Box 025, folder 18: Stanley A. E. Smith

SMITH, Stanley A. E. Canadian R.C.A.F.

Box 25, #18

[inserted]Can Ext. Tel check RCAF[end inserted] 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? Stanley Albert Edwin Smith. 202040 cpl. R.CA.F. What was your squadron, station, unit? 126 Airfield - 2nd T.A.F. Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time? Coursuelles - St. Croix. 11:45 What was your rank on June 6, 1944? L.A.C. What was your age on June 6, 1944? 25 Were you married at that time? No What is your wife's name?

Did you have any children at that time? No What do you do now? CPL. - MEDICAL BRANCH, RC.A.F. When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? Evening before when invasion currency was issued. 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? Trip was a little rough. Most complas ation [inserted]CONVERSATION[end inserted] was centred upon the [crossed out]amount[end crossed out] [inserted]number[end inserted] of aircraft visible at one time. and what Lord Haw Haw would have to say in that evenings broadcast.

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). Rumors were many & varied so much that one could only speculate as to how the battle was actually progressing.

Your name SAE Smith

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? Include any impressions from it. My biggest impresion was the noise from the hundreds of ships in the Channel firing Salvo after Salvo of Shells. Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during landing or during the day? NO

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties?: 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? NO Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it may not have seemed funny at the time? The frenchmen who had survived the terrific pounding of Air bombardmend or naval shelling etc. were more worried about the wine they had buried away than the damage to the village & constantly wanted to go into the fields & recover some. Regardles of the use the field was being put to.

[inserted]more about these [end inserted] Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? The one incident that will always stay in my mind was an old Frenchwoman in her 60's who appeared from no where out the rubble of buildings & stood at the road side proudly waving a wild rose she had plucked from the roadside.

Did you encounter any enemy*aircraft or flak? Was your aircraft demaged? N/A

Your name SAE Smith

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? I do not know whether you would call it a stupid thing to do or a brave act. However, I do not remember seeing one enemy aircraft in the Skies that day, but towards evening a lone German aircraft came over causually on what may have been a recce flight & leisurely over the beach head area & had gone a fair distance before any one realized that he was enemy A/c. by the time they had opened fire he was well on his way & may have gotten away from it all to gether. One would have to see the number of ships & guns available to realize the chance the Pilot took.

Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? On board a landing craft somewhere in the Channel

Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? on the beach at Courseuelles.

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? W/c. Dal Russell (war time rank) O.C. of our group & O/c flying of 126. Airfield Also Dr. Delaires Senior medical officer of our little group now a Doctor in Ontario Cpl M. Killen - believe he is in Kamloops.

PLEASE LET US HAVE THIS QUESTIONNAIRE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, SO THAT WE CAN INCLUDE YOUB 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;" YOUR NAME AND VOCATION OR OCCUPATION WILL BE LISTED.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP.

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