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THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY D DAY; MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 —MIDNIGHT JUNE 6 Ack 6/6/58 What is your full name? JOHN BRIAN HENRY COOPER What is your present address? 172 Straigt Road Romford Essex Telephone number: What was your unit, division, corps? ROYAL NAVY Where did you land and at what time? near dromanches (code June beach) What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? A.B. A.A. 3 19 years Were you married at that time? no What is your wife's name? Did you nave any children at that time? . When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? Sunday June 4th
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? Quit chopping + rough at times we were very excited at first but were to busy later to notice our personnel thoughts our main trouble was keeping army personel happy (sea sickness)
Were there any rumours aboard ship? (Some people remember hearing that the Germans had poured gasoline on the water and when the troops came in.) I cant remember any rumours only wonderment of a repeat of Dieppe
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? yes but brief
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2. Were any of your friends killed or wounded either during the landing or during the day? one of our stokers was wounded + a number of soldiers
Do you remember any conversations you had with them before they became casualties? No 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 out- of-place? There was one thing that sticks out in my mind when ---L.C.T. got a direct hit in the engine room the shell past into the bridges + sent a fountain of oil into the hole in the deck head all over our skippers on the bridges he looked just like a nigger boy
Do you recall any incident sad or heroic, or simply memorable that struck you more than anything else? There was one quite brave deed at best I think or was when our leading stoker put a sack over load of cannon shells when the base was on five + put the flames out + there are a number of other things but but --no room for them all here (one spare page)
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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? There is one thing that seem's rather silly was when our 1st Lt. went into the as we landed on the beach with two revolvers in his belt & a [illegible] in his hand. I dont know if he was frightened of the crew (as he was not liked) or the enemy. 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? OUR CREW Mr R. Hewitoon, 3 East Street, Crookhall, Consett, County Durham ( I dont know if they still live there) G.E Elliot L/MM, 36 Rannoch Road, Methil, Fife, Scotland. 73 Wootton, 7 Hamilton Street, Bloxwick, walsall, Staff. L/S L. G Bowman, 55 Whitworth Road, [illegible], [illegible], [illegible] W. Lee, 29 Tuxford Crescent, Cundy Cross, Barnsley, York. B. Phillips, Black Lion Hotel , [illegible], [illegible], Wales James Mackay, 4 Stewart Villas, [illegible] F. Norcott, Wayside, Stewkle, Leighton Bus Beds. What do you do now? Unemployed at present because I have had a slipped disc and I am Still having treatment. 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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I think we were very lucky to get away from the beach & if it was not for me or our other L.C.T. we would have been blown to pieces, because when the 88mm shell went into the engine room it smashed the main engines & we just had enough fuel to get us off the beach on emergency power & then the tide started to carry us back on-to the beach broadside on & then this other L.C.T. got a line over to us & managed after a number of try's to get us clear of danger & tow us & get our wounded personel on board a hospital ship. this was a feat on its own as we had no engines to get us there, after a number of try's the towing ship managed to do it but what a job, then when we were along side the swell & getting the wounded on board was a painstaking job. but we managed. We were then towed back to Southampton by our ever faithfull comrades on the other L.C.T. after repeated breakings in our tow rope & being dragged through mine fields & this we did not know till we had got through & a kindley Destroyer flashed us up & told us the good news our, relief was teriffic & all their hapened on my 20th birthday by the way, quite a time I had.
J. B. H. Cooper