238369 Able Sea. James "Monty" Montgomery Royal Navy Tank Landing Craft HMS Dinasour from:Putney, London My father James Montgomery joined the Royal Navy in August 1921 as a volunteer at the age of 20.
After basic training he went to HMS Pembroke and HMS Quebec until March 1942 when he is shown on his service records as been attached to HMS Dinosaur and Cobra. HMS Cobra was a training centre for Landing Craft among other courses but was also used to cover any gaps where the name of a ship wasn't known.
My father has the North Africa Star and he told me stories of transiting the Med to get there. He also showed me a picture of a ship that he served on that unfortunately was torpedoed on its way back. My father had, luckily for him, been taken off that ship prior to it departing.
On 6th June 1944 my father was in Tank Landing Craft on Omaha beach in support of US forces.
My father told me about Omaha beach but it wasn't until after his death when I watched Saving Private Ryan that I realized exactly what that must have been like.
|