Landing craft/supply ship veteran's story

Antipodean Andy · Jun 16, 2008

GrassLakeTimes.com - Ed Burton in World War II

Eleven months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, at 3 a.m. on November 8, 1942, a series of convoys numbering more than 800 war vessels and transports began to assemble along the African coast between Morocco to the south and Algeria to the west, disembarking troops on the Atlantic and Mediterranean shores. The most serious fighting was at Oran and at Casablanca, where the French naval units shelled the attackers until put out of action. Ed Burton found himself in the midst of this action.

Despite air raids, a submarine attack, and casualties among sister ships, the OBERON arrived at Fedela, French Morocco, approximately 20 miles from Casablanca. Ed and other crew from the ship had to transfer half-tracks and soldiers to shore, and after that first landing, they would go back for more supplies to transfer -sea bags, equipment, jeeps, etc. Local men would help them float the supplies to shore in exchange for a pack of cigarettes. Ed was a machine gunner on one of the 50-foot invasion barges.

During a night transfer Ed's landing craft was going in circles, the coxswain not sure which way he should go to find the ship. Ed looked up at the sky and recognized the Big Dipper -the same constellation he had gazed at while a kid on Lake Michigan's shore. He used the North Star as a guide to find the way back to the ship.

Another time when the crew was out at sea transferring supplies, the ship next to Ed's was torpedoed. They had to move away from the burning ship, and then got in small craft to attempt to rescue the sailors in the burning, oil covered waters. Ed tried to pluck a heavy man from the burning seas when the victim's skin pealed off into his hands. He got another mate to help him, and they pulled the man from the sea. He never learned the sailor's fate. At night they went into shore briefly. There was heavy strafing. Soon they were out to sea again, looking for more survivors from the torpedoed ship. They didn't find any.

On one landing Ed and 75 crewmates got stranded on the beach. They were there three days when a ship was able to return and pick them up They floated 20 miles on barges to Casablanca where they were put on a hospital ship for the return to the United States. The stranded group just had the clothes on their backs that they had been wearing for several days. It took a few days for fresh clothing and supplies to catch up with the crew. The Atlantic crossing was so rough that waves were washing over the ship decks. Many of the men were too sick to eat. Not Ed Burton. He enjoyed a big Thanksgiving dinner.

While in the states Ed got a leave, and headed to Michigan to see his family. Meanwhile, the OBERON was in Virginia to begin preparations for a Pacific voyage. On December 26, 1943, Ed Burton was back on his ship and set sail for the Panama Canal. He was on watch as the new year rolled in. Because of the hot temperatures some of the crew often slept on the deck. While traversing Panama the sailors weren't allowed off the ship, but did see the 1541 ruins of old Panama City. The water supply got low so they docked at Balboa for a short time.
On January 9 the ship reached the equator, and Ed, along with other "Pollywogs," had to undergo initiation from the "Shellbacks," following an ancient custom of the sea. The men who hadn't crossed the equator before had to sit on a deck chair that was wired. The experienced crewmen would take a fire hose and soak the new sailors, and then shoot electric current to the chair. The next step in this initiation was to get tipped over into a tank of water. When the initiates pulled themselves out of the water they had to continue crawling through a line of sailors who would swat them with a board.

In his scrapbook Ed has enclosed the January 11 "USS OBERON Plan of the Day." Reveille was at 0500 for all hands, and the galley was to have the coffee ready. At 0600 quarters were to be cleaned, and the sun rose at 0610. Breakfast for the crew was at 0715, and by 0900 the duties for the day were to begin. On this day that included "hold pointing, loading and sight setting drill.”

While crossing the South Pacific the OBERON was reclassified as AKA-14. She discharged her cargo at New Caledonia and the New Hebrides before returning to Norfolk on March 12, 1942. This was where the crew who had spent time together crossing the Atlantic twice, serving in the invasion of North Africa, and crossing the Pacific were separated. Ed, his friend Bill, and a few other mates were left behind in a boat pool to repair landing craft. In his journal Ed wrote: "Got clothes ready to leave ship. Hated to think of being left behind. Met a lot of fine fellows while on board and hate to part.

next week: The islands, rats and home
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Landing craft/supply ship veteran's story

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