CAPT. B. C. E. PRIDAY'S ACCOUNT

My glider was No. 4 in the flight plan and we carried 22 platoon with Lieut. Hooper in command, 5 sappers, my runner and myself apart from the two pilots. I am unable to remember the names of the attached personnel. The first pair of aircraft took off at 2256 hrs and I followed at 2300 hrs. We got into the air safely and although I spent all my time until it was dark looking out of the cockpit, I saw nothing of the others. I allowed smoking, since most of us were in state of tense excitement. At 2350 hrs, 30 minutes before we were due to land I stopped smoking and had the lights put out for fear of enemy fighters. We checked on our equipment and weapons, and I wondered whether our grenades would explode if we had a heavy landing. I said nothing of this. I stressed the importance of shouting as we came in to land, since I did not want a lot of deaf men to deal with when we got on to the ground, I again went into the cockpit and kept a running commentary going of all I saw. I didn't see very much for it was a dark cloudy night. We were flying at six thousand feet but I had managed to discern the sea as we crossed the coast, and now I could make out the French coast by the flak coming up to our right. We escaped it ourselves.

At this stage, about 0005 hrs June 6th, 1944, I ordered safety belts on and gave a reminder about holding on to one another and lifting the legs clear of the floor for the landing. I gave an extra reminder to Lieut. Hooper and to Pte. Johnson who were sitting on my right and left about this, because I wanted the door open for a quick exit on landing, a job which bad to be done after cast-off, and which in tum meant that I should not have time to strap my safety belt on, and I was going to rely on these two to hold me firmly in my seat. They did their job well. We cast off and I opened the door. I looked out into the darkness and saw nothing. Then I made my way to my seat opposite the door and sat down to await the landing. Hooper and Johnson held me very tightly, but I shall always remember the odd feeling I had as we went into a steep left-hand tum, losing height rapidly, and finding myself looking straight out and down through the doorway into the darkness and the clouds below. I shouted as loudly at least as the others, for I did not want to be temporarily deaf when I got to the ground owing to the increase in atmospheric pressure as we lost height. We soon straightened out, still losing height, and rather more quickly than I expected, we hit the ground. We hit it very hard, for it was extremely dark, and the pilots could hardly see, and bounced up into the air again. We seemed to poise for a minute with our nose in the air and then we came crashing to earth once more, tearing along the ground at a terrific speed. The wheels must have come off for the floor of the glider broke up and the seats came adrift. We came to a standstill, the people to my side almost lying on their backs. With difficulty we got out of the wreckage.

Instead of recognizing my surroundings, they were completely strange to me. We were in the wrong place. We were all out by 0022 hrs, the first out probably being a little early. It is true that we landed by a waterway and by a bridge, but they were not the ones I had learnt to recognize so well over the weeks beforehand from photographs and models. I afterwards worked it out, and can only assume that owing to a navigational error on the part of the tug aircraft we were cast off in the wrong place. The glider pilots could not have glided the distance of error in the short free flying time they had after cast-off. Indeed they had made a first-class job of the landing as I well appreciated now that I could see for myself how dark it really was on the ground. The glider was right alongside a river and close up to a bridge. They had seen these as they came down to land and made for them. Not until it was too late did they realize that they were not the Orne and Caen Canal bridges we should be at.

The fuselage was resting in a ditch that ran parallel with the waterway, the right wing tilted down until it nearly touched the water. As the men had got out, they too realized that we were at the wrong place, and they took up all-round protection of the machine. I moved them away in case the enemy decided to open up on us from anywhere, when they would surely aim at the aircraft with its white stripes showing up in the darkness. I sent Lieut. Hooper off to have a look at the bridge, and after another look round the men, where I found Sjt. Barwick looking after our rear, I joined Hooper. There was a swampy bit of ground and a fairly wide ditch with high banks, then an embankment leading up to the road and the bridge. When we got to the road we could see a German steel helmet on the walls of the bridge but no enemy. I decided not to break the silence for fear of spoiling the element of surprise for the others who I hoped would be at the correct place, and withdrawing I left the road hoping the enemy would think us a crashed bomber as they had done at Syracuse, and made off to work out my position.

I remembered to collect my maps, binoculars and a signal pistol from the aircraft, for we were wearing light assault order, all else being left in the glider for collection afterwards. I wasn't able to do much salvaging for the enemy on the bridge had gathered their senses and had returned to put a few bursts into the machine. During our withdrawal across the fields an aircraft roared low overhead and a stick of parachutists floated to earth. They were contacted, Sjt. Lucas was in charge, and he and five others joined my party. The remainder of the stick must have landed the other side of the river. We later found another parachutist who was suffering from concussion and did not even know his own name. He too joined the party. We came to a deep dry ditch about five hundred yards and I decided to take up all-round defence in it.

Patrols were sent off after a brief 'O' group with instructions to go off so many hundreds of yards in certain directions, to look out for landmarks, and I settled down to question the pilots on what they had seen as we came in to land. Gradually I pieced things together and decided we were at a point SW. of Caboug by a road running east from Varraville where it crosses the River Dives and another waterway. The two bridges were close together and in the darkness from the air could easily look like the Orne and Caen Canal bridges we should be at. We were on the east bank of the most easterly waterway. The pilots were again most profuse in their apologies, and although the error meant that I should not see the fruits of my labours of the last few months (for, unbeknown to us, we had practised for this job for long) and the careful planning of the last weeks, for I had been privileged to take a full share in it, I knew it wasn’t their fault and gave them what consolation I could.

I now made two main decisions. One was to have a little battle at this bridge, for I thought a few live rounds in this area would add to the deception plan which up to now was silent, and the second was to get back to my Regiment as strong as possible. The Regiment had a task to perform and I knew we should need all the men we had to carry it out. I gave orders to this effect. After sufficient time had elapsed to allow the proper bridge party to get going. I again moved towards my bridge. I sent Lieut. Hooper on a small patrol forward to have a look round and I followed him pretty close. Two enemy sentries must have heard us and they came over to see what was happening. With a "Comment ca va" Hooper opened up and as they ran away one went down. We closed to the edge of the road and the others came up. A machine gun opened up on us from across the road and a few stick grenades were thrown. We returned with small arms fire and threw grenades, including 77s [incendiary grenades], and their fire did us no harm. I was in a slit trench at the side of the road by now with the senior glider pilot and unfortunately a 77 landed in our trench. It burned our clothes a bit and I smiled to see his luminous feet running across the bridge. A final burst from my Sten and I brought up the rear. I was told afterwards by L/Cpl. Lambley who was watching from a different angle that this last long burst of mine had fetched down a couple of enemy who were moving towards the machine gun. Presumably they were going to replace the original crew who must surely have been knocked out by the weight of our fire. It was sheer luck. I couldn't see for myself because of the smoking 77 in my pit, but I was very gratified to hear it.

We got down at the side of the road as planned to check up, and I now discovered that about ten or twelve of the party had failed to cross. I sent someone to the bank to tell them to cross under cover of our fire and the necessary guns were placed to cover them. They failed to cross. This wasted a good deal of time and I sent Lieut. Hooper and two men to have a look at a little wood I wanted to get to. I then went down to the river bank to try and contact the other party. No answer came to my shouts. They must have withdrawn from the bridge, but I had confidence in Sjt. Barwick who was with them. The next thing that happened was when the men from the wood came back to report that the wood was clear and that Lieut. Hooper was waiting for me there. Before we could get moving we heard voices coming out of the darkness and footsteps down the middle of the road. Very soon I recognised Lieut. Hooper's voice. He was talking very loud and I soon knew why. He was being marched along with his hands in the air and a Boche escorted him. I was wondering what to do when Hooper edged over towards the spot where only a few minutes before he had left me. This gave me a view of the German against the skyline. I had my sten ready and with a shout "Jump, Tony!" (Hooper's Christian name) I fired a big burst at the Hun. He went down and didn't move again. Unfortunately as he fell he pressed his trigger and L/Sjt. Raynor who was lying next to me got hit in the shoulder. Another round hit my map case. My chinagraph pencils were ruined but I got Hooper back.

Apparently a few minutes after dispatching the two men to report to me, a party had moved into the wood and he walked up to them thinking it was me. They were in fact a party from the other bridge coming along to see what the fuss was about. The issue was obviously confused to them because of the lone escort being sent to the bridge from which all the firing had come. Guns from the enemy in the wood now opened up, and very obligingly the gun from the bridge we had just crossed fired back at them. Hoping they would fight each other, I thought it a good time to get out. Lining up on the side of the road I gave the order "Go" and we dashed across the road. Unfortunately, Pte. Everett, my wireless operator, was killed at my side and we had to leave him behind. We now moved off the road into the floods, dykes, ditches and rivers of the flooded Dives valley. For about two hours we swam and waded, going South.  In places we had to get the non-swimmers across on toggle ropes.