AUSTRALIA AND THE BATTLE OF NORMANDY|NORMANDY 75
and Juno and use an echo sounder
to provide a navigational beacon for
minesweepers, then a radar beacon
and lights shining seaward to guide
the assault force. When D-Day was
postponed, because of the weather,
for 24 hours, the two X-craft were
forced to remain submerged off the
beaches for a second day, surfacing
only at night for fresh air. For
his role on D-Day, Hudspeth was
awarded a second bar to his DSC. In a
congratulatory note from Admiral Sir
Philip Vian, commander of the Eastern
Task Force, the X-craft mission was
described as “vanguard to Overlord”.
Gallipoli
To Normandy
Another decorated Australian sailor
at Normandy was Sub-Lieutenant
Richard Pirrie, RANVR. From the
Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn,
Pirrie was a talented sportsman and,
before his enlistment, had played
Aussie rules football for the famous
Hawthorn Football Club. On June
6 – his 24th birthday – Pirrie was in
command of Landing Craft Support
(M)47 in the first wave at Juno. He
was tasked with the dangerous job
of piloting his craft close in, so a
naval artillery observer could direct
gunfire onto German defences. Pirrie’s
craft simultaneously struck a mine
and was hit by a shell, killing him
and two others. For his “gallantry,
leadership and determination”, Pirrie
was posthumously Mentioned in
Despatches (MiD).
An extraordinary story of service
among the Australians at Normandy
is that of Lieutenant-Commander
George Dixon, RANVR, from
Tasmania. As a teenager, Dixon
had been an original Anzac (the
name given to those serving with
the Australian and New Zealand
Army Corps at Gallipoli). As a young
infantryman, he was among the first
to land on Gallipoli on April 25,1915, serving with the
12th Battalion, AIF. He
was just 15 years old,
having enlisted underage,
and days later received
multiple gunshot wounds.
He was evacuated and sent home
to Australia, where he received a
medical discharge. In September
1940, Dixon again enlisted, this time
in the RAN. He commanded an
LST (Landing Ship, Tank) during
Operation Husky – the 1943 invasion
of Sicily – for which he was awarded a
DSC. He was in command of LST 409
at Juno on D-Day.
With nerves of steel, one of the
bravest Australians at Normandy
was Lieutenant-Commander Leon
Goldsworthy, RANVR. During
the desperate battle for the port of
Cherbourg – in which American
soldiers launched their attack on
June 22 – Royal Navy
mine clearance”As well as being shot at, divers knew that
minesweepers worked nearby and, if a mine
exploded within a mile of where they were
operating, they were likely to be killed”.
divers worked desperately to render
the booby-trapped harbour safe for
Allied vessels. During the battle, Allied
ships bombarded fortified positions
as minesweepers and navy clearance
divers went to work.
Under enemy fire, Goldsworthy
deactivated the first German K-mine.
At a depth of 50ft (15m), the mine
was embedded in a block of concrete
on a steel tripod. Goldsworthy
felt it was “rush job”, such was the
urgency to clear the harbour. As well
as being shot at, divers knew that
minesweepers worked nearby and, if a
mine exploded within a mile of where
they were operating, they were likely
to be killed. Earlier in the campaign,
Goldsworthy cleared several mines at
the British landing ABOVE
Flt Sgt Fred Wood,
453 Sqn, RAAF,
with a gendarme.LEFT
Aircrew from
196 Sqn with
a Horsa glider.
Fg Off Ron
Minchin kneels
front right.BELOW
Lt-Cmdr Leon
Goldsworth GC
DSC GM, Australia’s
most decorated
naval officer of
the war.http://www.britainatwar.com^85