Drawing heavily on firsthand accounts, the author details both the actions of the Empire Javelin herself and of the landing craft launched from her.

Empire Javelin an American-built LSI (Landing Ship, Infantry) in Royal Navy service, played an important role on D-Day. She carried 5 companies of 1st Battalion 116th Regiment including the famous Bedford Boys over the Channel to France where the majority were killed that morning. Philip Bujak has traced the journeys of that fateful morning of many of the men on board the Empire Javelin which personalizes the story of the ship. He has also many personal witness accounts of her sinking from those who were on board when she exploded in December of 1944 and sank within sight of the cemetery on Omaha beach.

Drawing heavily on first-hand accounts, the author covers the actions of the ship herself and of the landing craft launched from her in great detail. One third of her landing craft were lost in the first wave alone. He also reveals Empire Javelin’s earlier life, from design and construction, through launch and training. Similarly, he relates her service after that fateful day in June 1944, when she continued to ferry troops across the Channel for several months. The events surrounding her sinking in December 1944, either by U-boat or a mine, while laden with troops, are also fully examined. The author’s skillful narrative is supported by archive photos, the whole forming a fitting testament to the contribution of Empire Javelin and ships like her, which, though less glamorous than battleships and destroyers, played a vital role in Operation Overlord and the liberation of Europe.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Part I: The Birth of a Ship
• Chapter 1 The Genesis of the Empire Javelin, 1939
• Chapter 2 The Tizard Mission
• Chapter 3 Lend-Lease & MARCOM
• Part II: The Birth of a Regiment
• Chapter 4 Gathering Clouds Beyond the Blue Mountains
• Chapter 5 Creating the Regiment, 1940
• Chapter 6 First to Ship Out and First to Fight
• Chapter 7 The Arcadia Conference
• Part III: Fatal Attractions – Preparations for D-Day
• Chapter 8 The Journey to England, 1943
• Chapter 9 Your Life in the Hands of a Stranger
• Chapter 10 The Birth of the Empire Javelin, 1943
• Chapter 11 COSSAC’s Final Plan – Operation OVERLORD
• Chapter 12 The German Preparations
• Part IV: Final Preparations for the Assault on Europe
• Chapter 13 Forever in Ivybridge, Devon 1943–44
• Chapter 14 The Final Departure for Portland and the Empire Javelin
• Part V: The Destruction, But Not the Death, of a Regiment
• Chapter 15 The Landing
• Chapter 16 The Beach
• Chapter 17 Reactions, Repatriations & Remembrance
• Part VI: The Death of a Ship
• Chapter 18 September to December, 1944
• Epilogue
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Plates