D Day

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HMS Medusa was one of the first Allied vessels to arrive on Normandy's beaches

Thousands of pounds need to be found to get the ship to next year's celebration
A Royal Navy ship that performed a crucial role on D-Day won't be able to attend the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings next year - because of soaring fuel bills.

HMS Medusa was one of the first Allied vessels to arrive off the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944, and acted as a marker for minesweepers.

She was a Harbour Defence Motor Launch and out of nearly 500 vessels in her class she is the only one remaining in original condition.

The volunteers who keep her ship-shape had hoped to return to the scene of her finest wartime mission next June, but need to find thousands of pounds to pay for the trip.

It will cost £8,000 for 6,000 litres of marine diesel for the return voyage from Gosport, Hants, to Normandy.

They are now appealing for donations so Medusa can make the trip.

Her present captain Alan Watson OBE said: 'We'd love to go to France next year and think it fitting, but costs have risen.

'On top of the £20,000 a year we need just to keep her in a seaworthy condition we need another £10,000 and most of that is fuel costs.

Continues, including photos, at - https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/r ... a66b&ei=10

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National Museum of the Royal Navy

D-Day Map Conservation work at Southwick House
This week, Curatorial and Conservation colleagues from the National Museum of the Royal Navy, Will Heppa, Rodrigo Pacheco-Ruiz and Sadie Wilson, met with Conservator Emily Kelmendi at Southwick House.
Emily is carrying out vital conservation work on the D-Day Map to clean and consolidate it, a process which will take around 4 months.
The original topographical map used to plan Operation Neptune in June 1944 is still in situ at Southwick House (formerly HMS Dryad).
The model ships seen on the map represent where units of the invasion force were at H Hour on D-Day.

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10th Destroyer Flotilla

See - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10th_Destroyer_Flotilla
Tim advises - 1944, 10th DF based at Guz, either side of D-day. Attached belonged to T.T.L.

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D-DAY, See - https://dday80.campaign.gov.uk/

And - https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/topics/c28219p8x23t

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Naval veterans start 100-day countdown to D-Day commemorations

Five major events on both sides of the Channel will mark the 80th anniversary of the greatest naval invasion in history as plans to commemorate D-Day were announced today.
One hundred days to June 6, D-Day veterans Stan Ford and John Roberts – aged 98 and 99 respectively – were invited to Portsmouth to add their names to a large memorial wall on Southsea’s seafront honouring those who were involved in the ‘Great Crusade’ in the summer of 1944.

The two former sailors had never met before, but quickly struck up a rapport in front of a host of cameras recording the occasion for posterity.

Both said adding their names to the wall of honour was both humbling – and would remind future generations of the sacrifices made by everyone involved in the effort to liberate Europe in 1944.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a pleasure,” said Stan as he was presented with a plaque bearing his name to be added to the wall.

“What we did was a necessary evil. I hope that young people learn about the exploits and sacrifices made in 1944 and together we make sure that it doesn’t happen again. That is my wish.”

Mr Roberts hopes that his great grandchildren – and their contemporaries – will see his name, and others, on the wall “and learn about those who gave their lives for a free world”.

The former sailors’ names were two of 13 from a dozen allied nations symbolically fixed on the wall at the D-Day Story museum to mark the milestone countdown.

Continues at - https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-and-l ... emorations

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HMS Medusa was one of the first Allied vessels to arrive on Normandy's beaches

Thousands of pounds need to be found to get the ship to next year's celebration
A Royal Navy ship that performed a crucial role on D-Day won't be able to attend the 80th anniversary of the Normandy Landings next year - because of soaring fuel bills.

HMS Medusa was one of the first Allied vessels to arrive off the Normandy beaches on June 6, 1944, and acted as a marker for minesweepers.

She was a Harbour Defence Motor Launch and out of nearly 500 vessels in her class she is the only one remaining in original condition.

The volunteers who keep her ship-shape had hoped to return to the scene of her finest wartime mission next June, but need to find thousands of pounds to pay for the trip.

It will cost £8,000 for 6,000 litres of marine diesel for the return voyage from Gosport, Hants, to Normandy.

They are now appealing for donations so Medusa can make the trip.

Her present captain Alan Watson OBE said: 'We'd love to go to France next year and think it fitting, but costs have risen.

'On top of the £20,000 a year we need just to keep her in a seaworthy condition we need another £10,000 and most of that is fuel costs.

Continues, including photos, at - https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/r ... a66b&ei=10

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The Royal Navy's big guns support the Allied armies in Normandy on board the cruiser HMS SIRIUS in the Sword area.
The number of shells used by Royal Marines manning the twin 5.25 inch gun X turret can be gauged by the shell cases massed on X-gun deck.
They number more than 2,000.