Box 024, folder 41: Jack Butler Lind

LIND, Jack Butler

Canadian 3rd Div.

BOX 24, #41

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? JACK BUTLER LIND

What was your unit and division? HEADQUARTERS - 3RD CANADIAN INFANTRY DIVISION

Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time? COURSELLE SUR MERE 0830 HRS 6 JUN 44

What was your rank on June 6,1944? CAPT

What was your age on June 6, 1944? 30

Were you married at that time? YES

What is your wife's name? DOROTHY

Did you have any children at that time? NO

What do you do now? (a) RETIRED FROM ARMY 1946 (b) RE-ENROLLED IN REGULAR ARMY (c) NOW SC "A" HEADQUARTERS CENTRAL ONTARIO AREA

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? (a) KNOW BUT NOT CONFIRMED FOR ABOUT A YEAR (b) CONFIRMED FOR ABOUT 4 MONTHS PREVIOUSLY.

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? (a) CROSSED ON ALTERNATE HQ SHIP NAMED THE ULSTERMAN (b) SHARED CABIN WITH GSO 3 INT - CAPT SINKEWICZ. (c) SPENT THE CROSSING LISTENING TO UNIDENTIFIED OBJECTS SCRAPING ALONG THE HULL AND EXPECTING A MINE TO DETONATE AT ANY MOMENT.

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). ONLY RUMORS (UNCONFIRMED) OF LSTs BREAKING IN HAL DUE TO FAULTY CONSTRUCTION

- for Cornelius Ryan 2Your name JACK B LIND

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? NO

Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during landing or during the day? YES - BUT CANNOT RECALL THEIR NAMES AT THIS LATE DATE

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 so surprised that you felt nothing? N/A

Do you remember seeing or hearing anything that seems funny now, even though it may not have seemed funny at the time? ABOUT 3 OR 4 MILES OFFSHORE I WAS TRANSFERED TO A SMALL LCA WITH ABOUT 20 OTHER HQ PERSONNEL. WE WERE COMPLETELY EQUIPPED FOR COMBAT INCLUDING TIN HATS AND WEAPONS. THE CRAFT WAS OPERATED BY A CREW OF ONE CONSISTING OF A ROYAL NAVY LIEUT DRESSED IN HIS WALKING OUT UNIFORM COMPLETE WITH SOFT HAT. HE WAS THE MOST CASUAL AND UNCONCERNED PERSON I HAD SEEN IN DAYS.

Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? AS WE WADED ASHORE THERE WAS A BREN CARRIER ON IT'S SIDE ON A SMALL MOUND OF SAND ABOUT 30 YARDS OUT TO SEA. ALL OF THE PERSONNEL HAD BEEN KILLED WITH EXCEPTION OF ONE MAN WHOSE STOMACHE HAD RUPTURED AND HIS INTESTINES WERE FALLING OUT ALL OVER HIS LAP. HE SAT THERE TRYING TO PUSH HIS INTESTINES BACK INTO HIS STOMACHE, BUT THEY KEPT SPILLING BACK OUT AGAIN.

- for Cornelius Ryan 3 - Your name JACK B. LIND

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 from D-Day? THERE WAS A CANADIAN WAR CORRESPONDENT IN OUR LCA WHO WAS PETRIFIED WITH FEAR. AS WE MADE THE RUN IN TO SHORE HE WAS CROUCHED UNDER THE GUNWALE OF THE CRAFT LEANING AGAINST THE WOODEN SIDE WITH HIS PORTABLE TYPEWRITER IN HIS LAP. THE REST OF US WERE JUST AS AFRAID BUT WERE TOO FASCINATED BY THE ACTIVITY ON SHORE THAT WAS GETTING CLOSER [inserted] AND [end inserted] CLOSER. WE KIDDED THE CORRESPONDENT THAT IF HE WAS GOING TO WRITE ABOUT IT, HE SHOULD AT LEAST GET UP AND TAKE A LOOK. HE DIDN'T SEE A THING UNTIL WE ACTUALLY WADED ASHORE

Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? ON BOARD THE ULSTERMAN

Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? ON THE SHORES OF NORMANDY AT BERNIER SUR MER LISTENING TO THE MOANING MINNIES.

Do you know of anybody else who landed within the 24 hours of D-day, June 6, as infantry, glider or airborne troops, or who took part in the"air and sea operations, whom we should write to?

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 .

W.A. Milroy Lt.-Col. Director of Public Relations (Army) Cartier Square, Ottawa, Ontario