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THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY
D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 -- MIDNIGHT JUNE 6
Ack 20/5/58
What is your full name? SIDNEY JOHN THOMAS BECK
What is your present address? 50 CLARENCE ROAD ST. ALBANS HERTS.
Telephone number: ST. ALBANS 55390 OR MAN. HOUSE 1515 EXT. 1371.
What was your unit, division, corps? 341 ST. FIELD BATTERY R.A. 86TH HERTS YEOMANRY FIELD REGT. ATTACHED TO 50. DIV.
Where did you land and at what time? LA RIVIERE opposite MONT FLEURY battery. 0845 HRS D-DAY (approx.)
What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? LIEUTENANT. R.A. AGED. 28 1/2 years
Were you married at that time? YES. MARRIED 7 JUNE 1941 What is your wife's name? RUTH (NEÉ POLLARD) Did you have any children at that time? YES. BOY. DANIEL. BORN 26/5/1943. (ONE EXPECTED. JULIA WAS BORN 26 JAN. 1945).
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? We had been training for it since July 1943. In April and early May 1944 we had final exercises and by middle of May everyone knew his job. We went into concentration camp at end of May and from then on knew the invasion was near.
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 actually set sail on June 4th and were approaching the Needles when our L.C.T. was ordered to return to Southampton. Actual crossing very rough. left S'otn at 1000 hours June 5th (See extracts from my diary - attached)
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.) None I can recall. We were all fairly well briefed. The rumours mentioned above was, I think, current before D-day in the concentration camps and was dismissed as a possibility. In fact, I think the rumour started from the 1940 aborted invasion by the Germans, i.e. we had poured petrol in the waters and burnt their barges.
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? Yes, but written up somewhat later. Please see extracts enclosed.
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Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? One of our Battery, not in my LCT, was wounded by a splinter just before the LCT beached, and he remained on board and returned to England. No other casualties on D-day.
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties?
Were you wounded ? No
How were you wounded?
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?
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 out- of-place? 1. As mentioned in my diary extract, I remember seeing a German POW pull a wounded Tommy out of the way of our vehicles on the beach. 2. Being filmed by the Army Film Unit (?) as we drove away from the beach. Sitting in the turret of my Sherman tank I was a sitting target for snipers if there had been any around. I soon learnt to keep inside my turret on the move.
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? The first sight of a dead German soldier in the cornfields not far from the beaches The guns of the Cruiser Ajax firing from the Channel behind our L.C.T. The skill of the Navy is getting us to the right beach and the skill of our Captain in landing us so expertly. The sight of a small assault craft immediately ahead of our L.C.T. suddenly disappearing under a huge fountain of water as it either hit a mine or was struck by a shell. We saw nothing more of it.
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In times of 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? None I can recall. [My BSM showed admirable presence of mind in substituting rations for blanco at the last minute! Just before we landed, he asked permission to take with us the surplus rations we had been supplied with on board (sufficient for 6 days emergency and we had only eaten 2 days rations). I had orders to leave the remainder on board but I told the BSM to bring them if he could find room on his vehicles. He told me later that he unloaded all his supply of Blanco to make room for the extra rations].
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? MAJOR PERRY (F.O.O. with leading infantry) "CURLEW COTTAGE', 7A ELMS AVE. PARKSTONE, DORSET.
MAJOR KILN (Acting R.A. Liaison Officer with R.N. during invasion) SILVER BIRCHES, GREAT MOLEWOOD, HERTFORD.
MR F.T. HILL (who was Lt. Col. R.E. Beaches on D-day and has a wonderful story about a dog) Address WATERGUARD SUPERINTENDENT, CUSTOM HOUSE, CARDIFF.
What do you do now? CIVIL SERVANT ACCOUNTANT H.M. CUSTOMS, AND EXCISE. KING'S BEAM HOUSE, MARK LANE LONDON E.C.3.
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
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Extracts from my diary
June 4th - At last, to everyone's relief D-day was announced for June 5th. Our L.C.T. upanchored and began running down the Solent passing the great L.S.T.'s. Waves were running high. Off the I.O.W. the convoy stopped and hung around until a signal ran through the fleet. We turned round. Postponed. The suspense aboard all ships was almost unbearable.
June 5th - The Armada set sail despite most unfavourable weather reports. Our L.C.T. weighed anchor at 10.00 hours, once more passed the great L.S.T.’s and once more the waves were running high. Capt. Perry and Capt. Hale (in the L.S.T.s -- acting as F.O.O.s for Infantry) flashed signals by lamp "Good luck" to our L.C.T. as we steamed by. As we passed the Neddles and felt the first Altantic swells we knew there was now no turning back. The documents marked "Not to be opened until the last possible moment" were now opened. Messages to the troops from the King, Eisenhower, Montgomery and 50 Div. Commdr. were read out in the Army shelter under the bridge of the L.C.T. Final briefing with correct names as well as their code names were given and the last instructions (As there was little room in this shelter, I had to give the briefing 3 times to all Army personnel aboard, which included a detachment of a R.E. beach party. Each briefing lasted about 40 minutes and in the confined space with the L.C.T. beginning to pitch and roll, I was feeling very queasy at the end and glad of some fresh air.) Everyone was by now wearing his Mae West (life belt) and a check was made to see that everything was securely fastened down, the ammunition secure and dry. Spray and waves werb washing over the sides. Soon we began to feel queer and bags, vomit, were produced (Sea-sick pills had been distributed earlier. I did not take mine until the briefing was over and already beginning to feel sick, Later I remembered "reaching" in a quiet corner, but not violently sick.) The wind wasclear against the bows, the boat heaving and swaying, chains and shackles grinding against each other and the tanks, the boat's engines revving at high speed. There was little comfort for anyone. Some tried to sleep inside their vehicles.