William Earl BRICKEY

Source : Arnaud Gaté 

Parents : Jack H. & Ida Bethel Lambert BRICKEY

Brother : Paul James

Source : F Lavernhe

Map of Normandy American Cemetery

Landing Ship Tank 531

Source : Exercisetiger.org.uk

COX Brickey, William E, 8279084, LST-531, KIA, 28 April 1944 

William Earl Brickey was born December 14, 1923 in Elbert, West Virginia. He was the son of Jack H. and Ida B. (Lambert) Brickey. There were five children in the family. His father, Jack, was a veteran of WWI. 

Brickey was employed by M&B Manufacturing Co. in New Haven, Connecticut prior to entering the service. 

In January 1943, Brickey enlisted in the United States Navy from West Virginia. Service Number 8279084.Coxswain (COX) Brickey was assigned to LST-531. 

LST-531 was constructed in Evansville, Indiana. She launched on November 24, 1943 traveling down the Ohio River to the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico. LST-531 was commissioned on January 17, 1944 with Lieutenant William D. Bradley in command. She soon set sail for England. 

On April 27, 1944, allied forces initiated Exercise Tiger (aka Operation Tiger), a rehearsal for the D-Day invasion of Normandy. COX Brickey was on board Navy vessel LST-531; a Landing Ship, Tank designed to transport and land tanks, vehicles, troops, and cargo directly onto shore during amphibious assaults. At 0217 the morning of April 28, LST-531 was hit in the midsection and engine room by a torpedo from a German E-boat.

The fully fueled trucks, vehicles and tanks on the parking deck erupted in fire. A second torpedo hit LST-531 ripping seams of the ship's hull open. The ship started listing and turning over to the starboard side. LST-531 sank within ten minutes. Many men who survived the torpedo strikes perished while floating in the frigid waters before the HMS Onslow arrived to rescue survivors at 0700 that morning. 467 of the 496 LST-531 crew members perished in the incident. 

Riverside Church Cemetery Saltville, Smyth, VIRGINIA
Source : James Archer (Findagrave)

Survivors of Exercise Tiger were sworn to secrecy and reports were classified to protect the pending D-Day invasion at Normandy. 

The United States government and British government did not officially acknowledge what happened during Exercise Tiger for decades. As a result, family members didn’t know what happened to their loved ones who were simply listed as missing in action or killed in action in the English Channel. A total of 749 American servicemen died in Exercise Tiger. 

COX Brickey died at the age of twenty in the sinking of LST-531 in Lyme Bay off the coast of Slapton Sands, England during Exercise Tiger. He was declared dead one year and one day after the incident, April 29, 1945. Brickey is memorialized on Tablets of the Missing in Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial in France. He also has a cenotaph in Riverside Church Cemetery in Saltville, Virginia.

Source : Fold3

Source : Fold3

Source : Fold3