Found this near my house by the river... think it might be a landing craft of some sort.
Anyone shed any light on it.
If its pukka im going to see if the owner will let us do a PBI shoot on it!
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Yank landing craft by the looks of it - Higgins boat.
When we were a Kingdom it was run by a King
When we were an Empire it was run by an Empress
Now we're a country we're run by a..........
now theres something you dont see every day............
Looks like a Higgins-type LCVP.
Here too:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uRSqicxy0Hg
The number indicates boat 25 from APA26 - USS Samuel Chase, which took part in the Normandy landings, landing troops of the US 1st Division at Omaha Beach.
http://www.navsource.org/archives/10/03/03026.htm
Maybe better for a doughboys shoot then if the owners amicable...
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
I'm not sure if LCVPs were used on the British beaches, but it's likely. The number would be wrong, but...
The very first waves at Omaha were carried by British LCAs ( contrary to SPR and Spielberg ), so use of LCVPs at Gold, Sword, or Juno is possible.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landing_Craft_Assault
A bit of casual skimming seems to show the Higgins in British service being called the 'r boat' and used for commando raids.
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
The Higgins LCVP door is wide enough for at least a Jeep, so could offload 2 or 3 abreast. The LCA was purely infantry and only single file, I think.
It's a wonder that it survived, good find Gadge! I would say just from the look if it that it'd be perfect for any group to use for a photoshoot save the Airborne haha I bet he'd be chuffed to drive you in to shore! Looks in great nick too!
Also some were mounted with a 30.Cal on the back next to the driver...
Show me a man who will jump out of an airplane, and I'll show you a man who will fight!
General James M. Gavin
CRY HAVOC AND LET LOOSE THE DOGS OF WAR
From the Robert Capa wiki page
"His most famous work occurred on June 6, 1944 (D-Day) when he swam ashore with the second assault wave on Omaha Beach."
(Underscore is my addition)
Check this out:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/stor ... 8063.shtml
I had six craft of 551 Flotilla under my command plus two LCAs from HMS Prince Charles carrying two platoons of C Company 2nd US Rangers. They were to come to the Javelin and tag on to my right column then come into line abreast on my signal so that we all landed at the same time 05:30 on 5th June.
The officer commanding A Company 116th Infantry Regiment was Captain Taylor Fellers who I believe served in the National Guard at Bedford Virginia. He was a very serious, thoughtful officer who seemed a lot older than our sailors who were in their late teens or early twenties. It was his objective to secure the pass at Vierville sur Mer, which led off the beach between the cliffs. It was my task to put him and his Company plus the Rangers on the beach at the right place and at the right time. For as far as I could see on D-Day in both directions, Captain Fellers was the first American soldier to set foot on Omaha Beach in front of the Vierville sur Mer draw. The beach was empty, apart from the beach obstacles laid by the Germans.
He later mentions the myth about no British:
I can personally shoot down another flight of fancy dreamt up by Marshall and repeated by Ambrose, who describe how the lead craft (mine) with Captain Taylor Fellers and 31 men aboard was struck by a German weapon (A V3 perhaps) which ‘vaporised’ the LCA and all of its occupants before it could reach the shore. As Taylor Fellers and his men all landed safely and were later killed on the beach one wonders how Ambrose could write such fiction. The body of Taylor Fellers was found on the beach and brought back to the USA and buried in Bedford Cemetery. I laid a wreath on his grave on behalf of 551 Flotilla when I was privileged to attend the dedication of the Memorial gate at the magnificent D-Day memorial.
A bare minimum of research was all that was required to find out how Taylor Fellers died and where he was buried.
Matters were hardly improved by the film — Saving Private Ryan. I have no objection to the film as such because it wasn’t a documentary and Spielberg can use his remarkable talents to portray a story. But when asked by a BBC interviewer why he did not show any British involvement, he replied — ‘This is a film about Omaha Beach. There were no British on Omaha. There is no role for the British’ Spielberg also claimed that “Historical accuracy is the bedrock of films such as Saving Private Ryanâ€. He follows the tradition of Marshall who wrote in an article — ‘Normandy was a great American victory.’ Perhaps it was all a bad dream and I was not there.
Saving Private Ryan depicted C Company of 2nd Ranger Infantry Battalion landing on the Dog Green sector of Omaha Beach. Their two British LCA landing craft and the six LCAs carrying A Company of 116th Infantry Regiment of the 29th Infantry Division of The Army of The United States of America came under my command at that exact point and time. I was British then, as were all of the hundreds of other British sailors landing American troops on the morning of D-Day. Denying the presence of the Royal Navy on Omaha Beach or dishonouring them was a gross injustice.
LCAs were ARMOURED, and partially covered - An ideal craft for the first wave when they would be the only targets...
Nice one gadge!
I'd love to get photos taken in that in my 29th Inf kit!
I'll see if i can get hold of the owner and perhaps arrange a photoshoot day
"I think we are in rats' alley - Where the dead men lost their bones."
Nice one, Gadge!