大象传媒

At only 18 I found myself going over to D-Day.

I was in the 5th Royal Horse Artillery. We trained at Schrubland Park, near Ipswich, my home town.

Before D-Day we moved through Ipswich, via the Valley Road By-pass. I was in a Bren Gun carrier. We embarked at Landguard Point onto the LCTs (tank landing craft) with our Sps (self-propelled guns). The estuary was full of dummy boats. The weather was too severe for us to leave so we spent the night anchored there.

Next day we set off, on the flat bottomed boats which, in the choppy sea, made many of us ill. After getting four miles out we reached Churchill Tower Fort, three big columns rising from the water. But again we were delayed and headed back up the river.

Finally we were ready. We landed in the sea off France, at a beach near Arromanch. As we left the LCT 'ducks' I was driving the Bren Gun carrier. The shields were up. I could only see, through a bit of glass three to four inches long, water and water. I didn't know it but I'd turned back to sea. The officer jammered at me, and, with some jiggery-pockery I managed to turn round. There were tank traps higher up, most, but not all had been blown up by the Sappers.

We advanced, the Canadians were right next to us.

From our battles in France I can remember my biggest scare. It was at the side of a field, by Falaise Gap. We were pinched in by the Germans, I was in a ditch. Suddenly I heard a crash. It was a huge German panzar coming out of the brush. I didn't dare fire: our Bren Gun would be like shooting peas against a tank.

For our new of what was happening we listened to the radio at 11 o'clock at night. I climbed to the reception to hear with the ear-hone. I recall Joe Loss's 'In the Mood' just before the evening bulletin.

Reproduced by Ipswich Museum with Ray Marshall's permission.

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