Back to Normandy - Recently Added Listings - Tugs https://backtonormandy.org/ Thu, 28 Mar 2024 23:12:38 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.3 Anchor point before D-Day, position 35 in area 2 in The Solent for: Service Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112059-solent035.html Position-number 35 and name/type of the ship(s): Service Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 2. For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112059-solent035.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 36 in area 2 in The Solent for: Balloon Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112060-solent036.html Position-number 36 and name/type of the ship(s): Balloon Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 2. For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112060-solent036.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 333 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112357-solent333.html Position-number 333 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112357-solent333.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 334 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112358-solent334.html Position-number 334 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112358-solent334.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 335 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112359-solent335.html Position-number 335 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112359-solent335.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 336 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112360-solent336.html Position-number 336 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112360-solent336.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 337 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112361-solent337.html Position-number 337 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112361-solent337.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 338 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112362-solent338.html Position-number 338 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112362-solent338.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 339 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112363-solent339.html Position-number 339 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112363-solent339.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 340 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112364-solent340.html Position-number 340 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112364-solent340.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 341 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112365-solent341.html Position-number 341 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112365-solent341.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 342 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112366-solent342.html Position-number 342 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112366-solent342.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 343 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112367-solent343.html Position-number 343 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112367-solent343.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 344 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112368-solent344.html Position-number 344 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112368-solent344.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 345 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112369-solent345.html Position-number 345 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112369-solent345.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 346 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112370-solent346.html Position-number 346 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112370-solent346.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 347 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112371-solent347.html Position-number 347 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112371-solent347.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 348 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112372-solent348.html Position-number 348 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112372-solent348.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 349 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112373-solent349.html Position-number 349 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112373-solent349.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 350 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112374-solent350.html Position-number 350 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112374-solent350.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 351 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112375-solent351.html Position-number 351 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112375-solent351.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 352 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112376-solent352.html Position-number 352 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112376-solent352.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 353 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112377-solent353.html Position-number 353 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112377-solent353.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 354 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112378-solent354.html Position-number 354 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112378-solent354.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 355 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112379-solent355.html Position-number 355 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112379-solent355.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 356 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112380-solent356.html Position-number 356 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112380-solent356.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 357 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112381-solent357.html Position-number 357 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112381-solent357.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 358 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112382-solent358.html Position-number 358 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112382-solent358.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 359 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112383-solent359.html Position-number 359 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112383-solent359.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 360 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112384-solent360.html Position-number 360 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112384-solent360.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 361 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112385-solent361.html Position-number 361 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112385-solent361.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 362 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112386-solent362.html Position-number 362 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112386-solent362.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 363 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112387-solent363.html Position-number 363 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112387-solent363.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 364 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112388-solent364.html Position-number 364 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112388-solent364.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 365 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112389-solent365.html Position-number 365 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112389-solent365.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 366 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112390-solent366.html Position-number 366 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112390-solent366.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 367 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112391-solent367.html Position-number 367 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112391-solent367.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 368 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112392-solent368.html Position-number 368 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112392-solent368.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 369 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112393-solent369.html Position-number 369 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112393-solent369.html
Anchor point before D-Day, position 370 in area 20 (E) in The Solent for: Berth for a Tug https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112394-solent370.html Position-number 370 and name/type of the ship(s): Berth for a Tug.
This ship or these ships was/were located in The Solent area 20 (E). For the exact location in this area, please look at the map. Read this little story: during the preparation of D-Day, the ships assembled in The Solent. Every ship was anchored in an area numbered 1-31 (sometimes divided in North or South). Therefore a Plan of Anchorage for the final assembly of all D-Day ships was made. The location was near the Island of Wight, The Solent.
A witness: Robert Millan watched the Allied fleet assemble in the Solent, before D-Day: I was a signalman in the Royal Navy. I was sent with my best mate, a freckle-faced Yorkshire lad called Foley, to the busy signal station in Gosport called Fort Gilkicker, to augment the regular signal staff prior to the invasion of Europe.
The build up was tremendous, a spectacle never to be forgotten. The Solent waters gradually filled up with every type of naval craft, from battleships down to corvettes and motor torpedo boats. Meanwhile with all the constant reading and sending of signals by 10-inch signal lamps, my mate and I were suffering terribly from conjunctivitis. When we complained about the long 24 hours stretch of duty to the chief yeoman in charge of our watch, we were consoled by how lucky we were; that all that lot out there in the Solent (pointing out to the massive gathering of ships) were going to die, while we would survive. So we had to crawl back into our shells and get on with life as it was.
Then it all happened. I was off duty the night of 5th June, and about 9pm noticed a steady stream of naval craft underway, making for the open sea. As daylight dawned, the whole sea area seemed still. Everything had gone, apart from one ship, H.M.S. Alresford, anchored nearby, and an array of small craft, mostly used for ferrying duties. The invasion had begun. It was indeed D-Day, 6th of June 1944.
Source: Frank and Joan Shaw Collection, D-Day Museum

If you have more information about this record, please sent your information to Fred Vogels, webmaster of Back to Normandy.
Thanks to WWII veteran Sapper, PATS and Roy Martin]]>
fredvogels Wed, 15 May 2013 00:00:00 +0100 https://backtonormandy.org/the-history/navy-operations/ships/tugs/112394-solent370.html