HMS
Diadem
the diary of signalman John Emrys Williams
Leslie
Garrett
The Bognor Regis Times carried this story on
3
June 2014 about Les Garrett, aged 87,
former HMS Diadem gunner. It's a remarkable story as there can't
be many former Diadem shipmates still alive. I'm writing this on
the eve of the 70th anniversaty of the Normandy Landings and I feel
quite moved as I read Les's 2014 first-hand account of what happened:
"Les
joined the Royal Marines at an under-age 16 and, at 5.42am on June
6, 1944, found himself serving on HMS Diadem off Beny-sur-Mer on
Juno Beach on the Normandy coast.
He
lifted the cordite charge from the magazine hoist and to the tray
behind the highly explosive shell before the charge and shell were
thrust into the gun behind.
He
and his shipmates went 52 hours without sleep as they trained their
gun on German ships up to 13.5 miles away or at Nazi aircraft 25,000-35,000ft
in the air.
"The
light cruiser fired 3,826 shells between June 6 and 29 and survived
an attack by six enemy aircraft at 11pm on D-Day."
Picture: Allan Hutchings (141333-441) PPP-140705-231844003
reproduced from this web address: http://www.bognor.co.uk/news/local/d-day-will-be-recalled-by-les-1-6085905
where you can read the full story
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