Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 023, folder 36: Gordon Campbell Wilson

Release - Int. WILSON, Gordon Campbell

47th Royal Marine Commando. Gold

Box 23, #36

GOLD

11:10 47 RM Commando Le Hamel

Convinced he would die on D Day Boats hung up on [crossed out]vehicles[end crossed out] obstacles Saw dead German who looked exactly like him Evening Wondering when Americans would show up

THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY

D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 — MIDNIGHT JUNE 6

Ack 6/5 X

What is your full name? GORDON CAMPBELL WILSON

What is your present address? MORETON HOUSE, MORTON, ESSEX

Telephone number: MORETON 222

What was your unit, division, corps? 47 (R.M.) COMMANDO

Where did you land and at what time? Le Hamel About 11:10 am

What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? 2nd Lt. - 19

Were you married at that time? No

What is your wife’s name? —

Did you have any children at that time? —

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? [illegible] about Jan 1944. Finally about April 1944

What was the trip like during the crossing of the Channel? Do you remember, for example, any conversations you had or how you passed the time? We spent most of the night drinking neat gin in the Doctor's cabin of our L.S.I. We talked a little about dying.

Were there any rumours aboard ship? (Some people remember hearing that the Germans had poured gasoline on the water and planned to set it afire when the troops came in.) No.

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? No.

2.

Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? In my Troop (3 officers and 60 men) 1 officer was killed, 1 wounded badly, and about 11 men were killed anD about 16 were wounded. Capt Cousins who was killed was recommended for a V.C. (unsuccessfully) the other officer got an M.C.

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? Capt T.F. Cousins thought I would be killed and he would live: he said this the night before.

Were you wounded? Yes, slightly

How were you wounded? Grenade splinters.

Do you remember what it was like -- that is, do you remember whether you felt any pain or were you so surprised that you felt nothing? Too slight to be troublesome

Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it may not have seemed amusing at the time? Or anything unexpected or out- of-place? After the attack on Port-en-Bessen I went looking for the other wounded officer who was not to be found anywhere. I eventually found him in a large double bed bandaged up and surrounded by about eight large French women fussing over him. They had picked him up off the street the night before — during the fighting — and taken care of him admirably.

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? Capt. Cousins' remarkable tenacity and courage: he was the outstanding officer of the Commando

3.

In times of great crisis, people generally show either great ingenuity or self-reliance; others do incredibly strange or stupid things. Do you remember any examples of either?

Do you know of anybody else who landed within the 24 hours (midnight 5 June to midnight 6 June) either as infantry, glider or airborne troops, whom we should write to? [?Bryan?] [?Somaine?] of the Thomas Houston Co. about the story of [?Lt.?] Peter Winston R.M. (dec'd) who was dropped in the wrong place and escaped through France and Spain. At one stage he was captured by the Gestapo but rescued by the French. He was later killed with 45 Commando crossing the Rhine.

What do you do now? Director of [illegible] [illegible] Agency.

Please let us have this questionnaire as soon as possible, so that we can include your experiences in the book. We hope that you will continue your story on separate sheets if we have not left sufficient room. Full acknowledgement will be given in a chapter called "Where They Are Now."

Cornelius Ryan

Joan O. Isaacs

The Reader's Digest

PTO

BR Poss H

Gold

2nd Lieutenant Gordon Campbell Wilson was barely 19 on D-Day when he found himself heading across the Channel [inserted]as one of 3 off[end inserted] in charge of a troop of 60 men. that is two full sections, of the 47 Royal Marine Commando who were to land on Gold Beach and force march across to a point known as Hill 72 overlooking the little French [inserted](fishing)[end inserted] village of Port on Bessin which they were to capture on D+ 1.

Their instructions were that the entire 47th Royal Marine Commando was to take the hill and link up with the Americans. The point about 2nd Lt. Wilson is that he was convinced that he would die on D-Day.

On the way over he and a few other officers were billeted in the small doctors cabin of an LSI. It was hot and stuffy in the cabin. Everybody was drinking gin and there was nothing to cut it such as "cordial or vermouth". As the night of June 5 wore on everybody began drinking hard and soon young Wilson who was not mucy of a drinker found himself scoffing large glasses of gin. The liquor and the stuffiness of the room added to his predicament which to say the least had become slightly maudlin as the hours rolled by. His Commander, Captain T.F. Cousins in charge of the entire troop (there were three officers and 60 men) of A Troop had the lower bunk while Wilson had the upper. Wilson said to him "I know I am going to die tomorrow, I'm sure I am". "I agree with you" said Cousins, "but I'm convinced I won't."

In a way this was not young Wilson had expected to hear. He was just a little mad that Cousins whom he hero worshipped didn't say "Oh no, you won't old boy". Annoyed at himself and Cousins he climbed out of his bunk to get some air on deck. He walked outside on to the deck and the fresh air felledhim. He fell flat on his face, out. He was poured back into his bunk.

On landing A Company's boats got hung up on obstacles and nearly all of the men had to swim for it losing much of their equipment. They came in under fire from the Battery at Longues but although none of them were hit, one man was drowned. They were told incidentally that this battery had been knocked out by the RAF.

They got up onto the beach which was a very narrow strip of sand and sheltered for the moment behind a wall. They moved on and passed between deserted pillboxes just behind them. Wilson felt rotten but the tension which everybody felt helped to clear his head very quickly. Suddenly as he passed a pillbox hesaw a dead German officer sitting outside. "Oh, Jesus," he said, the dead German looked exactly like him! This worried him no end for it was further proof to his way of thinking that he was destined to die that day.

Nothing much happened to A troop in the forced march. They were sniped at and mortared but by the afternoon they reached Hill 72.

He remembers the marines overrunning the German casualty clearing centre built into the side of the hill. He remembers the German doctor having a "squirrel like face". In the bunker there were five people all German and wounded. One German lay on a stretcher moaning and died during the night. The other four were not quite so badly wounded but were in pain just the same. The German doctor kept insisting that he needed more supplies but the Commandoes didn't have any to give him. At midnight Wilson remembered thinking about Cousins' remark of the night before and was agreeabley surprised to find that he was still alive. He was beginning to regain his confidence when Cousins told him that A company would lead the assault into Port en Bessin. He didn't know at that time that he would live out the war but that Cousins would be killed in the assault a few hours later.

He remembers realising that the Americans had not shown up and that also the Germanswounded in the bunker seemed quite ordinary people just as he felt he was too.