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Canadian Poncho Homepage -> Canadian Poncho -> The Lounge -> Juno Beach D Day at the Pub last night- bumped into a man who was there in 1944
Post Info TOPIC: Juno Beach D Day at the Pub last night- bumped into a man who was there in 1944
DonSSDD


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Juno Beach D Day at the Pub last night- bumped into a man who was there in 1944
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We have a small craft brew pub where there are 2 long tables so when you go there you sit down next to just about anyone, last night I sat down next to a neighbour, Captain Raymond Creery, he retired in 1964 from the Navy. He was a navigator on a destroyer during D Day.

 

How many guys from D Day have you met in 2019 at the pub having a beer?

 

He has some good stories, hes not much of a talker, you have to ask good questions to get him remembering.

 

1.     He was in Scotland on his destroyer when the D Day orders arrived, I think about a month before, it was a package about 2 inches thick for the Captains eyes only, he shared it with Ray and the officers. Each package was custom to each vessel, imagine the logistics of getting this done with a typewriter? Then a package delivered to each vessel?

2.     According to google, there were 6939 vessels at D Day, 1213 naval combat, 4126 landing ships and landing craft, 736 ancillary craft and 864 merchant vessels. Ray said there were so many vessels, you could only see a small percentage at once.

3.     Ray said all the small landing craft were up rivers in England, they clogged up the rivers. Being the slowest vessels, they set out first streaming out of the rivers.

4.     Can you imagine how many bullets and shells were fired per second on both sides?

5.     Ray said it was 3 days before they were sure D Day was a success.

6.     They used dozers on the beaches to move aside damaged equipment.

 

You had to be there to be there.

 

Ray spent about 10 years building his own small sailing dinghy, he launched it last summer. A puff of wind came up and he swamped it. After getting on shore, he couldnt stop laughing, he had about 50 people there watching the launch. Hes quite a man.



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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC.
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cdnpont


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That would have been amazing to sit and talk to someone actually having been there! 



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Canadian Poncho


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I envy you. I loved talking to Vets. I remember having a customer who flew in Lancasters during WWII. He told me they'd swear over the radio to the Germans during an air attack!


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Pontiacanada


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My Dad fought in the Korean War, and NEVER spoke about it, even when asked.



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DonSSDD


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Was thinking of Ray with app the 80th D Day activities going on now, Ray didnt make it to his 100th birthday, he died of cancer at 99 July 4, 2023.

 

https://www.mahonefuneral.ca/obituaries/171282

 

My Dad was Merchant Navy from 1939-1946, he served on Norwegian tankers and travelled from Venezuela up the east coast to Halifax, then in convoys to Europe. He saw many ships in his convoys sunk by German subs, including many other tankers. 

 

Lest We Forget means something as time passes on and history gets changed/forgotten. 



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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC.
1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada

Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
66 Grande guy


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Those guys are still amazing!  To think they measured their life expectancy in minutes back in 1944 and a few are are still around 80 years later after living great long lives is  a testament to their resiliency. Once they're gone a big part of what made Canada the respected country it still is in Europe will be gone. When we were walking though France and Italy last fall we were still receiving the good will  benefit of what those guys did so i am generally and personally very grateful.  We did stop to thank those that didn't make it at every cemetery we encountered for both wars. They are beautiful places but to see the ages on those tombstones really makes you sad, weepy even and I'm a tough guy!

My first bird dog pilot when i started in the air attack job in 1993 was a 73 year old ex WW2 Lancaster pilot. He flew that Cessna 310 as if he was evading German fighters once we got over the fires.  You had to have a strong stomach and a good set of gyros in your ears not to get totally spun.   Thinking about it now i wonder how that poor plane's wings didn't come off but at the time I thought that was normal. i have since realized it was pretty aggressive.  

He didn't talk too much about it  but enough to give me the chills thinking about how much survival was just the luck of the draw.  I didn't find out about his Distinguished Flying Cross until long after he died when I did some online searches. 

Most of us will never live to be as half as good as those guys.



-- Edited by 66 Grande guy on Thursday 6th of June 2024 11:08:14 AM



-- Edited by 66 Grande guy on Thursday 6th of June 2024 11:08:39 AM

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ken from northern Alberta

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DonSSDD


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I read today DDay had 150,000 land, 14,000 Canadians, population wise we showed up.

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63 Parisienne sport coupe (The Big GTO), black, maroon interior, 409 4 speed; former owner of a 59 El Camino, 63 Corvette SWC, 62 Chev Bel Air SC.
1963- Pontiac top selling car in Canada

Mahone Bay, NS Still not old enough to need an automatic
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Tin Injun


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Kenny,the tanker pilots loved his lead-in descriptions,right up to"Bombs away!",then the sharp pull- up and right bank.

Harry's hands were so big,you could barely see the control yoke. Good times.

Fred



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66 Grande guy


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Glad to have lived to work with him and to have lived, period. Just this season and next to go!



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ken from northern Alberta

38 Willys pickup electric

39 Buick (327 with 700 r4)

66 Beaumont 4 door hardtop

69 Chevy CST pickup

1976 GMC 23'  motorhome

1994 Impala SS 

1968 Citroen Fourgonnette (Yeah Carl!)
MC


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I've read that a lot of guys that came back from WWII got into racing because they didn't feel right without that rush of facing death on an almost daily basis.  It's probably what led to motor racing becoming so popular post war - it was way more dangerous back then without the benefit of modern safety equipment, but it was business as usual for those guys.



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