Letter from Clarence Williams to Gretchen Williams, September 6, 1945

Well honey, here goes — more about the trip and I think it best that I start after my first letter from Etretat, France. That little place was at one time quite a resort place so I was told. It lays in a valley sort of shaped like a crescent that extends to the coast of the channel. It had been damaged practically none even though being only a few miles from Le Harve. The hills on either side of the town extended out into the channel forming sort of a little alcove for the beach which was only about three blocks long. What I wanted to bring out was the fortification the Germans had placed along this beach for such a small area. After seeing them I still cant figure out how the invasion was ever made. Most of the beach had been cleared of mines and the barbed wire entanglements however some of the barbed wire remained. There were twelve pill boxes and heavy gun positions constructed of cement and built into the hill side on each side to defend this small area. They were so constructed that they could not be seen from out on the channel but could crossfire on any one trying to land. I walked down to the beach after breakfast to see the above as the beach was only a couple of blocks from our mess hall.

After returning from the beach we had to go for a short arm inspection and then to the finance officer to get our money exchanged for Sterling. After that we went through clothing issue for a complete new outfit. I received a shirt, pants, tie, socks, underwear, belt, chevrons, raincoat and also new ETO and good conduct ribbons. Oh yes I also got a new cap but they had none with medic braid so I wore the engineers since I was with those fellows going thru. We also got a nice heavy white bath towel and a couple of hankies. We were allowed to mark what things we wanted to salvage and were told where to turn our old clothes in. I needed the extra clothes so marked everything salvage and then kept them. I now have three full uniforms plus one extra pair of pants, also two raincoats so guess I am well prepared for a while.

That afternoon I went to the Red Cross Club and filled up on doughnuts and coffee plus several bottles of coke and then skipped supper that night so as to get in the shower when they had some hot water. They could heat the water in about 20 min but with so many fellows there it was impossible to heat it fast enough. That evening I went to the P.X. to pick up my cigarettes (7 packs) candy, soap, lighter fuel and a comb. We were also informed we   would have to get up at 5:30 the following morning, eat early chow and be ready to leave by truck for Le Havre at 6:15. It wound up being about 7:00 when we finally left and was raining to beat hell in fact it poured down rain for the entire trip, (about two hrs). One advantage, we were crowded into the trucks so tightly the water could only hit you on the top of the head. There were no tops on the trucks whatever. All along the road going in you could see the barbed wire entanglements and pill boxes spread out thru the fields. Also about every 50 feet on the fences would be warning signs “Danger Mines”. I couldn’t help but think, there will probably be people killed here by mines and duds for the next 20 years. Many of the fields would be ideal for farming but of course could not be used until the mines are removed. We finally arrived at the port of Le Havre and I have never seen any thing so damaged as about 100 square blocks near the port. There wasn’t a single building left standing in fact I didn’t see any object except a mass of bricks and debris with the exception of a tree here and there. You cant imagine the destruction without actually seeing it. Again, all along the cost the Germans had hundreds of large concrete fortifications. A few of them were damaged but most were   still in good condition. We finally arrived at the pier and the ship was waiting but it took about an hour to land the fellows and check them on. The ship wasn’t large (“The Marine Wolf”) and before half the gang was loaded they started talking about over loading the thing. It had been raining all that time and we were all slightly wet so by then I would gladly have turned around and come back. Well by the time we got on the ship all the bunks were filled and there wasn’t even room to sit down on the floor of the thing. Nothing much happened during the trip which took about 10 hrs except in the afternoon the sun started to shine and many fellows went up on deck so I managed to lay on a bunk belonging to a fellow in the 3rd Div. We got something to eat about 4:30 P.M. and since he didn’t have his mess gear, I let him use mine. We finally arrived at Southampton about 7:30 that evening and oh yes we had to set our watches up one hour because of the difference in British time.

Well honey, think I better close my book for today — Bye for now —