On 2nd August Eric Brewer says in his diary “Yanks made attack with infantry – bags of prisoners”. Eric's letter home of 3rd August is more elucidating:
"We saw about 120 prisoners coming in, giving themselves up yesterday; one of our troops of 15 men and an officer brought in 11 of them. One of the chaps could speak English and he said “I have been walking for five years but never thought that I would get a ride when I was taken prisoner” - he was speaking about the transport which was taking him back to the POW camp. Most of these prisoners were smiling because they had been taken prisoner. The third lot that came in had about five officers with them; they were walking at the back and one of the officers had about five medals and was of very high rank. He'd come from the Russian front (one of the medals was the Russian front medal). They were nearly all out of the Africa Corps and had seen service in Africa judging by the medals on them.
One chap here had rag round his foot in place of socks. They looked like they had consumption, thin and dirty...it made you think how ever they managed to live under such conditions... anyway, they were as pleased as a man who had won a fortune (but instead of money it's being a prisoner to a German soldier)... Most of these chaps are about 16-22 but some of them I bet my last penny weren’t 14...
Practically all the chaps have German revolvers as souvenirs even some of the cooks...
I suppose you have heard on the wireless about the advances our troops are making...we were doing a Recce yesterday, about 2-3 miles in front of our front line, when we were about 200 yards from a village (I can't tell you the name but I bet you have heard it on the wireless); well all of a sudden we came up against some stiff opposition and were held up for about 1 hour. Our CO came down and told us to stay in position as the tanks and infantry were going to come up... about ½ an hour later all you could see were tanks and infantry...loads of them... We let them take over and went back about 400 yds to make our dinner but not before we had taken the prisoners back on the half track….." (Extracts from Eric Brewer’s diary and letters included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)
The report recommending Major Frank Harding, CO of ‘B’ Squadron, for the Military Cross details Dick’s squadron’s involvement at Amayé-sur-Seulles:
On 2nd August ‘B’ squadron were ordered to recce forward into Amayé-sur-Seulles. When the leading troop were held up two miles short of the town the CO, Major Frank Harding , left them to contain the enemy and manoeuvred the rest of the squadron round the left flank, and “so pressed forward that the leading troops engaged enemy in the middle of the town, despite the enemy’s superiority in numbers.”
Lieutenant Philip Benson Truman appears to have been involved in the same action to liberate Amayé-sur-Seulles (although his citation for the Military Cross is dated 3rd August - see 61st Recce battle honours) with his troop taking out an enemy observation post and containing the enemy until the town was taken later in the day by 50th Division's 69th Infantry Brigade.
Colonel Brownrigg gives this account:
“From Briquessard, ‘B’ Squadron, led by Lieutenant Truman’s carrier troop, carried out a textbook reconnaissance into Amay-sur-Seulles, by-passing strong opposition about a mile this side, and then moving in from a flank to take a number of Boches very much by surprise. This was followed by a series of reconnaissance actions, usually on a troop scale, as the area of operations was still restricted." (From ‘A Reconnaissance Regiment in the B.L.A.’ by Lieutenant-Colonel P.H.A.Brownrigg D.S.O.)
However, despite the efforts of 61st Recce Operation Bluecoat was not successful in breaking out of the Normandy bridgehead. As British forces approached Vire on 2nd August there was some confusion and the German Army was were able to re-inforce the town and close the gap between their 7th Army and Panzergrüppe West. 11th Armoured Division approached the town on 2nd August when it was virtually undefended but were ordered to turn south-east. By the time the US XIX Corps moved against it the Germans had rushed in to plug the gap and Vire was not liberated until 8th August.
The Commander of British Second Army, Lt-General Miles Dempsey, later told 61st Recce* that they’d been 3 days ahead of the 7th Armoured Division in Operation Bluecoat and had to wait for them outside Vire - 7th Armoured Division was meant to be in reserve behind 50th (Northumbrian) Division on the eastern flank of the XXX Corps attack. Monty had ordered Dempsey to 'throw all caution to the winds and step on the gas for Vire' but XXX Corps and 7th Armoured Division 'performed feebly' (from ‘Overlord’ by Max Hastings, Macmillan 2016 edition).
The XXX Corps Commander Lt-General Gerard Bucknall was dismissed and replaced by General Brian Horrocks - ‘a man who really led, a general who talked to everyone, down to the simplest private soldier’ and Eisenhower called him ‘the outstanding British general under Montgomery’.
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