Oldest Military Blogger...Remembers...

The first few days we were ashore we ate K Rations.

These were individual wrapped and packaged 

with waterproofing heavy wax paper

and  indestructible without a sharp knife.

The packages contained variations of 4 ounces of 

plum pudding in a can, an instant coffee package,

a bar of chocolate,a dehydrated soup packet, some 

unrecognizable can of fish or meat.

four cigarettes and toilet tissue....

This ration was generally issued before

a mission as a supply for a couple of days.

Water treated with iodine for safety

was brought to the Company area by Battalion trucks

and hung in a large bag, with a spigot, for any individual to

to fill their canteens..Canteens were carried on our 

Garrison utility belts at all times.

The reason I mention these facts is when we went out to 

a Liberty cargo boat we took our K rations with us.

The ships galley was off limits to us but the cooks and crew

who had meals from an up to date kitchen, took one look at our 

K rations which we were heating up on our steam winches, and it

kinda turned their hearts to invite us to what ever they had available..

Fresh eggs and cookies were an extreme benefit sometimes...

if we asked.....for some fresh milk for our coffee ...

When the ten or so days had passed our Company

set up a reasonable kitchen on the beach  and was serving C rations...

Pretty much standard Army chow except for the fact

we had no tables or chairs, so we took our 

mess gear and food back to our foxholes. 

Most of the ships we serviced were Liberty ships or Victory

ships..The Victories or C2's as we called them, were 

faster than the Liberties and less prone to submarine attack.

They also used Electric Winches to unload their hatches.

Occasionally we found ourselves aboard a Hog Islander which 

had 3 specific decks higher than  the hull line. We thought that 

the name Hog Islander was with reference to these three 

raised decks.

All these ships carried ammunition and war supplies,food and fuel

not necessarily with the above priority.

There was a vessel called a C4... A Reefer.

A Victory C4 was an ocean going boat with complete refrigeration 

capability to transport fresh meat and ice cream, etc. etc.

The C4 had a vastly different configuration than all the others because 

the cargo hatches were all in the forward part of the boat and covered 

with water tight hatches to keep out seawater.

When we unloaded a Reefer we might celebrate in our Kitchens

for a few days with the stuff that "fell off the truck"..

Most of these boats were in the 10,000 Tonne 

dead weight category where her cargo was concerned.

The most unique vessels we unloaded were called, Coasters...

They were one third the size of the Liberties and Victories,

About 125 or so feet long compared to 400 to 450 of the others.

They generally delivered their 700 tonne cargo by running aground 

at high tide onto a beach that had no harboring accommodations.

At high tide as they entered the beach area they would 

drop a trailing anchor,and play out sufficient cable to allow 

them to get as close as possible

for the next high tide to float them off again..

then,using the anchor and cable to winch them out to deeper waters. 

When they beached, land trucks would take their cargo 

directly to land storage places for distribution.

When the tide came back in and she was afloat ,empty, the Screws," propellers"

which are completely encased for protection from the sands could 

take them into deeper waters with help from the cable and anchor. 

One night a Norwegian Coaster with a cargo of mortars arrived 

at low tide and was unable to beach.We were sent out to unload

 her before she beached in the morning.

When we boarded, a German aircraft that we called Charlie, 

who dropped a few bombs almost every night was in action again.

He dropped two bombs beside a Liberty we could see all lit up 

because our orders were to keep our lights on when we were unloading,

even under attack, Fish in a Barrel, we called it.

The plane then circled our coaster.We could not see 

it but we heard it very clearly.

We watched two bombs hit the water 2 or 300 feet on our right, amidships.....and one bomb 100 or so feet in the waters to our left.

We watched the explosions and didn't move.

We had no place to hide! THE WATER WAS DEADLY.

The concussion of that bomb in the water would have killed anyone NOT aboard the Coaster.

Nevertheless, not knowing if Charlie was coming back, and we, sitting atop tons of explosives, covered ourselves with the,tarpaulin

that secured the hatches,and went to sleep,

waiting for the tide.