Coastal Forces Veterans

Seeing the thread on ML 220 reminded me of a film I came across on the Imperial War Museum’s website whilst researching my father’s book. It was shot during the immediate aftermath of one of the most heroic battles of the Normandy invasion and shows ML 220 at the forefront of things. ML 220 was a me...

Andrew The similarities between our fathers’ experiences are striking with them having taken part in similar operations at the same moments in time and having been stationed at the same quayside in the same ports. Your last post had some additional pieces of information that I found particularly int...

Andrew, thank you for your series of posts. I found them fascinating. I’ve been looking through the photographs trying to determine locations. Many appear to have been taken in Copenhagen, some at or near the Holmen navy base, which is opposite to the famous statue of the Little Mermaid at Langelini...

Andrew Thank you for your post. What a great image of ML 207 and not one I recall seeing previously. Are there any notes in your father’s album regarding date and location? My guess is that it was taken in early 1945 whilst your father was serving aboard ML 571. As it happens, there is a photograph ...

I though members would be interested in one particularly nasty encounter that ML 207 , and other ships of the 1st ML Flotila , had with E-Boats whilst escorting a convoy in the Channel. The incident involved convoy CW 243 and occurred in the early hours of the 31st of January 1944, a matter of weeks...

I must correct my previous post regarding burials at sea. I’ve been going through some of my father’s hand-written notes looking for any mention a coxswain other than Longmate, so far without success. What I did come across, though, was something I had forgotten about. A burial at sea that occurred ...

Andy Your current thinking regarding your grandfather’s time with ML 207, certainly fits in with what I always thought was the case and, since I cannot remember my father mentioning the name of another coxswain anyway, for the purposes of the book, that’s what I will keep with - at least for the mo...

Andy Thank you for you post. It was great to hear more about your grandfather, Herbert Longmate. I knew from what my father told me that he was quite a character and what you have said certainly confirms it. I loved your story about his remedy for earache. I might include it in the book, that’s if y...

Andy. Thank you so much for your post any my apologies for not replying sooner - for one reason or another, I haven't checked the forum for some weeks. It was fabulous to hear a little about your grandfather’s background. I didn’t know his first name was Herbert but my father did say he was in his f...

Last weekend marked the 76th anniversary of the D-Day landings and, as the pages of this forum attest, Coastal Forces played key roles during the assault, with the division’s ships and crews taking on a multitude of tasks including navigation leaders, escorts and position markers. Many Coastal Force...

My father’s book describing his wartime experience aboard ML 207 is nearing completion – though I am sure there will be more than a few twists and turns yet before it is actually finished. I certainly have quite a list of ‘to do’s’ to complete and lots of editing. In the meantime, I thought members ...

David, thank you for your post of the oil painting. Aarhus was one of the locations that my father said he visited during his time in Denmark. I have looked at the numbers on the MLs in the painting and I could persuade myself that the ship on the left has 207 painted on its side but, then again, I’...

I thought members would be interested to see the Danish newspaper article about ML 207 that was published on 26 June 1945, a few weeks after the ship arrived in Denmark. I’ve managed to obtain a copy from the newspaper and have included the relevant page below. At the time, Extra Bladet, was one of ...

Peploe , thanks for your post. Yes, my dad always said flotilla was based very close to the statue of the Little Mermaid when it was in Copenhagen. reinaart , thanks for the correction. I have a vague recognition of my father telling me about Den Helder. I think the ML may have called at the port o...

Richard Thanks for the reply. I already had my father’s service record from when he left the Navy, so have never requested a further copy. I did contact Portsmouth some years back, asking if they had any information about ML 207 but was simply directed to the National Archives. I was also told that ...

Richard, thank you for this information. It has proven very helpful. The dates generally tally with my own timeline and I’ve been able to tighten up the gap that I had around the Christmas of 1944 – though, as always, more information raises further intriguing questions. Individual ships from the fl...

Arjan

Some very interesting images here. I can just imagine the atmosphere of VE day and all the celebrations. Fantastic!

Arjan Thank you for your posts and research. Well done for solving the mystery of the little boy in the IWM photographs. Actually, when I look at the images again, the fact that the people are in traditional dress does give the game away as regards the photographs being staged. Pity though, it certa...

I though members would be interested in a couple of unusual photographs I have relating to ML207. I pretty sure they were taken in Copenhagen but they may also be at Kiel. The lack of damaged buildings in the background certainly points to the former. The first is ML207 in floating dry dock undergoi...

Arjan Thank you for the research and the latest, very dramatic, photograph of the damaged bridge. First, let me correct the obvious silly mistake in the final paragraph of my previous reply to you. The dates should, of course, have been February 1945 through to Mid-April 1945. My father does not men...

Peter Thank you for your post and your kind regards. Yes, you and all the crews of, as you say, ‘those little ships’ had tremendous comradeship but much more than that, you all played such a vital role in events - far more than has been given credit for. I just hope I can complete my father’s book t...

Arjan Thank you so much for you post. It is truly fascinating. I have puzzled over the location shown ML207 by the bridge for some time. There were several possibilities but I just could determine which was correct. As it happens Terneuzen wasn’t top my list so, I am really grateful to you for havin...

Fascinating photographs Richard. Thank you for posting them. I wonder if you have any idea of the locations and the dates that they were taken? As you may have read elsewhere in the forum, my father was on ML207 during the war and he said that ML206 was the ship they worked closely with. I have a ba...

Pennyworth very kindly sent me a CD containing lots of photographs of ML207 together with a recording of her father recounting some of his memories of the ship. As it turned out, my own father has many of the identical photographs in his album. Penny explained that her father recalls that a professi...

DonCrouch1 Thank you so much for your private message and my sincere apologies for not replying when you first sent it - I have only just come across the file and could go mad that I missed it until now! I really hope you see this post and that you get in touch again. I have also sent you a private...

Penny

Thank you for your swift reply, especially as you are in the middle of moving home!

I have sent you a private message with my contact details. Hopefully, you receive it without problem.

Pennyworth, thank you for the fascinating information regarding your father and my apologies for not replying sooner - It’s been a while since I checked the forum. It was very interesting to read your post and look through your photographs and I was also intrigued to learn of your father’s recollec...

Peploe , thank you for posting the photograph of the football team. It was great to see it! Though, as you say, it may have nothing to do with the match in Denmark. However, I think I recognise a few of the crew of ML207, which, combined with the letter ‘R’ insignia, suggest that it does. The perso...

My thanks to Brian Knights, Steve Admin and Peploe for their posts relating to ML207 and my sincere apologies for taking so long to reply. It must be some sort of record! I have not posted on the site for a quite a long time. We had a serious house fire around the time of knights6lb's post that, as ...

When the London Gazette plays up it's always a struggle! In this instance they issued a later correction in a supplement of 29 May, 1945, having apparently printed John Whitfield Armstrong S.A.N.F. (V) in error, instead of J R Armstrong. Thanks for the explanation. I would never have found the reco...