William Day

I sincerely hope this request for information may not contravene any of the forum policies, if so, then I would wish to apologise unreservedly.

My late Uncle, Mr William Day, lived in Fulham. He was from my Father's side of the family and therefore due to deaths, remarriages etc, his exact relationship with my late Father was a little murky. Nevertheless, he was a lovely, kind man.

William spoke sometimes of his participation in the Raid on St. Nazaire. He knew that I had a complete fascination with history and even used to write down his memories and insert them into cards.

On such card told of being captured and marched many miles inland to a muddy field. Upon arrival, the weary, bloodied troops he had described discovered to their horror that the waiting German Opel Blitz trucks were not there to convey them. When the rear tailgates fell and the canvas canopies were pushed aside, a German MG34 belt fed machine gun on a tripod and its crew of two soldiers were revealed.

It would seem that either the Gestapo or SS had decided to kill all the prisoners of war.

However, they were prevented from so doing by a high ranking German naval officer who protested that the Commandos were heroes and managed to persuade the Gestapo and SS to halt the intended massacre.

William said the relief among the men was incredible and they owed the honourable naval officer a debt of gratitude for his intervention. I understand he was then taken to a prisoner of war camp.

William would have been about 18 or 19 years old at the time and passed away some 5 years ago.

I would be indebted for any information your members may be able to provide.

Thank you.

This message was edited 3 times. Last update was at 30/12/2012 17:40:12

Hi William, welcome to the fourms. Your request is one of the reasons this site exists, and all such pieces of the puzzle are fascinating to us. Perhaps somebody maybe able to help you.

What a frightening event ! Imagine thinking you have seconds to live. And what a brave and honourable German officer . Some of the stories we hear from Commandos seem to those of us brought up on WW2 clichéd, but that is only because they were often amazing real events that later become parts of well known works of fiction.

To put a date on events, the St Nazaire Raid /Operation Chariot took place on the 28th March 1942
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nazaire_Raid

Was William captured during the St Nazaire Raid or elsewhere ?

You mentioned cards, do you still have them ? Do you know which Commando units your uncle was in or any other details to help the search ?
Do you know where the prisoner of war camp was, or its name ?

Do you have any photos or documents you could share ?

Fascinating stuff ! Thank you.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 01/01/2013 00:23:16

markh wrote:Hi William, welcome to the fourms. Your request is one of the reasons this site exists, so perhaps somebody maybe able to help you.

What a frightening event ! Imagine thinking you have seconds to live. And what a brave and honourable German officer . Some of the stories we hear from Commandos seem to those of us brought up on WW2 clichéd, but that is only because they were often amazing real events that later become parts of well known works of fiction.

To put a date on events, the St Nazaire Raid /Operation Chariot took place on the 28th March 1942
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Nazaire_Raid

Was William captured during the St Nazaire Raid or elsewhere ?

You mentioned cards, do you still have them ? Do you know which Commando units your uncle was in or any other details to help the search ?
Do you know where the prisoner of war camp was, or its name ?

Do you have any photos or documents you could share ?

Fascinating stuff !

Thank you markh, for your reply.

I do not remember William's Service number, rank or Commando unit but do recall he may have been captured escaping from the mole at St. Nazaire.

His recollections were always fascinating, passionate and emotive they served to totally animate and illuminate my understanding of this historical event. It is sad that the young cannot benefit from such an experience these days. The old have so much knowledge and wisdom to pass on to the young.

I do not have any documentation of photos but do know that William was imprisoned in a POW camp in Germany. Stalag 3 or 4? I do know he spent some time in solitary confinement because he kept escaping...

Regards and thanks, Matthew

If it may help, I am fairly certain William, always known as Bill, trained at Fort William but I do not think this may serve to narrow down the search a great deal....

Matthew

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 30/12/2012 18:12:52

Lance Corporal W. Day from No.3 Commando is shown as taking part in Operation Chariot, St Nazaire, in Stuart Chant's book St Nazaire Commando.

I would recommend the above book and also Storming St Nazaire by James Dorrian as two books that will give you an excellent insight into the raid

Pete wrote:Lance Corporal W. Day from No.3 Commando is shown as taking part in Operation Chariot, St Nazaire, in Stuart Chant's book St Nazaire Commando.

I would recommend the above book and also Storming St Nazaire by James Dorrian as two books that will give you an excellent insight into the raid

Thank you Pete, this is a valuable clue.

Regards, Matthew

You may also be interested in the website of the author James Dorrian, a member of both the St Nazaire Society, and our own CVA, as his expert knowledge of the raid is recognised by both Associations:

http://www.jamesgdorrian.com/

Great work Pete.

William, take a look through the No. 3 Commando gallery, a slim chance you might spot your Uncle, but you never know.

http://www.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/3/

A list of those captured during the St Nazaire raid may exist.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 30/12/2012 18:25:41

And finally our own photo gallery where we have albums dedicated to No.3 Commando but also some POW photos in our St Nazaire album:

http://www.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/WW2/St+Nazaire/

Ps. If he landed and was not killed then he was taken POW. Only 5 escaped that landed and their details are recorded

Pete wrote:You may also be interested in the website of the author James Dorrian, a member of both the St Nazaire Society, and our own CVA, as his expert knowledge of the raid is recognised by both Associations:

http://www.jamesgdorrian.com/

Thank you once again!

Regards, Matthew

markh wrote:Great work Pete.

William, take a look through the No. 3 Commando gallery, a slim chance you might spot your Uncle, but you never know.

http://www.commandoveterans.org/cdoGallery/v/units/3/

A list of those captured during the St Nazaire raid may exist.

Thank you once again markh, any clues will help....

Regards, Matthew

You are welcome William. I'm an interested, but very, very minor assistant on this site; learning on the job ;-)

From Pete's link to James Dorrian, via his blog I discovered that James produced a film called Turned Towards the Sun which may be of interest to William, as it about the life of t Micky Burn MC who

took part in a daring commando assault on the fortified French port of St Nazaire, where he was captured, and he ended the war a POW in Colditz.

https://whatson.bfi.org.uk/lff/Online/default.asp?doWork::WScontent::loadArticle=Load&BOparam::WScontent::loadArticle::article_id=94289E5B-6383-4634-B0D5-6042F06C7BBD

Trailer here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XAZk5GoW33A&feature=youtu.be

Interview with the director : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CisgIq3czkA

It looks like the film maybe out on DVD in 2013, anybody confirm that ?

Many thanks for your information.

James Dorrian has contacted me to say he is currently producing a comprehensive list of all participants in the raid on St. Nazaire.

Cannot locate any details of a DVD release date for the superb documentary, 'Turned towards the sun.'

Thank you all for your help, the search continues but now armed with some clues.

Regards and very best wishes, Matthew

Good evening all and very best wishes for a successful, prosperous and peaceful 2013!

Following considerable correspondence and assistance from the author James Dorrian, I would confirm that my Uncle William C. Day was in fact a Lance Corporal in 3 Commando, tasked to demolish the bridge and lock gates in the Old Entrance with Lt. Dick Morgan. He was aboard ML 262 at the command of Lt. Ted Burt RNVR.

Absolutely fascinating and extremely poignant.

Thank you all so very very much for your assistance.

I note I have been, 'promoted', to the rank of forum Lance Corporal for which I feel I have done absolutely nothing of merit but would ask that however so many contributions I may subsequently make, this rank might not be exceeded. If it was sufficient for my Uncle then it is certainly good enough for me.

Very best wishes, Matthew