Operation Neptune

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Operation Neptune

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VIA: Western Approaches HQ - The Battle of the Atlantic Experience

In the early hours of 6 June, 1944, a huge armada made it's way towards the French coast. Operation Neptune was the naval part of Operation Overlord, the invasion of France.

One of the 'aces' of Western Approaches Command, Captain F. Walker, was given the task of protecting the vast invasion fleet and the subsequent need to maintain a supply chain across the channel.

" General Eisenhower, Allied commander in chief, had decreed that the Normandy invasion forces--and if possible the entire English Channel--must be free from the threat of massed U-boat attack for the D-Day landings to succeed. From D-Day to D-plus-14, the assault forces would have to be landed safely, the beachhead consolidated, and the build up of supplies assured. On June 6, D-Day, 76 U-boats sailed from their Biscay bases into the Channel to disrupt the landings in Normandy. As sighting reports streamed into Starling, Walker said: "Eisenhower wants two weeks. He'll not only get it, but this is our chance to smash the U-boat arm for all time." In those first three days, he directed his 40 ships into no fewer than 36 attacks, during which eight U-boats were destroyed and many more damaged. Aircraft claimed another six, and the first enemy wave withdrew.
The U-boats returned later for another desperate effort to penetrate into the Channel, and for a week there was no rest for men or ships. Each time it was Starling's turn to retire for new ammunition her crew snatched a few hours' sleep. But not Walker. He attended conferences, adjusted tactics, laid new plans and with seemingly inexhaustible energy took his ship back to sea to resume the struggle. Only a handful of U-boats needed to reach the landing area to create the havoc that would give the enemy vital respite. The two weeks demanded by Eisenhower passed without a single U-boat getting through. In the third week, three slipped past the defenders and caused a moment of panic among the great invasion fleet, but they were quickly destroyed. After three weeks, the U-boats withdrew again, unbelievably mauled. They were never to return in strength. Walker had achieved his final ambition, the destruction of the U-boats as an integrated fighting force. The Battle of the Atlantic was won; the Battle for the Channel had never been lost."
From BBC WW2 People's War Archive.

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D-DAY - ARMADA

Rank after relentless rank they came,
Facing guns, bombs and flame,
Six thousand craft, ten lanes wide,
Advancing in the ripping tide.

Seven hundred warships too,
Armed and set with a job to do
Fast mine sweepers at the van,
Fighter squadrons weaved and ran.

Twenty miles across the beam,
The greatest convoy ever seen,
Endless columns of surging craft,
Landing ships with shallow draft,

Liners, ferries, packed with troops,
Attack transports, army groups.
Barrage balloons on display,
Spread across this vast array,

Red Cross vessels, laden tankers,
Ancient tubs missing anchors.
Coast guard cutters, motor boats,
Painted out in grey topcoats.

Channel steamers, out from Dover,
Modern freighters steaming over,
Winking lights as morse is spoke,
Rusty coasters belching smoke,

Swarms of tugs, rolling tramps,
Packed with stores, guns and tanks.
They sailed this day for liberty
To crush the foe and set us free.

From `A Bucket of Steam: Joe Earl

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The merchant navy association memorial page
Group post by Rikk Butler

MN contribution to the Normandy landings. There were 864 Merchant ships involved, with 30,000 crew, of these 2,450 Merchant Seamen died. During World War II 185,000 men served in the Merchant Navy, 30,248 died. This is higher proportionally than any of the armed services. Yet it is not truly recognised what these seamen sacrificed for us. It was not until 2000 that Merchant Sea were allowed to march behind the Red Ensign as a group in the Cenotaph memorial march-past. Maybe the Merchant Sailors did not carry weapons, but they were fighting as much of a war as any armed serviceman. It is time that their sacrifice was truly recognised.