Carroll H. Dunn
many divisions had that opportunity, I simply don't know, but ours did. I think it paid
dividends because the unit was a cohesive unit when it moved to England and when it
went onto the continent. Certainly my feeling was that the engineer battalion was ready.
During maneuvers in Tennessee, we had had the individual line companies of the
divisional battalion work and train with the appropriate infantry regiments in the basic
combat team component. The regimental commander knew the company commander
of the engineer battalion, and he thought of him as one of his own. Even though we
went through this exercise, companies were not attached; they were in support and
remained under my command. But there wasn't any real problem; any of the regimental
commanders would have fought just as hard for the engineer company as they would
for one of their infantry companies. They were a part of a team, and that worked well
as we went on into France. For the most part, each line company supported the same
regiment backed up by the battalion headquarters and the headquarters and service
company for support as needed.
I wondered if you had any observations or impressions of England during the period
that you were there prior to landing in France-of the people and the British military,
A:
I had relatively little direct contact
with the British military. We were
located in a one-battalion cantonment
that had been provided by the British.
Primarily, we continued our own
training of both individuals and small
units. We also continued with the
planning involving the 30th Infantry
Division as a part of the invasion into
France.
As to contact with the English people,
there was some. The impressions that
I have are of a friendly people who
were appreciative of both the reason
why we were in England and the
planning for the invasion. They
seemed to go out of their way to make
us welcome. To be specific, and
purely as an example, I remember a
couple who lived near our camp. He
was a retired barrister, very badly
crippled by arthritis. They had a small
Lt.
Carroll Dunn in Dropmore, England,
country place nearby. They made it a
j u s t b e f o r e D - D a y , 10 May 1944.
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