Brushy Creek Journal
Sunday August 21, 2016
Cloudy with chance of thunderstorms
88°F/31°C in Cedar Park, Texas
Partly Sunny 64°F/18°C in Milford
Haven, Wales
Buongiorno!
This week marks
the 72nd anniversary of what is best described as a wartime harmonic
convergence, and my dad was dead-bang in the middle of it! Unlike an
astrological alignment of planets that occurs once in a thousand years, or
whatever the Mayan Calendar dictates, my father’s
harmonic convergence occurred
in an Allied convoy in the Dover Channel between Milford Haven, Wales and
Plymouth, England in 1944. The story is a legend in the Botula family and is
now the subject of my new book LST 920:
Charlie Botula’s Long, Slow Target! It’s a story of courage and survival on
the high seas during wartime, and it is also a chronicle of a personal journey
for me. Here is the story:
 |
| Dad on V-J Day 1945 |
My dad, Lieutenant
Charles Botula, Jr. served as Executive Officer aboard the LST 920 during World
War 2. His ship survived a deadly U boat attack on his convoy that sank a
British escort ship and heavily damaged LST 921, the sister ship to the LST
920. The loss of life was heavy. The British ship, LCI(L)99 was literally blown
out of the water. LST 921 was torn in
two, with the aft section sinking with half the crew. I’ve shared this story
before. My dad, died in 1965 without ever knowing the full story. It’s taken me
years to research it. Neither my Dad nor his Captain, Harry Schultz, ever knew
which enemy submarine attacked them or what happened to that U boat after the attack.
The same goes for most of the survivors of that terrible afternoon.
On Monday
August 14, 1944 at five minutes to five, USS LST 920 commanded by Lieutenant
Harry N. Schultz and USS LST 921, under the command of Lieutenant John Werner
Enge, were underway in convoy EBC 72 from Milford Haven, Wales to Falmouth,
England. Suddenly they were attacked by the German submarine U667, under the command
of Kapitӓnleutnant Karl-Heinze Lange. LST 921 was hit by the first torpedo and
broke in two with the aft section sinking minutes later. Some survivors
scampered to safety on the bow section. Others went overboard into the chilly
water. When the aft section sank, it took half of the ship’s crew to the
bottom. General Quarters was sounded on the LST 920 and Captain
Schultz came to the bridge. Seeing survivors in the water, Schultz ordered his
radioman, Seaman Fred Benck to send a request for permission to turn his ship
around to pick up survivors. Permission was denied and the 920 was ordered to
proceed to Falmouth. Years later, Benck told me what happened next. The captain came back into the radio room
and said, “Benck send that message again!” He waited for the answer which was the same, “DO NOT BREAK
CONVOY!” Captain Schultz said, “TO HELL WITH HIM!” And we pulled out of convoy to turn back and pick up survivors!
My father
watched from the bridge of the LST 920, as the second torpedo headed straight
at his ship. Just then, a British escort vessel, LCI(L)99, came alongside, took
the full brunt of the torpedo and was blown out of the water. The rest of the
convoy, following orders kept going toward Plymouth, England. The 920 came
about and Schultz ordered two small boats into the water with Ensign John
Waters in one and Ensign Harold Willcox in the other, along with nine other
sailors to rescue survivors. In all, 48 survivors were rescued and brought
aboard the LST 920 or sent ahead with a British escort ship, the HMS
Londonderry. Seaman Joe Wallace tells this part of the story. I remember one of the 921 crew members
coming up to the bridge all wet and oily. I gave him my locker keys and
location, and he showered and put on some clean dry clothes. By this time it
was dark. We gathered the survivors and were on our way to Falmouth. There, I
had the task of counting the departing survivors - 42 walking and 6 stretcher
cases.
I first
shared this story in an article I wrote for the U.S. LST Association’s magazine
The Scuttlebutt about ten years ago.
Funny thing about war stories. They start taking on a life of their own.
When I
started hearing from my dad’s old shipmates, I realized that there was more to
the story. The entire tale has more twists and turns in it than an Alpine road.
So, after doing some more research and talking to other crew members from both
LSTs – my dad’s ship and the 921, I decided to try my hand at writing a book about
it. The result is not exactly War and
Peace or The Longest Day but it
does mark my debut as an author. A lot of retired news guys like me are trying
their hand at writing. And frankly, a lot of these stories, even with the best
of intentions remain untold. That has a lot to do with my motivation. I think
my dad’s story is a pretty good yarn! I’d hate to see it stay in a box of old
papers and photographs in the closet. The story about a father who still sets a
good example for his son is still bright, even after 72 years. The book is
called LST 920: Charlie Botula’s Long,
Slow Target! It’s available now from the book department at Amazon.com - Kindle
or paperback. Here’s the link:
Ciao,
MikeBo
( MikeBo’s Blog
is a wholly owned subsidiary of www.mikebotula.com
, and is linked to Facebook,
and Twitter
and Google Plus!)
©
By Mike Botula 2016
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