7th June 1944 – British 2nd Army had failed to seize Caen but "overall the plan had succeeded stunningly well. Almost everywhere along the British line the German coastal positions had been rolled up. It now remained to press forward…to seize the vital ground inland". Allied forces attempt to link up on the beachheads, which are now firmly established. At dawn Sainte-Mère-Église on the Cherbourg peninsula is taken by the 82nd Airborne, the first French town to be liberated by the Allies.
German forces are concentrating to defend Caen. 9th Brigade (the Royal Ulsters) secures Cambes to the north-west of the city but the 3rd Canadian Division encounter the newly arrived 12th SS Panzer Division and the “fanatical teenagers of SS Hitler Jugend”, determined to reach the coast. Pushed back 2 miles towards the shore, the Canadians are locked into a bitter struggle. They hold their ground but lose 3,000 men in their first 6 days ashore.
The 56th Brigade (the Glosters), attached to 50th Division, take Bayeux without casualties – the first city to be liberated after the D-Day landings. “50th Division pushed forward more than three miles towards Tilly-sur-Seulles, Sully and Longues”.
50th Division mving forward near St Gabriel, Normandy (between Ver-sur-Mer and Crepon)
61st Reconnaissance Regiment are now attached to 8th Armoured Brigade for the assault on Villers-Bocage, the town on the main approach to Caen from the south-west. (Extracts from ‘Overlord’ by Max Hastings, Macmillan 2016 edition.)
Eric Postles remembers that first morning in France:
“In the morning we fed on our 24 hour packs but the blocks of dehydrated porridge and stew proved difficult to make edible. Only brewing tea was easy as you poured hot water on a block of tea, sugar and milk.” (Extract from ‘My War Years’ by John Eric Postles ISO used by kind permission of the author.)
Colonel Brownrigg, then Major Brownrigg, commanding officer of ‘A’ Squadron, continues his account of 61st Recce (from ‘A Reconnaissance Regiment in the B.L.A.):
“The next morning I got in touch with the Commanding Officer on the wireless from our LST. He gave me a new rendezvous for the rest of the regiment; then he ordered ‘A’ Squadron to move there as the rendezvous was well within the bridgehead. I was slightly disturbed to hear the Squadron Leader report that he was held up by heavy machine-gun fire. This penetrated the armour of several of the carriers, but Corporal Billingham although wounded, drove on into the middle of the enemy position, throwing grenades, until he collapsed with a wound in the head. Soon afterwards I called up the Commanding Officer again, but he cut me short, ‘Get off the air, I’m shooting Boches.’
All of us got ashore that day.”
Sandy Handley of ‘B’ Squadron wrote his story of D-Day + 1:
"The following day D + 1 (7th June) we landed, it was afternoon by the time we had offloaded through the bows of our LST onto the Rhino the large raft which was powered by an engine, I don’t know what horsepower or make. This Rhino could accommodate several of the armoured cars and Bren carriers. We were inside our Humber Mk 3 light Recce car. The corporal and a trooper, driver and me. I sat on my gunners seat. The Rhino was moving away and slowly we were guided through a lane of white tapes which the sappers (Royal Engineers) had hung on the German sea defences. This was a dangerous job for them as there was a likelihood of underwater obstacles and mines attached, we passed several of these sappers who were waist deep in the water doing this hazardous task*.
Soon we got quite close and could see much activity on the beach. When our Rhino had got a certain draught the ramp was lowered at the bow of the Rhino and our driver manoeuvred quite skilfully down the ramp into about 4ft of water which came up within inches of my gun turret. This was a testing time to find out if the Dunlop compound had done its job. I suppose we had about 50yds to go to the shore. The driver who’s position was quite level or at least just under the water line had the nerve racking job of keeping the motor going. Remember these vehicles hadn’t been used for 6 days or so. The Radio, a No 19 set made by Pye of Cambridge had yet to be switched on. I suggested to Dan Polden, the Corporal, if I should switch on, but first of all it had to be unzipped of its waterproof canvas container. However, the answer I got from Dan, was “leave the ruddy radio alone” or words to that effect. I won’t write the precise words but it is anyone’s guess.
At last we were nearly on shore thanks to the good man we had at the driver’s wheel, as we started up the beach we were greeted by our Squadron Commander, Capt. Frank Harding** who had landed the previous day, on the other LST 6th June which was the day we should have landed. Capt. Harding looking tired but cheerful said his famous greeting and said {Where have you been?) We started up the beach and noticed several dead at the water’s edge, so still and I thought someone’s sons. We got to the brow of the beach, to our left was higher ground and the biggest Union Jack I’ve ever seen was flying in the gentle breeze.
We made our way up a road (Achtung Minen – Beware Mines) all over the place. I remember a cornfield on our right unharvested. A few yards in was a gruesome sight of a dead German just head and shoulders above the yellow corn, facing seawards his face sun burnt from the Normandy sun he had enjoyed a few days earlier. I thought a man the same as me doing what I was told to do.
Further up this rough road the engine of our Humber suddenly caught fire. One of the crew of a tank jumped off and with a few bursts from an extinguisher put the fire out. We closed the bonnet of our vehicle and went on up the road. I should mention the engine had got so overheated with all the sealing up of the compounds and, of course, the partly submerged 4-5ft sea landing it was no wonder. We went ½ mile or so up this road and parked the vehicles under trees and camouflage nets. We had arrived. Later we were told Bayeux had been liberated. I thought if we had landed at 7.25 on D Day we may have been further inland to Villers Bocage (our objective) but our objective wasn’t achieved, but in any case with all the delays our LST had, the losing of our other Rhino and the Americans Captain’s decision not to go in at the time, we were thankful we hadn’t landed on the 6th June.
So we spent our first night in Normandy under the trees listening to all the guns in creation some far away, some too close to comfort. Airplanes were continually droning over and the 61st Recce wondered what the next day would be." (From Ex Trooper S Handley’s ‘61 Recce - Memories of Normandy 1944 – 1945’, unpublished)
*On Gold beach the engineers had to deal with 2,500 obstacles, many of them mined - 900 tons of steel and concrete (from ‘Overlord’ by Max Hastings, Macmillan 2016 edition).
**Frank Harding became the ‘B’ Squadron Commander on 12th June 1944 and ‘B’ Squadron became known as the ‘Hardingites’. He was also a poet.
Brigadier Bernard Cracroft, commander of the 8th Armoured Brigade, begins an account of the assault of Villers Bocage:
“We assembled during the night of 7/8th in the area Brecy/Ruqueville*. The forces consisted of 8th Armoured Brigade, 4/7th Dragoon Guards, Sherwood Ranger Yeomanry, 24th Lancers, 147 Field Regiment RA (SP) Essex Yeomanry, 61st Reconnaissance Regiment, ‘A’ Company 1st Dorset (on cycles), 288 Anti Tank Battery (Northumberland Hussars), ‘A’ Company 5th Cheshires, Royal Engineers Reconnaissance Party and a detachment of 168 Light Field Ambulance." (From ‘The 8th Armoured Brigade Break-Out from the Normandy Bridgehead June 7th – 12th 1944’ by Brigadier HJB Cracroft , Commander.)
*East of Bayeux, about nine kilometres inland from Gold beach.
Recent Comments