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NORMAN CORNWELL: FIGHTING IN FRANCE AND HOLLAND AFTER D DAY

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Viv Foulds of Egerton Telecottage on behalf of Norman Cornwell and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site's terms and conditions

At the age of 18, after 6 months intensive training I was part of a large contingent of men deposited, via troopship and landing craft, on to the beach at Arromanches in France. We walked to Bayeux to a tented transit camp, for one night and on the following day we all left for front line duty. Before being posted to our relevant regiments, a short church service was held and several of us took Holy Communion kneeling on a tarpaulin in the heather. I then joined the 1st Battalion of the Hampshire Regiment of the 50th Division which had landed on Sword Beach on D Day.

My first experience of battle was at Falaise where we had been held up by considerable enemy forces. Many horses were killed in the conflict as the Germans were still at times using horse transport. Following the breakthrough, we were the follow-up infantry behind the Guards Armoured Division, who, with considerable speed, then established a corridor through countryside and towns with only weak opposition. Our job was to protect the flanks of this corridor to avoid a cut off. As we were all in T.C.Vs (troop carrying vehicles) things were not too difficult: we always stopped at nightfall and dug in, sometimes in the gardens of a vacated Chateau. After skirting Brussels, our first real opposition was at Antwerp, where the Germans were reluctant to give up the harbour area.

However it was eventually overcome we proceeded on our way into Holland again with minimum opposition. We were halted at one time, as the Germans had broken through in the Ardennes cutting our supply route. We had a couple of days on captured rations with plenty of red wine (not a good vintage) and we also had time to have a quick shower using a coal mine facilities, wonderful to feel clean again.

We then halted in the Eindhoven area and we were told we were moving out at midnight as operation Market Garden (Arnhem) was scheduled for the next morning. Before dusk, a cheeky German crawled out of the wood within 200 yds of us in an attempt to knock out a Sherman tank which was positioned as a forward O.P. fortunately the thank crew spotted him (and I saw no more). We passed his body on moving out at midnight.

We again boarded our TCVs waiting in the main road and moved to a position ready for our part in relieving the airborne forces dropped at Arnhem. As we all know from history, it didn鈥檛 happen as planned so we were held up en route to Nijmegen.

During this hold up on the road, with all kinds of vehicles, D.U.K.Ws (amphibious vehicles) etc. we suffered a surprise air raid on the column, only minimal, but enough to send us into the roadside ditches and a small wood, where two of my comrades, without hesitation, jumped into a vacated slit trench, only to discover it had been an enemy latrine, not too pleasant when change of clothes is not available! The Guards managed to overcome the opposition at Nijmegen Bridge鈥� apart from one bay, removed by action, which the Engineers replaced in no time.

On passing over the Bridge, it was obvious that the cause of the hold up was an 88mm gun established on the road side, which had to be dealt with before passing over the Bridge. We got within sight of Arnhem but the Bridge had not been captured by the airborne (which was no fault of theirs).

Our front line was established in an orchard near a small village called Bemmel within 200 yds of the enemy lines and all was quiet for a day or two. We could see one another quite plainly, but it paid not to stand up in full view.

One of our Bren gunners decided his gun needed attention and crawled back to H.Q. for the armourer to attend to it. On the way back he crawled most of the way but chose to run the last few yards but he was spotted and a short burst from a Spandau machine gun got him through the legs. The Germans allowed the stretcher bearers with their Red Cross flag to pick him up, so he survived (one less man again). At dusk one evening, without warning, we were shelled and being in an orchard, the shells burst overhead and not on the ground. I was sharing a slit trench with L/Corporal Dacre and we had improvised overhead cover at both ends of our trench . The exploding shells buried both of us and unfortunately shrapnel caught L/C Dacre in the thigh. I was lucky to escape injury. I fought my way out and managed to pull my comrade out and escort him back to H.Q. for further attention.

The two comrades in the adjoining trench were not so lucky. One was killed outright and one died from his injuries. Our trench was unusable; my rifle had been damaged by shrapnel beyond repair. I picked up the Bren gun previously mentioned to discover that when 鈥楥鈥� company attacked on the following day, that it still didn鈥檛 work, only firing in single rounds. The attack by 鈥楥鈥� company was to straighten the line and push the enemy back, which was successful but it was distressing to see your comrades falling in no mans land in front of you. We took up defensive positions several times in countryside areas, not knowing quite where we were.

Digging slit trenches in Holland was not always easy as the water table was high in most places. We were often baling out water and not always avoiding wet feet at one time for 14 days. Following this we were moved to another position in the line into a farmhouse cellar where we were quite comfortable until one morning the Platoon Sergeant went for a quick wash in the main house only to hear voices in the room above. He crept up the stairs to discover two Germans had sneaked in during the night unaware that we were there. They were dealt with as was necessary. From then on a patrol had to go forward every night approximately 300 yds to prevent it happening again.

We were pulled out of the line within a few days and sent back to Ypres for the 50th Division to be broken up. Two days after pulling out, the Germans broke down the sea defences and the whole area between Nijmegen and Arnhem was flooded.

On arriving at Ypres, the majority of us were put into civilian billets with Belgian families who could not speak a work of English. One of these families made me and Corporal Pawsey welcome.
The highlight of their day was when we arrived back from our mess with slices of bread hidden between our mess tins. The family had been without good bread for ages.

One day we were all sent to a large theatre where General Montgomery came to tell us the reason for his breaking up the 50th Division. It was to allow the D-Day veterans to go home to England and all recent reinforcements would transfer. I was sent to 5th Battalion Wiltshire Regiment in the 43rd Wessex Division which was established near Maastricht, ready for the Rhine crossing. However, I got in the way of a bullet which went through my neck - but I survived. After flying to England for treatment and rehabilitation, I was posted to the Duke of Cornwall鈥檚 Light Infantry in a new division training to go to Japan.

When the war in Europe ended in 1945 I assumed wrongly that it would be 鈥榗ivvy street鈥� for me but by Christmas I was transported to Palestine to fight terrorists.

I was demobbed in October 1947 with the rank of Sergeant.

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