Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 016, folder 44: Thomas Edward Collins

409 Bomb Grp COLLINS, Thomas Edward

20th Air Div.

Cal 27

Box 16, #44

Present address 16934 S. Orchard Ave, Gardena, Calif Telephone DA 3- 3621 Although I do not expect to be in New York, I will be available at your convenience for personal interview if your interviewer comes to Los Angeles. Tom Collins CAL 27 LL For Cornelius Ryan Book about D-Day

THOUSANDS OF MEN, ON LAND AND SEA AND IN THE AIR, PARTICITPATED IN THE INVASION OF NORMANDY BETWEEN MIDNIGHT JUNE 5, 1944 AND MIDNIGHT JUNE 6, 1944. IF YOU WERE ONE OF THEM, PLEASE ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.

What is your full name? Thomas Edward Collins What was your unit and division? 409th Bomb Squadron 93rd Bomb Go 20th Air Div. Where did you arrive over Normandy, and at what time ? Bombed the beach at juncture with Cotentin Peninsula (about 4AM) (Utah?) What was your rank on June 6, 1944? 2d Lt. What was your age on June 6, 1944? 27 Were you married at that time? No What is your wife's name? Cynthia Taft Collins Did you have any children at that time? no What do you do now? Statistician doing Operations Research, Weapon Systems Analysis Dept. Northrop Aircraft. Inc.

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? about 1AM

What was the trip like during the crossing of the Channel ? Do you remember, for example, any conversations you had or how you passed the time? Do not recall any conversations, being a navigator and since the formation was accomplished in heavy fog I was quite busy computing our position to assure that we maintained our planned position and route relativ to the balance of the raid. What were the rumors on board the boat, ship or plane in which you made the crossing? (Some people remember scuttlebut to the effect that the Germans had poured gasoline on the water and planned to set it afire when the troops came in ) Don't know of any

- for Cornelius Ryan 2Your name Thomas Edward Collins

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? no Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? not to my knowledge

Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? - Were you wounded? no

Do you remember what it was like--that is, do you remember whether you felt any pain or were you so surprised that you felt nothing? Do you remember seeing- or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it did not, of course, seem amusing at the time? no

Do you recall any incident, simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? we were carrying fragmentation bombs and apparently one of the bombs was hit by anti aircraft fire (flak) causing 68 holes in the fuselage of our plane and damaging our hydraulic system. We were able to return to England and make an emergency landing at Woodbridge, a large airfield in the south of England designed for emergency landings. ---------------- I wore a goattee throughout my combat tour in England to facilitate my escape in the event we were ever shot down over Europe. I seem to recall that the crew had some Arabian nickname for me at the time, however I have forgotten it. I have a 4 x 6 glossy print of the aircraft which we flew.

- for Cornelius Ryan 3 - Your name Thomas E Collins

In times of great crisis, people generally show either great ingenuity or self-reliance; others do incredibly stupid things. Do you remember any examples of either?

Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? Hardwick, England (AAF Base)

Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? Hardwick, England (AAF Base)

Do you know of anybody else who landed within those 24 hours (midnight June 5 to midnight June 6) as infantry, glider or airborne troops, or who took part in the air and sea operations, whom we should write to? (members of our crew - B-24 "What A Sack" William E. [crossed out][illegible][end crossed out] Peters 4733 W. Grace St. Chicago 41 Ill. (Gunner) John Streil now pilot with North East Airlines (1st Pilot) William Kivett Liberty, N. C. (current address) (Gunner) Warren Hoffman Steelton, Pa. (Gunner) Bud Starr Formerly of Boise,Idaho -- Nose Gunner Snively (Radio Oper) John Burke(Formerly of N.C.) (Bombadier) Marrett(Formerly of S.C.) (Engineer) Gregory Solich (Formerly of San Francisco) (Co-Pilot) Thomas E. Collins 16934 S. Orchard Ave., Gardena, Calif. (Navigator) [*out*]

PLEASE LET US HAVE THIS QUESTIONNAIRE AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, SO THAT WE CAN INCLUDE YOUR EXPERIENCES IN THE BOOK. WE HOPE THAT YOU WILL CONTINUE YOUR STORY ON SEPARATE SHEETS IF WE HAVE NOT LEFT SUFFICIENT ROOM. FULL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT WILL BE GIVEN IN A CHAPTER CALLED "WHERE THEY ARE NOW; YOUR NAME AND VOCATION OR OCCUPATION WILL BE LISTED.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP.

Cornelius Ryan

Frances Ward Research, The Reader's Digest

Cornelius J. Ryan LL June6, 1958

Dear Sir; I understand you are interested in personal who flew on a combat mission on D-day just 14 days ago. I was the Navigator on a B-24 Liberator which we had named "What a sack" There is a little story behind how we named that aircraft, of which I have a glossy 4 x 6 picture. Lt. John J. Streil was the pilot at age 18, he now flies for Northeast Airlines. I was the oldest member of the crew at age 27. Lt. Burke, a native of North Carolina was Bombadier. Lt. Gregory Solich of San Francisco was the co-pilot. S/Sgt Starr from Idaho was nose gunner. T/Sgt Marrett of South Carolina was the Flight Engineer. Sgt William Kivett, was the waist gunner, he is now a successful businessman in Liberty, N.C. Sgt Wayne Hoffman, another gunner was from southern Pennsylvania. Sgt William Peters, another gunner is a native of Chicago, Ill. at the moment the radio-operator name slips my mind. We climbed to altitude and formed our attack in quite a heavy cloud formation as I recall. We were scheduled to drop fragmentation bombs on the beach at point (X) see below

[image drawn indicating plane route landing on beach head]

Our route parallelled the peninsula on our right and apparently one of the fragmentation bombs was hit by flak just after we dropped as we returned with 65 small holes in the fuselage of the plane and doing some damage to the hydraulic system.