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Ac/c 19/5/58 Brit EXC Beaches
THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY
D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 -- MIDNIGHT JUNE 6
What is your full name? William Arthur Corkill
What is your present address? 46, York Bond. Douglas, Isle of Man.
Telephone number: Douglas 2208 (Place of employment)
What was your unit, division, corps? "0" L.C.T. Squadron
Where did you land and at what time? North of the Carentan estuary between 8.a.m. & 9.a.m. We were attached to American invasion force
What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? R.N. Signalman C/JX613580. Eighteen (my nineteenth birthday was on 18 June).
Were you married at that time? No What is your wife's name? Shirley Anne Did you have any children at that time? No
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? Approx 7 days before sailing on the Sat. prior to June 5th 1944
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 sailed from River Dart. Sea was choppy and became rough. We turned back late on Sunday afternoon and sheltered in Weymouth. Sailed again early Monday morning. See Note A.
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.) The only rumour I can recall is that the beaches were very heavily defended and that half the task force ships were written off before the operation started.
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happed to you that day? No.
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2. Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? No.
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? No.
Were you wounded ? No.
How were you wounded? No.
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? The only unexpected thing I can recall is that during the first 24 hours we were not subjected to the severe enemy bombing and shelling that we thought we would receive.
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? A landing craft, I think it was an L.C.T., immediately ahead of us, either hit a mine, or was struck by a shell, and it literally disintegrated before our eyes. When we reached the area nothing remained but one man lying or kneeling on a curly float.
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3.
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? No.
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? No.
What do you do now? Senior Clerk. With W.J. Walker & Co. Chartered Accountants of Douglas, I.O.M.. Liverpool and London.
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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Note A
I spent most of the time on the bridge on watch. The only conversation I can recall is with the American General we had on board. He was very friendly and asked me many questions about my home, my people, my age etc.
Note B
I am not quite sure if the beach we landed on was Omaha or Utah