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    Arter the Battle 1

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    Arter the Battle 1

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Téléchargez comme PDF ou lisez en ligne sur Scribd
    Signaler comme contenu inapproprié
    127 vues56 pages

    001 Normandy

    Transféré par

    Dudko210
    Arter the Battle 1

    Droits d'auteur :

    © All Rights Reserved
    Téléchargez comme PDF ou lisez en ligne sur Scribd
    Signaler comme contenu inapproprié
    sur 56
    PU BATTLE NUMBER 1 Edited by Winston G. Ramsey Printed, Published ond Distributed by Bate of Stain Prins International Utd, 3 New Plaistow Road, Swattord, London £15358, Telephone: 01-534 8833 ©copyright 1973 Aiter the Battles published quarterly on then tstn February, May, August nd Noverber Nese Devoe: SES Mcwane, § Pe do Vin, “Telephone 260 00 40, 26000 41. Acie etn Fetes Sone pay Wes Py. Es Co Bi aati i ie enone 6626, 65268 nor anarearSubscsons Eo Sy eae sie Eons Neg ten SON UEA feito aa tee CONTENTS NORMANDY 1944-1973 ‘Airborne Landings 2 4rd Division Aseault n Le Fresno Camily Airstrip 16 Consolidating the Bridget 18 Graye-sur Mer 4 ‘St Mere Eglise 35 Pointe du Hoo 8 WRECK RECOVERY ‘Wreck Investigation in the Welsh mountains a UNITED KINGDOM. Cabinet War Rooms 2 IT HAPPENED HERE. Oradour sur Glane 8 PERSONALITY Colonel James Stewart 46 PRESERVATION Joe Lyndhurst Collection cy WAR FILM Bartle of Britain 50 (ovr Picture: 1943 vintage Wye Joep restorog Sonera Parton's ven anen ite rd US ‘renin 844 Coat seen "ond at ‘teaptation we eat, the jap = seen on Owans ‘Such ear the Arsen Cemetery, Sone BPS Fight: Gueer Whe” beach Im Sword aes Prbtogrghed ns 17 Fernie hese vac on June, 94 Crp ‘Shoulder tosh wi the Bh Fide Company, Royel Engineers whcanded at +30 GWM Conve pages: Church taka taining in Southern Sma rea 42 NWA ‘Back cover CASA 2.11.0 of th Spanish Air Force *Aerim-engined Heinkels (Spite Productions. ‘The etre indebted othe aubos aed pushers athe fotoming books to uote exact ‘awn of D-Day oy Davie Howath, Colin Troan dae Pagacus hcg, Uta Beach The. Longest Day by Complue yan, Victor Cian Boi oe, SoMa Ea The Red Beat by Wary St. George Sounders, Gone Srowm sions Bain ISSN: 0306-154X QUARTERLY 1973 For a visitor to Normandy in 1973, the countryside will be one of contrasts. In some areas little trace of the devastation of 1944 remains ‘and extensive re-building has altered the face of some coastal and inland towns. On the sea-front, the British and Canadian beaches, Sword. Juno and Gold, have undergone the most redevelopment and’ many holiday chalets and villas have been built together with a sea wall on Queen Beach, the main assault beach of the 3rd British Division. The American beaches, Omaha and Utah on the other hand, remain largely as they were. Many sights remain t0 be seen virtually the same as in 1944 as our photographs show. We have tried to cover a cross- section of the landings both airborne ‘and land, British and American and the Royal Air Force side with the construction of an advanced landing ground, As near as possible we follow the action from the Ome river to the Cherbourg peninsular — the British 10 the American Sector. A word should be included at this point on the German defences. In 1944 it was believed that the coast was defended by the 716th Infantry Division whose strength was estimated to be 13,000 men, with 20 anti-tank guns, 60 other guns and a small force of tanks. Its efficiency compared with a first class line division was assessed at 40% in a static role and 15% in a counter- attack role. The 2st Panzer Division, 352nd Infantry Division. 12th SS. Division (Hitier Jugend) were also believed 10 be in the vicinity. All the coast towns and villages had been turned into strongpoints, artillery was in concrete em placements, roads had been blocked, anti-tank ditches had been dug. barbed wire and mines laid. The beaches were obstructed by several kinds of obstacles:—Timber ramps and stakes, (the remains of the latter can still be seen at low tide on some beaches), steel hedgehogs, steel tetrahedra, rafis and concrete box charges. These obstacles were fitted with Teller mines and waterproofed shells 10 explode on impact. Additionally large areas of the countryside were flooded on the Eastern and Western flanks of the Allied assault area Above: The, actual prserved map. on ‘which the’ “Overlord Supreme Com ‘ander ‘General Dwight D. Eisenhower Sd oleagustdeberated "he ponemant om Monde fToesday, 6th June 1844 Fight: Southwick House, now WMS Dryad Sr Ponemouth, which tas the. Supreme headquarters of the ‘Overlord’ operation, photographed 1873. 1G. Sergeant, Nautich NORMANDY 1973 The airborne landings 6th AIRBORNE DIVISION ‘The immediate task of the 6th Airborne Division was to clear and mark the landing strips for the following gliders. In the event 60 per cent of the gliders landing at night did so in the correct places. ‘Thereafter the Division’s primary tasks were to-— (a) Capture the bridges over the Orne river and Caen canal. (b) Capture the Merville Battery. (c) Destroy the bridges over the River 2 Dives at Troan, Bures, Robehomme and Varaville. All these tasks were carried out in spite of the wide scattering of the troops on arrival ‘THE ORNE BRIDGES ‘The attack on Pegasus Bridge—as rocalled by Major John Howard in the Book "Dawn of D Day" ‘The fight across the Channel was scheduled fo take one how and twenty-four ‘minutes. Om the other side of Howard, atthe Controle of the glider. was hie pilot, Sta Sergeant Wallwork Regiment, 'At 12.16 Wallwork half turned in the of the Glider Plot pilot's seat and. shouted. back. to. him: NCastingoft."" Howard called for silence, and the singing and talking died asthe order was passed down the two lines of men who sat Facing each other on each sde ofthe bay of the glider. The glider checked: the tow rope vas gone: asthe speed fell of, the roar of the ‘sind on the Minay structure also died, 0 3 Hiss which seemed like silence: and in the lence fears rove up which the cheerful noise had hel in check til then. The nose dropped and the glider swooped, bumping through the tom clouds. Brotheidge undid his safely belt find stood tp, with Heard and the platoon Sergeant holding him, and swung. open the forward door. Col air streamed in. The glider levelled out ffom the dive and banked steepy to the right, and peering down through the ‘open door into the darkness of space beneath, Howard glimpsed. fore. second. a. dimly fleaming Hbbon: the Caen Canal Hold tight.” Wallwork said and all the platoon inked arms and lifted their feet off the floor and sat there locked together, waiting "The concussion was shattering. The glider tore into the earth at ninety miles an hour, nd carsered across the tiny Held with 3 nose like thunder as timber cracked and split and it smashed itself to pieces. The stunning nole fnd shocks went on and on for t count of Seconds; and then suddenly fora spit second trenthing was perfectly still and silent. But tren in the stunned silence, training worked Howard found he had undone his bet nd was om his feet. The doorway had crumpled into wreckage. But in font of him was s jagged holein the gliders side and he went through ft heaefiet and fell on the earth of France, picked ‘himself up and felt his limbs or broken ‘bones and Tooked up and. there against the night sky, exactly and precisely ‘there it should have bem, Seenty paces away, tas the steel atie tower ofthe canal brie. Treatenant. Brotheridge, the platoon com sander, came running ound the tas he had fp" out of a hole on the other side. “All Fight?" hesaid. "Yes," Howard ssid. “Cary fn" Brotheridge shouted his platoon letter, Above. left: Gordon Highlanders | ap- roaching the Canal bridge on 9th June 41944" opposite M. Gondree’s restaurant, ‘now renamed ‘Pegasus Cate’. (IWM). ‘Above: The Shell sign has gone, but the bracket remains the danppe has Deen repaired, June Able, Able." to rally the men who were tumbling out ofthe wreckage, andthe aston began which they had all eearsed on bridges Ailorer England. A phosphorus smoke bom was thrown atthe pillbox by the bridge A ‘machine gun opened fre from i, but one man fan forward snder cover of the smoke and dropped a Mill bomb through the gun por, Sand the platoon serambled across the wire which the glider had demolished, up en bankment onto the road and with yl of ie Able they dashed arom the ridge aguinet the fie of second machin, gum on the fa side. Howard made forthe spot he ed named a his command por, followed by his radio operator Corporal Tappenden, and 3s Feran he heard a cash behing him, and then another the other two ders coming in. Soon above the noe of small arms fre he hesrd His Second and third platoons come. running through the darknes, shouting Baker” and "Chat not only to idenly themscve, but also because men shout by Instinct hen they charge ino a battle ‘The sentry on the bridge was a young German alld Helmst Romer,"and wien he sow the fst glider crash he naturally thought itasa bomber, beeause there were Neary ai raids going on in Cacn and along the coast, lind he had been watehing the sathaireraft fire. Nobody had tld him aarthing mor han fn ainrad was expected. So when men with faces charg acrox the brig at him hhe mas ftaly taken by surprise. He dived for {hetrenches:itwas the ony thing he could do. ‘There was no time forthe guard t0 {urn out, snuch les fr the whole plstoon to be ealed From their billet. But the NCO. ofthe ard fire the machine gun and shot down the Fist of the ‘men who’ mere coming acrovs the bridge. Then the wave of them broke into the trenches, and the garrison scattered and ran ‘Within three ‘minutes of the erath, the fate. The alder lng, stipe barween lanvile and Amfrevile photographed on 22nd June 1944, Ranvile's on the extreme right of the photograph. Just to the east imathe Chateau de Rane wtih th Sh Parachute Brigade ‘used a0" the headquarters. WMI Banks (wa Sh Bh Hs 4 i] Above: June 1973—the trees have gone ee iil ‘and anglers fish where the gliders landed. Pa 1 ARTO Loft: A close-up of transport cresing the ‘vidge, codenamed EUSTON |, on the Sth June 1948. Note tho gliders on the for Bani (WM). Above: After the Battle's joop outside the Pegasus Cafe, June 1973. Loft: River Orne bridge. A German thas replaced a French one on a track Sido of the var he re and cana only @ red yards apart at this pont. WM) ‘Above: June 1973—The original bridge, ‘which the Army called EUSTON I, has Boon replaced "by" fourlane modern structure. tack had succeaded. Engineers searched for he demolition wiring. and_ disconnected i The charge itself had not been put in place: they found afterwards ina store by the tidgehead. With the bridge im thelr hands, the infantry went on to clear out the houses beyont i One man fom the eating platoon fame back scros the bridge 0 tel Howard they were through. By Howard's side. Cor poral Tappenden was trying to call the other Fait of the, company which by then” should have landed at the Ome Bridge down the fads But he could not get an anewer. Then SS “Tappenden tooked up from, his radio and shouted: ye rise them, sie They got te ter brie The attack onthe Ome Bridge had been a walkover. The landing had not been "30 reise asthe landing atthe canal. One glider tas close to the bridge, but the next was a quarter of mile away. The thied was east off from its tug in the wrong plac, nnd landed teyond the marshes of the Dives, Even the fit of the three was a minute oF two behind the rst a the canal, and the leading platoon, fommanded by Lt Fox. got tothe brdge just {n'time to ee the German defender ning {or their ves One of Fox's NC.O.s amped into an empty machine-gun post an turned tun against the. retreating id fis were the only shots which The attack on Pegasus Bridge is probably cone of the moct well-known ef the D-Day ‘operations. The bridge remains today exactly ‘ari was when the gliders landed at 12.20 on D-Day morning. Three of the gliders landed ‘nthe Bank beside the anti-tank gun atilin ts fomerete pit. They were stl ther in ave 1940. ‘The river bank hes changed slight and some trees removed. but the cafe owned by M. Gondree, where the casualties were token, sl remains, proudly displaying a cerieate from the. War" Office revording that they ere ‘probably the first French citizens liberated by fhe British Arm: “The Ome river bridge. a few hundred yards down the read. was replaced by a new bridge feo Sears ago. The tracks at the side of the river-and canal used By the troops to reach the ther Bailey Bridges, which wore subsequent Constructed, ae sul visible and ome has Been ‘made inte major read 9 Outstreham. Eight {dlitional Bulle bridges were constructed— TAY I end 2, LONDON T and 2. YORK dnd 2, and TOWER ! and 2 over the canal find “the river Orne ‘between Cacm and Onistrehaom. Nothing ts lft of them but the Spproaches to some are sll visible in the tindergrowth Troarn bridge ‘To protect the left lank ofthe bridgehead, five bridges over the River Dives were to Be Blown by detachments of te ed Parachte igade together wth sappers “The most important ofthe bridges, and the farthest away, was the oae where the main road from Caen to. Roten and. Le. Havre {tosses the iver just beyond the small town of Troam. "It was planned that a t00p of engineers under Major J- C. A. Roseveate, protected by infantry. should dash for this Fridge while the Germans were stil confuse. ‘They were to cary thelr explosives in jeeps with trailers, which were (0 land in glides Bur this plan went astray. “The troops dropped cn time, at 1,80; but when Roseveare came 10 earth e could not See any landmarks which he knew. Wt seemed {ohim, as he stood in the dark ins eld which hhe could) not recogelse, that aircraft’ were coming in from every direction and dropping Parachutists from every unit in the division ome gliders were landing nearby, but not the aliders which were carrying his Jeeps. A mile Sway to the south.west there were sounds of fighting. and he guessed righly that the last men oul ofeach of his sireraft were already ‘involved with the Germans. However, he allied what men he could, and they collected all the equipment they could find. Atength, he had six officers and about forty other ranks: but of the protecting in fantty thete were only twenty men and no fiers at all; Between them, they gathered tap plenty of explosive, bu there was nothing {o carry iin except trolleys which had to be hauled’ by hand "This rather forlom and yet determined party se off about halt past we, under mortar tnd machine gn fr, co haalthe toleys up Steep hillin one ofthe winding Norman lanes. Many of ‘them were already imping. from Injures ofthe drop: Before long, they came to a.cross-roads with a signpost which confirmed ‘Troarm Bridge was seven miles away, "There was very litle hope of hauling the trolleys 0 far before dawn, and no hope at ll, Ofcourse, of hauling them through the town in daylight inthis unpromising situation, a motor was heard approaching. and a jeep with traler fppeared! from the darknete"H wae not aa Heep, it belonged tothe RLA.M,C., and it sees fill of medical stores: but ifthe RCA MLC. fen had "wanted to arg, they would Probably not have had much chance. "They Sumrendered. their jeep, and the engineers turned cut the medial stores in a timber yard, and Toaded it with explosives. (Photo 1) By then, it was four o'clock: just over am hour to dave, and five mies tl @ Troan. There was no time to think about anyone on foot. Rose Neate dispatched the greater part of is force commanded "by Captain "Juckes, "across country to the Bridges at Bures. He himself took the wheel ofthe jeep, and pile om the Jeep and trailer one officer and seven other men. Including them, the load was aton anda quater. They drove off slone down the lane inte country where no" British troops had landed. “Thee frst encounter was ata level crossing ‘The gates were open, but there was a barb wire Barrer actos the Toad, and. Roseveare rove into it before he saw. Photo 2) A German sentry fred a single shot and ran ‘sway. The jeep was so tangled in wire that it fook twenty minutes” work to cut ft free: 3 tense twenty minutes, forithad to be assumed thatthe sentry had gone to cll a goatd. Clear of that obstacie they reached the main oad fn the edge of the town. and Roseveare tent two scouts ahead. Av the scouts reached the ‘our-raad, a German sldier rage past om 3 Loft: LONDON II, which was a Class 40 Bailey pontoon bridge, 300 yards to. the south of the Orne bridge in 1948. (TWH). It ‘took 80 hours to build. Below: The site of YORK II, erected over tho River Ome between the main bridge and the ‘sean 25 hours. The approach {rack can just be seen in the foreground, Sine 1973: 7 ‘4. The road through Troam. bicycle, (Photo 3) They pulled the unlucky ‘mn off his bicycle, and Because he bepan to ‘Shout they killed him: but the folshiy digi tvith a Stem gun and’so gave the alert tothe ‘Stealth was useless after that; Roseveare trod onthe gas and they went into town at full Speed, but the overloaded. jeep and. taller sould only do about thiry-fve miles an hour, Snd it seemed to be crawling. Soon they were Under fire fom the houses Sapper Moon had SSinehow been lef behind: the. remaining ‘Sven passengers all fred back with Sten guns Soda Bren. Ata bend in the road they saw the long. wide, straight main stret of the town Stretched out for a mile before them, dows Sonate the bridge. Phono 4) There the fring war intense! every doorway seemed. 0" be hiding « German with some sor of gun: 2 Sone of tracer came up the street, towards them. Roseveare drove on. with his foot hard ‘Soun on the floorboards, The overloaded jeep {Sound sony forward. The passengers blazed Seay in all directions. It was the hill which Shed the situation. On the downward grade the jeep picked up speed, went faster and faster, swerved from se to side of the toad as the taller swayed behind, and tore out of the town and down to the river valley pursued by thors of heary machine gun. The) came 10 the. bridge, and found it had. not been funded. (Photo 5) Sapper Peaches. who had Siccl as tear gunner with the Bren, had Gisappeared; none of them Knew if he ad them shot or had fost his balance and fallen SH the tale. ‘They unloaded 39" General, Wade charges, and five minutes later the job seas done and’the centre span of the bridge had dropped in the river. leaving a. gap of almost 0 fect. They drove the Jeep up'a side track (Photo 6) as far ast would go and then ‘itched it/Phovo 7) just asthe sun was rising, find by wading through bogs and swimming rer crecks, they reached the airborne perimeter again that afternoon. Tater in the moming another Set. Shrubsole fought thelr way back to the bridge and. afer capturing ive prisoners, temblished the next span, leaving 40 foot tip. together with sinking some: boats and pnts im the river. ‘The new bridge which is to be seen today was only completed recently. The old Bralge tras afive-span masonry arch bridge. The Timber yard where the medical sores were lunloaded from the jeep can be seen. but the Ievelcrosing and Paibvay track disappeared inthe fies, However, the postion of the Borbed wie barrier can be ascertained from the old station, sll Handing. One can aso follow the track down which Major Reseveare arty under 6 7. Probable site of the ditched jeep. drove the jeep and finally ditched it Ths ison the northside of the road, 100 yards west of the bridge BURES ROAD and RAIL. BRIDGES Bures road and ralvay bridge were both destroyed by a group from Major Reseveare’'s party of the dn Parachute Brigade ‘After leaving Major: Roseveare's party, Ccaprain Juckes ted his men to the badges Sich they reached opposed about 6.30 aim. Work immediately Narted to demolish the two Bridges, Lieutenant Shaves" group wrorked on the road bridge and Lieutenant Forster the ravay ridge Bath bridges mere town at9.30a-m and a punt aso sunk. They Sho ted to unload a jeep and sit pounder fin from lider which had crashed. in the yer 100 yatds from the railway bridge but ‘ou secs. Below: The new road bridge at Bures, Bui in 1943, to replace thet destroyed in the attack a’ yeor ear. 6. The track The raibeay over the bridge was @ cow tinuaton of the line through Troan and has recently been removed. The bridge is now teed by @ focal construction company “The road bridge 200 yards along the river bank which was destroyed, was light ste! {inter type and the prevent stone Bridge was but” By the ‘French’ in 1948. The glider Crashed midway between the two Bridges in the rive. king towards the ral Below: The glider crashed into the river at this point. Merville battery ‘To the th Battalion had fallen the, most dangerous mission ofall, the destruction of fhe coastal battery neat Merve. The bat. {alin was under the command of Lieutenant {Colonel T. B. H. Otway, Royal Ulster Ris ‘Otway received his orders on April 2nd and fad therefore only two months fo rehearse the ‘operation for which he was allowed carte blanche. A'spot in England at West Woodhay ear Newbury. where conditions were very Eimilar fo thove subsequently encountered ia Normandy, was chosen. Twas good fagneuiterai Tand_ in fall production, "but ‘Otway obtained the use of iin forty-eight See eee eee miter Steuer ding beng ag hen fon ae Bape gi ae ea sep fey Noone Scere ean ctl ee ae ree aed ay tate nce Sie Neen tee opr oa ed Solel ee epee eles Ser aa aed ty, veh te battery. Such elaborate precautions interfered ‘sith the ves ofthe local inhabitants, most of ‘Thom ook them in good part "Bots number fer to maintain the Hehe of property. had {o'be pacited by drinks in the mess” Rehearsals by day and night were fequent Man were corfacad with tne amma, {nd continaed until evry one ofthe they fe fcers ands hundred other ranks com pening the batalon knew exactly that Ris far was and how to play On Set May the Bitalion "was "moved, to Broadwell” and trite ‘The bricing lated ve days, and very man attending was required to submit to fis immediat superior his wm aketh, drawn clearly be soon. (IWMI, from memory, ofthe postion he was to occupy. Inaddition othe assault bythe th Batalion three gliders, carrying volunteers’ fom Sth Batallon and Now 9f Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers, were to eashland on the top of the battery, regarding which a arge tount of information had. been collet ‘The guns were sad to be of 150.mm. calle ‘mounted in coneete emplacements twelve feet High and five feet deep facing north-west, The Concrete ite was si fet it inches thick, Sind" in addon earth twee” feet thick Smounded two ofthe eauemates, Acces 40 them was. by means of ste doors. The Strength ofthe garrison was thought fo be two ind al ranks was in fact ome hundred fnd thirg). ‘The colonel commanding them tras a newcomer, the previous occupant ofthe pst having lost through his lone of the Eotue‘Tis ha ted him fo indulge in many excesses of which the final and fatal was « Roe fn the switc-back merry-go-round at the iccalfirnear Merve Asoon ashe was well aboard one ofthe ears, the local inhabitants ibe the omer of the svc bck to keep {continuous motion fora long ashe cou For upwards of two hours the German Colonel deathly sick, was whirled up and town and round and round. When at ist Stopped he was taken tis bilet ina state of collapse "To defend their guns the garrison disposed gfseveralmackineute nd ne Gul porpne D-mm. gun. Some twenty wespon pits were Plott oh the air photographs, Nor was this the" postion, which measured ap: imately Tour hundred yards. by_ four ondred was surrounded bya cate fene, ands minefield one hundred yards wide founded on its inner side by a concerti fence of barbed wire Hen et thick and five feet high, sslated mineiclds had. been laid cos likely approaches tothe Batey. a fn anitank ditch, for hundred yards ing, dug on the west and northwest. If ever Selenders could claim that they were holding an impregnable positon, the garrison of the ‘artery at Merve could surly dos. Around iton every side were open fii and orchards, mach steed tothe south by bomb caters, for Bomber Command had been very active and had attacked the battery more than once ‘Xoring two direct hits on a casemate, nether ‘oF mhich had penetrated the concrete. IC'vas ‘essential for the. battery to. be destroyed half an hour before the first assault ‘This ie the area south of Inkpen in Berkshire in 1973, where the dummy battery was constructed for the rehearsals before the operation. The line of the anti-tank ditch that ‘was dug, can stil be seen, ai iia, ae ae tzat tuched dorm on the beaches The ed "saa sogping anes, feo Hocadan abe ry, tn i ee Tae eee tet sn oa tm wa a0 Rous ack te eauecoaf the ey Ustubesia ye Ray va he SSSR hate Dia Nope 88 Sst nats a ange a 03 AOR stg he Sal euro Tai tea cea oe TReplmel etek wat elsbrte aed Oxeay nae eer denier aa Oe Se oe aoa at neta te ee Sept pry ate ands Soe esmnndan pry. op Foy Stone ocr tad eit oer take Show Sonnet tate es at Sapa, sal he eer tnae Seared he'd sal ey tte ier etek eter aks oe Sees eo a tne at seer a atte Sal Baer each mane a mpey sme Engrs gap rao ie UMingupamonhe la ben. feadi Neer ence pay fod nth Bes om tad at tad Seed ar eho i Spat Se Ea re ead Seen fa payee oe or fem he aan as Fens atta at ae Boer Sah Maakeap "a ees fteping apa Uheary equipment. shih tncudel Home hrowcrs. two. si-pounder fnt-tank guns and the jeeps loaded with Smmuniton, sealing’ ladders, Bangalore {orpetoes and Gurtumin fotbridger plan was as follows The rendezvous ‘ongamisttion “and” battery reconnaissance artes, fem stong, were to land oman Rifemare’msk ne Gcping ae ond econo a route tothe bate} through He ‘Eitrce "Between (0090 hour and 0.00 fours very Reany weight of fourthousand: und bombs was tobe dropped bya hundred [Eneaster During the bombing the ger clement carrying te spel equipment as 0 itn as close as Could he battalion feinderout and have Unloaded this cago in Tie ort battalion tomate us of K xn it Aropped. The taping party wat also to land Sed Sguipped with Pash mine detectors, to ‘tear tree paths trough the mineild. The Sommander of the rconnaisane patty wat {Sime the bataion ats crores orth {ast ofthe silage of Gonnevie and lead to {tim Dave which he had previously chore, fd which may fo be abou three hundred Yards ouside the perimeter tothe south-east jon wae detailed t0 breaching platoons, thee in number which formed the breaching company. ts task was to blow gaps in the wire. whereupon the reserve and assault companies following the {Spe were to dash through and to. make Straight for the battery, protected by tro Sniping paren. The main attack Was t0 De Gslnered from the south-east with demonstration against the eae fing north ‘Thethree gliders which were to crash on tap of the battery mere to be released at aight of SS thowsind fet at O424 hours, one and ¢ half minutes later a bugle was to. sound reveille, whereupon mortars ffom the firm fue wosld fie tar shells to ilminate the {ange AOS 28 nous the bugle would sou the Falk in’ which woul be the inal for al fie to cease. ‘The fist glider was to Tanda (8,30 houry, and the bupler wou then blow ‘Tights out to stop the fring of sar shells Naval bombardment paris In touch with HLMSS. Aredhusa, ordered to open fie on the battery 405.30 hours if the assault fated, ‘were to drop withthe battalion. As soon as the Battery was captured, yellow flares were to be Ti and the battalion would then move af 4s firm base, eorganise and set out for the igh ground on which stood the vi Pisin" block the roads leading cxville Plage 0 Le Plein and Feadquarters at Safenlies Such was the objective and uch the plan for seizing i It was explained yet again (0 every ‘cet and an st the Binal beefing by the ‘commanding officer. He was followed by the RAT “sation commander, who, having ‘wished them all god luck, committed himse tothe ash statement that his plots had never mmised a dropping. sone or been tacking one. “twas lucky foe him Se who survived Yo write am account of hat Happened, "That there was no chance of any diacussion on this point after the operation ‘On the morning of th lane dhe Reverend i Gminnete CE the batalio’s chaplain, Snducted a drambead service at which Special Pegasos fag, made by the Women's oluntary Senices si Oxford, was dedicated Ikan ofered by the men of the Permanent Staff of the Transit Camp who a5 a result of parachute operations were no longer fit for ction. Gwinnetts diacourse, which was mont moving. wasn the theme ‘Feat knocked at ith opened it and there was 4 ET Two of the empty. empl photographed in lune 1873 “The glider assault force and the rendervous and” reconnaissance parties took off from Biize Norton and Harwell the rest of the attain earir at 2.10 hours Alt went well intl four minutes from the dropping zne, when ‘moderate anairerat We was Countered This was particularly unfortunate, foe'many of the pilots who. were already finding h hand to distinguish beeen. the ‘mouths of the Ome and the Dives, begun fo {Eke evasive aston, to the great perl and Alacomfort of thelr passengers A man with an, tlahty-pound load and a parachute on top of {eCannot climb quichy to his feet again if he hasbeen thrown down nthe confined space of fn aireraf's Rselage, and when the green ibis came om the men composing many of the sticks were sl alling onthe floor. In the ‘esl the battalion, instead of being dropped a concentrated area, one thousand "ine hundred yards by eight hundred, was spread ‘erty square mis of Normandy, one stick Sing asta away as thirty miley fom the battery. On. the other hand. the battery econaiseance. and’ rendervous. parties {topped at their corect time and onthe ht Spot They at once set about laying out thee igs and signs, andthe reconnaissance party moved in Garkness towards the battery, narrowly” escaping elimination ffom the thower of fourshourand-pound bombs Sropped by the Lancaters. Not one of them Ai the target but a number of cattle in the nearby fields were kiled and wounded ‘Orway himself. Hike many of his men, had ‘en funy untimely out of his Dakota a was taking evasive action. His knowledge of the ai gine bythe say of mapa and photographs, enabled hm to recognise the Epoch he was aati a and waa ran headquarters. He and two men, of Som one was his batman, flint the garden side fy and were at once fied at by the Germans insite wo fortunately stem $0 have teem armed with nothing more lethal than sas. One ofthe parachutist silenced this Resade by throwing brick through the window, which the Germans evident Iistook for a grenade. Orway's batman rough the glass roof ofthe greenhouse Dut teas able fo fejin him at the rendezvous ‘On reaching it Otay found a condition of afare which might wel have. quelled Souter heart To quote from his staccato ial report: “By 02:50 Nours the battalion ‘Nig (N) 0S 2.404 SdyOD Of S3JHDV3d LINVSSV JHL had grown to one hundred and fifty strong svth twenty lengths. of Bangalore torpedo. Each “company was approsimately thirty strong. Enough signals fo carry on—no three inch mortars--one machine gun~-one half of fone sniping party—no sx-pounder guns—n0 jeeps. or trailers or any \plider_stores—no sappers—no field ambulance, but six unt medical ondelier—no mine. detectors—one Company commander missings The com ‘minding officer decided to. advance. im mediately 'AY Company was in the van, followed by ‘Onwas and such of his battalion headquarter. {aha arrived. Then came a small numberof the diversion party. then thiey men of "B" Company with some, Bangalore torpedoes, ‘They were followed by twenty men of CCompans. the battalion medical officer, and the medical orderies "This small ut very resolute force set cut along county lanes and tracks bordered by high banks and. thick Ihadges, om the other side of which could be seen the dim forms of apple trees heavily laden. They hated often ¢o make sure by the light ofthe moon that they were moving inthe ‘ght diiection, and atone moment suc Cesetlly slipped. by a patrol of the enemy ‘On the way to the form base they metas arranged, the battery reconnaissance party Under Major G. Smith They had eut the outer fate fence. penetrated the minefield, and {in for half am hour beside the concertina ttre, spotting the enemys posts by listening to the talk and coughing of the semis. During {heir approach 10 the minefield an enemy patrol had pasted within two feet ofthe ditch Inwhich they were crouching. They had in due course been joined "by the taping party commanded by Captain P. Greenway. It had ro tapes or mine detectors, but had marked the way through the minefield by scratching heelimarks in the dust. These taaks had been Accomplished without a. single casualty, ‘hough the officers and. men employed on them had hag to crawl forward on their hands land knees. feling for ip wites, of which Several were encountered 'AL04-30 hours the batalion reached the firm base where BY Company was divided into {wo breaching teams and "A" and. 'C Companies were joined together into. one assault force consisting of four parties each of twelve men. one party for each gun of the battery. So far the enemy had made no sign, but hardly had Orway and his men reached {hele iem base when se enemy machine-guns. all outside the_ perimeter, opened fie. and four ‘more from inside it There was one ‘Vickers machine-gun with the assault force. and. this successflly silenced three of the German machine-guns on one flank while the dlversion party. now only six men under Sergeant Knighi. performed a similar task on ‘the ght Manon thele way tothe main pat "At this crucial moment tea of the three sliders careying the special assault party could be seen circling low over the battery. tacet from the 20-mim. guns pouring into them. The 10 third lider had not arrived, forthe tow-rope Bite cary and iad "tad tnd te ngland to the chagrin of its occupants. The two gliders which feached the battery were piloted by Stat’ Sergeants 8. C. Bone and D. E."Kerr, Bone’s glider. with Captain R. Gordon-Brown on board, had beet severely strained in” mid-Channel ‘by the sudden ‘pening of its parachute arester gear. Tt and Se tug. with ilo Officer Garnett at the controls, had also Been repeatedly hit by anti feraf fie, ut this didnot prevent the combination from circling the battery four times before the glider was release. "The plan for illuminating the battery with star shlle had gone awry. for there were no ‘helt nor mortars from which to fire them, fand StaffSergeant Bone in consequence at first mistook the village of Merile for the battery. He turned avay in time, but landed four miles from the ‘objective. All within disembarked “unhurt and under Gordon: Brown presently reached Le Mesnl where they fought Tor two days in defence of brigade headquarters and then rejoined the battalion. al flag made by the futary Services. Twas With them was the 9 (Oxford: Women’s Vi ‘Stall Sergeant With four men hit on board from anti-aircraft fire, and with his glider beginning” (0 smouler, he prepared to land ina large Feld {wo hundred yards from the casemates, ‘The ‘wheels had indeed touched ground, when cut Uf the darkness loomed # fange white board wth the word. ‘Miner’ written on i and decorated with a skulland crosbones. Pulling tack the control columa, Kerr lifted the gli ‘over the fed and the hedge and sunken road beyond. He then crash‘landed in an orchard some two hundred yards east ofthe fire base He and his passenger, the wounded included, with Lieutenant A.” Pond at their" head ‘tumbled out of the glider, which had lost Loft: A general view of the area in 1873 from the contral track Bolow: "A close up showing the thick covering of earth which protected and emoutlaged the fourgun battery. both wings and was on fie, and immediately engaged platoon ofthe Ist/736th Reyiment tthe 716th Division of the German arm ‘The ensuing fight lasted four hours, but the Germans were never able to come to the help ofthe batterys garrison of the glider we the signal foe ‘he gapa inthe wire tobe blown. The assault pares then moved against the battery. Dut Homis, for bomb craters, wire and mines ston the ay Ning, however coud op the indomitable troops whose average age Was twenty-one-—most of them, be it remembered Inaction forthe fist time Th due course they sche the gone and engage in hand and ‘combat with the German. gunners Those ‘rene outy "until one, f ‘them happened to catch sight ofthe badge on the battle smock of the parachutist. "Falshirm ager’ The yelled, Whereupon he and. is remaining comrades lost Heart and surren ‘ered. "Three guns were destroyed by, Gammon bombs; and one by fring two shells at once through ‘the. barrel. The destruction “was check by Liestenane Mowing thou ‘mortally wounded. The sucess signal was lit halfan hour betore HLMLS. Aredhuse was due to begin the bombardment, and to. make Certain that thelr viciory should be made mown, Lieutenant J. Loring, the Battalion signals officer, pulled somewhat crumpled jgeon from the blouse of his bat- 1 duly n ‘he battalion aid post, setup in a em close by. Twenty of them were Sretcher cases. One officer had been kiled four wounded, and sixty-five other ranks Killed, wounded or missing, ‘The. wounded rere left wih Captain H. Watts, the medical tfc, and with German doctor and two fordelies, who took good care of them, ‘The guns captured and put out of ection were found to be'75 millimetres firing 1305 shells Tehich would have Beem of negligible effect 10 The invasion flet A good view ofthe Merville ‘Baers today can be had by walking along the track which runs from the right hand fork ‘oad tothe north of Sallenlles. Mine clearing ‘was sl proceeding in 1946 but today only cows occupy the area which was 50 heavily ‘defended n 1944, The antitank ditch in front fof the four casemate: has been fled im but ‘an be traced by the line of the hedge (N) Div | 973 3rd British Division assault on Queen beach We have chosen Sword beach in the British Saethe landing place forthe: Sth Brsh intanny Bread, THE PLAN “The map on this page shows the subdivision of Queen beach into Red, White and Green, ‘What perhaps isthe most famous ofall D-Day pictures was taken on White beach and ou se INF'BDE 181 INF ADE ZBI INF BDE gp INF BOE <> NY showing DIVISION of BEACHES & SECTORS [ecac wAINTENANCE AREAS SHOWN | SUN STAR MOON [3 CoN DIV oro 7 CON BOE 9 CON BOE Above: A Churchill tank and convoy of amore af Breche on D-Day Wl Rt ter he Bates jo ne 1873 [tne place har the tank ae parked tile page picture shows the each today ie a. planned that the nt South Lan cashires woul land on Queen White and the Sind East Vorks on Quen Red supported by DD tanks of the 13/18 Hussar (On each beach, four eis were to be made and fur zones, each of 25 yards, lesred of iach obstaccs. "The eight gapping teas {Sch comprised io fail tanks three AVRE'S BRITISH ASSAULT AREA [3 BRI 105 INF DE 8 INF BOE BUND Bia ike Pm y {one with bangalore torpedos and log carpet cond wis brigge andthe tira tobbin to lay matting tack) and ome ar ‘Poured angle-dvzr, andthe obstacle earng {eam of four fal tanks and four AVRE'S “Roath Demolion eae one pe nny assault company, were equpped with flones and fie towers fois agaat Soncrte emplacements surviving the tial tonberdment TeHour as et for 7.25 a.m. (different times forthe landings were set foreach beach, Scpendingon the positon ofthe obstacles and Sine of the tae THE DEFENCES The beach was strewn with wooden ramps and pots with mines attached and) Hegchogs. The beach was backed by duns tonto hen feet high behind which was 2 road Vilas ad oses with hear timed sandy tracks between thet fad tothe tamcoastal road which urs parallel with the teach Tui the road shows inthe ietographs withthe tram Toes at the side The tam lines were subsequently removed and concreted over o widen the road and no itaceof them can now besten: Inthe cente of thebeach here wara one ih pil-bores snd concrete defences surrounded by minefield STrre were no mioes onthe beach Rel Mest trincelds were marked by soties In Ger iran, someimes French at'wel and several Sommny""mineliess "with the” skull and crowbones MINEN sign were set up. ‘The Iiner often had plese of ste pte around theedges to delay clearance. The whale beach srs covered bythe henry shore batterie at Le swe bur the Allies planned to lay 8 smoke screen to hide them from the ‘THE LANDING ‘At H-Hour the landing craft approached the beach. They found the fist Ine of ob stacles in five feet of water because of the heavy swel, making clearance difficult. The fnemy was resisting heavily with small arms, morte and anti-tank guns. Many naval era hit mines as they attempted to land is difficult to determine who actually landed first. However we do know tht ofthe Intl gapping’ teams, seven landed. sue ‘ssfully-~ on the eighth the ist Mall tank fot ashore when the second was Ait and Jammed the landing craft ramps Engineers were soon at work with bulldorers clearing or crushing obstacles. Where possible they removed shells and mines 2 from the defences. Fail tanks were hit by gunfire as they proceeded up the beach and. ‘more were immobilised by mines sv they a tempted to. cross the. dunes. The tide was ‘coming in and as it did. confsion mounted, {8 mancevering room diminished. At the to, the slope ofthe each increased to a gradient DfT im'S and as the tide reached high water fonly soft sand was lef, which caused vehicles {obog down, having to be towed out The fist, ‘sap in the dunes was made on White beach, fone hour after landing. Casualties at this sta amounted to 0 per cent of the vehicles a realy 20 per cent of the troops, "The assaulting infanty arvived and for a time there was considerable disorpanisation as ‘amriers sheltered behind dunes. Exits were made for tracked vehicles on Red and White / Loft: The Churchil is on the right of the hotograph by the. coastal road looking front The arm hnes can caany be see tii: ‘Above: In 1973, now a pleasant seaside crossroads. beaches, which by H+2 hours had been txtended to four on White and three on Red beach. Later exits for wheeled vehicles were ‘made. Elements then started pushing inland to Hermanvile sur Mer ‘Our map shows the exits that were con: structed, and by D-+1 these were connected by'a Sommerfeld track laid along the beach in front of the dunes The photographs selected were all taken around he eros roads behind the exit marked Aon the map on the road leading to Her ‘mamville sur Mer ‘Of the eight gaps made in the dunes in 1944, only the position of thre on Qucen White and wo om Queen Red remain. A sea wall promenade" has been but over the sreater par of the dunes. Onl a the extreme astern end af Queen Red have the dunes been Ie and’ the and exit “remains tts Coriginal sate. Tt was comcreted @ few hours ‘ther touchdown ‘Many more holiday houses and chalets have ben built along the complete area Backing ‘the beach and changing huts erected between the dunes. Except for the eastern end. of (Queen Red all the concrete forifeations have Been removed. The occasional original house ASSAULT ENGINEERS’ PLAN Avoya: Gra atte Ae te Bale eam frimics the German prisoners, 29" years inter. m ” Left and above: “Caution left hand drive’ ‘The same spot 6th June 1944 —June 1973. [Above: This isthe position of gap G on the he proceding page” now in. Corporated into. a” new. seawall 13 ‘can still be discerned amongst the new (sce hocograph). (On DE? the Beach Sub-Area Commander var holding a conference in dugout om Red beach: Eight German airraft flew along the beach from Oulstrham. One was shor dow and landed just beside them by. a concrete teach marker. The remainder of the aircraft fevtisoned their bombs over Hermancile sur Mer. ‘After the landings a large sector stores timp behind coast road (aee map. had been bul up consisting of $00 tons of ammunition ‘and. 100,000 gallons of petro. On D8 a German aircraft dropped a stick of bombs ‘and blew it up. The ste has now beer buat ter —a large undergrowth covered mound ‘remains to mark the spo, “At the end of the war, wrecks tl remained con the beaches and on Red beach could be ‘Sten tc veasels and two on White beach. The ‘only ship that cam stl be seen. at lw tide, 1s the Erench cratser ‘Courbet". built in 1911 Which was sunk as part of the Gooseberry breakwaterto protect Queen beach. Although ttwas sunk in shallow water, because she wa ‘ving a triolour anda flag of the Cross of Lomeine, the Germans tied repeatedly to ht ‘They failed to understond the ship's true ‘purpose and on the night of 17th June it was forpedoed twice without. of course, affecting {er efficency a5 a blockship. ‘Above and lett: Present day villagors talk ‘Outside a house on the coast rood near Hlormanvie la Broche. (WM) 3 left: Present day location of the stores dump blown up in 1944, igen te a nebowen ieeoraatacre ahaa me Be amine ira errata Left: Antitank guns were soon dug in, and brdgelaying ‘anks are, parked, op- posite the cate, at Hermanwile sur Mer. fiw. ‘Above: An empty roed in June 1973. “ Lett Troops march past a memorial to an Getler war, in Hermarvile “sur” Mer ti. Above: June 1973, Lett: Captured German hotogrptiad on Dect in Hermans Inhebaants watch in silence. (WM). ‘Above: The same stret in 1973, now used By ‘holiday makers going to the bosch Left: A tank crew-man ond teach pace of the atn/ 38th Hucsas teads the burial service on 7th June 1944 in {2 shady orchard. (IWMI Above: After the Battie’ ‘the’ same spot 29 yer Aicielé and landing stip construction was considered f0 be one of the most pressing tasks after che inital landings so that airerat {ould operate from clone behind te front line To this end. Aira Construction Groups were detaled trom the Royal Enginees %0 Complete thre Kinds of aired" EMERGENCY. LANDING STRIPS {ELSA reasonably Nat piece of ground roughly prepared toa minimum of 1/800, feet in length. REFUELING AND REARMING STRI {RRS)—A minim length of 3.60 fet ‘sith two dispersal aeas each of 100 3 50 Sarde st each end XDVANCED "LANDING GROUND (ALG)For tighter 2 minimum Tength of 3600 fx 100 with dispersal for St Slrcraft For fighter-bombers a length ot B.000 ft was required, Irae planned to construct one ELS inthe Bc setor and two in the American on Day. In the event the Britsh one at Asn seas not completed. until D1 and oniy one of the American stipe was. operatonsl By DE 2857" aielas were planned. but only 18were able tobe completed by that due istrative of thee aireldy was the ALG constructed st Le Frese Camily, codenamed 16 NORMANDY 1973 BS, on 9h-I7th June. After discussing the layout with the RAF Commander, the site was fit reconoitered on June 7th: by. Captain Binney of No. 88 Construction Company on ‘motor cycle but asthe Germans were sll theares work could not start until D3. The ified was to be used by three squadsons of ‘Typhoon fighter bombers and. therefore a 51000 ferunway was necessary. The area wat scarched immeditely for mines, ater which ‘hart ut tanks and antl-landing posts were removed. Two ten foot hedges crossed the area Sewell as powerlines both of which had to be Sleated. Seraping, grading, rolling and fling ‘rere completed with mechanical plant, the [roup having tits Gsposal 4 motor graders, 4 Seht cubic yard serapers, 7 crawlers, 6 rollers, "blade graders and 16. threeton tipper lorries. Werk continued in two shifts i spite of” occasional selling. protection being ‘provided by the RAF Regiment Tevas planned to use a new form of Stel Mesh Tracking (SMT) which was “a wite meshing supplied in rolls which were Sub: Sequently clipped together and pegged to the fund. Altogether ver 100,000 square yards frere used at Le. Fresne Camilly although Inially thee was only enough SMT for the runway sel. This was laid atthe rate of 90 Sq. per man per hour. The first aircraft 0 the the strip was'a Dakota landing to evacuate ‘wovnded solders but thi raised such a cloud ‘of dust that's second. Dakota landing. im Modtately afterwards crashed into’ the frst fone. To solve the dust problem diesel oil was Sprayed on the runway but was not entirely Plans had to be made for damping with water jets “Thefirst RAF Typhoon squadron landed on June 17th and during Tly made 1,368 sorties from le Frese Camily destroying over 100, fnemy tanks and vehicles. Ftors re-fuol and re-arm a Typhoon on beachhead airstrip in 1944. (Wa The map gives the exact locaton of afield BS as Le. Freane Caml. In. Normandy. although all the aires have. Been turned back to farming land. the Ioeaion of seis ily recognisable as the feds are hedged Stith sections of SMT (see photograph). At Le Freame'a track crosses the direction of the ‘ranvey and three rip of rough grass can stl be seen. The poston ofthe various dumps, petrol stores, bombs and dispersls are mov St arable land. What srthes'one most when in ands 0 mah Lfeids in sucha close area ahways subjected 10 Sheling. smoke and bombing Right: Many hands make light, work! SMT wire mesh tracking boing laid on a Nor- andy airstrip. (0 Bolow left: The entrance track to what 8 le Freane Camily advanced landing {round in’ 1964. Note that a farmer has Used the SMT to fence Below right: cultivated runway was laid at le Fresne. Bottom: The site of le Fresne Camily ALG une 1873, ” NORMANDY 1973 Consolidating the bridgehead PORT EN BESSIN| Westernmost limit of British beaches adjoining Omala, one of the few ports inthe Sault aren and strongly guarded “The vide had risen causing three ofthe five landing inging the 47th (Royal sri joashore at le Hemel to be sunk by explosives on. st ‘stacles. Many Marines swa Goneral_ Sir Bernard L. Montgomery, Commanderin-Che! 216, Army. Group ‘and overall Land Forces. Commander Hake to Naval and Mi By Gonimanders at Fort-on Bossi. Photo sergeant Mortis on 10th Sune 4a ‘i vee contrasts with the ‘Sepot using Buoyed 6 inch: pipes, through ‘rich shipe offshore discharged their cargoes. holiday makers realise what once occupied the place of the fishing boat. Below: A Bren carter drives ashore Banging craft st Porcen Beesrn WM ‘Today the harbour looks almost as i did nearly 30° years ago. LINGEVRES ‘These remarkable pictures were taken on 20th June 1944, after the fierce tank battle which prec fot ten yards apart across. tho vil oar the toil'e War Memecal sit rows, the” same unrepaired damage ‘today. (WM). spa Centre: Engineers have blown a gap in the ‘Sea wall and are preparing the ground for the end of the floating roadway. This was fone of the exits for transport from the Beach. (IWM) Above: The position of the gap is easly ound, having been repaired with stone. In the centre, the Hotel de Normandie. Fight: The town of Arromanchas with the mains of the concrete cassions hotographed June 1973. 2 Left and above: This picture was taken on 2Bth June ster the storm which great ‘damaged the artificial harbour and. craft sokerng inv Note wreckage on te con front. (IWM). Today th spot deserted, ARROMANCHES Arromanches was the point selected. to build Mulberry” "B, the pre-fabricated harbour towed across the channel, Captured by the 231st Brigade on the evening of D-Day after the cruiser HIMS Emerald had shelled the four 105mm guns south ofthe village. On the fllowing day the st blckships to form the Gooseberry breakwaters were sunk with explosive charges. Later “Phoenix” concrete ‘aSsions were sunk to form the arms of the harbour and ‘Whale? floating roadway in Salled. The storm which raged from June 19th-22ed damaged the harbour considerably completely disintegrating six casions on the sestem arm, Because the American Mulberry ‘AT at’ Omaha was totally wrecked it was decided to abandon the US Harbour and Salvage what was Jet to repair the ‘Arromanche harbour. In the end it'was used foreght months instead of he planned three Caen. (IWM), BENOUVILLE Fight: German snipers used this church tower at ‘Benouvile before shel fre dislodged them on TOth June. (IWM), Below: The tower repaired today. SECQUEVILLE Right and Below: A Sherman tank advances. yr te SANNERVILLE One of the fortified vil defence system of Caen. July Isth 1944 by the RAF using S00 and {LObdIb bombs, the aiming. point bein srose-roads which formed double triangle The’ attack” was in" preparation for the “GOODWOOD" plan: the left hook’ atound Caen, Two. thogsand bombers and. 2.000 fighter-bombers and fighters, 720 guns with 2 juarter of @ millon rounds bombarded the fotited il Finally capt Division ed by infantry of British 3rd Right: Sannervile Chateau was in the ‘middle ofthe area of attack, photographed hhere on 19th June 1944. Far ight: Repaired and restored, the Chateau stands silent in: 1973, ST LOUP HORS ‘On D-Day the RAF bombed the road tld at St Loup Hos over the railway lie ‘The Germans made a temporary” by-pass which the Ales subsequent used but i Ineant the rallway line was locked. Royal Engineers of 7nd Field Company erected 2 Bally Bridge atthe side of the demolished st hours on ath fune road bridge in Loft: The Bailey bridge = ‘The Mayor of Bayeux we to deve across—"in a Below: The present day road bridge has replaced the Bailey bridge and the railway runs underneath it. The remains of the approach to the old German by-pass can stl be detected. ‘Below right: From the air the layout ofthe crossing can clearly be REVIERS ove and far sat: Revi wae occpid bythe Ragin Riles on D-Day. Ths roe mee taken on fh June 184 and ur cmoreon photog none ioe wn protege

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