THE FORMER HMS RYDE IS TO BE BROKEN UP
TIME APPEARS TO HAVE FINALLY RUN OUT FOR THE FORMER SOUTHERN RAILWAY PADDLE STEAMER AND D- DAY VETERAN
The former HMS Ryde at Binfield. (All images courtesy Nick Hall)
was based at Harwich to provide anti- aircraft protection to shipping off the East Coast and in the Thames Estuary. HMS Ryde was redeployed to the Solent in preparation for theNormandy landings, sailing on the afternoon of 6 June 1944, for theWestern Task Force area.
AS HMS Ryde, writes Nick Hall, the vessel served as an anti-aircraft ship off Omaha beach during the D-Day landings in June 1944. It is reported that she is to be broken upwhere she lies in her berth on the RiverMedina at Binfield, near Newport on the Isle of Wight. Some forty years have passed since she arrived there to take up a new career as the floating restaurant and nightclub “Ryde Queen”.
The Ryde was built by William Denny at Dumbarton in 1937 for the Portsmouth to Ryde passenger service, but her career was interrupted by the outbreak of the Second World War. Along with her sister ship, the Sandown, she was requisitioned by the Admiralty in February 1940 and converted for use as an auxiliary minesweeper. HMS Ryde was subsequently employed in minesweeping operations in the North Sea.
In 1942 her minesweeping gear was removed and additional guns fitted as she underwent conversion to an anti-aircraft ship. Following this, she
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After arriving off Normandy she took up her allocated position on the western side of the Mulberry harbour at Omaha beach (Mulberry “A”). Having weathered a severe stormthat damaged the temporary harbour, HMS Ryde received the signal that stated that “if you have enough coal, return to Portsmouth, if you do not have enough coal, then run the ship on to the beach”. Fortunately such extrememeasures were not required and she returned to Portsmouth having spent some two weeks off the French coast.
The paddle steamer was returned to her owners, Southern Railway, in August 1945, and remained in service until retired in 1969.
MEMORIAL TO B-17 CREW UNVEILED
A memorial to the crew of a USAAF Boeing B- 17 Flying Fortress has been unveiled just to the south of the former wartime airfield at Horham near the small village of Redlingfield in Suffolk, reports Richard E. Flagg. The memorial remembers the sacrifice of ten men from the 334th Bombardment Squadron of the 95th Bomb Group, US Eighth Air Force, who were killed when their aircraft, B-17G serial number 42-31123, crashed shortly after take-off fromthe airfield. (Image courtesy of Richard E. Flagg)
6
THE HOME GUARD ON TELEVISION
THE Home Guard (and its predecessor the Local Defence Volunteers) was one of themost remarkable military forces ever raised. History can provide few parallels to its speed of recruitment, enthusiasm and numbers, during the summer of 1940. This year’s 70th anniversary of its formation has seen a number of events taking place that detailed its background and history – some of which were filmed for the benefit of today’s armed forces. (Image courtesy ofMike Hopton)
PRINCE MEETS BATTLE VETERANS
THE Prince of Wales has entertained members of the Battle of Britain Fighter Association at ClarenceHouse, his official residence in London, reports Geoff Simpson. Pictured here with the Prince is 88-year-old Herbert Flower, one of the youngest airmen to have flown in the Battle of Britain. He was born at Ballasalla on the Isle of Man on November 24 1921. During the Battle, Sergeant Flower was a wireless operator/air gunner with 248 Squadron operating Bristol Blenheims. (Image courtesy of George Bodnar)
AUGUST 2010
HMS Ryde pictured during her service with the Royal Navy in the Second World War.
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