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V-E Day
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| Lake City resident Dorman Clayton, 86, was one of the thousands of soldiers who invaded Normandy on June 6, 1944. JASON MATTHEW WALKER/Lake City Reporter |
Local man looks back 64 years to Normandy Invasion
By MICHAEL MITSEFF
mmitseff@lakecityreporter.com
Lake City resident Dorman Clayton did his part to help bring about victory in Europe during World War II when he joined an exclusive group of about 156,000 troops who were part of the June 6, 1944, D-Day Normandy Invasion; it was the launch of Operation Overlord and was the largest amphibious attack in modern warfare.
More than 1 million men would eventually come ashore at Normandy and liberate all of Northern France by the end of August 1944. The invading Allied armies reorganized and prepared to push into Germany, bringing about its defeat.
Today is the 63rd anniversary of the May 8, 1945, Allied forces celebration of V-E Day, the day that signaled the official end of war in the European Theater.
The final document of unconditional surrender was signed at Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims on May 7. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and King George VI had wanted May 7 to be V-E Day but, bowing to American wishes, the victory was celebrated instead on May 8.
Part of the assault
Clayton, now 86, was a corporal and gunner with the 186th Field Artillery Battalion, attached to the 1st Army. He landed briefly on the sands of Omaha beach with his gun battery, which consisted of about 45 men, four six-ton 155 mm howitzers and four M-5 tanks.
Clayton’s gun section contained about a dozen men; four gun sections constitute a gun battery, he said.
“We did actually land up on the sand at Omaha beach on D-Day, but we got word that the beachhead was not established well enough for our big guns,” Clayton said. “So we were pulled back out into the English Channel and anchored next to the
battleship Texas for two days.”
Though Clayton didn’t set foot on the beach until two days later — June 8 — he and his men were still in harms way, anchored off shore next to an appealing target that Nazi fighter planes were trying to destroy.
“The Texas was dishing it out with its 16-inch guns; they were firing right over us, that’s why my hearing is so bad today, partly because of that,” Clayton said. “When they fired broadside, and you’re underneath them, that little old LST we were on just bobbled around.”
While the fighting raged on the beach that fateful morning, Clayton and his men were sitting ducks.
“The German Air Force was trying to get to the Texas, but they never did,” he said. “We almost got hit a few times ourselves. Thankfully, somebody was looking out for us and we made it to the landing. You can’t really believe it until you see the number of tracers that lit up the sky over the beach; it was like the Fourth of July.”
They got their chance
“We finally came ashore on June 8 — the big doors opened, the gang plank went down — and our M-5 tanks pulled the big guns out. We drove over the wet sand and across and over the bluffs and prepared to issue the Germans some headaches, which we did shortly after that.”
Clayton said that the sight of the full-scale assault on Normandy’s coast remains unforgettable.
“The weather was terrible. There were ships everywhere. The Channel was just covered with ships, planes were overhead and you could hear them but you couldn’t see them because the clouds were so low.”
During Clayton’s stay in the European Theatre of Operation (ETO), his gun battery fought in five of the war’s major battles, plus the Normandy Invasion.
He and his men fought in the battle of St. Lo in Normandy, the Falaise Gap in Northern France, two assaults on the Siegfried Line and the infamous Battle of the Bulge, among others.
A true survivor
“I always believed that I would make it through the war,” Clayton said.
Although he was not a Christian at the time, Clayton said that he did believe in a supreme power that would take care of him.
Clayton, from Fort Payne, Ala., moved to Lake City in 1952. During a stay at the VA Medical Center, he met and married his wife, Floreid, a few months later.
The couple have one son named after his father.
Clayton’s final thought
was of those who have inherited the liberty that was purchased by the blood of so many.
“I don’t want anybody — especially the younger generation — to forget about World War II,” Clayton said.
n Anyone who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, we’re interested in your story. Contact Michael Mitseff at the Lake City Reporter.
More than 1 million men would eventually come ashore at Normandy and liberate all of Northern France by the end of August 1944. The invading Allied armies reorganized and prepared to push into Germany, bringing about its defeat.
Today is the 63rd anniversary of the May 8, 1945, Allied forces celebration of V-E Day, the day that signaled the official end of war in the European Theater.
The final document of unconditional surrender was signed at Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters in Reims on May 7. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and King George VI had wanted May 7 to be V-E Day but, bowing to American wishes, the victory was celebrated instead on May 8.
Part of the assault
Clayton, now 86, was a corporal and gunner with the 186th Field Artillery Battalion, attached to the 1st Army. He landed briefly on the sands of Omaha beach with his gun battery, which consisted of about 45 men, four six-ton 155 mm howitzers and four M-5 tanks.
Clayton’s gun section contained about a dozen men; four gun sections constitute a gun battery, he said.
“We did actually land up on the sand at Omaha beach on D-Day, but we got word that the beachhead was not established well enough for our big guns,” Clayton said. “So we were pulled back out into the English Channel and anchored next to the
battleship Texas for two days.”
Though Clayton didn’t set foot on the beach until two days later — June 8 — he and his men were still in harms way, anchored off shore next to an appealing target that Nazi fighter planes were trying to destroy.
“The Texas was dishing it out with its 16-inch guns; they were firing right over us, that’s why my hearing is so bad today, partly because of that,” Clayton said. “When they fired broadside, and you’re underneath them, that little old LST we were on just bobbled around.”
While the fighting raged on the beach that fateful morning, Clayton and his men were sitting ducks.
“The German Air Force was trying to get to the Texas, but they never did,” he said. “We almost got hit a few times ourselves. Thankfully, somebody was looking out for us and we made it to the landing. You can’t really believe it until you see the number of tracers that lit up the sky over the beach; it was like the Fourth of July.”
They got their chance
“We finally came ashore on June 8 — the big doors opened, the gang plank went down — and our M-5 tanks pulled the big guns out. We drove over the wet sand and across and over the bluffs and prepared to issue the Germans some headaches, which we did shortly after that.”
Clayton said that the sight of the full-scale assault on Normandy’s coast remains unforgettable.
“The weather was terrible. There were ships everywhere. The Channel was just covered with ships, planes were overhead and you could hear them but you couldn’t see them because the clouds were so low.”
During Clayton’s stay in the European Theatre of Operation (ETO), his gun battery fought in five of the war’s major battles, plus the Normandy Invasion.
He and his men fought in the battle of St. Lo in Normandy, the Falaise Gap in Northern France, two assaults on the Siegfried Line and the infamous Battle of the Bulge, among others.
A true survivor
“I always believed that I would make it through the war,” Clayton said.
Although he was not a Christian at the time, Clayton said that he did believe in a supreme power that would take care of him.
Clayton, from Fort Payne, Ala., moved to Lake City in 1952. During a stay at the VA Medical Center, he met and married his wife, Floreid, a few months later.
The couple have one son named after his father.
Clayton’s final thought
was of those who have inherited the liberty that was purchased by the blood of so many.
“I don’t want anybody — especially the younger generation — to forget about World War II,” Clayton said.
n Anyone who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II, we’re interested in your story. Contact Michael Mitseff at the Lake City Reporter.
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| City begins planning of 150th anniversary |
