Intermission Stories (23)

John Edmunds, RCN

John Edmunds

The Canadian Seaman

On D-Day, John Edmunds, from Burlington, Ontario, 19 years old, was in the Royal Canadian Navy assigned as a helmsman on an escort ship leading cargo vessels to Normandy.  Aboard the HMCS Drumheller, he was headed for Juno Beach.

Seaman Edmunds stood at the helm of his ship as his captain barked down orders from the bridge, “Port, two degrees!”  John sailed the Flower-class corvette vessel in circles around a convoy of 15 cargo ships for the length of their three-hour voyage across the English Channel.  And then – he looked toward the approaching shore.  The reality of what laid ahead of the Allies came into view, “We looked out across the English Channel and whole horizon was ships, thousands of ships.”

HMCS Drumheller

Men lined the deck with binoculars, searching the seas for German submarines.  Edmunds had already seen the U-boats sink 12 of the 60 ships the Drumheller had helped across the Atlantic in the first days of the war; men screaming for help in the open water. (“You heard the yelling and the screaming, but we couldn’t stop,” Edmunds recalled.)

Quickly there was a sound, unforgettable, advancing like a wave; a heartbeat of cannon fire like two tractor-trailers continually colliding head-on in the distance.  Allied destroyers, their warring sides turned toward the French shore, strafed the hills beyond the beaches for German concrete bunkers.  The Germans answered in a roaring rhythm as the Allied troops landed on the shores in bloody waves.

John Edmunds, (center), during the war years

Edmunds had never heard or seen anything like it.  “When the tide came out, there were bodies floating everywhere.  Unbelievable.”  Cannon fire burst overhead as the Drumheller made way for the 15 cargo vessels to sail near shore, perilously close to scraping bottom.  He watched the Liberty ships line up bow-to-stern, parallel to the shore to form a breakwater, an artificial harbor where troop-carrying ships could land and unload their tanks, men and supplies.

Then, these ships would scuttle themselves into a permanent position; some of them remain there rusting off the shores of Normandy to this day.  The Drumheller was ordered to escort supply ships throughout the invasion.  The crew slept in 4-hour shifts, ready to drop depth charges off the back to blast any German subs.  They did not set foot on land for 42 days.  “You sort of went stir crazy,” Edmund said.

HMCS Drumheller, pix taken by Charles Sadler, RCNVR, 1st Class Stoker, while serving on the HMCS Columbia.

John Edmunds is now 89 years old, retired and living in West Palm Beach, Florida.  His memories were given to Carlos Frias of The Palm Beach Post for print.

For further information on the HMCS Drumheller. 

Click on images to enlarge.

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Farewell Salutes – 

Dale Anderson – Toledo, OH; US Army Air Force, Col. (Ret.), WWII, ETO

From, Anna, Maiden On The Midway

F.William Bauers Jr. – Washington DC; US Army Air Corps, WWII, pilot – 68 missions

Leslie Graves – Groton, NY; US Navy, Lt. JG; pilot instructor, WWII

Marshall Johnson – Woburn, MA; US Army, Korea

Hugh McKinnon – New Zealand; RNZ Army # 462352

Joseph Melarango – Cleveland, OH; US Navy, WWII

Raymond Palumbo – Hillside, IL; US Army, Korea

Thomas Seigle – Knoxville, TN & Sarasota, FL; US Navy, Pilot, Vietnam

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MIDWAY/D-DAY

“The Battle of Midway” painting by: Howard David Johnson

MIDWAY

72 years ago, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto devised a plan to draw out the remaining ships in the U.S. Pacific Fleet.  To accomplish this, he planned to invade the island of Midway, 1,300 miles NW of Hawaii.  He would then have a base to attack the American islands.  The Battle of Midway marked the turning point of WWII in the Pacific – 4 to 7 May 1942.

Midway first hand accounts can be READ HERE!

Japanese ships

Ground attack

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Midway map.

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D-Day

Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower

70 years ago, by sea and air, they descended on to a 50-mile stretch of German-fortified French coastline, 6 June 1944.  General Dwight D. Eisenhower would say to the men ______ “Soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force!  You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months.  The eyes of the world are upon you.  The hopes and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.”

Gallivanta sent us a link with information and photos by John Ford which can be found in the COMMENTS.   Click onto her Gravatar image to find her own site of Silk Ann Threads.   More additional information is continuing in the Comment section – so please read them as well.

Naval bombardments on D-Day

 

Ground force landing corridors, D-Day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

D-Day landing scene

Painting of D-Day beach, artist unknown.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Footnotes about D-Day

The last time an invading army crossed the English Channel: 1688

The nickname for the million-plus wooden poles planted by the Nazis to thwart an invasion: Rommel’s Asparagus

The code name of the plan to deceive the Germans about where the invasion would take place: Operation Fortitude

The candy supplied in the emergency rations for paratroopers was: 4 Hershey bars & one pack of charms 

 

 

 

Click on any image to enlarge.

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I only just learned that Chester Nez, the last surviving Navajo Code Talker, has passed away at the age of 93.

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Farewell Salutes – 

Leo Archer – St.Cloud,MN; US Army, WWII, ETO

Frank Braden Jr. – (105) – Coraopolis, PA; US Army, Medical Corps, Lt. to Lt.Colonel, WWII, 8th Armored Division

Stanley Burgoon – Chipley, FL; US Navy, Vietnam-2 tours, USS Saratoga & Amphion

John Chakalos – Windsor, CT; US Army Air Force, 11th Airborne Div., WWII

Robert Donahue – Arlington, VA; US Army, Lt. General (35 years Ret.)

Warren Freeman – Washington DC; MGeneral (Ret.), Military Police Signal Regiment

William “Pete” Hall – Beaufort, SC; US Air Force, Lt.Colonel, pilot, Vietnam

Robert Hand – Born: Yorkshire, Eng.; Sherborn, MA; Royal Navy, doctor, (14 yrs) & Canadian Navy, (15 years)

Wallace Leask -Browns Bay, NZ; RNZ Navy # 3601, WWII, telegraphist

Paul Robertson – Maitland, FL; US Air Force, air traffic controller, (21 years)

Gordon Willis – NYC, NY; US Air Force, Korea, military photographer (famed cinematographer)

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U.S. National Maritime Day, 22 May

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May 22nd is the date when the American ship Savannah set sail from Savannah, Georgia in 1819 and became the first transoceanic voyage ever made under steam power.  Hence the day was chosen for the date of tribute.

In 2002, the Military Sealift Command held a memorial service in Washington D.C.  Rear Admiral David Brewer III and Gordon England, Secretary of the Navy, tossed a wreath into the Anacostia River at the Washington Navy Yard in honor of the fallen mariners.

Capt. Susan Dunlap & Capt. Robert Burk during ceremonial in Hawaii

In 2013, National Maritime Day was celebrated with picnics and tours at the Port of San Diego; maritime career fairs in Seattle and Baltimore, as well as the traditional memorial ceremonies.

Merchant Marine cap insignia

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For A striking story sent to us from fellow blogger, Argus, we have the story of the N.S. Savannah.

Also – about the rescue of the crew of the Montebello from Enchanted Seashells – Confessions of a Tugboat Captain’s Wife can be located HERE!

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A very poignant and dramatic story, well worth taking the time to read…

From “The Week” news magazine.

Click on images to enlarge!!!

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Farewell Salutes –

Dale L. Blackburn – Huntsville, AL; US Navy, Vietnam

Robert Babin – Beaufort, SC; US Navy WWII

Lilian Bromich – Maunganui, NZ; WAAF, WWII, #W4124

Glynn Coster – Sheridan, WY; US Army, WWII, ETO, 10th Mountain Div.

George Dodd – Graceville, FL; US Army, SFC (Ret. 20 yrs.), Korea, Purple Heart/Vietnam, Bronze Star

Ralph “Dean” Fisher – Wichita, KS; US Army, WWII/US Air Force, Korea

James Holmes, Mt. Home, AR; US Navy, Korea

Arthur Kaeseburg – Mesa, AZ; US Army Air Corps, WWII, 194th Glider Infantry/17th A/B Div., Bronze Star

Farley Mowat – Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Can.; Royal Canadian Army, WWII

Harold Stelicha – Bethlehem, PA; US Air Force, SAC, B-17 pilot

Gene Watterson – Birmingham, AL; US Navy, WWII, ETO

James Zimmerman – Bradenton, FL; USMC, Korea

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I sincerely want to thank the volunteers of the Little Rock, AR VA Hospital for their care and concern, not only for the veterans but for Sheri deGrom as well.  You all have the spirit of the Greatest Generation!!

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Patriot & National Service & Remembrance Day, 9/11

Thomas Kinkaid’s tribute

Today we fly the American flag, not only in memory of the 2,977 who died that day, but for all who suffered from the consequences of the terrorist actions of a few and those that gave their all to assist in the rescues.

Memory of the Twin Towers

The Pentagon

Pennsylvania Memorial under construction

Pentagon memory

Hero dogs

Hero dogs

FDNY Station #12

Click on images to enlarge.

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WWII news update –

AP news service announced that in Italy’s Lake Garda a WWII DUKW, (amphibious trucks known as “ducks”) was found upright 900 feet down. According to Cpl. Thomas Hough, the sole survivor, on 30 April 1945, 3 DUKWs of the 605th Field Artillery left the east bank of the lake and his duck began to take on water. Loaded down with 25 soldiers and a 75mm cannon, they began to discard their ammo and equipment. Twenty-four of the men drowned. An Italian group of volunteer divers are making plans to locate and return the bodies home if they can be found.

the ‘Duck”, a DUKW

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Flag Day

In continuance of the American summer of remembrance, we now have Flag Day. For the readers in other countries, fly your own flag to show your fellow citizens your patriotism.

The Birth of Old Glory

Civil War era

WWII and Korean War

CLICK ON PHOTOS TO ENLARGE. Have a wonderful day and thank you for your support!!

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Fun notes –

One year ago, the USS Mohawk CGC, a former WWII warship, was sunk off of Sanibel Island, Florida to become a new reef – but now – it will be an underwater art gallery! Austrian photographer, Andreas Franke, has installed 12 images inside the ship encased in steel-framed Plexiglas. Tiny marine organisms are expected to invade the frames and give each display a unique aura. To enhance the project, Franke has superimposed images of models in WWII clothing onto the original photographs that will remain on display until 14 September.

In 1943, the school year was cut short at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Conn. due to the onset of WWII, the graduating class never had a senior prom. Anthony Pegnataro, 87, former class president, said,” They were dire days, but Americans toughed it out. A prom was the last thing on my mind.” But, 70 years was long enough to wait!! Class of 1943 finally had their prom!!

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Farewell Salutes –

John Albert Barlett – U.S. Navy

Alex “Red” Engel – U.S. Navy, WWII

John L. Mertes – U.S. Marine Corps, WWII

Noel De Cordova, Jr. – Ensign, USN, Korean War. Later, Naval Reserves, retired as captain.

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