WWII Military History Guides

Transcription

WWII Military History Guides
Neptune’s Might:
Amphibious Forces in Normandy
Neptune’s Might:
Amphibious Forces in Normandy
© The National WWII Museum and National History Day
May be duplicated for educational purposes
Dr. Cathy Gorn, Executive Director, National History Day
Senior Editor: Nathan Huegen, The National WWII Museum
Editor: Richard Allen
With support from National History Day staff
The National WWII Museum
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Neptune’s Might: Amphibious Forces in Normandy
This guide discusses the U.S. amphibious forces in Normandy and should be a helpful reference for students; it covers the
organization, tactics and combat experiences of men in these units:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Landing Craft Flotilla
Naval Combat Demolition Unit
Naval Beach Battalion
Naval Construction Battalion
Port Battalion
Quartermaster Battalion and Amphibian Truck Battalion
Amphibious Combat Techniques, 1915-1943
U.S. military strategists in the 1920s knew that Japan was a potential threat and that could lead to a war in the Pacific
Ocean. To win this war, the Navy would be required to capture bases for repairing and supplying their ships.1 The Navy
would also be required to launch amphibious assaults to capture bases to repair and supply their ships.
Most previous amphibious operations in history were not made against any significant resistance, and troops only had to
fight once they had reached their objective. A notable exception to this was the World War I landing at Gallipoli in 1915.
The beaches at Gallipoli were fiercely defended by Turkish forces and eventually the Australian, New Zealand, British,
and French troops failed to take the beach after many months of assaults.
Military strategists decided that capturing a strongly-defended beach from the sea was impossible – instead the best plan
was to land troops at an undefended spot several miles away and attack the objective from land.2 The United States
Marine Corps did not want to be absorbed into the Army and began searching for a specific mission that would allow
them to participate and not become a part of the army. So they began to study the problem of successfully landing and
supplying troops on a beach under fire.
The Marines, Navy and Army all tested and improved their ideas over the next decade, eventually publishing these as the
Tentative Manual for Landing Operations in 1934.
The Army was most skeptical about amphibious operations, but they participated too, giving all branches of the U.S.
military experience with the problems of landing troops from the sea, this was published as Landing Operations Doctrine,
USN, 1938.3
During the U.S.’s first amphibious landings at Guadalcanal in August 1942, in North Africa in November 1942, and Sicily
in July 1943, troops were able to land and organize themselves on the beach before encountering significant resistance.
For the Guadalcanal landings, the Marines packed their most important equipment and supplies into the transport ships
first. Once they got to Guadalcanal, the Marines had to wait for ammunition and medical supplies while less-important
gear like tents and electric generators were unloaded from the ships. After this experience, the Marines learned to ‘assault
load’ their ships – the equipment the Marines needed on the beach first was put into the ships last, so that it could be
unloaded first once the ship got to the beach.
1
American 1920s strategic planning, Allan R. Millet. “Assault from the sea: The development of amphibious warfare between the
wars – the American, British, and Japanese experiences.” In Military Innovation in the Interwar Period. Williamson Murray and Allan
R. Millett, eds. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1996, 56-59.
2
Development of U.S. amphibious doctrine in the interwar period, Millet, 70-78.
3
Development of U.S. amphibious doctrine in the interwar period, Millet, 70-78.
The harshest test came at Tarawa in November 1943. Landing craft carrying Marines ashore became beached on coral
reefs half a mile from the beaches, forcing men to wade to shore while machinegun fire swept through their ranks. Naval
gun and air support was ineffective in destroying Japanese bunkers. By battle’s end, over half of the Marines which had
landed on the tiny island had been killed or wounded. By 1944, the Marine Corps, Army, and Navy had learned difficult
lessons and had improved their amphibious capabilities. New types of landing craft were developed. Naval gun and air
bombardment techniques were refined. Specialized teams of combat demolition men were ready to map beaches before
landings and to clear paths through obstacles during a landing. The Army even created specialized amphibious warfare
units which could organize a beachhead quickly, so that supplies and reinforcements could get ashore as quickly as
possible and ensure that the invasion succeeded. The system which was used at Normandy was the result of these two
years of hard lessons, learning, and experimentation.4
Infantry storm the beach in an amphibious assault. Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Association.
4
Landings at Guadalcanal, Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King. U.S. Navy at War, 1941-1945: Official Reports to the Secretary of the
Navy. Washington: United States Navy Department, 1946, 49-63; Sicily landings, King, 86-87; Tarawa landings, King, 70-72; and
improvements to doctrine, Millet, 87-95.
The Western Naval Task Force
The Western Naval Task Force was responsible for bringing the U.S. First Army to the Omaha and Utah beaches on DDay, and for bringing supplies and reinforcements to them in the days following this invasion. They worked alongside the
Eastern Naval Task Force, which was responsible for the British and Canadian beaches of Gold, Juno, and Sword. The
task force was divided into three naval forces, codenamed Force O (responsible for Omaha Beach), Force U (responsible
for Utah Beach), and Force B (brought remainder of the 1st and 29th Infantry Divisions not landed by Force O to Omaha
Beach as reinforcements). The ships and men of these three forces came from the United States Navy, United States Coast
Guard, Royal Navy, Royal Canadian Navy, and other Allied navies.5
Western Naval Task Force (Rear Admiral Allan G. Kirk, USN)
• Force U (Rear Admiral Don P. Moon, USN)
o Minesweeper Group
o Beach Green Assault Group (landed on Tare Green Beach)
o Beach Red Assault Group (landed on Uncle Red Beach)
o Escort Group
o Bombardment Group
o Far Shore Service Group
o Shore Party
• Force O (Rear Admiral John L. Hall, USN)
o Minesweeper Group
o Assault Group O-1 (Easy Red and Fox Green beaches)
o Assault Group O-2 (Dog Green and Easy Green beaches)
o Assault Group O-3 (Fox Green and Easy Red beaches)
o Assault Group O-4 (Pointe du Hoc and Dog Green Beach)
o Escort Group
o Close Gunfire Support Group
o Bombardment Group
o Far Shore Service Group
o Shore Party
• Force B (Commodore C. D. Edgar, USN)
o Convoy B-1
o Convoy B-2
o Convoy B-3 (arrived June 7)
o Convoy B-4
o Mulberry A
o Salvage and Firefighting Group
o Area Screen6
Each of the two assault forces were split up into several sub-forces. Some of these brought assault troops to the beaches,
while others provided support. Both forces had additional groups to protect the force from ships of the German
Kriegsmarine, bombardment groups to provide a shore bombardment of the beaches to help the assault troops, a service
group with repair, fueling, and rescue vessels, and a shore party with an Engineer Special Brigade.
5
Western Task Force at Normandy, Samuel Eliot Morison. The Invasion of France and Germany: 1944-1945. Boston: Little,
Brown and Company, 1957, 29.
6
Western Task Force order of battle, Morison, 333-337.
The Engineer Special Brigade
In a report submitted to Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal in March 1945, Fleet Admiral Ernest J. King wrote that
“the success of our amphibious operations in North Africa, Sicily and Italy had demonstrated that, given air and
sea superiority, there would be small doubt of our initial success, even against so strongly fortified a coast as
northern France. The critical factor was whether, having seized a beachhead, we would be able to supply and
reinforce it sufficiently fast to build an army larger than that which the enemy was certain to concentrate against
ours.”7
To ensure that the U.S. Army was successful in winning the ‘battle of reinforcement,’ the Army created six Engineer
Special Brigades (ESBs), which were
specialized organizations that had all of the men
and equipment needed to sweep away the debris
left after a beach assault, organize the
beachhead, and quickly bring supplies and
reinforcements to the troops on the front lines.
The ESB’s were given a list of twenty-seven
specific duties to perform in Normandy!
The men of the ESBs were the shore party
element of the amphibious team. The Navy
brought reinforcements and supplies to the beach
– and then the ESBs got them ashore to where
they needed to go. The Army went to a great
deal of effort to create the ESBs, because their
mission was vital to the success of the invasion.
For example, to train the port battalions which
would unload ships off the beach, the Army built
several ‘land ships’ – full size cargo vessels built
at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania (which is
landlocked), on which the port battalion soldiers
could master their art.
A bulldozer pulling supplies drives out of a LST.
The National WWII Museum, Inc.
The first Engineer Special Brigades were formed in June 1942 and eventually, there were six ESBs. Each ESB was about
the size of a combat division. Each ESB had several different types of units, each with a particular specialty:
Engineer Special Brigade
(Total strength: 14,605 men)
Headquarters
and
Headquarters
Company
7
2 Engineer
Shore
Regiments
“The success of our,” King, 135.
Amphibian
Truck
Battalion
4
Quartermaster
Battalions
2
Ordinance
Battalions
Medical
Battalion
3 Port
Battalions
•
•
•
•
•
•
The Headquarters and Headquarters Company were responsible for administration and brigade command.
The 2 Engineer Shore Regiments (each with 3x Engineer Shore Battalions): cleared beach debris and built
roads.
The Amphibian Truck Battalion transported the supplies and reinforcements to their destinations.
The 4 Quartermaster Battalions transported the supplies to their destinations.
The 2 Ordinance Battalions ensured that the vehicles and equipment used by the brigade were repaired and
maintained.
The Medical Battalion provided treatment for sick and injured soldiers.
The Port Battalion soldiers transferred supplies from ships to trucks for transportation.8, 9
The ESB also included a number of small specialized companies and platoons – firefighting platoons, a gasoline supply
company, a mapping section, and other soldiers and sailors whose skills allowed the ESB to complete their mission
successfully. Naval beach battalion sailors coordinated the movements of ships to and from the beach.
The Americans were always planning
several amphibious operations, so
ESBs were in high demand, with
brigades serving in Europe, the
Mediterranean, and the Pacific.
The Army deployed three ESBs to
Normandy – the 1st ESB served on
Utah Beach while the 5th and 6th
ESBs worked on Omaha. The men of
the Engineer Special Brigades were
some of the unsung heroes of
Normandy – without their hard work
and dedication, the invasion would
never have succeeded. The D-Day
landings were an incredible
achievement, but they were only the
first step in a long road to Germany.
When the Army reached the heart of
the Third Reich in May 1945, they did
so using vehicles, weapons,
ammunition, gasoline, medical
supplies, and food brought ashore by
men of the Engineer Special
Brigades.10
8
Engineers bring supplies and trucks to shore on a “Rhino Ferry”.
Establishment of the ESBs, Brigadier General William F. Heavey. Down Ramp!: The Story of the Army Amphibian Engineers.
Washington: Infantry Journal Press, 1947, 1-9; ESB duties at Normandy, Engineer Headquarters, First U.S. Army. “Standard
Operating Procedures, Engineer Special Brigades.” Appendix A, 3 February 1944. Record Group 407, National Archives, College
Park, MD; ESB training, Heavey, 10-15; landships, Andrew Brozyna. Longshore Soldiers: Homefront, England, Normandy, Antwerp,
Life in a World War II Port Battalion. Longmont, CO: Apidae Press, 2010, 25-29; and ESB organization, Headquarters, 1st Engineer
Special Brigade. “Troop List.” 4 October 1944. Record Group 407, National Archives, College Park, MD.
9
Operations, Heavey, 70-105.
10
Establishment, Heavey, 1-9; manpower stat, Headquarters, 1st Engineer Special Brigade. “History 1st Engineer Special Brigade
for the Period 6 December 1943 to 1 November 1944.” 8 November 1944. Record Group 407, National Archives, College Park, MD,
3; and Normandy operations, Heavey, 70-105.
Landing Craft Flotilla
The landing craft which brought men and supplies ashore on D-Day were crewed by sailors and coastguardsmen of the
Navy and Coast Guard. The invasion of Normandy was the largest seaborne invasion in history. After months of planning,
training, and hard work from hundreds of thousands of Allied military men and women, the fate of D-Day was in the
hands of a few thousand brave landing craft crews. These men were expected to navigate through heavy surf, beach
obstacles and enemy fire and bring their sacred cargo to the beach safely. The Navy and Coast Guard needed men who
were up to the task. A Navy training manual stated that
“the men in ‘amphib’ are expected to master a broad field of nautical knowledge and become acquainted with the
work usually done in several rates. The alert, curious sailor will find the task of manning the LCVP varied and
stimulating. He will discover that seamanship, boat handling, some engineering, a knowledge of signaling and
communications, gunnery, navigation, and weather lore are all fields in which he must have some knowledge. In a
word, the capable boat crew member must be versatile…As one of the men who operate the LCVP or LCM(3) you
have several broad responsibilities, regardless of whether you are coxswain, engineer, deckhand, or signalman.
First, you are responsible for the safety of the boat and the lives of the crew and any men who may be aboard as
passengers on a run to the beach. Second, it is important to do your share to make an amphibious operation
succeed. Each such operation’s success is built upon the individual performance of many small boats -- yours
among them. The safe discharge of many loads of cargo at the proper places, and quickly, is vital. Third, military
duties aboard a transport must be done well, willingly, and with rapidity.”11
The United States developed many different kinds of amphibious vessels, from small boats known as landing craft to huge
large ocean going landing ships. Landing ships carried landing craft, on their decks or suspended along the sides. Below
are the descriptions of the amphibious vessels used:
• Landing Craft, Vehicle-Personnel – LCVP:
Length: 36 feet
Speed: 36 mph
Crew: 4
Carried: 36 soldiers, or a 1-ton truck, or 8,100 pounds of cargo.
Most LCVPs were manufactured by Higgins Industries of New Orleans, LA, leading to the nickname ‘Higgins boats.’
Most men who landed in the first assault waves on D-Day reached the beach in Higgins Boats. LCVPs were carried
aboard an LSI or an attack transport ship (AP).
• Landing Craft, Control – LCC:
Length: 56 feet
Speed: 15 knots
Crew: 12
The LCCs were used as secondary control vessels on D-Day, they directed landing vessels carrying troops and cargo to
the right beach, and communicated with beachmasters ashore to make sure that necessary supplies were landed at the right
place, there were only 8 of these at Normandy.
• Landing Craft, Support, Small – LCS(S):
Length: 36 feet
Speed: 16 mph
Crew: 6
Support landing craft carried five machineguns and provided extra firepower to help pin down German defenders so they
could not shoot at other landing craft or soldiers.
• Landing Craft, Mechanized, Mark III – LCM(3):
Length: 50 feet
Speed: 10 mph
Crew: 4
Carried: a tank, or 60 soldiers, or 60,000 pounds of cargo.
Carried aboard LSTs, these vessels carried tanks ashore on D-Day. After LCVPs, LCMs were the most common type of
landing vessel.
11
Normandy amphibious landings, Antony Beevor. D-Day: The Battle for Normandy. New York: Penguin Books, 2009, 74-124;
“the men in ‘amphib,’” Training and Operations Staff, Landing Craft School, Amphibious Training Base. Skill in the Surf: A Landing
Boat Manual. February 1945, 18.
• Landing Craft, Tank, Mark V – LCT(5):
Length: 108 feet
Speed: 10 mph
Crew: 13
Carried: 5 tanks.
LCT’s were big enough to sail across the English Channel on their own.
• Landing Craft, Infantry, Large – LCI(L):
Length: 158 feet
Speed: 17 knots
Crew: 23
Carried: 192 soldiers or 75 tons of cargo.
The LCI was the largest type of landing craft, and carried many soldiers to battle on D-Day, being used to bring soldiers
ashore in the waves following the initial assault. Unlike other landing craft, LCIs did not have a ramp at the front –
instead, soldiers disembarked using a staircase on either side of the boat’s front.
• Landing Ship, Tank – LST:
Length: 158 feet
Speed: 11 knots
Crew: 111
Carried: 20 medium tanks, 39 light tanks, or 186 soldiers.
The LST, jokingly called a ‘Long Slow Target’ was a large amphibious vessel that could cross oceans and could sail right
up to the beach like a landing craft. LSTs had two large doors at the vessel’s bow which could open to unload cargo
directly onto the beach. The ships were vital to the success of the Normandy invasion, where they performed just about
every mission asked of amphibious vessels, earning them the nickname ‘hero ships.’ They landed tanks, troops, and cargo,
and then left the beach filled with wounded soldiers or German prisoners being evacuated to England.
• Landing Ship, Infantry (LSI) and Attack Transport (AP):
These were large ships, of various shapes and sizes. Many were former cruise liners, converted for military purposes.
Along their sides hung LCVPs or other landing craft, ready to be lowered into the ocean. The ships could carry 1,500 or
more soldiers. Most soldiers who landed on D-Day sailed for France aboard one of these vessels, only transferring to a
landing craft a few miles from the shore.12
The Duties of the Crews
Crew size varied with the size of the vessel. LCVPs and LCMs had crews of only four men – a coxswain, an engineer, a
signalman, and a deckhand. The coxswain was in command of the boat. He was in charge of inspecting the boat to make
sure that it was seaworthy. During an operation, he was in
command of the boat and steered the craft. If the boat was
damaged, the coxswain directed the repair efforts of other
crewmen. The engineer maintained and repaired the
engine. The signalman used a blinker light or semaphore
flags to send messages to other boats. He also kept a
sharp eye out for messages being sent to his boat. The
deckhand operated the ramp, and assisted the other
crewmen as necessary. If a man was wounded or killed,
another crewman was expected to take his place so that
the operation could continue.13
The troops use the side staircases on a LCI to disembark.
12
LCTs and LCIs had larger crews. An LCI was crewed by
two officers and twenty-one men. The boat’s commander
was usually at least a lieutenant (j.g.). The executive
officer (second-in-command) was usually an ensign.
LCTs were crewed by one officer and twelve men. They
were divided into a deck division and an engineering
division. The engineering division maintained and
repaired the boat’s engines and electrical systems. The
Types of landing craft and specifications, Headquarters of the Commander in Chief, United States Fleet. Ship to Shore Movement:
General Instructions for Transports, Cargo Vessels, and Landing Craft of Amphibious Forces, FTP 211. January 18, 1943, 2-4.
13
LCVP and LCM crews, Training and Operations Staff, 18-21.
division consisted of 4 men, one of which was a firefighter who served double duty as a medic. They were led by a motor
machinist’s mate. The other men were in the deck division. These men included a boatswain’s mate in charge of the deck,
a quartermaster’s mate who steered the boat, a gunner and assistants for the boat’s 20mm gun, and a radio man. 14
Due to their size, LSTs had even larger crews. The ship was commanded by a lieutenant, with a lieutenant (j.g.) as his
executive officer. The ship’s crew was divided into six different divisions – two to man the deck, and communications,
supply, ordinance, and engineering divisions. Each of the four ‘technical’ divisions was commanded by an ensign. The
deck divisions were commanded by a lieutenant (j.g.), giving the ship a total of seven officers. The ordinance division
crewed the ship’s anti-aircraft guns. The supply division’s sailors were mainly involved with preparing food for the ship’s
crew. The engineering division cared for the ship’s engines and electrical systems. The communications division operated
the ship’s radio and sonar equipment, performed administrative tasks, and had pharmacist’s mates to care for the sick or
wounded. The two deck divisions (first and second) sailed the ship and performed any activities related to launching
landing craft, operating the ship’s bow doors, etc.15
Landing craft were organized into flotillas of several dozen boats or ships. For example, LCI Flotilla 10 had 36 LCI’s at
Normandy. A flotilla was broken up into two or more groups. Each group served a different section of a beach (Dog
Green, Dog White, etc. and landed a battalion of troops). Groups, in turn, were broken down into divisions or waves of
landing craft, each of which landed a company of soldiers. Each wave of boats landed together, with other waves landing
after earlier waves. For example, the first wave landed on the beach first. After them came the second wave, then the third
wave, and so on. Waves were supposed to land ten minutes apart.16
Landing craft sailed from England in convoys of several
flotillas of landing craft. Each beach had a control vessel and
two secondary control vessels. The control vessels led the
convoys to Transport Areas (about ten miles from the beach)
where landing craft (including their crews) were lowered from
the ship which had carried them across the English Channel.
The boats sailed to a Rendezvous Area, where they circled
while the rest of the landing craft were lowered to the water.
Once all of the boats were in the water, they sailed back to the
transport ship to load their cargo. Nets were thrown over the
sides of the ship, which were pulled tight by crewmen in the
landing craft below. Soldiers carefully climbed down the net to
the waiting landing craft, which was a frightening ordeal,
because the boats rose and dipped in the water with each wave,
making them difficult to climb into. The soldiers also had to be
careful not to lose their grip on the net or get slammed into the
side of the ship as it rocked in the waves. Once the men were
in the landing craft, the loaded boat sped off and was replaced
with a new one. When all of the landing craft were loaded, the
beach’s control vessel led the craft to their beach’s Line of
Departure. The landing boats got organized into the waves they
were assigned to, and then they sailed for the Line of Transfer.
Once they reached the Line of Transfer, the control vessel
wished the landing craft crews good luck and sent them on
their way.17
Troops board LCVP Higgins Boats while at sea.
Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Association.
The crews sailed towards the beach, keeping a sharp look out for signals from other boats and for obstacles or mines in the
water. Once they neared the beach, the crews tried to spot landmarks on shore (church steeples and towns were the most
14
LCI crew, Headquarters of the Commander in Chief, 4; and LCT crew, Bureau of Personnel. Specifications for LCT Officer and
Enlisted Billets. August 1944.
15
LST crews, Office of Naval Intelligence. “Allied Landing Craft and Ships,” ONI 226. 7 April 1944.
16
LCI Flotilla 10 at Normandy, John France. “LCI 93, LCI 487 Normandy.” USS Landing Craft, Infantry National Association.
Undated, 5; landing craft organization, Headquarters of the Commander in Chief, 12.
17
Convoys, Morison, 77; control vessels, Headquarters Commander in Chief, 16-17; and landing operations, Training and
Operations Staff, 69-75.
useful) which would tell them where they were. The coxswains tried to stay in line with the other boats, and tried to keep
fifty yards of distance between their boat and their neighbors. As they approached the surf just off the beach, the coxswain
tried to position his craft directly behind the crest of a wave, which would help to raise the bow of the landing craft over
any shallow areas of water. If he was unsuccessful, the landing craft would ‘broach’ or become stuck in the surf instead of
making it to the shore. When the landing craft reached its destination, the deckhand lowered the ramp, and the soldiers or
vehicles exited the boat. The coxswain reversed the engine and the boat retreated off of the beach.18
After this first trip to the beach, the crew’s job was not over. They still had to make other trips to bring supplies to the
beach. Boats returned to a transport, where they were loaded with supplies – ammunition, food, medical supplies, etc.
Then the craft sailed for a secondary control vessel near the beach. The coxswain gave the officer aboard the control
vessel the cargo ticket he received from the transport, which told the officer what kind of supplies he had aboard his boat.
The landing craft then circled off the beach near the control vessel until a beachmaster ashore told the control vessel
where to direct the boat. The landing craft sailed for the beach he was told to go to, looking for signs along the beach
which told him where the supply dump for his particular type of supplies was located.19
What was my sailor’s job?
This is a list of the different ranks of sailors aboard landing vessels, along the job they likely performed. Further research
should help determine exactly what role your soldier played in his unit. For example, machinist’s mates maintained
engines aboard ships. If your sailor was a Chief Machinist’s Mate (CMM), then he probably commanded the ratings in the
vessel’s engineering division, whereas if he was a Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class (MM3), then he worked on the engines, and
reported to the CMM.
Lieutenant:
Lieutenant (j.g.):
Ensign:
Baker: BKR:
Boatswain’s Mate: BM:
Commissaryman: CS:
Cook: C:
Electrician’s Mate: EM:
Fire Controlman: FC:
Fireman: F:
Gunner’s Mate: GM:
Machinist’s Mate:
Pharmacist’s Mate: PhM:
Quartermaster: QM:
Radarman: RdM:
Radioman: RM:
Seaman: S:
Shipfitter: SF:
Storekeeper: SK:
Signalman: SM:
Water Tender: WT:
Yeoman: Y:
18
Commanded a landing craft or ship
Commanded a landing craft or executive officer of LST
Commanded LCT, or LCI executive officer, or LST division commander
Produced baked goods for the ship’s crew
Knew naval piloting and navigation. Could be coxswain of a boat
Served food aboard ship
Cooked food for the crew
Maintained and repaired electrical systems
Directed the fire of the ship’s guns
Put out fires aboard ship and worked as a medic
Aimed and fired ship’s guns. Maintained and repaired weapons
MM: maintained and repaired engines
Medical personnel aboard ship
Navigated and steered the boat or ship. Maintained maps
Operated the ship’s radar set
Operated the ship’s radio
Enlisted man with no technical rating. Performed non-technical work
Makes repairs to the ship’s hull or structural components
Procures supplies, stocks them, and distributes them as necessary
Sent messages by lamp or using flags. Also served as a lookout
Looked after the ship’s boilers and boiler fires
Performed clerical duties20
The run to the beach, Training and Operations Staff, 71-73.
Cargo operations, Training and Operations Staff, 74-75.
20
Jobs, Office of Naval Intelligence and Bureau of Personnel; description of ratings, USS Enterprise CV-6: The Most Decorated
Ship of the Second World War. “ALL HANDS – Rates, Divisions, & Pay Scales.”
http://www.cv6.org/company/muster/organization.htm.
19
Naval Combat Demolition Unit
In 1943 the Navy created specialized engineer units called Naval Combat Demolition Units (NCDUs), they were
handpicked men who volunteered for the hazardous duty of mapping beaches and destroying beach obstacles to support
amphibious invasions. Men went through a rigorous training program at Fort Pierce, Florida, during which they were
trained by U.S. Army Ranger instructors. Today’s Navy SEALs are direct descendents of WWII’s NCDU men.21
On D-Day, NCDU sailors and Army engineers teamed up to form Gap Assault Teams. These teams were tasked with
using explosives to blow sixteen gaps through beach obstacles on Omaha Beach and another eight on Utah Beach. In
theory, the Army engineers were responsible for destroying obstacles above the water line and the NCDU men were
responsible for those in the water. In reality, the men worked together to clear gaps on the beach. Twenty-seven NCDUs,
each with 40 men, were assigned to the operation. They were divided up into three groups and temporarily attached to the
three Naval Beach Battalions being used in the D-Day assault. D-Day was the first combat assignment for the Naval
Combat Demolition Units – these untried men of the NCDUs were given a vital mission and were asked to carry out that
mission, whatever the cost.22
The obstacles on the beaches were
quite formidable. Samuel Eliot
Morison, the official Navy historian,
noted that at Omaha Beach “the
Germans had provided the best
imitation of hell for an invading force
that American troops had
encountered anywhere. Even the
Japanese defenses of Iwo Jima,
Tarawa, and Peleliu are not to be
compared with these.” There were
three layers of obstacles on the
beaches. The first was a line of
‘Belgian Gates’ – seven foot tall, ten
foot wide structures with mines
attached to them. Next were
sharpened wooden poles (like
telephone poles), about one-third of
which were mined. The last line of
defenses was composed of metal
‘hedgehogs’ – made of three six-footlong beams welded to each other at
right angles. There were also steel
Removal of some obstacles continues after D-Day. The National WWII Museum, Inc.
rails and wooden ramps on the beach,
all of which were mined. These obstacles were designed to destroy landing craft – by blowing them up with mines or by
ripping open a boat’s hull. The obstacles were placed so that they would be just at the waterline at high tide, where they
would be almost impossible to spot. When the Americans landed on D-Day (at low tide) most of the obstacles were
exposed and were less of a danger to landing craft – but were still a serious obstacle to vehicles trying to move off the
beach. Past the obstacles there was a low sea wall – this was the only protected spot on the beach. Past the sea wall, there
was a belt of mine fields, then concrete bunkers atop the cliffs at the top of the beach.23
On D-Day morning, NCDU sailors became the first Americans onto the beaches, arriving several minutes before the
infantry. The sailors quickly moved on to the beaches, blowing up obstacles using the Hagensen pack, a canvas bag
packed with two pounds of explosives. The Hagensen pack packed enough punch to destroy small obstacles and several
21
NCDUs in WWII, Chet Cunningham. The Frogmen of World War II: An Oral History of the U.S. Navy’s Underwater Demolition
Units. New York: Pocket Books, 2005, 33-119.
22
NCDUs on D-Day, Lt. (j.g.) H. L. Blackwell, Jr. “Report on Naval Combat Demolition Units in Operation ‘NEPTUNE’ as part of
Task Force 122.” 5 July 1944. Navy Department Library.
23
“The Germans had provided,” Morison, 115; and beach defenses, Morison, 111-114.
Hagensen packs could be linked together to destroy large obstacles. Seventy-one sailors were killed, wounded, or missing
on D-Day, yet the men succeeded in clearing thirteen of sixteen gaps on Omaha, and all four gaps on Utah. The official
report of NCDU activities at Normandy stated that on Omaha Beach
“despite the casualties, surviving units continued working, with general disregard for personal safety. A notable
example of courage was given by men who voluntarily placed charges on Tellermines atop obstacles, 10 or 12
feet above the beach, in the face of accurate rifle and machine-gun fire, they climbed on each others shoulders
and or shinnied up the pilings and ramps.”24
Each Naval Combat Demolition Unit consisted of forty men. The NCDU had three teams, each of thirteen men. The
teams were coordinated by a commanding officer. The commander was usually a lieutenant (j.g.) or an ensign, but some
NCDUs were commanded by chief petty officers or warrant officers. The thirteen-man teams in an NCDU were usually
commanded by a chief petty officer or a petty officer 1st class. In addition to knowledge of mapping, explosives, and
small-boat handling, each man had another specialty – usually photography, engineering, medicine, or communications.
Each NCDU carried a unique number, e.g. NCDU 11, NCDU 24, etc. After D-Day, the NCDUs left Normandy and were
transferred to the Mediterranean, to prepare for the landings of Operation Dragoon, the amphibious invasion of Southern
France (August 15, 1944).25
What was my soldier’s job?
This is a list of the different ranks of sailors in an NCDU, along the job their rating performed. You should be able to
figure out what each soldier’s approximate job was based on his rating and rank. More senior men supervised lowerranking sailors. For more ratings, see the Landing Craft Flotilla section.
Lieutenant:
Lieutenant (j.g.):
Ensign:
Carpenter:
Machinist’s Mate: MM:
Photographer’s Mate: PhoM:
Radioman: RM:
Yeoman: Y:
24
Commanded the NCDU
Commanded the NCDU
Commanded the NCDU
Commanded the NCDU (Note: this man was a warrant officer)
Maintained and repaired engines
Took pictures
Operated the ship’s radio
D-Day activities, Commander, Blackwell; and “despite the casualties,” Section II.
Organization, Blackwell, Appendix 1 to Annex A; and NCDU ratings, Blackwell, Appendix 1 to Annex 2 and Commander,
Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet. “Transport Doctrine, Amphibious Forces, U.S. Pacific Fleet.” 18 September 1944.
26
Jobs, Commander, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet.
25
Naval Beach Battalion
The Naval Beach Battalion’s (NBB) mission was to organize a stretch of beach and turn it into a port. The sailors landed
on D-Day, alongside NCDU demolition men, infantrymen, and tank crews, though their job was not to fight. The three
naval beach battalions which served in Normandy were each attached to an Army Engineer Special Brigade (ESB). One
battalion worked Utah Beach while the other two each had responsibility for half of Omaha.27
Naval Beach Battalion (Commander, and lieutenant commander)
• 3x Naval Beach Companies
o 3x Naval Beach Party Platoons (each 3 officers, 43 men)28
• Each divided into 5 Sections:
1. Command section.- in charge of the beach party and supervised the other sailors.
2 commissioned line officers—senior will be designated beachmaster.
1 medical officer.
1 chief boatswain's mate, assistant to the beachmaster.
2. Hydrographic section.- surveyed and marked areas where it was safe for boats to beach and they also
cleared obstructions from the boat landing areas and helped boats avoid getting beached.
1 boatswain's mate, 1st or 2nd class, in charge of section.
1 boatswain's mate, 2nd or coxswain, assistant in charge of section.
8 seamen, 1st class: Various duties including emergency boat crews.
8 seamen, 2nd class: Various duties including emergency boat crews.
3. Boat repair section.- repaired damaged landing craft.
2 carpenter's mates, 1st class: in charge and assistant.
1 shipfitter, 1st class: repair boats.
2 motor machinist's mates, 1st class: repair boats.
1 electrician's mate, 3rd class: repair boats.
1 fireman, 1st class: Assist repair boats and enginemen for emergency crews.
1 fireman, 2nd class: Assist repair boats and enginemen for emergency crews.
4. Communication section.- used radios, blinker lights, and semaphore flags to send messages to boats
and ships offshore and to other sectors of the beach.
1 signalman, 2nd class, in charge; men beach signal light.
2 signalmen, 3rd class; one man beach signal flags; one with beachmaster.
1 radioman, 2nd class: mans the beach radio.
4 radiomen, 3rd class, three man beach radio; one man portable radio with beachmaster.
5. Medical section.- section cared for wounded men on the beach.
1 pharmacist's mate, 1st class, in charge evacuation station.
1 pharmacist's mate, 2nd class, assist in charge evacuation station.
6 hospital apprentices, 1st or 2nd class, evacuation station.29
Each beach party was assigned to a particular sector of beach – Dog Green, Dog White, etc. The beach party was
responsible for getting that sector up and running, with work starting as soon as the men hit the beach. The highestranking officer in the beach party acted as the beachmaster, who was responsible for the movement and unloading of
27
Naval Beach Battalion mission, Headquarters, Commander in Chief, 19; “every effort must be made,” Headquarters, Commander
in Chief, 19; D-Day landing, U.S. 6th Naval Beach Battalion. “Restricted.” Accessed December 18, 2011.
http://www.6thbeachbattalion.org/restricted.html; attached to ESBs, Headquarters, 1st Engineer Special Brigade, 4; and beach
assignments, Heavey, 70-71.
28
Organization, Headquarters, Commander in Chief, 20, and Ensign W. N. Turner. “Beach Party – 1943.” U.S. 6th Naval Beach
Battalion. Accessed December 18, 2011. http://www.6thbeachbattalion.org/usn-beach-party.html.
29
Beachmaster responsibilities, Headquarters, Commander in Chief, 19-23; and “Command Section --,” Headquarters, Commander
in Chief, 20.
vessels within his section of the beach. The sailors worked alongside the other men in the amphibious team to bring
supplies and reinforcements to the beachhead as soon as possible. As soon as the beach was captured, Army engineers
assigned to the beach’s Engineer Special Brigade worked with NCDU sailors to clear the remaining obstacles from the
beach. This was a laborious process, since the beach was heavily fortified. By the end of D-Day, 40% of obstacles had
been cleared from the beaches. The beaches were 85% cleared two days after the invasion. In the meantime, the NBB
sailors began organizing the beaches. The beachmaster and communication section set up a command post on the beach
while the hydrographic section scouted out good places along the beach to bring in landing craft. A good landing spot was
free of sand bars and other areas of shallow water, and did not have rocks along the shore.30
Quartermaster soldiers established supply depots off the beach, where supplies were deposited after being unloaded from
a ship. Different depots were for different items – gasoline, rations, ammunition, etc. Sailors also placed a flag at each end
of the beach and another in the center to identify the beach (Dog Green, etc.). Beach flags and supply depot flags were
color coded so that boat and ship crews could easily identify them – green beach’s flags were green, red beach’s were red,
etc. At night, colored lights were used instead of flags.31
Each beach had one or two Naval Officers in Charge (NOIC) who was the top Navy man on the beach – Utah had one
NOIC, Omaha had two (one for the
western half and one for the eastern
half). Each day, conferences were
held between the NOIC and other
naval officers, officers of the
Engineer Special Brigade on that
area of the beach, and the Army
units being supplied by that beach,
this set the unloading priorities for
the next day. Boats and ships could
not be unloaded as quickly as they
arrived off the beach, so the Army
officers had to decide what supplies
should get priority each day –
gasoline, ammunition, medical
supplies, etc.32
When a transport arrived off the
beach, the ship waited in the
Transport Area several miles off the
beach while the ship’s captain
contacted the beach’s Ferry Control
Officer (FCO). The Ferry Control
Officer was responsible for
organizing and keeping track of the
Navy personnel organizing materials. The National WWII Museum, Inc.
transports waiting to unload on the
beach. The ship told the FCO what kind of supplies they had on board and the FCO decided if they should get priority to
unload on the beach, or if they should wait. If a vessel was directed to unload on a beach, that section’s beachmaster
contacted the vessel with approach and beaching instructions. The beachmaster acted as ‘traffic cop,’ ensuring that vessels
approached, beached, and departed in a safe and orderly manner. Some vessels were unloaded on the beach, while others
were unloaded off the beach. Port battalion soldiers unloaded the ship’s cargo onto a ‘Rhino Ferry’ for transportation to
the beach. Once the supplies reached the beach, they were loaded into trucks where they were driven to a supply depot off
the beach.33
30
Obstacle clearance and statistics, Blackwell, Section II; and tasks, Headquarters, Commander in Chief, 20-22.
Beach markers, Headquarters, Commander in Chief, 79-82.
32
NOICs and joint conferences, Historical Section, COMNAVEU. Administrative History of U.S. Naval Forces Europe, 1940-1946.
London: COMNAVEU, 1946, 574-575.
33
FCOs, Historical Section, COMNAVEU, 576-577; and beachmaster duties, Headquarters, Commander in Chief, 20-21.
31
The Navy’s report on Operation Neptune stated that the NBBs performed in a “truly remarkable” manner at Normandy.
Colonel William Bridges of the 5th ESB stated that despite the heavy fire and shelling by German mortars, the 6th Naval
Beach Battalion “contributed materially to the successful establishment of the Omaha beachhead. This battalion not only
performed its own missions, but aided many other units in the accomplishment of theirs. But for this aid, the precarious
situation of the units on the beach might have been turned into disaster.” By late June the NBBs had been so successful at
organizing functional port facilities that had worked themselves out of a job. The Naval Beach Battalions left Normandy
in late June, to prepare for other amphibious operations on distant shores.34
Naval beach battalions each carried unique numbers. Companies were lettered A, B, and C. Platoons were labeled with
the company’s letter followed by a number. The numbers were sequential throughout the battalion. So Company A had
platoons A-1, A-2, and A-3, Company B had platoons B-4, B-5, and B-6 and Company C had platoons C-7, C-8, and
C-9.35
This is a list of the different ranks of sailors in the battalion, along the job their rating performed. You should be able to
figure out what each soldier’s approximate job was based on his rating and rank. More senior men supervised lowerranking sailors. For more ratings, see the Landing Craft Flotilla section.
Commander:
Lieutenant Commander:
Lieutenant:
Lieutenant (j.g.):
Ensign:
Carpenter’s Mate: CM:
Fireman: F:
Radioman: RM:
Seaman: S:
Shipfitter: SF:
Signalman: SM:
Yeoman: Y:
34
Commanded the battalion
Executive officer of the battalion
Staff officer or commander of a company
Company commander or beach party commander
Beach party commander, executive officer, or communication officer
knew naval piloting and navigation. Could be coxswain of a boat
repaired damaged boats
maintained and repaired electrical systems
put out fires
maintained and repaired engines
medical personnel aboard ship
operated the ship’s radio
enlisted man with no technical rating. Performed non-technical work
makes repairs to the ship’s hull or structural components
sent messages by lamp or using flags. Served as a lookout too
performed clerical duties36
“Truly remarkable,” Historical Section, COMNAVEU, 572; and “contributed materially,” Colonel William Bridges quoted in
U.S. 6th Naval Beach Battalion. “U.S. 6th Naval Beach Battalion.” Accessed December 18, 2011.
http://www.6thbeachbattalion.org/index.html; relieved by late June, Historical Section, COMNAVEU, 574
35
Nomenclature, Ensign W. N. Turner. “Beach Party – 1943.” U.S. 6th Naval Beach Battalion. Accessed December 18, 2011.
http://www.6thbeachbattalion.org/usn-beach-party.html.
36
Jobs, Headquarters, Commander in Chief, 24.
Naval Construction Battalion
Naval Construction Battalions (NCBs) were the engineer troops of the Navy. Construction battalion sailors or ‘Seabees’
gained a reputation for completing almost impossible feats of engineering at dizzying speeds. They are most famous for
their work in the Pacific, where Seabees hacked away jungle and undergrowth to create airfields for Navy and Marine
pilots, almost overnight. In Normandy, the Seabees played a very important, but little known role. Seabee ingenuity and
hard work made a major contribution to the supply effort on the beaches. The Seabees performed several missions in
Normandy: Some units operated Rhino ferries to bring vehicles to the beach, some installed port facilities off the beaches,
while others built tent camps to house sailors working on the beach.37
All Seabee operations were performed by the 25th Naval Construction Regiment (NCR), a unit specifically created to
conduct port operations at Normandy. The work of setting up and running the port facilities on the beaches was divided up
among the 25th NCR’s five battalions and one detachment:
• 28th NCB – Repair of captured ports
• 81st NCB – Rhino ferry operations at Utah Beach
• 108th NCB – Installation and operation of the Mulberry port
• 111th NCB – Rhino ferry operations at Omaha Beach
• 146th NCB – Installation of Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants (POL) facilities at Omaha Beach
• 1006th NCD – Installation and operation of causeways at Utah and Omaha beaches38
Naval Construction Battalion (NCB)
(800-100 officers and men)
Headquarters
Company
3 Construction
Companies
(14 officers and
134 men)
(each: 4 officers
and 226 men)
 3x Construction Companies (each 4 officers, 226 men)
o Maintenance and Operations Platoon (3 officers, 36 men)
o 2x Construction Platoons (one has 1 officer and 38 men, the other 39 men)
o Road Blasting and Excavation Platoon (38 men)
o Waterfront Platoon (38 men)
o Tanks, Steel & Pipe Platoon (38 men)39
The battalion was commanded by a lieutenant commander, with a lieutenant as his executive officer. Companies were
commanded by a lieutenant, with a lieutenant (j.g.) as executive officer. One of the construction platoons was commanded
by a carpenter (who was a warrant officer); the other five platoons were commanded by chief petty officers. Each platoon
had a specialized role which they performed during construction projects. The battalions serving as Rhino ferry crews
were given specialized training so that all men were competent barge crewmen.40
37
Seabee operations in World War II, William Bradford Huie. Can Do!: The Story of the Seabees. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press,
1997; and Seabee operations in Normandy, Bureau of Yards and Docks. Building the Navy’s Bases in World War II: History of the
Bureau of Yards and Docks and the Civil Engineer Corps, 1940-1946. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1947, 95-120.
38
Normandy missions, Bureau of Yards and Docks, 109.
39
Organization, United States Marine Corps. Naval Construction Battalion, Engineer Regiment. Marine Corps Table of
Organization E-43, 15 April 1943.
40
Ranks, United States Marine Corps; and barge training, Bureau of Yards and Docks, 110.
Two Seabee battalions operated Rhino ferries off the
Utah and Omaha beaches. Rhino ferries were barges
made by the Seabees for D-Day. The sailors took
several pontoon bridge sections and welded them
together. Then they installed a ramp at the bow of the
craft and two motors at the back. They were big, ugly,
slow, and unwieldy, but they got the job done. A
Rhino’s flat deck could carry thirty or forty vehicles to
shore. Rhinos were barely seaworthy and were usually
towed by a tug boat. During the crossing of the English
Channel, one Seabee jokingly shouted across the water
to the bridge of the cruiser USS Tuscaloosa and asked
them “how’ll you trade your tub for this ship – about
even?” The Rhinos performed excellent service at
Normandy. They were designed so that the stern
(back) of the Rhino could connect to an LST’s bow
while they were at sea. The LST could then open its
bow doors and unload its cargo onto the Rhino’s deck.
The Rhino would then take the load of vehicles to
shore and return for another load from a full LST.
Until June 13, when LSTs were successfully unloaded
directly onto the beach, Rhino ferries provided the
only way to bring an LST’s cargo ashore. In the first
ten days of the invasion, the ferries brought over
21,000 vehicles ashore at Omaha and Utah.
A “Rhino Ferry” carrying supplies.
After June 13, Rhino crews docked alongside large
Liberty Ship cargo vessels, where cargo was loaded
onto the ferry using cranes so that the Rhino could bring it to the beach for unloading. 41
While some Seabees crewed Rhino ferries,
other sailors built port facilities off the
beaches. The Navy planned to build three
artificial harbors at Utah and Omaha. A large
‘Mulberry’ harbor would be built off of Omaha
Beach. Two smaller ‘Gooseberry’ harbors were
also built – one at Utah and another at Omaha.
Work on the harbors started on June 7. Block
ships and concrete structures called
‘Phoenixes’ were towed across the channel and
sunk off of the beaches, to form a breakwater.
Once these were in place, the Seabees began
building causeways from the beach out into the
breakwater area created by the block ships and
Phoenixes. The Seabees found that the waters
off of Omaha Beach were deeper than they had
been told, so they redesigned Omaha’s
causeways and Mulberry on the spot to
compensate for the difference. These 1,400+
foot long pier-like structures provided a place
where vessels could dock to unload their cargo.
Two causeways were built at each Gooseberry.
41
A ‘Mulberry’ Harbor at Normandy
Rhino ferry design, Bureau of Yards and Docks, 102-103; “how’ll you trade,” unnamed Seabee quoted in Morison, 86; LST
unload on the beach, Bureau of Yards and Docks, 117; 21,000 vehicles unloaded, Bureau of Yards and Docks, 117; and unloading
Liberty Ships, Bureau of Yards and Docks, 117.
Landing craft could dock and unload soldiers or vehicles at the Gooseberry causeways – LSTs had to unload at the
Mulberry, or directly onto the beach. The first causeway
was opened on June 8 and by June 16, all four were
open. The Mulberry at Omaha Beach was completed on
June 16 as well. These facilities were very successful –
within hours of the first Gooseberry causeway’s
opening, several thousand soldiers had used it to land on
Utah Beach.42
Seabees also built several tent camps to house the sailors
working on the beachhead. This included the crews of
landing craft, the men of the Naval Beach Battalions,
and the Seabees themselves. Work was delayed on the
camps for several days following the invasion, because
obstacles and land mines had not been cleared from the
areas where the Seabee planned to build their camps. At
Omaha, the original camp built by the sailors was found
unsuitable, because it was exposed to German bombing
attacks. So Seabees built two more camps near Omaha,
A ‘Gooseberry’ causeway.
Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
which were completed in July and in August. Until
sailors could be moved to a tent camp, they were housed
in Liberty Ships or old transport ships just offshore.43
Just when American port facilities were fully operational, nature decided to disrupt Seabee plans. A great storm howled
through Normandy from June 19-22. Port operations by vessels other than LSTs had to be suspended and men working on
the causeways had to be evacuated to the beach. Under the pressure of the strong waves and driving winds, block ships
and causeway sections broke loose
from their moorings and landing
vessels were pushed onto the beach.
When the storm ended on June 23,
Omaha Beach was one again a picture
of destruction. Over two hundred
landing craft littered the beach and the
Mulberry harbor was wrecked. The
storm had even shifted the sea bed
beneath the causeways, leading them to
sink two to three feet. Seabees began
surveying the damage and salvaging
what they could. Some landing craft
were repaired and returned to duty –
others were discarded. Debris was
swept away. Repairs were made to the
Gooseberries, which were also
reinforced with more block ships. The
Mulberry was a total loss and was
abandoned. Even faced with this
disaster, the Seabees found a way to
overcome the obstacles in their path
and succeed.44
The ‘Mulberry’ harbor wreckage after the storm.
42
Gooseberries, causeways, and the Mulberry, Bureau of Yards and Docks, 113-117.
Tent camps, Bureau of Yards and Docks, 117-118; and sailors housed aboard ship, Historical Section, COMNAVEU, 579.
44
The great storm, Bureau of Yards and Docks, 114-117.
43
This is a list of the different ranks of sailors in the battalion, along with the job their rating performed. You should be able
to figure out what each soldier’s approximate job was based on his rating and rank. More senior men supervised lowerranking sailors.
Lieutenant Commander:
Lieutenant:
Lieutenant (j.g.):
Ensign:
Baker: BKR:
Carpenter’s Mate: CM:
Commissaryman: CS:
Cook: C:
Fireman: F:
Metalsmith: M:
Painter: Ptr:
Photographer’s Mate: PhoM:
Quartermaster: QM:
Seaman: S:
Shipfitter: SF:
Signalman: SM:
Storekeeper: SK:
Water Tender: WT:
Yeoman: Y:
45
Jobs, United States Marine Corps
Commanded a company or executive officer of the battalion
Executive officer of a company
Executive officer of a company
Produced baked goods for the ship’s crew
Knew naval piloting and navigation. Could be coxswain of a boat
Built and repaired structures
Served food aboard ship
Cooked food for the crew
Maintained and repaired electrical systems
Put out fires aboard ship and worked as a medic
Maintained and repaired engines
Works with metal, tests for water tightness
Painted equipment
Took pictures
Navigated and steered the boat or ship. Maintained maps
Enlisted man with no technical rating. Performed non-technical work
Makes repairs to the ship’s hull or structural components
Sent messages by lamp or using flags. Also served as a lookout
Procures supplies, stocks them, and distributes them as necessary
Looked after the ship’s boilers and boiler fires
Port Battalion
Once a cargo vessel was safely docked at a causeway, the beach, or the Mulberry, the ship was unloaded by Army port
battalion soldiers. The soldiers had an unglamorous but vital task: To be the last link in the chain between the cargo ships
offshore and the Army off the beach. If port battalion men could not unload the supplies and equipment needed by the
fighting soldiers as quickly as possible, all of the bravery and sacrifices of the fighting men would be for nothing, because
the soldiers could not fight without weapons, ammunition, and other supplies. The port battalions performed their cargo
unloading task on the beaches of Normandy, and they performed it well.46
The first port battalions were part of the Transportation Corps (one of the technical corps of the Army Service Forces)
created in 1942, the same year in which the Army created the engineer special brigades and began to prepare and execute
its first amphibious operations of the war. By 1944, port battalions were performing their work all over the world.47
In many ways, the port battalions were the heart and soul of the engineer special brigades, though they were often treated
as the orphans of the Army Service
Forces. The Army went to great
trouble to prepare them to efficiently
handle cargo, but did not prepare them
for the kinds of jobs they would
perform in Normandy. For training
purposes, the Army built full-size
cargo vessels miles away from the
ocean at Fort Indiantown Gap,
Pennsylvania. Soldiers learned their
trade on these ‘land ships,’ and gained
practical experience working in ports
in the United States. The men of the
519th Port Battalion, for example,
broke cargo handling records when
they worked at the port of Boston
during the winter of 1943.
Unfortunately, the Army only taught
them how to unload cargo at ports –
they did not train them in amphibious
operations. Port battalion officers
unsuccessfully tried to convince the
Army that their men should
This pair of LSTs have opened their forward doors to unload their cargo directly onto the
participate in the landing exercise held
beach. Courtesy of the Library of Congress.
in the weeks before D-Day. Their
experience at ports in the United States
did them little good in Normandy because facilities on the beach were much more primitive than they were at a real port.
Soldiers were often asked to transfer cargo to smaller vessels while at sea, something they had never done before. To
make matters worse, the men often had inadequate equipment to do their jobs. Port units needed winches, cargo nets,
ropes, hooks, conveyers, and other pieces of specialized equipment to do their jobs. Men found that these essentials were
in short supply when they got to Normandy.48
46
Port battalion mission, Headquarters, 519th Port Battalion, “Historical Data Report.” Undated. Record Group 407, National
Archives, College Park, MD, 3.
47
Creation of the port battalions, Chester Wardlow. The Transportation Corps: Responsibilities, Organization, and Operations.
Washington: Center of Military History, 1999, 54-54; and port battalion operations during WWII, Joseph Bykofsky and Harold
Larson. The Transportation Corps: Operations Overseas. Washington: Center of Military History, 1990.
48
Training, Brozyna. Longshore Soldiers, 17-34; land ships, Brozyna, Longshore Soldiers, 25-29; broke records at Boston,
Headquarters, 519th Port Battalion, “Historical Data Report,” 2; not trained in amphibious operations and not allowed to participate in
rehearsals, Headquarters, 519th Port Battalion, “Historical Data Report,” 1-2; transferred cargo at sea, Headquarters, 1st Engineer
Special Brigade, “History,” 6; and shortages of equipment, Headquarters, 519th Port Battalion, “Historical Data Report,” 4.
With characteristic American ingenuity and industry, the soldiers overcame these and other obstacles. The men used
creative solutions to solve their equipment problems and to get the job done. Soldiers invented new types of hooks and
ropes which were better suited for unloading cargo. They also figured out a way to use the towing winch on a truck to lift
cargo out of a ship’s hold, to make up for the shortage of actual cargo winches. The men quickly became masters at
transferring cargo to amphibious trucks, ferries, and landing craft off the beach. The port battalions in Normandy
exceeded all of the performance predictions made for them before the invasion, despite working in less than ideal
conditions.49
Port battalions generally had four companies was divided up into three platoons, each with three smaller sections: the port
sections that did the actual unloading of ships, the headquarters units who supervised the work and assigned sections and
platoons to ships for unloading, and the service sections that repaired and maintained the unit’s equipment:50
Port Battalion
(45 officers and 900 men)
2 - 6 (usually 4) Port Companies
(each: 4 officers, 225 men)
Headquarters
Section
(1 officer and 14 men)
Service Section
(16 men)
3 Platoons
(each: 1 officers
and 65 men)
3 Sections
(each: 21 men)
Hatch Team
Deck Team
The port battalion was commanded by a major, with a captain as executive officer (second-in-command). Each port
company was commanded by a 1st lieutenant, with a 1st sergeant as executive officer. Platoons were commanded by a
2nd lieutenant, with a staff sergeant as executive officer.51 Sections were divided into a hatch team and a deck team and
unloaded ships. Sections were commanded by a sergeant, while the two teams were each led by a technician 4th class,
who served as foreman. In addition to twelve longshoremen, the section had one signalman, a cargo checker, two winch
operators, and two slingers.
The hatch team worked aboard the ship which was being unloaded, loading cargo into nets, which were then hooked to
ropes and swung over the side of the cargo ship using a winch. If the ship was at sea, the net was carefully lowered into
the cargo area of a DUKW amphibious truck, an LCT landing craft, or a Rhino ferry. The deck team unloaded the cargo
49
Invented new materials and methods, Headquarters, 519th Port Battalion, “Historical Data Report,” 4; and exceeded expectations,
Headquarters 1st Engineer Special Brigade. “Beach Operations Report,” undated, Record Group 407, National Archives, College
Park, MD, 9.
50
Organization, Headquarters, 519th Port Battalion, “Historical Data Report,” 1 and Andrew Brozyna, “220th Port Company, 490th
Port Battalion Roster.” Longshore Soldiers: A History of the US Army Port Companies in World War II. February 20, 2011. Accessed
January 3, 2012. http://www.519thportbn.com/2011/02/229th-port-comapny-490th-port-battalion.html.
51
Officers, Brozyna, “220th Port Company.”
from the net, using conveyors to move heavy crates and other large pieces of equipment. The truck or boat then brought
the supplies ashore. After the first week of the invasion, ships could dock at a causeway where cargo would be unloaded,
eliminating the need to move it to a landing boat or amphibious boat.52
Port battalion soldiers landed in Normandy soon after the beaches were captured. Port battalions were temporarily split up
in England – each section, platoon, or company was assigned to a cargo vessel. When the unit arrived off the beachhead,
the men unloaded their ship’s cargo onto DUKWs, Rhino ferries, or LCTs for transportation to shore. The port battalion
soldiers hitched a ride along with the cargo they had unloaded. Once they got to the beach, the men moved to a
predetermined place on the beach where the battalion gathered. Sections were then reassigned to new vessels for
unloading.53
This system of transporting cargo to smaller boats or amphibious trucks continued until the causeways and the Mulberry
were built a week or so after the invasion. Once these were completed, vessels could dock at the causeway and the
soldiers could unload cargo directly onto the dock, speeding up the unloading process. Port battalions worked day and
night, seven days a week. Men worked twelve hour shifts. In the first month of operations at Normandy, the 519th Port
Battalion unloaded over 36,000 tons of supplies from 107 ships.54
Each port battalion carried a unique number. Each port company also had a unique number, but a battalion’s companies
were often lettered for simplicity. For example, the 519th Port Battalion consisted of the 279th, 303rd, 304th, and 305th
Port Companies. For convenience, these were labeled companies A, B, C, and D, respectively.55
This is a list of the different ranks of soldiers in the battalion, along with their most likely job. Doing further research
should help determine exactly what job your soldier had in his unit.
Major:
Captain:
1st Lieutenant:
2nd Lieutenant:
Master Sergeant:
1st Sergeant:
Tech Sergeant:
Staff Sergeant:
Technician 3rd Class:
Sergeant:
Technician 4th Class:
Corporal:
PFC/Private:
52
Executive officer of the battalion
Commanded a port company or staff officer in the battalion
Commanded a platoon
Senior NCO in the battalion
Senior NCO and executive officer in a port company
Commander of a service section or executive officer of a port company
Executive officer of a platoon
Commander of a section or a service section
Commander of a section
Hatch foreman or deck foreman
Winch operator, signalman, cargo checker, or slinger
Winch operator, signalman, cargo checker, or slinger
Longshoreman56
Port section jobs, Headquarters, 519th Port Battalion, “Historical Data Report,” 1; and unload cargo into DUKW initially,
Headquarters, 1st Engineer Special Brigade, “Beach Operations,” 6; and unload from causeways later on, Bureau of Docks and Yards,
114.
53
Initial beach landing plan, Headquarters, 519th Port Battalion, “Historical Data Report,” 3.
54
Causeways and Mulberry, Bureau of Docks and Yards, 114; work and unloading statistics, Headquarters, 519th Port Battalion,
“Historical Data Report” appendix “Tonnage and Statistics.”
55
Nomenclature, Headquarters, 519th Port Battalion. “General Orders No. 1,” 9 August 1944. Record Group 407, National
Archives, College Park, MD.
56
Jobs, Brozyna, Longshore Soldiers blog, February 20, 2011, Headquarters, 519th Port Battalion, “Historical Data Report, 1, and
Headquarters, 519th Port Battalion, “General Orders No. 1.”
Quartermaster Battalion and Amphibian Truck Battalion
Quartermaster battalions, quartermaster companies, and amphibian truck battalions all shared the same mission: To bring
supplies to the soldiers off the beaches. The quartermaster units were part of the Quartermaster Corps, one of the technical
corps which belonged to the Army Service Forces. The amphibian truck companies and battalions were part of the
Transportation Corps. These units will be treated together in this section.
Simply put, they were responsible for finding out what supplies fighting troops needed and them getting them those
supplies. They built and operated supply depots, transported supplies and troops, installed water and utility lines, and
purchased items from local sellers for the Army’s use. The Quartermaster Corps operated a network of supply depots
which followed American soldiers all over the world.57
An army needs many things to be able to fight. It needs tanks and trucks, but it also needs rations, bandages, tires,
wrenches, rope, shoe laces – all kinds of supplies. The Quartermaster Corps needed to be able to estimate the amount and
type of supplies each unit of soldiers would need, so the Army established ‘tables of organization and equipment’ for each
type of unit. These tables listed the number and type of equipment the unit needed. That way, quartermaster soldiers knew
what supplies they needed to send to which units, and how many of each item they needed. The Army divided supplies up
into five different categories:
• Class I:
• Class II:
• Class III:
• Class IV:
• Class V:
Rations
Uniforms, vehicles, personal equipment (packs, gas masks, etc.)
Fuel and lubricants
Spare parts and special equipment like bridging and construction materials
Ammunition58
Just a small portion of the supplies on the beaches of Normandy in June 1944.
After American soldiers landed
and captured invasion beaches on
D-Day, quartermaster soldiers
began to establish supply depots
in Normandy. Initially, these
depots were located just off the
beach, in places with wide open
fields and access to roadways
(and railroad lines, if possible).
Each of these Army
Quartermaster Depots stocked one
of the five classes of supplies. As
a minimum, each depot was
responsible for maintaining
enough supplies to keep an entire
division fighting for one day. The
quartermaster corps estimated that
each soldier consumed the
equivalent of four square feet of
supplies every forty-five days, so
a fourteen thousand soldier
division needed a quarter mile
square field full of supplies a day!
Most supplies were stored
outdoors, but perishable or fragile
supplies needed to be stored
indoors, so the soldiers built
Archives.
57
Missions, War Department. Quartermaster Operations, FM 10-5. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1941, 1.
Tables of organization and equipment, War Department, Quartermaster Operations, 20; and supply classes, War Department,
Quartermaster Operations, 27-28.
58
warehouses at the depots too.59
As the Army advanced further into the
Normandy countryside, quartermaster
soldiers built new supply Army Supply
Depots. Within a few weeks of the
invasion, each division was served by a
chain of depots in Normandy. Supplies
landed on the beach were deposited at large
Intermediate Depots near the beach. The
Intermediate Depots sent supplies to
smaller Advance Depots further inland,
which in turn sent supplies to Army
Quartermaster Depots near the frontline. To
keep the system running as smoothly as
possible, the Army also established
Regulating Stations which directed traffic
and helped truck convoys avoid getting
lost. As the front lines moved, Army
Quartermaster Depots were expanded into
Advance or Intermediate Depots and new
Army Quartermaster Depots were
established near the fighting soldiers.
Troops at Army Quartermaster Depots sent
supplies to the divisions they serviced, to be
distributed by the division’s own
quartermaster soldiers.60
Supply depot.
Archives.
Because the duties of the Quartermaster Corps were so varied, the Army created several different types of quartermaster
companies. There were service companies, truck companies, salvage collecting companies, railhead companies, and other
types of units. Several companies would be grouped together to form a quartermaster battalion. These quartermaster
battalions built and manned the supply depots in Normandy. Each division also had its own quartermaster company,
which distributed supplies to the units in the division.61
Each type of quartermaster company had a specialized job. Several companies were grouped together to form a battalion,
either all of one type, or several different types. Quartermaster battalions generally had three companies. Quartermaster
companies were smaller than the battalions, but performed the same missions. The company had service, car (for
transporting commanders around), transportation, maintenance, and graves registration sections, and a division’s
quartermaster company distributed the supplies brought to them by quartermaster truck or railhead companies.62
Here is a short description of the quartermaster companies used in Normandy:
• Service Company: built and ran supply depots. They were also responsible for finding out what supplies the
units they supplied needed. The Quartermaster Corps stated that “supply systems should have continuity,
flexibility, elasticity, mobility, and simplicity.” It was the job of the service troops to make that goal a reality.
• Gas Supply Company: built and ran the supply depots which stored Class III supplies – gasoline and oil. Each
company had enough fuel tanks and trucks to store 16,000 gallons of gasoline or oil.
• Truck Company: were responsible for actually transporting supplies to the units which needed them, using
trucks. They also often moved troops from one place to another. Each company had fifty-one trucks, each of
which was capable of transporting twenty-five soldiers, 125 five-gallon cans of gasoline, or over two tons of other
equipment. An Army field manual stated that truck companies “must be ready to haul any kind of cargo, any time
59
Army Quartermaster Depots, War Department, Quartermaster Operations, 23; and supply statistics, War Department,
Quartermaster Operations, 25.
60
Types of depots, War Department, Quartermaster Operations, 23-24.
61
Types of quartermaster companies and battalion organization, Headquarters, 1st Engineer Special Brigade, “Troop List.”
62
Divisional quartermaster company, War Department, Quartermaster Operations, 100.
of day or night, to and from any place that higher authority may direct.” Truck company soldiers were some of the
hardest-working men in the Army, particularly in the weeks after Operation Cobra, when the Army raced
Eastward in pursuit of the German Army. The convoys of trucks bringing supplies to fighting soldiers became
known as the ‘Red Ball Express.’ The ‘red balls’ were the sleep-deprived eyes of the drivers.
• Railhead Company: rebuilt the French railroads, which was systematically destroyed in the weeks before DDay in an attempt to make it more difficult for the German Army to transport reinforcements to the front lines.
This was an important task, because while rail transportation lacked the flexibility of trucks, it was far more
efficient. After the men rebuilt a section of track, they operated the rail system, bringing supplies to depots
throughout France.
• Salvage Collecting Company: were responsible for determining what equipment could be salvaged from the
battlefield. They tried to eliminate waste and help the Army use its resources more effectively. Equipment which
could be saved was collected and moved to an ordinance maintenance company for repair.
• Graves Registration Company: collected the bodies of dead American and German soldiers and buried them.
Before burial, the graves registration soldiers made an inventory of the items on a soldier’s body and attempted to
identify him using the ‘dog tag’ identification discs soldiers wore around their necks. A chaplain of the deceased’s
religion said a prayer for the soldier, and then he was buried. One of the soldier’s dog tags was left on his body for
identification. The other was attached to a temporary wooden cross which marked the site of the grave.
Cemeteries were usually sited in existing civilian cemeteries or near churches.63
Amphibian Truck Battalion
Amphibian truck companies (three to a battalion)
were organized in a similar way to a quartermaster
truck company. They also performed the same
mission. The difference was that they started in
the water. Amphibian truck companies were
equipped with DUKWs, amphibious trucks which
could drive on land or sail through the water. The
DUKWs, or ‘ducks’ were absolutely vital for the
first week of the invasion and continued to be
very important in the weeks following the
landings. Normally, port battalion soldiers
unloaded a ship’s cargo onto a Rhino ferry, which
brought the supplies ashore. The supplies were
then loaded onto trucks, which took them to a
depot off the beach. The ducks cut out the entire
middle step. Duck crews could sail their truck
right up to the side of the cargo ship, where port
battalion soldiers would load it with supplies.
63
DUKW truck. Courtesy of the National Archives.
Battalion organization, Headquarters, 1st Engineer Special Brigade, “Troop List;” description of types of quartermaster
companies, War Department, Quartermaster Operations, 87; “supply systems should have,” War Department, Quartermaster
Operations, 8; quartermaster gas supply company and statistics, War Department. Quartermaster Service in Theater of Operations.
FM 10-10, March 2, 1942. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1942. “Changes No. 1,” October 8, 1942; quartermaster truck
company, War Department. Quartermaster Truck Companies. FM 10-35, July 1945. Washington: Government Printing Office, 1942;
fifty one trucks per battalion, Headquarters, 1st Engineer Special Brigade, “Troop List” and War Department, Quartermaster Truck
Companies, 47; truck loads, War Department, Quartermaster Truck Companies, 39; “must be ready,” War Department,
Quartermaster Truck Companies, 2; Red Ball Express, David M. Colley. The Road to Victory: The Untold Story of World War II’s
Red Ball Express. Washington: Brassey’s, 2000; destruction of French railroad system, Beevor, 44-50; railroad transportation more
efficient than trucks, War Department, Quartermaster Operations, 58; and graves registration, War Department, Quartermaster
Operations, 112.
The crew would then head for shore, drive
right up onto the beach, and then continue
to a depot. After the supplies were
unloaded, the men drove back for another
load. Using ducks allowed the Army to
bring in supplies much faster than they
would have been able to otherwise,
particularly in the early days of the
invasion when the fate of the landings
hung in the balance. The 1st Engineer
Special Brigade’s Normandy operations
report stated that “the DUKW is worth its
weight in gold in an assault landing such
as NEPTUNE, no self respecting invasion
should be without them.”64
DUKW trucks driving to the Normandy shore. The National WWII Museum, Inc.
Quartermaster companies and battalions,
and amphibian truck companies and
battalions, each carried unique numbers.
For example, the 244th Quartermaster
Battalion consisted of the 552nd
Quartermaster Railhead Company and the
3878th Quartermaster Gas Service
Company.65
This is a list of the different ranks of soldiers in the battalion, along with their most likely job. Doing further research
should help determine exactly what job your soldier had in his unit.
Lt. Colonel:
Major:
Captain:
1st Lieutenant:
2nd Lieutenant:
Master Sergeant:
1st Sergeant:
Tech Sergeant:
Staff Sergeant:
Technician 3rd Class:
Sergeant:
Corporal:
PFC/Private:
64
Commanded a battalion or a division’s quartermaster company
Executive officer of a battalion or a division’s quartermaster company
Commanded a quartermaster company
Executive officer of a quartermaster company
Commanded a platoon
Highest ranking enlisted man in a battalion and a role model for the men.
Highest ranking enlisted man in a company and a role model for the men.
Executive officer of a platoon or commanded a section (two per platoon)
Commanded a section (two per platoon)
Commanded a section (two per platoon) or supervised team of mechanics
Commanded a squad (two per section, four squads per platoon)
Vehicle driver, mechanic, or supervisor of team of clerks or laborers
Vehicle driver, mechanic, or supervisor of team of clerks or laborers
Vehicle driver, mechanic, or clerk
Laborer or clerk66
Amphibian truck battalion, Headquarters, 1st Engineer Special Brigade, “Troop List;” Normandy operations, Headquarters, 1st
Engineer Special Brigade, “Beach Operations Report,” 6-7; and “the DUKW is worth,” Headquarters, 1st Engineer Special Brigade,
“Beach Operations Report,” 7.
65
Nomenclature, Headquarters, 1st Engineer Special Brigade, “Troop List.”
66
Jobs, War Department, Quartermaster Operations, 100 and War Department, Quartermaster Truck Companies, 6-7, 47.
Amphibious Combat in Normandy
Though most amphibious soldiers and sailors were not combat soldiers, their job was still dangerous. The most dangerous
day for the amphibious team was D-Day. Landing craft crews, NCDU and Naval Beach Battalion sailors, and Army
engineers landed during the initial assault in very difficult circumstances. German resistance to the landings was fierce,
especially at Omaha Beach. One Coast Guard coxswain guiding his landing craft towards Omaha said that “my eyes were
glued to the boat coming in next to ours, and on the water in between, boiling with bullets from hidden shore
emplacements, like a mud puddle in a hailstorm. It seemed impossible that we could make it in without being riddled.”
Conditions remained dangerous on the beaches for weeks following the invasion. German commanders realized that the
key to defeating the invasion was to stop the Allies from bringing reinforcements and supplies to the beaches. Soldiers
and sailors working on the beaches were constantly exposed to artillery bombardments from German guns and to bombing
attacks from airplanes. On June 11, for example, the men of the 1st Engineer Special Brigade had to endure twelve and a
half hours of artillery and air bombardment. Men had no protection while working under these conditions, but smart
soldiers always had a hole, ditch, or other area of protection in mind which they could dash to at a moment’s notice.
Sailors aboard ship had nowhere to hide and had to trust to luck and American anti-aircraft fire to see them through in one
piece.67
Living conditions on the beach were far
better than they were on the front lines,
but they were still primitive and
uncomfortable. Soldiers lived in tents
near the beach, and made sure that they
had a hole dug nearby, in case they
required any shelter in a hurry. For the
first few weeks of the invasion, sailors
lived offshore in transport ships reserved
for their use. Men stayed on the ship
when they were not working, and were
carried to and from the beach in boats.
The sailors transferred to living on the
beach after the Seabees erected tent
camps where they could live. These
camps were primitive, but they offered
sheltered areas where men could sleep,
portable shower facilities, and kitchen
facilities where men could get a hot
meal. Bringing supplies to the troops
was so important that work did not end
just because of minor inconveniences
Sailors expressing their personal opinion of the situation.
like night, rain, or bombing attacks.
Instead, soldiers and sailors worked
around the clock to unload ships as fast as possible. The men worked a twelve hour shift, seven days a week.68
67
Amphibious operations on D-Day, Morison, 77-154; “my eyes were glued,” unnamed coxswain quoted by Scott T. Price. “The
U.S. Coast Guard at Normandy,” United States Coast Guard. Accessed December 18, 2011.
http://www.uscg.mil/history/articles/h_normandy.asp; June 11 bombardment, Headquarters, 1st Engineer Special Brigade. “S-2
Periodic Report.” No. 5, June 11, 1944. Record Group 407, National Archives, College Park, MD; sailors had to just wait it out, Ernie
Pyle. “Let’s Get Outta Here!: That’s the Object When Unloading at Anzio.” The 488th Port Battalion: Transportation Corps, APO
765, 5th U.S. Army. April 22, 1944. Accessed January 3, 2012. http://www.488thportbattalion.org/ErniePyle.html.
68
Living conditions, Brozyna, Longshore Soldiers blog, “Living Accommodations on the Normandy Beaches.” March 25, 2011.
Accessed January 17, 2012. http://www.519thportbn.com/2011/03/living-accommodations-on-normandy.html; sailor living
conditions, Historical Section, COMNAVEU, 579, and Bureau of Docks and Yards, 117-118; working schedule, Headquarters, 519th
Port Battalion, “Historical Data Report” appendix “Tonnage and Statistics;” and Rest, John C. McManus. The Deadly Brotherhood:
The American Combat Soldier in World War II. New York: Ballantine Books, 1998, 269; and hygiene, McManus, 76-78 and John
Ellis. The Sharp End: The Fighting Man in World War II. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1980, 185.

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