HM Landing Barge Kitchen 6 - HMLBK 6.

A Normandy Veteran Still on Duty as a Clubhouse in the 21st Century

Background

When the enormous scale of the invasion force became known, it was realised that many small craft operating off the landing beaches would not be equipped with a galley to prepare their own hot meals, or indeed any meals.

[Photo; Crews of small craft lining up on the Landing Barge Kitchen for the midday meal, served through a hatchway, while other craft wait their turn to come alongside. © IWM (A 24017)].

The Landing Barge Kitchen was designed and developed to satisfy the anticipated demand. They had a capacity to provide 1,600 hot meals and 800 cold meals a day and operated like an amphibious fast food outlet with unlimited parking!

It also had the capacity to bake fresh bread

LBKs were constructed of steel with a hull of 79 feet long by 21 feet wide - the proportions and characteristics of Thames lighters, including flat bottoms and a shallow draft of only 3.5 feet. Unlike the lighters (or barges) the LBKs were fitted with engines, so could move independently.

HM LBK 6 (His Majesty's Landing Barge Kitchen) was a barge that saw service off Sword beach. Below, we follow her story into the 21st century.

LBK 6 - WW2 Service

Following her arrival off Normandy, LBK 6 stood off Sword beach as part of the 35th Supply and Repair Flotilla of 'U' Landing Barge Squadron. With her, also part of the 35th Flotilla, were other converted Thames barges of assorted designations, namely LBE or Landing Barge (Engineering), LBO or Landing Barge (Oiler) and LBW or Landing Barge (Water). 

[Photo; LBK 6 is seen departing Portsmouth Naval Base at 13.30 hours on May 10th 2007, under tow of a marine tug out of Itchen. Her destination believed to be Babcocks at Southampton for disposal. Read on to find out what really happened. Photos courtesy of John Wardale].

The 35 Supply & Repair Flotilla was part of Force 'S'. The Flotilla consisted of the trawler Damito, which had been converted to a fuel carrier, the minesweeping trawler Empyrean and Vindelicia, a trawler which had been converted to carry fuel but was acting as a tug.

The rest of the Flotilla comprised emergency repair craft LCE 13, emergency repair barges LBEs 1, 7, 35, 40, 42 & 43; LBK 6; oiler barges LBOs 5, 12, 15, 25, 31, 42, 50, 51, 52, 85 and water barges LBWs 12 & 13. A further nine similar LBS & R (Landing Barge Supply and Repair) Flotillas operated in support of the Normandy Invasion. 

LBK 6 moved westwards and for some time also stood off Gold beach. On July 24th, 1944, Admiral Ramsay went aboard and was photographed with her crew. In 1997, Tony Chapman of the LST and Landing Craft Association reminded crew member, Les Hinchliffe, of the occasion. Les was most surprised having completely forgotten that he had been in the presence of the great man!

A Brief History

LBK 6 is believed to be the last surviving landing vessel, which saw service as a floating kitchen off the Normandy beachheads in 1944. The vessel was built as a steel 'swim' barge in 1944, with a deadweight of about 150 tons. The hold was approximately 50ft long by 16ft wide. Similar kitchen conversions were carried out on a further nine vessels, each with a storage capacity to feed 900 men for one week. Other barges were converted to oil, water and engineering barges to cater for the varied requirements of the invasion fleet.

Four ovens were installed aft of a kitchen space with stores for bulk and perishable goods forward. A ten ton fresh water tank was fitted in the hold with additional fresh, seawater and diesel tanks on the accommodation roof.

In the after section of the hull were two Chrysler petrol engines, separated by a diesel tank. The engines developed a total of 130bhp producing a speed of 6 knots. The estimated endurance was 300 miles at 5 knots on 600 gallons of petrol carried in tanks fitted in the after peak.

A toilet and coal storage were provided in the forepeak, while at deck level aft was the steering shelter which, along with the various fuel tanks, was provided with 2.5" plastic armour. The middle section of the deckhouse above the galley was the 'servery' area with accommodation for the one officer, aft, over the engines, and accommodation for the 24 man crew, forward over the storage areas.

Post WW2 Service

In September 1946, LBK 6 was at Chatham where she continued to serve as a floating galley for ships in the dockyard. By 1948, she was classed as a Servicing Craft (Civilian), operating under control of the Captain of the Dockyard's Department. In July 1951, the hull was surveyed and given an expected life of 13 years; at the same time it was reported that the engines had been removed. Two years later, she was listed under the Captain of the Dockyard's Department, Chatham until December 1957 when the barge was absorbed into the newly formed Port Auxiliary Service.

LBK 6 was modernised in 1957 and continued to serve as a galley for ships under refit. In September/October 1961, she was docked for essential repairs, including a tank clean followed the next month by emergency repairs. Approval was given on 24 April, 1963, to dispose of the barge and Portsmouth was formally advised of this in September 1963. It was  found that LBK 6 was a suitable replacement for YC 3029 or YC 3030, formerly LBK 1 and LBK 3 respectively.

[Photo; sister craft LBK1 courtesy of the Jack Smale / Philip Simons Collection].

Approval to transfer to Portsmouth was given on 14 Oct, 1963 and LBK 6 was ready for tow by 5 Nov. The tug Bustler left Sheerness with LBK 6 in tow on 13 November 1963, arriving at Portsmouth the following day.

A refit was required before LBK 6 could replace YC 3030. In late 1964, the refit and quadrennial survey were carried out at Portsmouth. In 1965, the crew complement was increased by one stoker and facilities were further improved as LBK 6 continued to provide food for ships in refit.

LBK 6 underwent various refits at Portsmouth throughout the 1960s and 1970s but was once again declared for disposal on 20 Nov, 1977. However, the barge was used during the refit of Intrepid between June, 1977 and Nov, 1978 and continued to have an active role in the Royal Maritime Auxiliary Service. [Source; DA Sowdon, BSc (Hons), 1994. World Ship Society RMAS Central Record].

On May 10th, 2007, under tow by a marine tug out of Itchen, LBK 6's destination was believed to be Babcocks at Southampton for disposal. That didn't happen! She was given a new role as the clubhouse of  the Harwich and Dovercourt Sailing Club. The photo opposite shows her arrival at Harwich on April 2nd 2008. Whilst serving as their clubhouse, the sailing club hope to incorporate some of her history, thus making her a public attraction as well. LBK 6 is the ultimate survivor of her class.

Conversion Completed

Recollections of a Crew Member

Prior to joining HM LBK 6, myself and others were billeted on Hayling Island at Havant, Hampshire, England. HM LBK 6 was brought to us from London, as confirmed by a veteran who had ferried numerous Thames barges to Hampshire. He himself served aboard HM LBK 10.

Our Normandy crew were the first to board her but the precise date escapes me. Our commanding officer was Sub Lt Smillie, a Londoner. On June 4^th he told us that we were to be part of an invasion force to be landed on the 5th June, later to become June 6 because of a delay due to bad weather.

We departed Hayling Island early in the morning to join up with the main invasion force. The hundreds of ships and boats of all shapes and sizes was an unforgettable sight as they made their way towards the Normandy beaches of  France. Our crossing was far from pleasant. The sea was so rough that LBK 6 pitched up and down like a bucking bronco!

We were assigned to Sword beach at Ouistreham on the extreme eastern flank of the invasion beaches. By my recall, when we arrived we were the only craft there apart from a merchant ship or ammunition ship. This vessel was later hit by incoming shell fire or by striking a mine and went up in flames. I vividly recall her crew and other personnel jumping into the sea to escape the inferno. [I have been unable to confirm either the actual or planned departure or arrival time for LBK 6. The convoy records show that she possibly set out with Convoy SM 4, which had with it two LBKs. That particular convoy was due off the Normandy beaches on D+1. (Tony Chapman)].

We did not stay long in the vicinity of Sword beach and soon moved westwards to take up position off Gold beach at Arromanche, where we remained.

HMLBK 6 was about 79 feet long by 21 feet wide at her bows. She had four ovens aft of her kitchen space, storage for bulk and perishable goods forward, a ten ton fresh water storage tank housed in the hold with additional fresh and sea water tanks on the accommodation roof. She could hold sufficient provisions to feed 900 men for a week. In the after section of the hull two Chrysler petrol engines gave her a speed of six knots. At her forepeak were two toilets or ‘heads’ which were emptied by her crew.

Our crew complement was 24 men, including our commanding officer. His quarters were aft above the engine room and the crew quarters were forward above the storage areas.

I can recall the names of some crew members but others are now only faces remembered. For the record, those I can recall are;

AB ‘Haircut Sir’ Gutteridge, a barber in civilian life from Hayling Island, Hampshire,
AB L Higgins a native of Norwich,
Cook Bailey from Northampton,
Cook Wicks from London,
AB Isley from Peterborough,
AB Dawson from Hull,
Stoker Gibbons from the Staffordshire area,
Storeman or ‘Jack Dusty’ as they were known, also from Staffordshire, from Brownhills I believe,
AB ‘Scouse’ Hughes from Liverpool,
AB Gibson from Boness in Scotland,
Cook Tyson from Staffordshire,
Cook Barton from Tunbridge Wells,
AB Harold Armitage from Huddersfield in Yorkshire (my best mate ),
AB Douglas Mackrell from Bradford, Yorkshire,
Stoker Carey,
Cook Ward from London,
AB Leslie ‘Tubby’ Morris from Bolton, Lancashire, also known affectionately as ‘Little Eva,'
AB Les Hinchliffe, a native of Sheffield,
Odder who came from South Africa,
Our Coxswain whose name escapes me. He came from London and in civilian life he was a "lighter-man" working on the Thames barges... the very same craft he found himself serving with in Normandy... and myself of course.

As I sit writing this in November of 1995, I am aware that HMLBK 6 is still going strong and still feeding Royal Navy personnel in Portsmouth.

Photo Gallery

The photos below were provided courtesy of Peter Booth, son of ‘Jack Dusty’, Fred Booth of LBK 6. They are of crew members taken in Sas van Gent, a small coastal town in Zeeland, Holland in May/June 1945. Where names are given they read from back row to front row and left to right.

"Liberty Men!"

VE Day May 5 1945. Splice Mainbrace!

Stand Easy.

Dusty, Stokes, Chef, Tubby & Mac.

Curly, Skipper, Killer, Dusty,Taffy & Chef

Spike and Dusty

Curly, Killer, Ginger & Taffy

Lofty & Spike

PE

Taffy

VE Day May 5 1945. Splice Mainbrace!

Chef.

Further Reading

Naval History website

There are around 300 books listed on our 'Combined Operations Books' page which can be purchased on-line from the Advanced Book Exchange (ABE) whose search banner checks the shelves of thousands of book shops world-wide. Type in or copy and paste the title of your choice or use the 'keyword' box for book suggestions. There's no obligation to buy, no registration and no passwords. Click 'Books' for more information.

Correspondence

Acknowledgments

Able Seaman Les Hinchliffe's recollections were transcribed by Tony Chapman, Archivist/Historian of the LST and Landing Craft Association (Royal Navy). Thanks to John Wardale for sending in the photos of LBK 6 leaving Southampton.