ENPages
Page 2
ack 5/6/58
THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY
D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 -- MIDNIGHT JUNE 6
What is your full name? Cyril George Covill
What is your present address? 15 Kelmscott Gds Shepherds Bush W. 12.
Telephone number:
What was your unit, division, corps? 77th ASSAULT SQDN RE 79TH ARMOURED DIV 21ST ARMY
Where did you land and at what time? ARROMANCHES ARPPOX 3-30AM
What was your rank and age onJune 6, 1944? DVR (COMBAT) AGE 32
Were you married at that time? YES What is your wife's name? GLADYS LILY COVILL Did you have any children at that time? NO
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? WHEN I VOLUNTEERED FOR ASSAULT DUTIES & WENT TO FORT GEORGE FOR COMMANDO TRAINING
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? The Channel was very rough. The sailor aboard ship said his job was nearly finished. Ours was about to start he would sooner us than him to do the landing.
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.) We encountered no gasoline on the water but under the surface bottles of explosives were fixed to iron girders so that a ship striking one would be sunk we removed several of these to make a passage to its beach
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happed to you that day? NO.
Page 3
2 . Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? yes a high percentage which were blown to pieces before my eyes ( I determined the enemy would pay dearly for this)
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? Yes it is strange when a sober cool man tells you that he is going to die + that he will never see his wife + children again + as soon as the assault craft touches ground he jumped straight on a hidden land mine which left one ankle + foot by my side ( This man knew he would die) (Strangely he was an explosives expert)
Were you wounded ? No
How were you wounded?
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? battle exhausion + blood lust can also be very disturbing
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? Yes the Frenchman who a short while after we had landed + killed most of the beach defenders came up with a Firemans brass helmet on + asked if we had any chocolate? One chap said my mates got some in his bloody trousers Of course we took it the wrong way + laughed like Hell
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? I having sileced a mortar crew of Germans was creeping through a hedge for more kills when a Airbourne chap of the 6th Airbourne nearly shot me but when he saw I was English said thank God you're here at last + cried like a baby with the tension He was very young + should not been there He came from Willoughby
Page 4
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? Where is the strange chap who for every German he killed put himself right with God but cutting a cross on their forehead with his dagger?
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? NOT AT PRESENT
What do you do now? LONG DISTANCE LORRY DRIVER
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
Page 5
The most welcome sound I heard was when the big ships off the beach opened up & gave them Hell & on the evening of June 6th when the reinforcements of Airbourne troops came over. It is hard to imagine a more beautiful sight than those Parachutes of all Colors coming down to earth. It must have seemed like dropping into an inferno. The Intelligence branch as far as the landing were concerned was first class we were briefed at Gosport & the photographs were perfect. In the cold grey morning just as dawn was breaking the beach came into sight & it was just like looking at the photographs were [inserted] debarking [end inserted] were shown. Strange as it may seem a short distance off shore the Commander spoke over the loud Hailer & his words were, Men in Assault Crafts No 111 112 113 113A you have the honour of being the first to land. You will take no prisoners & not be taken prisoner. The success of your making a beach head is all important other - wise troops following cannot land. Good Luck & God be with you. Then the enemy opened up & one shell came right through the side of my craft & out the other side (God was with me) I was 3 ft away from it at deck level. (Did we paste him for that). To all these men that I lived & fought with I have one thing more to say - I am proud to have known them & Honoured to have served with them. Please find enclosed two articles that you may draw some information from but please return when finished with as I want them for my sons Yours truly C G Covill ALSO EX. B.E.F.