"Mr and Mrs G. G. Bell, Matamata, have received official advice that their younger son, Sub-Lieutenant Peter Garvin Bell, R.N.Z.V.R. is reported missing, believed killed. Born 20 years ago, he was educated at the Matamata High School and the New Plymouth Boys’ High School. He served with an Auckland regiment until he transferred to the Navy two years ago. Sub-Lieutenant Bell went to England in August, 1943, for training under the B Scheme, and was engaged on Russian convoy work for some time, including service on a British cruiser during the fight with the Scharnhorst. He received his commission eight months ago and was second-in-command of a landing craft to and from the Normandy beaches from June to early August, when he was posted for further service in the Pacific. His elder brother, Flight-Sergeant R. J. M. Bell, R.N.Z.A.F., is a member of a heavy bomber crew in England." [Waikato Times, Volume 195, Issue 22519, 30 November 1944, Page 4]
"Half a dozen large landing craft were lost off Land’s End in October 1944 when a storm overwhelmed their convoy, killing more than 50 Royal Navy sailors.
A team of divers – known as the ‘Gasperados’ – operating out of Newquay on the boat Atlantic Diver took the plunge off the westernmost tip of the English mainland in the hope of locating a shipwreck.
They didn’t find it, but around 100 metres down, in an undisclosed location, they did come across a different wreck – possibly an amphibious vessel.
They sought the advice of Dr Harry Bennett, Associate Professor of History at Plymouth University to identify it.
He suggested that it could be the one of six Landing Craft Tanks (LCTs) lost while being towed to Asia in 1944 in anticipation of the planned invasion of Japan (Operation Downfall, scheduled for 1945/46).
With France liberated and Allied troops on German soil by the autumn of 1944, the decision was taken to repair/refurbish/upgrade the 650-tonne vessels and prepare them for the mammoth journey to the Far East theatre of war.
In mid-October 1944, vessels of the 9th LCT Flotilla left ports in Scotland, Northern Ireland, England and Wales to link up with convoy OS92/KMS66 bound for the Mediterranean and ultimately Asia.
The landing craft were never meant for such voyages – or rough weather; older LCTs could not withstand wind above Force 4, newer ones Force 6.
On October 18-19 1944, the convoy ran into an Atlantic storm off the Cornish peninsula with winds estimated at Force 9 – speeds of up to 55mph – and mountainous seas.
Six landing craft tanks – 480, 488, 491, 494, 7014 and 7015 – were lost at the height of the storm, going down with some or all of their crews.
Although more than 100 sailors were saved in horrendous conditions, 55 men – including some in warships carrying out the rescue, washed overboard – lost their lives.
No-one has seen any of the missing vessels since October 1944 – until now." [Source: https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news/2023/july/18/20230718-lct-wreck, Accessed: 01/12/2025, Dated: 19 July 2023]
