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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.