ENPages
Page 2
THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 — MIDNIGHT JUNE 6 Ack 23/5/58
What is your full name ? Desmond Charles March What is your present address? 60, Crouch Hall Road N.8 Telephone number: FIT 0489. HOME NOR 3705/1986/6292 OFFICE What was your unit, division, corps? F/318/92nd LAA Regt R.A. 3 Brit Div. Where did you land and at what time? Sword Beach What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? Lieutenant. 29 years Were you married at that time? Yes What is your wife's name? Patricia Did you have any children at that time? Yes. A giel When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? Jan. 1944 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? Uneventful crossing in a LCT Rather Rough but all in good spirits
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. did not have time.
Page 3
2. Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? Yes. D & E Troops of our Battery were sunk by shell fire & we were the lucky troop to defend our V.P.
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? No.
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?
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? Watching the Air landing brigade came in to land the evening of 6th June
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 ?
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 attach an account of my troops activities sent in by an observer officer
What do you do now? Director Engineering Co
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 J oan 0. Isaacs The Reader ’ s Digest
Page 5
24 June 44 for newspapers in London, Glasgow, Lancashire , Devon (especially Express and Echo, Exeter )
Lieut Hugh Gunning 30 Observer Officer , 3 Br Inf Div
From a Military Observer.
F Tropp of 318 Battery 92 Light Anti-Aircraft Regt. R.A. have their tails up because during the first four and a half days of the invasion they brought down the tails of 17 German aircraft, an extremely fine performance. This Troop is the main topic of 3 British Infantry Division whenever the phrase ack-ack comes into conversation. One of the tails is held by the Troop as a souvenir.
F Troop Commander is Captain R.T.Reid, from Burnside, Glasgow, a member of the well-known Victoria Baths Swimming Club, Glasgow, who was a fruit broker in civil life. His Section leaders are Lieut Nigel Coombs, Topsham, Devon, and Lieut D.C. March, Edmund's Walk, London, N.2. His Sgt-Major is F.J. Connor, Toxteth, Liverpool.
The Troop arrived in France with the 3 Division in the assault, and Capt. Reid's first task was to recce a gun position near the bridges over tne Canal de Caen and the River Orme. He went out on the recce with Sgt Thomas Hopkins from Tyldes ley, Lancashire, on motor cycles. The guns followed an hour or two later, did a crash action into their gun poisition and got busy. From then until 5.45 p.m. on the day of D plus 4 they shot down 17 German planes, seven in one day, expending 2,500 rounds of ammunition. During all the time the gunners were subject to shell fire and motor fire from the enemy, and on the first night they had to perform an infantry role as well, siting their guns in a position of all round defence at an important cross roads.
The bridges had previously been taken by our Airborne Troops who formed a close friendship with the ack-ack boys in their defence of the bridge against enemy air attach. On one day when all the officers and men in the Troop were having a hot time keeping the guns going with ammunition, a party of Airborne volunteered to act as ammunition carriers to one of the gun sites, while the Troop Officers helped to man the guns. "We went all out, I can tell you", said Lieut Coombs. For a spell I was doing No.4. on the gun". Their performance is made more notable by the fact that they were one gun short; [crossed out] Their performance [end crossed out] it was out of action by a German shell, leaving five guns.
The gun team with the highest number of kills to its credit is manned by Sgt. W. Germaines, Hackney, London; [crossed out] Sgt [end crossed out] L/Sgt. F. Summer, Liver; L/Bdr Powell, Flint, North Wales, Gnrs. T. Hesketh, Eccleston, Lancs; J. McLean, Old Swan, Liverppol. R. Williams Blenau Festiniog, North Wales, H. Prior, Ashton in MakerfieId, Lancs, and E. Wilson, Staines, Middlesex.
F Troop remained on the bridges site until 10 days after D day. The Battery Commander is Major G.L. Williams, Hoylake. 92 Light A.A. Regt. was formerly a battalion of the Loyals, and it perpetuates its connection with the Loyals by wearing the red rose of Lancashire on the battledress sleeves of its officers and men.
F Troop has a large store of Nazi swastika transfers which they found in a Germany quartermaster's store in a strong point which the gunners cleared. They also took twelve prisoners there. The swastika transfers will come in useful to stock on the guns when other German aircraft are brought down by this Troop. The crack gun already has four transfers. End message. over..