Wiltshire D-Day vet shares diary extract from fateful day

A former D-Day sailor has shared excerpts from his diary, 80 years after the Normandy landings.

Douglas Parish of Salisbury was an 18-year-old midshipman on June 6, 1944, during a huge military operation to liberate France in World War II.

Eight decades later, Mr Parish, now 98, described his diary as one of his most prized possessions.

“You couldn’t see the sea for ships,” he said of the historic day.

The invasion force, composed of the Royal Navy and the navies of other allied countries, included a whopping 7,000 ships and landing craft, manned by nearly 200,000 troops from eight nations.

Following in his father’s footsteps, Mr Parish was a sailor training to become a naval engineering officer at the time of D-Day and recorded what he saw in his diary.

He was serving on HMS Mauritius, one of the great warships that used its guns to destroy the German defenses along the Normandy coast.

One of the diary entries for June 6, 1944 says: “As we approached our position on the eastern flank of the assault, the roar of bombers overhead could be distinctly heard and the flashes of bombs on the beaches were visible.”

Speaking about that fateful day, Mr Parish said: “I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.

“You couldn’t see the sea for ships. They were all kinds there.

“Landing craft, gun landing craft, rocket battery landing craft, all blasting bangs in every direction.

“It wasn’t a scene of chaos, but it was an incredible scene, you’ll never see it again.”

Eighty years after the Normandy landings, he is pleased that his diary has survived.

“I’m glad I kept the memories,” Mr Parish said.

“I’m glad my children, my grandchildren, my great-grandchildren will be able to read this.”

Like many veterans, Mr. Parish is modest about his role on D-Day.

“I don’t feel like I have any reason to be proud of myself personally,” he said.

“I was just an 18-year-old, following a path I had chosen.”

Douglas served in the Royal Navy until 1967, rising to the rank of Commander.