Feature Article June 3, 2004
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeContact Us
Roscoe Garrett memories of the D-Day invasion
He didnt know it at the time, but Roscoe Garretts biggest single bit of luck during his entire tour of duty took place just after landing at Juno beach on June 6, 1944. German soldiers occupying what was known as a pillbox, an enclosed cannon, at the top of the beach, surrendered after firing only one or two cannonballs into the water as Garrett and 23 other field engineers walked ashore through anti-tank mines.
We didnt think about it at the time, because we were busy clearing mines for the rest of the day, but Ive thought about it often since, Garrett, now 83, recalls.
Between June 6 and 7, Roscoe Garrett and the rest of his engineering detachment, who were at the time attached to the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, spent their time moving 5 foot high obstacles, which he says were shaped like huge metal jacks (the jacks children play with), and contained 2 lbs of explosives in a ball in the centre.
They were anti-tank mines, not anti-personnel mines, and were designed to explode when heavy tanks rolled over them, so we werent in much danger from them.
Roscoe Garrett had joined the army 2 years earlier, in December 1941 at Kingston, and his unit trained in Canada for 18 months before going to England in July, 1943. In October, 1943 they found out they were going to be part of the European invasion.
We were never told where we were going, Garrett recalls, but we were given some English and some French money sometime in the spring, so we figured we would be landing in France.
On the 5th of June we pulled out of England, and headed to the continent. At about 5:30 - 6:00 a.m. we could see the shore in front of us even though it was still night time. [England was on double daylight savings time during the war]. We landed about 10 minutes later than we had planned, and the tide was that much further, so the water was up to our waists when we got out of the vessel.
By the end of that first day, the men were exhausted and hungry. They each had a can of soup, with a tab in the middle that, when pulled, released a chemical which heated the soup. It was really good soup, and really hot, Garrett still remembers.
The men dug holes in the sand and slept on the beach, which probably wasnt the safest place to sleep because planes flew by all night sending bombs down on the boats that were near the shore.
Luckily, none hit this particular group of soldiers. They spent the next day clearing mines, and then moved on to Caen.
For the rest of the war, Garrett and his engineering mates cleared mines and built bridges throughout France, Holland, and into Germany.
As the German army retreated, they tore down bridges behind them. The allies were prepared for this, and had developed the Bailey Bridge, which, using prefabricated materials and the strength and determination of engineering crews, could be built in a matter of hours to span small and large rivers, and were capable of supporting up to 70 tons.
Roscoe Garrett was in Germany when the war in Europe ended on the 8th of May, 1945, and he was posted in Germany and Holland until about the end of the summer, when he was sent back to England. In England, the crew turned a Canadian Hospital into a University dormitory during the fall.
I spent Christmas in England, and by New Years I was on a ship sailing, on very rough seas, back to Canada. In February of 1946, he was discharged from the army in Kingston, and he returned home to the Zealand area.
Before leaving England Roscoe met an English veteran by the name of Brenda. After coming home, the couple wrote back and forth, and a couple of years later Brenda came to Canada to visit friends and relatives. She also spent a few days visiting with Roscoe and his family, and must have liked something of what she saw, because she returned and married Roscoe in 1954. They have spent 50 years together on their farm on the Zealand road.
I always say I was one of the lucky ones, Roscoe recalls, because I got more out the war than I put into it. I know that wasnt the case for many, many others.
A few weeks ago, Roscoe Garrett received an invitation to attend D-Day festivities at the Ontario Legislature as an honoured guest of the people of Ontario, and at Toronto City Hall as guest of the City of Toronto.
