Which beach did my Dad land on?

[annesthreads]

I’m going to Normandy this summer and would love to know which beach my Dad landed on in 1944. I don’t have a lot of information, but even to narrow it down to a few possibilities would be wonderful. He told me that he went in 5 days after D-Day. He was in the Royal Signals. Name: Charles Francis Brien. Army no. 3536965. Rank: SIGM. He joined the Manchester Regiment in February 1942 and the Royal Signals on 17th April 1942.

As I say, even to know that some beaches are possibles and others not would help.

[MaxD]

The British beaches were Sword and Gold but there were elements on the Canadian beach Juno between the two so roughly speaking, the three easterly beaches nearest to Ouistreham.  The landings on D Day itself are well documented, the days following not so well.

Do you know what unit he was in - the Royal Signals had a presence in many headquarters and units and knowing which one he belonged to may narrow it down.

MaxD

[annesthreads]

Thanks Max. I’ve looked at the documents I have and none give more detail of unit other than Royal Signals. The only thing I’ve found is a slip of paper confirming his entitlement to medals, issued by 53 Rft. Holding Unit. No idea if that’s a clue! I’ll check whether my sister has anything else.

[annesthreads]

...I’ve found some letters he wrote to his sister at various dates. In Nov 1944 he was writing from 130 Bde HQ, and a letter in Dec 1945 is headed 98 IND INF BDE SIGS. Nothing nearer to D-Day than those, unfortunately.

[John915]

Good afternoon,

The DDay landings actually took 15 days to complete so he probably went ashore via one of the mulberry harbours. One only lasted a few weeks before being severly damaged in a storm. The other was used for several months to land stores and troops.

I'm not sure when the actual French harbours were able to be used. But it was several days before all the German troops were ejected.

John915

[MaxD]

130 Brigade had a Signals Section.  If he was with them as they entered Normandy then one of the three beaches mentioned is correct.  The brigade was part of 43 (Wessex) Division which joined Second Army in Normandy).  Looking at what they did subsequently, of the three I would guess Sword, nearest to Ouistreham.

There are a couple of books on the 43 Division which your local library may be able to get?  One is on Ebay  -  "The fighting Wessex Wyverns" for £4.94 which should give the answer.

I've found reference elsewhere to someone who has the 43 Div history - I'll contact him and see if I can get a more specific answer.

If I may, I'd suggest you also visit the two American beaches further to the west to compare the type of ground behind the different beaches.

(In December it looks as if he has gone to the Far East to an Indian Infantry Brigade)

MaxD

PS John's thought about the Mulberry harbours would mean landings at Gold, the furthest west of the three (I have discounted the ones at Omaha beach).  The history may help us.

[MaxD]

Dilemma.  The 43 (Wessex) Division was part of the follow up and didn't land until 24th June, much later than "5 days after D Day".  So either the recollection of 5 days is a bit off or he didn't land with 130 Brigade.  If with 130 Brigade then some landed via the Mulberry harbour at Arromanches (Gold) and some directly across the beach by landing craft at Courseulles which is Juno beach.  If not with 130 Bde, then we don't know.

Only way to know for certain is to have his service record which should show his unit at the time and then to go to the war diary for that unit.  Both incur a cost. 

Whatever, you can certainly discount Omaha and Utah beaches as far as landing is concerned (but do visit) and concentrate on Sword Juno (which was later no longer "Canadian") and Gold.

MaxD

[annesthreads]

Thank you both very much for your help. I think we’ll have to settle for visiting all the British beaches - would like to do so anyway. But I’ll look into getting Dad’s service record, as it would be interesting to have it. Of course I now regret all the times when I was growing up that he reminisced about his army days and I didn’t want to know!

[MaxD]

Good plan!  If you are on the overnight ferry from Portsmouth, the Bar Marine in Ouistreham is ideally placed for le petit déjeuner.

MaxD