War Diary

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My Father was in the Canadian army and kept a war Diary this his account of the run up to D Day and his journey across to Normandy in July 1944 . he was a forward observation officer in the .23rd Field Regiment (S.P), Royal Canadian Artillery

In march –March the 17th to be exact ,the regiment moved from Eastbourne to Pippingford Park near Forest row .By then we knew an invasion was coming and that we would have a role in the build up . We were getting operational vehicles from
Beyond the boom we beginning of June we had very few vehicles other than operational ones , the place was a hive of waterproofing industry .Joe Stabler was i/c waterproofing for the regiment .
All privilege leave in the British US and Canadian armies was cut out in April but we were given periodical 24 hour passes .The men received them as rewards for the fine work they were doing in waterproofing . theoretically they were limited to to a 20 mile circle from camp . Certain parts of the coast were out of bounds to everyone . The morale of everyone was quite high although there were a few service talks among the officers as to what reactions might be when the shooting began . Very little instruction was going on waterproofing took up nearly everyones time .
Other changes pointed the way the wind blew – unit censorship was put on . To the credit of the men of 31st battery their mail was very discreet . we knew by now that Canadian 3 division and British 3 Division were assault Divisions .We also knew that 51st highland div and 50th Tees and Tyne were back in England . we had seen their patches and African Stars all over the place . We also heard the Desert Rats 7th armoured div were back .
All the time the preparations went on the weather was almost like summer . Our fellows went swimming in the lakes behind Pippingford . We used up all our training ammunition and explosives .New equipment arrived every day and had to be distributed by the troop commanders .Then mines became the rage , mine detecting classesheld –we received a Polish mine detector per troop . In my troop I had three operational mounts during the first week of June waterproofing of them was almost finished in fact I think we had done our four foot wade in the Marsfield Pool with them and my Op tank and Charlie Cenguesta J.L.B. tank .
Then one morning as I went to breakfast Glen Murphy told me he had heard the German radio announce that Allied Airborne Troops had landed near the

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Seine estuary .. I don’t think anyone really believed it had come that today June 6 was D Day and that H our had all ready passed .In fact I ….B troop not to believe it until the BBC had confirmed it . Then at 0930 General Eisenhower spoke on the BBC and told us that this was it . B troop heard it over the 19 sets in the SP,S needless to say I took a good deal of rubbing from the troops because of my refusal to believe the German Radio . Besides I had gone on sick parade that day for the first time in my army career . I think Bill Turner said my ailment was channel fever .
Shortly after D Day we had the last of our great inspections was held .We paraded for a talk by General George Ketching G-O-C 4th Canadian armoured Divisuion . He spoke to us from a jeep in the air field where B flight of 660 Squadron RAF our “Auster core” had made their home during their two month stay with us .
Prior to D Day we had been inspected by General Eisenhower – he had the whole 4 Canadian Armoured Brigade near the B.B.C. stationabout a mile from pippingford . Then willie King had inspected us in the rain the whole division following that we had marched past him in our armoured vehicles about 400 tanks, sel propelled 25 pdr and self propelled M-10anti tank guns . The generals talk put an end to all that . He told us our role in France to wait in a reserve area for a while then break through which would shorten the war by three months . About 11 June I received a new mount for seargent Murry a new BA .In order to get it waterproofed we started working on a 24 hour shift system -3 8 hour shifts .One day Sam Pinkerton who was i.o said casually in the mess that the Germans had sent pilotless aircraft over the country the night before . I thought nothing of it at the time it seemed like a weird Jerry stunt .
At midnight that night I was out with seargent Murrys Lads as they worked on the new mount when I heard the alert go . We watched our lights very carefully to make sure we dident draw unfavourable attention .Then we saw the searchlights south of us coning on an aircraft . This aircraft continued to fly straight and even when the AA engaged it . Asit got closer we saw it had a light on . Some of the searchlights near us started diffusing a defence they employ if they think a plane is going to dive on them .As this aircraft approached we could hear the peculiar roar of its motor . I decided it was one of our own in trouble .Then the searchlight people near us opened on it with their Vickers K

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guns . We were all mystified as to what was going on. When a second one came I began to suspect it was a robot plane . In the meantime the barrages of London rumbled away to the north of us . Next morning the alert had remained until about 0700.
At 1000hrs we had a meeting in the officers mess where we were briefed for our landing in France . The idea was we would concentrate near a village called St Aignan de Cremeanil which was to be taken on D + 17 June 23 . we were to move in there on June 23 or thereabouts . At the end of the meeting the C.O. announced that more pilotless planes aircraft had come over during the night . Just then I heard the window shaking was one of the robots and just happened to see it streaking across a clear bit of sky . Everyone …. To the window to see it . I think even the that first shook the CO . For days , weeks after the “ buzz bombs “ or Doodle bugs streaked over . The first day or two we could hear them being fired at by the London barrage but the batteries gave it up . Then AA batteries poured into the area south of us . At all hours of the day and night the bofors hammered away at them as they came up .Gradually they began to get hits and the fighters also seemed to master them . I became quite a sport in the evening to sit outside the mess on the grass watching the fighters pursue them quite often they blew the bombs up in the air occasionally they fell and burst on the ground ..Finally so many bombs were bursting near us the C.O. decided to disperse the regiment . The 31 st battery were given an area on the north side of the East Grindstead Leives road at Wych cross , for its bivouac . We moved in on a rainy Saturday and set up our bivouacs in an area about ¼ mile square . Soon after we got moved in to the new bivouac area we were taken off our six hours notice and put on 36 hours notice . We were also allowed to have 24 hour leave again . I went up to Eastcote again and had an opportunity to see the havoc being wrought in Croydon Pusley and so on by the buzz bombs . Along both sides of the railway there were miles of houses with the glass shattered and roof tiles loose and missing . Several times we had 24 hour leave given us while waiting to go . during this period one of our officers was under arrest at Shipfield Park and I had to act as his escort . I also acted as court usher at his Court – Martial . this was held in a big requisitioned country mansion . The court consisted of Lieutenant Colonels and include people from 21 st army groups HQ including Wooton who was at RCETC at Petawawa for some years . The off icer was convicted and dismissed

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from service . Then one evening I returned from 24 hour leave to hear we were on 6 hours notice again ..This happened to be the evening Bob Hamilton and Bill fuller and his wife Alea came to visit the regiment . I found them in the 36th Bty mess – a truck taurpaulin stretched out on poles above the grass . Bob was rather cheeved with waiting for a post to a parachute FOO unit which dident seem likely to materialise . On Sunday Bill Dawson in my troop heard his wife had died . I had to arrange a Requiem Mass for her at the Convent at Ashdown House , which quite a lot of the lads attended . It took place Monday morning . everyone knew the regiment was – literally everyone , dozens of girls from Eastbourne were up to say good bye over the weekend . They knew before R.H.Q. . In the meantime the Buzz Bombs were still coming over day and night and all around us the AA potted away. Just 5 miles or so to the North was the great 200 balloon barrage guarding London . it was in these conditions we received our orders to move off .
We left on Monday night the 18 July 1944 . The first party consisted the Two Ram armoured OP,s belonging to Sam Pinkerton and myself the two similar Rams owned by Davy Cave troop leader able troop and Charlie Conqest my troop leader . With us also our eight light 25PDR SP “Sexton” guns with their 48 gunners . All other vehicles were to follow early on Tuesday Morning . As we led out the regt column before the Robuch the rest of the battery cheered us off . At the Robuch Johnny the barmaid and all the rest of the staff were standing by the roadside . We went on towards London via Forest Row and Eastgrinstead . We detoured around the main street of Eastgrinstead as there had been a very bad hit from a flying bomb on the area there . We rolled in towards London via the suburbs ,Croydon Streathem etc . Ecerywhere the windows were shattered , and the peculiar smell of wet plaster dust filled the air . Somewhere to the west of Croydon a great fire was raging where a flying bomb had hit an oil depot .. we carried on through the black and silent streets of London sourth of the Thames to Blackfriars Bridge crossed and turned up Whitechapel . It was about 3 in the morning and the streets were completely deserted except for an occasional serviceman and a few air raid wardens . At first I was amazed at seeing the traffic organisation get us through then I realised this stream of traffic had flowed every night since before D Day . Everything had gone well so far but in Hackney we ran into trouble RB refused to change gear and we had to fall out of the column .. A policeman took me to

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a call box so I could report to the disembarkation camp . I was rather surprised at hearing where we were going but later in the day I found out everyone in Hackney knew all about us . With this we were still stuck when dawn broke at about 6.00am . In the meantime some hundreds of Shermans had rolled past and the soft skinned vehicles of the divison began to appear , soon after dawn the streets began to fill with people carrying their bedding from the shelters where they had spent the night . Quite a few stopped to look at our stranded tank . Soon they began to invite us to breakfast or to have a wash . In the meantime alerts would go , flying bombs would arrive and fall anywhere in the vicinity . then the all clear would go again .. Across the road was a small Arp first aid station . The warden gave us tea and generally acted as hosts . The inhabitants were almost embarrassing in their rush to feed and look after us .. From 4.00 am till 8.00 pm when a rescue party arrived to take Kelly Mac Myself and Mc Neill to the embarkation camp we stayed there . During that period two people were killed by flying bombs in the immediate vicinity . During these hours the eastenders went as uninconvenienced as it is possible to imagine .. When I left at 8.00pm I left C Delaney in charge of thr tank . the rest of us went on to embarkation camp on Wanstead flats . This is just a flat common east of London north of the Thames . It is surrounded by a working class district very like Hackney . Some of us had Tents to sleep in and some had no cover at all . The messes were simply marquees . The whole place was wired in but to everyones amazement we were out for the evening . This shocked my fine scence of “security” in fact I thought no one was taking the Liberation of Europe nearly seriously enough .
We were grouped into boat parties and given our embarkation tags . we were also given two 24 hour ration packs a huge issue of sweets cigarettes etc and two waxed paper shopping bags known inelegantly as “bags vomit Mk 2 “ In other words every contingency was catered for .. We were two or three days there before anyone moved . We were allowed out in the evening and one night Bill turner and myself and some of the others went down to a pub and then a Cinema . There we saw David Nivens film 2 the Way Ahead “ a most appropriate picture to see at that time . the cinema was almost empty because the flying bomb menace .Several times in the days we were there bombs fell quite near . At the camp I met Tom O Gorman who had been at ST Michaels Law school with me . he was a Lieutenant Colonel in 21 army group Head

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Quarters legal branch and went on the same ship .. On the morning of the day we embarked the vehicles (tanks and half Tracks ) went on ahead with their drivers and one other person . We went in …… after lunch .
We embarked in London docks Queen Victoria dock I believe it was called . As usual we sat at the Quayside beside the ….ford chaining for some hours before actually getting aboard . When we got aboard we found we were living in hammocks in the after holds the lower decks of which were filled with vehicles . I found the best way to sleep was in one of the vehicles carried as a deck load . in the morning we were allowed ashore to wash . We had marvellous coffe at an American Red Cross club on the dockside . While we were in the dock a huge rectangular block of concrete with a bofors gun on top was towed past . We believed it was some kind of break water . It was a section of one of the great prefabricated harbours known by the word “ Mulberry “ . Flying bombs were also falling in the dock area . After we left the dock area we joined our convoy near the barr off Southend . We passed Greenwich and Dagenham en route also Woolwich . Near Greenwich the famous sailing ship Cutty Sark was moored .
Beyond the boom we could see mysterious shapes coming out of the water they turned out to be forts on stilts built on sand bars off the Thames mouth . They mounted 3.7…40mm aka guns . The ships waiting to go with us were nearly all of those types American built Liberty ships Canadian built Forth Ships and LST,s (Landing Ship tanks ) . The Liberty and forts were 10000 tons . They had their names in big black letters on a golden rectangle on their sides .Stage Door Canteen and Anton J Cesmah I remember particularly .
Now who was on board with us . I remember Bill turner Chick sids Charlie Conquest were with us also Colnel Landers and the six troop commanders sam Pinkerton A trp Myself Btrp A chapnamed Sharpe who had come from 15 Field had e troop . Bob Lucas D troop John Donohue C troop and Kim Mc Jhon had E troop . Bill ….. had left E troop to become battery Captain of 36 Battery . Also on board was was glen Murphy the quarter master and the M.O. the L.A.D was with us complete . Part divisional HQ was with us including Spike Bifford of Patawawa fame .

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We spent at least 24 hours inside the barr perhaps more at any rate we sailed so as to pass Dover just after dark . This was essential because at that time (July 1944) the Germans had some very active long range guns at Cape sur Mert or there abouts on the French side . from Southend to Dover we treaded our way through menacing sand banks .On these sand Banks in the Thames had been erected forts either on stilts or Casions . They were manned by RA and Royal Marines . Their armaments was Bofors and 3.7 A/A guns . Clear of the estuary there were quite a few wrecks sticking up . These apparently were wrecked on the sands as opposed to those off Southend which were sunk by mines in 1939. I slept on deck in our troops half track . My sleep was interrupted by caustic comments on the loud hailer of the ship . this was directed at the other ships by the commodore who was aboard us ..
Next morning we were proceeding down the channel parallel to the coast of England in warm misty weather in a calm sea .. Somewhere off Selsey Bill we turned south towards France . There appeared to be a lane of some sort across the channel because a stream of L.S.T.s , L.C.T.s, M.T.B.s , and all sorts of other craft were heading back towards England but parallel to us .
Later in the afternoon we could see the form of occasional ships ahead of us . Soon we saw that we were approaching a great fleet of ships at anchor . Beyond them was a low dark line – the Shores of Normandy—the beach head .Our convoy passed in among the anchored ships and anchored . The Fort Chainsey sailed within perhaps a mile and a half of shore before anchoring . . The particular part of the beachhead off which we anchored was known as “ Juno beach “ . It extended west from the villages of Graye Sur Mer and Courselles Sur Mer . A few miles to the west was the pre fabricated harbour of Arromanches . There was no prefab at Juno Beach only a line of sunken tramp steamers forming a break water about 600 yards off shore . . About Two miles to the east of us we could two anchored warships . suddenly one of them practically disappeared in a cloud of smoke and flame . We realised she was engaging shore targets probably miles inland . we anchored about a mile offshore no unloading being carried out until the next morning . I went to sleep in the Half track . shortly after I went to bed I was wakened by voices then I could hear firing . I looked out the rear of the half track and saw vast quantities of AA tracer coning in the sky . The A/c they were firing at was on out over the

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anchorage . Soon all the cruisers and Destroyers were firing at them . Our after deck was pinging from hailstorms of shell fragments . A few fires were started among the dumps onshore before the raid was over . The amount of Flak thrown from the beachhead was quite incredible . Next Morning the L.C.T.s came alongside to unload us . Some were US some British . One American one was christened Bedpan 2 . The US ones were very nicely fitted up for their crews . They held only 4 Tanks as against the less elegant British type which could carry six .The hatches were soon off and the unloading went on all day .The Regiment went ashore according to vehicles When the vehicle was unloaded the passengers of that vehicle went down into the landing craft . The L.C.T.s could take as many as 6 or 8 large lorries a type . The 2 Rhino “ barges were taking twenty to thirty . The rhino were a series of pontoons bolted together and supplied with an engine and rudder . They were almost flush with the water and had no superstructure at all . They were really just metal rafts . the second night we were anchored off the beach the enemy A/C cme over again . They were greeted with a regular wof of HE again .
Next morning we started unloading tanks . mine went ashore with John Donohue and other 2 of course had TLB not RB which was still stranded in Hackney .as far as I knew . . Our L.C.T was an American she was skippered by a Lieutenant of about 25 creamy windbreaker duch trousers and a summer cap which looked fairly like a yachting cap . His crew were all mere boys . they reminded me very much of the junior yacht club in Toronto . They had even equipped themselves with the same kind of knives as the YC boys .. Our shippers succeeded in landing us on a sort of steel pier . It was built out of pontoons the same as the Rhino . We went up the pier to the beach sowe really really didn’t wade into France after all .. The shore was quite low . there was a broad beach rather like Wasaga with a ridge of grass curved sand behind it .In this ridge of single dune was one knocked German pill box . The only fortification I could see around . Military police were directing traffic along the beach . We turned left and went along the strand for about a mile . we passed a Royal Marine Band playing merrily in a sort of amphitheatre .carved out of the sand dune . A little beyond them some Royal Naval commandos were playing cricket on the foreshore . The sandunes were inhabited by all the beachcombers essential to an invasion . There were Royal Engineers naval commandoes Military Police A/A gunners and balloon barrage men . They had

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built homes for themselves out of sand filled ammo boxes . They were roofed over with steel sheets from waterproofing kits and some had curtains of damaged barrage balloons . We turned through a gap in the sand dune into a sort of parking lot provided as de watering . It was already fairly crowded with G.G.F.G +C.G,G . Tanks in course of de watering .Running parallel to the sea and the sand dune was a road . this was about 400 yards back from the sand dune . Between the road and the dune was a grassy field curved in and signed “Minen “ . While we were de watering we saw our first French civilian a young girl on a bicycle . People crammed on the turrets binoculars came out and soon the air was full of wolf calls . Later two little boys came along I had the job of trying out my French on them . They scrounged sweets from all the tank crews . They took the Asbestos foil foil waterproofing material away with them to use as fuel . They lived in Grage sur Mer a village about a mile to the east right on the shore . . They had seen the “ Debariquriement “ . the French now used the word for invasion . “ invasion “ is then and for entering an enemy country . About 1900 that night a guide came to lead us in land to our concentration area .
We passed through Norman villages on the way some were battered some untouched . The Norman farms are great blocks of very tall stone barns arranged in a square. The villages we saw were just hamlets . The country is like the south shore of the St Laurence …… …… with villages each with a grand church spire rising from it . The Fields are compleatley unfenced . The farm animals are …… tethered to a peg . they graze a circle around the peg and then are moved . Tracked vehicles were kept off roads as much as possible ,tracks being marked across fields for them . our concentration area was at Crepon on high ground above Aurramanche . There was an immense cluster of shipping there . They were lying in the Mulberry pre fabricated harbour . We remained at Cepron for nearly three days as far as I can remember . The roads around were full of traffic day and night . there were still a few German Mines around and scattered clumps of German small arms ammunition .. a mobile laundry was operating nearby and we marched down there for a bath one day . German A/C every night and were greeted with the usual barrage . Our fellows slept under the vehicles as much as is possible because of the flak fragments . I made friends of a boy of 19 Sylvain Sorel whose mother owned the field we were in , he told us quite a bit about the occupation and the “ debarquement

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. we used our SP to pull down anti landing poles the Germans had erected in the fields and which interfered with Sylvain harvesting . Part of the field belonged to another family . The father and uncle were old soldiers from the last war .. The uncle had “ refugie De Caen “. They were both plesant sel assured men dressed in shabby clothes . They told me how “les Boches “ took away their wireless sets in april 1944 when they began to get the windup . Another part of the field belonged to a woman who had cows tethered there . she used to milk them in the field where they were tied . She sold milk to our fellows . Ther were steel tank tracks through the wheat and small German grenades lay among the stubble .

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We think these photos were taken in Normandy in July august 1944 they were scanned from Negatives .My father was in the 23 Canadian field regiment . They had self propelled artillery .

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Some in Normandy and some in the South of England

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http://s607.photobucket.com/user/BogMan_2009/library/SLIDES2/Patrick%20Negatives?sort=3&page=1

Beanstalk

These are excellent posts and a great primary source!