ENFacsimile
Transcription
CONN 9
Bristol, Conn
For Cornelius Ryan
Book about D- Day
THOUSANDS OF MEN, ON LAND AND SEA AND 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? ERNEST RILEY BLANCHARD
What was your unit and division? 505th Regimental Combar Teal 82nd Airbone Div.
Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time ? We dropped in Normandy (St. Mere Eglise) at 0015 hour June 6. St Mere Eglise was the first town on the Continent to be liberated in the invasion.
What was your rank on June 6, 1944? P.F.C.
What was your age on June 6, 1944? 30
T V Were you married at that time ? No
What is your wife's name ?
Did you have any children at that time ?
[Notes in pencil] saw a man explode heard tell HQ 505 Capt Boyd landed in [unclear] in square
[Notes in margin] John Brogan samples Radio operator supposed to set up light assembly
What do you do now? I am a machinist by trade in the E. Ingraham Clock Co. Bristol, Conn
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion?
Actually we assumed that we were going into something real
big in May of 44 but as to actually be axact on the
time we did not know until we were in the C-47s on our way.
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?
It was a rather weird trip we all seemed
to sense that this was going to be a real
rough operation. As for the talk on our
ship I would say it was down to a minimum
level. Were all doing a great deal of sweating
this thing out. I smoked quite a few cigarettes
I remember that. It was around a three hour trip.
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)
Well we had heard rumors and
more rumors. Some of them were that this
was a sham that's a big invasion
was going off in Norway at the same
time we dropped in Normandy. We also
heard that the Jerries had all kind of
Notes and Questions
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First a little background: My father, Ernest (Ernie) R. Blanchard was on the same plane as John Steel, Chalk #9, (aircraft: 42-23505). He was a radio operator as part of the 505 HQ. The radio ops were assigned to various planes as needed, usually just before the mission. More often than not, they did not know the men on the particular plane. In this case, my dad did know John Steel, probably not well, but they were two of the older men in the 82nd at that time, in their 30's.
If I can I will try to help with some of the text on page 2 or Ryan's notes:
1. The pencil note (I think Ryan wrote them as reminders) that looks like "Capt Boyd landed [unclear] in square." I think that is supposed to read, "Lt. Cadish landed in tree in square." I think this was a memory error on my dad's part. From all of the searches I've done, there was no Capt. Boyd there. There was a LTC Boyd in the glider troops that was KIA, but not at Ste Mere Eglise (SME). Since my dad didn't know the team members all that well, I think he just remembered the Lt. that was their jumpmaster that night as Boyd, rather than Cadish. I believe the unfortunate Lt. ended up KIA on a light pole, but dad recalled it as a tree.
2. [Notes in margin] "John Brogan samples Radio operator supposed to set up light assembly" A bit of a puzzle here. I think Ryan is referring to page 4 of the notes that my dad kept a journal and that he mentioned that. That might read, "Biog. and samples," to remind Ryan to get them later. Later, he did correspond with dad to get his journal, which was never found.
As for the "light" comment, Pathfinders did have some lights to guide the later flights, but I'm certain this mortar team would have had no such thing. It is possible that this is a reference to some "light assembly" of the mortar equipment, or even the radio gear.
One thing worthy of note, I did get to interview the co-pilot of the plane, a Howard M. Eifert. Oddly, he didn't think that they dropped the troops in the incorrect location. What he wasn't aware of was the mortar team had a very tall member, Blankenship, and he was carrying a leg bag with mortar equipment in it and got tangled up getting it out the door. I've read of at least two other documented cases of this happening. By the time they sorted this out, they had missed the DZ and ended up over the village. From the cockpit, the pilot and co-pilot could not see what was below them, so Mr. Eifert can be forgiven for not knowing what happened. The pilot, Heinlein (his first name escapes me at the moment), was killed the next night in an airfield collision (blackout conditions?).
Another interesting thing is that Ken Russell, who also jumped from the same plane and also ended up with his chute caught on the church steeple, always thought my dad's name was "John," Ryan could have made that note to check back on that. Who knows?
Hopefully, some of this might be helpful?
Dennis Blanchard