Cornelius Ryan WWII papers, box 021, folder 38: Norton Lee

LEE, Norton British 550 Flotilla BOX 21, #38

Sorry about delay. Ack 8/7/58

THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 -- MIDNIGHT JUNE 6

What is your full name? Lee, Norton What is your present address? 22, High St., Ashford, Kent. Telephone number: Ashford. (Kent) 88. What was your unit, division, corps? L 550 L.C.A Flotilla (only British Naval force on U.S.A. sector). Where did you land and at what time?

What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? SOB. Lient. R.N.V.R. Were you married at that time? No What is your wife's name? - Did you nave any children at that time? No When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? [?We guessed that we were being trained about 6-8 weeks before?] 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?

Were there any rumours aboard ship? (Some people remember hearing that the Germans had poured gasoline on the water and planned to set it afire when the troops came in.) [can't read] Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? No It was forbidden.

2. Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? We had nine boats during the landing but all the officers + ratings- except 12 approx. returned to the ship during the following week or so. Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties?

Were you wounded ? No How were you wounded?

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 may not have seemed amusing at the time? Or anything unexpected or out- of-place? One officer was left hanging on to a beach obstacle when his craft was mined. Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable , that struck you more than anything else?

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

Do you know of anybody else who landed within the 24 hours (midnight 5 June to midnight 6 June) either as infantry, glider or airborne troops, whom we should write to? T.J. Forster 51 Church Road. Gosforth {can't read] H.J. Rutherford 35. [can't read] What do you do now? [can't read] 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." Cornelius Ryan Joan O. Isaacs The Reader’ s Digest

22, HIGH STREET, ASHFORD, KENT. T E L . 8 8 . 6th June, 1958. Acknowledged 11.6.8 Dear Sir, With reference to the notice in The London Flotilla Bulletin, I was an Assistant Wave Commander, Division A. 3rd Wave on Omaha beach on June 6th. Our flotilla, 550, L.C.A., landed Colonel Taylor of the 16th Infantry, who was transported in S.S. Empire Avril from Falmouth. If I can help the Author in any way, I shall be pleased to do so. Yours faithfully, Norton Lee The Research Editor, The Reader's Digest, 25, Berkeley Square, London, W.1.