大象传媒

'Mary' Pickford's (nickname)memories of Normandy. 1942

In 1942, I joined 13 platoon in C company, 5th Wilts, as a platoon runner.
- Our CO was Major Hanky killed by an 88mm.
- Captain Fields killed later
- Lieutenant Sinclair was wounded in a concentration area along with his batman
- A Radio operator, and Sergeant Archer, were also wounded in a concentration area
- Sergeant Major Smith killed later

We left Newhaven, England in an infantry landing craft (rough weather). I was sick over a sailor. We Landed on Mulberry Harbour, marched to a concentration area in the village of Sommerviell. The march was a hard one because of rain and mud and small rivers. C Company had bikes. We were told to leave bikes at side of road. I was a platoon runner so I had to keep mine longer. We had six days to wait for our support transport.

Hill 112 was high. Hedges, machine guns in cornfields and snipers. Tiger tanks and others and armoured cars and artillery (sometimes our own dropping short.) On the road leading up to Hill 112 was a large tiger tank, there were three Churchill tanks on fire and the crew were trying to get out. A PIAT man crawled over me and hit this tank. We were able to get on and past it. We had to pass a gap in the hedge and a sniper tied to a branch had killed two soldiers and our officer and put a bullet through my helmet (which I have kept). I had tightened the strap inside my helmet, which is what had saved me. One of our tanks machine gunner the branch and the sniper fell to the ground.

Walking through an orchard some of us were taking apples off of the trees as we passed by. Someone said not for me to take one, looking up I saw it was a grenade painted to look like an apple.

Moaning minnies killed and wounded many of 13 and 14 platoon. We did not know at first what the noise was until it was too late. My mate Alf Nutland(13 Platoon) was wounded by our own shell dropping shot.

At our 50th wedding anniversary Alf told me for the first time 鈥淩emember you were told to take me down to CCS.鈥� Just as I picked him up on the stretcher I was told to find a radio operator to phone through to artillery that shells were dropping on C Company and to raise their sights. Someone took my place. They were killed by machine gun. Alf was wounded in his right arm (before it was his stomach). Two other picked him up and a machine gun killed them and Alf was wounded in his other arm. It took him over 50 years to tell me this. He is still with us but not very well. I had to take someone else down and was not fired upon.

Sergeant Major Smith brought us some soup and tea in our slit trench. He brought it in a bren gun carrier. 鈥淭ea and soup under fire!鈥� you could call it! We did not have to get out of our trenches.

Later I was told to count how many of us in 13 platoon were left. I counted 11out of 36.

We then joined D company to prepare for hill 361.

I had two days rest for battle fatigue and I went to see a relation at Bayeux, who was a cook.

Reinforcements meant we were up to strength in C company. I remember a Lance Corporal charged a tank with a sten gun and someone fired a PIAT gun at the same tank at the same time.
I passed another mate, Private Osbourne who was lying critically injured, on a bayonet charge. He was on his back with part of his head blown off. I saw him much later in a canteen in England. A piece of paper was flicked at me and I thought 鈥淥sbourne always did that but I saw him killed in Normandy.鈥� he looked fine, with a plate in his head, it was great to see him again.

Hill 112

I was chased by a tank it was firing its machine gun at me making holes in the ground (I was told by S.P. Guns that my entrenching tool was standing up and could be seen through the corn.) I ran to a dip the ground and laid down next to someone who had been run over by a tank. The tank chasing me then appeared at the other end of the dip and was bringing his gun round to face me when the track stopped. He may have been hit or been stuck in soft ground. The crew got out, ran along the dip and the commander pulled his revolver out and pointed it at my head, but he did not fire, he put it back into his holster and got into another tank that I did not see.

Hill 361

We were over run. We had a barrage of artillery first, followed by tanks and infantry. I was sharing the trench with the new Sergeant. He was pouring cognac in my mouth, and I said, 鈥淚 do not drink鈥�. He said, 鈥淵ou do now! I just dug you out of a trench.鈥� He had been to see company HQ.

After hill 361 was Mount Picon. We were on the road with our tanks and bren gun carriers and we were mortared by moaning minnies (six barrel mortars).

I was wounded in the ankle, others were killed.

Monty came at that moment in his large armoured car to get fit soon as we need you. This was August 5th 1944. I was taken to the CCS by jeep then to the Canadian field hospital. Then by plane to RAF Lyneham hospital and then by train to Ronkswood hospital, Worcester, and later to Hamilton racecourse, Scotland, in the stables. After I came out of hospital I was based at Felixstowe then at shrubland park and finally demobbed at Devizes as a HQ company storeman.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.