Hi All, I came across some more naval footage on the British Pathe site which shows two identifiable vessels off what may be Juno Beach. The footage is located here, titled 'Ships at Sea 1944' and has the BP Film ID No. 1941.02. The first vessel is the Norwegian (ex Royal Navy) Hunt (Type III) Class Destroyer 'HNoMS Glaisdale'. I had to stitch stills 28 and 31 together to get the Norwegian flag and her number L44 in the same view: Her page on the uboat.net site here confirms she acquired Normandy Battle Honors, being badly damaged by a mine on the 23rd June. This incident effectively put her out of the war. Does anyone know which Beach 'Glaisdale' was assigned to? The lead post on the operationoverlord.net forum here seems to imply she was mined off Juno, but that may have been when she was transiting the area. The footage seems to have been taken on the 6th June from the chalk date on the side of the superstructure and the vessel on which the camera is situated appears to be Canadian if I am reading this scene correctly: Below is a photograph of 'Glaisdale' from the starboard side with the same camouflage as that seen in the footage. Note her number on the stern: Another vessel in the footage which is easily identifiable is 'HMS Eglinton', a Hunt (Type I) Class Destroyer. She too has Normandy Battle Honors as seen on her page on the uboat.net site here. Her number unmistakeable in this still: I didn't stitch the adjoining stills here showing the RN White Ensign flying from her mast because I want to keep the coastline in the distance intact - hopefully someone can identify it. Not unsurprisingly, she has her forward turret turned towards shore, which appears to be open at the rear (facing the camera). Her page on the navel-history.net site here appears to confirm her as part of 'Force S' (Sword Beach), so she may be transiting back to England for re-arm and re-fuel via a marked channel in front of Juno Beach. As always, comments and corrections welcomed and appreciated. Regards, Pat
Pat, I was able to locate on a map I found in a book called "Historical Maps of World War II Europe" by Michael Swift and Michael Sharpe the two ships assignments. The Glaisdale was assigned to Juno Beach section "Nan" and the Eglinton was assigned to Sword Beach section "Oboe". I will PM you a copy of a scanned version of the map. John
Thanks John, Good to have both stations confirmed and I am looking forward to viewing your scan. Is there a very tall building just forward of Eglinton's turret in still frame #135 above? Regards, Pat