The clue here was what the flags were flying - "Beach Vessel". In fact in simple terms to "beach" a vessel, is to bring it ashore. However it can also mean to sail it into shallow water, either accidentally or on purpose. There are several reasons for doing this, on purpose, and the most usual is to prevent a burning or otherwise dangerous ship reaching the harbour. In some cases it is also done to a boat by smugglers, so that smaller boats may come along on the side which is not so visible to the mainland and remove the cargo without anyone finding out. This is similar to what happened at D-Day, for the idea was to sail the landing craft on to the beach and offload the men on the other side, away from the enemy forces. This was not entirely successful. It is estimated that about seven hundred British men were injured on Gold Beach, or in the sea, as they waded in, and about three hundred and fifty were killed. However no actual details of casualties nor of deaths was ever taken, and some bodies simply washed out to sea.
The first appearance of this set, or rather these sets, is in our original Tobacco War Index, RB.18, published in 1951. They are in Section II, "Flowers and Signals Series by A.T.C. - Burdick Nos. T.408 and T.411".
The first set listed is :
42. International Code Signals - "A". Burdick T.411. Series of 25, issued by A.T.C., backs headed "International Code Signals" :-
A. Old Gold back
B. Green back
Then there is a listing of the cards in the set, comprising letters of the alphabet and the signs for Answ., Code Signal, In Distress, Latitude, No, What Ship is That? and Yes.
Our set follows, described as :
43. International Code Signals - "B". Burdick T.411. Series of 25, issued by A.T.C., no series title :-
A. Old Gold back
B. Green net design back
These are all signs for words and sentences, so I will scan it and add it in by Saturday.
In Jefferson Burdick`s American Card Catalogue, this set is listed as
T.411 - International Code Signals (50) ovpt on T.400, TW.42, 43 ... .15
TW is our Tobacco War booklet, above. However, the T.400 reference here is really interesting, because that links to A.T.C.`s set of "Actresses and Girls", suggesting that our card appears in that series, but without the flags, which were overprinted (or "ovpt" in the listing) on top. This fact does not seem to be fully explained anywhere else. So if you have our card in that series without the flag, please do tell us.
By the time of our original World Tobacco Issues Index our set is listed as :
INTERNATIONAL CODE SIGNALS (A) Inset on Beauties (50) Ref USA/T.411.
1. with series title, known as "A". See RB.18/42 (25)
2. without series title, known as "B" See RB.18/43 (25)
The updated World Tobacco Issues Index is the same text, but a new code