Could anyone please provide information on the above boats. My Dad served on both in the following periods:
SGB Grey Wolf - 4th January to 23rd September 1944.
He spoke of the flotilla commander, Peter Scott, being onboard until shortly before D-Day. Where can I find details of specific incidents in the period?' I know that the boat was at Omaha Beach but not much more than that. How was she occupied from D-Day until September 44? Was the flotilla successful in minesweeping after that date? He was transferred to ML246 at this point. Were all the crews disbanded or did they stay on and take part in their new minesweeping role?
ML 246 - 14th ML flotilla - 24th September 1944 to 26th October 1945.
The flotilla sailed to the Far East and took part in Operation Dracula in early May 1945. Information recently provided on this site on MLs 245 and 246 mentions operations on the Arakan coast after arriving in the region and prior to Dracula. Can anyone provide any information on what the flotilla did in the Arakan area?
I have a letter from Dad to his father dated 21st June 1945, while on ML 246, in which he wrote:-
"We have been digging in and helping the Army out at Prome. They are pretty busy right now and you should have seen their faces when they first saw the Navy so far inland."
Prome is on the River Irrawaddy about 160 miles north of Rangoon. The 14th Army reached Rangoon from the north within days of the Dracula landings in early May so I am puzzled as to what was going on there in June, as the main thrust of the Army had turned east following the Japanese across the Sittang River. Maybe they were mopping up remnants of the Japanese army.
Dad spoke of the Berkshire Regiment, part of the 2nd British Division, and said that on leaving Portsmouth for the last time in 1946 he had to go to Reading barracks for more paperwork before he could go home. Some time after returning to civilian life he returned to Reading with some other former sailors when they paraded through the town at the rear of the Berkshire Regiment on its official return home. This has always puzzled me. Can anyone cast more light opn this, please?
Any help with the above would be very much appreciated.
Having read articles on this and other sources I realise how very fortunate my generation has been to have been spared what these people had to do.