Post by KG on Mar 22, 2019 14:45:14 GMT
Royal British Legion - Paris France
In the run up to the 75th Commemoration of the DDay Landings in Normandy, we pay tribute to the role of the Merchant Navy. Operation Neptune (codename for the DDay Landings), under the command of the British Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, transported men, supplies and vehicles. The Allied Armada crossed the Channel in the night of June 5th-6th, and comprised 4,300 ships and 2600 barges, made up mostly of British, American, Free French, Norwegian, Dutch, Polish, Danish & Greek vessels. These transport ships were accompanied by a naval bombardment squadron of between 15-20 warships that opened fire on the German defences 45 mins before H-Hour, taking over from aerial bombardments. The troop ships carried 130,000 men and more than 20,000 vehicles, tanks, lorries, supplies on the 6th June alone. In all, some 150,000 Seamen belonging to the War Fleets & Merchant Navy took part in the Landing Operation. A force equal to the number of troops sent into battle on land on 6th June 1944. By the end of the Battle of Normandy in August 1944, over 2 million men, 400,000 vehicles & 3 million tons of stores and supplies were delivered. About 127 vessels were damaged or lost through enemy action, with the loss of life of many brave Sailors whose graves remain forgotten beneath the waves.
In the run up to the 75th Commemoration of the DDay Landings in Normandy, we pay tribute to the role of the Merchant Navy. Operation Neptune (codename for the DDay Landings), under the command of the British Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, transported men, supplies and vehicles. The Allied Armada crossed the Channel in the night of June 5th-6th, and comprised 4,300 ships and 2600 barges, made up mostly of British, American, Free French, Norwegian, Dutch, Polish, Danish & Greek vessels. These transport ships were accompanied by a naval bombardment squadron of between 15-20 warships that opened fire on the German defences 45 mins before H-Hour, taking over from aerial bombardments. The troop ships carried 130,000 men and more than 20,000 vehicles, tanks, lorries, supplies on the 6th June alone. In all, some 150,000 Seamen belonging to the War Fleets & Merchant Navy took part in the Landing Operation. A force equal to the number of troops sent into battle on land on 6th June 1944. By the end of the Battle of Normandy in August 1944, over 2 million men, 400,000 vehicles & 3 million tons of stores and supplies were delivered. About 127 vessels were damaged or lost through enemy action, with the loss of life of many brave Sailors whose graves remain forgotten beneath the waves.