Naval officer Eric Krull describes D-Day

Eric Krull, from Manawatu, was the second officer on a Royal Navy landing craft. Here he describes the scene on Gold Beach on D-Day.

Transcript

As you looked up the beach it was a mess; there were stranded craft and all sorts of little craft, big craft, a hell of a mess really, but we didn’t get to know anything about the others much because we were all on our own and had to look after ourselves. There was no method of getting in touch or walking along to see how they were or anything like that. I thought it was hopeless. I thought we’d never make it.  I thought, you know, this is a failure.  

How noisy was it in the peak of all that?

Very noisy.

So what were the sounds?

Well, sounds of vehicles and guns and shouting, all that sort of thing.

And what could you see ahead of you on the beach? Anything?

Well, in our particular spot not much except our own and a few, I could see a few soldiers further up the beach, but, you know, we were so involved with our own business that we weren’t looking about much.

And what about in the water around you with the kind of the chaos of those small craft going under, were there bodies floating around?

Yes. There were, debris and bits of the boat.

Any people who were still alive?  Are you aware of any?

I think the ones that were alive could scramble ashore.

Did you see that happening?

Mm, mm.

Eric Krull

Eric Krull in uniform.

Eric Krull

Eric Krull in 2004

Community contributions

2 comments have been posted about Naval officer Eric Krull describes D-Day

What do you know?

David Mitchell

Posted: 08 Jun 2017

Derek - my father was on board Eric's landing craft. We know this because he was in the same troop as Tony Gregson, who Eric mentions in his stories. You can read my father's memoirs here: http://davidmitchell.co.uk/David_Mitchell/D-Day.html
Best regards
David

Derek Taylor

Posted: 31 Oct 2016

My Dads late brother Tom Taylor served on LCT708 with Eric Krull. Some years ago (within the last 10 years) I read a more full report of the experiences on D-Day written I believe by Eric Krull. I have been trying to find this article again, without success as I would like my Dad and my cousin, Toms son, to see it. Can anyone point me in the right direction. Thanks