Voices of D-Day

Troops of 51st Highland Division aboard a landing craft heading for Normandy, reading booklets on France issued before embarkation, 7 June 1944.

IWM

75 years ago, Allied forces transformed the beaches of Normandy into a battleground for Europe’s future.

In this excerpt from FrontLine magazine, we hear from some of the extraordinary men and women who recall that momentous day.

British troops pose with French civilians in La Brèche d'Hermanville, 6 June 1944.

IWM

Leslie Fryatt (known as Les) was born one of 16 children in South London in January 1924. He joined the Army at 18 and reported to Naughton Barracks, Worcestershire, before being selected for gunnery training. From there he joined the Royal Artillery in St Albans.

In June 1944, Les returned to London with his regiment. He remembers: “We weren’t really told anything; we just started doing intensive training, waterproofing the vehicles and going out to sea. When we left London we were on the troop lorries and people were shouting: “Give ‘em hell lads” and we thought something really must be happening!"

When the time came, Les departed from the London docks aboard the MV Empire General. They sailed through the night.

As they approached land, Les and his comrades shinnied down a rope ladder against the side of the ship to the landing craft. He was weighed down with two packs, pouches and a rifle. As Les put his foot on the landing craft, it moved suddenly and he was left with one foot dangling as his friends shouted: “Come on Fryatt, jump!” The landing craft swung closer to the ladder and Les managed to scramble onboard. He remembers: “The chaps were laughing – couldn’t stop laughing!”

In Normandy, enough ground had been gained to bring in the guns. As part of a 5-man detatchment, Les operated 5.5 Howitzer guns supporting the infantry down on the beaches. He witnessed the destruction of Caen and later played a crucial role destroying German positions inland. “I wasn’t frightened,” Les remembers. “Why wasn’t I frightened?”

Les fought his way across Europe, spending time in Holland before crossing the Rhine. He was in Berlin for VE day, and was subsequently awarded the Légion d’Honneur for the part he played in the liberation of France.

Les and Jeanette Fryatt

Les’s wife Jeanette was 9 years old in June 1944 and living in Busby, near Glasgow. In the run up to D-Day, she remembers local men in reserved occupations receiving abuse from women whose husbands had been killed in the fighting. Farming was a reserved occupation, but several men still bowed to pressure and joined up, leaving the farms short-handed for the potato harvest.

“I don’t suppose it’s on any record, but the potatoes were needing to be harvested. And so the farmers wrote to our parents to ask for help. And my mother said: ‘Oh yes Jeanette, I knew you’d like a day’s holiday!’ So I was sent to harvest the potatoes.

We were picked up from school in lorries and headed into the country. The lorries only had very low sides, so they told us to hold onto a partner or the side of the lorry. We had a whale of a time! Nowadays it would be shock horror – child labour! But we felt so proud that we were doing something. We were helping the war effort. I remember my head being ten times the size!”

Dig for Victory campaign poster.

IWM

In 2014, Les and Jeanette were supported by The Soldiers’ Charity with funding for home adaptations and a walk-in shower. They remarked: “We think it’s wonderful how the British people will so easily open their purses, we appreciate it so much.”

Men and vehicles aboard a landing craft during the passage to Normandy, 6th June 1944.

IWM