Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 018, folder 25: John Lawton III

Dead File

Los Angeles LAWTON, John, III HQ Btry NEG 5th Corps Artillery Cal 19

Box 18, #25

Fillmore, California N CAL 19

For Cornelius Ryan Has several friends in Fillmore Book about D-Day

THOUSANDS OF MEN, ON LAND AND SEA. AND IN THE AIR, PARTICIPATED 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? John Lawton III What was your unit and division?

Headquarters Battery, Fifth Corps Artillery

Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time?

Started in on the LST at Four AM into the harbor, 6/6/44.

What was your rank on June 5, 1944?

Tech.4th class

What was your age on June 6, 1944?

27

Were you married at that time?

yes

What is your wife’s name?

Rita Elizabeth Lawton

Did you have any children at that time?

no

What do you do now?

Insurance agent

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

Soon as we were in England, 10/12/43.

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? First topic was why we turned back after starting appreciating the fresh bread we had, discussing the impending landing on the beach, Trip was smooth and D-Day was clear with no fog and smooth water. One boat with one part of our battery on our left was sprayed by shrapnell in a near miss, wounding five of our men from our unit.

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). As at all times as these, with nothing to do but wait until we reached France, there were rumors. One, we turned back because of weather, Two, heard Germans were expecting us around Dieppe, Three, Would catch hell from German airforce . Four, (as we got closer to shore, and this was not rumor but fact, ) they had damn sharp artillery fire, which we could see hitting on the beaches, two hunderds yards from our boat.

- for Cornelius Ryan 2 -

Your name John Law to n III

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day?

No. doubt if any person going through it would need anything to remember it.

Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? Five of Our battery on another boat, Manfred XXXX Varud, Fargo, North Dakota; MarshTeague, Lawton Okahoma; There were two officers and another enlisted man I don’t remember their names.

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

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 bearing anything that seems funny now, even though it did not, of course, seem amusing at the time? On the boat which had the near miss, three colored men ran and slid under a jeep, one remarking "pull up anchor and head for the high-seas”.Haro;d Seymour, a lineman, as he was looking through binoculars, saw the shell in the air, seconds before it hit off the portside, and fell back about ten feet to the deck, not hurting himself at all, but which would have ordinarilly have really hurt him.

On our LSR, a man who ran the shore boats, came up the Dplus One for hos beat and it had disappeared in the night. Also, one of the sailors went ashore and rode around in a tank for two days. I think our LST number was either 304 or 504.

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? The ensign in charge of this LST waited for no orders put pulled anchor, after being straddled by fire, and the drift was just enough to cause the shell to miss a direct hit.

2/ The terrific job a hidden German gun battery did until they fired a round just at sunset, and then one round from the Texas put it out of commission. The job the Rangers did in getting up the cliffsand off the beached in face of terrific point-blank fire. The job the planes did soptting enemy guns in face of terrific anti-aircraft fire. The job the man from HQ.Co., Fifth Corps, who maned his radio though it was knocked out, continnuing to send messagesfrom the beach back to the ships.He got the silver star, I think

- for Cornelius Ryan 3 -

Your name John Lawton III

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? On LST

Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944?

same, in harbor at Omaha Beach.

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?

Yes, In this town, there is our wire sgt, LeRoy Amrhine, 364 2ndSt, Fillmore, Calif., Raymond Fernandez, Rt.2, Fillmore, Calif., Robert Gill,3101 South B St., Oxnard,Calif., Fernandez landed 6/6/. and we landed Dplus two.However we were off shore from fourAM 6/6/44. Gerald Howard, 625 Sta. Clara Sr., Fillmore,Calif.

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