Area Two
HISTORICAL SECTION
The Merville Battery was one of a number of German field gun battery sites constructed as part of their in-depth Atlantic Wall defences in Normandy. Looking north-west from high ground overlooking the Orne Estuary it was capable of firing on targets in Ouistreham, along the stretch of coast that would become SWORD Beach and any shipping in the Orne area. The battery site consisted of four concrete gun casemates containing the weaponry, and several headquarters and support bunkers; pre-D-Day intelligence reports put the garrison at between 150 – 200 officers and men. It was ringed with barbed wire and minefields, had two 20mm flak guns and a dozen machine-gun positions to protect it. At the time it was believed that the guns in the casemates were large-calibre 155mm howitzers or above. In fact they were 100mm Czech field guns dating from the First World War; but in either case they certainly did pose a threat for operations on D-Day.
Merville Battery from the air.
The unit detailed to make the attack on Merville Battery was the 9th Bn Parachute Regiment, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway. It was part of Brigadier S.J.L. Hill’s 3rd Parachute Brigade, and had been training for the operation for some time on a full-scale reconstruction of the battery site near Newbury in Berkshire. Issued with local French resistance information, aerial photographs and maps, and following the construction of the model of the battery site, Otway had decided to attack the battery from the south. Surprise was the key, and as at the bridges at Bénouville, it was decided to put a glider party right on the objective to achieve this. This would consist of three Horsa gliders containing fifty-six men of the 9th Bn and eight Airborne Engineers from 591st (Antrim) Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers. The airborne troops selected for the gliders were specially chosen by Otway and he put Captain Robert Gordon-Brown in charge of them; the assault team soon became known as the ‘G-B Force’. With them landing inside the perimeter, Otway would lead the remainder of the battalion in support from the south, from a ‘firm base’ position where the battalion’s heavy weapons would be set up providing machine-gun and mortar fire.
Eastern Flank Walk
1. Pegasus Museum
2. Ranville War Cemetery
3. Ranville Marie-Ecoles
4. 13 Para Memorial
5. 51 (Highland) Division Memorial
6. Chateau St Côme Memorials
7. Bréville churchyard
8. Farm complex
9. Amfréville church
10. Landing and Drop Zones
With their intensive training over, and the operation postponed numerous times, finally Colonel Otway was able to go to his men on 5 June and give the final instructions; for the majority the final confirmation of where the target was. The battalion would be transported in thirty-two Dakota aircraft with the support weapons, heavy gear and additional Airborne Engineers coming in by glider. The parachute drop would be on DZ ‘V’, a few miles to the south of the battery. From here the men would assemble and Otway aimed to be on the Firmbase by around 0410/0420 on 6 June. He would then instruct the officers in respect of the final assault and send a diversionary team round to the main gate. This team, with two German speakers, consisted of a number of battalion snipers. Together they would take on the main gate and a bunker nearby and then the snipers would act in support of the main assault. Meanwhile, the battalion would be getting ready for the main assault by laying Bangalore torpedoes under the wire and the engineers assessing what could be done to clear the mines. The ‘G-B Force’ was due to arrive by glider at 0430 and as they came in the torpedoes would be blown, pathways in the minefields cleared and the bulk of the battalion go in at the point of the bayonet. The garrison would be dealt with by the main force, and the engineers would then use General Wade explosive charges to blow the barrels off the guns. Naval signallers would drop with the battalion and they were to signal to the fleet off-shore; if no sign of success was received by 0530 then they would open fire on the battery site. This meant Ottway had an hour to do the job. The plan was well thought out, Otway was positive there would be a successful outcome, but the events of D-Day were to push him and his men’s training and bravery to the limits.
Crossing the Normandy coastline, the Dakotas carrying the battalion to the DZ came under immediate fire from German flak. As the aircraft approached the area where the airborne troops were due to land there was a great deal of confusion in receiving and understanding the signals being received from below. Because of this only a minority of the 9th Bn actually parachuted down onto the DZ. Among those on target were Otway and his group, although they had actually fallen right into a German headquarters. In some cases men had been dropped as much as 30 miles from the DZ, others had landed in the marshy ground around the Orne Estuary, losing their heavy equipment, and sadly some had been dropped into the sea where their chances of survival were slim. There were a number of reasons why this had been a less than successful drop. The aircraft bringing the battalion in was from the No. 46 Group RAF which had only been formed in January 1944. The crews had little experience and there were fewer ex-Bomber Command men among them as in No. 38 Group, which did much of the rest of the 6th (Airborne) Division drop. The aircraft in this group also operated in ‘loose’ formation and dropped the paratroops following a signal from the leading aircraft. If that signal was wrong it would mean not only his stick would be dropped incorrectly but all those following him. It was made worse when aircraft were scattered following the flak as they flew over the coast, with aircraft going off formation and unable to ascertain where the DZ was. Finally, the Eureka Beacon systems used on this drop were partly faulty and some crews incorrectly or inadequately trained on their use, which again led men to be dropped far and wide. In the end men from the 9th Bn were dropped in an area of roughly 50 square miles, whereas the original DZ was only 1 mile by a ½ mile.
Plan of Merville Battery.
Whatever the reasons, the men of the battalion were now faced with the awful truth of the situation. By 0235 Otway had collected some 110 officers and men at the RV. Among them were men with ten lengths of Bangalore torpedo, one machine gun and a few medical orderlies. There were no 3in mortars and none of the transport gliders had arrived so there was no additional heavy equipment or vehicles. There were also no navy signallers to liaise with the fleet off-shore. With so few men and so little equipment, what to do? Otway decided to go anyway and sent a reconnaissance team forward. They cut down the outer wire defences, created lanes through the minefield to the inner wire fence and pinpointed where the garrison was located by listening in to their conversations. The German defenders had no idea they were there. The lanes were taped out with little tape and largely by making marks in the soil, and the mines detected and removed without the normal equipment. It was a tough job made worse by the smashed up nature of the ground; the pre-D-Day aerial bombardment had turned the site into a crater zone. Otway gave his final orders,
The Commanding Officer was calm and unperturbed. He gave his orders concisely and clearly, as though he were standing giving orders on a training demonstration . . . the CO’s calm set a fine example which was followed by all ranks. His thoroughness in training paid a fine dividend, the troops were on their toes and ready for the job.1
The attack would go in following two lanes, instead of the three that had been intended. Both parties were only a fraction of the size originally planned. One of the men near the inner wire was finally detected and machine-gun fire opened up. Otway ordered the single Vickers machine gun to reply. A small diversion team then began to attack the area of the main gate and the assault parties then blew the Bangalore torpedoes under the wire. It was at this point Terence Otway shouted the now famous call, ‘Get in! Get in!’, and the assault started.
Above them were the gliders of the ‘G-B Force’. One had crash-landed in the UK on the way over, and now the remaining two were under flak fire. Both crashed, and neither within the perimeter. The furthest was nearly 5 miles away, containing Captain Gordon-Brown himself, but the other one went down in an orchard nearby. The unwounded men among them then joined the fight.
A bitter struggle in the battery site then followed. Some men headed for the Germans firing from weapon pits. Others began to clear the casemates containing the guns. With a general lack of specialist equipment improvisation was the byword, and one man took out the breechblock of a gun with a Gammon bomb. The remainder were dealt with using plastic explosive. Within minutes the main battle was over and the garrison either prisoners, dead, fled or gone to ground. Officers confirmed all the guns were neutralised but how to signal the job had been done? Amazingly, a signals officer, Lieutenant Jimmy Loring, had a pigeon inside his Denison smock. It had survived the landing and the battle, and he now released it with the vital information hoping that it would be received. Without a single radio capable of contacting anyone outside the battalion, and no navy signallers, the only other means available was to light yellow signal flares indicating success and in the hope that they would be duly spotted by Allied aircraft. This was duly done.
At this point the battery site started to come under mortar and shell fire from the Germans. Someone had ordered a heavy ‘stonk’ knowing that the fire would likely hit friendly as well as enemy troops. The job done, Otway gave the order to withdraw and meet at a nearby Calvary, the selected RV point. But there was the question of the wounded; the walking could be evacuated but the pitiful facilities available meant that the majority had to be left behind. Wounded men were dragged into cover as the last of Otway’s men pulled out. For many it was the start of a long period of captivity as prisoners of war.
At the Calvary the survivors were gathered and Otway began to assess the casualties. The assault party had lost 1 officer killed along with 4 others wounded, and 65 men killed, wounded and missing. The party of wounded that had made it back were taken off to a farm building known as the ‘Haras de Retz’, south of the battery site, where a Regimental Aid Post was established. In addition, to them were three German prisoners from the battery, including a doctor and his two orderlies, who were there to assist. It had been a costly action for the men involved and for Otway there was now the issue of gathering what was left of his scattered battalion to pursue the rest of their D-Day objectives. He took his men to Amfreville chateau and dug in there to await the arrival of the Commandos who were meant to link up with them here.
While Terence Otway no doubt thought the battle for the Merville Battery was over, sadly no one aside from those who had taken part were aware of the success. There had been no ‘Ham and Jam’ moment here, no one had seen the yellow smoke success signal and no one in 6th (Airborne) Division was able to relay the success on 6 June. On that day during the landings on SWORD Beach shells had fallen among the landing troops, which some observers had calculated came from the Merville Battery. Orders were therefore passed down to Lord Lovat and 1st Special Service Brigade to ensure the battery was indeed silenced.
A second battle for the Merville Battery therefore began on 7 June. Men from No. 3 Commando, who had been in touch with elements of the 9th Bn Parachute Regiment, were selected and two troops were sent to take on the Battery under the command of Major J.B.V. Pooley MC. No. 5 troop would lead the assault and No. 4 would give covering fire. Upon arrival it was found the Germans had returned – in fact some of the garrison had hid in tunnels beneath the site and emerged when Otway’s men had left. The Commandos came under machine-gun fire so a smoke barrage from 2in mortars was placed down as the assault troop went in. The Battery site was entered and guns found. Some of Otway’s men left behind were also discovered, but they could not be evacuated. It was unclear to Pooley whether the guns were serviceable so a second attempt to incapacitate them was made. While supervising his men, Pooley was shot in the head and killed instantly. A German counter-attack then came in supported by armour, and so the Commandos were forced to withdraw. One party had to escape through an uncleared minefield and lost men as a consequence. The survivors withdrew to Sallenelles.
Commandos move up.
The Commandos recalled that the ‘Germans in the Battery had fanatical courage and fought until they died’.2 It had been a tough battle and in terms of what was known of the battery site, once more indecisive. Otway had got in and thought he had silenced the guns. Others thought they were still in action and had ordered the Commandos in, and they too thought they had silenced the battery. But within two days Merville Battery was once more in action and would remain so until the end of the Normandy campaign in August 1944.
Following the success of the initial D-Day objectives allocated to the 1st Special Service Brigade and elements of 6th (Airborne) Division in the Bénouville – Ranville and Merville Battery areas, the next phase of the battle involved the capture and securing of the high ground to the east of the Drop and Landing Zones (LZ). Here an eastern flank would be formed between the Orne and Dive rivers to protect the invasion forces and the advance on Caen. To support them units from the 51st (Highland) Division, an infantry formation, began to disembark on SWORD Beach late on D-Day. This unit had been in action constantly since the outbreak of war. It had been destroyed in France in June 1940 and reformed, and then fought in North Africa, Sicily and Italy before returning to the UK for invasion training.
The key to the success of securing this eastern flank was the capture of the northern and central areas of the high ground between Amfreville and Bréville, and high ground close to the Chateau St Côme. It had originally been planned to assault and take this ground on D-Day, but the fighting for the village of Ranville, in the heart of the airborne position, had proved somewhat more difficult. The 12th and 13th Bns Parachute Regiment had been detailed to take and hold Ranville. Like many others, they had been dropped widely on D-Day and in both battalions about 60 per cent of their strength made it to the RV and into action at Ranville. The village was taken and held against counter-attacks from Panzer Grenadiers and tanks from 21st Panzer Division, but by the afternoon of D-Day the situation was getting critical. The arrival of Commandos from 1st Special Service Brigade helped tip the balance, but it meant that further operations had to be postponed until the following day.
On 7 June the situation was more stable with the 3rd Division having taken over positions at Bénouville, troops from the Highland Division arriving, Ranville and the ground to the south being defended by glider troops of 6th (Airborne) Division and the Merville Battery silenced by the 9th Bn Parachute Regiment. The 1st Special Service Brigade cleared the coastal belt to the north with naval support from two cruisers off-shore, and the 12th Bn Devonshire Regiment, the final glider battalion, arrived on SWORD Beach as a seaborne trail and entered the battle area. With a more stable situation attention could now be turned to taking and holding the high ground.
Commandos at Bréville.
The two key villages here were Amfreville to the north, with its small hamlet of Le Plein, and Bréville to its south-east. Both of these were small, with the usual collection of stone-built Normandy houses and farm buildings surrounded by bocage hedgerows and orchards, but sited on rising ground they dominated the positions around Ranville. Commandos from 1st Special Service Brigade made the first attempt to secure the villages. At 1400 on D-Day No. 3 Commando assaulted the village of Amfreville and the hamlet of Le Plein. Arriving on bikes, they formed up and were supported by men from Lieutenant Colonel Otway’s 9th Bn Parachute Regiment, fresh from their action at Merville that morning. Lord Lovat himself arrived and sent the Commandos into action. They moved up the road into the village, with a section each side of the road, and soon ran into heavy small arms fire causing heavy loss. This route proved impossible, and the Commandos surveyed a new route in via the village school and post office. This was attacked, hand to hand fighting pushed the Germans back so that No. 3 Commando went through Le Plein and dug in among the hedgerows beyond.
With the Le Plein – Amfreville position now held, other Commando units moved up to strengthen it, among them No. 6 Commando. However, the Germans in Bréville made life difficult here and dominated the battlefield. The Commandos sent patrols in the direction of Bréville and found it well held with machine guns, mortars and 20mm cannon. Captain J.E. Thompson MC noted that on 7 June,
The OC sent for the troop commanders, the mortar Sergeant, and the Major commanding a Battery of SP [Self-Propelled] guns. He thought a successful raid would not only clear out the weapons that were troubling us, but would give us a high moral effect, giving everyone a chance to put into practice lessons they had learned from training during all those long periods back in England.3
An attack therefore went in later that day.
The barrage opened up on time, three Verey lights were fired and the mortar smoke landed in the right places.
Just before reaching the German battery positions, LMGs [Light Machine Guns] opened fire at point blank range from the left side of the wood. An SP gun was knocked out, and within 30 yards of the gun a German ran out trying to reach his cannon and was killed. The centre of the attacking troops came across a dugout with the body of a German sergeant laying across the entrance. Private Greenhill tossed a hand grenade into the dugout, and those who could walk came out with their hands above their heads. When the dugout was cleared, men of the Parachute Regiment who had been captured were now set free.
The left of the assault had overrun the German gun position, and when we entered the village we found the Germans had evacuated the village in a hurry . . . 12 prisoners were captured along with 2 x 80mm mortars, 3 LMGs and many Schmeissers, Lugers and stores . . . The village was now quiet after the attack, except German ammunition exploding.4
While in Bréville, one of the Commandos had found an unposted letter from a German soldier to his wife which read ‘The British have arrived, and are digging in but don’t worry dear, they are too yellow to attack us.’
Fighting at Amfreville.
The position now remained static, and having silenced most of the German heavy weapons, was a little more pleasant for the Commandos in Le Plein, although they came under constant probing attacks.
Finally, the position at Bréville was taken on 12 June 1944. The units selected to assault were the 12th Bn Parachute Regiment and 12th Bn Devonshire Regiment (glider troops). They also had tank support from the 13th/18th Hussars equipped with Sherman tanks, along with 25-pounders from four different Field Regiments and 5.5in howitzers from a Medium Regiment. Well supported, the attack would go in from the west, with the units forming up in Amfreville.
Amfreville church.
The 12th Bn Parachute moved up to take part in the attack the night before. Major Ellis ‘Dixie’ Dean later recounted the battalion’s experience in the action,
At 8pm we were ordered to prepare for battle, and at 8.30 the Bn moved off, uphill, towards Amfréville. There, to our surprise we filed into the Church. The men sat in the pews, smoking, chattering or sucking sweets, or gazing at the gaily painted effigies of saints, of the Virgin and at the elaborate gilded cross on the altar. After some minutes there was a scurry and a bustle, quick orders were given and the Bn filed out of the Church. On the steps the Padre handed out bundles of the Div paper ‘Pegasus’. We lined up on the road in the order ‘C’ ‘A’ ‘B’ & ‘HQ’ Coys, and were informed that an attack on Bréville was indeed to be executed. We were to be supported by a Squadron of Sherman tanks and a Company from the 12th Devons (Airlanding) Bn. We started off down the road towards Bréville at approximately 2150 hrs, the noise was colossal, shells whistling over our heads and exploded with a crash ahead. Trails of white smoke appeared overhead from smoke shells, then, suddenly, among and around us, everywhere, shells and mortars began with deafening noise to explode. We sought such cover as was available. It became evident that most of this fire around us came from our own guns (this being discovered true later), but it couldn’t be stopped now – and was perhaps not misunderstandable with the attack mounted in such short notice. The firing ceased some ten minutes past 10, and the remnants of the Bn moved towards the start line. Men with limp arms, bloody faces, and men crawling on their hands and knees were passed. Of the Devons only 1 officer and some 6 men could be found. We approached the start line and assumed position along the hedgerow. Ahead was the burning, dust smoked village, and between it and us was a large open field. In the centre of the field four Shermans were blazing away with tracer into the houses. Steadily, and in line we advanced up to the tanks, and, as they were still firing, we halted and waited for them to stop. Behind and to the left, a pillar of black, oily smoke billowed up from one of the Shermans. The fire from the tanks was switched to the left of the village into some dark woods. Again the advance continued. ‘B’ Coy was joined by Col. R.G. Parker DSO, our old Bn commander. Apparently he was at a loose end and had come to see us in. He had just been wounded in the hand.
With little fuss or bother ‘B’ Coy entered the village and deployed into an orchard close to the blazing church. Dead Germans, with their weapons – automatics, rifles, etc, lying around their empty trenches, were to be seen everywhere. According to the drill the men quickly found themselves trenches. In one was a live, shivering German. On being made to come out he dived at one of our men who immediately shot him. He turned and faced the Coy 2 i/c with horror stamped on his face, saying ‘God! Look what I’ve done.’
When the expected counter barrage came down the men were safely in trenches. For ten minutes it was hell in that orchard with mortar bombs and shells mercilessly pouring down – It ceased very suddenly. The Company Commander was found lying half in and half out of his trench, moaning. He died two minutes later.
In the other rifle Coys, much the same had been happening. But the objective had been secured. And it was held.
General Gale visited Bréville, but few of the men saw him. We were sorry to learn that the Commanding Officer had been killed near the church at Amfréville, and that Lord Lovat had been wounded by the same shell.5
Lovat had come up to see how the fighting was going in Bréville and as he stood with Lieutenant Colonel Johnson shells from British artillery units fell short killing the Colonel and wounding Lovat.
Meanwhile, the 12th Bn Devonshire Regiment had committed ‘D’ Company, commanded by Major J.A.F.W. Bampfylde. The unit formed up on the start line and also came under ‘friendly fire’ when British shells fell short, killing Bampfylde and several others. The survivors took part in the assault, and what was left of the company consolidated in the village.
Although it had been costly, the attack on Bréville had been successful. The 12th Bn Parachute Regiment lost 8 officers and 133 men, nearly half its strength before the battle. The company of the Devonshires involved had lost its company commander killed and 35 killed or wounded. But, ‘the Bréville gap had been closed, and the enemy never made any attempt to reopen it. The battle in that small battered village achieved results of the greatest importance to the whole Normandy campaign.’6
The eastern flank now settled down to one of stagnation. The men dug in around the villages, and to the south in the wood areas close to the Bois de Bavent experienced the type of warfare known to their fathers a generation before in the First World War: trenches, patrols and daily casualties from shell and mortar fire, even when no major activity was going on. Little would change until the German position here collapsed at the end of the Normandy campaign in August 1944. By that time the Airborne, Commando and Highland troops who had served here had suffered not inconsiderable casualties on what was ‘all quiet on the eastern flank’.
Walk 2: On the Eastern Flank
STARTING POINT: Ranville War Cemetery
GPS: 49°13′51.7″N, 0°15′27.7″W
DURATION: 9.3km/5.8 miles
Park your vehicle in the car park close to the cemetery in Rue Comte Louis de Rohan-Chebou. There are also additional places to park in the area around the cemetery.
Start the walk in Ranville War Cemetery. There are a number of airborne graves here, and several of these soldiers fell in the ground covered by the walk. Among the Airborne graves is the first man credited to have landed in the 6th Airborne Division. Captain Robert Edward Vane De Lautour (IIA-E-2) was in the 22nd Independent Parachute Company tasked with marking the DZ and LZ, and was in the first stick to be dropped on the night of 5/6 June. He was killed two weeks later. Private Emile Corteil (IA-G-13) was in 9 Para and one of many dropped in the wrong place on D-Day. Emile was in charge of the troop dog, Glen, who had dropped with him. Both were killed by friendly fire because they were spotted in the wrong place by an RAF fighter and fired on. Emile and Glen were buried together; a rare example of an animal occupying a war grave. The youngest known airborne soldier to have died in Normandy is buried here: Private Robert Edward Johns (IVA-E-1), from Portsmouth, of 13 Para was only 16 years old when he died on the eastern flank on 23 July 1944. War Poet Major John Jarmain (IIIA-L-9) wrote poems based on his experiences in North Africa. He died in Normandy on 26 June 1944 while serving with an anti-tank regiment. His poem ‘At a War Grave’ seems strangely appropriate here.
6th Airborne pathfinders get ready for D-Day. Captain De Lautour is on the extreme left.
No grave is rich, the dust that herein lies
Beneath this white cross mixing with the sand
Was vital once, with skill of eye and hand
And speed of brain. These will not re-arise
These riches, nor will they be replaced;
They are lost and nothing now, and here is left
Only a worthless corpse of sense bereft,
Symbol of death, and sacrifice and waste.
Ranville Cemetery, 1946.
Captain De Lautour’s grave at Ranville.
Ranville Cemetery today.
From the main cemetery walk towards the wall that divides the military and civil cemetery and go through the wooden gate. This takes you through the civil graves to the rear of the church (if the church is open, go inside as there are several airborne memorials and a stained glass window to the rear). At the rear of the church is Ranville churchyard.
Ranville churchyard is a wartime burial site for forty-seven men from 6th Airborne and 1st Special Service Brigade who died on D-Day and the following weeks. Among the burials is Lieutenant Den Brotheridge who was killed in the assault on Pegasus Bridge. One intriguing grave is that of Bombardier Henry Hall of 53rd (Worcestershire Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment Royal Artillery. This was an artillery support unit in 6th Airborne Division. Hall’s date of death is recorded as 5 June, the day before D-Day. It appears he died in a glider en route to Normandy before midnight on the 5th, but the exact circumstances of his death remain something of a mystery.
From the churchyard exit near the First World War war memorial and walk across the road to Rue des Airbornes. On this street is the imposing marie-ecole, the old town hall and school in Ranville. It was used by General Gale as a headquarters in June 1944 and outside the right wing of the building is a bronze head and shoulders statue of Gale. To the right of it is a plaque commemorating the fact that Ranville was the first village liberated in France by the 13th Bn Parachute Regiment.
Ranville school, former 6th Airborne HQ.
Memorial to Major General ‘Windy’ Gale.
From the marie-ecole, follow Rue des Airbornes down to the main road and at the end go to the right. On a wall on the right is what is considered the ‘original’ airborne memorial in the village, unveiled when the first veterans returned in 1946. It actually commemorates the liberation of the village of Ranville at 0230 on 6 June by the 13th (Lancashire) Bn Parachute Regiment. Originally formed out of men from two battalions of the South Lancashire Regiment, it was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel P.J. Luard on D-Day and became known as ‘Luard’s Own’. On D-Day the unit had a fairly successful drop north of Ranville and was rallied on the DZ by a call from a hunting horn sounding ‘L’ for Lancashire. It cleared and secured Ranville by 0300, and its Support Company heavy weapons, including 6-pounder anti-tank guns, arrived shortly afterwards having come in by glider. During the rest of the day it came under heavy attack from units in the 21st Panzer Division, but the position held; its casualties by the close of D-Day were nearly a hundred all ranks.
The memorial to 13th Para when it was unveiled in 1946.
Continue along Rue des Airbornes and follow it out of the town. On the eastern edge the road becomes Rue du General de Gaulle, stay left and continue, mindful of the traffic. Beyond the village this road meets a crossroads with a farm complex on the left. Stop here.
This was one of the positions held by the 13th Bn Parachute Regiment on D-Day, and subsequent days. With dug-in weapons, the infantry sections in foxholes and good fields of fire, clearly visible from here, it gradually beat off attack after attack from Panzer Grenadiers and self-propelled guns from the 21st Panzer Division. These included Marders and some of the hybrid vehicles converted from 1940-period French tanks; two were knocked out in an attack on ‘A’ Company on the morning of D-Day alone. On one occasion the Germans attempted to penetrate into the line held by the 13th Bn wearing airborne smocks and red berets. Here the battalion remained until the ground along the ridge from Amfreville was cleared and the line moved nearer to the Bois de Bavent. On 8 June they became one of the first British units to encounter the 12th SS Panzer Division, when four men from a Panzer Grenadier battalion were captured just outside Ranville.
Sunken lane leading to the eastern flank.
At the crossroads go straight across, the road now becomes the D224. Follow this until it meets the main D513, staying left for the last few hundred yards, and at the junction take a minor road on the left which has a ‘no entry’ sign for cars at the start called Chemin Guillaume. This takes you through some farm buildings and is a recognised walking route; follow it uphill through typical Normandy terrain. It is worth stopping and looking back as you go.
Memorial to the 51st (Highland) Division.
At the top of the track you reach the Rue de l’Arbre Martin and here turn left. This area was essentially the front line from June to August 1944, defended by units of 6th (Airborne) Division and elements of the 51st (Highland) Division. Follow this road until it reaches an entrance to a chateau on the right. Stop.
There are a number of memorials here connected with the units who fought and served here. The impressive Scottish Piper is a large bronze statue that commemorates the fighting here in June 1944 involving the 51st (Highland) Division. The plaque on the memorial reads,
On 10th June 1944 the Highland Division made its first attack from this position in the Bois des Monts towards Bréville. In this and the action at Chateau St Côme 110 men were killed in two days. Vastly outnumbered and against ferocious counter-attacks the Highlanders helped to secure the Orne Bridgehead only by steadfast dedication, courage and sacrifice.
Opposite, at the entrance to Chateau St Côme, are two other memorials. The one on the right commemorates the 9th Bn Parachute Regiment and their involvement in the fighting here between 7 and 13 June when a much reduced in size battalion held this ground. The battalion’s commander, Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway, who had led them into the assault on Merville Battery, was wounded here in the sunken lane opposite the chateau entrance, close to the double water tower. In the lane on 12 June a shell landed between him and Lieutenant Christie and several other officers. Christie was killed and Otway and the other officers wounded. Otway was evacuated, command of the 9th Bn then passing to Major Napier Crookenden. The final memorial on the left is in memory of the Princess Irene Brigade, Dutch Commandos who fought here with No. 10 Inter-Allied Commando in August 1944.
Having seen the memorials look towards the chateau; the building is in private hands and cannot be entered. On 12 June 1944 while the fighting for nearby Bréville was going on the 5th Bn Black Watch, of 51st (Highland) Division, was dug in around the chateau and came under a concerted attack.
A terrific concentrated enemy barrage came down on our positions. When the barrage lifted our positions were attacked by a battalion of Germany infantry supported by tanks and SP guns. We had no armoured support and our MGs were knocked out in the early stages of the battle. Only one anti-tank gun was working. After a battle lasting all afternoon, during which the enemy fired . . . solid shot and oil bombs, we finally drove them off suffering heavy casualties in men and material. The enemy also suffered heavily and left his dead literally piled up on the battlefield. During the course of the afternoon many examples of personal bravery and sacrifice were carried out. Never did the battalion uphold better the traditions of the Black Watch.7
This was typical of the sort of fighting that took place in this sector after D-Day and one reason why all the units that fought here were reduced to a mere shadow of their original strength. Continue along this road into Bréville. The village was quite small in 1944 but sat on vital ground overlooking Ranville, the DZ and beyond towards Caen; this is clearly visible from here. Despite the ferocious fighting here there are many original buildings still remaining, including the marie visible on the right as you come into Bréville. On the walls outside are two original pre-Second World War cast-iron road signs, now rare in the region, and both survivors of the fighting. On the left of the crossroads is a memorial to the airborne forces and just beyond that a Battle of Normandy totem pole with text about the area. Continue on this road, Route de Sallenelles, and further on the right is the entrance to the civil cemetery. Go in here.
Bréville church.
The farm at Amfreville.
This part of the village was heavily shelled in June 1944 and many of the graves and memorials show signs of battle damage. The ruins of the original church were kept as a memorial to destruction and the old Normandy stonework now lies in the shadow of the post-war church. There are two war graves in the cemetery, both of men from 6th (Airborne) Division. Private Charles John Bertram Masters was killed in the attack on Bréville on 12 June 1944, aged 21. Originally he had served with the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, but had volunteered for the Parachute Regiment and did his parachute training in November and December 1943 and was afterwards posted to the 12th Bn. On D-Day he dropped into DZ ‘N’ and fought in Ranville before the action here. Among the civilian graves to the right of Masters is the grave of Captain Hugh William Ward, 53rd (Worcestershire Yeomanry) Airlanding Light Regiment Royal Artillery. He also died in Bréville on 12 June while commanding C Troop of the 211th Battery. From Bedfordshire, he was a married man aged 34 when he died.
Commando Memorial at Amfreville.
The Landing Zones near Ranville.
Leave Bréville on the Route de Sallenelles and then take the first right into Rue des Champs Saint Martin. Stop here.
The short strip of land separating the villages of Amfreville and Bréville was the scene of the assault on 12 June 1944, and shows how close both sides had been to each other in the days before that. This open ground, which could easily be swept by machine-gun fire, was only possible to cross that day because of the huge amount of artillery support that was available, artillery support that often fell short causing casualties. Among those wounded close to here was Brigadier Lord Lovat of 1st Special Service Brigade and Brigadier Honourable Hugh Kindersley of 6th Airlanding Brigade; the loss of two brigade commanders on one day was a serious blow to the units in this area.
Stay on this road into Amfreville. At the far end it brings you into the main square of the village, with a large farm complex on the right and a memorial ahead. Stop at the memorial.
The memorial commemorates the men of No. 6 Commando. This unit had taken part in the fighting for Ouistreham on D-Day and moved into Amfreville on the 7th. They had silenced the troublesome German gun firing on the unit’s positions in a raid, and then held the front line here until the attack on the 12th. They then remained here until the summer of 1944. Opposite the memorial is a large Normandy farm complex known as Ferme des Commandos 6 Juin 1944. This was often used as headquarters for the platoons dug in beyond Amfreville and for wounded coming back from the attack on the 12th.
From here go across the village green to the church. Stop. The church is rarely open, but this is where the 12th Bn Parachute Regiment formed up before the assault on Bréville. This is the original building which the men had a brief respite in, and as they emerged from the door in front of you their padre handed out copies of the divisional magazine to the men; a somewhat surreal event on the eve of a big attack.
Digging in on the Landing Zone.
Go across the green to the right to a white fenced memorial. This commemorates the 1st Special Service Brigade and their role in the fighting here in 1944. Close by on the far end of the green are memorials to No. 3 Commando, No. 4 Commando and the French Commandos under Commandant Philippe Kieffer. By the time the French Commandos dug in at Amfreville they were down to less than 50 per cent of their original D-Day strength.
From the 1st Special Service Brigade Memorial take the first turning on the right, Rue du Gable Harel. Follow this out of the village until it meets another minor road. Here turn right and a short while afterwards take the first cart track on the left. At the start of the track, stop.
This is DZ ‘N’. The 5th Parachute Brigade landed here by parachute and the 6th Airlanding came in with their Horsa and Hamilcar gliders in the early hours of D-Day. This vast flat field was a perfect landing area, as can be clearly seen and was covered with gliders on D-Day.
Follow the track towards Ranville. The track emerges onto Rue de Petworth in Ranville. Here turn right and continue to the junction with Rue des Airbornes. Follow this street back to the Ranville War Cemetery and your vehicle.