Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 020, folder 30: Roy Phillip Devereux

DEVEREUX, Roy Phillip RAF--6th Airl. Brig, 6th AB Reconn. Int Release BOX 20, #30

Glider [?Evening?]

Extract THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY

D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 -- MIDNIGHT JUNE 6

What is your full name? Roy Phillip Devereux.

What is your present address? "Montrose", 63, Broxbourne Road, Orpington. Kent. acknowledged 12-6-58

Telephone number: ORP. 26851

What was your unit, division, corps? 6th. Airborne Reconnaissance Regt. 6AL B. Squadron, 3, Troop, 6th. Airborne Division, 6th. Airlanding Brigade.

Where did you land and at what time? About 1/2 mile East of Ranville on the fringe of the Bois de Bavent. About 4 miles E. of Pegasus Bridge. afternoon 6th. June. 2100 - 2200

What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? Trooper. 20 years 11mths. 3 days.

Were you married at that time? No.

What is your wife's name? Doris Mary Devereux (nee Armstrong)

Did you nave any children at that time? No.

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? I joined the 1st. Airborne Division in the Light Tank Squadron in Dec. 1942. and from that dat3e assumed that I would be in one Invasion of another.

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? Very smooth. I and another man were strapped in Bren Gun Carriers by Sutton Harness and the two of us were alone in a Hamilcar Glide r Our conversation was limited by the distance separating us. As we passed over the English Coast my youthful[crossed out]l[end crossed out] curiosity got the better of me and I released my seating harness () strictly against orders) and peered out of the windows I was amased at the vast armada of ships standing out to sea as far as the eye could see.

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 had been told that the enemy were putting up anti-glider poles with charges on the end of theed. I cannot recall being unduly worried by this once again by my youthfull inability to look ahead. There was some [crossed out] aint [end crossed out] anti-aircraft gunfire as we passed over the enemy coast and this gave me rather an uncomfortable feeling.

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? We had been warned that possession of any letters or diaries would render us liable to a long term of imprisonment and this rather discouraged any would be Pepys amongst us.

2.

Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? Yes.

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? No. They were'nt killed near me.

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? -

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 outof-place? As we[crossed out]r[end crossed out] were a mobile unit whose role was to probe out the whereabouts of the enemy's main force our main task did not start until June 7th. Therefore we merely landed and established ourselves into a defended area, rather like Robin Hood and his Merry men, in the closely wooded Bois de Bavent. The ColonelLt. Col. Stewart (Stuart) settled himself into a sort of sylvan bower and standing patrols and sentries were put out in alround defence. In the late evening when most of the regiment were trying to sleep[crossed out]e[end crossed out] I was sitting under a bush as a sentry when a great bellow broke across the night air ....' take the bloody Mans rifle away from him then.... Apparently one our corporal Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? had been creeping up a woodland track in the dark and coming towards him was a German Corporal our man slid into the shadows and as the German passed by him he pressed the muzzle of his tommy gun into his neck. The German made no sound but walked straight on. Our corporal took him up to the Colonel but forgot to take his rifle away - The Colonel bellowed when he saw the German advancing towards him with a loaded rifle and naturally felt a little apprehensive. [illegible] Ds V.

3.

In times cf 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? As far as I can remember D. Day was too early a period to really worry us. The principal activity was confined to light arms i.e rifle and machine gun activity. It was later when the more weightier weapons were brought up about D.+ 4 that the stress began to be felt. On the day we were in the main a lot of light hearted boys dashing around laughing and joking. This mood continued until the campaign settled down to traditional line warfare.

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? I knew a lot but I do not now know their whereabouts. If you can contact any of the force from the glider borne Ox. and Bucks. Regt. who captured the bridge they should have an interesting tale.

What do you do now? Travel Agent. Branch Manager of Cooks office 170, Kensington Church Street.

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 Wow."

Cornelius Ryan Joan O. Isaacs The Reader's Digest

BR E Airborne Trooper Devereux was disappointed in D-Day. He had expected "blood and carnage" but in his case found none. He and another trooper found themselves strapped in two bren gun carriers in a Horsa glider which set out from England late onthe evening of D-Day to drop near the Pegasus bridge as dusk was falling that evening. They hit Ack Ack fire as they came over the coast but otherwise experienced no trouble. During the trip over they had to start their bren gun carriers to ready the engines for a quick departure from the glider the moment it landed. He remembers looking at the starting button and then remembered that the bren gun carrier was in gear. If he had started it might very well have shot out the end of the glider and killed them all. Each time he started his engine he was very careful to make sure that the gear was in neutral position. It is of interest to note that a rubber hose ran from the exhaust pipe and that the gas[crossed out]s[end crossed out]es were funnelled out of the glider through a hole in the blower.

In this same flight of gliders there were 19 small tanks weighing about 8 tons each called Tetrarchs which were landed that night.

They landed at a drop zone the other side of Ranville east of the Pegasus bridge in a field all by themselves. As the glider was loosened from its tow rope the pilot of the towing plane said to them over the intercommunication system "We'll have a beer waiting for you boys, when [crossed out] we [end crossed out] [inserted] you [end inserted] get back."

Landing in the field they quickly drew their bren gun carriers out of the glider pushed through the hedge and found the remainder of the landing units assembled. Trooper Devereux instead of finding dead and dying all around found "well organised confusion". He was quickly brought to heel by a Sergeant who said, "All right you fellers, step lively, get those carriers into position."

Pick up extracts from his questionnaire.