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THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY
D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 ---MIDNIGHT JUNE 6
What is your full name? Reginald George Dale
What is your present address? 57 Elder Road , West Norwood , S .E.27.
Telephone number: GIPsy Hill 6544
What was your unit, division, corps? 105 Inf . Bdge . W/Shops ( attached 3rd .Div : )
Where did you land and at what time? Queen’ s Beach, Normandy , 2. a.m. 6.6.1944 .
What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944? Rank Corporal- R .E .M.E. Age 31
Were you married at that time? Yes
What is your wife's name? Hilda
Did you nave any children at that time? No , but one expected.
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion? Not until the night before , when we were moved to White Camp , out - side Newhaven ; we are inspected and wished "good luck" by General Montgomery who told us we would be back in England in 21 days.
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? The sea was fairly calm, my pals and I sat on a wagon on a Tank Landing Craft watching for the approach of enemy aircraft .
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.) There was a rumour that the Germans might at the same time be invading us.
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day? No , events moved too fast .
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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? 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? To us it seemed more like a "Scheme" that we had often taken part in, and it seemed too easy, the only difference the earth seemed to "smell of war" when we landed. In m opinion it was surprise and guts that won the landing.
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- ofplace? About to land, the vehicles got stuck in the water, a voice called out "how do we get ashore", a broad cockney reply, "Swim for it mate".
Do you recall any incident, sad or heroic, or simply memorable, that struck you more than anything else? Yes, the first trench my pal and I dug in which we spent the rest of the night in France, one asleep, one awake. In the morning we looked round to survey the land, and saw a pair of boots protruding over the edge of the trench. On investigation we found they belonged to a Naval Commando who had been shot dead, and byond[sic] were a line of the poor fellows.
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In times cf 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 ? No . My own thoughts though that I had been incredibly stupid to agree with my wife to start a family at such a time, and that I could never hope to see her again, but the Lord was good , and that Christmas we had a son .
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? Lost contact
What do you do now? Run own business
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 Wow." Cornelius Ryan Joan 0. Isaacs The Reader 1 s Digest
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The Reader's Digest
THE READERS DIGEST ASSOCIATION LIMITED
TELEPHONE 7 OLD BAILEY LONDON E C 4 CABLE CITY 4342 READIGESTLONDON
INTERVIEW WITH SIR REGINALD GEORGE DALE
Corporal, aged 31, attached to the Royal Electrical Mechanical Engineers of the 105th Infantry Brigade attached to the British Third Division. He was a Corporal at the time and he was married to Hilda Dale. They had no children at that time but they were expecting one.
A couple of days before D-Day his wife told him that he was going to be a father. They had been married for four years. George had been in the army since the 20th February 1941 and had been a despatch rider at the time of Dunkirk.
Before D-Day they were sealed in at a place called "Whiteham" at Newhaven. On the 24th March the Dales were in an air raid when the roof of their house collapsed and their home was shattered. Hilda Dale had a head infury.
They had been hoping for a child, their first, so when she had reason to believe that she was pregnant she visited the doctor, who told her that it might have been the shock of the air raid. But by early June she was quite sure that she was pregnant. When George was told, she said to him ’’Well, I think it worked this time”. He was quite furious. ’’This is a hell of a time I must say”, he said.
He did not know the date of the invasion, In fact he was under the impression that the Germans were about to invade England - Thus he was concerned about his wife.
George was a Corporal and his chum was Ginger Connis from Snaeth, Yorkshire. George kept his worries to himself; he did not confide to his pal about his life. There were all sorts
DE WITT WALLACE , U. S. A . LILA BELL WALLACE , U. S A, LUCIUS F. CRANE T .G.M. HARMAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR .