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[*ack 2/5/58*] THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 -- MIDNIGHT JUNE 6
What is your full name? William John Thomas
What is your present address? 21 Brook St TaiBAch Port Talbot Glamorgan County South Wales
Telephone number:
What was your unit, division, corps? South Wales Border'ers (Infantry) 56 ind bde "50" division (on D Day).
Where did you land and at what time? on Green beach Arromanches to the right of Bayeax the time about 8:30 am object to capture and hold bridges around and behind Bayaux and to hit out radar post etc.
What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? Corporal 26 years old
Were you married at that time? No
What is your wife 's name? No Did you have any children at that time? No
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? A few months earlier our Brigadier anounced that we to be part of "Mongomerys 21 Army Group" and spent vigirous training at inverary in Scotland asault landings, battle training, etc.
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? I was rather exited in a way hadn't been in action before, after weeks of our mail being cencored - we were told we could write home - and explain our adventure - the returning landing craft officer would mail our letters. Some of us made jokes of the brown paper bags we were issuid to get seasick into and a lot were before we landed owing to the boat bieng flat bottom.
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.) I personally didn't hear any rumours. We had been briefed regularly for weeks previus in the sealed camp and had in our minds a drill of a kind that when we would land - how we would disperse - how our platoon would branch off and capture a bridge and hold it. Our briefing give dubios informasion to the enemy strenght - we found out later some of us to our sorrow.
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? No.
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2. Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? On landing the initial assault craft lay damaged, sunk and clustering the landing beach up, we had to land beyond and go in hand over hand on a guide rope from ship to shore, the water was very choppy and chest high a man in our company got swept off and was drowned understandable because we were all heavyly laden with ammo. The (Hampshire regiment) had gone in first, forming a shallow bridgehead, then we had to go through - continued on additional writing paper.
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? One of my closest pals had finished his fox hole and was covering it over with tree branches, my section passing - I remarked to him It's not much of a job you've done "Dai" they'll see you ten miles off - we had not gone fifty yards when they sent two mortar shells seemed just over our heads - one of these shells killed my pal "Dai" I rushed back after the shelling - found him still holding his white mug he had been cleaning it with wet grass, and one piece of shrapnel smashed through his steel helmet killing him.
Were you wounded? Yes twice
How were you wounded? The first time was a bullet through the cheek when part of my section and I called on three SS men to surrender - one climbed onto the chimney and fired point black at me Bieng Section Comander. The second time was at Venlo in Hollond a mortar shell blew my left calf muscle out. When the Jerry's caught our company in a wood with a mortar bomb box barrage.
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? With the bullet through the cheek - Somthing made me look towards this particlar chimney. Then I saw a Flash it was like a slap accross the cheek, then the part bieng numb like an injection Before a tooth out, one of my section exlaimed you have got a bullet hold right through your face, many a doctor and nurse remarked later - it was one of the nearest they had seen. It was raining when I got hit in the leg I was left helpless on top of a half dug fox hole seemed years all while the shelling kept going on - the strecher bearer's were all busy at the time, my leg was numb. But I knew all about it later.
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 outof-place? I remember when we pulled back for a 24 hour rest near a farm house. I sent two of my section out on the "scrounge" for food of some kind. They brought back two chickens - they were real good - later a French farmer's wife complained in broken Enlish - La boche come! La boche go! La Engleesh come! and chicken go! The real joke was our company comander who she complained too. had a fair share of the spoils, not asking questions at the time.
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else?
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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? Whether it seem stupid or what, but I [inserted]recieved[end inserted] [crossed out]earned[end crossed out] the military medal when we took a corner for an aproach down a slope to a bridge. I got pinned down with machine gun fire. After a while I took a chance took a header into the ditch, and found a covered aproach right down to the bridge, I crawled down cautucesly hoping to have a look around. I came out to the flank of two "Jerrys" hovering over a machine gun and another Jerry in a fox hole near by - they must have thought me a full section they threw their hands up, but wouldnt move, seems ages, suddenly one threw a stick grenade at me but coming from his fox hole the grenade went wide all this time I had a grenade with the pin out motioning them to come out - so when the grenade came at me I dived to one side, a split second I was up and practically put my grenade in the two Jerrys fox hole who were crouched up from the blast of their own grenade. I killed them both, kicking their machine gun in the river and bringing the third Jerry Prisoner walking him, [crossed out]me backwards up the road[end crossed out] up the road. I had him shield me while I walked backwards.
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?
What do you do now? Driving a diesel Loco in the new strip mill - Steel Company of Wales Port Talbot.
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
Please excuse poor writing or Printing, rather Pushed for time. W.J. Thomas
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were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landin or during the day? continued. To one objectives, as soon as we formed on to the road. it was bieng shelled by German mortars. Serjeant Reynolds of "D" Company got hit in the throat with shrapnel, later [inserted]he[end inserted] died. As we marched slowly along [crossed out]the[end crossed out] in "Echelon Formation" a dispatch rider sat on the bank seemed calmly smoking a cigerette while stretcher. Bearers tried to get Telegraph wires wich had been blown down entwining Him and his motorbike from his legs, one of wich appeared to have been blown off at the knee, one s/Bearer seem to [crossed out]successfully[end crossed out] be stopping him bleeding too much. We eventually got sorted out and started to advance beyond the shallow bridehead to extend on further. Our bridges had to be taken and held, in the meantime we took prisoner's who made feeble attempts to hold us up. By firing a few shots from trees, and hedges, Etc". Then surrendering, through all these delays we could only get to one of our bridge's by nightfall. Then formed a "Battalion Pivot" to hold it over night. "A" Company, had led all day and had some minor casualitys we had to guard the bridges facing the sea the other company's all around. The other side, our section formed a road block on the corner of a sharp bend. At first things were [inserted]quiet[end inserted] [crossed out]quitet[end crossed out], then two patrols attacked. P.T. over