Norway's little ships are in the front line. U.S.

Norway's little ships are in the front line. U.S. soldiers unload 500 and 1,000-pound bombs from a Norwegian supply ship onto a waiting "duck" off the Normandy beachhead. These supply ships cross the English Channel in convoy and are taken at high tide as closely as possible to the beach, where the light materials are ferried ashore. Later, when the ships are high and dry on the sandy beaches, the heavy stuff - trucks, tanks, bulldozers - are swung ashore onto the sand and driven inland. A number of these little ships belong to the Norwegian Merchant Navy, which has been engaged since "D-Day" with the Allied fleets in this front line task. They are part of the 4,000,000 tons comprising the Norwegian fleet, which has been in action with the Allies since 1940, and are ideal for this type of work as few large ships can be used while the beaches are the unloading points.