yet another captured kraut

"In the early morning hours of the 10th of June, 1944, a low flying German twin engine bomber was spotted. The 40-mm gun crew on the PC-619 commenced firing and the Heinkel HE-177 was shot down. The crew picked up the only survivor, a waist-turret gunner, who had parachuted to safety before the Heinkel hit the water. The prisoner, Hermann Goldenbaum, a Luftwaffe airman, was the only survivor of a crew of six. Eventually, Airman Goldenbaum was transfered to the LST-312, taken to Calshot, England and later to prison camps in Illinois and Idaho until the wars end."
-http://www.navsource.org/archives/12/010619.htm
More about PC (Patrol Combatants)

George E. Berry, Jr

the sidebar
The Newsletter of the Westmoreland Bar Association / Vol. XIV, Number 5
September – October 2002
 
Veterans Day Salute: We Remember and Give Thanks
George E. Berry, Jr

December 8, 1941, I turned in my books and quit law school in the second quarter of my second year and enlisted in the U.S. Navy as a Yeoman 3rd Class. I was assigned to the Personnel Office of the Office of Naval Intelligence, in Washington D.C., from February to August of 1942, and then the U.S. Maritime Training Station, in Sheepshead Bay, N.Y., from September 1942 to July 1943, where I was promoted to Lieutenant (junior grade). I then spent the next two months at officer Training School, Fort Schuyler, Bronx, N.Y.

In October 1943, I reported to the Amphibious Training Bases at Camp Bradford, Norfolk, and Solomons, Md., and by December, was recommended to be an Executive Officer on an LST (Landing Ship Tanks).

A nucleus crew picked up our ship, LST 499, at Evansville, Ind., in January of 1944, and we sailed down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers to New Orleans, LA. January to march of 1944, we set out from Halifax, N.S., and crossed the Atlantic to Firth of Clyde, Scotland, in a 70-ship convoy.

During Exercise Tiger, a practice invasion at Slapton Sands on the south coast of England in April 1944, LST 499, one of 8 LSTs in a convoy escorted by one escort vessel, was attacked by German E-Boats. Three LSTs were torpedoed, and two sank, with a loss of over 800 Navy and Army personnel, and equipment.

LST 499 arrived at Utah Beach D-Day morning, June 6, 1944. We spent two days unloading , and on June 8, while on our way to a staging area to return to England, LST 499 hit an acoustic mine, and sank, with the loss of one officer and twelve enlisted men. I was awarded the Purple Heart.

June to August of 1944 was spent in survivor camps until I was assigned to and reported aboard LST 312 in Manchester, England. LST 312 had been hit by a buzz bomb in London.

I was promoted to Lieutenant in October 1944. On December 12, 1944, we left Plymouth, England, and crossed the Atlantic Ocean in a convoy, arriving in New York City in bitter cold weather and a blinding snowstorm on January 7, 1945. During the crossing, the convoy was attacked by a German submarine. DE escort torpedoed as it passed astern LST 312 dropping depth charges 400 miles northeast of the Azores.

In April 1945, I was assigned to LST 309 and sailed from Mobile, AL, through the Panama Canal. We spent a month in Hawaii for ship repairs, and arrived in the Philippines Islands on August 13, 1945, to October 19, 1945, I crossed the Pacific Ocean from San Pedro bay to San Fransico by Navy transport and returned to Greensburg by train. On November 30, 1945, I was released to inactive duty.

Pat-
This is an article from a 2002 newsletter I found online a few years ago. There is a service photo of George E. Berry, JR in Adobe Acrobat format (PDF) at that link.
-David

Pat's second response to Park's account

David-

This is Reply #2 to that I sent you yesterday. I'll try to remember the other questions you asked. Army medic James Joseph Parks. Did his name ring a bell with me? No. But his story certainly did. He was indeed correct as could be on our LST 312 being broached on our landing beach at Gela, Sicily. It was about as dangerous a situation as I could recall in any of the initial day landings we made in the 1943-1944 period (Sicily, Salerno, and Normandy). We were a huge "sitting duck" target for enemy 88 guns - just as the Army medic Parks related. At least one 88 gun seemed to have found our range, and was hop-scotching shells directly toward our ship, the explosions were getting louder and louder. Navy cruiser(s) to our rear obviously got the word to silence this great threat to all of us aboard the 312. I believe this jives with what medic Parks noted. I know that one of the radiomen in my communications gang radioed our dangerous situation to our amphibious flotilla commander, and those big guns from the&nb sp; cruisers did the rest.
Also, German fighter planes were having a big time scaring us while we were in such a helpless situation. One, in particular, slipped up on us and unloaded a bomb that thrust a huge wave of water upon our port deck, knocking down and drenching many of us.

David, I'll have to beg off and continue later. My wrist watch tells me so.

-Pat

an email in January

I recieved the following email back in January. I responded to Mr. Creekmore's email and will post the photocopied images as I recieve them. I'm sure Pat is interested in getting his hands on these copies. -David

Dear Mr. Findlayson,
Every once in a while I generally search the LST 384 on the Internet to see what shows up; I have always been curious about it, because my father was the captain from December, 1944, (Boston Harbor) until the end of the war in the Pacific. I just came across your website with its references to 312 & 384 which is why I'm sending you this email.

My father wanted to command a ship; he had been teaching navigation in Chespeak Bay - he was offered the 384 and he grabbed it and it was a mess (that's another story).

He told me it had taken a hit from a buzz bomb in Portsmouth after Normandy; many people were killed and the ship was badly damaged - among other things, its wheel house was knocked on its side. It was towed from Britain to Boston where it was repaired.

The only picture I ever saw of the 312 is the same one that you publish on your website, but my picture is identified to be on Utah Beach (see The National Geographic, 100 Years of Adventure & Discovery, 1987, Harry N. Abrams, Inc., Publishers, New York, page 253).

The reason I was interested in the 312 was because I have four pictures taken of the 312 & 384 in Portsmouth after they were hit by the bomb. The pictures are stern-views taken from shore or another ship. 384 is outboard on the left, 312 is beside it to starboard and LST 981 is on the starboard side of 312. While the 384's wheelhouse is a shambles, 312 does not appear to have one at all.

The pictures I have are stuck (maybe glued) in an album - if you would like, I will be glad to Xerox them for you. Let me know a mailing address, and I will send them to you.
Regards,
Wynne L. Creekmore, Jr.
Danville, Kentucky

I found a USA TODAY article relating to a sailor aboard USS LST-384

Casualties

ROBOMBED LST TO FIGHT AGAIN -- THOUGH IT SEEMS TO BE AT THE BEST ONLY A JUMBLED MASS OF WRECKAGE FOLLOWING A HIT BY A ROBOMB IN A BRITISH PORT, THE LST 312 IS NOW B ACK IN THE U.S. FOR REPAIRS...AND A NEW BATTLE ASSIGNMENT. ALTHOUGH TEH 312 AND A SISTER SHIP SUSTAINED A DIRECT HIT BY A 2,000-POUND ROBOT MISSILE, THE GALLAN 312 CROSSED THE ATLANTIC UNDER ITS OWN POWER TO THE U.S. EAST COAST.RELEASED: JAN. 23, 1945

David-
You have excited me about your actions since our phone conversation. First, I'll try to answer some of your questions. I was a Lieutenant Commander at the end of my WW2 and Korea periods of active duty. No Navy service since March, 1953. I was first commissioned an Ensign in the U. S. Naval Reserve in Oct., 1942 and assigned in rank to officer training at Princeton University (location of the Naval training facility). I believe most or all of the officers assigned there were future assignees to the Navy's amphibious force, ships (LSTs) then under construction in east and west coast Navy shipyards.

Bill McRae was the officer (my roommate), who was killed by the buzz bomb strike of our vessel in July, 1944. He was from Chipley, FL. A Massachusets officer named John L. Battles, who served with us on the LST 312 was the other officer of our ship who was killed. I will re-locate your questions and finish answering them later.

David, you did a magnificent job locating the photo and desired data on General von Schlieben in so little time.

Also, that about the Lyric Theatre in Cheraw, which is now the Theatre on the Green. A statue of Dizzy Gillespie now stands on the green near that theatre. Did you know that?
More later. - Pat

READER - Refer to January posting and pictures for more USS LST-312

Pat's response to previous post

"I did not know or remember meeting the Army Medic you mentioned (James Joeseph Parks). Our D-Day destination on June 6, 1944 was Gold Beach, carrying British forces. We were as packed as we could be with officers and troops of the British Army on that initial landing day. Shuttle runs thereafter had us going to the U. S. beaches. I believe Omaha may have been the second one where we unloaded equipment and picked up the German officers and troops to take back to England for captivity for the duration. I'll check this out." -Pat

another man who served on USS LST-312

I found the following information at a family genealogy site of man named James Joseph Parks (b.1921) who served as medic on five different ships during the war. I am posting this because one of these ships was LST-312. Pat hasn't seen this post yet and maybe these two men might have met at some point in time. Who knows. I don't know how long the 312 was grouped with the other ships but this entry might give my siblings an idea as to what Pat was up to as well. Pat, if you're reading this, please leave a comment or email me comments that I might post.

James Parks grew up in New York City, was taught to drive a car and worked with Avery Fisher (Avery Fisher Hall) in the sales of musical instruments and electronics development. For several years Jim relocated his family to Illinois to take a management position with Wurlitzer Organ Company before moving back to New Jersey to continue his career with Fisher. Jim had the opportunity to work with such Musical legends as Billy Joel, John Lennon and many others. He retired in 1986 from Panasonic Corporation while living in Anaheim, California. During his retirement he became an avid amateur astrologer while living in various areas of Arizona and Nevada. Jim served in the Army as a medic on the warship LST309 during the invasion of Sicily, Italy in World War II. During his military career, Jim served on 5 different ships, LST311, LST312, LST381, LST309 and was deployed into combat on at least 10 different invasions. After returning, Jim stayed in the electronics and music industry until his retirement in 1986.

The following is an account by james of the years spent in The US Navy written in July, 2006:

Hi Lew, Thanks for your letter. Anxious to learn how the scope performs when trying the suggestions. Now about the ships I served on. As you know I was a combat medical corpsman. A team of 250 of us were sent to the Advanced Amphibious Base in Bizerte Tunisia North Africa. We shipped out of Norfolk Va.on the Navy transport USS Tarazed with a contingent of Sea Bees. We arrived in the City of Oran and were taken by trucks to Mers El Kebir where tents were set up. The following day we boarded a British LSI The Princess Astrid. This ship had already participated in significant battles such as the Dieppe Raid in 1942. We stopped off in Algiers to take some men to the hospital and proceeded on to Bizerte. We had a huge Amphibious fleet in the area. The Germans were quite aware of our huge fleet of all types of Navy craft and although our Army had already driven the Germans from Tunisia. We were still vulnerable to bombing attacks. Our landing craft, LST, LCI, LCT, LSM's had never been used in actual landings. In addition to other assault ships Navy transports would be used to carry troops and amunition. The test for all of these ships would be the Invasion of Sicily on July 10 1943. General Patton was in command of the invasion assisted by General Bradley and Generals from the First, Third and Forty Fifth divisions. 66,000 American including Rangers. General Montgomery led the British assault with 80,000 British and Canadian troops. In anticipation of heavy casualties 3 corpsmen from our medical team were assigned to 78 LSTs for the landing. I was assigned to the LST 312 to land with the Big Red One. As we approached the designated landing sites we became broached on the beach and could not get off. We were being bombed about every 30 to 40 minutes after three days on the beach we wound have had over 100 bombing attacks. The technique used was skip bombings. Our sister ship the LST 313 was a few hundred feet off our starboard side and had a 200 pound bomb strike her midship. The skipper of the 311 made a daring decision to save lives by putting his LST to the stern of the 313 now burning rapidly. He received the Navy Cross for his action which saved some 84 men, about 27 were killed and quite a number wounded. Of course this information was from books and literature after the war. The Herman Goering Panzer division had thirty of their Tiger tanks approach the beaches of Gela, the town we landed at. Patton ordered the Navy cruisers Boise and Philadelphia to fire at them and after several 88 shells exploaded near us the cruisers did their job. We made several trips after the invasion bringing in reinforcements. I was assigned to the LST 381 for a trip to Palermo. The next big invasion was the invasion of Italy. For this and subsequent trips I was assigned to the LST 311. We almost lost this battle. The invasion sites were again divided into British and American sectors. We landed under smoke screens laid down by British destroyers. The enemy fire was intense and we hadn't taken the beach. We carried the British 56 Division with Brenn gun carriers. We had to unload as fast as possible, 88 shells were exploading all around us. We went back to Bizerte without escort, and loaded up about 40 tanks of the Seventh armored division. After four days the body count on the beaches were getting frightening. We again landed under black smoke screens. First tank off the ship was hit by an 88 shell and blew a tank man right up through the top of the tank. The lucky guy suffered only a broken arm. Several more trips and we finally took the beach. I was then assigned to the LST309 as ships company. We then formed possibly the largest convoy to bring this huge force to England. On the way we were followed by Nazi submarines depth charges were dropped and as far as the eye could see on the horizon our cruiser and destroyer escorts were patrolling the perimeters. We had been covered by PBY aircraft but when we got out of their range we were vulnerable to air and sub attacks. And they came, off the west coast of France German Dorniers huge bombers we used to refer to as the Flying Pencil, they attacked us with radio glider bombs. We managed to survive and could celebrate Christmas in merry old England. I was sent back to the USA on the HMS Acquatinia, got married to Dorothy. After serving as a first aid instructor as part of a shakedown team for LCI's I was assigned to ths LST 1053 and spent some time at the New Orleans Naval Hospital as a patient and was discharged. Total ships; USS Tarazed, HMS Princess Astrid, HMS Aquatania LST's 312, 381, 311, 309 and 1053. Pretty complete picture Lew. Hope it helps. -Jim

USS LST-312 more from the front

Uncle Pat had asked me to see what I could find on LeutnantGeneral Karl Wilhelm Dietrich von Schlieben. LeutnantGeneral Schlieben was the second in comand in Normandy, immediately under Field Marshal Erwin Rommel (The Desert Fox). As you may recall, Rommel just prior to the invasion of Normandy - took a trip away from the coast to be with his wife for her birthday. LeutnantGeneral von Schlieben had been left in command during the absence of Rommel. Karl was captured June 26, 1944 at Cherbourg, France. Pat said that after the capture of von Schlieben, he was put on board the USS LST-312 (Pat's ship) for passage to South Hampton. Pat did not know where the General was taken beyond that point. He asked me if I could find anything and so I did a little Googling. I found out that von Schleiben was taken to Trent Park Camp 11 (Sorting Camp), then to Camp 24 (hospital camp), and then to Island Farm Special Camp 11. This camp seems quite the luxurious place to sit out the rest of the war. It's where many high ranking prisoners of war were held- little did they know that all the trees and park benches were wired. Many of the rooms were bugged as well. This all sounds like a great premise for a movie. von Schlieben was repatriated in October of 1947. Do read the URLs that I've high-lighted/linked, it all make for an interesting read.

I also found out that von Schlieben died June 18, 1964 in Giessen. It seems that June never panned out to be a good month for him. I had asked uncle Pat if he perchance got to speak with the von Schlieben while on board the 312 but he told me that that kind of contact was restricted. That figures.

Patillo Ainsworth Finlayson (Uncle Pat)

I got a call from out of the blue yesterday, it was my uncle Pat. We talked about just about everything we could think of. I'll share a piece of it with you, and more later. Pat said that the Lyric Theatre in Cheraw, South Carolina was built the same year that he was born, in 1920. Pat worked as an usher there when he was fourteen-fifteen years old for Mr. Bob Rodgers, Sr - during the depression. He earned a $1.50 per week and got to see all the movies free. We laughed because Pat, to know Pat, he's been a movie buff ever since. He said most of his huge earnings went to helping out the Finlayson household but he occasionally got to treat himself to a Coke and a snack.

Future jazz great Dizzy Gillespie also had a job at the theatre during that time. As most know, in those days, blacks had to be seated in the balcony of theaters with their own entrance. Pat said that Dizzy worked upstairs at the Lyric. I believe it was back in the early eighties that Pat went to one of Gillespie's concerts and got to talk with him back stage. They got catch up and talk a little about the old days. I remember that Dizzy once passed through Gadsden, AL -played - then went over to Mayor Steve Means residence for a visit. I believe that I heard that tidbit of information over the radio and told dad about it. I mentioned to dad that perhaps he'd like to call over to the mayors house and say hello. Dad smiled and shook his head no. I really wish that he had. Pat later told dad that during his conversation with Dizzy, that Dizzy said that he wished Westbrook had called that night. Oh well, perhaps they've had that conversation in the here after.

The Lyric Theatre, later the Cheraw Theatre, the building is still standing today. It's now called Theatre On The Green, home of The Cheraw Arts Commission, a place where you can experience live shows, art galleries, dinner theatre and the like. Again, Pat and I had a great phone conversation yesterday. Jennie (my sister) and I talked during the Christmas holidays about meeting in Columbia and doing some more interviews with dad's siblings. It's something I'd really like to do. I'll promise to post more of the phone conversation soon.

Easter weekend

We had a very slow week at the office. Gina decided to skip work Friday and for us to head down to Birmingham for the day. It was a beautiful day for the family (Gina, Katie, Kelsey, and myself) to have a Cracker Barrel breakfast in Trussville and then head down to the Birmingham Zoo. The last time I was there, Katie was about three years old. I'm not much on zoos and such but the girls loved every minute of it.

We came home and got a little rest. I headed down to the the Coffee Vine Cafe' for Aroma Friday. Before the music began, I noticed my old pal Tommy Campbell at a table. I went down and talked with him for a little bit. I love this man, we share so much history together and yet we never get to hang out much. The band from Mercy Hill let me sit in with them and play my blues harps. We had a great time. I left dog tired. I drove down in the VW. The plug blew out again on the way home (after midnight). You wouldn't believe the racket that car made. I felt kind of bad driving through the neighborhood but what else could I do?

Saturday morning rolled around and Gina let me sleep in. She took the girls to an Easter egg hunt in Rainbow City and then to the grocery store. I rolled out of bed and drove the car over to Bill Noah's again. He tried to get the spark plug back and gave me the bad news. He said that the plug hole was reamed out and the engine had to be pulled to fix it. Bill doesn't work on engines and said he knew somebody that might be able to help me. I am dreading to know how much this is going to cost me...just to get a spark plug to work. Ain't that something?

I drove my LOUD car back home and commenced to painting the trim work that's going up in the basement. I listened to some Rush Limbaugh (best of - WAAX) while I painted outside. Again, a great day for working outside. It seemed that all the men in the neighborhood were out outside working a projects. Ahh - Spring! Gina came home with some groceries. She wanted me to grill some hamburgers. I bought her a grill for Christmas (at her request!) and this was our first chance to use it.

I had checked the drive-in movie times on the mountain while the girls were off. I was a little miffed that all the drive-ins had gone up in prices and were no longer charging per car load! I guess I'll have to start loading my children in the trunk in the future...I'M KIDDING!!!!! Besides, the only trunk I have is the VW and there's only room for my four year old. She'd be okay...we could talk to her throug the whole in the glove compartment...maybe even feed her those little cheesy gold fish through the hole as well. I don't think she'd complain too much.

Anyway, we got the girls to take a nap during the afternoon and then took them to see Horton Hears A Who and Spiderwick Cronicles. They were okay movies and the girls enjoyed them. You know me - I just like going to the drive-in. It was cold tonight, the wind started kicking in and I started to freeze. It's a good think I took my poncho that Jose' brought me back from Mexico. I know that I look silly in it (Clint Eastwood I'm not) but it sure does keep the heat in. Kelsey (4) and I cuddled through most of Horton. Though it was cold, Katie and Kelsey didn't complain a bit, they were fixed up with hot chocolate and nacho cheese. We came home and they passed out.

So midnight came and everyone was in bed but me. While unpacking the car I noticed that my front tire on the driver's side was flat. I don't know how far I'd driven with it that way. The car seemed to drive fine for me all the way back from Sand Mountain. I will give God credit for getting us home safe. I went ahead and put the spare on before coming in. I was so tired from the days activity that I was feeling dizzy out there.

It's been a nice weekend so far. We still have Sunday to go. We've got some family get togethers through out the day (Gina's side). I've got some cooking to do before I head out to Hokes Bluff. Hope you all have a nice Easter. I keep hearing Second Chapter of Act's sing He's Is Risen in my head. It's been a long time since I owned or listened to that album but I can imagine the harmonies pretty well. To be truthful...I always like Keith Green's version of it better but for some reason Second Chapter bleeds through in my mind.

Well - the tomb is empty and there's a lone figure coming walking us from the distance.