Amphibious Beach Unit

With thanks to Dennis Blewitt:

The ABU’s were part of the crew of HMS Intrepid and HMS Fearless that assisted and took part in amphibious landings. The members were usually Royal Engineer Commando. I found out recently that owing to cut backs they couldn’t fulfil the commitment around 1970. The Army were tasked with filling the roles and I volunteered for a place in the unit while at Osnabruck, with my oppo Spr Egmore. Our posting lasted from approx. 1971 to 1973 on HMS Intrepid. I believe when our tour was finished the roles were handed back to the Commandos.

The ABU consisted of all the bods needed for a beach landing i.e. landing craft operators and us. The landing craft were operated by the Royal  Marines and we did the beach stuff i.e. trackway, mine clearance, water supply etc. We also had RCT, REME and Pay Corps. Our little bit was, grandly, called the LPD Op Tp - Landing Platform Dock Operating Troop! HMS Intrepid was numbered 409 and HMS Fearless was 408.