• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Naval Historical Society of Australia

Preserving Australia's Naval History

  • Events
  • Account
  • Members Area
  • Volunteer
  • Donate
  • Contact us
  • Show Search
  • 0 items
Hide Search
Menu
  • Home
  • Research
    • Where to start
      • Research – We can help!
      • Self help
      • Naval Service Records
      • Library
      • Related Maritime websites
    • Resources
      • Articles
      • Videos
      • On This Day
      • Podcasts
      • Australian Military Ship Losses
      • RAN events on a  Google Earth Map
      • RAN Vessels – Where are they now?
      • Related Maritime websites
    • Other
      • Newsletters: Call The Hands
      • Occasional Papers and Historical Booklets
      • Books
      • HMAS Shropshire
      • Book reviews
    • Close
  • Naval Heritage Sites
    • World Heritage Listings
      • Cockatoo Island
    • National Heritage Listings
      • HMAS Sydney II and the HSK Kormoran Shipwreck Sites
      • HMVS Cerberus
    • Commonwealth Heritage Listings
      • Garden Island NSW
      • HMAS Watson
      • HMAS Penguin
      • Spectacle Island Explosives Complex NSW
      • Chowder Bay Naval Facilities
      • Beecroft Peninsula NSW
      • Admiralty House, Garden and Fortifications
      • HMAS Cerberus
      • Naval Offices QLD
      • Garden Island WA
      • Royal Australian Naval College ACT
      • Royal Australian Naval Transmitting Station ACT
    • NSW Heritage Listings
      • HMAS Rushcutter
    • Close
  • Naval Art
  • Tours & Cruises
    • Navy in Sydney Harbour Cruise, East
    • Navy in Sydney Harbour Cruise, West
    • Anniversary Cruise: Sydney under Japanese Attack
    • Tour Bookings
    • Close
  • About us
    • About Us
      • What we do
      • Our People
      • Office Bearers
      • Become a volunteer
      • Our Goals and Strategy
    • Organisation
      • Victoria Chapter
      • WA Chapter
      • ACT Chapter
    • Close
  • Membership
  • Shop
  • Become a volunteer
  • Donate
You are here: Home / Article topics / Publications / Naval Historical Review / Normandy Landing

Normandy Landing

Smythe, D.H.D., AO, Commodore, RAN · Mar 30, 1975 · Print This Page

Author
Smythe, D.H.D., AO, Commodore, RAN
Subjects
Biographies and personal histories, History - WW2
Tags
None noted.
RAN Ships
None noted.
Publication
March 1975 edition of the Naval Historical Review (all rights reserved)

At 0400 the sky ahead, over Ouistreham and Caen, was being startled into life by glittering, sparkling, corkscrewing tracers, flung at our bombers. There was still, however, no sign of enemy attack from our exposed flank to port and, as darkness turned to grey, we drew ahead of the leading landing craft and stood in towards the Seine Estuary. Splitting apart at the apex of the pear-shaped swept channel, our bombardment force crept down to its firing position, the leaders meeting again at the bottom as we took up our stations for the first shoots.

At 0510, with twilight beginning, each ship was in her place to the minute. Still apparently unseen by the shore batteries, we drifted quietly with our engines stopped, contacting our spotting Spitfires and preparing for the first salvos.

A convoy of ambulances returning from the front to waiting hospital ships

Now it’s 0517, and the eight ships open up on the prearranged battery targets. A slight hitch for us when we fail to contact our aircraft, but we fire away nevertheless with a calculated range at the unseen targets. It is light now, and shells from hidden guns on the Havre and Deauville hills to port begin to fall amongst us, but only in such small numbers as to make it obvious that the RAF have done a good job. The landing craft are coming up astern now, creeping towards the beaches. But first must come the beachdrenching, and the destroyers slide inshore to begin the devastation. Now their guns add to the increasing crescendo of noise, as they blast away at the shoreline. Next come the daylight precision bombers, and as they calmly and with calculated perfection smother the foreshore with their bombs, I see for the first time just what precision bombing means, and momentarily feel sorry for the Huns. Meanwhile, the Rocket LCTs are closing the beach, and an astonishing spectacle is revealed to us as they open up with their hundreds of flaming rockets, pouring death into the houses along the beach. In answer to them the flak from the shore intensifies, and smoke pours forth, not only from the burning buildings ashore, but also from several of our craft. But the Germans still seem dazed, their air force has not put in a single appearance, and my impression is that it’s all too good to last. It can’t be true that we have really surprised them or, if we have, surely in a matter of minutes the Luftwaffe will be screaming down on us. But no, it is now five minutes before H hour, and as our initial assault craft close the shore, following the channels blasted for them through the underwater obstacles, the resistance is still slight. The bombing has stopped, the bombardment behind the beaches has been lifted and as our watches show 0725 to the second the barges touch down all along the coast as far as the eye can see to the westward and the infantry, the tanks, the Bren gun carriers and the mobile guns stream up the beaches. The Allied Expeditionary Force of Liberation has landed in Europe!

From H hour onwards the landing devolved into a series of waves of further soldiery and equipment being put ashore from landing craft, which were all the time coming in from seaward. As the army landed, so it disappeared from our view into the rows of houses, fast becoming rubble, forming the frontage of Ouistreham. From our position we could not hear the gunfire from shore above our own salvos, but from the flying incendiaries, the sharp bursts of black-smoke explosions, and the powdery disintegration of one building after another, it was obvious that fierce attempts were being made by the Germans to frustrate our advance. It was at about this stage that, following an urgent call for fire from a unit ashore, we carried out an impromptu indirect bombardment of a position held by the Germans just inland from Ouistreham itself. We had just bracketed the target (a stubborn gun position, we heard later) when the Spitfire who was spotting for us went suddenly off the air. Poor chap, it seems pretty certain that he must have been shot down. (Later we heard that he had indeed been, but that the pilot was safe). Anyway, nothing daunted, we went ahead, firing for effect with rapid fire and the army was then able to push on.

Pages: Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5

Naval Historical Review, Biographies and personal histories, History - WW2

Primary Sidebar

SUBSCRIBE

Sign up for our monthly e-newsletter.

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Categories

Latest Podcasts

  • The Fall of Singapore
  • HMAS Armidale
  • Napoleon, the Royal Navy and Me
  • The Case of the Unknown Sailor
  • Night of the midget subs — Sydney under attack

Links to other podcasts

Australian Naval History Podcasts
This podcast series examines Australia’s Naval history, featuring a variety of naval history experts from the Naval Studies Group and elsewhere.
Produced by the Naval Studies Group in conjunction with the Submarine Institute of Australia, the Australian Naval Institute, Naval Historical Society and the RAN Seapower Centre

Life on the Line Podcasts
Life on the Line tracks down Australian war veterans and records their stories.
These recordings can be accessed through Apple iTunes or for Android users, Stitcher.

Video Links

  • Australian War Memorial YouTube channel
  • Royal Australian Navy YouTube Channel
  • Research – We can help!
  • Naval Heritage Sites
  • Explore Naval Art
  • Dockyard Heritage Tour
  • About us
  • Shop
  • Events
  • Members Area
  • Volunteer
  • Donate
  • Contact us

Follow us

  • Facebook
  • YouTube
  • Members Area
  • Privacy Policy

Naval Historical Society of Australia Inc. Copyright © 2025