![]() Their job on D Day was to set up a first aid station one mile inland from the beach. One had been awarded the Silver Star Medal and the other had been awarded the Purple Heart Medal. The Executive Officer of LCI 85, Lieutenant (j.g.) Arthur Farrar noted that two of the doctors on board were veterans of the Tunisian Campaign. They included Combat Engineers consisting of both Navy and Army personnel, whose job it was to clear beach obstacles, mark beach exits and organize the unloading of men and supplies from landing craft. LCI 85 had landed them during practice runs at Slapton Sands, Devon, England. The Skipper of LCI 85, Lieutenant (j.g.) Coit Hendley Jr., was familiar with the troops on board. The soldiers on board consisted of troops from the following units: Company C, 37th Engineer Combat Battalion, 5th Engineer Special Brigade – 26 personnel Company C, 6th Naval Beach Battalion – 40 personnel 210th Military Police Company – 13 personnel 294th Signal Company – 10 personnel Headquarters and Service Company, 37th Engineer Combat Battalion, 5th Engineer Special Brigade – 4 personnel Company B, 6th Naval Beach Battalion – 7 personnel and Company A, 1st Medical Battalion – 89 personnel. They had been in cramped quarters for several days because the invasion, originally scheduled for June 5, had been postponed due to stormy weather. On D-Day, the 189 soldiers onboard LCI 85 were seasick and miserable. The torpedo continued on and struck a Landing Ship Tank (LST), which exploded and burned. There, a German aircraft dropped a torpedo which passed amid-ship directly underneath LCI 85, narrowly missing her due to her shallow draft. One particular incident of LCI 85 luck occurred during the night of Septemin the bay of Palermo, Sicily. It had served them well, keeping them safe through previous invasions. On the conning tower of LCI 85 was painted the crew’s good luck charm, a Four- Leaf Clover. Allied planners of “Operation Neptune,” the code name for the seaborne invasion of Normandy expected high casualties. On board LCI 85, was a crew of four officers and 30 enlisted men, including two additional Pharmacist Mates (medics) who were temporarily assigned to LCI 85. Navy LCIs to form Flotilla 10 for the Normandy invasion. Upon their transfer to England, the “Coasties” of Flotilla 4 joined twelve U.S. They were part of the fabled LCI Flotilla 4, consisting of 24 LCIs manned entirely by U.S. The seasoned officers and crew of LCI 85 were combat veterans of the invasions of North Africa, Sicily and Salerno, Italy. From France, the allies would push into the heart of Germany and end the most devastating war in human history. LCI 85 was part of a vast armada of more than 5,000 ships and landing craft underway to deliver an army to liberate France from Adolph Hitler’s occupation forces. LCI(L) 85 sailed through rough waters towards the Normandy Coast of France. By John France, Historian, USS Landing Craft Infantry National Association
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |