Without a murmur, quiet as night spirits, we crossed the Strait of Dover - the English Channel. Continuing westwards along the English coast, we turned southwards at Portsmouth.
On the evening of 1 August, we saw for the first time the coast of France and the great number of ships on the shore and on the high seas. Such a number of the most varied ships and vessels cannot often be seen. We stood all night at sea, waiting for the landing, which began the next morning.
From the deck of the ship we could see the troops being unloaded. Large ship's cranes were lifting heavy tanks and cars from the bottom of the ships, lowering them into flat-bottomed barges.
We landed on the beach.
As we loaded, travelled and landed we saw one thing: The might of the British Empire, of the Allied generally, and the childish weakness of Germany.

Kazimierz Duda - War Chronicles - 31 July to 1 August 1944 - Page 47