ENPages That Need Review
Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 020, folder 02: Denys S. C. Brierly
Page 2
THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 — MIDNIGHT JUNE 6 Telephone see page Ack 18/6/58 171 Reb Benet Brit Exc What is your full name? Denys Sidney Clifford Brierly What is your present address? 18 Dingle Rd. Gledholt Huddersfield Telephone number: Huddersfield 385
What was your unit, division, corps? s/o Squadron RAF
Where did you land and at what time? 1) Pilot 1/c Albemarle Aircraft dropping paratroops north of River Osne nigh 5/6th 2) also Airborne glider operation as tng pilot day of 6th June
What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? Flight Lieutenant Aged 27
Were you married at that time? No What is your wife's name? Joyce Did you nave any children at that time? not applicable!!
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? As a specialized squadron in 38 group RAF we had been trained and were always aware that we would take part in this operation and any other that required airborne troops
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? Weather fine until French coast was neared when low cloud obscured the men making visual observation very difficult RT discipline was very strict and there was no casual conversation beyond that strictly necessary for the efficient operation of the aircraft
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
Page 3
2.
Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? yes but the aircraft of s/o squadron returned intact from both the night operation and the airlift the following day
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? No Were you wounded? No How were you wounded? l.
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 by bomb-air who was navigating by map reading failed to pick up the pin-point on the French coast We therefore turned a to our new cause from an estimated position and timed our run in We failed to spot the DZ so repeated the manouvre four times still unable to locate our exast position The flak became very heavy and by the time Babn Comand were bombing the coastal forts making our stay rather unhealthy at 500 ft During a period when the
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? aircraft was being manouvred to avoud light flak No 1 on the -- paratroop stick Major W.A.C. Collingwood who was waiting for the signal to jump pitched through the hole in the base of the aircraft jamming the exit positionfrom which he could not be extricated I thereupon decided to return to base climbed to 7000 feet passed ------------------------------------ fro mthe incoming Navy Major Collingwood was
Page 4
3. In times of great crisis, people generally show either great ingenuity or self-reliance 5 others do incredibly strange or stupid things. Do you remember any examples of either ? It is difficult to answer this questin On D night we were one independent unit of 5 airmen and 10 paratroops Apart from the heavy bombing of the coastal forts and the occasional sighitng of other paratroop aircraft it was impossible to have any idea as to how the remainder of the attack was faring The daylight too was uneventful and successful the weather was fine and from the air at least it was difficult to appreciate that fighting was actually taking place
'i 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 I will give their names but would prefer to approach them personally myself in the first place
What do you do now? Textile Manufacturer , Muddesfield Yorkshire
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
Personal publicity not required by would be prepared to give any help with this qualification
Page 5
Dingle House, 18, Dingle Road, Gledholt, Huddersfield.
Tel 385.
3/6/58. 4JUN1958 Q.S. 5/6/58
Dear Sir,
I have seen your request for information in respect to the landing in France on the night of the 5th/6th June 1944 by the 6th Airborne Division.
As a pilot who took part both in the paratroop landing, and the airborne landing on the following day I shall be pleased to give you any information at my disposal should you require it.
Yours faithfully,
D.S.C. Brierly. Late Flight Lieutenant 570 Sqdn. RAF.
Page 6
5th August, 1958.
D.S.C. Brierly, Esq., 18, Dingle Road, Gladholt, Huddersfield.
Dear Mr. Brierly,
I feel that I should personally write to thank you for the wonderful contribution you have made in the preparation of the D-Day book which I am writing.
Your questionnaire was so complete that I did not think it would be necessary to ask you to come to London for interview. The account which you gave was precisely the sort of thing that I was searching for and I feel confident that I will be able to use extracts from this as I am writing the book.
As you must well appreciate, we are dealing with several thousand people, and in the book's final edited form, we shall probably be lucky if we can do more than give each participant a few lines. It is the sum total, however, of all these accounts which I hope will give the book its accuracy and unbiased presentation.
I have one more request to make of you. In order to extract some material from your questionnaire, I will need your Signature to the attached release. A stamped and addressed envelope is attached for your use.
It may well be a year before the manuscript is published in The Reader's Digest, but at that time we will duly send you a copy of the issue with the story "The Longest Day".
Yours sincerely,
(Cornelius J. Ryan)
Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 020, folder 35: Charles Leslie Edgson
Page 2
Ack 29/5/58
THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 — MIDNIGHT JUNE 6
What is your full name? Charles Leslie Edgson
What is your present address? 2 The Mews, Middleton Hall Lane, Brentwood, Essex
Telephone number: Brentwood 2979
What was your unit, division, corps? 69 Field Coy R.E. 2 Army Troops Where did you land and at what time? About 2 PM This was rather late but we had difficulty in getting ashore Near Bayeux have forgotten name of exact place What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? Captain 28 yrs 9 1/2 mths Were you married at that time? yes (only since 13 May 1944!)
What is your wife* s name? Margaret
Did you have any children at that time? no
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? Not Sure Only 2 or 3 weeks before I think perhaps more as I think I already knew when I got married
What was the trip like during the crossing of the Channel? Do you for example, any conversations you had or how you passed the time? I think we were on board about a week before the day at Southhampton Trip eventful apart from transferring to an LSI + then on Assault boat We had great trouble in finding a shot to beach as the enemy still held the part where we were supposed to land this was a trying time!
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.) Cant remember
~ Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? no
Page 3
2. Were any of your friends filled or wounded either during the landing or during the day? A platoon Sergeant: blown up by mine: we had to build roads across fields
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 out- of-place? sound of bullets hitting ears of corn: no reason to suppose they were aimed at us Too nervous or frightened to register much!
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? The actual business of trying to find a place to land was worst As each wave passed we could see impenetrable obstacles - scaffolding I suppose - with mines on top at intervals + we couldnt see any gaps so had to cruise up + down for a bit: eventually we saw quite a large ship beached + followed the course we thought it must have made through the obstacles Even so we stuck on top momentarily with loads of equipment on backs