大象传媒

Mr Harry Lemon, joined the navy in 1942 aged 18, specialising as Seaman Gunner. In early June 1944 as part of the crew of an LCI(L), a seagoing troop landing craft, he headed for Newhaven for what was referred to as "the Big One". They sailed for the Normandy coast with soldiers from the Royal Warwickshire Regiment on the afternoon of 5th June, together with 1000s of other ships 鈥� a modern day armada. Mr Lemon takes up the story....

"As we went in towards the beach (Sword Beach at Ouistreham) something happened - we were blown up. We lost both ramps on each side of the ship and there was a big hole in the bow, below the water line. That was the only wet landing we gave the Warwicks! We had a full complement of men on board, and their equipment too. They had their packs and rifles on and because of the loss of the ramps they had to climb down rope ladders, which was very tricky despite the fact the water was only about 6ft deep at the time.

Once on the beach we were stuck for 15 hours until the tide turned and we could be towed off. A craft behind us took a direct hit and that was all panic. We were firing at a house way back on the beach; the skipper had said fire at that house because the Germans are in there, so we did and blew half the wall away. The Germans came tumbling out and then they were no more. I had a colleague who lost a leg and we were all covered in shrapnel. Bullets were pinging off the metal side of the gun I was manning.

Once the Warwicks had left the beach there were only about 20 of us on board - much of the time we were pulling soldiers out of the sea, a lot had their 鈥淢ae West's鈥� (lifebelts) on under their packs and as soon as they hit the water they turned turtle and were easily drowned. That was the longest day, really the longest day."

Mr Lemon continued to man the gun for 15 hours and never did find out what happened to the soldiers who had accompanied him on the crossing.

Asking Mr Lemon if he was able to describe what it was like that day he replied, "Have you seen Saving Private Ryan? If you have watched that film - the opening scenes on the beach really do give an idea of what it was like, the sea literally was red with blood."

Mr Friday was a 20 year old Petty Officer in the Royal Navy aboard the minesweeper HMS Gazelle. Setting sail from Scotland the crew had no idea what their task was to be until they too arrived on the south coast and joined the waiting armada.

HMS Gazelle鈥檚 remit they learnt was to 鈥渟weep鈥� the channel to France. Once minesweeping duties were complete the ship was deployed on protection duties and formed part of a defence harbour preventing movement by the German navy. Mr Friday was working in the engine room throughout the morning of D-Day but could hear the constant thud of the artillery. He didn鈥檛 emerge into daylight until some hours later when he witnessed the sight of countless men face down in the sea, their packs floating uppermost, having drowned before they had reached shore. Speaking with some emotion he said 鈥淚 am proud to have been there on D-Day, but I don鈥檛 reflect on the glory 鈥� you can鈥檛 if you have seen the things I saw.鈥� Mr Friday has never returned to Normandy.

Mr Hughes, aged 18 (having lied about his age in order to enlist) was a member of the Royal Army Service Corps. He left English soil aboard an LCT (Landing Craft Tank). The LCT had a full company of 120 men on board and the journey took 12 hours due to the number of ships queuing and the limited number of safe routes across the Channel. About 0830 hours on 8th June (D-Day +2) and about 2 miles from the French coastline, the bow doors opened and supervised by an armed Military Policeman (a Red Cap), a steady stream of amphibious vehicles (DUKWs) navigated the steep ramp into the sea. Fortified by an earlier drop of rum, Mr Hughes, and the crew of the heavily laden DUKW, steered their way to the beach. Careful navigation was paramount as more DUKWs were lost through the errors of inexperienced personnel than through enemy action.

Mr Hughes鈥� task was to head inland to help set up a Base Supply Depot 鈥� vital if the momentum of the landings was to continue inland. Nearing the beach he spotted another Red Cap directing incoming craft onto the beach and beyond. The scene was chaotic as some of the enemy heavy artillery had yet to be overcome and continued to pound the beaches. The Red Cap indicated what route he wanted the DUKW to take but it meant driving over the bodies of dead British soldiers - seeing their hesitation the Red Cap shouted 鈥渄on鈥檛 worry about them, they鈥檝e been there since yesterday鈥�. But as Mr Hughes recalled 鈥渋t just wasn鈥檛 right having to drive over bodies like that鈥�.

Mr Lemon, a member of the Normandy Veterans Association said 鈥淚 do feel proud. It was a big achievement that. We always feel proud when we see the 鈥榦ld boys鈥� marching past. We give thanks every day 鈥� we are very blessed." Both Mr Lemon and Mr Hughes plan to return to Normandy in June.

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