The early months of 1945 were spent patrolling near the German-occupied Channel Islands. During one incident, enemy gunners on Guernsey Island opened fire on Hyde’s ship. After the German surrender in May, PC-1225 was part of the force that reoccupied the Channel Islands.

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‘On the first anniversary of D-Day, PC-1225 returned to the Normandy assault area and paid tribute to all the fallen of that fateful day. There were about a dozen ships, mostly patrol craft. We each fired a half dozen rounds in salute. Then we sailed for home,’ said Hyde. ‘The cruise back to the States took about two weeks. We went first to the Azores, then to Bermuda, and finally we arrived in Florida. After that, we went in for maintenance before our scheduled reassignment to the Pacific. The end of the war with Japan found us till undergoing repairs.’

This article was written by Gary Hyde and originally appeared in the July 2001 issue of World War II magazine. For more great articles subscribe to World War II magazine today!

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