The Isle of Man and the D-Day Landings (6 June 1944)

In peacetime the ships of the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company had brought thousands of tourists to the Island. Now, on 6 June 1944 and in the days that followed, they  played a vital part in landing the attacking Allied forces on the Normandy coast.

Purser Bill Lister was a member of the crew of the Lady of Mann. He had been present at Dunkirk so had some idea of what to expect on D-Day. On the night of 5 June he went down into the engine room to offer reassurance to the crew – there was so much tension and apprehension.

On D-Day the Ben My Chree was also a troop transport, carrying the US Rangers to attack Pointe du Hoc, a strongpoint on the coast. As protection against attack she had Bofors anti-aircraft guns, which the Manx crew were also trained to fire in emergency.

Victoria was scheduled to land troops in the bay of Arromanches. Despite the presence of a German flak ship which put up heavy resistance, the British troops carried by the Victoria from 47 Royal Marine Commando, part of the 4th Special Service Brigade, were landed successfully.

Aircraft from the Island’s airfield, RAF Jurby, were dispatched on D-Day to assist with the evacuation of wounded casualties. Other Manx personnel were serving in the Airborne forces, which landed by parachute and glider in Normandy that day. 

Troops continued to come ashore in the days which followed. Sergeant Stanley Earnshaw of Douglas landed with the Royal Signals on D+1. He remembered that the engine of his vehicle had been smothered with grease before crossing, and the first task on the beach was to clean it off. 

By now the RAF had one of the most successful ground attack aircraft of the war. Firing rockets, the Hawker Typhoon swooped on any enemy tank that moved. It was flown in Normandy by Manx Canadian Frank Skelly, whose parents were born in Foxdale. He was well known on the Island.

Robert Tatlow from Douglas was a Wireless Operator with the Royal Signals, at XII Corps HQ in Normandy. He remembered, “Montgomery was a hero to us; he was careful; we all mattered to Montgomery [so] morale was very high. We were fighting for him as much as King and Country”.

Reverend Gordon Sayle was an army chaplain with the Manx Regiment. In July 1944 he wrote: “the boys are in good heart and I am quite sure this final phase of the war won’t be a very long one. I certainly am impressed by the progress made in the short time since D-Day”.

In 1944, Hutchinson Camp in Douglas was used to hold German prisoners of war captured on the Normandy battlefields. One of those was soldier Wili Adam. Many others were hardened SS men, and it now had a very different atmosphere from its earlier days as an internment camp.

Gunner J.K. Vick of Kirk Michael landed on D-Day with the 15^th Light Anti Aircraft Regiment, (the Manx Regiment.) He had already seen action in North Africa, and after demobilisation he struggled with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder as a result of his war service.

Donald Collister of Colby also served in Normandy, with the Manx Regiment. Like many ex-servicemen, he was enormously proud of the part that the Isle of Man had played in the Second World War, and in liberating occupied Europe from Hitler and the Nazis.