A special bookplate signed in ink with the original signature of :
James Booth - X Craft Midget Submarine - D-Day
As an 18-year-old, Jim joined the Royal Navy as a seaman and after a year of service, he became a Lieutenant and spent the first half of the conflict on regular duties in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. At the age of 23, he transferred to the Submarine Service and became a submarine pilot on X- craft mini submarines, employed on a range of specialist missions such as attacking Germany’s feared Tirpitz in the Norwegian fjords. When it came to the invasion of Normandy, the crew’s accuracy was vital to the success of the landing, and by default the outcome of history. On June 6, 1944, his HMS X-23 lay one mile away from codename 'Sword Beach' on the eastern flank of the D-Day front. Their mission was to 'flash' and act as a lightship beacon for the invasion force to aim for.
While D-Day was COPP’s most significant operation, the unit also served extensively in the Far East in 1945 as the Allied powers closed in on Japan. Jim’s COPP 9 was committed heavily along the coast of Arakan, Burma, testing possible landing sites, assessing – and, where necessary cutting – defences. He continued to serve in the post-war Royal Navy, notably in the Mediterranean, then turned to farming in the West Country. Upon retirement, he was instrumental in the campaign to see his 200 fellow members of the COPP honoured with a permanent memorial – a goal he witnessed accomplished when a monument was erected on Hayling Island, the unit’s wartime home in Hampshire.
Item Dimensions Approx : 12.5 x 7 cms
Attach it to any suitable book
UK
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