Uss Hamul Crew List

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.1 was originally stationed aboard the USS Hamul and remained aboard for several weeks. The old Navy infirmary center became vacated and many of us were allowed to stay there. I must tell the story of “Cockroach Castle”. Cockroach Castle consisted of several small wooden structures with many bunk rooms in which many of us slept.
USS Hamul AD 20. August 1958 - April 1959 Cruise Book (RARE FIND) Bring the Cruise Book to Life with this Multimedia Presentation. This CD will Exceed your Expectations. A great part of Naval history. You would be purchasing an exact copy of the USS Hamul AD 20 cruise book during this time period.
MILTON — Aboard the USS Hamul, a destroyer tender, Bill Barnett and crew were busy repairing vessels damaged in the Battle of Okinawa when they came under attack. It was one of some 2,000 kamikaze attacks American Naval ships endured during the nearly three-month battle, the bloodiest in.

Full list of navy units. Corry station cpw-11 cpw-5 crash crew crashcrew cstsc cstsc mare island ctf 67 ctf 72 cto. Uss hamner dd718 uss hampton uss hamul uss.

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U.S.S. HAMUL (AD-20) Crew Roster

Year	Rank/Rate	Last Name	First Name	Hometown	Home State	Remembered by
1940	Lavasseur	Allen	--
1941	FC	Lorentz	Russell	Indianapolis	IN	Email
1942	Mercer	Henry Edward	Pasadena	CA
1942	--	Mercer	Henry Edward	Petaluma	CA
1942	CM	Kouneski	Joseph	Baltimore	MD	Email
1942	GM	Russell	Alexander	Springfield	MA
1942	GM	Russell	Alexander	Springfield	MA
1942	MID2	Fogie	Victor	Lancaster	PA	Email
1942	RM	Zborowski	Chester	Peru	IL	Email
1942	SF	Wilson	Donald	Collingdale	PA	Email
1943	GM	Cairns	John	Philadelphia	PA
1943	MM	Foggy	Roland	Waterloo	IA	Email
1943	PFC	Graham	William	Bassett	VA	Email
1943	SM	Lutz	Leroy	Robbinsdale	MN	Email
1943	WT	Dailey	Frank	Baldwin	NY
1944	EM	Bryant	Harold	Herrick	IL	Email
1944	FC	Taylor	Joseph	Parris	TN
1944	MCPO	Defrancesco	Santo	Pittsburgh	PA	Email
1944	MM	Gillman	James (wess)	South Fork	PA	Email
1944	MM	Gillman	James	South Fork	PA	Email
1944	PVT	Hill	Daugherty	Hillsboro	TX	RIP
1944	RM	Polillo	Peter	Galesburg	IL
1944	TM	Ludecker	Howard	Baldwin	NY	Email
1944	WT	Dailey	Frank	Cambridge Ma	MA	Email
1945	MM	Mcintyre	Harvey D.	Brenham	TX	Email
1947	FN	Wark	Robert	Gettysburg	PA
1947	HM	Small	Arthur	La Mesa	CA	Email
1947	SC	Martin	Howard	Marietta	OH	Email
1947	SK	Goddard	Stafford	Millbrook	NY	Email
1948	AZ	Mc Donald	Norman	Bull Head City	AZ
1948	CPO	Sibert	Mickey	Beaverdale	PA	Email
1948	EM	Upperman	Arthur	Chambersburg	PA	Email
1948	EM	Upperman	Arthur	Chambersburg	PA	Email
1949	BT	Slaubaugh Po2	Paul	Akron	OH	Email
1949	BT	William	Jack	Tampa	FL	Email
1949	CS	Fouts	Noah	Kokomo	IN
1949	OM	Poulin	Louis L	Augusta	ME	Email
1950	RM	Trace	Delbert	Waynesboro	PA	Email
1951	EN	North	Wayne	Lafarge	WI	Email
1951	MCPO	Primeaux	John	Kaplan	LA	Email
1951	ME	Barnes	Donald	Yucaipa	CA	Email
1951	MR	Conrad	George R	Rochester	NY
1951	RD	Moores	Charles	Los Angeles	CA	Email
1951	RD	Moores	Charles	Los Angeles	CA	Email
1951	RD	Moores	Charles	Los Angeles	CA	Email
1952	Byers	Earl	--
1952	BM	Crane	Richard	Newark	OH	Email
1952	EM	Knudsen	Don	Brady	NE
1952	EM	Vorhees	Ken	MN
1952	EM	Wilson	Dick	Mason City	IA
1952	FC	Alvarez-rodriguez	Samuel	Rio Grande	PR	Email
1952	ML	Greenspan	Stan	Dublin	CA
1952	ML	Greenspan	Stan	Dublin	CA
1952	RD	Robb	Gene	Bellaire	TX
1952	SC	Jaco	Johnny	Murfreesboro	TN	Email
1952	SH	Walker	Charles	Mariposa	CA	Email
1952	SK	Showalter	David	New Orleans	LA	Email
1952	SN	Crane
1952	SN	Hunter	Kit	Goldsboro	NC
1952	SN	Plott	Norman	Ojai	CA	Email
1953	EN	Payzant	Cliff	Salt Lake City	UT	Email
1953	FC	Edaburn	George	Cedar Rapids	IA	Email
1953	FN	Brown	Walter	National City	CA	Email
1954	BT	Shamburger	Billy	Big Sandy	TX	Email
1954	EM	Cox	Donald	Leavenworth	KS	Email
1954	EM	Cox	Donald	Leavenworth	KS	Email
1954	EM	Cox	Donald	Leavenworth	KS	Email
1954	EM	Oler	John	Mar-lin	PA	Email
1954	QM	Isabell	Harvey E.	Lakeport	MI	Email
1955	EN	Baker	John R.	Ozark	MO
1955	MM	Davis	Luther	Battleground	WA
1955	RM	Mccauley	John	Spartanburg	SC	Email
1955	SK	Connolly	Bernard (bernie)	Chicopee	MA	Email
1956	Keeney	Robert Bob	St Louis	MO	Ruth
1956	CS	Ruth	Arthur	Jonesville	VA	Email
1956	DM	Patrick	Pat	Chicago	IL	Email
1956	FT	Elliott	Ronald	Indianapolis	IN
1956	IC	Stockwell	M. Ross	Potlatch	ID	Email
1956	LI	Jones	John	Detroit	MI	Email
1956	ML	Bach	Jake	Chicago	IL	Email
1956	MR	Dowell	Robert	Bellingham	WA	Email
1956	QM	Wamsley	Don	Denver	CO
1956	SF	Connolly	William (bill)	Chicopee	MA	Email
1956	SK	Barclay	Tony	Carlsbad	NM	Email
1956	SK	Barclay	Tony	Carlsbad	NM
1956	SN	Pierce	Earl	Floydada	TX
1956	TE	Burke	James	So Braintree	MA	Email
1956	WT	Stephens	Thomas	WV
1957	EM	Gamourth	Paul	NY	Sherwood
1957	EM	Gremmel	Donald	Whittier	CA	Sherwood
1957	ET	Shoemake	Roger	Greensburg	IN
1957	FC	Iverson	Loyd	Springfield	OR	Email
1957	FC	Iverson	Loyd	Springfield	OR	Email
1957	FN	Horne	Don	Piqua	OH	Email
1957	IM	Hurd	Wendell	Ponca City	OK	Email
1957	MM	Brunes	David	Elgin	IL	Email
1957	MM	Horne	Don	Mims	FL	Email
1957	MR	Arlt	Duane	Newton	IA	Email
1957	RM	Busenlehner	Charles	Birmingham	AL	Email
1957	SK	Tony	Barclay	NM	Castaneda
1957	SK	Castaneda	Juan	Bastrop	TX	Email
1957	SK	Flack	Floyd	Huntington Beach	CA
1957	SM	Ferguson	David	Ballinger	TX	Email
1958	Zaragosa	Robert	Maderia	CA	Demay
1958	DM	Marino	Pasquale	North Haven	CT	Email
1958	DM	Marino	Pasquale	Hamden	CT	Email
1958	EM	Gremmel	Ray	Whittier	CA
1958	EM	Jacobs	Donald	Ocean City	MD	Email
1958	EM	Sherwood	Paul	Warren	MI	Email
1958	IC	Clark	Robert	Snohomish	WA	Email
1958	MM	Calicchio	Joseph	Jersey City	NJ	Email
1958	MM	Eno	Bill	San Francisco	CA	Email
1958	MR	Bernardoni	John	New Lenox	IL
1958	OM	Cunningham	John	Corydon	IN	Email
1958	OM	Duncan	Jack	San Antonio	TX	Email
1958	SK	Demay	Louis	Baltimore	MD	Email
1958	SN	Erven	Wayne	San Leandro	CA	Email
1959	CPO	Deason	John	Martin	TN
1959	EM	Gamourth	Pete	L.A.	CA
1959	ET	Day	Fritz	Rumford	ME	Email
1959	ET	Day	Fritz	Rumford	ME	Email
1959	ET	Hopper	Bob	Sacramento	CA	Email
1959	ET	Kelly	Larry	Hollywood	CA	Hopper
1959	MM	Day	Lester	Danforth	ME	Email
1959	MM	York	Elbert	Scranton	PA	Email
1959	RM	Sonder	Archie	Verdigre	NE	Email
1959	SF	Mustain	Robert	Hanahan	SC
1959	SF	Ward	Gearl	Piggott	AR	Email
1959	TM	Frye	Marion (doc)	Lexington	KY	Email
1959	TM	Hawks	Ronald	Liverpool	NY	Email
1959	TM	Hooks	Harold	Borger	TX	Email
1960	Wally	Richard	Pgh. Pa.	PA
1960	Wally	Richard	Pgh. Pa.	PA
1960	BM	Trammell	Jack	Jaffrey	NH
1960	DC	Simpson	Tom	East St. Louis	IL	Email
1960	ET	Armstrong	Randy	Hopper
1960	ET	Thomas	Arthur	Hopper
1960	IC	Kiss	Gary	Fullerton	CA	Email
1960	OM	Simpson	Edgar	Logan	OH
1960	SM	Deshazo	Jack	Hot Springs	AR
1960	SM	Stanford	Obie	Griffin	GA	Email
1960	SN	Campbell	Murry	China Grove	NC	Email
1961	Houll	John	El Cajon	CA	Colson
1961	EM	Patterson	Ronald	Beaver Falls	PA
1961	EM	Patterson	Ronald	Beaver Falls	PA
1961	EN	Colson	Angus (bob)	El Cajon	CA	Email
1961	EN	Lunsford	Finos	Raymond	WA	Email
1961	FN	Crawford	James	Tuscaloosa	AL	Email
1961	FN	Hobbs	Glen	CA	Crawford
1961	RD	Olvera	Albert	Pittsburg	CA	Email
1961	RM	Goodnight	Roy	Lebanon	OR	Email
1961	SN	Petro	James	Warren	OH	Email
1962	Waker	Chicago	IL
1962	SM	Ray	Harry	Atlanta	GA	Email
1962	SN	Young	Jose Big G.	San Antonio	TX
1967	Crandall	Robert	W. Melbourne	FL

OUTPOST IN THE NORTH ATLANTIC: Marines in the Defense of Iceland
by Colonel James A. Donovan, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret)

While the Marines cruised south to Panama, the warsituation in Europe prompted President Roosevelt to reconsider his planfor seizing and occupying Martinique or the Azores and turn hisattention to the more immediate threat to Iceland and the relief ofBritish forces there. Washington planners decided to form a provisionalMarine brigade at Charleston, South Carolina, with the west coastMarines as its nucleus, augmented by the 5th Defense Battalion fromParris Island, South Carolina.

The battalion had been organized at Parris Island on1 December 1940, with a cadre of officers and men from the 4th DefenseBattalion. Colonel Lloyd L. Leech was the initial commanding officer.When ordered to Charleston in June 1941, the 5th Battalion was onlypartially trained and under-equipped, so emergency requisitions went toU.S. Army antiaircraft artillery commands nationwide to provide theMarine battalion some new weapons and equipment, which were hastilydelivered at dockside. Battalion personnel were embarked in theOrizaba (AP-24); guns and cargo were loaded on the USSArcturus (AK-18) and the USS Hamul (AK-30), two new cargoships.

Uniforms and Equipment

As the Marine Corps expanded with the mobilization ofthe Reserves, the Marines' dress blue uniforms were relegated toclosets. Newly joined Reservists were not required to have dressuniforms, although many did.

Winter service 'greens' were the formal dress as wellas the cold weather field uniform, as worn in World War I. This uniformincluded the peaked barracks cap and the still-popular garrison (or'overseas' cap). The blouse was worn with khaki cotton shirt andmatching 'field scarf' tie. A brass 'battle pin' held the pointed shirtcollars in place. Most enlisted Marines washed, starched, and ironedtheir own khaki clothing.

Trousers were in the same green wool kersey materialas the blouse and for officers a fine quality 20-ounce elastiquematerial was standard. Officers also wore tailored riding breeches withleather puttees or riding boots, and they had fine cordovan leather SamBrowne belts with brass buckles. The enlisted men wore an almost blackcow-skin belt called a 'fair leather belt' with heavy buckle. Enlistedmen's trousers had no rear pockets.

Enlisted Marines were issued high-top laced shoes.They took a fine spit-shine, but their soles were too thin for fieldservice, so many marines had them double-soled. Each Marine had twopair, one for field use and one for dress wear.

The regulation overcoat was heavy green wool, similarto the issue uniform, double-breasted and fitted. The officer's overcoatwas custom tailored, fitted, and usually in a heavy beaver or elastiquematerial. All uniform buttons were dark bronze. Other than for duty inNorth China, these winter service uniforms generally had been replacedfor field service by cotton khaki shirts and trousers of a kind whichhad been worn for some 40 years on Caribbean and 'banana war' duties inCentral America. For field training and combat duty, enlisted men addedthe high, tan canvas, laced leggings as worn in World War I, and longbefore, in the China and the Philippines campaigns at the turn of thecentury.

The most popular, typical and colorful item, however,was the olive drab, felt field or 'campaign' hat with wide brim andpeaked top. It was the pride of all real 'salty' Marines of the period.Its ancestry went back to the frontier U.S. cavalry in the late 19thcentury. Marines in the Fleet Marine Force battalions wore this hat witha special jaunty flair, and the Corps' emblem on the front was oftengreenish from the salt water sprayed on it during landing exercises.None of this uniform clothing was designed for or especially suitablefor a wet-cold climate such as that of Iceland.

Another item of clothing worn during this period wasthe one-piece, dark blue denim coverall. To save the more expensivewinter service greens and summer service khakis, the coveralls were wornon working parties, for range firing details, by prisoners, and fordirty field training. These coveralls were the ancestors of the wartimedusty-green color, cotton herringbone twill 'utilities' which became thePacific Marine's combat uniform. The Marines who went to Iceland hadboth the blue coveralls and the new one-piece, green herringbonecoveralls for dirty or 'fatigue' duty.

The Marines were deployed to Iceland because theywere all volunteers, and unlike the draftee-encumbered Army, could beordered overseas. moreover, the 6th Marines was already at sea preparedfor expeditionary duty. On 5 June, Roosevelt directed the Chief of NavalOperations (CNO), Admiral Harold R. Stark, to have a Marine brigadeready to sail in 15 day's time.

The brigade was formed on 16 June, the day followingthe arrival of the 6th Marines (Reinforced) in Charleston. The 1stMarine Brigade (Provisional) was formally organized under BrigadierGeneral John Marston. His new command consisted of: Brigade HeadquartersPlatoon; Brigade Band; 6th Marines (Reinforced); 2d Battalion, 10thMarines; 5th Defense Battalion (less its 5-inch Artillery Group, whichremianed in the States); Company A, 2d Tank Battalion (less 3d Platoon);Company A, 2d Medical Battalion; Company C, 1st Engineer Battalion; 1stPlatoon, Company A, 2d Service Battalion; 3d Platoon, 1st Scout Company;and Chemical Platoon. The parachute platoon was detached and reassignedto the 1st Marine Division, which happened also to be in Charleston whenthe 6th Marines arrived.

General Marston arrived in Charleston on 18 June witha small brigade headquarters staff. Admiral Stark's mission statementfor the brigade was simple and direct: In cooperation with the Britishgarrison, defend Iceland against hostile attack.

Iceland

Homesteads outside Reykjavik tended to beisolated.Author's Collection

Iceland is slightly smaller than the state ofKentucky, and features mountains, glaciers, volcanoes, geysers, hotsprings, and lava beds. The southern coastal areas enjoy a temperateclimate because the Gulf Stream passes close enough to modify the normalweather of the Arctic Circle which touches the northern coast. In 1941the island had limited coastal roads, crossed by many rapidly flowingglacial streams. Coastal areas had grassy fields suitable for sheep andpony pasturage and tundra terrain completely devoid of bushes or trees.The population in 1941 numbered 120,000.

Fishing in the cold waters around Iceland was thenation's major industry. Along the 2,300 miles of jagged coastline,there were a number of small fishing villages reached only by sea, asthere was no raod network around the island beyond the area ofReykjavik, the capital and main city.

Mountainous landscape, glacier formations, and overallrugged and inhospitable terrain as below provided the background to theMarine camps set up in Iceland. Pictured here is a Nissen hut built byMarines after their arrival.LtCol Harold K. Throneson Collection

At the outbreak of the war, Iceland enjoyed thestatus of autonomous parliamentary monarchy, sharing the Danish royalfamily with Denmark. When the Nazis overran Denmark in April 1940, theIcelandic Parliament voted to take over the executive power of theDanish King and to assume control of foreign affairs. The strategicisland became an independent republic, but was wholly defenseless. Thisstate of affiars gave rise to considerable concern by leaders in Londonand Washington, a concern not shared to any degree by the insular-mindedIcelanders.

The majority of Icelandic citizens accepted theAmerican occupation as a necessary evil. They didin't care much for theBritish, but were well aware of the German threat. There was apro-German element among the populace because, before the war, Germanengineers had built Iceland's roads and had piped in hot water from thegeysers to heat greenhouses inthe city. As a result, there were someanti-foreign feelings, especially among youth groups.

Many of the Icelanders spoke English. They were awell-educated and literate people with a pure and ancient Vikinglanguage and the world's oldest representative government.

The new brigade, consisting of 4,095 Marines,departed Charleston on 22 June. The men were not unhappy to leave thehot, humid, and noisy Navy yard. Most of the brigade's Marines were keptbusy loading ships with additional supplies and equipment procured inCharleston by supply officers, and such incongruous items as skis, skipoles, and winter 'protective clothing' purchased by supply officers ata local Sears Roebuck store.

Junein the stormy North AtlanticContemporary sketch by the author

Added to the convoy at Charleston were two cargoships and two destroyers. It was met outside Charleston harbor by animpressive force of warships and escorts. When the entire convoy beganits move towards the North Atlantic, it consisted of 25 vessels,including two battleships, the USS New York (BB-34) and USSArkansas (BB-33), and two cruisers, USS Nashville (CL-43)and the USS Brooklyn (CL-40). While the convoy was underway, aMarine wrote a letter home on 27 June:

The clanging din and weird welder's lights were leftto their own confusion as we pulled out of the Yard, headed down river,past the little Fort Sumter, which seemed even smaller in the gray lightof 0600 Sunday morning. We headed for the open sea and took a northerncourse.

Then began the hours which at sea stretch into daysand repeat themselves so that one soon loses all track of date and time... We began to lose track of where we were or where we were headed.There are daily troop formations, weapons inspection, general quartersdrills, fire drills, abandon ships drills, and life vest inspection.Feeding the troops takes up much time, officers eat by shifts in thewardroom. Food is good and plentiful ...

The ships did not yet have surface radar, and soMarines were added to the continuous submarine watches from deckstations. Frequent appearance of U.S. Navy PBY aircraft flyingantisubmarine warfare (ASW) patrols reassured the convoy and its Marinepassengers. The Marine's letter continued:

This morning we are wallowing along at a couple ofknots speed having been in a heavy fog for about eight hours. The shipskeep blowing their fog horns to help maintain location and positions. Ipresume we are getting well spread as we approach the southern tip ofNewfoundland. It will be interesting to see our formation when the foglifts.

The convoy moved into Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, onthe night of 27 June, leaving the fog outside. Some officers and menwere allowed to go ashore at the small village of Argentia to stretchtheir legs and see the local scenery. Despite the windy, cold, wetweather, the battalions were able to get ashore at least one day forexercise and limited hikes, which helped to reduce the ill effects oftoo many hours of confinement and bunk duty on board the transports.During foul weather the only spaces troops had were below decks in theircompartments and on their bunks.

Major General John Marston

Major General John Marston, who died in November1957, was born on 3 August 1884 in Pennsylvania, and was commissioned aMarine second lieutenant in June 1908. After five months' training atthe School of Application at Annapolis, he began a period of barracksand sea-going duty. This culminated in assignment to the 1st AdvanceBase Regiment, which landed at and occupied Veracruz, Mexico, in January1914. In 1915, then-First Lieutenant Marston was assigned to he HaitianConstabulary and operations against the bandit Cacos in Northern Haiti.After three years in Haiti, he served at the Naval Academy and atQuantico, until another overseas assignment, this time to the AmericanLegation in Managua, Nicaragua, where he remained from 1922 to 1924.Following a number of assignments in the Quantico-Washington area,including a brief tour again in Nicaragua as a member of the U.S.Electoral Mission, in 1935 Colonel Marston was transferred to meAmerican Embassy, Peiping. There he commanded the Marine Detachment,1937-1938, and was senior commander of Marine forces in North China,1938-1939. Brigadier General Marston became commander of the 1st MarineBrigade (Provisional) in June 1941 and took it to Iceland. Upon returnto the United States in April 1942, he was promoted to major general andgiven command of the 2d Marine Division, moving with it to New Zealand.He returned to the States in August 1942 and was appointed commander ofthe Department of the Pacific, with headquarters in San Francisco. InApril 1944, he was named Commanding General, Camp Lejeune, and served inthat position until 1946, when he retired to Lexington, Virginia.

The interlude at Newfoundland 'to await furtherorders' continued until 1 July, when the government of Iceland finally,and reluctantly, invited the American occupation that Winston Churchillhad requested and promised.

On the night of 1 July, the transports upped anchorsat 2200 and slowly moved back out to sea headed for Iceland. During thefollowing day, the transports steamed in file behind the Arkansasand New York. Fog drifted over the convoy, fog horns blew everyfew minutes, and all hands anxiously examined the ships' formation whenthe fog cleared. One day at officers' school the maps of Iceland werebroken out and the staffs began to brief the company officers on theisland, its terrain, weather, people, and what the mission would be. On5 July, a more serious note was added when troops were ordered to wearlife jackets at all times, for the convoy was entering the European warzone. Then at 2000 one night the destroyer on the starboard flank pickedup a lifeboat with 14 survivors (four Red Cross women and 10 Norwegiansailors) of a ship torpedoed 200 miles to he south on 24 June. Theirships, the Vigrid, a Norwegian merchant ship, had developedengine trouble, fell behind its convoy, and was picked off by a Germansubmarine.

The next day the convoy went through the flotsam andjetsam of the British battleship HMS Hood, which had been sunk bythe German pocket battleship Bismarck on 24 May. Items ofequipment from the Hood floating alongside their ships broughtthe war to the close attention of sober Marines lining the rails oftheir transports.

Onlyone ship at a time could enter or leave the only entrance to Reykjavikharbor in June 1941. When the brigade convoy approached the port the seawas calm, the sun was well up, and a strong odor of fish floated outover the troop ships.National Archives Photo 127-N-185281

Early in the morning of 7 July, the brigade's convoyapproached Iceland and the capital city of Reykjavik. The sea was glassycalm, the sun was well up and bright as it did not set in July innorthern lands. The strong odor of fish floated out over the troop shipsfrom the port. A couple of the transports were able to tie up at thesmall stone quays and Marines lined the rails to examine the people andsights of their new station.

Uss Hamul Crew List Wwii

Earlier, in May 1941, a battalion of Royal Marineshad landed and occupied the capital city, Reykjavik. Ten days later theywere relieved by a Canadian Army brigade.

The Canadians soon left for England and were replacedby British Army and Royal Air Force units. Some of the replacements wereremnants of regiments which had been evacuated from Dunkirk. They weremostly Territorial Army units which are similar to the U.S. NationalGuard. Antiaircraft artillery units, air defense fighters, and patrolbombers also established island defense installations. Hvalfjordur, adeep fjord 35 miles north of Reykjavik, became the site of an importantnaval anchorage.

Based at an airfield at Keflavik, about 30 milessouth of Reykjavik, was a mixed bag of Royal Air Force aircraftincluding a few Hurricane fighters. It also held some patrol bombers:Hudsons, Sunderlands, and a small group of obsolescent float planes.Most of the British pilots at the field were veterans of the Battles ofBritain and were sent to Keflavik for a spell of more relaxed duty. Bythe summer of 1941, the British contingent had about 25,000 troops inIceland, including the Tyneside Scottish, the Durham Light Infantry, andthe Duke of Wellington's Regiment in the 49th Division, as well as someRoyal Artillery field batteries, Royal Army engineers, and otherdetachments. In addition, 500 RAF personnel and about 2,000 sailors, whomanned and serviced the anti-submarine vessels and mine sweepers basedat Hvalfjordur, were on the island.

British soldiers ('Tommies') in their ruggedbattle-dress uniforms, heavy black boots, and garrison-type caps cockedover one ear, waved and yelled at the Marines as the American ships tiedup at the quay. A few British officers also in battle dress but withpeaked caps, swagger sticks, and gleaming leather walked along the quayexamining the ships and their Marine passengers. British officers cameon board to welcome the Marines and in due course departed with some ofthe senior brigade staff to confer about landing plans, camp areas, andmissions. The cargo ships and the 5th defense Battalion had to unload atthe quays, so the troop ships moved out in the harbor, from where theylanded Marine style over a small rocky beach named 'Balbo' using Higginsboats and a few tank lighters.

TheMarines coming ashore from the transports appeared to be a motley crewwearing mixed uniforms and carrying odd personal baggage ... The Britishsoldiers didn't know what to make of the spectacle. But to be safe, theysaluted all Marines who wore the peaked caps and neckties their ownofficers wore.Sketch by the author in the Marine Corps Historical ArtCollection

The Marines coming ashore from the transportsappeared to be a motley crew wearing mixed uniforms and carrying oddpersonal baggage. Some wore service caps and some wore broad-brimmedcampaign hats. Others were in working party blue coveralls, and stillothers in greens. Some Marines toted sea bags. Some had rifle-cleaningrods stuck in rifle barrels and strung with rolls of toilet paper, somecarried their good blouses on coat hangers hooked to their rifles. TheBritish soldiers didn't know what to make of the spectacle. But to besafe, they saluted all Marines who wore peaked caps and neckties becausethat is what their own officers wore.

Uss Hamul Crew List 2017

The5th Defense Battalion unloads supplies from landing craft tied up at thequay.National Archives Photo 127-N-528662

One detail the British neglected to discuss with theMarines was the matter of tides in northern latitudes and neither theU.S. Navy nor the Marine planners seemed to be aware of the 14-foot tidewhich almost washed the landing force back from its small stony landingbeach into the cold Arctic seas.

Uss Hamul Crew List Template

Uss Hamul Crew List

Marines unloaded the ships by manhandling bulk cargoequipment, and ammunition from holds into cargo nets which were loweredinto the landing craft alongside by the ships' large booms. The boatsthen ran the short distance to shore where Marine working parties againunloaded the cargo by hand and carried it up onto the beach. Because theMarines had few trucks, they were almost completely dependent upon RoyalArmy Service Corps two-ton lorries (trucks) to move supplies andequipment to destinations inland. It all went slowly and with hours thetide began to overtake the unloading. The sea came in and inundated thebeaches and Marine supplies. Soon cardboard containers of rations, woolshirts, equipment, and supplies were awash or drifting out into thestream.

Uss Hamul Crew List Pearl Harbor

It took a few days to salvage and dry out some of thegear. Regimental supplies and equipment coming into Balbo beach becamemixed and piled up in great confusion. The value of the few tanklighters was apparent and the need for a ramp at the bow of the LCPs wasalso evident. Motorized material-handling equipment, palletized cargo,and weatherproof packing were in the future.

Despite the problems with the tide and the narrowbeach, the unloading proceeded around the clock. In four days theMarines manhandled and moved 1,500 tons of supplies and equipment fromthe three transports over the beach and into lorries and to thebattalions' assigned camps, some as afar away as 15 miles.