Unknown soldier's 'Diary of War Experiance [Sic] 6 June 44 to 11 Jan 45' @NIWarMemorial #Onthisday tweets to mark 75th anniversary of #DDay#DDay75#Normandy
To mark the 75th anniversary of #DDay, @NIWarMemorial are live tweeting the entries of an unknown soldier's 'Diary of War Experiance 1944', as it happened #OnThisDay 75 years ago #DDay75#NIWM
Told we are going on leave everybody excited kits sorted & stored caught train at 1.30 & arrived home six oclock same day #NIWM#OnThisDay#WW2#WWII
anchored off Tilbury all night disembarked next morning, hot meal provided & got the train at 11. oclock, train leaves Tilbury 7 oclock at night arrive at Aldershot 2 oclock next morn; got to bed & slept all day.
Left Bruges early hours for Ostend, waited at Quayside for three hours, waited another two on the boat (H.M.S. Viking) still snowing like hell, left Ostend midday, chased over the channel all, meals N.A. Tea very weak #NIWM#OnThisDay#WW2#WWII
Left Hardinghen for Ostend Belguam, driving the truck all the way myself, on the border got caught in a snow storm pretty grim. Arrived at Bruges at night, stayed in transit camp for a week, no fires, one blanket & snowing like hell #NIWM#OnThisDay#WWIIl#WW2#Bruges#Belgium
leave has started to Paris & I am going. Paris is just the job, but need bags of cash, food & cigs, soap, boots etc; clothes are pretty good & womens fashions are startling, bike’s are all over the place, cars very old & scarce.
Jerry is up to his tricks again for the last three nights we’ve had air raids he’s trying to stop the 6th Airborne Div from moving up a few casualties but nothing serious.
Calais is getting back to normal again, there’s thousands of troops around also NAAFI have moved in & ENSA has started doing its stuff civvies are doing a roaring trade & the black market is flourishing,
Packed up & moved to Dieppe, a mere 120 miles in convoy 12 hrs on the road, passed through Lisuex & Rouen, both places heavily bombed the civvies gave us a great welcome in Rouen they are a lot differant than the Normandy folk,
the Canadians took this place but Jerry had moved out before they got there, a few snipers still left about the place but the F.F.I. are clearing them out.
Six civvies brought in been in a road accident one dead (a young girl of 18) the other five in a bad state blood everywhere, dress their injuries & send them to civvy hosp in Caen
#OnThisDay#NIWM#DDAY75#Normandy#WW2
Move into St Leger 10 miles up & open a C.C.S. some of the patients in a pretty bad state, we are still waiting for Caen to fall business as usual.