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THOMSON, Roger Wm. David
British 9th Minesweeping Flotilla
Box 23, #16
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THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY
D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 -- MIDNIGHT JUNE 6
What is your full name? Roger William David Thomson
What is your present address? Eaglethorpe House Warmington Peterborough Northants
Telephone number: ELTON 270
What was your unit, division, corps? HMS Sidmouth (leader of the Ninth Minesweeping Flotilla, Force J)
Where did you land and at what time?
What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? Commander, Royal Navy 38
Were you married at that time? Yes What is your wife's name? Avice Margaret Thomson Did you have any children at that time? Yes - 3 sons
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? On assuming command of the flotilla in February 1944.
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? Main preoccupations were navigation (extreme accuracy being required), and watching other ships and the general conduct of the operation.
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 heard no rumors, but was not likely to.
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? No. But I wrote an account later. See plain sheet.
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2.
Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? No
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 outof-place? No. The operation took place almost exactly as planned, but was made easier by the complete lack of opposition.
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? The sight at daylight on June 6 of an apparently endless line of ships steaming safely down the channel that we had swept. This memory will never leave me.
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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?
[crossed out]No[end crossed out] The shocking things were the outstanding skill, efficiency and determination displayed by all ships. There was a spirit of "Nothing shall stop us" pervading the whole flotilla.
My secretary Lieutenant (s) R.H.E. Fogden RNVR refused to divulge that his appendix was troubling him. Concealment become impossible a few days after D-day, and he just reached hospital in the nick of time.
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?
No, but we took as an observer in HMS Sidmouth, Stanley Maxted of the B.B.C. He might be able to help you, or the BBC might let you have a transcript of his subsequent broadcast.
What do you do now? I retired from the Royal Navy in the normal way in 1956, and joined the staff of F. Perkins. Ltd, Peterborough, manufacturers of high speed lightweight diesel engines.
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
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[*R 17/6 Ack 17/6/58*]
Eaglethorpe House Warmington Peterborough Northants 16 June 1958
Dear Miss Isaacs,
Thank you for your letter of 13 June. I have filled in the questionnaire to the best of my ability, but as you say, much of it does not apply. I have therefore written a brief account of the day's events, which you will find below, and which I hope will be of some use to you.
Shortly after D-day, I wrote an account of it for a naval magazine circulating privately. I still have the proofs and could let you have a sight of them, if you would undertake not to mention the name of the magazine, in anything of mine you decide to publish.
Yours sincerely RWD Thomson
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The Ninth Minesweeping Flotilla, consisting of 16 ships viz 8 Fleet Minesweepers, 1 Destroyer, 4 Danlayers and 3 Motor Launches, sailed from St. Helens Roads at 1300 on 5 June in order to sweep a channel clear of mines for the troopships to use. Great navigational accuracy was required to ensure that the channel led exactly to that part of the French Coast where the soldiers would land, and buoys had to be laid to work each side of the channel. Each buoy was fitted with a light to enable it to be seen in the darkness, and with a large flag to enable it to be easily seen in daylight. Soon after 0300 on 6 June, the channel had been swept clear of mines, and every one of the 81 buoys was known to be exactly in position. No opposition of any sort was met from enemy sea or air forces, but one ship had an engine put out of action and her sweep destroyed when a mine detonated in it. There was also a period from approximately 0030 to 0200 when several ships were in peril from waves, but all came safely through As soon as the invasion fleet arrived we set to work to widen the swept channel and continued doing so until just