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WASHBURN, Arthur Seymour
Canadian 3rd Div.
Box 25, #30
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For Cornelius Ryan Book about D-day
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? ARTHUR SEYMOUR WASHBURN
What was your unit and division? L SECTION, 3rd DIVISIONAL SIGNALS, ROYAL CANADIAN CORPS OF SIGNALS 3rd CANADIAN DIVISION.
Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time? at a small villiage on the coast near BENY-SUR-MER. about 1100 AM. June 6, 1944
What was your rank on June 6, 1944? Lance-Sergeant.
What was your age on June 6, 1944? 29 years.
Were you married at that time? No.
What is your wife's name? MILDRED DORIS WASHBURN
Did you have any children at that time? No.
What do you do now? Federal Civil Service, employed as a storeman at the RCAF station GIMLI, Man.
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? We realized for about a year previous to D Day that we would be the assault division, but we knew for certain in May of 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? The channel crossing was rough and most of us were sea-sick, including myself. I do not recall any specific conversations now, but generally we talked about what it would be like when we landed. When we left England on June 5th we were not allowed to have any wireless recievers turned on, but after H Hour when the initial assault began, we could tune in our receivers and we listened to the BBC broadcast the news of the landings.
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). I was on an assault craft called a landing ship tank, (1ST) and there [inserted] were [end inserted] not many rumours to speak of. We had been very thoroughly and accurately briefed on what defences the Germans had erected and also we had been isolated from contact with civilian population and other army units for about two weeks so there was not much opportunity to collect rumours from outside sources.
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- for Cornelius Ryan 2 - Your name A.S. WASHBURN
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? No. We lost three men who were taken prisoner some time during the night of June 6 th.
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? Not any particular conversation. These three were a line crew and I was a wireless operator so our work did not bring us together for after. We did talk in general terms about how things were progressing but I cannot recall at this time any converstations with these three men.
Were you wounded? No, not on D Day but I was injured later on in November 1944.
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? I was run over by a truck while riding a motorcycle and was in a state of shock and do not recall things too clearly.
Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it may not have seemed funny at the time? No. I do not recall seeing or hearing anything that seems funny that happend on D Day.
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? Yes, several. At the time our LST touched down the first vehicle off was a jeep from the Provost corps. This jeep just cleared the ramps and although all our vehicles had been water-proofed this one stalled right at the end of [inserted] the [end inserted] ramp, preventing any more of our vehicles getting off. In order to clear the LST we had to jump in the water and pull the jeep ashore by hand. After we had reached shore we were surprised at how well things had been cleaned up in the beach area. I only saw one casualty, a British soldier lying dead on the ramps of a nearby landing craft. It struck me particualarly because he was the only one in sight.
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2A A.S. WAHSBURN Another thing that impressed me was the almost total absence of the German Air Force. On D Day I saw only one German bomber and he had two spitfires on his tail and was heading for home. We were standing watching this and one of the shell cases from one of the spits came down and just missed our Captain by inches.
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- for Cornelius Ryan 3 - Your name A.S. WASHBURN
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. Things went fairly well according to plan during and after the launchings. The only thing I might remark upon here is the way the French population crowded the streets and made movement for our vehicles rather difficult.
Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? Somewhere in the middle of the English channel.
Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? Camped in a field close to a church in Beny-Sur-Mer.
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?
Mr. ERIC SKOGLUND, Box 26 CAMP MURTON, MANITOBA, CANADA.
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;" YOUR NAME AND VOCATION OR OCCUPATION WILL BE LISTED.
THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP.
Cornelius Ryan
Frances Ward Research, The Reader's Digest