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Old 30-07-23, 00:35
MicS MicS is offline
(Michel Sabarly)
 
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: France
Posts: 102
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hanno Spoelstra View Post
Jakko, here's a photo of a stranded LVT-4 on Walcheren you may or may not have seen before:

http://hdl.handle.net/10648/9d880b0c...f-544e2a463400

Dated 1945, so this was taken after the fighting.

Attachment 135165
Great photo! It somehow escaped me so far. Zooming in we can see the callsign 2F (in outline) and the name AUTHIE inside a rectangle:
Click image for larger version

Name:	LVT4 2F 'AUTHIE' nr LVT4 3B Pennant P582220x -149-0676.jpg
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ID:	135210

Click image for larger version

Name:	2F AUTHIE.jpg
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ID:	135213

The style of both markings is the same as on 2A ROUVRES. ROUVRES is given by B.T. White as 77 Aslt Sqn RE, but he has erred before and I do not know what his source was:
Click image for larger version

Name:	LVT4 2A 'ROUVRES' Polsten #32 AoS 1233 or 1234, Terneuzen 27 Oct 44 - FO032537.jpg
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ID:	135211

Another similarly styled callsign is 2E below, but the name (possibly BERNIERES) is inside a dark rectangle (which may come from using a different filter) instead of a light shaded one on 2F:
Click image for larger version

Name:	LVT4 2E name 'BERNIERES' maybe, 2B or 2D 'name' AoS 1233 Pennant, LVT2 3F - FO007628.jpg
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ID:	135212

Since 2 Tp 80 Aslt Sqn was at BERNIERES on 6 June 1944, AUTHIE on 8 July and ROUVRES on 14 August, I believe there is little doubt left that these three vehicles belonged to it. In the same vein, in 1 Tp the commander's LVT was named ESQUAY, where he had had a close shave on 15 July when his AVRE was set on fire.

LVT 3B might also belong to the same Sqn, because the style of the call sign is quite different from the very distinctive ones of 3 Tp 26 and 79 Aslt Sqns. I have no confirmed photo of 3 Tp 77 Aslt Sqn though.

Michel

Last edited by MicS; 30-07-23 at 00:40.
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