They just flattened Caen, France.

Heroes Remember

They just flattened Caen, France.

Transcript

The night, or the day they were going to bomb Caen, France, we were way up, so we got the orders from [inaudible] to pull back. I don't know how far I forget now but anyway. And we were given the orders, they were gonna, we really were given orders not to, not to fire, get off our guns We got out there in an empty field and at the special hour, we could hear, could hear these bombers coming, our bombers. And all, all of a sudden, this here one plane, we could see the bomb bay doors opening and they were coming towards us. And then we saw some gal damn shells flying out, but by that time they were past us. But there was a Polish outfit in a kind of a bush, just up farther and they opened up on our own planes. Now I mean, the day they bombed Caen, I don't know, there wouldn't be a thousand planes, but maybe, maybe a couple hundred or five hundred but they just flattened Caen, France. And then we had to wait for, I don't know how long it was, until they went in there with bulldozers to Caen, France and get the road opened, open, so we could drive through. And when we were driving through, there were still people screaming, they were buried, buried under rubble, they were getting them out. Some kids, kids out there on the street, put their hands out, but we couldn't stop. We had to keep going.

Description

Mr. Macdougall describes the bombing of Caen and being unable to stop and help the trapped and wounded.

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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