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About six weeks before D Day we started invasion training sometimes we were
on the Landing Craft three or four days then landing at different parts of the South
Coast Then I was member of a working party getting new ammunition for the
Batt Stores The Batt moved into a marshalling area in a wood somewhere
near Southhampton There we did more training getting us to carrying
on exta equiment The whole area was cordoned off from the outside
world We were part of an "Independant Brigade" which consisted of the
2nd Batt Gloucestershire's and the 2nd Batt Essex and our task on the
Landing was to get off the beach and get inland as fast and as far as
we could We had to get Bayeux in three days Twice a day every man
was shown a huge table map which showed the different objectives
we would encounter in the way Officers and men got to know each other better
and "pitch and toss" was a popular game as were waited for the order to
embark French money was payed out to every men Bayonets were sharped
brasses were painted over we enjoyed doing that the the order came
to get aboard our Landing Craft On the evening of June the 5th we were waiting
for the order to get moving So we put on a concert for the crew of our
ship They were mostly Canasians and a great lot of chaps When the time
came to move down the Channel all the other Navel ships cheered
us on our way the crews stood on deck and saluted us We were
ordered below as soon as our landing craft got out into the open Channel
None of us spoke of the job we were going across the Channel to do We all
knew that this was it and the eyes of the free world was on us
Some hours later we were ordered on deck it was getting light
we made some coco which I remembered tasting very nice Our
officer pointed to what looked like a church steeple he said
that's where were are going It turned out later to be Bayeux
Cathedral Our landing craft either run aground on a bomb crater or a
rock because we couldn't get right on to the beach We all had a
kind of waterproof suit which came up to the neck covering all your
equiment and as we started to go down the ramp I saw that the
water must be over six feet the waves was very rough the tide being
right in I took off my suit I knew that the water would go over my head
Then one of the sailors jumped overboard with a light rope around his
waist he swam to the beach pulled a heavy rope from the around his
which he made fast to the beach with a stake we were all very thankful
for this Then down the ramp we went into the water holding on to the rope
I think without the rope a lot of our boys including myself would never had
made it I remember a huge wave swept me off the rope Major Boon
our Coy Commander coming back to help me I was half drowned but I
made it I had a great fear of the German armies I had been told a
lot about them and how clever they met them down but the
beach parties had cleared gaps through which we quickly got off
the beach and on to the road All this time a terrific barrage was
being put down by warships and rocket -- firing shops We were moved
up the road our tanks whic had landed with us were striping their
water [?] we took cover along side them