Box 024, folder 58: Robert McKee

McKEE, Robert

Canadian 296 Sq. R.C.A.F.

Box 24, #58

RCAF

Excerpt

THOUSANDS OF MEN, ON LAND AND SEA AND IN THE AIR, PARTICIPATED IN THE INVASION OF NORMANDY BETWEEN MIDNIGHT JUNE 5, 1944 AND MIDNIGHT JUNE 6, 1944. IF YOU WERE ONE OF THEM, PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.

What is your full name? ROBERT MCKEE

What was your squadron, station, unit? 296 Squadron, RCAF

Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time? with the evening reinforcement of the [?Orne?] River paratroop bridgehead

What was your rank on June 6, 1944? FLYING OFFICER

What was your age on June 6, 1944? 26

Were you married at that time? NO

What is your wife's name? NA

Did you have any children at that time? NO

What do you do now? Squadron Leader RCAF

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? [crossed out] [illegible] [end crossed out] We rehearsed for the paradrop all spring but our actual target for dropping paratroops was revealed only one week before

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? The trip was uneventful except we were worried if the teriffic naval bombardment would lift before we passed over the ships. We could see the bariage very clearly as we approached the coast but just as we reached the outer fringes of the naval concentration (we were the lead aircraft) the bariage ceased dramatically.

What were the rumors on board the boat, ship or plane in which you made the crossing? (Some people remember scuttlebut to the effect that the Germans had poured gasoline on the water and planned to set it afire when the troops came in). We had heard taht we would fly through heavy concentrations of light flak.

Your name ROBERT MCKEE

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? Include any impressions from it. NO

Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during landing or during the day? YES

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties?s NO

Were you wounded? NO

Do you remember what it was like—that is, do you remember whether you felt any pain or were so surprised that you felt nothing?

Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it may not have seemed funny at the time? Yes. One of the paratroopers who wore false teeth removed them prior to boarding the plane, placed them in his pocket and said to the teeth "now ache you bastards"

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? One of our NAAP drivers who was the fiancee of one of the pilots shot down gradually becoming hysterical as each crew returned but with no news of her fiance

Did you enoounter any enemy aircraft or flak? Was your aircraft demaged? Yes flak- no damage.

Your name

In times of great crisis, people generally show either great ingenuity or self-reliance; others do incredibly stupid things. Do you remember any examples of either from D-Day? No We flew as briefed otherwise the operation would have failed although the tactic of flying at ground level on the return flight certainly avoided a lor of flak casualites.

Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? At Brize Norton Oxfordshire

Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? At Brize Norton Oxfordshire

Do you know of anybody else who landed within the 24 hours of D-Day, June 6, as infantry, glider or airborne troops, or who took part in the air and sea operations, whom we should write to? NO

PLEASE LET US HAVE TEES 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 "WHHRE THEY ARE NOW;" YOUR NAME AND VOCATION OR OCCUPATION WILL BE LISTED.

THANK YOU FDR YOUR HELP.

W.M, Lee Squadron Leader Director of Public Relations (Air) Air Force Headquarters. Ottawa, Ontario.