Personal Stories

Here we look at some of the real stories of the men and women who fought on D-Day or were involved in the lengthy preparations in the preceding months.

The Scots Guards at Caumont….

The Scots Guards, still holding the hill at Les Loges, were in an unenviable position........

Was the Tiger II a surprise?

From the evidence available it seems that Allied intelligence was not aware of the Tiger II.

The Parsons Tale

The Chaplain to the Inns of Court Regiment tells his story of D-Day

Panzer Stories

A look at D-Day from the other side - what was it like in the German ranks to be facing the Allied invasion?

The Fighting Grenadiers

Stories about Operation Goodwood >>

DUKWs

Find out about the Royal DUKW!

Royal Tank Regiment and Cromwell tanks in action

More>>

Sherman Fireflies

Find out why the Military Police where not happy about some buns and some dramatic battles with Tiger tanks in France. more>>

Gliding on D-Day

Find out about a dramatic mid air collision of two gliders over the battle fields of D-Day, and how the pilots had time for a cup of tea afterwards! Read about this and other bumpy landings and near misses..... Read more >>

AVRE Stories

Personal accounts from three men who worked with the Churchill AVRE in the run up to D-Day. Read more>>

Flail Tales

Read the testimony of three men who were involved with flail tanks during the preparation for D-Day, including how some Shermans ran out of petrol on the North Circular! Read more >>

Trooper H. W. Jolley, 13th/18th Hussars.

"We moved down from Skipton in Yorkshire to Wickham Market in Suffolk in 1943. It was here we were told that A and B Squadrons would be trained ready for DD tanks..." Read more of his story here >>

Nicholas Straussler

Nicholas Straussler, inventor of the Duplex Drive amphibious tank was born in Hungary in 1891. He made his name as a designer of revolutionary vehicles and in the years leading up to World War II established a relationship with Alvis in Coventry who built armoured cars, to his design, for the Royal Air Force. This is his account of the design of the Sherman DD. Nicholas Straussler died in 1966, having become a naturalised Briton in the meantime.
Read the whole of the Nicholas Straussler story >>