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'Never have I seen such a sight': Letter found decades after D-Day invasion details pilot's role

Decades after the D-Day Normandy Invasion, Kendall Gibson found a box of letters from his father to his mother, including one detailing his role on June 6, 1944.

Decades after D-Day, Kendall Gibson found a box of letters detailing his father's role

Heidi Atter · CBC News ·
Marjorie and Gordon Gibson were married on January 18, 1944. Marjorie worked for a Brigadier General and would know where Gordon would be posted, their daughter Gaynor Novak said. Majorie would write him a letter that he would find at the new posting. “That was always a funny story that they told about how my mom was actually you know kind of knowing where or where he was going long before he did,” Novak said. (Submitted by Kendall Gibson)

Kendall Gibson found the pile of papers more than 70 years after D-Day.

He was searching through old boxes of his mother's things from the Second World War in preparation for a family reunion.

It was the first time Gibson had seen the letters. One in particular stood out. It was written on June 8, 1944, two days after the invasion of Normandy. 

"We just couldn't believe it. Reading it was unbelievable," Gibson said. "This made the hair stand up on the back of your neck."

The letter was addressed to 'Darling.' It described detail he could remember about the invasion, including a near-crash on June 6, along with bits about having enough shorts and thinking about his new and pregnant wife. It was the first time Gordon's eight children found out what he saw on D-Day. 

The letter written two days after the Normandy D-Day Invasion started with 'My Darling!' (Submitted by Kendall Gibson)

Gordon Gibson was born in Ontario before heading to England with the Royal Canadian Air Force. He met Marjorie, a British officer, at a dance near Chester, England. They were married on January 18, 1944. 

Marjorie was about four and a half months pregnant on D-Day. She was working for the British forces in England.

"I have seen a bit of fighting - but never have I seen such a sight as Tuesday morning!" Gordon wrote to her on June 8, 1944.  "Someday - the people of the world will find out what has taken place really in that invasion." 

“I love you - always & always - don’t ever forget that!" Gordon Gibson wrote to his new wife, Marjorie in 1944. (Submitted by Kendall Gibson)

"He was amazing," Gordon's daughter Gaynor Novak said. "He was very calm and cool and collected."

Novak said she and her father were close — she was the youngest of eight children and the only girl — he didn't speak to her about the war.

Gordon and Marjorie Gibson had their first child in England in 1944. “He was a real family man,” Sandy Gibson, Gordon’s daughter in law said. “He was a gentle man and he had the craziest sense of humour like he was just a ton of fun to be around.” (Submitted by Kendall Gibson)

Gaynor was sent the letter by her brother. Reading it the first time was scary, she said. 

"It's like a storybook," Novak said. "He was very funny and it's just amazing that they went through what they went through."

The letter was one of many that was found while Kendall Gibson and his wife Sandy were preparing for a Gibson Family Reunion and wanted to share some older items. (Submitted by Kendall Gibson)

One passage that stands out to Gibson was when Gordon wrote about the near-crash. Gordon was leading the squadron and his engine quit. It turned out he was out of gas and gliding down behind enemy lines. 

"Then he remembered that there was a switch on the airplane, just like a switch on a motorbike, for reserve gas tank," Gibson said. "He was just about landing and then he reached down and pulled the switch and the engine started and he took off again."

Gordon flew back to England across the channel, filled up and took off again for another flight mission. 

'You could hear in his voice after 60 years that he was still quite afraid.'

The only time the Novak's remember Gordon talking about D-Day was one Christmas about 60 years after the war. 

"You could hear in his voice after 60 years that he was still quite afraid," he said.

Gordon Gibson in his flight suit during WW2. “He kind of rolled with the punches. He took whatever came,” Barry Novak said of his father-in-law Gordon Gibson. “He was just a real good natured fellow that you could just have a cup of coffee with.” (Submitted by Kendall Gibson)

Gibson said he hopes people read his father's letter and understand what war is really like.

"I don't know if it would change any minds or not but basically just to realize what people go through," he said.

After leaving the air force, Gordon Gibson started Gibson's Fish and Chips Restaurant in Saskatoon. “They say he went from high flying to deep frying,” Gordon's son Kendall said with a laugh. (Submitted by Kendall Gibson)

Gordon's letter also talked about a friend becoming a POW and promised Marjorie he'd wait up in case she could call. 

"These people were undertaking the invasion of Europe. But at the same time they were living their lives," Gibson said. "They were getting married. They were having children. They had friends that they talked about."

The letter written two days after D-Day ended with a reminder that they would be together soon and he would stay and wait if Marjorie was able to call. (Submitted by Kendall Gibson)

Gordon retired in 1964 and opened Gibson's Fish and Chips. The store is still open today, 55 years later.  

He and Marjorie were married for 62 years before Gordon died on February 18, 2006. Marjorie died on January 1, 2015. 

"Gotta sign off now - my Darling," Gordon wrote on June 8, 1944. "I love you - always & always - don't ever forget that! Always, Your Gibby." 

Read the full letter here:

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