Sent as a gunnery replacement to the UK in the buildup to D-Day, John arrived at Glasgow docks, to then be trucked on the long trip south to the pre-embarkation areas around the English south coast port of Southampton.

At sea on D-Day, and held on board ship in the famous Piccadilly Circus seaborne marshalling area, he was actually unaware that the invasion of the continent of Europe was taking place until the sound of heavy gunfire slowly drifted out to the waiting ships. Eventually climbing down from the heavy troop transport into the smaller 24-man wooden and steel Higgins assault landing craft, he was carried onto Omaha Beach in the last wave of troops on the late afternoon of June 6th.

Transferred to a replacement pool whilst awaiting a move to the 29th Infantry Division, he stayed in the marshalling area for a week; however with the landing of the 79th Inf Div on D + 8 he was ordered to the 311th Field Artillery attached to the 314th lnf. Regt and joined the 79th just 2 days before the assault on La Haye de Puits. As with all our veterans seeking something, John Macdonald would be keeping his eyes peeled for evidence of the various locations of his 4-gun, lO5 mm howitzer battery throughout the campaign.

Our long drive southwards completed, mid-week would see us back on the 79th trail with the next small French town waiting to pay its respects to the 79th Division: lovely Neufchâteau duly offered us its Vin d'Honneur with an additional surprise. Standing quietly in his blue blazer and ornate breast badge waiting to add his voice to the address of welcome was Mr. Thomas Harvell, a former British Lancaster Flight Engineer-turned- Resistance fighter who is a regular visitor to France to meet up with his old friends, the Maquis.

Shot down near Neufchâteau on the night of 28th/29th July 1944, Thomas's Lancaster had been part of a 500-bomber raid on Stuttgart, the second that week. However the Luftwaffe's night-fighters were lying in wait. One of only two aircrew to escape from his blazing bomber, Thomas was located and spirited away by the French resistance until the 315th Infantry Regiment liberated him in September 1944. He then joined the French resistance fighters harrying German supply lines and rail-road links.

Unbelievably, Thomas arrived at Neufchâteau on his way back from the home of the night-fighter ace who shot him down, Knights Cross with Oak Leaves holder Heinz Rokker, with whom he is now firm friends!