Chotie Darling

Dumbarton Oaks

21^st August 1944 – representatives of China, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom and the United States meet at Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown, Washington for the ‘Washington Conversations on International Peace and Security Organization’, which result in proposals for the United Nations Charter.

 

The Falaise Gap is closed when the Canadians link with the Poles at Coudehard, east of Trun, and secure St. Lambert and the northern passage to Chambois (61st Reconnaissance Regiment were in action just east of here).

 

On August 21^st Eric Brewer wrote in his diary:  "Pushed on again today, plenty of prisoners. We have passed through the town of Rugo les (sic - possible Rugles, north-east of l'Aigle? However, Rugles was officially liberated by the Royal Dragoon Guards on 23rd August 1944.)  First English they have seen - got mobbed and could not move for about 10 minutes. Came across blown up bridge - had to send R.E.* to lay down bridge. Waited until it was done then moved on again advanced 30 miles today in harbour near large village."  Amazingly he wrote home on the same day that he was "getting quite used to lying in bed in the morning.  All the chaps do now in the day time is play cards, write or rest.  Some of the boys are getting tired of doing nothing and it would not surprise me if they began knitting comforts for fighting lads or even start their own garden near the half-tracks as the position we are in is as good as static." (From Eric Brewer’s Diary and letters by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)

*Royal Engineers

 

The Battle for Normandy had cost the German Army a total of 1,500 tanks, 3,500 guns and 20,000 vehicles.  They had lost 450,000 men, 240,000 of these killed or wounded.  The Allies had achieved this with 209,672 casualties, 39,976 of these killed.  British and Canadian losses amounted to two-thirds of those suffered by the Americans.  Some 28,000 Allied aircrew were also lost over Normandy or during the preparatory bombing and the Point Blank programme (designed to pave the way for Overlord). Liddell Hart, in a 'History of the Second World War' described Normandy as "an Operation that eventually went according to plan but not according to timetable." (See ‘Overlord’ by Max Hastings, Macmillan 2016 edition.)

 

Aunay-sur-Odon

11^th August 1944 - Florence, in Italy, is liberated by the British 8^th Army

 

Major Frank Harding’s citation for the Military Cross includes this account from Normandy:

“On 11^th August he was ordered to capture a hill, pt 266, north of Condé-sur-Noreau, thereby protecting the left flank of the main attack by 231 Brigade.  He carried out this attack with great skill, and in spite of heavy MG and 88mm* fire he destroyed, or captured all the enemy on the hill and held it until relieved.” (See 61st Recce battle honours.)

Major Harding was commander of 61st Reconnaissance Regiment's 'B' Squadron, which included Don Aiken, Eric Brewer in the Assault Troop, Eric Postles in 10 Troop and Tony Rampling and Sandy Handley in No 5 Troop with Dick Williams as their lieutenant.

*The 88 mm was a German anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery gun.

 

Eric Brewer was "On Recce near same place, plenty of mortars, shells and spandoes" but still found time to write home re-assuringly that there was "nothing to do except sleep and write or listen to the radio; we seem to be getting some good programmes lately...heard some Sinatra and Bing last night...PSS The Yanks seem to be doing fine don't they?"  The next day he was "Back at base - shell killed one chap, injured two." (Extracts from Eric Brewer’s diary and letters included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)

 

According to Don Aiken they were somewhere near Aunay-sur-Odon,which occupies a vital crossroads position between Caen, Vire, Bayeux and Falaise.  The town had been completely destroyed by Allied bombing in the middle of June.

Don describes how 61^st Recce lost another of the 1060 boys that day:

“On the 11th August we moved into an apple orchard close to a cross-roads, at Aunay-sur-Odon, which was under shell-fire.  The Troop H.Q. armoured car had positioned itself in the corner of the orchard and they had dug a trench underneath it, filling in the gap below the car with a sheet of corrugated iron that they had found.  The driver, down in the slit trench, had then begun to brew up tea for the troop. 

          We were given the signal that it was ready and I climbed out and crossed over towards the H.Q. car, along with a lad from another car, when suddenly a German shell fell short of its target and made a direct hit on the corrugated iron sheet.  The blast blew us both underneath another car and we lay there with hearts in our mouths.  

          Then I said “I'm going to dash for it”, and as I stood up and took a couple of steps I heard another shell whistling its way towards us.  The next thing that I remember is being reseated in the turret of my car.  A member of another crew, who had been watching through his periscope, swore that I had leapt from the ground, straight into the top of the turret (a height of almost 6 ft.) without touching the sides!
          The tragedy was that Henry Ansell, a popular young man, had caught the full blast of the explosion which had blown the corrugated iron into large pieces and torn him apart. Corporal Mulchay lost an arm and Trooper Alan Penn was wounded in the head.”

(Extract republished from ‘Establishing a Foothold in Normandy’  by kind permission of Don Aiken)

 

61^st Recce Roll of Honour includes the following who died on 11^th August 1944:

          Trooper Henry Edward George Ansell (age 22) of Totton, Hampshire,

who is laid to rest in the St. Manvieu War Cemetery, west of Caen, near Cheux.  Trooper Ansell was one of the 1060 Boys mentioned in Major Frank Harding’s poem of that name.

(See 61st Recce Roll of Honour, courtesy of Recce Mitch.)

We will remember them.

Just a Postcard

 

 

On 8th August 1944 Eric Brewer wrote home that he was "still taking it easy in a kind of reserve.  Reveille for us is 7:30 instead of about 5 o'clock...These last few days I have been doing cooking as we are a bit short of cooks, lucky me again. There’s the other lads playing cards, writing or listening to the wireless and poor me doing cooking, or trying to, but so far we haven’t had any serious complaints - only stomach aches, diarrhoea and two cases of fever*. Not too bad. I reckon they will live but if they will pick on the builders merchant for cook, what more can that expect? Lucky they have lasted so long eating some of the Brewer's special fish cakes."

*Maybe this was why Dick didn't cross out 'sick' on his Field Postcard?

Eric's diary reveals he was actually on "Recce near V Bocage – now standing to for orders."  (Extracts from Eric Brewer’s diary and letters included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)

 

 

 

 

 

43rd Recce joins the advance

On 6^th August 1944 elements of the 43^rd (Wessex) Division overcame fierce German resistance to secure the high ground of Mont Pinçon, the highest point in the Calvados Area of Normandy and an important strategic objective for Operation Bluecoat. (From "The Final Battle for NormandyNorthern France 9th July – 30th August 1944, a 60th Anniversary booklet .) ‘

Dick’s former regiment, 43^rd Recce, had been supplemented by a squadron of the Green Howards following the sinking of the Derrycunihy and were back in action from the beginning of August.  Having been relieved by 61^st Recce on 3^rd August (who took over holding the line near Caumont) they were deployed north-west of Mont Pinçon and heavily engaged by the enemy. (From ‘Only the Enemy in Front Every other beggar behind…’ The Recce Corps at War 1940-1946’ by Richard Doherty, Tom Donovan Publishing Ltd 1994)

Eric Postles recalled that, after capturing Villers Bocage 43 Division “pushed on to take the highest point, Mount Pinçon, which commanded the area for miles around.”  (Extract from ‘My War Years’ by John Eric Postles ISO used by kind permission of the author.)

Eric Brewer was “in reserve, taking it easy” “in an orchard, round the radio.  This morning reveille was at 7.30; it was more like one of those Sunday mornings you used to have in civvy street.”  In his letter home he recounted how “about two weeks ago we came across a Gerry knocked out tank, a Tiger…one of the chaps found two sets of silver cutlery, also a complete carving set – about 50 different articles altogether.  I reckon they had looted them on their way out of France” (extracts from Eric Brewer’s diary and letters included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family).

7Able

4^th August 1944 – Anne Frank, whose diary came to symbolise the plight of the Jews under German occupation, and her family are arrested by the Gestapo in Amsterdam, Holland, after two years hiding with other Jews in a secret Annex.  Anne died of typhus in Bergen-Belsen in March 1945.  (Ted Lewis, Chotie’s brother-in-law, was among the British forces that liberated Belsen a few weeks later.)

Stalin meets a delegation of the Polish government in exile ('the London Poles') led by Stanisław Mikołajczyk but installs a 'Polish Committee of National Liberation' (the 'Lublin Poles') - a Soviet puppet government in waiting.  Churchill sends weapons and supplies to the Warsaw insurgents in bomber planes from Italy with the BBC Polish service playing 'Let's dance a mazurka again' to announce the drops.

 

Rennes, the capital of Brittany in north-west France, is liberated by the US 3^rd Army's 4th Armoured Division. 

Villers-Bocage “which we last saw during the ill-fated attack in June” (Eric Postles) was finally liberated by a patrol of the 1st Battalion Dorset Regiment (Dick’s original Regiment), 50th Northumbrian Infantry Division, on 4 August 1944.  The town was in ruins: Eric Brewer wrote home a few days later "if you could only have seen Villers-Bocage you would think that there had been an earth quake; why London is not touched compared to Villers-Bocage.  You are lucky if you see a side of a house standing... There must be about 5,000 craters and there isn’t one more than 5 yards away from the other...think of a thickly planted orchard and a bomb crate for every apple tree.  The town looks as though it's been standing for a thousand years and age has made it decay away... nothing could get anywhere in the town until they got the bulldozers busy, now only a single line of traffic can get through."  Villers-Bocage has now been almost completely rebuilt.

Évrecy, east of Villers-Bocage, was liberated on the same day as well as Aunay-sur-Odon, to the south, where only the the church steeple remains standing.

On 4th August Eric Brewer was "In harbour waiting for orders" with time to write another letter home: "Well here I am in an orchard cleaning my equipment".  Then his diary records: "On Recce 2 miles from V Bocage."  (Extracts from Eric Brewer’s diary and letters included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)

 

In ‘Beaten Paths are Safest’ (Brewin Books, 2004) Roy Howard of 61st Recce's ‘A’ Squadron describes how his troop (7Able) were divided into two patrols.  The other patrol, led by Sergeant Joe Dunnington investigated a building with radar masts which appears to have been wired with explosives. Sgt. Dunnington bled to death from a severed artery, dying the next day. Corporal Ronnie Washburn was severely injured losing the right side of his skull and Trooper Bill Mathews lost his right arm.  Ernie Brobbin (who found the foxcub) was there to give First Aid and saved Corporal Washburn's life. 

          Roy Howard was subsequently promoted to Troop Sergeant following in the shoes of Bill Abbey (killed 1944 on 23^rd June) and Joe Dunnington.  Ronnie Washburn was left physically and mentally handicapped, ending his days in a Royal British Legion home.  Only three of the original 7Able had survived in the troop by February 1945.

We will remember them

 

Amayé-sur-Seulles

On 2^nd 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 2^nd 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 3^rd 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 61^st Recce Operation Bluecoat was not successful in breaking out of the Normandy bridgehead.  As British forces approached Vire on 2^nd August there was some confusion and the German Army was were able to re-inforce the town and close the gap between their 7^th 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 61^st Recce* that they’d been 3 days ahead of the 7^th Armoured Division in Operation Bluecoat and had to wait for them outside Vire - 7^th Armoured Division was meant to be in reserve behind 50^th (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 7^th 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’. 

The Polish Home Army

1^st August 1944 – the Polish Home Army (the main resistance organization in Poland) stages an uprising in Warsaw to liberate the Polish capital from the occupying Germans before the arrival of the Red Army, now within 10 miles of Warsaw.  Collaboration between the AK (Army Krajowa or Home Army) and Soviet partisans in Poland had been difficult after the discovery of the Katyn Massacre.  On 30^th November 1943 the AK had launched Operation Tempest, aimed at securing control of Polish cities and had some success, although the AK were taken prisoner by the Red Army as they advanced. 

The Warsaw Rising was initially successful in taking control of large areas of the city and liberating 350 Jews from the Gęsiόwka concentration camp, which was in process of ‘liquidation’.  However Himmler still managed to send most of the 67,000 Jews still remaining in the ghetto at Łódź, south-west of Warsaw (the second largest ghetto in German-occupied Europe), to their deaths in Auschwitz.  Isolated from and unsupported by the Soviet Army and suffering a fierce response from the Germans including many atrocities (some 30,000 non-combatants were slaughtered in the Old Town alone), the AK finally capitulated at the beginning of October.  Although on 30th July Radio Moscow had called on the citizens of Warsaw to rise up and 'join the struggle against the Germans'  Warsaw was not liberated by the Soviets until 17th January 1945 – by then the Germans had destroyed 85% of the city’s buildings. (From ‘The Second World War’ by Antony Beevor, published by Weidenfield and Nicolson 2012)

On 1^st August Soviet troops captured Kaunas, now the second largest city in Lithuania but then the capital.

End of the Battle of Tinian in the Northern Marianas Islands.  US troops landed on 24^th July and defeated a 9,000 strong garrison of Japanese.

 

The US 3^rd Army under Lt-General Patton becomes operational on the Allies western flank, tasked with liberating Brittany and seizing the ports on the Brittany coast.  Lt-General Courtney Hodges now commands the US First Army Group while General Omar Bradley is Commander-in-Chief of the US forces in France - 12th Army Group.

Montgomery's VII and XXX Corps are attacking on an axis south-east from Caumont.  In Operation Bluecoat Le Bény-Bocage, south of Caumont, is liberated virtually undamaged by the British 11th Armoured Division.  "Most of Second Army were very tired by now, above all the infantrymen of 15th Scottish, 43rd Wessex and 50th Northumbrian Divisions" (from ‘Overlord’ by Max Hastings, Macmillan 2016 edition).

61^st Recce continued its role supporting the 50^th (Northumbrian) Division in Operation Bluecoat - according to Eric Brewer, of ‘B’ Squadron’s Assault Troop, on 1^st August they had“Recced for the Divisional attack, met stiff opposition 2 miles forward of there” although he started a letter home including "At the present moment I am listening to the radio.  I heard Victor Silvester* this morning on music while you work so you can guess I am taking it easy..."  (Extracts from Eric Brewer’s diary and letters included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)

 *A popular English bandleader.

The end of Briquessard

Don Aiken recalls the end of Briquessard: “After a week or two in this position we were relieved by an Infantry Regiment.  Apparently Lieutenant General Horrocks*, the Commander of XXX Corps, had noticed that we had been placed in this defensive position and ordered that we be withdrawn. He was a very experienced General, who knew how important it was to prevent his future spear-head troops from developing a defensive attitude to the war.” (Republished from the BBC People's War website by kind permission of Don Aiken)

* At the end of July XXX Corps was still led by Lieutenant-General Bucknall.  He was replaced by Lt. General Brian Horrocks in August 1944.

 

Colonel Brownrigg noted that “Whenever our General* visited us he was most upset about our casualties.  ‘This isn’t really your job,’ he said.  ‘I want you for recce-ing the crossings over the Seine.’” (From ‘A Reconnaissance Regiment in the B.L.A.’ by Lieutenant-Colonel P.H.A.Brownrigg D.S.O.)

*Brownrigg may have been referring to Lieutenant-General Bucknall of XXX Corps or Major-General Graham, the popular Commander of 50^th (Northumbrian) Division.

 

Eric Postles says “We were even more pleased than the Americans to be relieved as it was so restrictive.  We watched a large force of RAF heavy bombers raiding Caen, which was quite awesome.  With some movement at Caen and by the Americans on our right, the German positions at Tilly became less secure for them.  Panzer Lehr, the armoured division, had to withdraw to check the Americans.” (Extract from ‘My War Years’ by John Eric Postles ISO used by kind permission of the author.)

 

Sandy Handley remembers coming out of his trench:

“As this ten days came to an end and this area got quieter we risked a little stroll along to the next slit trench.  Lt. Williams was seen calmly smoking his pipe.  He asked if we were OK. 

      Well after ten days in that cramped slit trench I found it difficult to climb out, with the stiffness of the joints.  I was twenty four years old* but felt much older.  I thought about those boys in the 14-18 war in the trenches, not 10 days and nights but months and months in the mud and hell.  What a wicked war they had, terrible.  Our ten days in this situation was nothing compared with what they had to endure.  We should never forget them.  At least in that ten days at Briquessard it hardly rained so goodness knows what it would have been like knee deep in mud.” (From Ex Trooper S Handley’s ‘61 Recce - Memories of Normandy 1944 – 1945’, unpublished)

*Dick was 23 on 28th July 1944.

 

However, the 61st Recce were still not safe from attack according to Anthony Rampling:

A visit from Tony's brother

“When we came out of these trenches after 10 days my brother, who was a Liaison Officer in the 4^th Armoured Brigade, saw my regimental signs and he came up to see if he could see me.  And he came to the back of Briquessard Wood in his Dingo Armoured car and I actually waved to him but he couldn’t stop because the Germans saw the dust that the armoured car had raised and they started mortaring the area …. so we were pleased to see the back of him.”  From Anthony Rampling’s account of 61^st Recce (pers comm).

Tony remembers the only time he disobeyed one of Dick’s orders, at the end of Briquessard:

Disobeying an order

“Dick Williams, or Lieutenant Williams, was my Officer and I found him quite quiet.  He never chased us around.  He gave us the orders, one of which I had to disobey.  When we came out of Briquessard we hadn’t slept for 10 days and he said “You’re on guard”.  I said “Sorry Sir, I couldn’t keep awake” and I couldn’t have done.  I never heard any more about it.

Tony liked Dick as an Officer: “He never interfered with us much.”

 

On 28^th and 29^th July, Assault Trooper Eric Brewer was out on patrol again:

“Went on patrol. Three of us met two Gerry patrols – they threw grenades at us but luckily we are in a dip with spandaus*.” 

His letter home on the 29^th is, however, characteristically good-humoured and re-assuring: “they haven’t got anything for the Recce to do out here as Gerry is right in front of you…it’s impossible to Recce because you know where he is so the 50^th kindly put us out of the way or on the shelf until we are needed.” “…roll on the next two or three months; then I will be enjoying steak and chips with onion instead of tinned something – I’ve eaten so much in tins since I’ve been over here that I seem to rumble when I walk.” (Extracts from Eric Brewer’s diary and letters included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)-

*The British name for the German machine-guns, which were manufactured in the Spandau district of Berlin so had plates of that name on the guns.

 

 

29^th July 1944 – a series of bombing raids on Stuttgart by the RAF come to an end.  73,000 bombs have been dropped and 900 people killed in the city in south-west Germany.

 

 

A Close Shave

Sandy Handley continues his account of army life in the trenches of Briquessard Wood:

“There was no question of shaving, although some tried a little cold water shave in the mess tins, which didn’t taste very nice after. 

Each evening late a cauldron of tea was brought around by the troopers from the field kitchen behind the woods.  It wasn’t bad, lukewarm but better than nothing.  We kept busy opening tins of corned beef and tins of rice pudding (not heated of course) and biscuits; we never starved.

It was always better when morning came. We were equipped with a small Boyscout’s burner which was fuelled with a tablet.  I’d got a cold mug of tea so I lit this small stove and placed my cold tea on it.  This was a precarious job, however. I must have got a bit impatient and blew the flames up but I blew too strong and I got the flame in my face, burning and singeing my week old beard.  Our Officer* came along and detailed me to walk back up the wood to our squadron medical post and get some attention. Typical of me and tired with no sleep, I forgot my Army drill and instead of going along the line of the bushes and trees, which would have given me some cover, I clambered up the bank, which exposed me to any sniper.  I wasn’t thinking until all of a sudden I heard the whine of a bullet then another.  I soon went back to the line of trees and bushes edging this wood.  Of all the shells, bullets and mortar bombs which had passed, that one small bullet from a German sniper might have put me out of the war.

By the time I got to the medical aid post one of the orderlies dabbed some ointment on my face and said “We will be moving out soon so go back to your lines and don’t worry about shaving for the time being.”  (From Ex Trooper S Handley’s ‘61 Recce - Memories of Normandy 1944 – 1945’, unpublished)

*Lt. Dick Williams

 

Eric Brewer wrote home on 27th July that "At the present moment we are on field rations and it's a vast difference from those 14 day pack rations...it seemed strange to see some potatoes on a plate for once and cooked meat and peas instead of tinned stuff.  We are also receiving bread each day, the pre-war stuff and real tea instead of comp tea (which is the tea, milk and sugar combined - more like dishwater than the usual tea but we even got used to that in the past 8 weeks)."  His diary for 27^th July reports that “Still same place. Gerry shot one our chaps through the hand.”  (Extracts from Eric Brewer’s diary and letters included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)

Wilf Dawson of ‘A’ Squadron, who became the pillar of 61^st Recce’s Old Comrades Association, was also severely wounded at Briquessard, ending his active service with the regiment (from ‘Beaten Paths are Safest’ by Roy Howard, Brewin Books 2004)

 

 

27^th July 1944 – the Allies first jet engine, the Gloster Meteor, goes into operation. The RAF and US Air Force jointly announced the development of jet aircraft in January 1944, based on the discoveries of Englishman Frank Whittle in the 1920s. Germany independently invented and developed jet aircraft and the Messerschmidt Me 262 also became operational in the middle of 1944.

The German front line in the Cotentin begins to retreat faced with the rapid advance of Operation Cobra, now including VIII Corps on the right flank heading for Coutances.

Listening

In 61st Reconnaissance, on the edge of Briquessard Wood, Sandy Handley tells of his time in the listening post:

      “Whilst we were at that place me and my friend had to have twenty four hours duty in the listening post, which was twenty yards away to our front - just a crudely scraped out trench, just room enough for five of us (four troopers and one corporal).  We had a field telephone, not a radio, to link us up with the men at the back.  We couldn’t do nothing, just lounge and listen (!) for any movement in the front.  We had to be like that for twenty four hours. In the night it was endless. In the day it wasn’t too bad as we could see the surrounding trees. Quite a few times we were mortared and of course this hastily dug trench wasn’t deep enough for protection.  I heard a mortar shell coming down and I really thought it was going to land on top of us five frightened men, but it landed with a terrific thud (it didn’t explode).  Was we relieved. 

      Of course now and again one man would leave the confines of this trench for the call of nature.  You couldn’t stand up, especially in the day time , because you would be spotted by a sniper, so there was all sorts of antics - undoing your braces and so on, balancing on your elbow in a crouched position and doing the best you could, perhaps doing your business laying down etc.  I don’t remember army training telling you had to go about that problem.  One had to be quite a contortionist to perform this exercise.  Forget about the rules of hygiene in this situation, days went by when we couldn’t wash our hands let alone anything else!!  But I was surprised how fit we were.  Our Officer* told us a little dirt won’t hurt if you swallow some."

*Lieutenant Dick Williams

 

Anthony Rampling described how even in the main trenches you could hear the Germans at night moving vehicles and equipment. "It was very nervewracking." In front of the wood there were small fields (dense ‘bocage’) with thick hedgerows where the Germans could hide. The wood was coppiced (regularly cut over to provide small timber) so didn’t provide very good cover.

He also spent time lying flat in an outpost:

Listening

          “We had to do 24 hour stints on an outpost, which was out on a hedgerow ahead of the trenches and, during that time, we hadn’t had any food and we had a phone so we rang and said we hadn’t had any food and Lieutenant Williams, our troop officer, crawled out with some food and to get the food out to us it was tied up in string and he carried it in his mouth to crawl out to this outpost.

          I think he was very brave to do this because he could have been sniped by the Germans at any time.”

Eric Brewer was "At harbour going out to STAND to position" on 25th July and the next day "Still at harbour, moved off in afternoon to the old position" so presumably the outpost again.  He'd written home that "we are not really needed out here as they don't want you for Recce...Gerry is so close to the front line you cannot get any nearer him". Gerry certainly was at Briquessard! 

Like Dick he'd obtained some supplies from the NAAFI van "we have also been issued with ... a bottle of beer, chocolate, spearmint, razor blades, envelopes and writing paper for 50 Franks or 5 shillings...the fags are 4 pennies for 10." Also "We are having some fine weather here, except for a couple of short showers its been perfect...At the present moment the sun is out and I have made my bed down in a slit trench."  The censor for Eric's letters was A.R.Stone who later received the Military Cross for action at the bridge over the Escaut Canal in Belgium on 4th September 1944. (Extracts from Eric Brewer’s diary and letters included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)

 

26^th July 1944- After five months fighting the Battle of Narva (now the third largest city in Estonia, right next to the Russian border) Soviet forces finally capture the city from the German occupants.

 

The Battle of Guam

21^st July 1944 – American forces land on Guam, the largest and southernmost of the Marianas Islands, in the western Pacific.  Eventually almost 55,000 US troops are landed here while the Japanese have a defensive force of nearly 20,000.  The Battle of Guam lasts until 10^th August, with fierce fighting and 7,500 Japanese are still at large on the island after it had been secured for the Allies.

 

Eric Brewer was actually having a bit of a holiday - his diary for the 21st July says "At rest camp - taking it easy" and on 22nd: "Still there. Visit beach, went to Paclam" (sic).  In letters home (dated the 20th) he writes: "Well at last I am at the rest camp for three days and enjoying it.  You can do what you want to do and there is also a cinema, a theatre, games and writing room...I have even sent my washing to the local laundry here, which is run by French girls" "Doing nothing as usual and enjoying my rest at this new camp.  Went for a bath this morning and the pictures last night and expect to try horse riding tomorrow."   Later he wrote "slowly getting quite used to this French language but about the only thing I can't get used to is the lack of pubs, and cafes with nothing to eat in the place."  (Extracts from Eric Brewer’s diary and letters included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.) 

 

The Humber MKIII

On 12^th July Eric Brewer had "moved to a new position near 'Udler Bocad' (sic) Gerry mortaring, snipers active - Lt Peters just missed bullet." He was there for two days.  On 13th July two tanks were knocked out and another overturned with two crew killed and on the 14th "mortaring and snipers" were "still a nuisance".  On returning to base for a rest he wrote to his parents telling them he was "in Div 50th reserve and as usual doing nothing except sleep".  Also (on the 15th) that they had "just got our first bottle of beer from the NAFI and also white bread for one meal every two days, which works out at about two slices every two days." (Extracts from Eric Brewer’s diary and letters included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)

 

Sandy Handley returned to Bayeux sometime in mid-July:

“At the end of July we had to play an infantry role (see Briquessard) - by this time we had had our trusty Humber MK111 back in our troop. 

      We had had to go back to Bayeux to R.E.M.E. workshops again and were surprised when the officer at the workshops said “You’re lucky”. Although he’d said previously they wouldn’t have any spares for our Humber MKIII they had found a drop arm off an old ambulance and repaired our car (a transplant so to speak).  I found out from our driver a drop arm was a part connected to the steering mechanism.  

      So we waved cheerio to the boys at the R.E.M.E. and Bayeux. I wished I’d got a specialist trade like the R.E.M.E. but their job wasn’t always safe at base; their job became pretty hazardous sometimes, towing knocked out tanks out from the front under fire.  

      Now we’d got our Humber back we felt a bit more settled - Dan, our Corporal, surveying the scenery as we went along, and the driver (I can’t remember his name, may have been Bill or Bob), and me sitting on the gunner’s swivel seat with the Bren gun on the mounting, which was attached to the small turret.  No press buttons or levers here.  Whatever way I wanted to point the Bren, I shuffled my legs and hobnailed boots to move the top of the turret around.  

      The large Humbers had a 37mm and 1 & 2 machine gun and were swivelled around by a handle.  I’d had training on these in England, both for gunnery and radio procedure. Everything was noisy: the engine was at the rear and the loud mush from the radio jangled my nerves a bit.  I can’t remember having earplugs issued; the noise was nerve racking.  The light Humber was much quieter.” (From Ex Trooper S Handley’s ‘61 Recce - Memories of Normandy 1944 – 1945’, unpublished)

Caen

9th July 1944 – In Caen the Germans withdrew from the north of the city overnight to a very defensible front line on the south side of the River Orne, including the high ground of the Bourg.  The Allies advance through the rubble of the city to the Orne and now hold most of the city. (From 'The Drive on Caen, Northern France 7^th June -9^th July 1944’, a 60^th Anniversary booklet.) 

 

50th Division are involved in another failed attack to take Hottot-les-Bagues, south-west of Tilly-sur-Seules. 

Eric Brewer's diary for 9th July records that he: "Moved to Grainville.  Infantry took it and we have a forward position."  He had also written home again that he was "Still at base taking it easy...I see that you have sent me on some more cigarettes...if you send me anymore I will have to send them back home as I have more than I can smoke now; I bought 400 before I came to France and also have about one hundred besides...but the writing paper and envelopes are always welcomed, also the toothpaste". (Diary and letter extracts included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)

 

Russian advance in the East

8^th July 1944 – on the Russian front the German 12^th Corps surrenders with 57,000 men.  The Germans have now lost 300,000 men in three weeks. (From WW2-net Timelines.)

Operation Charnwood continues with American bombing and resumption of the ground attack from the north.  The British 3rd Division capture Saint-Contest to the north-west of the city and the Canadians, encountering fierce resistance further west took nearby Authie and then Cussy.  (From 'The Drive on Caen, Northern France 7^th June -9^th July 1944’, a 60^th Anniversary booklet.)

The Americans at last seize La Haye-du-Puits, on the western side of the western side of the Cherbourg Peninsula, level with Carentan (from ‘Overlord’ by Max Hastings, Macmillan 2016 edition).

 

For once Eric Brewer was away from the fighting: "Went to Bayeux for baths.  Had look round."  He wrote again to his parents "I looked round for something to send you but can't see anything worth getting, only a lot of junk."  He never let his family know quite how near to the action he got "I don't think they needed a Recce out here as the nearest we have been to the front line is approximately 5 miles so as for you saying look after yourself I am safer than the rock of Gibraltar".  Back home at Grays in Essex they were also facing danger from the V1 rockets "I hope the rocket bombs are not worrying you too much...keep looking out of the window and one of these times you will see me coming up the road and this time there will be no more khaki for me...I can't see how it can last to Christmas with the Russians pushing on as they are and the amount of stuff we and the Yanks must have coming into France...things will happen very soon, same as they did in North Africa, but our advance should be twice as fast so roll on, shall we say October eh?" (Extracts from Eric Brewer’s diary and  letters included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)

 

 

 

The Advance of the Allies

3^rd July 1944 – Soviet forces capture Minsk (now the capital city of Belarus), trapping the German 4th Army between the city and Berezina.

Japan finally calls off the Imphal offensive in India.  Matagachi's 15th Army has lost 55,000 men (half due to starvation or disease).  Allied casualties from the battles of Imphal and Kohima amount to 17,587 killed or wounded. (From ‘The Second World War’ by Antony Beevor, published by Weidenfield and Nicolson 2012)

In Italy French troops with the US 5^th Army take the city of Siena and forces of the British 8^th Army capture Cortona, both in Tuscany south of Florence.

In Normandy ‘The Battle of the Hedgerows’ begins as the US Army edge south through Normandy’s dense bocage country towards the strategic crossroads at St-Lô, losing many men.  After heavy fighting 82nd Airborne take the hill of Monte Castre near Haye-du-Puits.

 

Not only hedges blocked the Allies' progress. Anthony Rampling of Dick’s No 5 troop, ‘B’ Squadron, remembers:

“As we approached a cross road before Caen the whole road was blocked with dead horses in their carts.  The Germans did this to make it difficult to get past.

One horse with a broken leg, still alive, was standing among the debris.  I tried to shoot this with my Sten gun, fired several times but didn’t kill it.  This upset me – still does.” (From Anthony Rampling’s account of 61^st Recce - pers comm.)

 

Eric Brewer got back to base on 4^th July and wrote home that he was “sending on these two French notes which were issued to us on Invasion day.  We are getting issued with different ones now so perhaps you would like these two for souvenirs...”.  (Extract from letter included by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family.)

Bread and Death

“By the last days of June the Battle for Normandy had taken on the character that it was to retain for the two months that followed: a struggle involving more than 1,000,000 men pitted against each other on a front of scarcely 100 miles.”  (Max Hastings in ‘Overlord’, Macmillan 2016 edition.)

30^th June 1944 - Since D-Day, the Allies have landed 630,000 troops, 600,000 tons of supplies and 177,000 vehicles in the Normandy beachhead. They have suffered 62,000 dead and wounded.

The remaining 6,000 Germans in the Cherbourg peninsula surrender. (From Chronology of World War II and WW2-net Timelines.) 

The German II-SS Armoured Corps, now assembled around Villers-Bocage, continue to receive the attentions of Bomber Command. Low intensity fighting persists south-west of Caen for the next nine days. (From 'The Drive on Caen, Northern France 7^th June -9^th July 1944’, a 60^th Anniversary booklet.)

 

Eric Brewer was still back at base and had just got paid: “Went to local farms and obtained 1lb butter and about 1 gallon of milk. Had a couple of chickens from bombed house - not so bad. Gun fire tonight is heavy. Weather not too bad. Bags of aircraft flying about place called Therobrot.” (From Eric Brewer’s Diary by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family)

The extra food would have subsidised the ‘Compo’ pack rations “lightweight wooden crates, each containing rations for six men for a three day period.  The contents varied little, but the favourites contained bully beef or Spam, rather than the alternatives of stew or oxtail or haricot.  All packs contained greengage jam, cheese, greasy bacon, powdered milk, powdered egg, salt, sugar, hard tack biscuits, boiled sweets, cigarettes, matches and three pieces of very rough toilet paper per man.” (From ‘Beaten Paths are Safest’ by Roy Howard, Brewin Books 2004.)

 

Eric Postles remembered: “We were issued with 14 man compo packs consisting of tinned food and hard tack biscuits.  The latter often contained messages from the girls who packed them.

The compo packs were labelled A to G on the end of the box so you knew the contents.  The best held steak and kidney pudding, the worst ‘harricotted’ oxtail which seemed to have more bones than meat.

We used our stoves and Benghasis, cut-down non-returnable petrol cans filled with sand soaked in petrol for heating the food cans, washing ourselves and washing clothes.  For a bath you put one leg in the water at a time.  When the petrol sand went out you refilled it but if the sand was hot you would be surrounded by a cloud of white vapour.  We heard of people being badly burned if it ignited.  It never happened to anyone in our troop.”   (Extracts from ‘My War Years’ by John Eric Postles ISO used by kind permission of the author.)

 

According to Anthony Rampling cooking was done in a biscuit tin with a hole in the side. They filled it with earth, “poured petrol on it, set fire to it and cooked on the top.” (PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME!)

“Trying to exist was hard. Up front you couldn’t cook anything. We were given biscuits and chocolate you couldn’t bite – solid like rock.  We had tins of meat but no vegetables. We lived on tea - made in a bucket with Ideal milk and sugar all mixed in.  The biggest thing we missed was bread":

The stench of death

“Going on to food- one food we missed very much was bread.  There were no bakehouses going and I think it was three weeks before we got any bread at all and then not very much.  And going back about Normandy, with all the cattle and the dead and the bodies the stench from the beaches to Caen, the stench of death was horrific and it took a long while for it to leave you, really.”

 

Eric Brewer seems to have written two letters home that day (the cinema show may have been a re-assuring fiction?):

Friday 30^th (written on NAAFI letterform)

"Dear Mum Dad and all

Well here I am still at base taking it easy and hope you and all are keeping fine. What do you think of the Yanks taking Cherbourg? We should soon have the supplies pouring in now then the war will soon be over I hope. They say that there is a cinema show for us tomorrow, which I hope to go and see if lucky…

Got paid this morning the first time for four weeks but have no need to draw it over here, as there is not much to spend it on….

Your loving son

Eric XXXX

PS Are these stamps any good to you as I don’t need them out here and you do know that you do not have to put stamps on my letter just (ON ACTIVE SERVICE)"

 

30^th  (written on NAAFI notepaper in a NAAFI envelope marked on active service, postmarked 3^rd July 1944)

“Dear Mum Dad and all

Just received your letter glad to hear you are alright but wish you would not send me any cigarettes as I have more than I will ever smoke and if I want any they only cost 4p for 10 so it’s a waste of time you sending them to me so please don’t send anymore…..

I just stopped writing to go and see what the roar was and blimey there was so many planes going over that you can have no idea of the amount. They were as far as the eye could see going over for about 20 minutes; must have been about 400 – 500 planes. Makes you thankful that you are British, poor old Gerry, and now the artillery have started opening up on Gerry’s position….

Your loving son

Eric XXXX”

 

Carentan and Caumont

12^th June 1944 – US 101^st Airborne at last take Carentan at the base of the Cherbourg peninsula and the US bridgeheads from Omaha and Utah join up.  The Allies in Normandy now have a united 50 mile front-line, penetrating 5 to 20 miles inland from the beaches.  They have landed 326,000 men and 54,000 vehicles (from OnWar website).

Churchill visited Normandy  for the day, coming over from Portsmouth and meeting Montgomery on ‘Gold’ beach.

The US 1^st Division liberate Caumont-L’Éventé (the area Eric Brewer reached on D-day).  The village of Livry, to the north-east, is taken and cleared by the British 7^th Armoured Division but they are unable to capture Tilly-sur-Seules. 

8th Armoured Brigade launch attacks between Tessel and Bretteville from St Pierre but suffer heavy casualties.  50^th Division are ordered to hold the line from Point 103 – La Belle Épine and 8^th Armoured withdraw from St. Pierre. (From ‘The 8^th Armoured Brigade Break-Out from the Normandy Bridgehead June 7^th – 12^th 1944’ by Brigadier HJB Cracroft , Commander.)

Eric Brewer’s diary entry for 12th June reads: “Shifted to Tilly and opened up on by Spandau Squadron still active.”  He also managed to find the time to write to his family:

Tpr Brewer 14631319

B Squadron 13 Troop, 61^st Recce RAC, APO England

12^th June 1944 

Dear Mum Dad and all …

“we have not been able to write letters until today as they could not make arrangements until it was possible to get the postal side of things organised and they seem to be okay now”…

“Well I have not much news but as you can guess I am in France and keeping okay and everything is going okay. There is plenty to do and by the look of things the war can’t last much longer; don’t think no longer than Christmas at the most so cross your fingers and keep that kettle on.”

(From Eric Brewer’s diary and letters by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family)

 

12^th June 1944 - Alfred Rosenberg, Head of the Reich Ministry for occupied Eastern Territories orders the kidnapping of 40,000 Polish children aged 10 to 14 for slave labour in Germany under the Heuaktion.  (From World War 2 Net.)