A view from another beach - the story of GCI 15053

If the film “Saving Private Ryan” is to be believed, the only troops to land on Omaha Beach on D-Day were American. That is not historically accurate.

The RAF at Omaha Beach website is dedicated to the memory of the British and Commonwealth servicemen of GCI 15082 who also landed on Omaha Beach on 6th June 1944, This RAF team provided RADAR support for the American operation from that day until 30th September 1944.

Equally, however, it would be wrong to suggest that GCI 15082 were the only such team in action during the Normandy invasion. Peter Milbank has contacted the Editors and provided us with a detailed account of GCI 15053, led by his father, Squadron Leader Geoffrey Arthur Milbank, who landed on Gold Beach.

From the letters Geoffrey wrote home and the papers he amassed, Peter and his family have been able to trace GCI 15053’s path from East Anglia, up the Normandy beach on D-Day, and through to Lower Saxony and VE Day.

Geoffrey was a devoted husband, father and son. His 111 letters home have been carefully preserved. The Editor has selected a small handful of these letters and, with the family’s permission, they are reproduced below. They tell of a man who longs to be with his wife and children, enjoying the idyllic British countryside after the war.