Voices from D-Day: First-Person Accounts

American Voices

Private John Barnes, 116th Infantry Regiment, Omaha Beach "The ramp dropped and it was like the world exploded. Machine gun fire swept through our landing craft. Men I'd trained with for months were cut down in seconds. I jumped over the side to avoid the fire. The water was red with blood. Bodies floated face down. I made it to the beach and pressed myself against the shingle. For two hours I couldn't move without drawing fire. When we finally got off that beach, I looked back and couldn't believe anyone had survived."

Lieutenant Richard Winters, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment "I landed alone in a field, my leg bag with all my equipment torn away in the jump. In the darkness, I heard that metallic click of crickets - other paratroopers trying to find friends. We assembled a mixed group from different units and moved toward our objectives. That's when training took over. Despite the chaos of the drop, we knew our jobs and did them."

Sergeant John Prados, 4th Armored Division "After breaking out of the hedgerows, it was like someone opened the gates. We were racing across France, thirty or forty miles a day. French people lined the roads, throwing flowers, offering wine. But we couldn't stop - Patton wanted us to keep the Germans running. It was the kind of war we'd trained for, not that grinding hell in the bocage."

British and Commonwealth Voices

Major John Howard, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry "We knew Pegasus Bridge had to be taken intact. In the glider, approaching the landing zone, I told my men, 'It's going to be a rough landing, but we've trained for this.' When we hit and the glider stopped, we were exactly where we needed to be. Training and a bit of luck saw us through."

Corporal Stan Hollis, Green Howards (Victoria Cross recipient) "I wasn't trying to be a hero at Gold Beach. I saw a pillbox firing on our lads and I went for it. Used grenades through the slit and took about 25 prisoners. Later, when we were held up by another strongpoint, I did what needed doing. You don't think about medals - you think about your mates."

Sergeant Leo Gariepy, 1st Hussars (Canadian) "Our Sherman hit the beach at Courseulles still floating in its canvas screen. We opened fire while still in the water. Once ashore, we engaged German positions at point-blank range. The infantry were taking heavy casualties, so we drove right up to the seawall, using our tank as a shield while they reorganized."

German Perspectives

Obergefreiter Heinrich Severloh, 352nd Infantry Division "From my position at WN62, I had a perfect field of fire across Omaha Beach. I fired over 12,000 rounds that day. I can still see the American soldiers trying to cross the beach. Later, after the war, I met some Omaha veterans. We cried together. We were all just young men doing what we were ordered to do."

Major Werner Pluskat, 352nd Artillery Regiment "Looking through my field glasses at dawn, I saw the invasion fleet. Ships as far as the eye could see. I called my commander and told him, 'There must be 10,000 ships out there!' He asked, 'What way are they heading?' I replied, 'Straight for me!' We knew then that this was the invasion."

French Civilian Voices

Marie-Louise Osmont, Périers-sur-le-Dan "We woke to a terrible noise - explosions, aircraft, the house shaking. From our windows, we could see parachutes descending. Were they English? American? We didn't know, but we knew liberation had come. The joy was mixed with terror as shells began falling in our garden."

André Heintz, Resistance member, Caen "For four years we had waited, gathered intelligence, aided downed airmen. When the invasion began, we were ready. But the destruction of Caen was horrifying. To see our beautiful city reduced to rubble, even for liberation, broke our hearts. Freedom came at such a terrible price."