Internationale Orden & Militaria - A82

150 | 5215 OPERATIONS ‘OVERLORD’/’NEPTUNE’: a very rare historic British Union Flag carried by Sub-Lieutenant Alan Dalton of the Royal Navy ‘P’ Commando, on both JUNO and SWORD beach on D-Day, 6th June 1944 Of stitched bunting manufacture typical of the period, the canvas sleeve with cord lanyard and retaining the owner’s original hand-written in- scription ‘DALTON’ and traces of a stencilled abbreviated inscription, possibly ‘3YD JACR’ (wind frayed). 174 x 91.5cm. Sold together with two modernly inscribed brass plaques, the first inscribed: ‘S/LT. DALTON LED THE COMMANDO TEAMTHAT THE (sic) CLEARED THE BEACHES PRIOR TO THE LANDINGS’; the second reads: ’THE FIRSTUNION JACKTOBEFLOWNONTHE ‘D’ DAYBEACHES. HOISTEDBY S/LT. NOW SIR ALLAN (sic) DALTON’. Alan Dalton joined the Royal Navy in April 1943 and volunteered in September for the Royal Naval Commandos (distinct from the Royal Marine Commandos), a force created specifically for the allied invasion of Europe. Dalton was posted to ‘P’ Commando and trained with Force ‘J’ (for JUNObeach) as part of OperationNEPTUNE, the naval element of the Normandy landings, and subsequently with the 3rd Canadian Division on the southern coast of England (R.N. Commandos ‘L’, ‘P’ and ‘S’ were to operate in sectors over the 7.2 km width of JUNO). Of pivotal importance to the landings, the functions of an R.N. Commando officer in the initial landing waves were foremost to facilitate the immediate tacti- cal needs of the landing troops, establish and maintain beachhead com- munications with the headquarter ships to control incoming landing craft and then organise the safest movement of troops and armour off the beach inland away fromminefields and active pockets of the bypassed enemy. On 6th June 1944, Dalton was designated to hit JUNO beach at H-hour + 5 minutes, immediately behind the first assault wave formed of two British specialist beach groups (involving infantry of the 8th King’s and 5th Royal Berkshire Regiments), supporting the 7th and 8th Canadian Infantry Brigades. On the western part of JUNO, the initial objectives of the 7th Canadian Brigade were the clearing of enemy troops from the beach, the establishment of a beach perimeter and the capture of the villages of Courseulles and Graye sur Mer. On the eastern beach area the 8th were similarly tasked and required to take Bernières and Saint Aubin sur Mer. On the morning of 6th June, the 7th Brigade H-hour was in reality pushed back from 07.35 to 07.45 and the 8th Brigade pushed back to 07.55; accordingly, Dalton (in one of the two ‘P’ Commando advance parties) was re-scheduled to land at H+20. This timing confirms that Dalton’s role was that of anAssistant BeachMaster in the obviouslymost hazardous first assault wave, rather than belonging to the main body of ‘P’ Commando which correctly landed at ‘MIKE’ sector on JUNO, and which accompanied the second assault wave companies of The Royal Winnipeg Rifles and The Regina Rifles (which together took Courseulles later in the afternoon after bitter street fighting). Dalton and the party of men under his command were transported ashore in a tank landing craft which, very unfortunately, was caught in the strong west to east sea currents. This resulted inDalton instead landing on SWORD beach, most probably at Ouistreham, approximately 11.2 km east of the intended destination of ‘Mike’ sector in the middle of JUNO. Another of the ‘P’ Commando landing craft was swept even further east- wards, landing beyond the outer limit of SWORD. This unplanned beach GROSSBRITANNIEN 5214 Tarnbekleidung für Fallschirmjäger im 2. Weltkrieg „Denison smock” aus derbem, tarnfarbig bedrucktem Baumwolltuch, zwei Brusttaschen und zwei Hüfttaschen, jeweils mit britischen Buntmetall-Drucknöpfen („Newey Pat.”), Metall-Reißverschluss („Dot - made in England”), einfache Schulterklappen, Ärmelenden mit elastischen Abschlüssen. Dazu ein Überrock aus Baumwolltuch mit korrodierten Zinkknöpfen und defektemReißverschluss. Stellenweise leicht beschädigt, Altersspuren. 258647 II € 1.000 5214