Newcastle Journal Monday 20/11/1944

Simon Glancey has submitted the following:

Flight Lieutenant George James Binks served with the Base Signals and Radar Unit. He was killed when L.S.T. 420 (Landing Ship, Tank) was sunk off Ostend. It had left Dover with a party of men, trucks and supplies for R.A.F. units in Belgium. When it arrived off the Belgian coast, it encountered a severe storm and the captain decided to return to Dover. Soon after turning, it struck a mine off Ostend and sank. 14 Officers and 224 other ranks were killed, with only 31 survivors.

LST-420 was laid down on the 6th November 1942, under Maritime Commission (MARCOM) contract, MC hull 940, by the Bethlehem-Fairfield Shipyard, Baltimore, Maryland; launched 5th December 1942; then transferred to the United Kingdom and commissioned on the 15th February 1943.

She was a purpose designed 'tank landing ship' capable of transporting vehicles and personnel to anywhere in the world. She had served in the Mediterranean and in the landings on D-Day. From the 20th July 1944, she was commanded by Lieutenant Commander Douglas Harold Everett, Royal Navy Reserve, a 30 year old professional Master Mariner serving with the Royal Navy for the duration of the war. After meetings at the Air Ministry in London and the HQ of 2nd Tactical Air Force in North West Europe, it was decided to move the unit, its vehicles and personnel to a site at Ghent, Belgium where workshops were set up and equipment began to arrive. On receipt of movement orders in the marshalling area in Essex, the 303 men comprising the unit began boarding LST-420 which took aboard 19 officers and 250 enlisted personnel of No. 1 BSRU (some sources say 263 officers and men) with their 50 vehicles, equipment and supplies, the remaining officer and 33 enlisted men boarded another LST with several of their vehicles.

On the 7th November 1944, a small convoy of vessels comprising LST-200, LST-320, LST-367, LST-405 and LST-420 crossed the English Channel bound for Ostend, Belgium. The weather had been very poor for a week and a severe storm was rising. By mid-afternoon when they arrived off the Belgian coast conditions were terrible, and as a result they were refused permission to enter port at Ostend due to concerns that an accident in the harbour mouth might cause considerable disruption in the supply line for land forces. The convoy duly altered course back towards England planning to shelter overnight in the Thames Estuary before returning to Ostend on the following day.

At approximately 15:00, within sight of Ostend the bow section of LST-420 struck a powerful German mine which tore a large hole in the ship's hull causing it to break into two parts. The ship's galley fires were lit at the time due to the evening meal being prepared and gallons of petrol from the damaged fuel tanks of the vehicles caught fire enveloping the stern section of the ship in flame. LST-420 sank very rapidly and due to the heavy seas only larger vessels were able to attempt to rescue survivors in the water. Of the ill-fated “BSRU” only 31 or 32 men were saved from life rafts.

The position of the wreck is recorded as 51°15.033′N 2°41.798′E.

The dead were washed ashore as far north as the north German coast, on the beaches of the Netherlands, Belgium, England and as far south as Calais, France.

It was the greatest loss of lives on a British landing craft during the war.

Amongst the others killed on L.S.T. 420 were LAC Laurence Scanlon; AC1 A.S. Alderson; Sgt. M. Sedgwick; LAC J.H. Shickle; LAC E.P. Spence; and LAC P. Wardrobe

George James Binks is remembered at Corbridge on C52.01 and C52.03

Nav Source
L.S.T., 420 History
The CWGC entry for Flight Lieutenant Binks