D-Day 80 The Last Veterans: Mick Jennings

Mick Jennings, Age 98, Royal Navy

Interviewed 27 July

An electrician on board a Tank Landing Craft on D-Day, Mick Jennings from Hampshire helped drop off American troops and vehicles on Utah Beach. 

He said: "My job was to see the batteries were fully charged because it was the batteries that were needed in case the tanks needed charging.

"Two banks of twenty four volt batteries if my memory is right. The skipper told us where we were going. We were part of a combined operations."

LCT 795 had two officers and ten crew all taking a turn on the wheel.

He remembers many of the Americans were sick during the crossing. His action station was to operate the cable brake drum when the anchor was lowered.

When they got to the beach though they were left stranded for hours.

"The tide just ran out and I can’t remember how long we waited," he said.

"There were explosions where a shell hit the beach. It was not what you would call a welcoming committee. We were lucky. If one had landed on us, especially with the troops. Sheer luck they were dropping either side.

"I ran up the beach while they were shelling. I saw the explosions. There was an American sitting in a trench he had dug.

"I don’t know what his function was. I jumped in alongside. He had a bar of chocolate and he shared the chocolate.

"Once we were afloat again, we were just offshore at night and we could see from where we were anchored the tracer bullets of the soldiers fighting on shore and I said to the chaps ‘I am glad we are here and not there."

Against regulations Mr Jennings took a camera on the boat and took photographs.

He added: "I thought for some strange reason it would be good to show people afterwards.

"You couldn’t get film. The film was supplied by my brother who was in the RAF. I was a bit worried I might be put on a charge for photographing. It was just a silly little box camera."

He took photos from the stern of his landing craft and one picture shows the smoke from another landing craft that was hit.

After the first crossing the crew went back and forth carrying US troops from Portland to Normandy.   

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