A surviving LCP(L)…

I am one of those who keeps an interest in the Landing Craft used during WW2, and particularly those used on the Normandy Beaches of 1944.  So with the 70th anniversary in mind, here we can see a rare survivor, an LCP(L) – that’s Landing Craft Personnel (Large).  I came across it while in Normandy back in 2010, on the ground behind a building at the Musee D-Day Omaha, and thought a number of Model Boaters might be interested in seeing these pictures.  It was hidden from view if you were to drive by on the road, so well worth stopping to see the museum and have a walk round.  They do have a pair of US built Higgins boats (LCVP) there as well, a type which moved it a stage on for having a ramp.  There are of course a host of many other fascinating wartime period exhibits in the main museum building.

The LCP(L) could carry 30 – 36 troops, and it had no ramp in the sense of many landing craft.  With a forward cockpit, and covers for the main compartment, it was a bit more seaworthy and hence a better ride than the common, flat nosed landing craft with ramps.  No armament tubs and no armour either on these early ones, though two gun positions were added to the front of US built versions.  Capable of speeds around the 10 knots mark, a variety of power units were used, some petrol, some diesel, and the loaded range could be up to about 120 miles, with a singel screw.  About 500 were built in the UK, and a number more in the US.  Very few of them left now, and kept outside this one is exposed to the elements, as well as plants growing in the bottom of it which need to be dealt with if this is to be restored.

For those who want one in static model form, then Dan Taylor made one which is available in 1/76 via Milicast, along with a number of other types (LCA, LCM 1, LCM3, etc and including the larger LCI (Large) as well.  His own brand of Dan Taylor Modelworks also have 2 sets of transfers for these various smaller landing craft types as well.

This real example is located at the small D-Day Omaha museum on the main coastal road near Omaha beach, on the D514.