FEW need telling of the widespread acclaim Steven Spielberg's latest epic has won for its startlingly real portrayal of the horror of the American D-Day massacre.

But as British filmgoers flock to see 'Saving Private Ryan,' I hope the part of British soldiers in the bloody battles of Omaha Beach will not remain untold.

Before the American assault wave landed, British troops had come under fire as they cleared the path ahead.

I do no seek to undermine the grave tragedy that befell American troops on June 6, 1944, or, indeed, the atrocities Spielberg has confronted.

There is no getting away from the fact that the two American divisions that landed on Omaha Beach sustained more casualties than any of the Allied divisions.

But aside from the 65,000 men who landed in their own sector of the Normandy beaches, British troops were involved in the American invasions and their blood was shed on Omaha Beach two years before D-Day.

In 1942, Commodore Lord Louis Mountbatten ordered the 60-man unit of the small-scale raiding force to carry out reconnaissance in Normandy.

Those men carried out eight operations before disaster struck. On September 12, 1942, Major Gus March-Phillips and three others were killed by Germans as their eight-man team tried to flee a heavily-guarded area of Omaha Beach. Three more were captured.

Today, halfway along the four-mile stretch of Omaha Beach there is a small, inconspicuous plaque that commemorates this landing.

After the disbandment of the small-scale raiding forces British troops maintained a presence in Omaha up to D-Day, including regular trips to locate German defences.

And on June 6, 1944, the first men on the beach were part of a 12-man British frogman units, known as Locku Boys, who cleared underwater obstacles and mines.

With more Second Word War films on the horizon, I hope a director will step forward to tell the British side of the story.

JIM KITCHEN, Branch Road, Lower Darwen, Blackburn.

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