Beschreibung:

[USA: c.1943-44.] A United States Navy Jack, woolen construction with 48 cotton stars, double appliqued with a zig zag. Hoist stenciled "Union Jack", and "LST 4[20]," with an added HMS. Four war period brass grommets. Some discoloration, the fly partially blown out with minor loss. 810 x 1160mm. (32 x 46 inches.) The US Navy Jack often described as a Union Jack, was one of the 3 official flags flown on every US Navy Vessel, the Jack being flown from the bow when the vessel was at anchor of moored. This example belongs to US LST 420 (a tank landing ship), capable of landing tanks and other vehicles and men on beach-heads around Europe. She was laid down in November 1942 in Baltimore, moved to England and served in the Sicily Invasions. Pictures are available online of the vessel landing vehicles and men on (?)Omaha Beach, but she obviously came in after the initial invasion on June 6th 1944, once the beach-head had been established and the coastal obstructions cleared. Some time after D-Day, the American LST was transferred to the British Navy under the command of Lt. Commander Everett, and on a mission to Ostend on November 7th, 1944, in company with 4 other LSTs with Canadian engineers of the 2nd Tactical Air Force on board, the ship hit a mine off Ostend and sunk quickly, with the loss of most of the crew and 230 men, one of the biggest losses of life on a LST during the war.