In between Landings, we had Troop Transport assignments. One of those was a trip to Glasgow , Scotland. to deliver 2000 troops. We were steaming up the Clyde River and was a nice weather day. The Clyde is a narrow river and the banks were lined with people waving at the troops. We arrived at a sparsely inhabited area and there was one small bungalow and standing alongside was a young lady and she waved. Then for whatever reason she lifted up her skirt. The troops responded and somehow those on the Starboard side heard about the show and rushed over to Port This resulted in the ship listing to Port.  The Captain was heard on the PA System. Said,OK men, the show is over,lets trim ship.

Our next landing was to be at the French Rivira.. This landing was originally planned to coincide with the Normandy Invasion but had to be postponed because it was found, there were not enough landing craft to do both. Have read much about the debates among those in charge , as to where the next landing should take place Churchill was against the Southern France landing, arguing it would divert military resources from Italy but Gen. Eisenhower overruled the British and set the date for Aug.15. The invasion began with a parachute drop by the First Airborne Task Force.Followed by an amphibious assault by elements of the U.S. Seventh Army.  Followed a day later by a force made up primarily of the French First Army Conditions turned out to be much better for  this operation and we landed 1079 troops,136 officers,80 vehicles and 10 tons of stores, without damage or casualty. Only 11 action casualties were treated on the ship ,2 were French civilians, 2 were Army and the rest were enemy prisoners. They were treated and turned over to the Army at Naples.

Despite being a large and complex operation, the Southern France invasion is not well known, it came in at the later part of the war and  was overshadowed, by the earlier, larger Normandy operation.

We loaded for a follow up trip to the beach head , this time to Marseilles delivering members of the French Army, men and women. The Top French General that came aboard had a lady companion and requested accommodations, so they could be together but the Captain turned him down and his friend had to stay with the rest of the female passengers. Marseilles was a mess. When the Germans left, they scuttled just about every ship in the harbor.

I was assigned to the Captains Gig. Was God Duty. The Motor Mac and I spent every day looking after the Gig. It had to be ready to go, to wherever .he wanted to go. One morning was called and told to have the Gig at the gangway in half an hour, to transport the Captain. Wasn’t told where he was going, so told the Motor Mac to see to the Gig, while I went to the bridge. I visited the Quartermasters, to find where the ships were located, that he might want to visit. I checked for the Flagship and where his friends ships were. I then returned to the Gig and then the Captain arrived, said he wanted to go to the Flagship. I felt good, knew where the Flagship was berthed. I drove to inside the harbor and with all the scuttled ships, I got confused. I was just about to tell the Captain I was lost, when I saw the Flagship and ran over to the gangway, The Captain said to wait, so we had to find a place to tie up. The Admirals Barge was at the Boat Boom, and it’s a no-no to tie up alongside. With all the scuttled ships I could find no place to tie up and I had to stay where I could watch the gangway. Was nothing to do but run around in circles and we did just that for 8 hours. Wad to break into the Emergency rations for something to eat. Even broke into the Emergency Water keg and the water tasted awful. Finally the Captain showed at the gangway and we returned to the Dickman. After delivering the Captain, we called to have the Gig pulled up in No. 1 Davit. When we arrived on deck the Master at Arms was waiting for us and told us to report to the Mess Deck. When we arrived, we learned the Captain had ordered Steak for the Gig’s crew.. We ate like Kings.

Our European Theater involvement ended with liberty at Naples.A group decided to visit Pompeii and with us was shipmate Phil Patania, who was well versed in Italian. Had to go by train and was a 20 mile trip. The train was crowded and Phil noticed there was a fellow with a guitar, and asked if he could play . He began playing those old Italian songs, that everyone knew and all joined in. Soon everyone in that car was singing and Phil was conducting. When we arrived at Pompeii we hired a guide and he was worth the price, spoke very good English Were told the town was partially destroyed and buried in 12 to 20 ft. of ash, in 79 AD,  from the eruption of Mt.Vesuvius.. The guide told us to note that some of the buildings in the town had deep ruts in the cobblestone out front. This was where the Brothels were located.