ENPages
Page 2
West Point *U-1 good Note ref to frogmen? Also corro oration of seasick pigeon NY 35 LL 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? William Edward Finnigan
What was your unit and division? 4th Signal Co. 4th Inf. Div.
Where did you arrive in Normandy , and at what time? Utah Beach, about 4 or 5 in the afternoon. We were shown a silhouette of the land as tho' taken from a submarine periscope as well as photos but we didn't land there as planned. I've read since that we landed to the left of the intended spot.
What was your rank on June 6, 1944? Pvt What was your age on June 6, 1944? 24 Where you married at that time? No What is your wife' s name? Anne Did you have any children at that time? No
What do you do now ? I am a personnel ass't in the Civilian Personnel Office US Military Academy, West Point, N.Y.
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? As I recall- a week to ten days before when we were briefed on where we'd land with caution re mines; to move inland etc, we exchanged our British money for Francs shortly after.
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 went over on LST 282. We towed a Rhino barge and pulled it to the front of the LST on D-day morning order I was on the tank deck I left with the barge about 11 am Due to rough water, we were towed by an LCI and later a PC and finally went in under our own power, I always recall in the early dawn before the shooting started by the big ships- I counted some 60 ships from one side of the LST - big, little all sizes. I remember being in the ships' kitchen about 2 or 3 am when an officer asked the Navy cooks for sandwiches for the underwater demolition teams that left later in the dark-- He said " A lot of them won't be coming back"-- The sailors really turned out sandwiches without a murmur. [inserted] good [end inserted]
What where 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). off hand I don't recall any such rumors. We had been on the dress rehearsal at Slapton Sands, England the month before so maybe we were somewhat used to LST's and being in the channel.
Page 3
- for Cornelius Ryan 2 - Your name William E Finnigan
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? No- sorry to say. The Army threatened horrible things for the possession of diaries or cameras. I did keep a diary from enlistment to Tiverton England and finally surrendered it. I didn't get a camera until after Paris. The diary was returned to me after I was discharged.
Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? No, tho 10 or 12 were killed during the war from friendly and enemy action.
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? --
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 ? Well yes- In basic trg we had been taught to protect equipment etc. As we approached the beach it was under artillery fire by a gun further along in the Atlantic wall. A GMC 2 1/2 ton truck was on fire, some landing craft was sunk or beached, we walked along the beach + went thru a hole that had been blasted in the wall. A shell came in near us + we flattened + the mud flew all over- as I walked by a brand new mine sweeper that was out of its case lying in the sand and I recall thinking - 'how wasteful' - ye gods what I was to see in the next year that was waste!! We went across the causeways that traversed the swamps and a group of 20 or 30 prisoners came down the road. A couple of young prisoners sitting near us waved at an officer in the large group but he ignored them very hautily. A very young lad came up to the group I was standing with and surrendered. He was wet to waist from the swamp.
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, which struck you more than anything else? Heroic perhaps- As I said the beach was under fire, but a GI on a small bulldozer was trying to pull vehicles out of the water to higher ground. He paid no attention to the shells + actually drove right in + out of a crater that had formed seconds before! Sad maybe when the first dead man I saw was American but shortly I saw a dead German and things seemed to be squared. I never went back to the beach tho' one of the fellows did about two weeks later- he was apalled at the sight- said he's never seen so many ships, men and mountains of supplies! As I left the LST on a Rhino Barge - a photographer took a picture of a vehicle coming out of the LST, I recall seeing a picture after the war like it and as I recall LST 282 was in the picture. So I believe I saw the picture being taken. It is the same picture I believe that was sent by pigeon to England or was supposed to be, but the pigeon landed in German lands + they printed the picture in Germany!! LST 282 was later sunk beached + burned in the invasion of Southern France.
Page 4
- for Cornelius Ryan 3 - Your name William Finnigan
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? No- we moved across the beach, thru the breach in the wall + across the causeway with little delay- we wanted to get away from that damned gun and we'd been told to move inland.
Where were you at midnight on June 5, 1944? on LST 282 in the channel
Where were you at midnight on June 6, 1944? Perhaps a mile or so inland, one fellow went around the perimeter with a mine detector + we stayed down in the ditch like gully that forms the hedgerows. About 3 am I went with 3 others in a jeep to trouble shoot a telephone wire. We covered miles and came back about 11 am. saw a lot of the destruction etc.
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? Two whom I keep in touch with- Xmas cards at leastJerome Birnbaum 7662 175 st Flushing N.Y. Roy Berzon 4180 Marine Drive Chicago, Ill. (Roy was awarded a Bronze Star for D-day operations) [inserted] LL #1s /LL [end inserted]
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
Page 5
95 Bay View Avenue Cornwall on Hudson, NY 17 April 1958
Miss Frances Ward Readers Digest 230 Park Avenue New York, New York
Dear Miss Ward:
I am a civilian employee at the U. S. Military Academy, West Point, New York, and in today's Post Daily Bulletin was a notice that any former servicemen who participated in the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944 should write you.
I was in the Fourth Infantry Division and landed at Utah Beach on the 6th. What information would you like? Do you have a ques- tionaire of some kind? I would be pleased to give you any information I have.
Very truly yours,
William Finnigan