Other memories of Bud:
Bud was one of three motormacs. Each LCT had 3 engines and the motormacs communicated between each other and the deck by using headphones.
Each motormac watched r.p.m. gauges to keep the 3 engines in time.

While in Southampton the ships had to be covered with camouflage.

The man holding the box of shells is Herbert S. Johnson who last lived in Cullman, Alabama.
Above is one of four 20 mm guns each LCT had. There were two guns on each side of the ship.
These 2 men are Bud's shipmates. The man on the left is holding a box which contains a roll of shells. The man on the right is strapped in with the shoulder harness. Bud said he was strapped behind one of these guns once.

 

Bud and the whole Navy sat off the coast of South Hampton, England for six weeks. No mail or contact with the shore was allowed and he remembers how unpleasant the wait was in these conditions.


Bud Mohr (far right), with some of his shipmates in Southampton.
The man in the middle standing without the shirt was the cook. Bud showed him different ways to use eggs in the meals since the cook was not an "expert" in this field.

For the initial invasion the 537 LCT was carrying four Sherman Tanks, which weighed approximately 64,000 pounds each. These were strapped down in the middle of the ship with 3/4 inch log chains. Four jeeps were strapped down on each side of the tanks.

Originally the invasion was planned for June 4, 1945. They rolled their camouflage netting over the side, but the water was too rough and the invasion was postponed until June 5.

In the earliest hours of June 5, 1945, just slightly after midnight, they left South Hampton to cross the Channel to Omaha Beach. It was 23 miles across. Three ships sank on the way, taking on too much water due to the waves which reached 20 to 30 feet high.
Of the 43 LCTs that left Southampton, only 13 survived by the end of D-Day +3.

One of the biggest problems for the amphibian force landing crafts was underwater mines the Germans had planted. These mines were about the size of a football and if a ship even touched them they went off. A mine could blow an amphibian landing craft in two. Mine sweepers were constantly patrolling, finding and blowing up mines, but the sweepers couldn't find every mine.


Map of the Normandy D-Day Invasion.

Nearing invasion