- Contributed byÌý
- ollypots
- People in story:Ìý
- Ronald James Carpenter
- Location of story:Ìý
- Northern France
- Background to story:Ìý
- Army
- Article ID:Ìý
- A2631043
- Contributed on:Ìý
- 13 May 2004
I landed on Juno beach with the Canadians on the morning of 6th June 1944.
Our biggest fear was land mines and as we were in a wireless truck we lined the floor and up the sides with sand bags-the truck must have weighed a ton.
We were on an American Landing craft, I think it was called an LST and we were being shot at all the time.
After we landed a mobile Ack Ack gun got stuck in a shell hole in front of us. We got the wind up because we were sitting targets. Eventually the gun got pulled out so we could proceed.
That first night we received orders to dig-in near a village. I was told to dig a trench but not for me, it was for the radio! Once that was safely stowed I was allowed to dig my own trench. We covered our trenches with the metal sheets that the tanks had used to keep the water out of their engines.
As dictated by Sergeant 2347335 Ronald James Carpenter, Royal Corps of Signals, to his daughter Lesley, just before he died in January 2004.
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