Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 019, folder 33: Sidney John Thomas Beck

10th July, 1958.

S.J.T. Beck, Esq.,

50, Clarence Road,

St. Albans,

Herts.

Dear Mr. Beck,

I felt that I should personally write to thank you for the wonderful contribution which you have made in the preparation of the D-Day book which I am writing.

Your questionnaire was so complete that I did not think it would be necessary to ask you to come to London for interview. The account which you gave was precisely the sort of thing that I was searching for and I feel confident that I will be able to use extracts from this as I am writing the book.

As you must well appreciate, we are dealing with several thousand people, and in the book's final edited form, we shall probably be lucky if we can do more than give each participant a few lines. It is the sum total, however, of all these accounts which I hope will give the book its accuracy and unbiased presentation.

I have one more request to make of you. In order to extract some material from your questionnaire, I will need your signature to the attached release. A stamped and addressed envelope is attached for your use.

It may well be a year before the manuscript is published in The Reader's Digest, but at that time we will duly send you a copy of the issue with the story "The Longest Day".

Yours sincerely,

(Cornelius J, Ryan)