A young man's war - 8

Fleming visited Carteret to meet with the senior officers when 30 AU were stationed there.

"We none of us liked him very much. He was one of those very superior professorial type R.N.V.R.s who got their claws into Their Lordships early in the war and have kept them in ever since."

Royal Marine R. Collins was under the command of this officer, Patrick Dazel-Job.

Naval intelligence officer and commando of the Second World War, Dalzel-Job was an accomplished linguist, author, mariner, navigator, parachutist, diver and skier and knew Fleming through his service with 30AU.

He transferred to 30 AU under Commander Ian Fleming who was then personal assistant to the Director of Naval Intelligence. In this role, and promoted to lieutenant commander, he landed near Saint-Martin-de-Varreville on Utah Beach, Normandy, on D+4 with two Royal Marine Commandos allocated to him, and an unrestricted authority order signed by U.S. General Dwight D. Eisenhower to pass through Allied lines and assault specific targets in German-held territory.

"The main body of 30 AU was encamped in a headquarters near Carteret. The main occupation of the men was that of repairing and refitting the motor vehicles and general rehabilitation. Captured material and documents were crated, listed and shipped the UK.

Little of importance had been received and (the unit) came in for some criticism from the British Army authorities largely on account of the boisterous manner of their blowing open safes."

Officers did not like being billetted with the Marines en masse.

"(Officers) thought they were like tiresomely dangerous children always breaking or setting fire to things, wandering into minefields or getting into scrapes from which they had to be extricated."

Soon however, 30 AU was back with the US forces as they break out of Normandy and fan out south and west.