D-Day Better than Star Wars

D-Day flyer says sights beat Star Wars

The following interview appeared in the St. Thomas Times Journal on the 50th anniversary of D-Day in 1994. Bill Golden was a founding member of the Elgin Military Museum.

The Allied invasion of Nazi-controlled Europe on June 6, 1944 was the most unique military operation of its kind in modern times, presenting an awesome sight to the participants.
 
It was especially breath-taking from the air, where pilots had a bird’s eye view of what was happening. Flight Officer Bill Golden of St. Thomas was right above the invasion force when it landed at Normandy. It was a sight he’ll never forget, the vast armada and daring landing. “It’s the most impressive sight anyone will ever see at any time. It beat Star Wars all to pieces.”
 
“As the saying goes, you could have lowered your wheels and taxied over,” to Europe from England, he said, reflecting on the enormity of the task force.

The Day was Perfect

The day was perfect for the fighter pilots of 430 Squadron who were told to “attack anything that moves.” The clouds were thick and hanging low.
 
“We could make our attack and then go into the cloud to escape the ack-ack (anti-aircraft fire) or any fighters they might have had up.

Photo Reconnaissance Outfit

“It was really our type of day and our job to do.”
 
Although they were a photo reconnaissance outfit, the men of No. 39 wing had to be able to fight their own way through the skies, Mr. Golden notes but the weather on June 6 prevented any effective reconnaissance.
 

To fend off ground fire or enemy aircraft, Mr. Golden’s Mustang fighter had .50 and .303 cal. machine guns to defend itself.
 
“We had the old beat-up Mustangs then. A heck of a nice airplane, but not a lot of power,” he said of the aircraft he would later trade in for a Spitfire.

Made Five Trips

The planes usually flew in pairs and Mr. Golden got his fill of flying on D-Day, flying five trips over the French coast.
 
On one early-morning trip, he and another fighter had to break away as they met a couple of Me-109 Messerschmidt aircraft which suddenly appeared out of the clouds early in the morning on invasion day.

“They headed to the beach and we went inland,” Mr. Golden said, but the opposing pairs were flying too fast to engage and had, in fact startled each other by their appearances. Mr. Golden and his sidekick radioed the Allies to warn them.

Thought it would be Bad

German fighters were at a premium as the Allied fighters and bombers had taken their toll of German aircraft before the invasion. Even anti-aircraft fire was light, Mr. Golden recalls.
 
“We thought ‘this is going to be bad,’ but it wasn’t. The anti-aircraft was very, very light.”
 
Although they expected opposition to be tougher in the air and even on the ground, Mr. Golden says “I don’t think there was any doubt to the outcome.”
 
The morale was extremely high among airmen,” and Mr. Golden said despite early German successes, “we all thought that as of the day they (Japan) dropped the bomb on Pearl Harbor, we’d won the war.”

First to See Landing

 Mr. Golden was credited in a Royal Canadian Air Force news dispatch as being the first in his section to see Allied armor landing at Normandy.
 
“They were heading inland and looked like tanks to me,” he is quoted as saying in the dispatch.

Note that the date at the bottom of Bill's ID card is 7 June 1944 - perhaps the reason he looks a bit weary and disheveled - visible proof of the five flights over the Normandy beaches the day before.