Introduction Highlandpark.

[highlandpark]

Hi there,

Thought I should say a little about myself and why I'm here. I'm from the Highlands of Scotland and have never been in the military. Once I explain why I'm on the forum it will all make sense. I'm here looking for a little more history of the Rangers and the off chance that anyone has ever heard a similar story from friends or family.

My Grandfather was in the Royal Navy throughout the entire war. He spent a lot of time as Landing Craft crew and as such was at the Normandy landings. Most of what I know comes straight from him, as I was lucky enough to attend the 60th Anniversary with him when France awarded them with the Anniversary medal. This was the only time he ever really spoke about that day. Hopefully there may be someone who can either tell me if what I know is right or help correct the errors that time and trauma created in his mind.

He thinks he left HMS Princess Maud and was part of the crew of a LCA carrying Rangers onto Omaha beach. They were to aim for church spires at Surveille Sur Mer, but these had been destroyed during the bombing and as far as he could remember they landed off target. He never spoke about what happened when the double doors opened and the Soldiers left, it wasn't something he could put into words. After they were empty they began to turn and head back to the ship for more troops, it was at this point that they were hit by an American Landing Craft and the corner of it managed to damage the ramp and allow water in. The managed to somehow fill the gap and use the double doors to stop too much water coming in. This meant they were useless as a landing craft and so made to return to the ship. It was at this point that they found a soldier floating in the sea using a stretcher as a float. They were given strict instructions to leave anyone found and continue with the landing of troops, but since they no longer had a use-able ramp they decided to ignore this and pick him up. Once they made it back to the ship they were refused on-board as they were damaged and a pointless craft so were sent away and supposedly sailed around for a while till they could find a ship who would take them.

I'm having trouble finding mention of a Princess Maud and I thought the Rangers were used for the Pointe Du Hoc and not on the Beaches around Surveille Sur Mer. As for the story about the drifting soldier there is a little more to it. Since I was a wee boy I've always had a US army belt which had a leather holster and ammo pouch. According to my Father this also had the gun, but after the War my Grandfather threw it into the sea. I've heard two stories about this belt, one is that the soldier they took on-board gave it as a thank you to my Grandfather, the other is that whilst heading to the beach someone realised they had nothing other than their sidearm with them and swapped it for a rifle. I have no idea if either are correct, and there is no way for me to check now. Not sure if there is a better part of the forum for this or what I'm hoping to discover, but thought it worth a try.

[Jim]

Well, thanks for contacting us, but this a challenge. Exactly what are you seeking from us? Have you contacted the Royal Navy historical office?

[highlandpark]

I've got my Grandfathers service record, but all that really does is follow where the money was going. It shows a huge amount of training and a few of the ships he was on, but tell you nothing about any of the operations he took part in.

Does anyone know if the Rangers landed on more parts of Omaha beach than just the Pointe Du Hoc and if any of them left from the ship Princess Maud on LCA's with Royal Navy crew?

I remember sitting having lunch during the anniversary and being sat beside Lt. General Blum and I'm pretty sure he got one of his aides to work it out, but I was younger and there was a lot to take in during that trip, and I have to admit I can't remember what the outcome was.

[Jim]

Here is a start point.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Normandy_landings