After D Day and fighting E Boats in the channel, my father was drafted into HMS Boxer in August 1944. It had just completed conversion from its original LST configuration to a Fighter Director ship and began training to provide air support to the supply lines for the British army advance into Germany. The ship's crew were RN and the operational personnel were all RAF. The ship's shallow draught allowed it to go close inshore and removed the need to land on a still hostile beach and set up ashore. After VE Day they set off in June 1945 for the invasion of Japan but the Japanese surrendered while they were still undergoing minor repairs at Malta.