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Lake Charles LL LA 1

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 ?
Raymond Eric Jones
What was your unit and division?
91st Bomb Group 401st Bomb Squadron 1st Air Division
Where did you arrive in Normandy, and at what time ?
6 June 1944 at 7:15 we dropped our bombs on Omaha Beach
gun installations and at 7:25 the troops hit the beach
What was your rank on June 6, 1944?
1st Lieutenant
What was your age on June 6, 1944?
21 yrs
Were you married at that time? yes
What is your wife's name?
Lucille B. Jones
Did you have any children at that time?
No
What do you do now?
I am an operator in an Ethylene plant- Petroleum Chemicals Inc

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion?
we knew for weeks something was up because our parade ground and
every other place was stacked skyhigh with bombs and guide vancs
for them. but on June 5, we were all rounded up at bout ten at night for
a maximum effort and when we got to the base we were briefed
on the plan for the 6th
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?
no we were pretty high (altitude wise that is) but through breaks in the
overcast we could see thousands of ship of all kinds and in the air thousands
of aircraft. there were 11000 sorties flown that day , naturally we were
pretty excited. bloody good show, what?
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 ).
we didn't know what to look for- we had decoy raids to all parts of
France and Germany we expected to get hit by many fighters
but saw no air activity on the enemies part in our sector. one heavy burst
of flak was all. they were taken by surprise completely