually managed to remove it. Thats when they found the tank driver had been killed by a sniper. Somehow they missed the tide and had to wait 8 hours to complete the unloading.

Never really liked that Uncle, but he has suddenly gone up in my estimation.

Blimey!! Dont know if my Uncle was involved in D Day, I do know he was in the merchant navy which when I was a sprog (9 or 10 ish) I thought was a bit lame, "What he didnt fight??" Ive later in life relised how lame that was the merchant navy were amazingly brave, as well as been on one of the convoys that made it through to Malta he was also involved in the battle for Crete and won a medal for captaining his shop when the rest of officers were taken out by a stuka bomb to the bridge.

:lol: Captaining his shop....

nice type Dak ;)

Lol Fo ;)

:p

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Originally Posted by [MA]Dak[GSV]

...the merchant navy were amazingly brave, as well as been on one of the convoys that made it through to Malta he was also involved in the battle for Crete and won a medal for captaining his shop when the rest of officers were taken out by a stuka bomb to the bridge.

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My granddad commanded a AAA battery on Malta and spent most of the war failing to shoot down German and Italian planes but putting up a bloody good show for moral! Anyway, my mum and granny were trapped on the Island with him. Without the success of operation pedestal and the brave sods in the mechant Navy they'd probably have never got off that island alive. As it was they had to live in caverns because their house was leveled (my Mum got blown through a door by the bomb, and got strafed by fighters on more than one occasion - God bless slit trenches)! Mum and Granny got out after air superiority was regained and were evacuated to South Africa for the duration of the war (because it was safer than sending them home via the Med and Atlantic).

Anyway - merchant navy blokes were some of the bravest of the brave in my book. There was a cruel rule that if they got sunk their pay was frozen from the moment the ship went down. Some guys on the Arctic Convoys got sunk, survived, spent six months freezing their arse off in Archangel only to find out when they got home that they hadn't been bloody paid for it!

One of my Dad's mates was a sailor on the Corvettes that defended the arctic convoys. When they went on watch they'd all huddle around the warmest parts of the ships - subsequently nobody spotted a bloody thing. On his watch they wandered into a minefield - two ships went down. I don't think he ever forgave himself, poor sod.

Bloomin good book on convoys and the like: 'In Great Waters: The Epic Story of The Battle of the Atlantic' by Spencer Dunmore.

There are loads of terrific history books about Malta. I'm planning to write about it for my next novel (if I ever finish this one).

Flipping heck, I've gone on a bit. Sorry. Anyway - respect to Daks uncle (and Clingys)!

My Grandad - Bombadier Clague (pronounced Clegg)was on Crete and in the Desert with Monty, commanding a Bofors AA gun in the 15th (Manx) Regiment, Royal Artillery. His was the only gun during the course of the war in the regiment not to be shot to bits at one point or another through the whole thing... although the barrel got hot enough once in the desert that the one of the rounds went off half way up it and blew a big hole in the side...

Have you read Malta Spitfire by George Beurling & Leslie Roberts? Moby also One Mans Window by Denis Barnham? Both excellent reads I like Denis Barnham as he was an artist just doing his bit as they say.

I have Fortress Malta sitting here waiting to be read...

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Originally Posted by Tumble

I have Fortress Malta sitting here waiting to be read...

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I got that for my Dad for his birthday :) he hasnt read it yet either :shocked2:

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Originally Posted by [MA]Dak[GSV]

Have you read Malta Spitfire by George Beurling & Leslie Roberts? Moby also One Mans Window by Denis Barnham? Both excellent reads I like Denis Barnham as he was an artist just doing his bit as they say.

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A friend bought me Malta Spitfire not long ago.

I'll look out for One Man's Widow. Denis Barnham is mentioned a lot in 'Fortress Malta' by James Holland. His sketches and paintings are quite something. There's a fantastic one from a cockpit respective - a 109's belly streaking in front of him as he moves in on JU-88s. Two more 109s are visible in the mirror