"Well, Here We Go !"

So begins the handwritten diary of Neal Smith, Signalman First Class, aboard the minesweeper YMS-346, at the start of the Normandy Invasion in 1944.

1500 hours, June 5th, Well, here we go ! We've just left Plymouth harbor - 2 cruisers (1 U.S. & 1 Limey). Plenty of Limey Corvettes around, LCI's, a couple of dozen at least, and 30 LST's -- we're heading East, sky is overcast, sea fairly calm. Our radio is playing "We Don't Know Where We're Going Until We're There" very appropriate I think.

Neal Smith was the signalman on the YMS-346. He served 5 years active duty. At the start of the Normandy Invasion, Signalman Smith kept a day-to-day, hour-to-hour diary written in pencil in a 3 by 5 inch notebook, which he kept in a waterproof bag on a cord around his neck from June 5th until September 8th, 1944. He was awarded the Navy and Marine Corps medal for heroism on December 24, 1944 in the English Channel, while serving as a member of the crew. The photograph above was provided by Neal Smith's daughter, Kim, as well as photographs of the medal, a copy of the citation letter and a transcript of the diary. This first post will focus on Neal Smith as signalman and his influence on fellow crew mate Jack Whiteman. The next post will focus on the Navy and Marine Corps Medal he was awarded and the circumstances for which he received it. And the last post will focus solely on the diary including a link to the complete transcript. The song referenced above in Neal Smith's first diary entry was a popular song written by Brittish composer Noel Gay and lyricist Ralph Butler in 1944.

The fellow I'm learning from sure knows his business.

Signalman Neal Smith had a lot of influence on Jack Whiteman in their time together on the ship while Jack pursued the rate of signalman himself. Jack was his striker, performing many signalman duties under the watchful eye of Neal Smith. Jack mentions him in his letters and he appears in several photographs in Jack's album. Jack is also referred to in the diary when Smith refers to his striker. A striker in the Navy is an apprentice with significant skills as a result of on-the-job or formal classroom training, as in one who is "striking" for a specific Navy rating.

Below are photographs of Signalman Smith, or "Smitty" as he was known to the crew and his striker learning the ropes. The two crew mates in the last photo are Warrington Stark and Charles Murphy.

In a letter dated 6/13/44 Jack writes: I'm coming along pretty good at my signaling and I should make my rate pretty soon...I stand signalman's watches and take signalman's responsibilities. The fellow I'm learning from sure knows his business.

In a letter dated 10/15/44 Jack writes: The fellow sitting with his legs crossed minus his shirt is Neal Smith, Signalman 1/c (my boss, a swell egg).

Big things doing all right ! Hope I can tell my grandchildren about it !

This was an entry in the diary for D-Day, June 6, 1944 at 2108 hours. The diary will be featured more prominently in a subsequent post, but there are a few entries related to Signalman Smith and his striker that caught my eye.

June 8th 1515 hours - Well f--- the war!! I'm going to get some sleep. The striker can take over. (The executive officer says, "It certainly is a shame to see all of these ships damaged and lost to the fleet!" Yeah! But it's tougher on the poor bastards on those ships, I say. You can build new ships.). Every time we see a ship blow up, everyone dashes around to get their helmets and life-jackets on. Then about 30 or 40 minutes later everyone is stripping off again! What the Hell good is either a helmet or a life-jacket if a mine lets go under one of these plywood Bastards???

1245 hours June 9th - Crapped out on the Chartroom transom - striker handling the flaghoist all alone and doing nicely. Must get him rated Signalman, 3rd Class.

1830 hours June 18th - My signal striker, a real nice kid, really gets a razzing. They say that 3 guys were huddled together on their bellies on the forecastle deck to duck the shrapnel when he jumped down from the flying bridge and dove right under the three of them, ending up between them and the deck !

Jack qualified for signalman rate on 12/31/44 and his change in rate to Signalman Third Class was effective May 1, 1945. He was then advanced to fill a vacancy in the Atlantic fleet with a transfer to YMS-44 on 10/12/45. Although the War was officially over, the minesweepers work was not. The YMS-44 and YMS-346 were among a fleet of 36 minesweepers headed to Japan in the Pacific to clean up the mines that were still there. The Navy had put a 90 day freeze on any eligible discharges, applicable only to minesweepers, for this purpose. Jack was ultimately discharged on 3/4/46.

After Neal Smith was discharged, he enrolled in a college in Maine, where he was from, on the GI Bill and became a geologist and then a geophysicist. He spent his career working at Standard Oil/Chevron until he retired in 1985.

Next: YMS-346 Signalman Neal Smith is awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal