Give her a big kiss.

Heroes Remember

Give her a big kiss.

Transcript

We were just rearing to go. Getting down to the channel or getting down to the barges, there was a big line up and there was a lot of people, people along, along the road so. We came across here, this here one old, old lady. Oh, she had her handkerchief out and she was crying. So I told the driver to stop and go and jump out and, and give her a big kiss. So he did [inaudible] and I jumped out and threw my arms around her. She, she threw her arms around me and hardly would let me go. "Oh," she said, "You, you poor boys, you poor boys going over there." But I remember that. So then, we took off across, across the channel, I don't know how many barges, I, I just forget how many barges there was but anyway, we were just going to, we were so close to the shore. In fact, the ramp was down and all of a sudden these, these two Gerry planes came flying in low, dropped their shells but they missed every barge.

Description

Mr. Macdougall describes approaching the English Channel and reaching the beach in France.

Donald J. MacDougall

Mr. MacDougall was born near Harriston, Ontario, in 1923. He was eager to join the Armed Forces, but was turned down three times because of his age. Mr. MacDougall returned home to work in a dairy but was finally accepted into the army in 1941. Once overseas in England, he was trained as an anti-aircraft gunner. He landed in France one week after D-Day and attained the rank of Sergeant while on the battlefield. Mr. Macdougall served in several battles across Northern Europe. He was married in England, and returned home to Harriston after the war ended.

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