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1210Mjr. Willliam Wynn-Werninck
British Army 19 MT Company Royal Army Service Corps
I sailed over to Arromanches from Tilbury with my unit, 19 Company RASC (MT) of some 250 vehicles, aboard the Canadian built Liberty ship Fort Brandon. We anchored about 2 miles off Arromanches on the east side of the Mulberry Harbour. That evening about 1000 pm a German bomber flew over us. There was some sp eculation about what th e plane was up to, the feeling being that she was dropping acoustic mines. That night, fro m a flat calm evening, it blew up Force 5-6, causing the Captain concern that Fort Brandons anchor chain could set off a nearby mine. Next morning I watched our vehicles being unloaded onto the big Rhino barges run by the Sappers and went back to my cabin for a wash and brush up before breakfast. I was just doing this when there was a heck of a bang. I shot out on deck where I was appalled to see, 2 cables away, a corvette type of ship with her bows blown off to the 4.7 gun mounting. She was blowing off clouds of steam but slowly got under way, having eased the surv ivors away, and started heading fo r the beach adjoining the Mulberry caissons. We were all saddened on deck as no lifeboat was lowered to help those in the water and, in particular, one sailor who was manfully swimming towards the beach a long way ah ead. Lifeboats were not lowered for fear of mines. I then hurried back to my cabin and did three small water-colour sketches of what I had seen.In July 1994 I found these sketches and wrote to Navy News to ask if anyone could identify the ship. To my delight the next Navy News had several letters in it whic h gave her name as HMS Orchis (K76).
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