Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 020, folder 31: Robert Alexander Dowie

DOWIE, Robert A. HMS Dunbar Brit. NAVY D-Day Release BOX 20, #31 release to PG

Ack 20/5/58

THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 -- MIDNIGHT JUNE 6

What is your full name? Robert Alexander Dowie

What is your present address? 46 Russell St St. Helens, Lanco

Telephone number:

What was your unit, division, corps? H.M.S. Dunbar, mineswiper

Where did you land and at what time? We anchored off Normandy about 0430

What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? Leading Stoker

Were you married at that time? Yes.

What is your wife's name? Mary

Did you nave any children at that time? No

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? About 11PM on June 5th

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? To me as a sailor the trip was fairly calm. I passed my time doing the middle watch in the engine room.

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.)

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? No

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?

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 outof-place? Whilst the hundreds of ships were lying off Normandy one solitary German plane, obviously having a look-see, appeared above us. I think every ship there opened fire but not one hit her, I thought then, Jerry or not the best of luck to you for getting away.

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? One thing Ill always remember is the sight of one of our frigates which had been mined, she was in fairly shallow water and had broken her back, her bows and stern were stucking up to form a perfect V.

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? I dont think that I as a sailor realized how important the whole project was, to me it was a purely routine minesweeping job. I dont think any of the crew acted unnatural. One thing I'll always remember was when our captain said " God bless you all ".

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?

What do you do now? I am a Leading Turbine Driver at Bold Power Station.

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

In your questionaire you ask when did I know about the invasion. Our base for the project was Dover and our flotilla was there for about a fortnight previous to D-Day. We had shore leave every day until about June 1st when all leave was stopped. Thats the time the rumours started, the best one I heard was that we were taking some big noise with us aboard our ship. Even the name Eisenhower was mentioned but alas no personality arrived. We left Dover about 2200 on June 5th and steamed down the Channel, when we were well clear of Dover our captain cleared lower deck and gave us all the [?ger?]. His exact words were, "Well, lads this is it, and our flotilla has been given the "honour" of being the first in". As I said before we steamed down the channel towards Plymouth which meant that we could see the English coast quite plain [inserted]on our starboard side[end inserted]. When I came up from doing my middle watch I was quite surprised and to be candid, a bit scared to see land on our port side which could only mean one thing, we were there, Normandy.