LCT 140, LCF 17 and John Chambers

As with many records, my father, John Chambers' Royal Marine one is sparse, in spite of the sterling work of Royal Navy Command archivists. He was trained at HMS Raleigh (Class 31) and was then sent up to HMS Dinosaur to the LCT Pool. As far as I can make out he served with the 2041 Flotilla in Jan 1943 - he has the Atlantic Star I think from this, but am not sure. He then served on Landing Craft Tanks and Flaks.From about Feb 1943 to March 1944 on LCT 140. I believe he was at Anzio for some of this time but am not sure. From about March 1944 to September 1945 he served on LCF 17, interrupted by short spells on LCF 14. In 1945 there are also stints with the C+M Party (S) 17 (I don't know what this is!) and LCT (S) 17 (I don't know what the (S) is). He has the letters SCGI or maybe, SC61 against his promotion to A/AB (I don't know that SCGI or 61 are) He has the Italian Star, and the War Medal and 1939-45 medal. So, I would be most grateful if anyone could help me discover where the LCTs and LCFs he was on served during his time, also 2041 Flotilla, and the unknown lettering on the Landing Craft and his record. Many thanks in advance. Hoping that whatever I discover from other sources, I will be able to share.

Hi,
Below is a bit of information on the Landing Craft you mention.

I cannot find a 2041 Flotilla but there was a Landing Craft Tank 2041 in service in January 1943. She was a Landing Craft Tank Mark 5.

LCT 2041 was allocated to the Appledore Experimental and Development Base, Plymouth Command.

LCT 140 was part of the 3rd LCT Flotilla, Portsmouth Command. LCT 140 was at Poole in January 1943. She was a Landing Craft Tank Mark 2.

At a later stage LCT 140 was converted to a LCT Rocket. In February 1944 she was part of 3 LCT (R) Flotilla, Western and Central Mediterranean.

LCF 14 and LCF 17 were part of "F" Support Squadron, Western and Central Mediterranean in June 1944

LCT 17 was part of 672 Flotilla, "F" Support Squadron, Western and Central Mediterranean in January 1945. She was a Landing Craft Tank Mark 1.

The "S" probably stands for "Smoke". At this time she was fitted to carry CSA (Chemical Smoke Apparatus) and used to lay smoke screens.

"C & M" is Care and Maintenance.

Sorry I dont have the exact locations for the Mediterranean area. I will see what else I can dig up.

Regards

Danny

Hello Danny,

Thank you so much, and for such a speedy response. That's really useful - a revelation in fact! I've read about the smoke screens - especially in port at night when bombers were coming over, I think. But I don't know what Care and Maintenance did. Is there any information available on this? Many thanks once again.

All good wishes,

Catherine.

As it happens my old man served on lcf16 too in 44, he had also served aboard lcf6 and again dinosau, Quebec and another that escapes me at the moment

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 13/03/2020 17:00:33

As it happens my old man served on lcf17 and lcf6, he also served at Copra, dinosau and Quebec too.

^Admin: Image display corrected

Dear Tomrca

Many apologies for this delayed reply to your great message and photos - I was struggling with my password etc! I
can't see my father in the photos, but no matter. They were all working to a single purpose, which today, VE day, is uppermost in so many minds. I am still working on my father's war record - very disjointed - but will give you more detail once I've finished with all good wishes, Catherine Chambers

I

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"From about March 1944 to September 1945 he served on LCF 17"

it certainly appears that my old man knew yours as mine was a (rm) sgt aboard LCF17. according to the dates on all his letters we have to his mother he served on lcf17 up to 1945