CHAPTER EIGHT
Additional Places of Interest
Distance between stops by vehicle: 5.5 miles (8.85km)
Total walking distance at stops: 0.03 miles (0.05km)
Recommended time allowed for tour: 1 hour
A. River Dives Bridge Near Varaville
From the Bridge over the River Divette in Varaville, continue along the D27 for 2 miles (3.22km) until you reach the bridge over the River Dives.
Unlike Pegasus and Horsa Bridge there are no memorials at this site on the edge of Commune de Périers en Auge. Nevertheless, this is where glider No. 4 (662), chalk mark No. 94, with serial code PF723, and destined for Ranville Bridge over the River Orne, landed in the first hour of 6 June 1944.
The glider had been towed by a Halifax bomber, serial LL344-P, from 644 Sqn, 38 Group, RAF, piloted by Flying Officer G. Clapperton. There were also five more air crew. The two officers on board, from 2 Oxf Bucks, were Lieutenant Anthony ‘Tony’ Hooper and 2ic Captain Brian Priday. The total complement on this glider was twenty-eight troops (including five engineers) plus two glider pilots (for full roster of tug crew, glider crew and assault troops see Battleground Europe book Pegasus Bridge & Horsa Bridge Appendix F)
Their glider was landed safely by Staff Sergeant Lawrence and Staff Sergeant Shorter just 40 yards (36m) from the north-east corner of this bridge. The glider came to rest, facing the bridge, in a small ditch that ran parallel with the river and with its starboard side wing tip tilted down over the River Dives.
An error by the tug pilot had resulted in the glider being released too far to the east, over Cabourg. For the glider pilots, who were not immediately aware of the error, the two waterways and bridges over the River Dives and le Grand Canal that runs just 170 yards (155m) to the east must have looked very much like their objective as they made their descent. Despite the navigational error, the glider pilots managed to skilfully land their glider between the only two bridges in this area. Unfortunately their real objective was over 7 miles (11.27km) due west-west-south.
Glider No. 94 and River Dives Bridge.
Upon landing the troops, realising they were in the wrong place, disembarked and set up a defensive perimeter around the glider. Captain Brian Priday sent Lieutenant Hooper towards the nearby bridge. Concerned that the glider with its broad white D-Day stripes may become a target for any Germans in the area, Captain Priday moved the men away from the glider. He then joined Lieutenant Hooper at the bridge. No shots had been fired and on reaching the bridge there appeared to be no Germans guarding or attempting to defend it. However, an ominous sign that the enemy was nearby was a single German steel helmet left resting on the wall of the bridge.
Captain Priday returned to his men with the intention of working out their position. As he did, the Germans who had been at the bridge had by now recovered from their shock, regrouped, and began to open fire on the abandoned glider. Captain Priday and his men scrambled for cover, many finding a deep dry ditch. As the enemy fire subsided, Captain Priday held a brief Orders Group (O Group). He decided to send men out in different directions to secure their position and recce for any distinctive landmarks so that they could establish their whereabouts.
After questioning the glider pilots, who were full of remorse for their landing, Captain Priday was soon able to establish their location next to the River Dives. He also appreciated that the landing was through no fault of the glider pilots, as they would not have been able to glide their aircraft over to the River Orne bridge even if they had realised they were over the wrong area after being released from the tug.
Captain Priday then decided on his next course of action. First he was going to capture the bridge as this would create a distraction to the German forces in this area, helping to further confuse the enemy as to the real objectives for the 6th Airborne Division. Secondly, the quickest route to joining Major John Howard, and the rest of D & B Coy at the River Orne and Caen Canal bridges, started at the other side of this bridge.
Lieutenant Hooper led a small party forward to the bridge, followed by Captain Priday. Soon fighting broke out, with grenades being thrown by both sides and machine-gun and small arms fire echoing in the night air and lighting up the area. The airborne troops continued their fight and soon gained control. Captain Priday’s men then took up defensive positions at both ends of the bridge.
The place where glider No. 94 landed next to the River Dives.
As Captain Priday prepared covering fire so that the remainder of his men could cross the bridge, Lieutenant Hooper and his party continued down the road in the direction of Varaville. Their aim was to take control of a nearby small wooded area. As Captain Priday tried to contact the remaining party on the east side of the bridge, one of Lieutenant Hooper’s men returned to report that the wood was clear and that the platoon commander was waiting for him.
Before we could move we heard voices coming out of the darkness and footsteps down the middle of the road. Very soon I knew why. He was being marched along with his hands in the air and a Boche escorted him. I was wondering what to do when Hooper edged over towards the spot where only a few minutes before he had left me. This gave me a view of the German against the skyline.
CAPTAIN BRIAN PRIDAY, 2 OXF BUCKS
Together with Lance Sergeant Rayner, Captain Priday shouted Jump Tony! Only 10 yards (14.9m) away from his two comrades Lieutenant Hooper jumped into the roadside ditch. His escort was mown down by Sten gun fire. As the German’s dead body hit the ground his reflexes pulled the trigger on his sub-machine-gun. One bullet hit Captain Priday’s map case another went through Lance Sergeant Rayner’s arm.
At this point, the enemy occupying the wood opened fire on the bridge. In the confusion, the Germans still manning a machine-gun near the bridge returned fire towards the woods. Captain Priday decided it was a good time for his men to move away from the bridge and ordered his men to make for fields beyond the hedgerow on the south west side of the bridge. As they dashed across the road Private Eric Everett was shot in the head and killed instantly.
Captain Brian Priday
Only about sixteen men made it to the field. To their surprise they found the whole field flooded. For the next two hours they waded, swam and used their toggle ropes to pull each other across the flooded plains. At one point they were joined by part of a stick of paratroopers from 7 Para who had been mistakenly dropped far from their designated drop zone. Eventually the group made dry land and were able to take shelter in the barn of a nearby farmhouse.
A second group, led by Sergeant Peter Barwick had also managed to get away from the bridge over the River Dives. The two groups met up on the high ground around Robehomme, before moving off to Ranville. At 0230hrs on the morning of 7 June Captain Priday and about twenty of his men were rejoined with Major John Howard. Their return was just in time to join 2 Oxf Bucks’ attack in the bloody battle for Escoville (see Ch. 6, G2). During that day-long battle to try and take Escoville, 2 Oxf Buck sustained about sixty casualties. Lieutenant Hooper was one of those wounded and evacuated. For his action on that day he was awarded the Military Cross:
During the morning of 7 June 1944 D Coy seized and held a sector of Escoville. We were actively sniped from the start and subjected to a continuous bombardment by a large close support gun fired from an enemy self-propelled mounting. This self-propelled gun set fire to a building behind Hooper’s Bren position. The fire isolated Hooper’s force. He expertly controlled the evacuation of his position to one nearer HQ, leaving himself to the last, together with a few other men, he was cut-off by MG 42’s and was wounded in both feet. His cool manner was admired by his men who have since reported the above details to me.
CITATION FOR MILITARY MEDAL,
LIEUTENANT ANTHONY CHARLES HOOPER, 2 OXF BUCKS
The death of twenty-two year old radio operator Private Eric Everett, at the River Dives Bridge, was confirmed by both Captain Priday and Lance Sergeant Rayner. However, there must have been some errors in the documentation reporting his death, as he was subsequently reported as killed on 7 June 1944 in CWGC records. He now rests in Ranville Commonwealth War Cemetery (IA, J, 13). After considering the following: the time that the glider landed; the subsequent battle for the River Dives Bridge; and that Private Everett was killed instantly; it is reasonable to assume that Private Everett was the first British soldier reported to die from enemy fire. Nevertheless, there is little doubt that Lieutenant Den Brotheridge was the first reported British fatal casualty of enemy fire in Normandy, even though he did not succumb to his wounds until some time after he was wounded.
B. Grangues Memorial
Continue along the D27 for 2.72 miles (4.38km). The Château de Grangues is on the right. Continue past the château for 300 yards (274m) and take the next left turning, at the calvary, down Chemin de l’Eglise. Continue for 0.65 miles (1.05km) you come to a ‘T’ junction. Grangues Churchyard is opposite. Park opposite the church, on your right, and cross the road to enter the churchyard. The memorial is on the right just through the gate.
This memorial is testament to just how far afield the men of the
Field over which Captain Priday and his men crossed to Robehomme.
6th Airborne Division were scattered on the night of 5/6 June, 1944. Dedicated in June, 1994, it was erected in memory of fifty-two men from the Army, Navy and Air Force who all died in a series of unfortunate circumstances.
Two Stirling bombers, EJ 116 and EF 295 of 620 Sqn RAF, were carrying between them men from 7 Para, 6 AARR, 591 Para Sqn RE, and HQ RE. A few pilots had been confused by the patches of low cloud and heavy anti-aircraft fire as they approached the Normandy coast, and had unfortunately mistaken the River Dives for the River Orne. EJ 116 was seriously damaged when hit by ack-ack and crashed about 400 yards (366m) from the Château de Grangues killing all of its six crew and nineteen paratroopers.
Aboard EF 295, among the heavily laden paras, were the Royal Engineers who were carrying, in addition to their other equipment, some bicycle innertubes wrapped around them like bandoliers. These were packed with explosives for use in clearing the anti-glider poles on the ground. As they neared what they thought was their DZ the paratroopers were hooked up and ready to jump.
Then there was a sound like pebbles being thrown against the fuselage and the sky seemed full of lines of orange tracer shells floating up, mostly towards us. Suddenly there was a blinding flash inside the cabin. One of the explosive sausages had been hit; it immediately burned fiercely and gave off a suffocating greenish smoke which filled the cabin. At the same time both the port engines were hit and caught fire.
LIEUTENANT ‘JOHNNIE’ SHINNER, HQ ROYAL ENGINEERS
The explosive fire in the aircraft cabin was around the No. 5 man in the stick. The four paratroopers in front of him were able to jump through the exit hole. The rest were trapped between the fire and the cockpit. An escape hatch was ripped off to let out some of the suffocating smoke, but it was too late to jump as the aircraft was now losing height rapidly.
It is difficult to judge time in such circumstances – the mind races and minutes seem like hours; probably about two minutes passed before the inevitable crash. On impact the tail, in which were the tail gunner and wireless operator, was torn off and landed in a small copse. The main body then ploughed on for more than 100 metres [109 yards] losing engines and outer wing sections on the way, before coming to rest in a small meadow. Miraculously, the tail gunner and wireless operator survived, though both were badly injured. The four aircrew at the nose were killed and were engulfed in the fierce fire that broke out. Four parachutists were killed and nine survived with varying degrees of injury. When we came to rest I found myself hung head down by my static line, which had become entangled with my left leg and the ceiling. Fortunately another survivor came my way, cut me loose with his fighting knife and we staggered the few steps to the point where the fuselage had broken off.
LIEUTENANT JOHNNIE SHINNER, HQ ROYAL ENGINEERS
The aircraft had crashed about 500 yards (457m) from the Château de Grangues which was being used as a German company HQ. Immediately Germans were on the scene rounding up the survivors. They were then put in a stable under armed guard. Lieutenant Shinner, however, was tied up and taken away in a car for interrogation.
By the time of the next lift, at 0320hrs, more pilots had made the same error. This time it was the tug pilots towing the gliders. One glider, carrying part of 6th Airborne Division HQ, including GSO 3 (Int) Captain John Max, crashed in the grounds of the château. Three were killed on impact. A second glider also crashed in a near vertical descent into some nearby trees. All aboard were killed, among them a Royal Navy telegraphist.
But the carnage was not to stop there. Later that morning a seventeen year old Red Cross worker, Mlle Therese Anne, was taken to a trench where the bodies of the eight prisoners were laid out. She was not allowed to take their ID and only told that there had been an attempted break-out by the prisoners through the night. A year later, when the British grave registration and concentration units had the grim task of exhuming and reinterring the bodies of the servicemen killed and buried all over the battlefields of France, they were able to identify these eight men. Autopsies revealed that seven had been shot through the heart and one through the head. Unfortunately, the perpetrators of this crime were never discovered.
Fifty years later the two survivors of this incident, Lieutenant Johnnie Shinner RE, and A.E. Pryce, who was the rear gunner in EF 295, attended the unveiling of the Grangues Memorial in memory of the fifty-two men who never returned.
This concludes your tours around the battlefields of 6th Airborne Division.
C. Other CWGC Cemeteries, Communal Cemeteries and Churchyards
The five tours described in this work cover only a fraction of the total number of cemeteries and churchyards where men rest, from the 6th Airborne Division, who were killed or died from wounds.
In total the 821 men killed in this battle are now buried in one of the following forty-one cemeteries and churchyards in France: Abbeville Communal Cemetery extension, Banneville-la-Campagne, Bavent Churchyard, Bayeux War Cemetery, Bénouville Churchyard, Beny-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery, Beuzeville Communal Cemetery, Branville Churchyard, Bretteville-sur-Laize Canadian War Cemetery, Bréville Communal Cemetery, Brucourt Churchyard, Calais Canadian War Cemetery, Cambes-en-Plaine War Cemetery, Escoville Churchyard, Fatouville-Grestain Churchyard, Fecamp (le Val aux Clercs) Cemetery, Hermanville War Cemetery, Hérouvillette New Communal Cemetery, Honfleur Communal Cemetery, Hottot-les-Bagues War Cemetery, Houlgate Communal Cemetery, La Delivrande War Cemetery Douvres, Périers-en-Auge Churchyard, Pont-Audemer Communal Cemetery, Pont L’Évêque Communal Cemetery, Putot-en-Auge Churchyard, Ranville War Cemetery, Ryes War Cemetery Bazenville, St Desir War Cemetery, St Germain-Village Churchyard, Sté Marie Cemetery Le Havre, St Vaast-en-Auge Churchyard, Tilly-sur-Seulles War Cemetery, Touffréville Communal Cemetery, Tourgéville Military Cemetery, Troarn Communal Cemetery, Trouville Communal Cemetery, Vatteville-la-Rue Churchyard, Vauville Churchyard, Verneuil-sur-Avre Communal Cemetery and Villeneuve-St-Georges Old Communal Cemetery.
It should not be forgotten that many also died as a result of horrific wounds sustained whilst in battle. Those who died of their wounds after they had been evacuated back to the UK are now buried in one of the following thirty-three cemeteries or crematoria: Beaconsfield Cemetery, Buckinghamshire; Belfast City Cemetery, Northern Ireland; Birmingham Handsworth Cemetery, Warwickshire; Biscot Churchyard, Luton, Bedfordshire; Bootle Cemetery, Lancashire; Brookwood Military Cemetery, Woking, Surrey; Cadder Cemetery, Lanark; Checkendon Churchyard, Oxfordshire; Coddington All Saints Churchyard, London; Coryton Churchyard, Devon; Deptford Brockley Cemetery, Lewisham; Enfield Lavender Hill Cemetery, Middlesex; Grangemouth Grandsable Cemetery, Stirling; High Wycombe Cemetery, Buckinghamshire; Longside Cemetery, Aberdeen; Manchester Southern Cemetery, Lancashire; Manor Park Cemetery, East Ham, Essex; Middlesbrough Linthorpe Cemetery, Yorkshire; Mountain Ash Cemetery, Glamorgan, Wales; Northwood Cemetery, Ruislip-Northwood, Middlesex; Oscott College Cemetery, Birmingham, Warwickshire; Oxford Botley Cemetery, Berkshire; Oxford Rose Hill Cemetery, Oxfordshire; Plymouth City Crematorium, Devon; Southgate Cemetery, Middlesex; Southhampton Hollybrook Cemetery, Hampshire; Streatham Park Cemetery, Mitcham, Surrey; St Nicholas at Wade Cemetery, Kent; Twickenham Cemetery and Teddington Cemetery, Middlesex; Walthamstow St Mary Cemetery, Essex; Watchfield Military Cemetery, Berkshire; Wellingborough Cemetery, Northhamptonshire; Whitstable Cemetery, Kent.