Killarney Guide

D-DAY ANNIVERSARY – On the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, we look back at the story of local WWII veteran Ray Crawford, which appeared in the Killarney Guide 40 years ago.

From the Killarney Guide, Wednesday, June 6, 1984

Forty years ago today, the 3rd (Canadian) Division of the European Invasion Force finally had the opportunity to put years of training into practice, as they made their way across the English Channel towards an area of the Normandy Beach, which will always be remembered as Juno Beach by those involved that day.

It was June 6th, 1944, and the long-awaited invasion of Europe by the Allied Forces was underway. Years of training, preparation, and planning would be put to the test as Canadian, British, and U.S. troops began the largest amphibious military operation ever undertaken.

The 12th Field Artillery Regiment was in support of 7th Brigade that day, and one of the Gunners with the 12th was a twenty-year-old youth by the name of Raymond Crawford.

Ray talked to The Guide this week, and remembered for us one day in 1944.

“They began bombing the beach defences the night before, and continued until we arrived. Our troop went ashore on an LCT that carried four 105 MM guns and their crews. We began firing, off the barges about three miles out, and when the LCT ramp went down on the beach, we advanced to an area behind a big wall.” 

That big wall was built by the German forces to stop an invasion, but on that day it served as protection from German 88s that were trying to knock out Allied Artillery. 

The 12th was a mobile Artillery Regiment, with 105 MM guns mounted on Sherman Tank chassis. Being a mobile unit, it was expected to advance about a mile inland that first day, but the heavily dug-in defenders stopped early in the invasion. 

“When the tide went out, you had an eerie feeling in your stomach,” said Ray. “There were all the landing crafts and equipment, high and dry on the beach, unreachable, unusable.”

Rommel’s plan to use the beaches as a killing ground for any invasion force had worked. The elaborate defensive positions had proven more than defensible.

“There was nothing funny about that day,” said Ray, “but as you look back, there were some humorous happenings. While digging in that day, a friend of mine was digging a hole, and throwing the dirt to his left. To his left, the Regimental Padre was digging his own hole, and throwing the dirt to the right. As a result they were filling each other’s hole; humorous today, but deadly serious when you were trying to get under cover.”

One particularly personal event that evokes a smile from Ray during the telling was “peeking out of a shell hole, only to hear a dull thud and realize that a sniper’s round had hit the dirt near your head, then moving to the other end of the crater and peek again, this time to have a sniper’s bullet dent your steel helmet.”

Later in the day, the 3rd Canadian Division and the rest of the force finally started their advance, that would bring the Second World War to an end within the year.

Military historians overs the years have speculated out loud that the war might not have been won had it not been for the D-Day invasion at that time. The Axis powers were close to developing their own nuclear devices, and prolonging the war even a few months may have greatly altered the outcome.

D-Day, a day worth remembering. Those individuals involved remember. All the generations that followed D-Day should remember. Decoration Day is this Sunday, let us all remember. 

FAMILY MEMORABILIA FROM A D-DAY VETERAN – Jean Crawford, Ray Crawford’s daughter, brought in this collection of mementos from her father’s military days. His memorabilia was on display this week at the Killarney Legion as part of their tribute to the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Ray Crawford passed away on June 13, 1991.