Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 019, folder 25: Edward Purvis Ashworth

ASHWORTH, Edward Purvis Royal Navy-- Juno BOX 19, #25 [illegible]

8 a.m. LCT COURSUELLSS JUNO

JOB "We were carrying tanks and Canadian personnel

RUN IN TO BEACH "We had about 8 tanks and their crews -- about 50 men in all -- plus 12 ship’s crew. Beach was so packed with vehicles, we were waiting to get up beach. We were being mortared, but no shells.

SHIP SUNK "Near shore the main engines went wrong--tappets were broken. My pal, Christopher McCormick, stoker mechanic, first class, went down to the engine room. I went down about 5 minutes later to shed my duffle coat. He was standing at the engine room door. He asked me if I wou,d tell the motor mechanic to come down to fix something. I went topside. By this time we had landed our tanks. I was sent forward to put ramp clips on to get tanks off... We were just going off astern when I could see "bottle tops" sticking out of ebbing water. We were resting on them It was a mine, directly under the engine room. Up it went.

Release to PG

When the mine went off, I was away up on the forecastle. The explosion sent me hurrying aft. Some one said the motor mechanic and Mac were down there. We got the mechanic up, there was no sign of any blood, but I noticed that his dentures had been blown down his throat. He was quite dead. We werr now searching for McCormick. I had a feeling it would be of little use when we found him. As the water and oil drained through the hold caused by the mine we found him (by this time we were high and dry on the beach). Poor old Mac was cut completely in half. We sewed them both up in their hammocks and carried them to another LCT which was in our flotilla

Mac had been mentioned in dispatches for his part in the desert campaign. Whenever he got drunk he used to stick his oak leaf under my nose and say: "Geordie, wait until you get one of these." I got mentioned in dispatches for my part in the landing but Mac wasn’t there to see my oak leaf.

WOUNDED HIMSELF We brought our dead and wounded on board the other LCT lying astern. About 11 a.m. a Gerry plane came over. I crouched down thinking it was "me end". It got us and I was wounded behind the ear...blown up in my own landing craft, bombed by a plane in the second. I felt a singing nois in my ears, then I felt the blood running down my neck. When I saw the blood on my 1 hands, I nearly panicked. We sorted ourselves out. Some of the chaps were badly wounded. Our 1st lt. appeared with a jar of rum He said, "A tot of rum for casualties only." I had to smile when I saw those who had escaped asking their comrades if they could rub their faces arms or clothing in their gore so it would appear as a wound to get rum. They took us ashore to a beach field hospital where big envelopes were pinned in us. I was scared.

ON THE BEACH n "I wanted souvenirs. I*d collected a whole gerry suit from a bunker but no tin hat. I wanted a tin hat. I saw a Canadian marching 6 pows along at point of gun. They were on a cliff and disappeared out of sight I went on looking for my tin lhelmet. Suddenly I came across 6 dead Germans: they were all lying crumpled up wearing tin lhelmets. I went to get one. To get one off, you had to undo the buckle... I tried and found the man*s throat was cut; every one of them had had his throat cut. I turned away, sick as a parrot. I didn ’t get a tin hat. On June 7th we went home buried our dead at sea just off the Isle of Wight in another LCT

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THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 -- MIDNIGHT JUNE 6 ack 5/6/58.

What is your full name? EDWARD PURVIS ASHWORTH

What is your present address? 27 BOUNCES RD LOWER EDMONTON LONDON N9.

Telephone number: -

What was your unit, division, corps? ROYAL NAVY. (COMBINED OPPS)

Where did you land and at what time? COURSUELLES SUR MER 8 AM APPROX 6 JUNE 1944

What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? ABLE SEAMAN. 21 YEARS.

Were you married at that time? NO.

What is your wife's name? -

Did you nave any children at that time? -

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? WE GUESSED SOMETHING BIG WAS ON BECAUSE WHEN THE TANKS AND SOLDIERS CAME ABOARD ALL SHORE LEAVE WAS STOPPED AND THE SHIP WAS MOVED TO A BOUY IN MID STREAM 4/6/44

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 SEA WAS CHOPPY, MOST OF THE SOLDIERS WERE SICK. THE HOURS WERE PASSED AWAY PLAYING "UCKERS" (NAVAL SLANG FOR LUDO). THE MAIN CONVERSATION WAS LOOT AND HOW WE PLANNED TO LOOT. THERE WERE CHAPS ON BOARD WHO HAD DONE LANDINGS BEFORE AND WERE WELL VERSED IN LOOTING.

Were there any rumours aboard ship? (Some people remember hearing that the Germans had poured gasoline on the water and planned to set it afire when the troops came in.) AS FAR AS THE SAILORS WERE CONCERNED THERE WERE NO RUMOURS. IN FACT I DONT THINK THE WORD "GERMAN" WAS MENTIONED

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

2.

Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? MY CLOSEST FRIEND AND TWO OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CREW WERE KILLED OUTRIGHT SEVEN WERE WOUNDED.

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? THE LAST CONVERSATION I HAD WITH MY FRIEND BEFORE HE GOT KILLED WAS ABOUT THE MAIN ENGINES, SOMETHING WAS WRONG, HE WAS TELLING ME ALL ABOUT IT. HE WAS THEN CALLED TO DO HIS TURN IN THE ENGINE ROOM. I WENT DOWN BELOW FIVE MINUTES LATER TO SHED MY DUFFLE COAT. HE WAS STANDING AT THE ENGINE ROOM DOOR. HE ASKED ME IF I WOULD TELL THE MOTOR MECHANIC TO COME DOWN TO FIX SOME THING. I DID. THE M. M. WENT BELOW ABOUT 2 MINUTES [inserted] LATER [end inserted] WE STRUCK A MINE DIRECTLY UNDER THE ENGINE ROOM. BOTH WERE KILLED. [inserted] [?Into. he cames tapped me on shoulder ?] as I stood were: "Come on", he said "I know he was [?your friend?]" [end inserted]

Were you wounded? YES.

How were you wounded? THE LANDING CRAFT WE WENT ABOARD AFTER ABANDONING OUR OWN WAS HIGH AND DRY ON THE BEACH WE WOULD HAVE TO WAIT ABOUT 4 HOURS BEFORE WE COULD BE REFLOATED. DURING THAT TIME WE WERE A SITTING DUCK FOR ANY ENEMY PLANE. A BOMB WAS DROPPED. A NEAR MISS BUT SHRAPNEL FLEW WOUNDING ME AND SEVERAL OTHERS.

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? WHAT I REMEMBER WAS A SINGING NOISE IN MY EARS. I DIDNT FEEL ANY PAIN, IN FACT I DIDNT KNOW I WAS HIT UNTILL I FELT THE BLOOD RUNNING DOWN MY NECK. I PUT MY HAND BEHIND MY HEAD TO MAKE SURE THAT IT WAS BLOOD. WHEN I SAW THE BLOOD ON MY HAND I NEARLY PANICKED.

Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it may not have seemed amusing at the time? Or anything unexpected or outof-place? AFTER THE BOMB HAD DROPPED WE SORTED OURSELVES OUT SOME OF THE CHAPS WERE BADLY WOUNDED. TWO VERY SERIOUSLY. OUR 1st LT. APPEARED WITH A JAR OF RUM SAYING "A TOT OF RUM FOR CASUALTIES ONLY" I HAD TO SMILE WHEN I SAW THOSE WHO HAD ESCAPED UNSCATHED ASKING THERE COMRADES IF THEY COULD RUB THERE FACES, ARMS, OR CLOTHING IN THEREFORE SO IT WOULD APPEAR AS A WOUND, SOME OF THEM GOT A TOT OF RUM.

Do you recall, any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? MY FRIEND STOKER 1st CLASS C. McCORMACK. HAD BEEN MENTIONED IN DISPATCHES FOR HIS PART IN THE DESERT CAMPAIGN AND WHEN EVER HE GOT DRUNK HE USED TO STICK HIS OAK LEAF UNDER MY NOSE AND SAY "GEORDIE WAIT UNTIL YOU GET ONE OF THESE" A FEW HOURS BEFORE HE WAS KILLED HE SAID THE SAME WORDS. I GOT MENTIONED IN DISPATCHES FOR MY PART IN THE LANDING BUT MY FRIEND WASNT AROUND TO SEE MY OAK LEAF.

3.

In times cf great crisis, people generally show either great ingenuity or self-reliance; others do incredibly strange or stupid things. Do you remember any examples of either ? THE ONLY STRANGE THING OR STUPID THING I CAN RECALL IS OF A SCOTSMAN IN OUR CREW WHO AMID ALL THE EXITMENT AND THE CRASHING OF MORTARS CALMLY WENT ON TO THE FORECASTLE AND IN A RICH CLEAR VOICE RENDERED THE FAVOURITE SONG AT THE TIME "YOURS"

Do you know of anybody else who landed within the 24 hours (midnight 5 June to midnight 6 June) either as infantry, glider or airborne troops, whom we should write to? I AFRAID IVE LOST CONTACT WITH ALL PERSONS I KNEW THAT TOOK PART. WHEN I CAME OUT THE NAVY LAST YEAR I LEFT MY HOME TOWN NEWCASTLE AND TOOK UP RESIDENCE IN LONDON.

What do you do now? I AM NOW EMPLOYED AS A FURNACE MAN, IN AN ALLOY FOUNDRY.

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.”

Cornelius Ryan

Joan O. Isaacs The Reader's Digest

There isnt very much I can add to what Ive already informed you of, except how we got our dead mates out. When the mine went off I was away up on the Forecastle, the explosion sent me hurring off, some one said the Motor Mech and Mac were down there. We got the Mech up there was no sign of any blood, but I noticed that his dentures had been blown down his throat, he was quite dead. We were now searching for McComack, I had a feeling it would be of little use when we did find him. As the water and oil drained through the hole caused by the mine we found him, (by this time we were high and dry on the beach) poor old Mac was cut completly in half. We [?sewed?] them both up in there hammocks and carried them to another L.C.T. wich was in our Flotilla. As I said before we were all beached the beach itself was covered with mines, bodies, and burned out DUKWS. It was then we got bombed, another of our comrades got killed and quite few wounded. The chap that received the fatal wounds wasnt discovered for a hours. Some one had to go to the "head" (Toilet) and on a ship the doors when, some thing was behind stopping it, eventually we broke the doors off and there we found out missing [crossed out] [illegible] [end crossed out] pal. [inserted] [?"Neamo"?] - wasn't get so [illegible] [end inserted] A splinter of shrapnel had gone through the ships side where the "head" was and lanced through his stomach, we dont know how long he lived but he was dead when we found him. We sailed on one engine from France on June 7th AM. We burried our dead at sea just off the Isle of Wight and then carried on to Portsmouth where the wounded we taken ashore for treatment in Haslar Hospital. From there we went into Royal Naval Barracks for interrogation and then on seven days survivors leave Two years ago I was in Liverpool and I went to visit my friends parents, theyre very old now but they still recognised me, we talked about Chris, and of the good times we had together.