Cl Mcmahon

7/30/2019 Cl Mcmahon

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My Grandfather's Memories

Of WWII andD-Day

I was a pharmacist mate third class when I

served in the United States Navy. Like most of

my ship mates, I was in my teens and had an air

of invincibility. It was the 1940s and we all hada patriot fervor and wanted to serve our country.

In March of 1944, after boot camp, hospital

corpsman school and hospital training at the

Charleston Naval Hospital, I was assigned to anaval medical evacuation group designated

"FOXY - 29". This group was assembled at

Lido Beach, Long Island, NY, where training

and shots were given in preparation of going

overseas. A group of 40 corpsman and 2

medical doctors were selected as a unit and sent

to Bayonne, NJ naval base and depot. Although

we were assigned to a Landing Ship Tank

(LST), we were not part of the ship's company.


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While docked in Bayonne, NJ, the ship's tank

deck was loaded with trucks and topside with a

Landing Craft Tank (LCT). After the ship wasfully loaded with equipment, army troops were

taken aboard as passengers.

, ,

I remember very little about the engineering

specifications of the a LST but I know what it


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looked like. It was about 220 ft long and 60 ft

wide. The bow of the ship had two large doors

that opened up to allow a ramp to be lowered onwhich vehicles gained entry to the tank deck.

The crew's quarters were in the stern of the ship

accommodating about 60 sailors. Additional

accommodations were available on both the port

and starboard sides, running almost the full

length of the ship. The bunks were attached tobulkhead or stanchions and had to be lashed up

when not in use. The officers quarters were

topside near the stern of the ship in front of the

ship's galley


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Leaving Bayonne, NJ, we set a course for

Boston, MA, Halifax, Nova Scotia and Finallythe British Isles. We only got as far as Boston

when we experienced engine trouble. We had to

lay over while the rest of the convoy continued

on to Halifax. A week later we resumed our

voyage and set sail for Halifax. We arrived atHalifax without any incidents and then awaited

the assembly of ships to sail in a convoy

heading for the final leg of the journey. This


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part of the journey was perilous. German Wolf

Packs (subs) dogged American convoys, picking

off stragglers or other victims sailing on thefringes of the convoy. Fortunately, LSTs have

shallow drafts and torpedoes go under the keel

of the ship.

Sailing the North Atlantic in winter is rough

particularly for a ship that hasn't a keel. TheLST was designed with a flat bottom in order toland on the beaches. This feature was a

disadvantage in the North Atlantic. Three story

waves would lift the ship on to their crest and

the ship would shutter from the vibration of the

screws (propellers) then slam down where thewaves receded. Fortunately or unfortunately, the

voyage lasted 23 days. Everyone aboard

suffered from some degree of sea sickness, the

more serious cases experienced nausea and

dehydration and could not get out of bed to

perform their duties.On the 23rd day, after

leaving Halifax, we sailed or floated into

Plymouth Harbor. The same port from which


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the pilgrims sailed to America. The harbor pilot

came aboard our ship and steered to a dock

called Tamar Quay, where the equipment andpassengers were unloaded.

My unit left the ship to go for additional training

in a small rustic town in Devon called Fowey.

We returned to our ship a week later and found

out that our ship was part of a fotilla on atraining maneuver when German E-Boatsattacked and inflicted heavy casualties. This

incident (Tiger) was not reported until recent

years. Our unit was happy that we were not on

board when this incident occurred even though

our ship was unscathed. Sadly, some of myfriends on other ships were lost.

The weeks prior to the Normandy invasion, life

aboard ship was dull because of confinement.

The week before D-day, the ship began to load

up men and equipment. Now it was a case ofhurry up and wait and wait we did. Finally, the

day came and we weighed anchor and set sail

for the continent. Our army passengers were
http://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/d-day/tiger.htmhttp://www.qmmuseum.lee.army.mil/d-day/tiger.htm


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members of the 29th Division (The Blue And

Grey). This division was originally a National

Guard outfit activated prior to Pearl Harbor incase of emergency. These older fellas served in

the Alleutian Island for one year before being

reassigned to the European Theatre Operation.

They had been stationed in England two year

prior to this event. These men had been away

from home for 3 years without any furlough.The attitude of these soldiers was remarkable.

Although they faced great danger and even

death, they were fearless and anxious to get it

over with so they could go home to their

families. We could not show fear in the

presence of these brave men.

The trip across the English Channel was a

spectacular sight. There were thousands of

allied ships as far as one could see. Our planes

flew above us in such large numbers it seemed

that we were spectators at an airshow. The

enemy had been cleared from the sea and the

sky. The army personnel knew were they were


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going to land since maps indicating Vereville

Ser Mer Sermer on Omaha Beach as the

location. Our forces arrived at Omaha Beach onthe morning of the second day. We saw

wreckage of landing crafts strewn across the

approaches to the beach. German Eighty-Eights

were firing cross fire on the troops attempting to

secure the beachhead. The battleship New York

and the cruiser Augusta were lobbing shells onthe German position. Our skipper steered the

ship toward the beach but was intercepted by a

Coast Guard Cutter who instructed him to turn

back because he was endangering his ship and

all on board. We turned back to a safe distance

where we loaded the army personnel onto our

small boats that ferried them to the beachhead.

We had no difficulty unloading the soldiers but

the equipment was another story. This problem

was resolved by providing the CB sailors

(Construction Batallion) a case of beer to unloadthe equipment from our ship. These sailors

operated the Rhino, used for transporting

equipment to the beachhead. The Rhinos were a


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number of platoons welded together and

propelled by outboard motor. These courageous

sailors did a tremendous job in supporting thetroops on shore.

Our stay at Omaha Beach was not over yet. We

had to wait in order to evacuate casualties.

Small boats returning from the beachhead had

casualties on board who had to be transportedback to England for treatment. Ropes were tiedto the stretchers bearing the injured men and

then manually hoisted on board. When the ship

was filled to capacity we sailed back to South

Hampton, England where the injured were taken

off the ship and transported to medical facilities.The trips between England and Normandy

continued until ports such as Cherbourgh and La

Havre became secure for allied ships.

The amphibious ships continued their operations

in the European Theatre, ferrying men suppliesand prisoners to various sectors. Inland ports

that were used by amphibious ships were

Antwerp, Belgium and Rouen, France. When


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