“I Crawled 200 Yards Under Continuous Fire”

Roy Cockburn left school at 18 to join the army. Three years later he was a Second Lieutenant leading patrols behind enemy lines at Normandy.

30 January 2017

In late 1941, I left school at the age of 18 and joined the Green Howards. I had forsaken my medical studies at Nottingham University, much to my parents’ displeasure, but after basic training and Service in the UK, I was recommended for officer training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. I attended the centre between January and October 1943, graduating as a Second Lieutenant on 31 October, aged 20.

After passing out, I joined the 43rd (Wessex) Reconnaissance Regiment and commenced training for what would be the Normandy landings in June the following year. We werebilleted near Eastbourne and trained extensively in the local area to prepare for our recce missions in France.

On 18 June 1944, 12 days after D-Day, my squadron boarded the MV Derrycunihy – a cargo ship that had been converted into a military transporter – in London’s West India Docks. We set sail for Sword Beach, which, after joining a convoy at Southend-on-Sea, we reached two days later.

Roy in early 1944

Sunk by an Acoustic Mine

High seas and enemy shelling prevented our unloading for three days, so, on 24 June, the ship moved along the coast to Juno Beach. I happened to be on deck early in the morning and as the Derrycunihy started her engines, an acoustic mine beneath her keel exploded, splitting the ship in two.

Fortunately for me,