Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 007, folder 20: William James Wiedefeld, Jr.

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M Co 115th

9-9:30 Dog Red

Para. boots with foot still in it

Stepping over men from M Co.

Wiedefeld, William James, Jr. in D-Day Book

MD 29th Div.

Release

Box 7, #20

Release with PG

Last edit almost 2 years ago by Alice Jennett
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MARYLAND (?)- Check w. [?Fowler?] 29th Div MD 19

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 ? William James Wiedefeld, Jr.

What was your unit and division? "M" Co. 115 inf. 29Div.

Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time? To the left of les Moulins draw. Between 9 and 9:30.

What was your rank on June 6, 1944? Tech Sgt. Plat. Sgt. 2nd. Machine Gun Plat.

What was your age on June 6, 1944? 24 Were you married at that time? Yes. What is your wife!s name? Melba Rose Wiedefeld.

Did you have any children at that time? No.

What do you do now? Postal Clerk.

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? In Sept. of 1943. At Slapton Sands in England we were told that we would be the assault troops. Who. And where we did not know. We also were told by Col Slappy At a meeting that Two out of every three would die.

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? Rough.. A lot were sea sick, They had given us paper "PUKE" bags these were full, Tin hats were full, and fire buckets were emptied of sand and filled, The steel deck you could not stand on. One thing that was said "If they are going to kill us get us of these damn TUBS." "If" wegot on tthe beach they could not take us off.

We passed our time by cleaning our wepons,getting our gear ready, Asking Our friends to say hello to our familys and frends As we just might not make it.

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 heard many stories, but we knew what we were getting into,

Last edit almost 2 years ago by Alice Jennett
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- for Cornelius Ryan 2 - Your name Wm J Wiedefeld Jr.

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? No as it was against regulations. And who in the hell would stop to write at a time like that? And for the next forty odd days we only time to dig deep and depper

Were any of your friends kiled or wounded either during the landing or during the day? Yes, some fo ours, and many from "M" Co. 116 inf. I knew almost all of them, stepted over many of them, crossing the beach and going up the hill through mine field.

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? Yes, Some said that they knew that they would get theirs, And many did. When we took St. Lo, we would go home,

Were you wounded? On "D" day no. On the nite of Oct. 6&7 44 yes

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? Saw a flash,a blast of hot air felt nothing until after a 3000 yd.run and then only blood runing down my back and legs.

Do you remember seeing- or bearing anything that seems funny now, even though it did not, of course, seem amusing at the time? Yes, one very small Jew boy running up and down the beach looking for his carbine that he had lost. When he could have had his pick of any kind of gun if he would just sop and pick one up. For years I had wanted a pair of PARA boots, and on the beach I found a nice new pair, but one still had a foot in it. An LC.T. came in and stopeda fewhundread yds off shore it droped its ramp a sailor waved two tanksoff and after the splash was gone all that could be seen was two aerials sticking out of the water, none of the crews seemed to come up. About six D.W.K.S were coraming in behind us the Germans turned some Machine gun s on them they got lower and lower in the water then about 500 yds. off shore they went down, and the drivers went out with the tide.

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else?

Last edit almost 2 years ago by Alice Jennett
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- for Cornelius Ryan 3Your name Wm J Wiedefeld Jr.

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? A friend of mine a Sgt. in the I.R. Plat, got under an Ammo. carrier when we shelled the carrier got a direct hit, no one ever found him.

Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? Some where off the Fernch coast. Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? 1,500 yds due east of St, Laurent.

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?

Jerry Stevens, Dunkirk Md. Plt. Sgt. 1st. MG. Plt. H.H. Deignen 6th. St, Annapolis Md. Sect. Ldr.88 Motor Plt.

I believe that there is only 7 of the old Co. left. The drivers and cooks didn't come in until about D plus 1 or2.

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 GALLED "WHERE THEY ARE NOW; YOUR NAME AND VOCATION OR OCCUPATION WILL BE LISTED.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP.

Frances Ward Research, The Reader's Digest 230 Park Ave, N.Y. 17, N.Y.

P.S. Any and all credit for the beaches should go to those who died they opened the door. we just walked through. Wm.

Last edit almost 2 years ago by Alice Jennett
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Col. Fowler has asked me to write about this , he was our Co. at the time of our landing.

As we approached the beach the Skipper of our LCI. afraid of being stuck on the beach, and seeing two other LCI's [crossed out] o [end crossed out] * on fire. He tried to hold the ship on the beach with his engines, and not with his anchors. In doing this he broke off both of the ramps, about five feet above the water, the first few got offbefor they broke but most had to jump and landing in four to six feet of water the men droped most of our wepons.

Later some one came to me and said that we had lost all of our machine guns and most of our raortors, at this time it seemed like the whole German Army was shooting at us, and our guns were in the channel. Capt. Fowler had gone up the hill to see where the fire was comming from, and knowing that he was going to raise no end of hell about our lost guns. I found one man who would go back with me , a Cpl. Carter, as he could not swim he went out only waist deep, small arms fire made us move from time to time, but he tried to stay put because by now the tide was running fast, you could dive down and come up 20 to 25 yds. down stream , and he gave me a point to return to, and at the same time give me a look out for ships coming in and floating junk. By now the water was so dirty you could not see under water you could only feel we had gotten most of our guns but a base plate for a mortor was missing on the next trip down I felt near a pile what I was looking for so up we came on seeing what 1 had Carteryelled put that GD Thing down it was a large Teller Anti tank mine and a string attached to a anti personal Mech. we just layed it back in the water ana got the hell out of there, knowing thatif that string pulled tight both of us would get our tickets punched. What we did not find we left, even then we had to sit behind the sea wall and clean them as they were locked tight.

Sure hope that this may help you all. Mistakes are mine and not the machines.

Last edit almost 2 years ago by Alice Jennett
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