Season’s greetings from the Navy’s LST-77

Roger L. Christie selected a postcard with an image of the ship he sailed on, the USS LST-77. He wrote a brief message to a friend back in Chicago, wishing her a Merry Christmas for 1944 and a Happy New Year. The Christmas celebration onboard the ship several days later later, however, was not exactly merry. The crew had a fine dinner but at the same time, they bid farewell to the ship they called home.

Combat operations under the American flag

USS LST-77 entered the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in April of 1944. She was a new type of vessel designed by the Allies. The Landing Ship, Tank (LST) was a major innovation in amphibious warfare, able to deliver tanks, vehicles, supplies, or troops, directly onto shores. Their length of 328 feet, cargo capacity of 2,100 tons, and a top speed under 12 knots, earned LSTs the military nickname ‘Large Slow Target’.

Despite her ungainliness, LST-77 crossed the Atlantic Ocean from the United States unscathed. The closest she came to danger was a Luftwaffe attack on her convoy, UGS-37, on the night of 11 April.¹ The attack happened 35 miles east of Algiers. At 2348 hours general quarters was sounded onboard the LST. Four minutes later, her guns opened fire as the enemy passed overhead.²

Later that month the ship supported operations at the Anzio beachhead. Her cargo from the port of embarkation at Naples was equipment, supplies, and troops, standard for LSTs, but something unusual returned from Anzio.

On several occasions she transported German prisoners of war (PoWs). The exact number of PoWs fluctuated. The delivery of 26 May, for instance, numbered 888 prisoners. This particular run was tragic when the ship’s elevator, which moved equipment between decks, was accidentally dropped, killing three PoWs and injuring another sixteen. Also injured were two sailors.³

The invasion at Anzio succeeded in its strategic objective of liberating Rome. Military operations in the Mediterranean then centered on the Allied invasion of Southern France, launched on 15 August.

Again LST-77 had a busy work schedule. She landed many units in France during the month-long operation, including a company of men from the segregated black 780th Military Police Battalion.⁴ Formerly an officer in the unit was Jack Hemingway. Growing tired of routine duties in Algeria, patrolling the desert and isolated installations, he joined the Office of Strategic Services. Parachuted into Southern France with a small team, Jack collected intelligence on the enemy and trained French resistance fighters in preparation of the invasion. He was far behind enemy lines when his old unit came ashore on 9 September.⁵

Once the campaign was over the ship’s days in American service were numbered. For her crew, the Christmas of 1944 was bitter-sweet.

Season’s greetings from overseas

Roger L. Christie sailed on LST-77 since its commissioning in July 1943. He came onboard as a lowly Seaman 2nd Class. After months at sea, surviving a Luftwaffe raid, supporting two major campaigns, and participating in an invasion, the nineteen year old teenager from Chicago was now a proficient sailor. Recently promoted to temporary Coxswain, Roger piloted the small Higgins boats hanging over the sides of the LST.

The time was mid-December 1944. Soon the crew would be out of a job, albeit not for long. The ship was to be decommissioned on Christmas Eve and transferred, as part of the lend-lease program, to the British Royal Navy.

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As the Holidays approached, Roger thought about his friends and family back home. He sat down to write a few Seasons Greetings. Sent to a Miss Jeanne Weinberg of 5051 Argyle Ave., Chicago, was a postcard with a short message:

Hi Jean: 

What's cookin?? Just a few lines to let you know every thing is okay over here + also to send you a very very Merry Christmas + a Happy New Year.

Lotza love + stuff
Roger.

On the front of the postcard a photo shows LST-77 unloading M4 Sherman tanks at Anzio. This image became iconic of the campaign, both during and after the war. The back contains Roger’s message, approved with a censor stamp, and cancelled 16 December.

Distributed by W.R. Thompson & Co., of Richmond, Virginia, a wartime postcard manufacturer, the postcard of the LST was made available overseas to servicemen. Especially fond of it was the ship’s crew.

Eight days after Roger’s postcard was mailed out, he and his fellow sailors bid farewell to their ship. The onboard Christmas dinner at Bizerte, Tunisia, served both as a celebration and a farewell. Still plenty of adventures awaited the ship in British service. As for her American sailors, the war was not yet over.

1. A description of the attack is found in Combat Narratives: the Mediterranean Convoys, 1943-44 (Washington, D.C.: Naval History and Heritage Command, 2020), pp.15-6.
2. War Diary, LST-77, entry for 11 April, 1944, p.163, viewed at: to: https://www.fold3.com/image/282699928 (accessed 25 December, 2021).
3. The ship’s log entry for 26 May notes fourteen PoWs as wounded but in an entry on the following day, the number is sixteen. War Diary, LST-77, entry for 26 May, 1944, p.208, viewed at: https://www.fold3.com/image/282699928 (accessed 25 December 2021).
4. Rep[report] of ops[operations] of the Beach Control Group in the invasion of Southern France, 8/17/44- 9/16/44, COMTASK- GROUP 80.2, World War II War Diaries, p.700, viewed at: https://www.fold3.com/image/295432035 (accessed 25 December, 2021).
5. Jack Hemingway, Misadventures of a Fly Fisherman: My Life With and Without Papa (Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1986).