Lt Fleming Ladd Irving 1st Hussars
Hello Mark
Thanks for what was a rapid response to my query concerning the name of the tank commander present with the lone Sherman tank onboard LCT(CB) 2041 of 333 Support Flotilla on D-Day.
Do you know of any documentation that would confirm your belief that it was in fact Lt Fleming Irving of the 1st Hussars...I am sure that Norman will be pleased to know this detail but saddened to learn that the men he carried in to Courseulles did not survive the day....!!!
On Juno's left flank at Bernieres and St Aubin sur Mer Lt Robert 'Pardy' Pardingtons HMLCT(CB) 2338 stood in with the combined craft of the 106th and 103rd LCT(A)(HE) Flotilla.......do you have similar details concerning the officers/crews carried in by Pardy and what became of them..? The 2338 had two Shermans raised on the firing platform.
The coxswain of 2338 was hit in the neck as the craft approached but was saved by the quick thinking of someone who inserted what was, it seems, an empty biro refill into his throat which allowed the coxswain to breathe until full treatment could be given.
Tony
Tony Chapman
Official Archivist/Historian
LST and Landing Craft Association (Royal Navy)
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