Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 016, folder 46: Frederick John Crispen

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LL L. Is pp 1,2 TC-TE NY-10 E. Quogue,L.I.

For Cornelius Ryan Book about D-Day

THOUSANDS OF MEN, ON LAND AND SEA AND IN THE AIR, PARTICIPATED 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? Frederick John Crispen What was your unit and division? 436th Troop Carrier Group 94th Squadron Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time ? Ste. Mare Ingles 2430 hrs 6 Jun 44

What was your rank on June 6, 1944? /Get full details of any conversations. 2nd Lt. What was your age on June 6, 1944? 21. Jun 6th is my birthday. Were you married at that time? No What is your wife's name? Elsa Christine Tjaaland Did you have any children at that time? No What do you do now? M /sgt. USAF Jet mechanic 16 years service

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? We started speculating in April that we were to be part of the big show when we were making mass practice drops at night. When we were told to move with clothing for one week into a barbed wire enclosure, we knew the big drop wasn't far off. 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? We had a formation of 36 aircraft. The only lights were our top navigation lights. It looked like a bunch of fire flies. I spent my time getting ground speed and figuring winds from our check points. The para troopers were extremly interested in the winds, could we hit our drop zone on time, and to please put them in the drop zone, not the drink. As we turned into Cherbourg Penninsular we flew into a cloud bank, and it wasn't until 5 miles from the DZ that we broke out of the overcast just after the troopers had stood up and hooked up shroud lines. We visually spotted Ste. Mare Ingles and put our troopers right in the DZ. We were comitted to drop our troops in flights of 3 and 9 aircraft. We solvoed with six other aircraft. After the drop, the formation turned and we lost them in the over cast again. I gave the pilot a heading for the English Coast, he dropped down to 100 feet off the water to avoid being shot at by our Navy and we went back to Ramsberry. /details? What were the rumors on board the boat, ship or plane in which you made the crossing? (Some people remember scuttlbbut to the effect that the Germans had poured gasoline on the water and planned to set it afire when the troops came in).

The biggest concern was the fact that the Germans knew our DZ. reports that the DZ was flooded, full of spiked poles set six feet apart, and rimmed with 30 cal. machine guns for ground annihilation, and 88s to take care of the aircraft. Actually the ground was slightly inundated, and we were only lightly sprayed with 20 MM flak and .30 cal fire.

- for Cornelius Ryan 2 - Your name Crispen, F., J.

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? I started to, but the day remains quite vivid in my mind, since it was my first combat drop and my 2 st birthday. Some party.

Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? Of the three aircraft shot out of our formation I remember 2nd Lt. Barnie Friedman of N.Y.C. who had gone through Navigation school with me. It seemed hard to believe that he was in the ball of flame behind that looked so orange when it hit the ground. Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? No. Were you wounded? No, thank God. 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? It was all so new, and we had waited and practiced for it for so long, that it was just like going through the motions while in a vacuum. It all happened so fast once we took off, and there was so many things to do and check that there was no time to think until we taxied back in and cut engines. Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it did not, of course, seem amusing at the time? Yes, when we lost the formation the pilot yelled for a heading home. I forgot all about the so called safe corridors that we were supposed to fly in, and figured out a course straight for our base. That is why after we realized what we had done he went down to 100 feet off the water. We were the first aircraft back to Ramsberry RAF station aside from the abort aircraft. Some people at the Base thought that we had aborted or missed our DZ, but we dropped visually on the target## with the formation. Do you recall any incident, sad -or heroic, or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? Some of the para troopers became air sick beacuse we took off at about 22:45 5 Jun 44 and did a lot of flying around in close formation while all the big Groups joined up. But sick or not when the warning signal came to stand up and hook up every man hit the deck. They were some brave bunch and I remember feeling sorry as I watched them peel out the door into the cold black unknown night. more of his own feelings, emotions and paras?

- for Cornelius Ryan 3 - Your name Crispen, F.J.

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? Our stunt of flying directly back across the channel out of corridor could have got us shot down by our Navy or the English. Such is what happened to other Troop Carrier Groups in North Africa when they flew over our Navy and were badly shot up. Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? 1,000 feet over the English Channel in C-47 42-1000456 heading for France with a load of Para Troopers. Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? Getting some rest after returning from putting gliders in to the DZ at Ste. Mare Ingles to back up the Troopers we had dropped in the night. 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?

No. Unless you can trace T/Sgt.Ernest Daymude and S/Sgt.Tex Williams. /no cards cannot trace

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

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