69 years ago today, at about the young 9.00 am on June 6^th 1944, the young man with a “Tommy” gun on the right of the photograph above was feeling sea sick and very scared.  He could see the flash of gunfire on the beach ahead, and there were shells landing among and striking some of the flotilla of landing craft which were heading for what was code named Sword Beach. The assault had begun at about 03:00 with an aerial bombardment of the German coastal defences and artillery sites. The naval bombardment began a few hours later. At 07:30, the first units had reached the beach. These were the amphibious DD tanks of the 13th/18th Hussars; they were followed closely by the infantry of the 8th Infantry Brigade. They had taken many casualties from gunfire, shells and mines.

The young man in the photograph was a second lieutenant in 45 (Royal Marines) Commando, which was part of the somewhat sinisterly named 1^st Special Service Brigade under the command of the debonair, handsome and highly dangerous Brigadier Simon Christopher Joseph Fraser, 15th Lord Lovat and 4th Baron Lovat. The young man was only 19, but he was a gifted athlete and been hardened at the famous, or notorious, Commando Training Centre at Achnacarry near Spean Bridge.

The Brigade was part of a second wave to assault the beach.  Its job was not to take and hold the beach itself, but at all costs to cross the beach and reach and destroy some powerful gun batteries which threatened the landings. 45 Commando was given the specific task of taking and destroying the battery at Merville. There was still fighting going on at the beach as they landed and waded ashore carrying kit weighing up to eighty pounds. This is a well known picture of the landing, with the formidable Lovat to the right of the troops wading ashore.

Lovat, a fighting highlander, was to go on to lead his troops to the sound of the pipes played by his personal piper, Bill Millin, shown in the immediate foreground of the photograph. There were bodies in the surf and fire from the Germans, but the Commandos pushed on and across the beach, and moved forward to their objectives. The young man’s unit reached their battery objectives only to find that the guns had been removed. Leaving the mopping-up to the infantry, the Commandos withdrew to join other units in their brigade, moving inland to join-up with the 6th Airborne Division.

Lovat himself advanced with parts of his brigade from Sword Beach to Pegasus Bridge, which had been obstinately defended by men of the 6th Airborne Division who had landed in the early hours. The Commandos arrived almost exactly on time, (late by about two minutes), for which Lord Lovat apologised to Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Pine-Coffin, of 7th Parachute Battalion. The commandos ran across Pegasus Bridge, to the sound of Bill Millin’s bagpipes. Despite rushing across in small groups, twelve men were killed by sniper fire, mostly shot in the head. They went on to establish defensive positions around Ranville, east of the River Orne. The bridges were relieved later in the day by elements of the British 3rd Infantry Division.

The young man in the picture was to go on to experience fighting in France and Holland, including going hand to hand with units of the SS, being in the forefront of the crossing of the Rhine, only to be blown up and wounded by a German “panzerfaust” or anti tank weapon not too long after the picture above was taken.

The young man with the Tommy gun is my father. I am pleased to report that he is still relatively hale and hearty, still getting about, though he is a bit deaf, probably due to the sound of shell fire. He is also a few ounces heavier than he should be because of the shrapnel in his leg.

He never really talks to anyone about it. He doesn’t even do the regimental reunion scene very much, although he kept in touch with a few close comrades. Most of what I know has come second hand, from tales he occasionally told my mother, or from some books such as “Commando Men” by Bryan Samain, a wartime “biography” of 45 Commando from the unit’s medical officer, which features the picture on the cover.

Samain records one incident in which in the course of chaotic night fighting in Germany my father fell into what appears to have been a pit full of what can best be described as pig effluent. He had to dive in again to retrieve his weapon, before stripping naked and being wrapped in a blanket before new kit could be found. Samain recounts the anecdote in rather jocular terms, but my father did not find it particularly amusing. What he remembers is being cold, wet and conscious of being in danger, which can be said of most of his experience of war.

On this day, I simply ask that we do not forget those who gave and risked their lives in that venture. Indeed, even reflect on those who died in the service of an evil regime – many, if not most, had no choice in the matter. It was not a long time ago; and yet it was a blink of an eye. It left its mark, and a mark which echoes down to this day. So today, pause and reflect.

Gildas the Monk 

Frankie June 8, 2013 at 01:22

Those men advancing towards the beaches on ‘D’ day in broad daylight, in
full view of thousands of hostile and heavily armed Germans must have had
balls of steel… They must of known that a lot of them would ‘cop it’ but still
they went forward, bravely.

My Uncle Alan was a Royal Marine, charged with command of a landing craft
somewhere in all that massed carnage. Like your father, he is reticent about
what he got up to but being anywhere near there would have been hazardous to
one’s health.

A worthy piece Gildas and all the more so in view of the fact of the
anniversary of such an important event. Think where we would all now be if
such men had failed in their endeavours.

Mein Gott! Wir würden jetzt alle Deutsch sprechen!

Smoking Hot June
7, 2013 at 15:24

http://nothing-2-declare.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/lest-we-forget.html

charlotte June 6, 2013 at 22:14

My father was born in 1919. He joined up in the belief that it would be
better than waiting for conscription which made him one of the first militia.
Like most other men and often service women he didn’t talk much about the
battles, but I know that he felt fortunate to have survived the battle at
Anzio even though he was wounded and taken prisoner. His brother was up at
Casino and like all battles this also was bloody and unremitting and must have
had an enduring effect on all men. My dad received 10 marks from the German
Government in pay a week, it was worthless but never the less was deducted
from his pay book by the UK Government, and although the men have fought for
years to get the money back, successive UK Governments have refused to pay up.
Similarly the prisoners of Japan were treated terribly and no recompense or
apology has ever been given. As a child I would see old men in the street who
had and were still suffering the effects of that brutality. Men who had been
gassed and whose lungs were rotting away. Men who suffered from the trauma of
consistent bombing called shell shock. Men who had lost limbs.
It all
seemed strange to me that WW2 began because Hitler invaded Poland and the UK
had signed a pact to protect them but in the event did nothing to help the
Polish nation. I suppose it is possible that when Hitler had done with
conquering the continent, as we called it then, Britain would have been too
easy a target to leave alone along with its accompanying colonies. One thing
is for certain; the British Government had known for years that Germany was
stock piling arms and enlarging its military, but chose not to intervene
because of other considerations such as the fear of communism that had swept
through Russia. The growth of the social labour movement in the UK really
worried the right wing of the country be it tory voter, or politician and
indeed many of these admired Hitler. In the event the UK were ill prepared for
war and the Government saw this plainly in the retreat of the BEF at Dunkirk.
After the retreat at Dunkirk it was clear that the UK could not take the war
to Germany and it was the RAF who in the early days saved our skin from
invasion. The Russians meanwhile fought a terrible and brutal battle as told
in Max Hastings ‘All Hell Let Loose’. The loss of men in the 1st front of
Russia was of truly magnificent proportions. Stalin didn’t worry at all about
the loss of life of German or Russian but levelled cowardice at the UK for not
sending their soldiers into battle in the 2nd front sooner. Churchill knew
that the 2nd front would come and because of so many concerns about an
invasion of the UK and the need for soldiers to fight in the 2nd front, most
military personal spent the war in the UK until 1944 for that purpose. Poor
buggers, they were just kids who had no choice. They must have been terrified
especially when told in the pre battle talk “some of you won’t return alive
….etc”. By this time much of the German army consisted of little boys and old
men forced into a war by the despots of the 3rd Reich.
In his final years I
would see my father’s eyes brim with tears for the comrades who never had a
life beyond 1945 and I knew he must have felt bitter about the loss of life
that, to him seemed futile.
I am glad that we can remember these brave men
who fought so valiantly in ’44 for us, indeed for all of the brave men and
women from ’39 to ’45.
Meanwhile I watch my own son walk to the local
cemetery every 2 weeks to lay flowers on the grave of his friend, Marine Adam
Brown who lost his young life in Helmand province only 3 years ago. Can anyone
tell me why?

johnd2008 June 6, 2013 at 20:16

I was a young child during the war, but I can remember several journeys
along the Coventry By pass before D Day. The grass verges on both sides of the
road as well as the centre reservation were full of vehicles parked nose to
tail for several miles. On our first trip along there after 6th June, the road
was completely empty.All the vehicles had been driven south for use in the
invasion.It was an eerie feeling to see empty space again.

fritz June 6, 2013 at 17:42

http://www.tomatobubble.com/d_day_normandy_invasion.html

Fat Steve June 6, 2013 at 16:40

Gildas —a joy to read —for me more because its a personal reflection by a
son about a Father he clearly admires.

The Blocked Dwarf
June 6, 2013 at 16:21

Refreshing to read a “Remembrance” piece by a Brit (I’m assuming) that
doesn’t sink into the sickly clicheness of ‘Our brave boys’ and ‘ultimate
sacrifice’ . If Gildas used the word ‘heros’ once in the entire piece then I
missed it. Nice too that Gildas asks us to think on the fate of soldiers on
the opposing side…many of whom were little more than schoolboys themselves and
had even less choice about being there than the Brits did.

All too often such prose is bathed in the “Old Lie”.

Mudplugger June 6, 2013 at 12:45

A timely reminder.

My late father (Royal Artillery) also went across with the Normandy
invasion, after having first chased Rommel out of North Africa, then practised
his invasion techniques with Sicily, then Italy. Six years of involuntary Hell
and, amazingly, he came through it all without a scratch. Yet, like so many
others who had been there, done it, and got the medals, he spoke little of the
horrors, only occasionally recalling the more humorous moments – so many of
his close colleagues were not so lucky, he seemed to resist remembering the
fighting for fear of reviving the harsh memories, and gory details, of their
loss.

He hadn’t wanted to go, he didn’t want to kill people, he didn’t want to
hate Germans, and he knew that most of the Germans thought exactly the same,
they didn’t want to be there either. Only after his death more than 50 years
later did his impressive collection of campaign medals emerge from their
original posting box, never opened, never worn, never shown.

We do well to remember the sacrifice of all those service personnel, most
of them conscripts, not only those who died but also those who survived, many
changed permanently by the process they had endured. Some of us try to live up
to what they sought to defend and, although we may not always succeed in that,
we shall still remember and respect their supreme efforts. Thanks for the
prompt, Gildas.

Elena ‘andcart
June 6, 2013 at 11:14

Thanks, Gildas.
My Dad was a Chindit, one of the few to survive, under
Orde Wingate who was another raving nutter. But his men all loved him. My Dad
died not so long ago at the age of ninety, and he never talked about it
either. But then he never talked about anything much at all. Not sure if it
was The War that did that to him, or coming back to a land fit for heroes. I
have a nasty suspicion that it was the latter.

rdc June 6, 2013
at 11:14

I was born 18 years after WW2 had ended, and back then those 18 years
seemed like another life away….but now turned 50, 18 years is like
yesterday.

I visited the key places of the D-Day landings some years back, and walking
around the British Cemetery, it was very sobering indeed. In my mid 30′s,
there were almost non of those souls older than me. Should any one find them
selves in or near Arromanches, I urge you to visit the 360 degree cinema, it
too is very sobering indeed. You walk out left wondering, just how did they do
it. And I don’t just mean the British, but all the servicemen of all nations
who had to loose their life in support of those who had sent them there.

When you see some of today’s low life, you can only compare and
contrast.

Furor Teutonicus
June 6, 2013 at 10:56

I tnank himy and all that did similar.

And I am German FFS!

Well done lads!

Kingbingo June 6, 2013 at 10:31

“It was not a long time ago; and yet it was a blink of an eye.”

Indeed. I am a young-ish man and to me the last decade has flashed by. Yet
the events of that war are only 7 decades ago, seems like hardly anything when
I think of it like that.

Furthermore to have been a young man at the time must have been harrowing,
the sacrifices you were expected to make you could hardly wish on anyone. Yet
all the same is it strange that a small part of me regrets that my generation
has no defining common experience. That today our biggest concerns are if our
government will bankrupt us sooner or later, if we can afford a holiday this
year, what type of olives we should buy.

I know it’s bloody stupid to wish away such comfort, but your fathers
generation (my grandfathers) saved the world, we just squander it. I think I
would seriously pause for thought given the choice between being born in 1919
as oppose to 1979, is that bonkers?? I mean it sounds like it is, but I can’t
help but think it either.

Moor
Larkin June 6, 2013 at 09:17

I have been told that one of my Grandfathers was at D-Day and one had been
evacuated at Dunkirk.
I never heard either of them speak of either
event.

Jeremy
Poynton June 6, 2013 at 09:05

Quite so, Anna. Whenever I read the (wonderful) obits in the Telegraph of
the fighting men and women of our parent’s generation, I am filled with awe.
I’m not sure I would have been as brave as they all were in the face of such
odds. Bless ‘em all, as the song goes.

Den June 6, 2013 at 08:55

Well said m’Lady. However, without wishing to enter into rude argument, I
must correct a basic mistake. The Merville battery was taken by Terrence
Otway’s 9 Para. 600 jumped in the early hours of D-Day, many were mis-dropped
miles from their DZs, some drowned in the areas flooded by Rommel. Only about
150 men were able to rendezvous with Otway at the battery. They still did the
impossible and took the battery. It is one of the most proud actions of The
Parachute Regiment. Only about 70 men were left standing after the action and
they then marched off to help hold the left flank. This is not meant to
detract in any way from the brave actions of your father or of Lovat’s
command. Please see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Merville_Gun_Battery
for more background.

Joe Public
June 6, 2013 at 09:40

Gildas is the author of this piece.

Den June 6, 2013 at 10:00

My apologies to Anna for wrong attribution of this article.

GildasTheMonk
June 6, 2013 at 09:55

Interesting, not least because I had a quite old account and I
misinterpreted it – such are the perils of of historical research. In fact,
a closer reading reveals that the main objective was to secure key bridges
and link up with the paras, by the account is quite confused.
It does,
however, include the following:
“”Briefly, No. 1 SS’s Brigade had two
main tasks. The first was to hold the high ground in the area of Hauger, Le
Plein and Amfreville, and thus help to hold the vital bridges over the river
Orme and the canal, at the same time safeguarding the invasion force’s left
flank. The second task was to capture Franceville Plage and “infesrt” the
coastal area towards Cabourg”.
It then continues:
“The task of [45]
Commando was, firstly to capture the coastal battery of Merville (if this
had not already been done by the 9th Battalion Parachute Regiment) and then
to capture Franceville Plage.
And then this:
“During the mortar shoot,
the unit [45 Commando] withdrew slightly and continued its advance towards
its objective, the Merville battery. Approaching the open ground to the
north of the battery (which we now knew had been silenced by 9th Battalion
Parachute Regiment early that morning) the leading troop was fired on by the
enemy who had returned in strength to the defended position…”
There is
then an account of plenty of skirmishing around Merville.
So, all credit
to the Paras, and just to shiow how difficult it is to get one’s facts
straight!
Brave men all!