Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 006, folder 28: Harrison Harvey Holland

HOLLAND, CWO Harrison H. 29th DIV Tex 5 BOX 6, #28

Easy Red

0715 OMAHA Military Police Platoon 29th DIVISION

1st Lt. EXCELLENT STORY OF THE WO SOLDIERS ARGUING "Our LCI had gone aground about 150 yds. out from the beach and we had to swim in. As I approached the beach, I moved up behind a tank which was still in the water firing at emplacements on the bluff. There were two soldiers behind the tank arguing very heatedly. When I got close enough I discovered that one of them was insisting that the other had his canteen fastened on the wrong side of his cartridge belt. The other soldier was insisting that it was not. Since the tank was drawing a considerable amount of fire, I didn't stick around to find out who won the argument.

MAN HELPING THE WOUNDED I came across one of my own men sitting cross-legged in the middle of the open beach writing. There was a badly wounded man lying next to him. I crawled out to him and asked him what he was doing. He said he was writing a note to pin on the wounded man as I had told him to do. Before leaving England, we had been issued "parachute first aid packets " containing morphone. We were required to brief our men in the use of them an to stress the point that if it were necessary to give a badly wounded man who was unconscious a shot of morphine, and if there were time and it was feasible, to pin a note fast to him giving the time, in order to prevent someone else coming along immediately and giving him another shot which might kill him. My man had remembered this point so well that he complete forgot about finding shelter for himself and the wounded man, and was sitting in the middle of the beach under extremely heavy fire carrying out his instructions.

Canteen Story

Texas Note I've no copy of letter to him, [?Mrs?] - I recall [illegible]. Have you [illegible]? Interview? 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? CWO. W4 HARRISON HARVEY HOLLAND

What was your unit and division? Military Police Platoon, 29th Infantry Division

Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time? Easy led Sector, Omaha Beach, approximately one mile East of St. Laurent sur Mer, at about 0715 hours.

What was your rank on June 6, 1944? 1st lieutenant, Corps of Military Police

What was your age on June 6, 1944? 24 years, 8 months

Were you married at that time? Yes

What is your wife's name? Mary Ann (Jacobsen) Holland

Did you have any children at that time? One, son Michael, aged 3

What do you do now? I am presently a Coach for the United States Army Pistol Team, United States Army Advanced Marksmanship Unit, Fort Benning, Georgia, but will retire on 31 May 1958 to take a position as a Supervisory Training Instructor and Coach with the United States Air Force Marksmanship Center, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? I learned for certain at a briefing at Camp Blandford, England approximately two weeks before 6 June.

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 sailed from Portland, England at about 1930 hours, 5 June, on an LCI (Landing Craft, Infantry) Number 94 I believe. The Captain invited me up to the bridge as he conned the vessel out of the harbor in line with a number of other LCIs. He explained the meaning of the various signals between ships. After dark I went below and went to sleep. I awoke at about 0430 and went on deck. I was slightly seasick so I had only coffee for breakfast. The sky was very cloudy with the moon breaking through occassionly. After day break the weather was extremely overcast and hazy.

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 remember.

- for Cornelius Ryan 2 - Your name

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? Pvt John Clister of my unit was killed during the landing. Several others were wounded.

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? Clister seemed to have had a premonition of his death. He came to me the night before and told me he was sure he wasn’t going to make it. I told him not to think about it, that we were all apprehensive, and that no one was more so than my- self.

Were you wounded ? Slightly, in the right knee.

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? Sgt Hubert B. Haga of Dublin, Virginia and I were running along the beach trying to find a landmark of some kind to identify where we were. A shell hit a tank just coming out of the water about 25 yards in front of us and at the same time I felt what seemed to be a hammer blow on my knee. It knocked my leg out from under me and I fell. It hurt considerably and I felt sure it was serious. Sgt Haga pulled me behind the seawall and we were both afraid to look at my leg. I finally looked and found the skin just broken.

Do you remember seeing or bearing anything that seems funny now, even though it did not, of course, seem amusing at the time? Several things. Our LCI had gone aground about 150 yards out from the beach, therefor we had to swim in. As I approached the beach, I moved up behind a tank which was still in the water firing at emplacements on the bluff. There were two soldiers behind the tank arguing very heatedly. When I got close enough I discovered that one of them was insisting that the other had his canteen fastened on the wrong side of his cartridge belt. The other soldier was insisting that it was not. Since the tank was drawing a considerable amount of fire, I didn’t stick around to find out who won the argument. A little later I came across one of my own men sitting cross-legged in the middle of the open beach writing. There was a badly wounded man lieing next to him. I crawlout to him and asked him what he was doing . He said he was writing a note to pin on the wounded man as I had told him to do. Before leaving England, we had been issued "parachute first aid packets" containing morphine. We were required to brief our men in the use of them and to stress the point that if it were necessary to give (See attached sheet)

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? The thing that struck me the most was the individual leadership displayed by both junior officers and non-commissioned officers during the confusion on the beach. Units had become separated and the command lines were practically non-existent. Personnel from all types of units were inter-mingled and in many cases had lost much of their equipment. On a number of occasions I saw and heard a Lieutenant or Sergeant get up and take off over the embankment separating the beach from the low area behind it, yelling something like, "Come on, let's get the H... out of here", or strangely enough, the old Infantry School motto, "Follow me". I was also deeply impressed by the outstanding actions performed by the Engineers who had the unenviable job of clearing obstacles in the water, and the wire and minefields behind the beach.

- for Cornelius Ryan 3 - 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? After being hit in the knee, I sent Sgt Haga back up the beach to try to round up our men who had become scattered. A few minutes later I went back myself and found a group of my men whom Cpl Charles Hritz had assembled. We decided to accompany an Infantry section which was preparing to make an assault on the bluff. An Engineer unit blew a hole in the double apron wire in front of us and we started over the embankment running. The first man through stepped on a mine and we all hit the groun Hritz who was next in line saw ona[crossed out] [illegible] [end crossed out] of the mines so he crawled forward and encircled it with his arms. He yelled back to me that you could see them, and as I couldn't see any way to improve on the situation, I joined him and ordered the rest of the Military Police in my unit to do the same. We all found a mine and encircled it with our arms, remaining there until the Engineers cleared a lane through the mine field. As I recall, only one other man stepped on a mine in our area.

Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? Aboard ship in the Channel.

Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? In a draw running through St. Laurent sur Mer.

Do you know of anybody else who landed within those 24 hours (midnight June 5 to midnight June 6) as infantry, glider or airborne troops, or who took part in the air and sea operations, whom we should write to? Lt Colonel Vern E. Johnson (then Captain, and Provost Marshal of the 29th Infantry Division) General Subjects and Tactics Department, The Provost Marshal General's School, Fort Gordon, Georgia.

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 HOT 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 4/23/58 Frances Ward Research, The Reader’s Digest

Continuation sheet for Questionnaire for Cornelius Ryan.

a badly wounded man who was unconscious a shot of morphine, and if there were time, and it was feasible, to pin a note fast to him giving the time, in order to prevent someone else coming along immediately and giving him another shot, which might kill him. My man had remembered this point so well that he completely forgot about finding shelter for himself and the wounded man , and sat down in the middle of the beach under extremely heavy fire carrying out his instructions.