elsie item issue 69 - USS Landing Craft Infantry

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4 Preparation for “Operation Overlord” Created by English Modelers Detail of the figures on the LCI
One never knows when “bread cast upon the waters” comes back! Seven years ago we responded to a request from Chris Mead, a modeler in England, for LCI plans. We’ve asked Chris to tell us a bit about this display and his work on the LCI in it. LCIs are not forgotten in England! Railroad modelers have constructed “Overlord,” a display that has been years in the making. One might think that a model railroad display is a strange place to find a model of an LCI, but this is indeed the case. “Overlord” is a UK based layout designed to be exhibited at railroad shows that depicts the preparations for D-day in and around the Southampton docks during June 1944. It began in 1994 measuring just 12 feet from end to end, and has proved so popular that after nearly fifteen years and 90 shows including trips to Belgium, the Netherlands and even Germany, it is still going strong and now measures over three times its original length. One of the reasons to extend the layout was to display a wider selection of the ships of the invasion armada. Uppermost on the list were both the LCI & LST. After contacting the <strong>USS</strong> LCI Veteran’s Association in 2002, I received a letter from Jim Talbert and John Cummer giving links to all the images on the website and also copies of LCI plans. Seven years later, the LCI is complete enough to be included in “Overlord” and now sits on the layout as an integral part of the display. Prompted by the need to write an article on the layout for a magazine and seeing the results of the accompanying professional photographs (which are reproduced here by kind permission of Chris Nevard and the Hornby Magazine) I thought it only right and proper to contact Jim and John again to show them the result of their kind offer of information all that time ago. Construction of the model began with enlarging the plans from 1:96 to the scale used on the layout of 1:76 (this is the common scale for both military and railroad models in the U.K.) which makes the finished model about 2 feet in length. The material used throughout is plastic sheet of varying thicknesses—40 thou for the hull and decks with 10 and 20 thou for the superstructure and conning tower. The thinner gauge allowed the sheet to be rolled around a a metal rod to produce the curves of the cabin deck and conning tower. Copious amounts of filler allowed the lines of the bow to be shaped and also covered the many joints and gaps between the sheets! The rest of the deck fittings and armaments are made from a combination of more plastic sheet for the vents, lockers and doors, metal rod and tubing for the armaments, wire for the railings and a few purchased fittings such as the mooring bollards and jolly boat. Although the LCI is good enough for display to the general Model builder Chris Mead public, there is still plenty of detail to add, not least the choice of an appropriate number. Fortunately my recent correspondence with John Cummer has provided the answer. He wrote: ‘This is of particular interest to me because my LCI, the 502, was one of several craft put under British control as a part of Assault Force George—and we loaded from those very docks in Southampton. We carried troops of the Durham Light <strong>Infantry</strong> and landed them on Gold Beach at about 1030 hours on 6 June’. “Overlord” has a number of exhibitions planned over the last months this year and throughout 2010. With any luck by the time the first of these comes around the currently anonymous LCI will be sporting a white conning tower with blue band and the number ‘502’ on the bows. I hope I have done these small but important ships and all those who served in them justice. If you have any comments, please feel free to contact me at christopher.mead1@ntlworld.com or through our society’s website www.lwmrs.co.uk This layout goes to shows throughout the year. The next ones are: October 24–25—Warrington; November 21–22—Southend-on-Sea; December 12–14—Wigan’ and January 16–17—Warwick (this is my Society’s own show) I hope some of your members can come along to one of them, I would really enjoy meeting them. 5
Page 1 and 2: OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF THE USS LAND
Page 3: From the Editor/President Welcome t
Page 7 and 8: California LCIers to Host Pearl Har
Page 9 and 10: These posters inside a German bunke
Page 11 and 12: first-aid wound washing and brushin
Page 13 and 14: Feeding the Marines (recounted to B
Page 15 and 16: LCI 653 to be Scuttled in Alaska Ov
Page 17 and 18: The Chaplain’s Corner The Power o
Page 19 and 20: Elsie Item Newsletters Being Scanne
Page 21 and 22: An Iwo Jima Remembrance By Nick Gro
Page 23 and 24: have probably been gone. The Captai
Page 25 and 26: A Good LCI Sea Story— Told by a N
Page 27 and 28: “A Plug for a Distinguished Nervo
Page 29 and 30: Tiny Clarkson’s Ship’s Stores O
Page 31 and 32: USS LCI NATIONAL ASSOCIATION APPLIC

elsie item issue 69 - USS Landing Craft Infantry

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