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. 

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.” 

 

“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.

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.”

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.

Gibson said he hopes people read his father’s letter and understand “how stupid war is,” he said. 

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

 

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.”

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: