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15 October 2014
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You can walk to Normandy on the boats!

by BBC LONDON CSV ACTION DESK

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Contributed by 
BBC LONDON CSV ACTION DESK
People in story: 
Chris Thomas and Father
Location of story: 
Normandy
Background to story: 
Army
Article ID: 
A4303540
Contributed on: 
29 June 2005

“This story was submitted to the People’s War site by a volunteer from BBC London Online on behalf of Chris Thomas, and has been submitted to the site with her permission. Chris Thomas understands the site’s terms and conditions.”

This is a story about my Dad who was Royal Marine Commando in the war. Bless him, he was the most unlikely soldier you could ever meet, he was just a clerk, he was allergic to his uniform, he was always the last one for a photograph, and he would find himself (when they were organising the Normandy landings from England), there was a Daily Express reporter there saying “can you tell me what’s going on out there?” he said; Well lad, you actually walk from here to Normady without getting your feet wet, because there’s so many boats out there. The reporter said fantastic, what’s your rank? He said Private, and the reporter said “No, I cant put you in as a private, you’ll have to be sergeant”. My father said it was the fastest promotion he’d ever had!

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