I have just got back my late father's naval records. He never spoke of his war service in WW2, except to say that he was on landing craft and had been to India once but didn't care much for it!
Between joining up in October 1942 and December 1944 he was on various training bases in England and Scotland - HMSs Royal Arthur, Shrapnel, Drake, Dinosaur, Stopford, Dundonald, Squid and Turtle.
On 1st. Jan 1945 he was posted to LCI (L) 183. I spent yesterday on Google trying to find out first what on earth that was, and then trying to find out where she went and what she did between January and December 1945.
If I am correct, she was was a ship of class Landing Craft Infantry (Large) and was lent to Britain by the Americans under the terms of the Lend Lease Act. There's even a pretty poor picture of her in dry dock on navsource.org.
I found a description of a film held at the Imperial War Museum called OPERATION ZIPPER: AMPHIBIOUS LANDINGS ON THE MALAYAN COAST BY 23RD INDIAN DIVISION AT AND AROUND PORT DICKSON (12/9/1945). Which includes the sentence: "View from a landing craft passing LCI(L) 183."
It makes a rather unfortunate search term :blush: but I have found out a little bit about Operation Zipper. (The Malayan one, not the plot to assassinate JFK!) It seems it was to have been a D-Day style operation, sailing from the east coast of India to Japanese-occupied Malaya, but the dropping of the Atom Bomb and the subsequent Japanese surrender meant that the Allied forces were able to land virtually unopposed.
I have found only 2 casualties from LCI (L) 183 - Leading Stoker James Cowell, who died of illness on 22nd April and Leading Seaman Bernard Kane, who died on VJ Day 15 August, DOWS (cause not given). They are both buried in Madras War cemetery in Chennai, India, which supports the evidence that LCI(L) 183 was involved in Operation Zipper.
If anyone else has any information about LCI (L) 183 or Operation Zipper I would be very grateful to know of it.
Between joining up in October 1942 and December 1944 he was on various training bases in England and Scotland - HMSs Royal Arthur, Shrapnel, Drake, Dinosaur, Stopford, Dundonald, Squid and Turtle.
On 1st. Jan 1945 he was posted to LCI (L) 183. I spent yesterday on Google trying to find out first what on earth that was, and then trying to find out where she went and what she did between January and December 1945.
If I am correct, she was was a ship of class Landing Craft Infantry (Large) and was lent to Britain by the Americans under the terms of the Lend Lease Act. There's even a pretty poor picture of her in dry dock on navsource.org.
I found a description of a film held at the Imperial War Museum called OPERATION ZIPPER: AMPHIBIOUS LANDINGS ON THE MALAYAN COAST BY 23RD INDIAN DIVISION AT AND AROUND PORT DICKSON (12/9/1945). Which includes the sentence: "View from a landing craft passing LCI(L) 183."
It makes a rather unfortunate search term :blush: but I have found out a little bit about Operation Zipper. (The Malayan one, not the plot to assassinate JFK!) It seems it was to have been a D-Day style operation, sailing from the east coast of India to Japanese-occupied Malaya, but the dropping of the Atom Bomb and the subsequent Japanese surrender meant that the Allied forces were able to land virtually unopposed.
I have found only 2 casualties from LCI (L) 183 - Leading Stoker James Cowell, who died of illness on 22nd April and Leading Seaman Bernard Kane, who died on VJ Day 15 August, DOWS (cause not given). They are both buried in Madras War cemetery in Chennai, India, which supports the evidence that LCI(L) 183 was involved in Operation Zipper.
If anyone else has any information about LCI (L) 183 or Operation Zipper I would be very grateful to know of it.
