Operation Shingle - The Anzio Landings (part 2)

Surprise Over

I was able to check our position - we and our Americans, had turned at the correct point and our part of the landings had been spot on. Obviously brilliant dead reckoning navigation helped considerably by the coming of dawn! Then we could see the LSTs discharging their 'wares' and the element of surprise was over. There was the sound of a little gunfire, the flash of shells bursting and a few lines of tracer but that was all. ~The battle was on, although with nothing like the ferocity which we had seen at Salerno not all that long before. It seemed that the Germans had withdrawn and whether or not the troops which landed in the first assault, backed as they were by many more in the following few hours and days, should have gone on to Rome has been the subject of much debate - was the American General too cautious or not? That is another story.

We made our appointed rendezvous with Minuet and quickly discovered that they had not seen the green light either. Perhaps the submarine had encountered the E-Boat or picked it up on radar or sonar and had temporarily turned off the lightjust as we approached we never knew -- or was our navigation at fault? Both of us were unlikely to have been that far out and my subsequent checks had shown that my CO's decision to turn was correct so ... Nevertheless, someone somewhere, had made a hash of the navigation.

During the days which followed we patrolled the area and then collected some 'empties' to take back to Naples. Then, sometimes the sole escort, others with Minuet and/or Hornpipe-we started what was to become the 'Anzio ferry run', up there at night, patrol during the day then back to Naples, up again that night to Anzio, more patrolling (sometimes overnight as well, dropping small charges to warn off any one-man torpedoes and the like which effectively ruined any chance of sleep) and back down to Naples where Vesuvius was in full eruption. There were long scarlet ribbons of lava pouring down the sides like blood from a major wound. It gave the enemy bomber a perfect bearing although, despite the wealth of shipping in the anchorage their circling torpedoes seemed to miss everything as far as I can remember the attacks being spasmodic their efforts, being concentrated on Anzio where a few days after the landings, HMS Spartan, a cruiser was sunk by enemy aircraft. There were plenty of them!

On the third night in pitch darkness and with quite a sea running we rammed something which disappeared without trace - the lookout reported that it had been an E-boat (again!) of more likely a one-man submarine. All we had to show for it was a small kink in the bow. A few days later several of these were seen exploding on the beaches but we didn't make contact with any. Then, after the sinking of HMS Penelope (see later), while on patrol at the bridgehead at about 1400 a torpedo passed right under our bridge blew up on the beach -- obviously set too low if we were the object of the attack.

It seemed to us, at sea, that every time we sailed to Anzio the gunfire ashore was increasing as the troops, now completely encircled on land, were fighting desperately to hold their now tenuous positions. There was a considerable amount of enemy air activity during the days and it really hotted up at night. The amount of AA gunfire was incredible. The whole area looked like the top half of a setting sun, a bright orange glow which gradually thinned until the bursting shells looked like myrids of stars criss-crosssed by meteors.

Occasionally, when patrolling at Anzio, we heard the sound of what appeared to be enormous shells hurtling past, throwing up huge spouts of water as they exploded. As far as I know no ships were ever hit but they must have caused considerable havoc when they landed in the port areas or inland. We later discovered that the shells had come from a very large gun, nicknamed Anzio Annie, mounted on a railway truck.

(Left) Lt . Bryan Cambray RNVR sitting on the loading try of the captured gun 'Anzio Annie'.

(Far left) Sub Lt. Tom Porter RNVR, gives some idea of the size of the gun

Then, one evening, at dusk. when on the outer patrol, an aircraft approached from seaward ;It sea level and failed to answer our challenge so we opened fire. Luckily we didn't shoot It down! The aircraft was carrying high-ranking officers to the bridgehead!

On one of our many trips up to Anzio we carried an American photographic unit which seemingly took 'miles of footage' of the crew In action, the little convoy and anything else which came within range. Some years ago I wrote to the Department of the Navy in Washington to ask if any of that film still existed but did not receive a reply. Doubtless the film was not of sufficient interest to survive.

Turkey - And More Turkey

At one time we were unable to get back to Naples to replenish our stores and virtually ran out of food. We managed to scrounge, some cases of tinned food from the Yanks - they were All tinned turkey. This was a delight at first but. after a week of having it cold, fried, boiled, every way our enterprising cooks could devise for every meal, the sight and smell of turkey was too much -- it was years before I could face one at Christmas! Couple with that with the fact that, not long before. I had had yellow jaundice and was none too fit. I suffered the agonies of 13 boils on my right leg all al once.

That there were niany mines was witnessed by the fact that, on actually having left the swept channel in quite deep water, one Liberty ship immediately astern of us set off an acoustic or magnetic mine. She shuddered to a halt, took on a slight list and then signaled that she could continue and had suffered no casualties. That meant more work for the sweepers, a task which I hated when, after the war in Europe was over, we had to sweep off Malta from Valletta to St Pauls Bay.

It is amazing how ones memory can lapse. I call recall with great clarity the landings at Anzio and the subsequent sometimes hectic 'ferry runs'. However, in the Winter 1991-92 addition of the Sweeper the quarterly log of the Algerines Association, I saw that the Twostep in company with Hornpipe, Sheppey and St Kilda, joined the 12 Minesweeping Flotilla act as dan layers in the sweeping the invasion forces into the beachhead. I bow to their records but, for the life of me, I just don't remember doing anything like that at all! Old age? However, Hornpipe certainly did do quite a bit of danlaying.

"The· Cos'n came up to the bridge,.. he writes, .'saying we MUST stop engines to allow survivors to be picked up'. He was a Scottish deep sea skipper and almost became abusive. I had to order him below as I refused to put the ship and crew at high risk.' In fact, the submarine in question DID fire two torpedoes at us but they missed, too close astern for comfort as the U-Boat captain thought we were stopped and picking up survivors. Those 2 knots probably saved the ship, crew and those survivors we picked up, plus those who may have been killed in the water when the torpedoes exploded.