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a) contd I honestly had no idea I was being shot at until after we landed when I first consulted my map + found the map case had been punctured by a neat little burst of machine gun fire The case had been across my back so the bullets had passed between my arm + my body Apparently everybody else realised we were being sot at + I had received credit for coolness b) The sea was very rough and we grounded some way off the beach the ramps were run down + I waved the troops on starting down the ramp myself A big wave carried the ship on over the bank on which we had grounded spill me off the ramp + passed over me no clear recollections until I was trotting up the beach some minutes later- still carrying my walking stick c) Soon after we were ashore our 3" mortar were firing on German positions when a spitfire came over low One of our mortar bombs blew his tail off we rescued the pilot from under enemy noses but never told him!
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The Readers Digest
THE READER’S DIGEST ASSOCIATION LIMITED
TELEPHONE: CABLE: CITY 4342 7 OLD BAILEY LONDON E C 4 CABLE READIGEST, LONDON
INTERVIEW WITH CAPT. DANIEL JOHN PLUNDER
Captain Flunder was 22 years old at the time of D-Day and was Adjutant of the 48th Commando of the Royal Marines, (I want to check whether he was Adjutant of a Section or a Troop. He says that he was Adjutant of the 48th Commando, but I have reason to believe that he may have been just Adjutant of a Troop within that Commando).
The 48th Royal Marine Commando landed on Juno Beach at St. Aubin sur Mer and on landing it was supposed to mop up and then turn left to drive across and meet men of the 4lst Royal Marine Commando who landed on Sword beach at Lion sur Mer, and were to turn right and close the gap.
Captain Plunder and the men of the 48th Commando landed at about 08.00 hours on the morning of D-Day. They came in under fire, in an L.C.I. Everybody was mustered behind the superstructure which gave them some shelter from the enemy fire and Flunder picked up his stick and walked calmly about the foredeck to set an example for the men. Although he was credited with being "a cool character” the truth of the matter is that he had no idea he was being fired at until long after they had landed, when on consulting his map he found that the map case had been punctured by a neat little burst of machine gun fire. The case had been across his back so that the bullets had passed between his arm and his body. This upset him quite a bit, indeed he was sick for a moment when he realised how close the bullets must have come to him.
The sea was very rough and as the landing craft grounded some way off the beach the ramps were immediately run down and he waved his troops on. Starting down the ramp himself a big wave lifted the ship on over the bank to which it had grounded, spilled him off the ramp and then the whole ramp and ship slid over him. He doesn’t remember exactly what happened to him until he found himself trotting up the beach some minutes later - still carrying his walking stick under his arm.
The troop went rapidly up the beach to the dunes leaving many wounded behind. Some tanks landing behind them had their turrets closed and apparently were either too scared or did not know what was happening because as they moved up the beach one of them began running over the
DE WITT WALLACE, U. S. A . LILA BELL WALLACE , U. S . A. LUCIUS F. CRANE T.G.M. HARMAN, MANAGING DIRECTOR .
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2 - wounded, This infuriated everybody who saw the action, particularly the quiet, very British, Captain Flunder, who suddenly began to curse at the top of his voice, ran down the beach, back to the tank, pounded on it with his stick, but the tank kept going. He took out a grenade, pulled out the pin and exploded it on the front of the tank. This brought the tank to a stop, the crew opened up the hatch and in this way Flunder stopped the horror which he and the other men had seen.
The Commandos took great casualties both coming in towards this beach and on the beach itself. But there was one amusing incident which occurred, one officer, a Major de Stacpoole, was actually wounded in the thighs on the way in. The landing craft in which he was badly hit and sank, throwing a number of Commandos into the water, they were almost immediately picked up by another ship or landing craft which was pulling out from the beach and heading back into the Channel. These men, as they were brought ashore, learned that the craft was heading back towards England, and on no account could they be relanded. Major de Stacpoole, when he heard this said, "Bugger this, I'm going to swim for it". He jumped overboard, and even though he was wounded in both thighs swam to the shore where he rejoined the troop.
Not long after this, de Stacpoole saw an officer out in the water who was apparently drowning and he dived in, swam out to the officer, and saved his life. He pulled him out onto the shore, and Flunder ran down and pulled both of them in. In that state, and that weather, to Flunder this is the bravest thing he has ever seen, especially that morning. The extraordinary thing was that Major de Stacpoole (he was later killed in the attack on Walcheren)had made this long swim out in full equipment, in huge waves, and in spite of his wound. One of the things which Flunder remembered was that in the town of Langrune during that day they had just set up their three inch mortars and as they fired their mortars a Spitfire came over their positions rather low. One mortar bomb blew its tail off. The pilot parachuted to the ground, landing close to the fighting, and was rescued, but the whole of the troop at the Headquarters afterwards had met him with great smiles on their faces and I doubt very much if, even to this day, he knows how he was brought down! In all probability he considers that the German ack ack in that vicinity was extremely accurate.
