“The draft arrived, our craft was ready and we went to King George V dock, London, where it was built. We took over and had sea trials, afterwards sailing to Portsmouth. We called on our way to get degaussal. Behind it was Sheerness. This called for a cable to be passed round, outside our craft, to demagnetise as a protection against magnetic mines. Our craft by the way was LCF(L) II.
“From Portsmouth we patrolled the Channel; also did ship-to-shore firing at the Isle of Wight. The targets were on the cliffs near the Needles, dummy guns and tanks. Before we started firing we could see a road going along the top of the cliffs and this was blocked off to traffic, opening again when we finished. There was a signal station we could see on top of the cliffs, to the right, just above the Needles. We were told to be careful as there had been one occasion when it had been hit by a stray shell. I don’t know if this was true or just to make us a bit more careful.
“Finally, we left Portsmouth and sailed to Plymouth, where a convoy of us was forming, again going in the Channel for firing practice. After one such practice we were at a buoy just in front of the bridge at Saltash when the corporal on the for’ward pom-pom accidentally had left a round in the breech and fired it either through, over or under the bridge.
“Our next orders were to sail to Falmouth where in convoy with other craft we sailed to the Med and, based at Malta, carried out the invasions of Sicily and Italy, sailing back November to prepare for D-Day.
“It had been a very rough trip and just off the Bristol Channel our engines broke down - had to be towed to Barry Island. After a short while we were told that we had to hand over our craft to the Americans who seemed to want it to support their own landings, so it was off to HMS Westcliff at Southend. After that, to HMS Robertson at Sandwich. Here I was detailed to take a party of Marines to HMS Mastodon which was at Exbury House estate near Beaulieu. Nevile Shute’s book, Requiem for a Wren used Mastodon as the base for his story. He did a good job.
“We were to be casualty replacements for Fs and Gs, which were all stationed up the river. My accommodation was to be a bell tent. On entering I found that it was only occupied by one acting sergeant who did not seem too pleased to see me. I guessed why when next morning the tent flap opened and a Wren appeared with a mug of tea. I did not get one. This happened every morning and all I got was a glare, I wonder why?
“The camp was sealed off, no-one allowed out for several weeks. I had to post sentries at various places. The gardener went berserk one day when he found that one night a sentry, a bit bored, did a bit of bayonet practice on a tree, which he said was a very rare specimen. I wonder if it survived?
“Dieppe had taught us about security. Although different units mixed at evenings, at the canteen, everyone was tight-lipped about their job. During the day, groups were all over the place getting instruction, these men were all the spear-head of the invasion and would be the first to land.
“The secrecy was to be proved one morning. When I woke, the bed opposite was empty, the sergeant and his gear had slipped away during the night, the tent flap did not open and there was no mug of tea. I went out and the place looked deserted. I reported to the orderly room where I was given a map reference and told to take a party of Marines to a camp which had been vacated. A lorry was provided for transport and I had to mount guard until relieved, food would be brought from Mastodon.
“I duly arrived at the camp, which was Nissen huts, etc., and found the place completely deserted. The keys to the huts were in the guard room and I discovered them full of equipment and stores, all packed away. I made out a guard roster and I forget how many days we were there until some lorries arrived with naval personnel who took an inventory of everything, loaded up and left the place empty. So it was back to Mastodon. The craft had all gone off on D-Day. I did see an officer that I knew, about getting on his craft before D-Day. This would’ve given him an extra sergeant. He saw the CO of Mastodon who would not agree, as I was the only sergeant he could call on if needed.
“After Mastodon, it was to HMS Robertson at Sandwich, Kent. There was a new type of craft being built, not a conversion but a purpose-built one, the armour being 25-pounder or 17-pounder guns in separate turrets on each craft. It had been found that after the troops had landed, further support was needed to give accurate supporting fire, further inland. To do this a howitzer was needed to give a high trajectory over any buildings, etc., that were in the way. The 25-pounder was a howitzer, the trajectory being governed by adjusting the charge.
“I was drafted to North Wales for a course on 25- and 17-pounders, which I completed. This also included a bit of climbing over Cader Idris, etc., just to keep fit. Barmouth was the nearest place to get a bit of recreation; we had to cross the toll bridge to get there. Servicemen were charged to cross. I think it was a halfpenny. This was different to Hayling Island where servicemen were not charged to cross the bridge; we also had this concession at Sandwich. When we had to cross the bridge at Barmouth on a route march, the officer in charge had to fork out for about 30 men!
“After this course it was back to Robertson to wait for a craft. So far only two had been built, LCG(M) 101 and LCG(M) 102. This was now the time of the Walcheren landings. Some chaps went from Robertson. Apparently the visibility was bad at the time and the six-inch gun emplacements were not knocked out and caused heavy losses in landing craft. Both LCG(M)s were sunk. Some survivors were picked up from 101 but there were no survivors from 102. However a landing was made successfully.
“Soon after my craft was ready and we went to Hull where it was built, and after sea trial sailed to Poole and then to Plymouth. Here was HMS Highway, which was a dockship. It could lower itself in the water, take three of us LCG(M)s inside, get chocked up and rise again leaving the craft high and dry, the crews living aboard Highway. We then anchored off Plymouth and this was VE Day. We could watch the celebrations, fireworks, etc., ashore but were not allowed to leave, as we sailed next morning for the Far East.
“One thing I did not mention earlier was that before sailing to the Med on LCF II, we called at Calshot at the RAF Sea Rescue base. Here we went into their dry dock to have the bottom of the F cleaned. We went ashore while this was being done and were the guests of the RAF - more comfortable than the F which had rather a small galley to feed 75 men. When bread ran out, which we got ashore, it was hard tack biscuits. Still, we did get hard lying money, 9d a day for marines and ABs, a shilling for corporals and leading seamen and 1s. 3d. for POs and sergeants; a tot of rum a day, one pound of tobacco a month, also a pound of yellow soap.”
The exploits of Mr Haynes illustrate once more how much the ordinary soldier, seaman or airman of the day could expect to travel, and not just to far away places with strange sounding names. The Army of course relied very heavily on landing craft, especially on D-Day, but also in the many other lesser operations which led up to the invasion of mainland Europe.
John Cook was another who ended up gravitating towards this particular method of troop transport.
Many landing craft personnel were stationed at the Royal Hotel on Hayling Island, in relative comfort, including Marine John Cook of Tintinhull, who was sent from there to Sicily and Italy. While he was at the Royal, two of his flotilla craft went down in bad weather on their way back from Belfast. He and colleagues had to pack up personal possessions of the crew - young men with whom they had served - and send them back to their families. They were in LCTs (Gun) and he was in LCTs (Flak) armed with Oerlikons and then pom-poms. There were about 40-50 Royal Marines to a dozen Royal Navy personnel on craft of 400-500 tons, about 200 feet long and 30 feet wide. LCGs had two 4.7-inch guns and Pompoms on the bridge, used for bombarding, as protection for other craft, or before a landing.
He had done normal training when he volunteered for the Special Boat Servce. Using three or four LCFs, they went to Salerno and Italy, successfully crossing Atlantic waters in their small craft. On the way back,