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The War Begins - Too Young To Enlist
Mr. McLean talks about his reaction when Canada declared war on Germany in September, 1939. He goes on to talk about enlisting in the Royal Canadian Navy shortly after his 16th birthday, lying about his age to do so.
Training and First Posting To Landing Craft
After basic training in British Columbia and more advanced instruction in Toronto and Halifax, Mr. McLean, with a group of about 30 others, headed for Detroit, Michigan in the Fall of 1942 for some special training. The training equipped them for their first posting aboard landing craft.
Across the Atlantic and the First Fatality
The convoy of landing craft leaves Norfolk, Virginia. An early fatality awaits the vessels on the other side of the Atlantic.
A Gruesome Job for a Youngster
At anchor at a Tunisian port, a German Air Force bombing run takes a tragic toll on a nearby tank landing craft, killing everyone on board. Mr. McLean led a group of men from his vessel in the clean-up of the bodies and body parts.
The Sicily Landing
It's July, 1943 and the flotilla of landing craft is on the move expecting to see action soon, but not sure where. They were soon on their way to Sicily with each landing craft carrying 150 soldiers to the beach.
A Change of Location
Back in Tunisia, the crews of the landing crafts wait for their next assignment. Mr. McLean is anxious to be doing something constructive and offers his services elsewhere.
Preparing for Italy
Mr. McLean, now in Iran, has spent time becoming familiar with the engine room of his new vessel. He's soon on his way to a new assignment.
D-Day Duty
Through a series of re-locations, by early 1944, Mr. McLean has been reunited with his landing craft, which had been brought from Iran to Scotland where they were refitted and made ready for the D-Day landing, Operation Overload. When crews and crafts were ready, they were moved to Southampton, England to await the order to sail. That order came on the evening of June 5, 1944, for the D-Day landing on the coast of France the following day. The weather was not good as the hundreds of ships crossed the English Channel.
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