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A veteran interview with

Dennis Bowen

Dennis Bowen provides a very detailed account of his Normandy Campaign in the East Yorkshire Regiment.

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About Dennis Bowen

Dennis Bowen retells how as a naive teenager he joined his heroes in the army motivated by the harm World War 2 was having on the UK, the realities of war shattering all of his childish expectations. Initially being too young to fight he served as a demonstrator but due to the lack of action and the overestimation of his own abilities the job felt like a complete waste to him.  

Upon reaching 18 he was sent to France as part of the D Day invasion force and was finally among the British soldiers he had always idolised. Whilst Dennis found himself trembling with excitement the older soldiers remained blasé, the realisation of how much experience he truly lacked immediately hitting him. He was shocked to witness them reflexively kill German soldiers before they could even try to surrender but overtime he also found himself treating them more like moving targets than people.  

Dennis felt no longer human and like the battle would never end as everything except fighting was leaving his mind; there was no time for hunger, fatigue or pain, only fear, anxiety and excitement. Occasionally the thought of giving up did slip through but the fact none of his fellow soldiers had done so forced him to keep going as to not let them and especially those who had died down. When serious injuries temporarily left him unable to fight Dennis was so angry to be out of the battle he felt none of the physical pain as potentially letting everybody down was so much more distressing to him.  

Credits

Interviewed by:
Martin Bisiker
Reviewed by:
Leon Graham

Transcripts:
Please note that transcripts and closed captions in the video player are automatically generated by Vimeo.

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Home | Veterans | Dennis Bowen

A veteran interview with

Dennis Bowen

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Dennis Bowen provides a very detailed account of his Normandy Campaign in the East Yorkshire Regiment.

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Cite this interview:

MLA Style:
Bowen, Dennis. A Veteran Interview with Dennis Bowen. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, 22 Oct. 2012 https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/dennis-bowen/. Accessed 14 Jun. 2025.
APA Style:
Bowen, D. (2012, October 22). A Veteran Interview with Dennis Bowen [Interview by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee. Retrieved June 14, 2025, from https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/dennis-bowen/
Chicago Style:
Bowen, Dennis. 2012. A Veteran Interview with Dennis Bowen. Interview by Martin Bisiker. Legasee, October 22. Accessed June 14, 2025. https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/dennis-bowen/
Harvard Style:
Bowen, D. (2012). A Veteran Interview with Dennis Bowen. [Interviewed by Martin Bisiker]. Legasee, 22 October. Available at https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/dennis-bowen/ (Accessed: 14 June 2025)
Vancouver Style:
Bowen, D. A Veteran Interview with Dennis Bowen [Internet]. Interview by M. Bisiker. Legasee; 2012 Oct 22 [cited 2025 Jun 14]. Available from: https://www.legasee.org.uk/veteran/dennis-bowen/
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