Shall we see England again?
Many young men would not
We embarked at Newhaven, inside the harbour the sea looked reasonable, but as we left the entrance the picture changed, and it was rough, very rough. I shall always remember the sight of hundreds of self-heating soup cans floating inside the harbour where they had been tossed overboard. We sailed our way first to Southampton, then after joining the huge circle of ships known as Piccadilly Circus, straight across the channel to Normandy, I was happy enough in this weather being used to boats and the sea, but Oh dear! many of those aboard wanted to die from sea-sickness. When someone called, "tea up", I hurried down below, when I returned I found a Soldier kneeling in front of my kit being sea-sick all over it, I thought at the time "this is a :fine way to free Festung Europa."

In this narrative, I shall try to relate only those things that made a deep impression on the minds of a nineteen-year-old Country-man and his friends, caught up in the greatest military invasion the world has seen! I shall try not to write about the planning of the invasion, or repeat what has been described time and time again. I shall concentrate entirely on memories and events that stuck in the minds of a very ordinary young man. Just one of many thousands of ordinary men and women, who went off to fight for their country, in my case, a Sapper who was fortunate to serve with 246 Field Co R.E. That valiant band of brothers. A tiny, insignificant little cog, in a very big war machine.
The memoirs serve to describe war and it's horrors and in all it's phases. For many of us Veterans, there are names that are virtually engraved on our soul, Queen red. Queen white. Hermanville. Benouville. Blainville. Lebisey. La Londe. Caen. Goodwood. Colombelles. Troarn. The river Orne and Canal. So many names that will never be forgotten by those who fought in Normandy. Bloody Normandy.
Sapper