Captain M. Leszcynski - Preparation for D-Day at Penarth Dock - 1944. A painting of Penarth Docks in 1944 shows them crammed with the big US Navy LST vessels designed to land cargoes of tanks and men onto the beaches of Normandy. The Penarth Daily News [092] takes up the story:-
A United States Navy Base was established at Penarth Docks under the command of Captain Arnold Winfield Chapin USN for the Eleventh Amphibious Force. Captain Chapin says of the painting:- “This watercolour study of the wartime United States Navy Base here at Penarth Docks shows the numerous LSTs (Tank Landing Ships) being prepared in readiness to join the Great Allied Invasion Fleet that was launched against Hitler’s Europe on D–Day,the 6th of June 1944.”
The artist was Captain Michael Anthony Leszczynski (FRSA), (who later adopted the name Michael Lester). He was born in 1906 in Dolina in the Ukraine and had royal blood having been descended from King Stanislaw Leszczynski.
Captain Chapin wrote a useful background note to the painting:-
“The scene was painted from the bridge of the S.S. Chorzow by her commanding officer M. Leszcynski of the Polish Marine Navy sometime during the spring of 1944. The bow of his ship can be seen in the foreground with local dockers loading ammunition for the “Far Shore” . Note the blue plywood sheets used to hide the serial numbers of the L.S.T.s from prying eyes.”
Captain Leszczynski settled in Britain in the 1930 marrying a British wife Peggy. During World War II he sailed on anti-submarine ships called “Traps”. He later became the organizer and president of the Association of Captains and Officers of the Polish Merchant Navy in England, was elected to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts. In 1953 he settled in Jamaica in the port of Montego Bay and became a full-time painter. He was described as “he was the best captain among painters and best painter among the best captains” and was also regarded as an outstanding maritime historian.
After the war the American commander of Penarth Docks, Captain Chapin held a number of senior naval appointments before retiring to Palm Beach Florida – from where he went to sea frequently in his 53 foot Hatteras motor cruiser. He died on July 27, 1988 aged 89. [092] [436]
