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THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 — MIDNIGHT JUNE 6 [*1*]
What is your full name? EDWARD JONES
What is your present address? (a) 37 PRENTON RD. EAST, BIRKENHEAD, CHESHIRE. (b) After 10 Sept. ARNOLD SCHOOL, BLACKPOOL.
Telephone number: (a) ROCK FERRY 1015.
What was your unit, division, corps? 1st Battalion, The South Lancashire Regt, ('A' Company) 8th Brigade, 3rd British Infantry Division
Where did you land and at what time? "Queen Beach" - "white". ig. Half-way between La Breche and Lion-Sur-Mer. H-hour. 0630 hrs (?) 6 June.
What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? Lieutenant. 22.
Were you married at that time? Yes. What is your wife' s name? Mavis Did you have any children at that time? No.
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? On joining into Battalion at Camonbridge, [?] Dumfries in Oct (?) 1943.
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? Rough, but relatively uneventful. (we were on board one of the larger troop-carrying ships -- Empire 'Battle Axe', or 'Broad sword', I forget which.) Nearer dawn we could hear the planes going over and the noise of bombing, and see the red glow of exploding [ ?] on the skyline. I slept a good part of the night.
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.) No.
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? No
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Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? Yes. Several of the officers. More intimately connected were my company commander Major "Spooks" Howard and fellow-Platoon (9) commander Bill [?Aug?] who were killed on the beach, and Bob Pierce (7 Pl commander) wounded at Lion-Sur-Mer. By 0900 (?) hrs I was the only officer in the com..
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? Only with Bob Pierce. He was fairly badly wounded in the thick of the thigh, but quite cheerful.
Were you wounded? How were you wounded? Only superficially by a piece of [th?] shrapnel. I was saved by my torch clipped on my bag.
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? Surprised, and yet with a feeling of inevitability.
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? French farm-workers hoeing fields under quite considerable mortar fire.
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? A number. Too detailed to describe here. Could re-count incidents if they were [?felt?] worthwhile.
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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?
Yes, but again too detailed. (See previous answer)
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? Major W. M. Burke, MBE ,MC., QM. of [?] -Bn has maintained contact with many of [?] officers, including Major A. Rousc-, MBE now [?] Major Burkes' address is 23, Fir Grove , Bruche, Warrington, Lancs. [illegible]
What do you do now? Classics [illegible].
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
Dear Sir,
I am rather pressed for time at the moment, and [illegible] to answer you questions very [?briefly?], on the spur of the moment. If you think it worth your while, I could answer more fully during [illegible] Summer Vacation. (7 Aug - 9 Sept.) or could reply to a personal interview.
Yours Sincerely, Edward Jones 21 July '58
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after 8/22 20 11.0 am. am [?plenty?] to [illegible] HQ. Commando