On June 6, 1944, more than 150,000 Allied troops stormed the French beach at Normandy to drive back the Germans.
Estimates on casualties range from 9,000 to 12,000 Allied troops killed, wounded or missing.
Among those who survived that famous invasion is C.H. Swindle of Rome. And even though today marks the 64th anniversary of that D-Day invasion, some of the memories and recollections of Swindle remain as vivid as if they happened last week.
Swindle, a Lindale native, was 22 years old and serving in the 460th Amphibian Truck Company at the time, part of the U.S. Army’s 6th Engineer Special Brigade. That unit provided transportation and supply services to the troops, following right behind invading forces and keeping the line open to move weapons, ammunition and supplies to the front.
After navigating the English Channel in “ducks,” small boat-like transport vehicles that ferried guns and ammo, Swindle and others in his unit took stock of the carnage around them after Allied troops stormed the well-fortified beach under heavy fire from the Germans.
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“I remember bodies were stacked up like piles of wood,” Swindle said. “Imagine, for city blocks, bodies stacked up chest high. It’s just something you never want to see, and I’ve never seen a movie or picture since that looked like what it did at Normandy.”
Swindle’s unit had little defense when ferrying supplies to the beach. Each duck boat had one 50-caliber gun turret, and each vehicle was loaded with materials.
“Heavy artillery and ammo is mainly what we had with us,” Swindle said. “Some of the boats were too heavy… They sank like a rock.”
Swindle remembers advancing to a French town that had become a Nazi strongpoint. Allied air forces then came in to attack the Germans’ position.
“The Air Force decided to bomb them, and one day we looked up and heard the buzzing of planes, hundreds of them,” he said.
“You could see them as far as the eye could see, over the English Channel,” Swindle continued. “They dropped their bombs, and as they returned, more planes were still coming.
“When they were finished, they had flattened every building in that town except one room in one structure that was left standing.”
Swindle said the troops in action during the Normandy invasion didn’t have much of a chance at the time to reflect on the enormity of the situation.
“You didn’t have time to worry about it. You had to worry about your own hind end,” Swindle said. “You had to forget about what happened and just put it behind you. You just had to.
“If you just sat around and thought about it, why, that would be hard,” he added. “Imagine how it would affect you. A lot of people, it just really rattled them.”
By 1945, Swindle and his unit had advanced all the way to the Rhine and had gone back through France. On Nov. 12, Swindle was finally sent home.
“When it was over, there was a lot of relief,” he said. “It was like a big weight had been lifted off you.”
Swindle saw time in five major battles, and he earned a Presidential Citation, a Silver Star and multiple service medals and ribbons.
Upon returning to the states, he worked at Pepperell Manufacturing, Georgia Power and at Lockheed in Marietta. He also sold real estate before retiring.
“I still wonder about the (soldiers) there in Normandy, the ones who never got to come home, but you just try not to dwell on it.”
REDEDICATION
Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4911 will host a re-dedication ceremony at the WWI / WWII Lindale Monument today, the anniversary of D-Day. The monument is at the corner of Legion Drive and Maple Road. The event will begin at 10 a.m. and last approximately 30 minutes. The public is encouraged to attend.
