535 or 543 Flotilla, HMS Glenearn, carrying A Co, 1st Bn South
Lancashire Regt to Sword/Queen White
Unlike the LCVP, the Landing Craft Assault had a steel hull, and partial
overhead armor and armored doors inside the ramp gave some protection. It
could not carry a vehicle or artillery piece owing to the fixed lengthways
bench seats, and the narrow ramp made it slow to unload bulky items.
Behind the armored doors on the left was a partly enclosed crew station for
an LMG, and on the right another, with an overhead armor hatch, housing
the coxswain’s controls. The four-man RN (or very often, Royal Marines)
crew were: a port bowman (forward davit hooks, doors, ramp, and the
LMG); a coxswain (at the helm, starboard bow station) connected by a
voice tube to a stoker/mechanic (stern, engine controls); and a
sternsheetsman (stern davits, and signaling). One junior officer commanded
every five LCAs, though RCN flotillas might have more officers.
The LCA’s official capacity was 35 troops – two fewer than a platoon
plus its habitual attachment (three sections of ten, plus platoon commander
and his runner, platoon sergeant, two-man 2in mortar crew, plus two-man
PIAT crew attached from company HQ). When embarking, the 1st Section
took the seat closest to the ship’s side, 2nd Sect the furthest, and 3rd Sect
the central seat. On D-Day, the five A Co “serials” (NB, these identified the
boat parties, not the LCAs’ pennant numbers) for Queen/White had at most
33 men (serials 119 and 121), and serial 117 had only 30 plus four advance
personnel from the Beach Group. Serials 118 and 120 consisted of
personnel from A Co HQ and an attached Assault Demolition Team (see
Plate F4), plus half-loads of stores. The excluded riflemen presumably
joined the company’s “left out of battle” replacement pool.
Serial 119
See color key, assuming this is a starboard-side craft from the landing ship.
This is our guess at a plausible reduced platoon of 33: a rifleman from 3rd
Sect serves as the officer’s runner, and the rearmost rifleman of 1st Sect has
been grabbed by the platoon sergeant to serve as ammunition carrier for the
2in mortar.
Number key, HQ & 3rd Section, from bow to stern: 1 = platoon
commander; 2 = runner (from 3rd Sect); 3 = corporal sect cmdr; 4 & 5 =
Bren Nos. 1 & 2; 6 = lance-cpl Bren group leader; 7–11 = riflemen. HQ
group: 12 = mortar No. 2 (from 1st Sect); 13 = mtr No. 1; 14 & 15 = PIAT
Nos. 1 & 2, from A Co HQ; 16 = platoon sergeant.
Serial 118
This carried a half-load of stores and spare equipment, plus 14 men from A
Co HQ.
Key: 1 = company cmdr; 2 & 3 = runners; 4 & 5 = signalers w. No. 18
set; 6–10 = pioneers w. bangalores; 11 & 12 = litter- (stretcher-) bearers; 13
= intel NCO; 14 = regimental police NCO.
Serial 120
This also carried stores, plus ten men from A Co HQ, and a five-man ADT
from 246 Fld Co RE.
Key: 1 = CSM; 2 = runner; 3 = sniper; 4 = signaler w. No. 46 set; 5 & 6 =
sigs w. No. 18 set; 7–10 = litter-bearers. Plus: 11 = ADT NCO; 12 & 13 =
75lb charge; 14 = 40lb charge; 15 = flamethrower. (Source:
http://ww2talk.com/f...764-sword-beach)
Assault units were divided between different landing ships – e.g., at
Sword/Queen White, A & C Cos of the 1st South Lancs were aboard the
LSI(L) Glenearn; the follow-up D Co and battalion HQ were on Empire
Battleaxe , and the follow-up B Co on Empire Cutlass (which had already
launched the first-wave A & B Cos, 2nd East Yorks for Queen Red).
LCA flotilla strengths varied; e.g., RM 535 & 543 Flotillas allocated to
Glenearn had respectively ten and 11 (two of the latter being assigned to
special duties). For the “first flight” at 06:00hrs, six craft were lowered on
both port and starboard sides, and for the “second flight” at 06:30, four each
side. Only one of these LCAs was lost in action, but many flotillas suffered
much worse; for instance, collectively the landing ships Prince Henry,
Prince David, Princess Astrid, Princess Charlotte and Victoria lost 29 out
of their 38 LCAs.