Box 025, folder 29: James Arthur Warburton

WARBURTON, James Arthur Canadian 3rd Div. Box 25, #29

For Cornelius Ryan Book about D-day

[inserted]Canadian [?tanks?][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? JAMES ARTHUR WARBURTON

What was your unit and division? 81st Battery, 14th Canadian Field Regt. R.C.A. 3rd Canadian Division

Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time? Berniers-Sur-Mer 9.30 A.M. June 6th 1944.

What was your rank on June 6th, 1944? LIEUTENANT

What was your age on June 6th, 1944? 24

Were you married at that time? No - But my wife to be, with the W.R.C.N.S. in Washington had a pretty fair idea of what was going on. Her brother was a Naval officer in the invasion fleet.

What is your wife's name? AUDREY FRANCIS MARY (PORTER)

Did you have any children at that time? No

What do you do now? Professional Engineer - Working for the Canadian International Paper Co at Temiskaming.

When did you know you were going to be part of the invasion? Hard to say, exactly. I was with the division from the time it left Canada, and all our training had a purpose. In Feb. or Mar. '43 I took a troop to Scotland for combined ops training & again in Aug. In Oct. we got new equipment & guessed what for. When we were "sealed in" our camp in May and briefed we were sure.

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? I must have slept most of the time. I can remember leaving Southampton - a beautifully sunny afternoon, with sun sparkling on the water and a rather rough sea. Doling out seasick tablets to my troop - they had to swallow them in front of me - and not taking one myself because I thought I was a good sailor, and thought the drug might make me dopy. Trying to brief my N.C.O.'s in the rolling ship with the hot sun beating down. Drinking scalding soup out of one of those self heating tins - Dusk coming and losing touch with the world. Being seasick. Bedding down in complete blackness & waking up occassionally in complete blackness. Then the hazy dawn - and not a ship in sight. Finally, while I was going about my own business, the flotilla reassembling.

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). None that I can remember - we'd been pretty well briefed, and knew the enemy had pretty strong defences, but, perhaps because we were adding to it ourselves, we felt the bombing & shelling would take care of things. As an example of the thoroughness of our briefing - While we were on board the L.C.T.'s, completely briefed except for name places, which we would find out on opening our sealed orders when the goahead was given, I was leafing through the skipper's copy of a marine handbook on the channell coast & ports, and picked out our target immediately. A security officer who happened to be to be in the cabin at the time told me later he didn't know what to do about it!!

- for Cornelius Ryan 2 - Your name James A. WARBURTON

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

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

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

Were you wounded? No - that is, not on D-day. Was wounded towards the end of July at Caen.

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? Can't remember any particular pain. My reaction was "My God, I'm hit, must do something about it." So crawled out of the shell hole to get help. When help not immediately forthcoming tried to stop flow of blood myself, then got too weak to do much, & passed out.

Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it may not have seemed funny at the time? Not in the 24 hours under consideration.

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? As we "waded" ashore in our vehicles a bren gun carrier (armoured, tracked vehicle, open top) moving along beside my tank hit a mine just in the water and turned over. I can remember vividly looking down from the turret of my tank as it happened, wondering vaguely what was going on. But this is the thing which struck me - before I could even properly appreciate what had happened half a dozen soldiers had rushed to that carrier in an effort to turn it right side up & free those trapped beneath. They didn't succeed, but I never felt alone in battle again, knowing that [crossed out]men[end crossed out] there were always men who would give a hand-that we were all, strangers or not, pals "in the same boat."

- for Cornelius Ryan 3 - Your name J. WARBURTON

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.

Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? On L.C.T. #524 crossing channel.

Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? Just North of Beny-Sur-Merour second gun position.

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? Two of our batteries, the 66th and the 81st, formed the 66/81 Association after the war. If you wrote to headquarters in Montreal you might get some interesting stories. The address is 66/81 Association P.O. Box 11 VERDUN, Que.

Also you'd get some worthwhile information from Mr. D. Moss 450 Murray St. NORTH BAY, ONT. He is manager of the Toronto-Dominion Bank branch in North Bay, and was, I think, with our third battery, the 34th on D-day.

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 ACKNOWLEDGMENT 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.

Cornelius Ryan

Frances Ward Research, The Reader's Digest

P.O. Box 335 Temiskaming, Que. Canada July 26th 1958

Miss Francis Ward, Research Dept., The Readers Digest 230 Park Ave, New York 17, N.Y.

Dear Miss Ward, Your letter in the July '58 edition of "the Legionary" concerning the book about Dday, June 6th 1944 caught my attention. I was a 24 year old Lieutenant on that never to be forgotten day, in command of the four guns of "E" troop of the 81st Battery of the 14th Field Regiment, Royal Canadian Artillery. As a unit of the Third Canadian Division we went ashore in the Juno Area under Command 2nd British Army, landing roughly one hour after the initial infantry assault. After days aboard L.C.T. No. 524 we moved out of Southampton harbour in the late afternoon.