大象传媒

This story was submitted to the People鈥檚 War site by Odilia Roberts from the Derby Action Team on behalf of Timothy Boyce and has been added to the site with his permission. The author fully understands the site鈥檚 terms and conditions.

This is the story of 鈥楾he Longest Day鈥�, in other words, 鈥楧 Day鈥�, 6th June 1944, and the ensuing days as seen by myself, a driver in the RASC.

Until the beginning of that year I was a member of a general transport company using mostly 3-ton trucks. At about that time Higher Authority decided that we should be trained in Amphibious Landings using DUKWs, in preparation for the forthcoming landings on the mainland of Europe, known as the Second Front. As most people probably know, the DUKW was basically a six-wheel drive G.M.C. truck chassis with the hull built around it. The wheels were fitted with special tyres suitable for operation on soft sand at only 10lbs. pressure and these could be automatically inflated by a compressor in the engine compartment to considerably higher pressures for driving on ordinary roads. The vehicle had a propeller for operation on the water of course and according to training instructions this had to be lubricated by a screw down greaser every time before entering the water.

Early in May that year our unit together with many others were concentrating in an Assembly Area in some woods near Southampton, ready for another exercise, one of many previous ones. However we all knew the Real Thing must come some day. I had my final haircut sitting on a milestone at the side of the road in this area.

At the end of May we proceeded to Gosport for the final 鈥榯ake off鈥� down a concrete hard into the water. As we drove through the town the streets were lined with people, waving and cheering. I think most of them must have thought that this was 鈥業T鈥�, although we had not been officially briefed. Just another exercise!!!!

When we entered the water we were making for a LSD (Landing Ship Dock) which was lying about 2 miles off shore between the mainland and the Isle of Wight. This was a vessel of about 7000 tons, perhaps a little less. It could be flooded to allow a smaller vessel to be floated inside for repair. There was a stern ramp and the deck was capable of holding our 33 DUKWs.

To enable the DUKWs to be driven on board the stern ramp was lowered well into the water and it was up to every driver to do his best. There was a turntable on board to enable the vehicles to be turned round ready for disembarkation, but as our DUKW was last to come aboard the turntable was covered by the others and we had to reverse up the ramp out of the water. Rather a tricky operation for which we had not been trained. We had two drivers; glad I was not the one who had to do that. However, my mate made a very good job of it.

This LSD was built in the USA but was crewed by the Royal Navy. After about five lazy days on board with plenty of good food and the rum ration daily we were briefed for the next day, 6th June. We realised that this was the REAL THING at last.

Reveille was about 06.00 hours and on waking I found that the ship was already under way. It was a fine clear morning and on going up on deck the Isle of Wight could be seen receding astern. We were only moving at about 7 or 8 knots and as far as the eye could see on either side convoys of ships were moving towards the French coast. There were only very few aircraft about, they were all OURS. By noon we were about 8 miles off the coast. I was going to say 鈥淓nemy Held Coast鈥� but of course it was in our hands by then. The sky over the land was full of smoke from the burning buildings which had been shelled by the Navy earlier on. Our LSD had hove to by this time and we had to drive off into the sea with still a few miles to go before landing. This was not a very pleasant experience with our load consisting of about 2陆 tons of shells, 4 jerry cans of petrol and one 500cc motorcycle lashed to the stern, which was awash most of the time. It took quite a long time or so it seemed for the bows of the DUKW to lift as we hit the water down the steep ramp. However we made it to the shore all right, luckily there was hardly any enemy activity by that time.

There is no need for me to try to describe the utter chaos on the beach, such as wrecked LSTs, tanks and trucks etc. There were numerous groups of 50 or so German prisoners standing about guarded by a couple of British soldiers.

Actually the officer in charge of our platoon of DUKWs made a slight mistake in judging our landing place, not surprising under the circumstances! So we had to drive about a mile or so up the beach to our right to a small fishing port called Courseulles. We drove through this small town and apart from troops I don鈥檛 think there was a living soul to be seen. I well remember a burnt out bus in the square.

Our destination for unloading our cargo was some high ground about a mile inland to which we were directed by Military Police. Traffic Control was excellent in spite of the lack of traffic lights. All the streets and roads were 鈥極ne Way Only鈥� of course. Even so things were a bit chaotic at times as there was such a colossal number of trucks and tanks etc. on the move, coming in from the beaches. What few locals we did see inland gave us a very friendly welcome, waving and cheering and throwing roses into the vehicles.

We offloaded at a dump in the middle of a huge field, which was already getting well covered. Nearby a farmer was milking a tethered cow and he did not take the slightest notice of us. I don鈥檛 thick he realised he was getting a grandstand view of one of the greatest military operations ever undertaken.
By this time it was mid afternoon and we were supposed to make for our overnight vehicle park and as it turned out, our park for some time to come. Although our destination was only two miles away, owing to the previous mentioned traffic congestion, the evening was well advanced before we finally made it. The DUKW park was to be in an orchard at the rear of a beautiful chateau, incidentally the owner and his family were still in residence. There was a large shell hole in the roof but this had already been covered with tarpaulin. At the entrance to the chateau drive there were the usual wrought iron gates supported by stone pillars. As the lane outside was too narrow for the DUKWs to turn in, a bulldozer was called up by a Dispatch Rider and this soon pushed the pillars complete with gates on one side, much to the consternation of the owner who was surveying the scene. He must have known there was a war on! He was lucky his residence was not badly damaged.

Our food for this day and the next consisted of 鈥榦ne man twenty four hour packs鈥� that just fitted in our mess tins. These packs consisted of biscuits, dehydrated porridge, dehydrated stew, tea, sugar and dried milk mixed and chocolate. Actually when water was added and heated these mixtures were very good, especially when one was as hungry as we were.

That night we slept in the back of the DUKW, fully dressed of course, complete with boots and equipment and knife, fork and spoon in pocket and sten gun alongside. Strange to say it was quite peaceful apart from distant gunfire and the occasional shell whistling overhead. However I was certainly very glad to 鈥榞et up鈥� at dawn off that hard steel deck.

Our first job that morning was to get the DUKWs down to the beach about half a mile away to offload the supply ships that were now lying off shore. On reaching the beach we had to pass through DUKW Control that was a temporary erection in the sand dunes equipped with radio and telephones. There we were told which ship to make for. These ships had their numbers painted on the side for easy identification. Coming alongside was a bit tricky when there was a swell running. When the DUKW was more or less in position one of the ships derricks swung out with its load in a rope sling and this came down, usually with more of a bump than was pleasant, to say the least, for the driver and his mate. After unhooking the sling we headed for the shore and the official beach exit where we were told which dump to make for.

The second night in the Beachhead was the worst we experienced. Quite a few German aircraft came over and dropped anti personnel bombs, which discharged shrapnel at waist level. Luckily by this time I had found an empty 鈥榞rave鈥� about five feet deep which someone had dug, or perhaps it was meant to be a slit trench nearby. Anyway it was available and having brought some thick planks up from the beach on the DUKW, I laid these over the top and covered them with earth and a tarpaulin. There was always plenty of stuff lying around. An opening one end and some steps down completed the job together with some boards and a groundsheet to lie on. Several of our chaps sleeping above ground were wounded that night.

A nearby cow was killed by this shrapnel and one of our personnel, who was a butcher in civvy street, soon had her slung up on the 鈥楢鈥� frame on the back of a DUKW, a sort of breakdown crane, and degutted and cut up into joints. So we had plenty of roast beef after a few days, a bit tough but quite edible. We did not have any bread for two or three weeks apart from the odd slice or two given to us by one of the crew of the ships we were unloading. Biscuits were getting a bit uninteresting by this time.

Hot baths were now being organised. An old bath was found in a corner of the orchard, used as a cattle trough. This was cleaned out and mounted on a bed of sand. Hot water was supplied by cookhouse containers fixed over a trench where a wood fire was kept burning. There was always an ample supply of timber to be picked up on the shore and brought back on the DUKWs. Sheets of metal from damaged ships were erected round the 鈥榖athing area鈥� for the sake of privacy! Quite a few French women passed very nearby this area on their way to the village and our antics provided them with considerable amusement.

In between driving I had a certain amount of admin. work to do in connection with arranging guard duties and the issue of the cigarette ration, sweets, razor blades and suchlike to the 90 odd men in our platoon. I managed to fix up a very temporary 鈥榦ffice鈥� in an outhouse adjoining a pigsty. Luckily there were no pigs at home at the time, although there was plenty of evidence that they had recently been in residence! A hen had been laying regularly on a sack in the corner, needless to say I did not discourage her and I had a fresh egg every day for some time.

A week or two after D Day the local people were beginning to return to the village and trying to get their lives organised again amongst the ruins. Being a bit of a railway enthusiast I noticed a fine engine standing at the station. A plate on the side of the cab bore the inscription, in French of course, Schneider & Co., Le Creusot, 1871.

After a few weeks the enemy were gradually retreating further east and of course all the supplies we had landed were now required considerably further away. The time had now come to hand in the DUKWs, which had done a really marvellous job with very little trouble, although of course workshops were busy on them all the time. We were issued with about 120 three ton four wheel drive trucks and started the job of moving the dumps to the Brussels area. Three days there and two days back empty, sleeping in the vehicles at night. This was really quite a picnic but also quite another story.

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