Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 022, folder 01: George Henry Mathers

MATHERS, George Henry British 73rd Field Co. Royal Engineers BOX 22, #1

73 FA GOLD

0730 Le Hamel [crossed out] Good Stories on beach [end crossed out] Heave Heave in boats

THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 -- MIDNIGHT JUNE 6 [?Finished?] Ack 2/7/58

What is your full name? GEORGE HENRY MATHERS

What is your present address? 5 EASTHAM STREET PRESTON LANCASHIRE

Telephone number: - NIL -

What was your unit, division, corps? 73rd FIELD COMPANY - ROYAL ENGINEERS (FORMING PART OF THE ASSAULT GROUP)

Where did you land and at what time? JIG GREEN EAST and WEST BEACHES CLOSE TO LE HAMEL VILLAGE. OUR L.C.T's BEACHED AT H. HOUR 7.30 AM. 6th JUNE

What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? CORPORAL - 29.

Were you married at that time? - NO -

What is your wife's name?

Did you have any children at that time?

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? EARLY APRIL 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? ROUGH VOYAGE IN THE FLAT BOTTOMED L.C.T's - ESPECIALLY AFTER BEING ABOARD SINCE 6am ON 3rd JUNE. WERE TOLD ACTUAL LANDING PLACES NOT JUST 'SOMEWHERE IN FRANCE' CONVERSATION GENERALLY ON LIGHT SIDE PASSED TIME READING OR PLAYING CARDS

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.) NONE

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? NOT AN ACTUAL DIARY BUT HAVE NOTES OF EVENTS BEFORE - DURING - AFTER LANDING AND TASK INVOLVING THE COMPANY.

2.

Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? YES - KILLED and WOUNDED

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? OF OUR NOT FULL STRENGHT SAPPER COMPLIMENT [inserted] A PARTY OF OUR SAPPER WERE TRAINED FOR A DARE DEVIL RAID ON THE ORNE BRIDGES BEYOND CAEN ON 'D' DAY and WERE ATTACHED TO THE INNS of COURT REGT and THEIR HALF TRACK VEHICHLES.[end inserted] BEING SPLIT AMONGST 6 LCTs. ONE WAS ONLY IN CONTACT WITH A SMALL NUMBER PRIOR TO LANDING. BUT CONVERSATION SELDOM ON SERIOUS SIDE With Howard?

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? 5 or 6 of our Company got away from their LCT in a 'folding boat' but soon lost their oars in the heavy water; the NCO got out - up to his neck in water and heaved it shorewards, but despite his request for 'a lift' the others refused to get soaked and chanted 'Heave - Heave'. The NCO made the beach ok. 2 sappers who had been extra great friends with the rum cask (available on the LCT's) were carried ashore and were still effected in the afternoon Run - in to Beach

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? A badly wounded British Soldier (Battledress blouse torn and bloody and most of one arm off) [?corning?] to ask for a light for his cigarette On Beach

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? A sapper going for an annoying and troublesome pill box with only a rifle - wounded in both legs before getting very far.

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?

73rd FIELD [?COMPANY?] RE HOLD AN ANNUAL RE-UNION DINNER AND THE SECRETARY WHO HOLDS NAMES and ADDRESSES COULD PUT YOU IN TOUCH WITH MEMBERS WHO WERE 'D' DAY MEN SECRETARY W.BOWLEY, THE RESIDENCE ST DAVIDS HOSPITAL CARDIFF.

What do you do now? CLERK WITH PUBLIC TRANSPORT 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 Wow."

Cornelius Ryan Joan O. Isaacs The Reader's Digest

73rd Field Coy R.E. (Clearance of metal and concretee obstacles on beach below high water mark by use of explosives and manual methods)

Our six LCT's were in the lead of the assault when other LCT shaped craft come close to us at speed before easing off and releasing from each approx. 800 900 rockets onto the beach head The fortunes of our 6 LCTs varied. 1. An AVRE tank 'drowned' with its stern on the ramp, which swung the craft onto mines and it became a target for shore batteries. Those were weren't killed or wounded got ashore by folding boat 2. The stern of craft I swung in front of the ramp - Half of sapper got ashore on AVRE's but other half unable to desembark & returned to England. 3. Beached OK. 4. Struck mines in the Bows & amidships and settled off shore. Sappers transfered to another LCT 5. Landed in deep water. Some got ashore in folding boat, remainent swim 6. - as for 5. By end of 'D' Day the company had cleared of obstacles 2.000 yds of beach

German prisoners used to do manual labour in stacking dismantled obstacles.

Enemy artillery: [crossed out] Sp [end crossed out] Sniper fire continued most of day causing us further casualities

Rumours coming in during afternoon said Allies on outskirts of Caen - other said half way to Paris

Some of our men not traced - presumed disarming tellermines fixed on ramps below or just clear of water when they became casualities and washed out to sea.

Trusting this will be of help in your no mean task. GHMathers