In 1975 Sir Michael Wilford became the British Ambassador to Japan. On 6 June 1944 he was a Captain and Troop ldr in 82 Assault Sqn RE, Churchill AVREs. He was on this LCT on the way to Gold Beach, with a breaching team, to create an exit for following troops and vehicles. 1/16

On the LCT were 2 Sherman Crab flails (Westminster Dragoons) and 3 AVREs. First off would be Wilford’s AVRE 'Lough Corrib'. On parts of Gold soft clay had been found, and carpet devices developed to cover it….. 2/16

On this LCT was a Roly-Poly, a roll of matting attached to the LCT which the AVRE would engage and push along, the device unrolling and laying a carpet under the tank. Next off would be another carpet device, a Bobbin (‘Lucifer’), with a larger roll of matting (IWM pic) 3/16

The Crabs would then depart along the matting, and flail for mines. Finally AVRE 'Lough Swilly' would leave. This was originally to have carried a bridge to mount a seawall, but before departure the bridge was damaged and jettisoned, so the AVRE was to be a reserve 4/16

82 Sqn was in 6 LCT IV’s of Flotilla D28. Mike told me: ‘We loaded at Q2 Hard, near Exbury, on the 3rd. We went straight into the Solent and anchored 3 a side of an American LST. We received the notification of the weather postponement about 10 minutes after we set off... 5/16

‘…and there was a most appalling scrum as we turned round and get back to where we started. There was nowhere on the ships to sleep, we slept out in the open. I wasn’t seasick and spent most of the time on the bridge reading a book while it was light. 6/16

‘We still had ‘going maps’, with the wrong names etc, and I was to distribute the actual maps when there was no risk of a postponement. By 6 o’clock [5th June] they still weren’t willing to say there’d be no postponement. By that time nobody cared what was on the maps! 7/16

‘I got a little sleep. It was very quiet. The most exciting thing I saw, in one of the swept channels to our right, against the setting sun, was the bombardment force passing through, battleships and cruisers, very exciting, all at 20 knots, not fiddling along as we were! 8/16

‘They overtook us and passed ahead very quickly. It was a sight I shall never forget. About half an hour before we landed we got in the tanks. We saw the Landing Craft (Rocket), with their barrage of rockets, which we had never seen before, they were really very exciting’. 9/16

In the last fifty yards Wilford realised the strong sea had carried them too far to the east. The ramp went down and the Roly Poly was pushed off, but it went at an angle and into a crater. The AVRE became stuck on the device and the rear of the AVRE was still on the ramp. 10/16

The driver tried to reverse but the gear jammed in neutral. The AVRE was stuck and blocking the exit, preventing the other vehicles from getting off. The tide was coming in and 'Lough Corrib' was slowly becoming submerged. 11/16

The sea was causing the LCT to broach to, and the craft was being hit by enemy fire, including the 75mm gun in WN37 at le Hamel. The Bobbin was ordered to try and push 'Lough Corrib' out of the way, but it was in too much water and flooding, and the crew had to abandon it. 12/16

Captain Wilford was on his way to the bridge when he was wounded by shrapnel. The landing craft was taking more hits, including to the bridge and the engine room. Two men on board from 73 Field Coy were killed, and a number wounded. 13/16

The LCT finally withdrew and drifted offshore until low tide, when it finally landed the vehicles and men. It was now about 1300 hours. Lough Corrib was still there, half full of water, and it was boarded and papers removed and destroyed. 14/16

The Bobbin got to lay its carpet, dropped the frame (this is it) and the Bobbin and GP AVREs spent a few hours in obstacle clearance. Wilford ‘went home that night. I rejoined my Squadron at the end of July. I wasn’t badly wounded, but I had an awful lot of bits in me!’. 15/16

The photo again of LCT886 on Gold beach. As well as two gaping holes in the side there is much damage to the superstructure. Of the 28 gapping teams on Gold, Juno and Sword that day only 4 failed for one reason or another. (This was my first interview with a ‘Sir’!) 16/16