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THE ASSAULT LANDINGS IN NORMANDY
D DAY: MIDNIGHT JUNE 5 — MIDNIGHT JUNE 6
What is your full name? Alfred McGowan
What is your present address? 27 Somersall St., Mansfield, Notts
Telephone number:
What was your unit, division, corps? 6th Airborne Divisional Provost Co'y C.M.P.
Where did you land and at what time? Janville near Troarn, approximately 25 minutes past midnight
What was your rank and age on June 6? L/Cpl age 31
Were you married at that time? no
What is your wife's name? Dora
Did you have any children at that time? no
When did you know that you were going to be part of the invasion?
About the 3rd of June, previously we thought
it was just another exercise
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?
Very quiet until we reached the French coast
then we were buffeted by the flac a little.
Conversation centred mostly on last briefings and
a few light hearted jokes and singing
Were there any rumours aboard plane? (Some people remember hearing that
the Germans had poured gasoline on the water and planned to set it afire
when the troops came in.)
No rumours had reached us; security had
been too strict and we had been confined for a fortnight
Did you by any chance keep a diary of what happened to you that day?
No diaries allowed for security reasons