EMBARKATION AND TRAINING OVERSEAS
t 0545 of the 23rd of March, 1944, the Regiment sailed. To most, this was the occasion
for the first goodbye to their homeland. As the convoy moved farther out, it grew until
finally there were over forty ships of all classes, troop ships, tankers, aircraft carriers,
destroyers, and cruisers. The 13 day voyage was without particular incident from a seaman’s
point of view, but many of the landlubbers spent considerable time feeding the fish, and expected
to be sent to the bottom most every day by U-boats.
The Dominion Monarch docked at Mersey Docks, Liverpool, England, on the 4thof
April, 1944. After de-barking at 1630, the troops loaded immediately on trains and moved to
Kinlet Park (near Kidderminster, England). All elements of the Regiment were quartered here
except the 1st Battalion which was quartered at Camp Gatacre nearby.
Intensive training was begun immediately with stress being placed on speed marches and
on forced marches with heavy loads of weapons and ammunition. Covering 5 miles on foot in
less than an hour was the way it went. This can and will be appreciated only by those readers
who have walked up the steep English hills and realize that the average rate of march for foot
troops is only 2 ½ miles per hour.
During the stay in Kinlet Park, the men were granted short passes to the nearby towns.
The soldiers, however, were not here for fun, but for the most serious business they had ever
undertaken – and they knew it. Besides, when the evening came, a few hours rest what was
wanted most.
Only a few short months ago the speculators had said that the 90th Division would not
see action until the initial landing units had proceeded far inland on the French mainland. They
were not so sure now. Although guessing openly when D-Day would be was discouraged by
authorities, each man, in his own mind, was doing quite a bit of thinking and wondering about it.
The chances of guessing correctly were aided materially on the 13th of May when the Regiment
moved 64 miles nearer the English Channel to Camp Race Course, Chepstow, Monmouthshire,
Wales. It was here that the men had their first experience with enemy planes and bombs.
Although the attack was not directed against the Regimental Camp but at a coastal city several
miles away, the exploding bombs sounded as though they were falling in the next field. This
occurred during the days before the advent of the flying bomb when the Germans still had a few
planes left with which to harass Britain.
During the period from 14th May to 3rd June, the Regiment carried out usual physical
conditioning training while making final preparations for the invasion of France. On 15th of
May, Colonel Phillip Ginder assumed command of the Regiment to replace Colonel Sheehy who
was attached to 90th Division Headquarters.
A
 |
 |
 |