Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 020, folder 49: John Thomas Joseph Gale

GALE, John Thomas Joseph Sword, 3rd British Div. Release - Int. Release 15 PG SWORD SL's BOX 20, #49

SWORD Oct 2/6/58 Tuesday 8.0

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

What is your full name? JOHN THOMAS JOSEPH GALE

What is your present address? 8 HAWKHURST ROAD. GILLINGHAM. KENT.

Telephone number:

What was your unit, division, corps? 1st BN SOUTH LANCASHIRE REGT 3rd BRITISH INFANTRY DVN 8th BRIGADE

Where did you land and at what time? OIUSTREHAM APPROX ONE HOUR AFTER DAWN

What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? PRIVATE 28 YEARS

Were you married at that time? YES

What is your wife's name? GRACE EVELYN GALE

Did you have any children at that time? YES

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? SOME 9 MONTHS PREVIOUS. PARTLY THROUGH THE TRAINING WE WERE DOING IN SCOTLAND, AND A HINT OF AN HONOUR THAT WAS GOING TO BE PAID ON THE BATTALION

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 TRIP WAS DONE IN TWO FORMS, FIRST WE BOARDED OUR PARENT SHIP (GLENEARN) WHICH TOOK US OFF THE FRENCH COAST, SECONDLY WE FINISHED THE SEA ASSAULT IN INFANTRY LANDING CRAFTS WHICH HAD BEEN SLUNG ROUND THE SHIP'S SIDES. THE CHANNEL WAS RATHER ROUGH, AND THE JOURNEY BY LANDING CRAFT MADE US THE WORSE FOR WEAR. SOME OF US WERE BECOMING SEASICK. (PLEASE SEE LOOSE PAGE)

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.) THERE WAS NO RUMOURS OF ANY KIND, BUT A GOOD MANY GUESSES AS TO THE ACTUALL PLACE OF LANDING. BRIEFING WAS CONFINED MAINLY TO THE BEACH OBJECTIVES BY ACTUAL MODEL AND AERIAL PHOTOS. ACTUAL PLACE NAMES WAS LEFT OUT

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? DIARIES OF ANY DESCRIPTION WAS FORBIDDEN. IN THE INTEREST OF SECURITY

2.

Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? Quite a number INCLUDING ALL OUR OFFICERS.

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? THE LAST CONVERSATION WAS HELD WHILST WE WERE ON THE PARENT SHIP. ALL WAS SILENT IN THE ASSAULT BOAT BECAUSE OF THE NOISE OF NAVAL CRAFT GIVING US COVERING FIRE, AND OF COURSE WONDERING WHAT LAY AHEAD OF US. ONE OF OUR COMPANY WAS A PROFESSIONAL DANCER WHO LIVED IN MANCHESTER AND HE REMARKED THAT IF HE HAD TO GET SHOT UP, HE HOPED IT WOULD NOT BE IN THE ANKLE. IRONICAL ENOUGH, THE LAST I SAW OF HIM WAS LYING ON THE BEACH WITH HIS ANKLE SHOT AWAY.

Were you wounded? YES, BUT NOT ON D DAY.

How were you wounded? WE WERE ATTACKING, ADVANCED TO FAR AND WAS HEAVILY FIRED ON. I RECEIVED A GUN SHOT WOUND IN THE HEAD

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? I WAS SUDDENLY DAZED, FELT NO PAIN BUT KNEW I HAD BEEN HIT BY THE BLOOD RUNNING DOWN MY JACKET. I DID NOT TAKE MUCH MORE NOTICE OF IT BECAUSE OF THE TENSE SITUATION AROUND US. BUT A LITTLE WHILE AFTER I WENT UNCONSIOUS.

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 WERE ADVANCING FROM OIUSTREHAM, A MILE OR TWO UP THE ROAD WE CAME TO A FARMHOUSE HEAVILY SHUTTERED. WE DECIDED TO ASK FOR SOME WATER WHICH WE WERE DESPERATELY SHORT OF, AND AFTER BANGING THE DOOR SEVERAL TIMES A MAN APPEARED. THE SURPRISED LOOK ON HIS FACE WHEN HE SAW US, ANGLAIS. HE SHOUTED BACK TO YOUR BOAT THE BOCHE ARE DOWN THE ROAD. HE SHUT THE DOOR - BOLTED IT. HE HAD TAKEN US TO BE A RAIDING PARTY, BUT WE STILL DID NOT HAVE ANY WATER .

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? THE SADDEST I CAN REMEMBER WAS WHEN A FRIEND OF MINE WAS BADLY HIT AND LAY IN THE ROAD, WE RUSHED TO GET HIM OUT OF LINE OF FIRE. BUT WAS BEATEN TO IT BY A TIGER TANK WHICH APPEARED FROM NOWHERE AND RAN COMPLETELY OVER HIM. NO ONE SPOKE FOR A LONG TIME AFTER THAT.

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 ? HAVING TAKEN OUR OBJECTIVES ON THE BEACH, I WAS DETAILED TO TAKE A BATCH OF GERMAN PRISIONERS WE HAD TAKEN, ON TO AN L.C.T WHICH HAD FOLLOWED US IN WITH SUPPLIES AND WHICH WAS RETURNING TO ENGLAND. KNOWING THE BEACH TO BE MINED I WAVED THE PRISIONERS TO LEAD THE WAY AND I FOLLOWED, HALFWAY DOWN I HEARD SOMEONE RUNNING AND SHOUTING, MAKE THOSE GERMANS DOUBLE ALL THE WAY IF THEY DON'T SHOOT THEM, I TURNED ROUND AND TO MY SURPRISE IT WAS ONE OF OUR NCOS. HE THEN FIRED HIS STEN OVER THE PRISIONERS HEADS, THEY LOOKED AT ME VERY SCARED. SO I WAVED THEM TO GO ON. HAVING DISCHARGED MY PRISIONERS AND MAKING MY WAY BACK, WHEN I SAW THE BODY OF THE NCO. HE HAD BEEN SHOT THROUGH THE HEAD. EVIDENTLY BY A SNIPER STILL IN ONE OF HOUSES BACKING ON THE BEACH. HIS STUPID ACT HAD COST HIM HIS LIFE.

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? HAVING SERVED WITH A REGIMENT COMPOSED OF MEN FROM LIVERPOOL AND NORTH ENGLAND AND I LIVING SOUTH. HAVE LOST CONTACT WITH ANY OF THE ORIGINAL BATTALION.

What do you do now? I AM A POST OFFICE WORKER AT MAIDSTONE, KENT.

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

(CONT)

WE BOARDED OUR PARENT SHIP IN THE [inserted] EARLY [end inserted] HOURS OF SUNDAY MORNING AS D DAY WAS DUE TO BEGIN ON MONDAY 5th JUNE, BUT OWING TO BAD WEATHER WAS CANCELLED AND SUBSEQUENTLY BEGAN JUNE 6th. WE WERE ANCHORED IN THE SOLENT OFF PORTSMOUTH AND THE CURIOUS THING THAT STRUCK US MOST WAS THE LACK OF SHIPPING EXCEPT FOR THE ODD TUG AND FERRY BOAT ON ITS NORMAL DAILY JOB. TO US ON BOARD IT WAS NORMAL ROUTINE. CARDS WERE PLAYED MORE THAN USUAL AND AS WE WERE FORBIDDEN TO CARRY ENGLISH MONEY, WE HAD TO PLAY WITH FRANCS WHICH HAD BEEN ISSUED TO US. THE CLIMAX CAME WHEN WE WERE TOLD TO WRITE OUR LAST LETTER HOME IN CASE OF NON RETURN HOPING THAT WHO WAS LUCKY TO SURVIVE WOULD COLLECT AND POST THEM. THE CONVERSATION WAS USUALLY ABOUT HOME AND EVERYONE HAD THE SAME THOUGHT.

THE ACTUAL LANDING WAS IN SOME WAY DIFFERENT TO WHAT WE EXPECTED WHILST BEING BRIEFED. INSTEAD OF LANDING AT LOW TIDE AND STRAIGHT ON TO THE BEACH. WE FOUND IT VERY MUCH A HIGH TIDE AND HAD TO WADE UP TO OUR NECKS IN WATER ON TO THE BEACH WHERE WE CAME UNDER FIRE AND HAD TO RUN UP THE BEACH TO GET PROTECTION FROM A LOW WALL DIVIDING THE HOUSES FROM THE BEACH, BUT WE SOON HAD THE GERMANS ON THE RUN.

[crossed out] WE [end crossed out] BEFORE I CLOSE I MUST MENTION SOMETHING ABOUT THE FRENCH PEOPLE WHO WE MADE CONTACT WITH AT THE TIME. THEY SEEMED TO BE PRO GERMAN, GERMAN SOLDIERS HAD MARRIED FRENCH GIRLS AND NEARLY EVERY HOUSE WE HAD TO ENTER, CONTAINED A PHOTO OR FRAMED PICTURE OF A GERMAN SOLDIER DISPLAYED ON THE MANTELPIECE.

J.T. Gale