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| Arromanches-les-Bains with the remains of the Mulberry harbour in its bay |
I woke up the next morning to hear the throbbing of the engines and to feel the slight pitch and toss of the ship. We had been under way since about midnight. After breakfast I went up on deck and had a look around. There was a rather heavy mist that cut down visibility considerably. I could just see two more L.S.T.'s in line astern of us.
It was nearly mid-day on 8th August, as we approached France.
The fog cleared and soon we could pick out the coast and see the "prefabricated harbour" [1] at Arromanches. [2] We heard that the captain of our ship was a go-ahead type and afraid of nothing and now we saw evidence of it. He was bawling through the microphone for everybody to get out of our way and we went straight for the narrow entrance. A Yankee ship that nearly got in our way got in our way was told what to do in no uncertain manner. We drew into a pier-head and proceeded to [dis]embark. This time the trucks on the top deck were able to drive off the side, one at a time onto a platform and down a ramp. Those trucks below drove out through the bow in the usual manner. We drove along the pier for about 200 yards and reached a bridge that put us on top of the low cliff.
A drive of a quarter of a mile brought us to a field where we waited until all the convoy had arrived. After a few minutes had passed the signal to move was given and off we went, seeing our first sights in France. The first indication we had that we were really in France was a sign in English saying "You are now in FRANCE. Remember to drive on the right-hand side of the road."
Some drivers had forgotten that and so needed the reminder. The roads which originally were narrow had been widened by our lads but were not very smooth. In fact they were very rough with numerous pot-holes, and then we encountered the dust. It came up in huge clouds as each vehicle went along and soon we found we were chewing on dust whether we liked it or not.
It was not very long before we came to our site and the trucks were rapidly driven across the field onto the hedge and the nets were thrown over them. Next thing was a meal. After that we were warned about mines in the fields around and told to watch our step. I got my bed out of a truck, laid it out underneath and got some "shut-eye". I needed it.
