Author: Richard Davies, Curator

The D-Day landings were the largest amphibious assault in human history. Over 150,000 Allied troops were involved in a successful effort to push the Nazi defenders back from the Normandy beaches, as they sought to decisively turn the tide of the Second World War.

The day was marked by many acts of heroism and gallantry, some of which ultimately led to medals being awarded later in the campaign. Some, by contrast, were awarded as a result of specific acts that occurred on 6 June itself. It is in this latter, very distinguished, list that we find two REME soldiers in receipt of Military Medals. This is their story.

Corporal Reginald Raymond Gale (6349840)

Corporal Gale served with 25 Beach Recovery Section (BRS), which was part of 30 Corps. This particular BRS was the unit led by Captain Len Buckby, who was the subject of our article from August 2024.

Research indicates that 25 BRS were probably camped in Stanswood Bay near Southampton prior to embarking for France, and may have left these shores from a specially constructed harbour in what is now Lepe Country Park. Find more information about the Lepe Harbour, as well as visuals of a reconstruction, on the New Forest Knowledge website.

The unit was transported in a series of Landing Craft Tanks (LCTs), a flat-hulled ship that was specifically designed to land tanks and other heavy vehicles on beaches. The loading probably took place on 2 June, as they were anchored in the Solent by 3 June awaiting the final order to head to the French coast.

Although this shows American troops and equipment embarking onto LCTs prior to D-Day, this is exactly the same process that Corporal Gale and his colleagues would have experienced. This photograph was taken by an official war photographer on 1 June 1944 in Brixham, near Torquay in Devon. Image courtesy of the US National Archives and Records Administration, NAID: 219775746.

It is well known that the weather on the 4th and 5th was particularly poor, leading General Eisenhower to postpone until 6 June. He was in regular contact with a number of meteorologists drawn from the Allied Armed Forces as well as the civilian Met Office. This group were in frequent disagreement about what the weather would be like during the early days of the month, but Eisenhower eventually took the decision to launch the assault at 4.15am on 5 June.

Once in the Channel, 25 BRS formed part of Task Force G, one of five that comprised the landing element of Operation Neptune, the plan for the crossing to Normandy and the bombardment of the coastal defences as a prelude to Operation Overlord. Task Force G was commanded by Commodore 1st Class Cyril Douglas-Pennant from the ship HMS Bulolo. See an image from the IWM onboard HMS Bulolo on D-Day, of Captain Sir Harold Campbell RN and Commander A Kimmins RN watching the progress of the landing of 50th Division.

Corporal Gale’s unit was assigned to Gold Beach, a section of the Normandy coast stretching from the towns of Port en Bessin in the west to La Rivière in the east, a distance of roughly 10 miles/16 kilometres. As part of the plans for Overlord, Gold was subdivided into four sectors titled (from west to east) How, Item, Jig and King (these names had been chosen from the phonetic alphabet in use during the 1940s). The assault took place in Item, Jig and King, as How was not used for combat operations. Item was the largest of the three remaining sectors and encompassed Arromanches, an area the Allies decided to try and keep intact as it was thought a temporary Mulberry harbour could be installed there after the initial invasion (this, in fact, is exactly what happened).

Jig and King had been divided into Red and Green areas. Each of these had, in turn, been further divided into East and West sections, meaning a landing location could be precisely planned and described. The Jig section of Gold Beach extended 1,600 metres.

The first troops to come ashore at 7.25am were men from 1 Battalion Royal Hampshires and the 1st Dorsets who were both part of 231 Brigade.

The German defences in this area were formidable. About 2,500 anti-tank obstacles (known as Czech hedgehogs) had been placed on the beach and numerous mines submerged in the approaches to the shore. There were also many minefields behind the beaches and the whole area had been encircled by barbed wire and anti-tank ditches. Additionally, the Germans had constructed the 'Atlantic Wall', a series of heavily fortified coastal defences and gun emplacements built with the aim of preventing a successful invasion of continental Europe by the Allies.

Though the specific beach where this was taken is not known, it shows the typical defences facing the Allies as they landed in Normandy. The large sloping metal frames were designed to create problems for the LCTs, which were also mined. These hazards holed many of the LCTs, meaning they added to the congested beaches as they could not head back out to sea. Source: National Army Museum, NAM. 2006-12-103-9.

Such was the strength of these defences that the numerous air raids and naval bombardment had mixed results. Some emplacements were destroyed while others were left operational.

The main defences in Jig were focussed on Asnelles and Le Hamel, comprising three heavily fortified gun emplacements. These were known as WNs, an abbreviation of the German word Wiederstandnest meaning ‘nest of resistance’. These were numbered 36, 37 and 38.

The Allies’ assault was hampered by the tidal currents experienced by the landing craft as they approached Gold. This pushed many of them eastward, meaning considerable amounts of equipment and some of the armoured vehicles that would have made a difference to the effectiveness of the initial landings ended up in the wrong place. As a result, the Hampshires and Dorsets needed support from an Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers (AVRE) to clear WN 37 (an AVRE was a Churchill tank equipped with a mortar as opposed to a traditional gun). This took place late in the afternoon, sometime between 4 and 5pm.

Corporal Gale came ashore in his Armoured Recovery Vehicle (ARV) on Jig Green at about 09:00, 90 minutes after the landings on Gold began. He was one of 32 REME men in that group, with two D8 tractors and four ARVs at their disposal. Reinforcements followed on the next tide.

The orders of 25 BRS were to establish two beach recovery posts, one each on Jig Green East and Jig Green West. Each post was denoted by a REME tricolour flag and was supported by two Sherman BARVs and one wading D8. They were specifically tasked with giving assistance to naval craft and the recovery of drowned vehicles. The latter task was of great importance. Many of the landing craft had been damaged by the submerged minefields as they approached the beach. This meant many of the armoured vehicles they were transporting attempted to reach the shore through water that exceeded safe operational limits for their waterproofing. These drowned, immobile vehicles represented a significant danger to the invasion. Too many of them would clog up the beaches and make it impossible for additional vehicles, particularly those coming in on the second tide, to manoeuvre effectively, support the infantry or ultimately make it to an exit.

REME used the ARVs and D8s to keep the beaches clear, but they were ordered to undertake no repairs at this stage. Instead, all drowned vehicles were to be moved to drowned vehicle parks, where they would be repaired later, after the Allied beachhead had been established.

REME’s effectiveness from D-Day to D+7 is best demonstrated by the estimated number of vehicles they cleared from Gold during this time. 25 BRS alone was thought to have undertaken somewhere between 800 and 900 recoveries. Understandably, they were a little too busy to keep accurate records.

The orders issued to 25 BRS included one further task: they were charged with clearing the exits from Gold beach and keeping them clear (there were about seven exits, each about seven metres wide, at least three of which were specifically for wheeled vehicles). This was a vital job, as vehicles and men needed to leave the beaches as quickly as possible in order to push inland and secure further strategic objectives. It was in connection with these orders that Corporal Gale was awarded his Military Medal. At one point, an ammunition truck overturned while trying to leave the beach (some sources report it was even on fire), and Gale, heedless of being under fire, attached a tow rope from his ARV, righted the vehicle and got it out of the way. The citation rightly commended Corporal Gale: “His complete disregard of danger was an example to all, and his action an example to his men”. The Museum is proud to have his medal group as part of our permanent collection.

Corporal Gale’s medals. From left to right, the Military Medal, the 1939 – 1945 Star, the France and Germany Star, the Defence Medal and the 1939 – 1945 British War Medal.

Sergeant David Simpson McKenzie (7629025)

Like the first troops that came ashore on Gold, Sergeant (Sgt) McKenzie was also part of 231 Brigade. He was an armourer and was one of the REME ‘originals’, having been transferred in from the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) on 1 October 1942.

He was attached to 231’s Brigade Headquarters by 1944. During Operation Neptune, it was based on the ship HMS Nith. Brigade HQ left the Nith in an LCM (this stands for landing craft mechanised; a document in the Museum’s Archives suggests it was number 2087) at about 08:00, but was holed by an underwater mine as it made its way to shore. All of the equipment carried by the LCM had to be taken off by hand, but the craft itself, as well as a jeep it was carrying, sank.

Three hours after this, at about 11:00, 231’s designated reserves, 56th Division, were ordered to make for the beach. The plan was for them to land on Jig Green, but they were ultimately diverted to Jig Red. An 'Operation Overlord' document from the Green Howards Museum (accessible at the end of the linked page) reviewing the operation on Gold Beach in October 1944 explains why this decision was taken:

“The western end of JIG GREEN beach was untenable for a considerable time. Subsequent waves of craft beached to time but a large proportion were damaged on the underwater obstacles or broached to in the heavy surf. As the tide rose, and the beach narrowed right up to the dunes fringing the lateral road, a considerable degree of congestion arose. More and more personnel and vehicles piled up and the whole forward movement was delayed by the resistance in LE HAMEL…..As a result of the enemy fire on JIG GREEN it was decided to put in the reserve brigade on JIG RED. 56 Inf. Bde. was therefore, sent in to beach at approximately 1100 hrs.”

The congestion vividly described here developed in spite of the efforts of REME’s Beach Recovery Sections.

Sgt McKenzie’s act of gallantry probably took place in the early afternoon. His citation reads:

“At LE HAMEL on 6 Jun 44 Sjt McKENZIE [sic], with part of Bde HQ, came under heavy fire from a pillbox as they landed, and had to take cover behind a tank. Seeing that some men had been wounded and were lying on the open beach with the tide coming in, he immediately left the cover of the tank and entirely unprotected by any supportive fire, came down into the open, and carried and assisted the wounded to crawl up the beach above the high-water mark. Although still under heavy fire he refused to leave the wounded, and stayed on the open beach for three hours until the pillbox was silenced. During the whole of this time he never ceased to care for and encourage the wounded. His devotion to duty and his courage certainly saved many lives.”

The pillbox mentioned in the citation was probably WN 37.

Left: A letter signed from General Rowcroft, REME’s first Director, congratulating Sgt McKenzie on the award of the Military Medal. Right: A cutting from an unidentified Edinburgh newspaper that reports Sgt McKenzie’s receipt of the medal, and how he gave his family the news.

We know that one of the men saved by Sgt McKenzie was Lieutenant (Lt) Roy Deary who was serving with 2nd Battalion Gloucestershire Regiment (known as the 2nd Glosters), a unit that was part of 56 Division.

Lt Deary subsequently wrote to Sgt McKenzie at least twice, on both occasions from the hospital near Sheffield where he was recuperating. The first, dated 15 June 1944, read:

“This is only just a short and rather badly written note. I’m afraid I cannot settle to writing a long or interesting letter yet. In any case there’s not an awful lot to write about. I felt I must just send you a short note to say and show how very grateful I am to you for all your kindness and your outstanding bravery in staying on the open beach with me when I was hurt on D day. I’m afraid my own personal courage and grit was at a very low ebb and it was a great inspiration to see you ignoring the bullets & staying with me on that open beach. I do honestly think that if it hadn’t been for you, I should probably not be here now. I have told the commander of what you did and when I feel better, shall make a recommendation in the proper quarter for proper recognition of what you did. I cannot express fully what my feelings are – sufficient be it for you to know that you will always have my most sincere and heartfelt gratitude.”

The next was written on 20 June:

“I today received the CSM’s (sic) letter, telling me of your Military Medal. I should like to send you my very sincere and hearty congratulations on the award. My very great regret is that I was not able to be present when you received it. I should have liked to have been at the investiture. What pleases me so much is the very speedy award of these decorations. Usually you wait months and months and when the thing comes out you wonder what you’ve got it for!! Please thank the C.S.M. very much for his letter and tell him that I’ll be replying in a few days time. I am specially glad to have these addresses – I’ll be able to write to the chaps now. For myself I’m feeling much better now. I’ve still got a long plaster on and shall have for a few more weeks. However I’m managing to move about, very unsteadily, on a pair of crutches, so it is not too bad – makes a change from bed. Give my best wishes & remembrances to everyone specially the C.S.M. and the C.Q.M.S. Another couple of months and I’ll be on my way back again to be with you for the victory march thro (sic) – well wherever it is by then.”

Although it is not known what became of Lt Deary, it is clear from this heartfelt correspondence that he was very grateful to Sgt McKenzie and enthusiastically supported his deserved receipt of the Military Medal.

Sgt McKenzie’s medals, which are almost identical to those of Corporal Gale.

---

With thanks to Neil Davis, himself formerly REME and the owner of Sgt McKenzie’s medals and accompanying documentation, who generously agreed to let the Museum display this material as part of our commemorations for the 80th anniversary of the landings. Neil was also kind enough to allow me to reproduce images of some of this material in the article.

We would like to hear from anyone who knows more about Corporal Gale. His tracer card has not survived, so any information regarding his service history would be welcome.

Published in The Craftsman, December 2024.

Find out more about REME units and their movements during the North-West Europe campaign of 1944-45 in our D-Day to VE Day Campaign. Follow along on Facebook or X (Twitter). Take a look at posts we've shared.