Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 020, folder 06: E. E. E. Cass

CASS, Brig. E. E. E. 3rd British Infantry Div. CO. 8th Brig. Int. SWORD BOX 20, #6

SWORD

Cass Reference Only

1 Mount View, Oriel Crescent, Scarborough. 8 Sep 58.

Dear Miss Isaacs,

At long last I am sending you some of the Notes I promised about D- Day.

I have included the folxowing:-

Notes on the landing of the Assault Bde. A personal account of the approach to the beaches, written for my Regtl Journal. Comments on statements made by C. W. in his book The Struggle for Europe. A copy of the last letter written by C. W. to Brig(now Maj-Gen) Goodwin.

In notes on the landing where I say that casualties are unknown, I refer to my own personal knowledge.

If there is anything more that I can do to help you please let me know. Dont forget that Major Shuttleworth is a mine of information on all aspects of D-Day.

Yours sincerely, E.E.E. Cass

Cass file type up

Nurse in white starched uniform n bicycle seen by Cass from ditch near Hermanville

In first CP just beyond La Breche in a wood a shell from one of his one SP guns landed in HQ 7 - 8 killed and wounded including his signal officer.

almost [?90 l c Truck?]

Nurse in white starched uniform...on bicycle seen by Cass from ditch near Hermanville.

In first CP just beyond La Breche in a wood a shell from one of his in a wood a shell from one of his one SP guns landed in HQ...7-8 killed and wounded including his signal officer.

"Operation OVERLORD". Notes on the landing of the Assault Brigade , 8 Br Inf Bde. 1. Opposition on the Beaches. (a ) Queen White. 1 South Lancashire Regt.

H Hour. Both assault coys met heavy mg and mortar fire but made good progress.

H + 20 Bn HQ, HQ Coy, and the two rifle coys were met by small arms, [crossed out] m [end crossed out] mortar, and artillery fire, and had casualties at once. The centre locality COD was still being engaged by the left assault coy.

By 0830 hrs opposition on the beach, except for isolated snipers, had been overcome.

(b) Queen White. 1 Suffolk.

H + 60 The beach was still under observed fire from the right flank, but only isolated snipers in the immediate vicinity of the beach. A number of shells burst among the [?LcAs?] after the Inf had landed but there were only four casualties crossing the beach, these unfortunately included the FOB attd to the Bn.

(c) Queen Red. 2 East Yorks.

H Hour. There was considerable opposition on this beach from small arms, mortar, and artillery fire.

H + 20 When Bn HQ and the follow up rifle coys landed the beach was under heavy mortar and artillery fire.

This beach was the more exposed of the two and was more easily enfiladed from the left flank where the coast line extended [crossed out] f [end crossed out] further seaward. It was also more exposed to view from the land side. These factors probably account for the beach remaining under mortar and artillery fire for so long.

(d) Queen White. 41 Royal Marine Commando.

H + 75 This Cdo landed behind 1 SL. It seems that it beached further West than intended and probably came under direct flanking fire from the strong point in LION. As a result it was heavily engaged by artillery fire and suffered a number of casualties including three troop commanders.

(e) Queen Red. 4 Commando.

H + 30 This Cdo landed behind 2 EY. It encountered severe small arms, mortar, and artillery fire and suffered immediate casualties. The LCI[crossed out] s [end crossed out] carrying the French troop was badly hit and due to damage to the landing ramps the men had to land by using the scaling nets.

Although the 2 EY had already passed over the beach and gone inland the defences flanking the beach from the East were still fully manned. It is certainly from these defences that the bulk of the fire was coming as they were not within the 2 EY beach objectives, but were in the area to be cleared by 4 Cdo. Being defiladed from the sea they were hard to neutralize until they were captured by the Cdos.

When the Cdos say that the beach defences had not been subdued it is true as far as the defences on the Eastern flank of Red beach are concerned, but not in the case of those behind tho beach.

[crossed out] (f) [end crossed out]

(f) Queen White 13/18 Hussars. Queen Red Landed at H-7 1/2. Few casualties from enemy fire but some tanks were lost through being rammed and sunk and swamped in the surf.