A D day memory

I am not quite sure if this is the right place to post this. It isn't entertaining but a serious memory and one I feel should be shared somewhere other than my family tree.



The story started quite badly- I had accompanied my Dad to a consultant who confirmed he had a fairly advanced cancer.

Dad was a quiet man- taciturn I would say. Well on the way home he just started talking about his past. He had told the family very little of his War years and we knew not to ask.

He had joined a Scots Guards regiment when he joined up during the war- quickly transferred to the Royal Navy (' Didn't like the kilt and couldn't understand the accent!)

He became a Signals Specialist- after a few postings he was chosen to a member of a Signals squad to be involved in the D-Day landings.

His role with his team was to guide the landing craft on to the beaches which meant that they were some of the first to land.

I'll try and put this in his own words as they are still clear in my mind.



We were given a pack with rations for 3 days, a rifle, an entrenching spade, semaphore flags and a signalling lamp. The idea was to land ,dig a trench for protection and then direct the landing craft in.

Well when we landed the beach was as hard as concrete so the spade was useless. We dumped the flags- who in their right mind is going to stand up on a very flat and at this point empty beach and start waving flags with German machine guns behind? The rifle was pretty much useless so got stashed out of the way with the packs. There wasn't much cover. That changed pretty quickly when tanks and stuff landed and then there were lots of destroyed vehicles to cover behind.



That was a big problem- as the tide came in some of these were submerged and sometimes a landing craft hit one and the pilot thinking they had hit the beach opened up and troops came off- with all their gear they just sank. We tried signalling the landing craft where to avoid but there were so many and I guess the pilots were more concerned with getting to the beach or perhaps couldn't read the messages.

I knew we were going to win – there were so many landing- wave after wave – they just kept on coming.

One thing though we soon dumped our rations as we kept finding American ration tins floating around- they had loads of good stuff in them -chocolate, sweets – much better than the hard tack (double cooked biscuits).'

He stayed there for 3 days.

It must have been rough as he was shipped off to the Pacific and Sydney, and signal duties in the Friendly Islands.

An interesting family detail- he was strolling down Princes Street near the zoo in Sydney and saw my uncle coming towards him- what are the odds of that? If any Aussie members know the place I would love a photo even though it will have changed much since then.

Dad passed away in 2005.



As I said , not an entertaining story but perhaps a reminder that so many sacrificed so much to make this a safer world for us today. Hopefully their sacrifice will not be in vain.

Thank you for reading.

Re: A D day memory

awww Toners, very poignant, thank you for sharing x

Re: A D day memory

As has been said, a very poignant story. It feels to me that your dad, knowing his days were numbered, wanted to share something personal and private with you that he couldn't share before. It's like a memoir or even perhaps a legacy to say that he had been here and made his mark on the world. So many people have died without doing anything and have long since been forgotten. You'll never forget this story and never forget your dad either now.

Re: A D day memory

Thank you for sharing that, Toners. Very appropriate for this time.

My Dad was in the Russian convoys during the war. He was a sparks. We did get stories from him.

Re: A D day memory

Thank you, Toners - an excellent read. Every account that can help us imagine that day is important, so I appreciate you taking the time to share his story.

What a legacy of freedom and courage those men left behind!

We can do our very small part in keeping those memories alive by passing them down to our children and grandchildren.

Re: A D day memory

Hey Toners. Thanks for the moving post. The D Day anniversary is a solemn and hugely significant day not just for the old allies but for anybody in the World who loves freedom and justice. I can't stop the tears when I see those old heroes remembering their comrades who gave their lives for all of us. My Dad was at the decisive Battle of Alamein. He drove a Bren Gun carrier and alternated with the gunner. He was wounded twice and only came home after the second and more serious injury. Like many he didn't talk much about the war but always used to love getting together with his old mates for a beer on Anzac Day. He died in 1985 I have his Africa Star medal which I cherish. I have attached a couple of shots for you. One is one of the roundabouts on Prince Street, Mosman. The other is an aerial shot of the Mosman district. As you can see, Prince Street is a bit of a way from the zoo but it's a nice walk of about one kilometre.

Re: A D day memory

A very poignant and fitting memorial, Toners. So many brave men gave so much - -we need to remember.

Re: A D day memory

I am not sure if you aware of this Tiffany but the Arctic Star campaign medal was introduced in 2013 for those sailors who sailed in the Arctic convoys. You can apply for a relative.

https://www.royalnavy.mod.uk/news-an...aign-medal-now.

Re: A D day memory

Thanks very much for that Keezoy- I was in Sydney on business a few years back and tried to find the location. Hope you don't mind if I copy the street photo to add to the family tree stories?

Re: A D day memory

Thanks very much for that Keezoy- I was in Sydney on business a few years back and tried to find the location. Hope you don't mind if I copy the street photo to add to the family tree stories?

Sure mate. Go for it. But may I suggest that if you have Google Earth, type in Prince Street, Mosman/ Sydney/ Australia and navigate to it. You can go to the street view, copy and paste and save any part of the street as a jpeg shot. You can edit/ crop etc after you save it. That's what I did. If you don't know how to do it, I'm happy to help. But you probably already know all that