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D.
THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY Ack 15/5
D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 —MIDNIGHT JUNE 6

What is your full name? Lt. Col J.G.M.B. Gough

What is your present address?
Huish Manor
Nr Blandford
Dorset

Telephone number: MORDEN (Dorset) 246.

What was your unit, division, corps?
1st Suffolk Regt Assault Bde 3rd (Br) Div

Where did you land and at what time?
Queen White (Lion sur Mer) approx 9 am

What was your rank and age on June 6, 1944?
Major 36

Were you married at that time? Yes.

What is your wife's name? Sybil Anne.

Did you have any children at that time? Yes. 2.

When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion?
about 9 months before.

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 was in LCI 228 with duplicate Bn HQ, plus
advanced surgical unit. Beach signals etc: about 180 in
all. Very rough, most men seasick. Being a bad sailor myself
found great difficulty in issuing secure documents. Most of us dozed on our bunks.

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.)
absolutely none, everybody was most
confident and anxious to get on with the job.
men were rather tired, as operation cancelled previous day, after embarking
& we returned to camp, in time to start all over again

Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day?
No. But have a few maps & air
photographs issued on the way over, as soon
as the signal was received that the operation was on.