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THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY
D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 — MIDNIGHT JUNE 6
What is your full name? John Edward Winter
What is your present address? 23, Poynton Road Tottenham London N. 17
Telephone number: TOT 0957
What was your unit, division, corps? Royal Navy (Combined ops)
Where did you land and at what time? St. Auban Sur Mer 615 AM
What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? Stoker 1st Class. Age 22.
Were you married at that time? No
What is your wife's name? Irene Ellen Winter
Did you have any children at that time? No
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? Approximately about 6 months 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? Very quiet crossing. Very tense. Passed time away playing cards and general conversation with Canadian troops.
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 Navy is full of rumours.
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? No (Diary's not allowed)
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Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? Yes. Quite a few.
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties?
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 out- of-place? Yes (several)
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? Yes
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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.
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? Yes (But not addresses)
What do you do now? Bookmaker
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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TOT0957 15/5/58
[*negative N A 19MAY1958 Q.S. 19/5/58.*]
J. Winter 23 Poynton Rd Tottenham London N17
Dear Sir, With reference to your advertisement in the Evening News, I believe I could be able to help you as I was in the very [?original?] landing (Assault Craft) and also have a photograph of the landing craft as it touches the beach