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R 17/6
THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY
D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 — MIDNIGHT JUNE 6
Ack 17/6/58
What is your full name? West. Leonard Charles.
What is your present address? Grove House, Gosport Road. Stubbington. Hampshire
Telephone number: Nil
What was your unit, division, corps? 2nd Bn The Middlesex Regt of The 3rd Infantry Division.
Where did you land and at what time? Courville sur Mer - but not until 6am on the 6th June.
What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? W.O II 40
Were you married at that time? Yes
What is your wife’s name? Isabella Frances West
Did you have any children at that time? Yes a daughter - Valerie Joyce Now Mrs Valerie Joyce Haydon
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? Exact date not known but it was some time previous.
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? We sailed in a large convoy from London Docks on the evening of Saturday 2nd June. The convoy anchored off southend until Sunday evening before leaving for Normandy. D Day was then postponed 24 hours, we could not turn back but were forced to steam at 4 knots. Beach head was visible for hours. I thought we should never pass it. We caught up with the Portsmouth area convoy off of the Isle of Wight. All through the channel journey there was not one incident, no planes and no gunfire from the Calais area
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.) The were rumours that some of the ships at the tail end of the convoy had been sunk these were unfounded.
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? About 30 killed and many injured. One young lad of 20 was still in the seat of his burnt out carrier two days later. An anti tank shell entered the front of his Bren carrier through his chest into the back setting light to the carrier.
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? Nothing, than the usual cherrios and best of luck.
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? No.
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 out- of-place? Remember a royal marine commando telling me that he had come face to face with a German officer. The German drew his revolver, the commando pressed the trigger of his automatic. The German fired four shots all of which missed. The commando fired nothing as his gun jammed, the then just stared at each other, turned and ran like hell in opposite directions.
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? Seeing seven German planes shot out of the air by R.N. guns in less than 5 minutes.
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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? Lorry I remember a private and a sergeant who were last seen drifting out to sea on top of a lorry but neither would jump off because they couldn't swim. Nothing has ever been seen of them since. I also remember my ammunition storeman diving under a three ton lorry loaded with ammunition when we were attacked by German aircraft.
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? H Norfield. 12. Old Road. Gosport. Hants.
What do you do now? I am a clerical officer in the civil service and work for the admiralty.
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
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Grove House, Gosport Road, Stubbington, Hampshire 29/5/58
2 JUN 1958
Q.S. 3/6/58
Dear Sir I write in response to your ad in the Evening News. I was C.A.M. in the 2nd Bn Middlesex and would be pleased to give you what information I can. Perhaps you would let me know the sort of thing you require. Yours faithfully. L.C. West