"Up at 0200.
Dark as hell in blackout convoy to Southampton Docks
Watch Boats in dawn fog-
Stand up Mess Hall-
Red Cross Club mobile.
'Arizona'
Waiting through day"
From Lu's memoirs:
On the morning of August 15th the battalion moved to marshaling area 16 near Southampton. Very early the next morning we began the process of loading vehicles, equipment and men onto Liberty Ship Amos C. Throop and LST #526 and by early evening we were all aboard and anchored in the estuary for the night.
This was a completely different experience from loading onto the Louis Pasteur to cross the Atlantic. I don't think I even tried to sleep. Everywhere I looked, the dim shapes of ships and landing craft loomed out of the fog. Overhead, barrage balloons tugged at their tethers as intermittent breezes pushed on their broad, soft sides. In the distance the sounds of heavy bombers heading for Germany could be heard. I wondered if any of them could be from my old outfit. All of a sudden the war seemed much closer.
From the published memoirs of fellow soldier, Cliff Hope (Growing Up in the Wartime Army:A GI in the 1940s)
"at the Marshaling area my duties switched to motor pool Guard. We were issued live ammunition for the first time. All afternoon the day after the arrival, we loaded vehicles and equipment onto the Liberty ship Amos C. Throop, and then boarded it ourselves around 6:30 PM. The ship steamed down the river estuary and anchored for the night."
Marilu: So what else do we surmise from this journal entry? I visualize Lu crowded into the back of a canvas covered or open truck, sitting on a bench seat and the eerie feeling of not being able to glimpse anything of the darkened countryside by the limited lights coming from shielded headlights of the truck behind them.
Seeing all the masses of ships gathered at the docks seems to have been a really impressive sight.
In the crowded marshaling area, they must not have had enough facilities to feed all the troops in comfort. Perhaps they were dished out chow from open air food lines or a food tent and then stood around in some open area of the camp eating their meal. Or perhaps they were under cover in a large tent that had no furnishings to sit and eat a a table.
From Wikipedia: Red_Cross_Clubmobile_Service
The American Red Cross Clubmobile Service was a mobile service club created during World War II to provide servicemen with food, entertainment and "a connection home." [1] The Clubmobile was conceived by Harvey D. Gibson, a prominent New York banker and American Red Cross Commissioner to Great Britain, as a way to reach servicemen in airfields, camps and other theaters of war.[2] All of the services provided by the Clubmobile were free, although some Clubmobiles began charging for food after 1942.[3] The original Clubmobiles operated from late 1942 until 1946, traveling all throughout Great Britain and Europe. Women who volunteered for the Clubmobiles were popularly referred to as "donut dollies," since one of their biggest tasks was making doughnuts for the servicemen.
Dark as hell in blackout convoy to Southampton Docks
Watch Boats in dawn fog-
Stand up Mess Hall-
Red Cross Club mobile.
'Arizona'
Waiting through day"
 |
| From http://wavynavy.blogspot.com/2016/03/ '1,000 Men, 1,00 Stories |
From Lu's memoirs:
On the morning of August 15th the battalion moved to marshaling area 16 near Southampton. Very early the next morning we began the process of loading vehicles, equipment and men onto Liberty Ship Amos C. Throop and LST #526 and by early evening we were all aboard and anchored in the estuary for the night.
This was a completely different experience from loading onto the Louis Pasteur to cross the Atlantic. I don't think I even tried to sleep. Everywhere I looked, the dim shapes of ships and landing craft loomed out of the fog. Overhead, barrage balloons tugged at their tethers as intermittent breezes pushed on their broad, soft sides. In the distance the sounds of heavy bombers heading for Germany could be heard. I wondered if any of them could be from my old outfit. All of a sudden the war seemed much closer.
From the published memoirs of fellow soldier, Cliff Hope (Growing Up in the Wartime Army:A GI in the 1940s)
"at the Marshaling area my duties switched to motor pool Guard. We were issued live ammunition for the first time. All afternoon the day after the arrival, we loaded vehicles and equipment onto the Liberty ship Amos C. Throop, and then boarded it ourselves around 6:30 PM. The ship steamed down the river estuary and anchored for the night."
Marilu: So what else do we surmise from this journal entry? I visualize Lu crowded into the back of a canvas covered or open truck, sitting on a bench seat and the eerie feeling of not being able to glimpse anything of the darkened countryside by the limited lights coming from shielded headlights of the truck behind them.
Seeing all the masses of ships gathered at the docks seems to have been a really impressive sight.
In the crowded marshaling area, they must not have had enough facilities to feed all the troops in comfort. Perhaps they were dished out chow from open air food lines or a food tent and then stood around in some open area of the camp eating their meal. Or perhaps they were under cover in a large tent that had no furnishings to sit and eat a a table.
From Wikipedia: Red_Cross_Clubmobile_Service
The American Red Cross Clubmobile Service was a mobile service club created during World War II to provide servicemen with food, entertainment and "a connection home." [1] The Clubmobile was conceived by Harvey D. Gibson, a prominent New York banker and American Red Cross Commissioner to Great Britain, as a way to reach servicemen in airfields, camps and other theaters of war.[2] All of the services provided by the Clubmobile were free, although some Clubmobiles began charging for food after 1942.[3] The original Clubmobiles operated from late 1942 until 1946, traveling all throughout Great Britain and Europe. Women who volunteered for the Clubmobiles were popularly referred to as "donut dollies," since one of their biggest tasks was making doughnuts for the servicemen.
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