6
FROM SIX-AN-A-HALF MILES OFFSHORE, the landing crafts of the British 50th (Northumbrian) Division, under the command of XXX Corps, were lowered into the stormy waters of the English Channel. The flat-bottomed boats yawed and bucked through white-topped waves while cold and seasick soldiers huddled inside. Preceding the troops were the crews of the DD (duplex drive) tanks; unlike their American counterparts, the DD tanks’ first battle would not be with natural elements. Their commanders had decided not to risk immersing the waterproofed tanks into the turbulent sea. Instead, the armor was carried by the landing craft right onto the beach. Additionally, the tanks were supported by Hobart’s Funnies and Royal Engineer demolition parties whose task was clearing the formidable beach obstacles.
The midnight bombing raids had silenced two of the three German coastal batteries along Gold Beach, at Ver-sur-Mer and Mont Fleury. A third battery at Longues, however, southwest of Arromanches, had survived the 1,000 tons of bombs dropped throughout the night. Its 152mm guns, with their range of twenty kilometers, began firing at an American cruiser the USS Arkansas, and a destroyer that were anchored off Omaha Beach just as the Allies began their pre–dawn naval bombardment.
The USS Arkansas, supported by two French destroyers George-Leygues and Montcalm, returned fire and after a brief exchange, the battery redirected its aim toward the fleet anchored off Gold Beach. Shells whistled perilously close to the headquarters ship HMS Bulolo, forcing it to move position. The HMS Ajax immediately returned fire with its own 152mm guns. After a twenty-minute duel, in which time over 100 rounds were fired at the coastal guns, the German battery fell silent.
On the right flank of the beach landings, between Le Hamel and Asnelles, the troops of the 231st Brigade were greeted by heavy fire. 1st Battalion, The Hampshires and 1st Battalion, The Dorsets, were the first infantry troops to come ashore, followed immediately by No. 47 (RM) Commando. The brigade eventually secured the villages and began their push westward to link up with the American troops from Omaha Beach. The 1st Hampshire Regiment captured Arromanches, the area where the British Mulberry harbor would be built, while No. 47 (RM) Commando pushed on along the coast line to its objective of Port-en-Bessin, the site of PLUTO (Pipe Line under the Ocean). This small fishing port also marked the dividing line between the British and American sectors.
The commandos had already suffered heavy losses when four of their LCAs were sunk while coming ashore. In addition, strong German defenses over the thirteen kilometers to Port-en-Bessin held up their advance until the evening. Consequently the commandos were unable to liberate the port until the following day. This began after a pre-assault naval bombardment was laid down and rocket-firing Typhoon fighter aircraft had attempted to soften up the German defenses. The commandos’ attack was particularly hazardous because of the series of bunkers and trenches in the high cliffs on either side of the port. The commandos lost nearly half their men during the assault, which was also subjected to fire from the German flak (anti-aircraft) boats moored in the harbor, but they eventually succeeded in liberating Port-en-Bessin by nightfall on June 7th and capturing the garrison commander.
The Longues Battery. A young visitor gives an idea of the scale.
During the afternoon of D-Day the Germans had managed to get the massive naval guns of the Longues battery back into action. By shelling the American troops on Omaha Beach, they further hindered the American’s already perilously slow progress. Again the USS Arkansas along with the two French destroyers, George-Leygues and Montcalm, pounded the battery into submission and eventually the Germans surrendered to the advancing British troops later that evening without a fight.
On the left flank of Gold Beach, the 69th Infantry Brigade launched its initial assault with an attack onto the beaches just west of La Rivière. Here the 5th Battalion of the East Yorkshires attacked the eastern-most part of the beach and made their way through the Mont Fleury Battery toward Ver-sur-Mer. Meanwhile, the 6th Battalion, Green Howards landed further to the east.
EYEWITNESS
When we landed the doors opened, we jumped out, but there were no bullets. The Beach was apparently deserted . . . . At every step we expected to be fired at, but we were not. The lack of opposition became eerie. Then, after about 200 yards, we must have reached a German fixed line for suddenly they threw everything at us. The mortars took us first and I was hit badly in the leg. My radio operator and policeman were both killed outright by the explosion.
Major RJL Jackson, beachmaster, 6th Battalion, Green Howards
As the Green Howards made their way off the beach, toward the Mont Fleury battery, a company commander noticed that two German pillboxes had been missed during the initial assault. Accompanied by Company Sergeant Major Stan Hollis, he went to investigate. As they approached a muzzle flash lit up from inside the darkened slit of the pillbox. CSM Hollis immediately charged straight at the pillbox firing his Sten gun into the slit. He jumped on top of the concrete bunker and reloaded his weapon. Crouching down he threw a grenade through the doorway. Following the explosion, before the dust had settled, he fired his Sten into the pillbox. Two Germans were killed outright and the rest surrendered. Hollis then continued to advance along a neighboring communications trench and succeeded in gathering over twenty prisoners.
As the Green Howards made their way inland into the village of Crépon, Hollis was put in command of a party to cover an attack on a German field gun and machine-gun nest. When his cover party was held up during the advance Hollis decided, wanting to waste no more time, to take on the gun crew himself. Armed with a PIAT (infantry anti-tank weapon, equivalent to the American bazooka) he moved forward with his men. As they moved into a nearby house, a German sniper fired and grazed Hollis’s right cheek; at the same time the German field gun swung round and fired a shot into the building where Hollis and his men were taking shelter. To avoid the falling debris he moved his men to an alternative position. By this time the German gun crew had already taken casualties and soon after the gun was destroyed.
It was later discovered that two of his men had been left behind in the damaged house, in full view from the German positions. Hollis immediately volunteered to rescue them and went, alone, toward the German lines. With a Bren gun he was able to distract the Germans while his men made their way back to safety under the cover of his diversion. For his heroic and selfless actions, which undoubtedly saved the lives of many of his men, CSM Stan Hollis later received Britain’s highest decoration for gallantry, the Victoria Cross – the only one to be awarded for action on D-Day itself, a day which witnessed many acts of gallantry from many men of many nationalities.
By nightfall, the 50th Northumbrian Division and 8th Armored Brigade had created and were holding their own bridgehead. In total, over 25,000 men held a line twelve kilometers wide along the Gold Beach sector, stretching from Arromanches and Courseulles, and up to fourteen kilometers deep, from the beaches to the main Bayeux-Caen Road (now the N-13). Contact had also been established with the Canadians from Juno Beach, but it was uncertain what had happened to the Americans on Omaha Beach. Recce patrols managed to penetrate the town of Bayeux just before midnight and the following day Bayeux was liberated without much of a fight. Since the majority of the German troops had been moved out toward the Cherbourg Peninsula, to join in the fighting against the American airborne troops, the town was spared the destruction that had, and would, befall so many other towns during the battle for Normandy. Since the ancient streets of Bayeux had not been designed for large military vehicles, the Royal Engineers began construction of a ring road around the town. In the weeks that followed, Bayeux was turned into a major supply and hospital base.
One of the Tiger tanks of the 12th SS (Hitler Jugend) Panzer Division.
By June 7th, the Bayeux-Caen highway was in the hands of XXX Corps and so, too, was the main railway line. With Rommel’s panzer units having been deployed in the defense of Caen, the only armored resistance the Germans could offer in this area was a reconnaissance battalion of the 12th Panzer SS (Hitler Jugend). Unfortunately, the build-up of supplies was falling behind schedule so Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey, commander of the British, decided not to risk overstretching his supply lines. He dugin on the high ground south and southeast of Bayeux
The following day the British advance continued heading through the Bocage toward Tilly-sur-Seulles. General Dollmann ordered Bayerlein’s Panzer (Lehr) Division toward the village in order to hold the line but moving the armor in daylight proved to be a big mistake, as squadrons of Typhoons were constantly on the prowl behind the German lines with orders to disrupt any enemy movement.
EYEWITNESS
My men were calling the main road from Vire to Le Bény Bocage Jabo-Rennstrecke [Fighter-bomber racecourse] . . . . By the end of the day I had lost forty petrol wagons and ninety other trucks. Five of my tanks had been knocked out, as well as eighty-four half-tracks, prime movers and S. P. guns. These losses were serious for a division not yet in action.
General Fritz Bayerlein, commander, Panzer Lehr Division
Despite the losses the German had managed to make their defense lines south of Tilly-sur-Seulles and were building up their supplies in order to launch a three-division attack: east of Caen, the 21st Panzer Division would take the right flank; between Caen and Fontenay-le-Pesnel in the center, the 12th SS (Hitler Jugend) Panzer Division would attack; and, on the left flank, the Panzer (Lehr) Division would move between Fontenay-le-Pesnel and Hottot-les-Bagues.
A camouflaged Tiger tank near Villers-Bocage.
This land, south of Bayeux, was ideal defensive country. The high hedgerows and small fields of the Bocage were now combined with undulating hills and thickening woodland that provided ideal cover. The well-concealed German panther tanks with their heavy armor and superior armament proved too much for the thinly armored Sherman tanks. What the Germans had to fear, though, was the British artillery and undisputed air superiority. Rocket-firing Typhoons, naval, and field-gun bombardments kept the German offensive in check.
On the afternoon of June 8th, General von Geyr, commander of the Panzer troops in the West, decided that the full-scale attack should take place, under the cover of darkness, on June 10th or 11th. But before the Germans had a chance to launch their assault, the British and Canadians put in their own attack. To the west, the Americans were also closing in. The German commanders were immediately put onto the defensive. The British plan, codenamed Operation Perch, was for the “Desert Rats” of the British 7th Armored Division to attack south of Bayeux, then bypass the German armor and head southeast toward Villers-Bocage.
The capture of Caen was the main priority of the 51st Highlanders. The division would launch its attack east of Caen and drive southward. If the initial assault proved successful, then the British 1st Airborne Division, still in reserve in England, would drop south of the city and complete the envelopment of Caen. The success of this operation, however, depended on the Desert Rats taking and holding the high ground and road junction at Villers-Bocage.
Initially, the leading force of the 22nd Armored Brigade attempted to breach the Panzer (Lehr) defense line near Tilly-sur-Seulles, but two days of fighting resulted in an advance of only three miles. Lieutenant General Dempsey, British Second Army Commander, redirected the armor to take a right hook, bypassing the German armor and heading directly for Villers-Bocage. All started well and the 22nd managed to reach the village, via Caumont, almost without opposition. Led by the eccentric Brigadier Robert “Loony” Hinde, British tanks drove into the village and continued on toward their objective, Hill 213, which was one kilometer to the northeast along the highway to Caen (N-175). It looked as though Monty’s plan was about to work but before the infantry of 50th (Northumbrian) Division had a chance to consolidate the gains, a tank-busting ace of the 12th SS Panzer Division would, almost singlehandedly, thwart the British advance.
The aftermath of Wittmann’s attack.
Thirty-year-old Lieutenant Michel Wittmann, commanding a Panzer Tiger company of the Hitler Youth division, had already been awarded the Laurel Leaves to the Knight’s Cross he had won for his action in Russia, where he had destroyed over 100 Russian tanks. As Wittmann made his way toward the hill near the village with a small unit of less than half a dozen tanks, he witnessed scores of British armored vehicles racing along the Caen road late in the morning of June 13th. With his trusted driver, Corporal Böll,
Newly-promoted Haupsturmführer Michel
Wittmann after the battle at Villers-Bocage.
Wittmann systematically began to pick off the British halftracks and Cromwell tanks. Return fire from the Cromwell tanks was no threat to the heavily armored Panzer VIE Tiger tanks, so soon the burning wrecks of over twenty-seven British tanks and other armored vehicles littered the roadway. Brigadier Hinde ordered the remnants of his brigade back into the village. Wittmann gave chase to the retreating British troops and with the support of more German tanks he entered the village. Here the British troops stood their ground and by 1600, the German counter-offensive had been beaten off with the loss of over half a dozen German tanks. This included Wittmann’s own Tiger, which had its track blown off by a PIAT. Wittmann managed to escape both injury and capture and, because of his action, was awarded the Oak Leaves on his Knight’s Cross. He was also promoted to Hauptsturmführer (Captain).
Less than a month later his luck ran out against an overwhelming force of Canadian Shermans during the fighting south of Caen. Wittmann took out three of the Canadian tanks before he was eventually surrounded and killed when his own tank was destroyed. His body was buried in a shallow grave by the side of the road where it would remain, undiscovered, for nearly forty years. (Found in 1983, his remains were laid to rest in the massive German Cemetery at La Cambe with 20,000 other German soldiers. The burial was attended by surviving veterans of 12th SS Panzer).
One of the Cromwell tanks destroyed by Wittman.
With his advance halted, and under attack from fresh German reinforcements, Hinde decided he had to consolidate his defenses and withdraw his force to Hill 174, two kilometers west of Villers-Bocage. He would hold this high ground until relieved by the infantry from the 50th Division. But instead of reinforcing Hinde’s position, higher authority ordered another attack against the German lines at Tilly-sur-Seulles. Despite concentrated air support, the Panzer (Lehr) could not be moved and held its ground. By noon the following day, the 7th Armored Division was pulled back to Briquessard, two miles east of Caumont. Though the operation had failed, the British Second Army’s aggressive offensive had served two purposes: 1) it had protected the left flank of the American First Army, as it continued to secure the Cherbourg Peninsula and the Brittany ports; and 2) it had kept the might of the German panzer divisions on the defensive. The longer these divisions were distracted, the sooner the whole Allied bridgehead could be expanded. Unfortunately it also meant that Caen could now only be taken in a series of set piece attacks.
It had become a war of attrition, with the Germans having committed all their armored forces and with the British desperately trying to build up their own. The close quarter fighting in the Bocage had taken a terrible toll in men and vehicles, but Tilly-sur-Seulles eventually fell on June 18th. On the next day a major disaster stuck the Allied armies.
With over half a million men to feed and over 100,000 vehicles to keep supplied and moving, the vast army had only enough rations to last them about seven days. On June 19th, Normandy suffered its worst storm in living memory. The two artificial harbors codenamed Mulberry A, on Omaha Beach, and Mulberry B, at Arromanches, were severely damaged during the storm. Monty had to postpone his planned offensive until the storm abated and supplies could once again be brought ashore. Three days later, when the storm had passed, the damage was assessed. In total 800 vessels had been damaged or destroyed. Landing craft littered the beaches and the Mulberry harbors were in complete disarray. It was decided that the American harbor at Omaha should be scrapped and used to repair the Mulberry at Arromanches since this harbor, positioned in a natural cove, had suffered the least damage. While this was being done, the Allies had to rely upon their supplies being brought ashore directly onto the beaches or into the small fishing ports that dot the Calvados and La Manche coastline.
A British Bren gun carrier.
While the Canadians and British troops began their set piece attacks to capture Caen, the next major offensive in the Bocage country was Operation Bluecoat. This was intended to relieve the pressure on the American Operation Cobra, which had been designed to open up the gap between the two German Army groups. On July 31st the Operation Bluecoat attack was launched south, from Caumont, by XXX Corps supported by VIII Corps. The British troops were tasked with a push eastward, through Villers-Bocage, to take the western half of the Mont Pinçon Ridge as well as a push southward toward Vire. This operation would cover Lieutenant General Omar Bradley’s First Army flank and allow the Americans to exploit their gains by sweeping around toward Falaise.
Despite the concentration of German armor now diverted to defend Caen, the fighting was still hard since the Germans had been given time to prepare their defenses. VIII Corps had managed to take part of the ridge by August 1st but XXX Corps was struggling and didn’t take Villers-Bocage until the 4th. Farther south, a reconnaissance troop of the 11th Armored Division had, on July 31st, been able to take a road bridge over the River Souleuvre (on the D-56). Situated in a ravine, several reconnaissance tanks were able to cross over the bridge before their advance was checked by the Germans. With the bridge safely crossed and in British hands, the advance was able to continue later that day when reinforcements arrived. (It was discovered after the war that the bridge, on the demarcation line between the German Seventh Army and Panzer Group West – later called the Fifth Panzer Army – had been left undefended by the two army commanders since each thought it came under the other’s control).
EYEWITNESS
For us the Mont Pinçon operation was a bitter and fruitless day before St. Jean le Blanc, the withdrawal following it, and then an equally bitter battle to reach and hold the summit; not a battle against the Germans, so much as against the burning sun, the choking dust, our parched throats and empty bellies, the craggy slopes and tangled thickets, the rocky earth and above all our utterly weary bodies.
Major A. Parsons, company commander, 4th Wiltshire Regiment
As the Germans withdrew from Villers-Bocage and the area around Aunay-sur-Odon, north of Mont Pinçon, they left, in their wake, a network of booby-traps and demolished buildings. The battle at Mont Pinçon began on August 5th, under the command of XXX Corps’ newly appointed commander, Lieutenant General Horrocks. It was a costly and arduous battle that fluctuated back and forth around the nearby villages and fields until eventually the German resolve was broken and the exhausted British troops managed to clamber up the steep rugged slopes to the top. It was not just fighting the Germans that made the men tire; the weather and terrain, too, proved to be as much of a burden.
Farther south, near Vire, the battles were equally hard and costly. In one, near Pavée, Corporal Sidney “Basher” Bates, almost single-handedly, saved his unit of the 1st Battalion, The Royal Norfolk Regiment, while being attacked by an almost overwhelming force of German SS panzer grenadiers. Bates, having witnessed his best friend get shot in the head, selflessly counterattacked with a Bren gun. His citation tells the story:
British PIAT Team.
Citation of Victoria Cross
CORPORAL SIDNEY BATES
aged 23 years, of ‘B’
Company 1st Battalion,
The Royal Norfolk Regiment
The attack in strength by 10th SS Panzer Division near Sourdevalle* started with a heavy and accurate artillery and mortar programme on the position which the enemy had, by this time, pinpointed. Half an hour later the main attack developed and heavy machine-gun and mortar fire was concentrated on the point of a junction of the two forward companies. Corporal Bates was commanding the right forward section of the left forward company which suffered some casualties, so he decided to move the remnants of his section to an alternative position whence he appreciated he could better counter the enemy thrust.
However, the enemy wedge grew still deeper, until there were about 50 to 60 Germans, supported by machine-guns and mortars, in the area occupied by the section.
Seeing that the situation was becoming desperate,
Left, Sydney Bates, VC and above,
Sydney Bates’s headstone in Bayeux
War Cemetery.
Corporal Bates then seized a light machine gun and charged the enemy, moving forward through a hail of bullets and splinters and firing the gun from the hip. He was almost immediately wounded by machine gun fire and fell to the ground, but recovering himself quickly, he got up and continued advancing toward the enemy, spraying bullets from his gun as he went. His action was now having an effect on the enemy riflemen and machine gunners, but the mortar bombs continued to fall around him.
He was then hit a second time, and much more seriously and painfully wounded. Undaunted, he staggered once more to his feet and continued toward the enemy, who were now seemingly nonplussed at their inability to check him. His constant firing continued until the enemy started to withdraw before him. At this moment he was hit for the third time by mortar-bomb splinters and sustained a wound that would prove fatal. He fell to the ground but continued firing until his strength failed him. This was not, however, until the enemy had withdrawn and the situation in this locality had been restored.
Desperately wounded, Corporal Bates was stretchered back to a nearby Regimental Aid Post. He died of his wounds two days later on August 8th. He was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his action and is now buried in Bayeux War Cemetery. (The Royal Norfolk Regiment had the highest number of recipients of the VC during World War Two, with a total of five awards.)
Despite the cost, Operation Bluecoat had been a success and had given the Americans time to widen their corridor and allow the First Army to push its bridgehead south and east. Only the Mortain counter- attack on August 7th posed any threat, but this was soon stopped by Allied air superiority. The Germans were once again on the retreat.
EYEWITNESS
We made a swift advance of about ten miles and suffered only three tank losses . . . . Suddenly the Allied fighter-bombers swooped out of the sky. They came down in hundreds firing their rockets at concentrated tanks and vehicles. We could do nothing against them, and we could make no further progress. The next day the planes came down again. We were forced to give the ground we had gained, and by the 9th August the division was back where it had started from north of Montain, having lost thirty tanks and eight hundred men.
Generaloberst Heinrich von Lüttwitz, GOC, XLVII Panzer Corps
Now it was a matter of keeping up the momentum and – with the help of the British and Canadian offensives from Sword and Juno Beach and the 6th Airborne Division east of the River Orne – of trapping the Germans in the Falaise Pocket. If this tactic was successful, Hitler would lose much of his retreating army and it was hoped that the morale of his remaining soldiers would be severely reduced thereby shortening, still further, the length of the war in northwest Europe.
CIRCUIT SIX
Circuit six. Caen – Arromanches – Bayeux – Longues – Tilly-sur-Seulles – Caen
GOLD BEACH STARTS JUST WEST OF COURSEULLES at Ver-sur-Mer (also known as La Rivière). Driving east on the D-514 coastal highway from Ouistreham, Gold Beach is divided into four sections, codenamed King, Jig, Item, and How. As you drive through Ver-sur-Mer you are passing the point at which the 5th Battalion, East Yorkshire Regiment landed. Further on, just before the crossroads, is a house that was used by Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, commander in chief of the Naval Forces, as his HQ during the Normandy Campaign. A plaque on the right-hand gate pillar commemorates this fact. Immediately after the crossroads, on the right, is a memorial to the Royal Artillery regiments that were attached to the 50th Northumbrian Division. As you continue along the D-514, the next crossroads is where the 6th Battalion, Green Howards landed. The narrow road to your right, leading to the beach, was used by them as their beach exit. To your left, the road leads to the former site of the Mont Fleury Battery. This can be found by taking the third right along the road and going down a narrow track. Little remains, though, of the battery itself and throughout the summer the field is fenced off to prevent anyone from disturbing the farmer’s crops. A far better example of a German battery can be seen later in this tour at Longues-sur-Mer.
Continue along the D-514, which runs parallel to the open marshland and beach. If you look out to sea, you will be able to see the unmistakable concrete caissons of the Mulberry Harbor. As you pass through Asnelles and Le Hamel you can see where the first two Battalions of the 231st Brigade landed, followed by No. 47 (RM) Commando, who went on to take Port-en-Bessin. The road then climbs up toward St Côme-de-Fresné, which overlooks Arromanches from the east. Park in the parking lot at the top and take a look at the orientation platform which uses diagrams to show the size and scale of the Mulberry Harbor. Also at St Côme-de-Fresné there is an excellent cinema called the “Arromanches 360.” The film shown is called “The Price of Freedom” and is projected onto nine screens in a circular hall. There is no commentary, only stunning images of archive footage carefully edited into scenes of a present day Normandy. There can be no better way to envisage the intensity and sheer scale of the Normandy landings than to be immersed for twenty minutes in this remarkable 360 degree film show.
Along the cliff top at St Côme-de-Fresné is a memorial to the Royal Engineers, as well as the remnants of the German bunkers and gun emplacements. The German defenses here consisted of two 77mm and three anti-aircraft guns. These were overpowered on the afternoon of D-Day after a naval bombardment by HMS Belfast, the 11,500 ton cruiser that is now open to the public at its mooring on the River Thames in London. With these defenses destroyed, the troops of 1st Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment, with a tank squadron in support, were able to continue with their advance into Arromanches.
Drive down into Arromanches. On the front, next to the parking lot, is the Musée du Débarquement. This museum is a permanent exhibition and memorial to the D-Day landings. Inside the design and construction of the Mulberry Harbor is explained in detail using models and exhibits. It also goes on to explain the importance of the harbor during the invasion of Normandy with a slide and film show. Arromanches is a pleasant coastal resort that offers a good selection of restaurants and souvenir shops for the Battlefield Tourist.
From Arromanches follow the signs for Bayeux along the D-514 and follow the sign, on your right, for the Batterie de Longues. Follow this road (still the D-514), through Tracy-sur-Mer and Manvieux, until you reach Longues-sur-Mer. Turn right down the D-104 until you come to the Longues Battery. This is probably the best example of a German coastal battery in Normandy. The four reinforced concrete casemates have been preserved and restored, complete with 155mm naval guns. In one casemate there are only the remnants of a destroyed gun, in the other three, the impressive guns stand as if they are still ready for action. A walk down to the cliff edge will take you to the observation post. Two floors high, it is set into the cliff edge and in 1944 was protected by anti-aircraft guns, a 20mm cannon, and searchlights. The solid reinforced concrete bunker also had underground telephone cables running to each of the casemates.
Return from Longues, and take a right onto the D-514. Continue through Marigny and Commes then, after entering Port-en-Bessin, turn right and go down to the parking lot on the harbor. On the eastern side of the harbor, at the base of the cliff, a memorial to No. 47 (RM) Commando was erected on an old German bunker. Just above this is an old seventeenth-century Vauban tower. Beyond this, at the top of the cliff, an extensive network of communication trenches and German bunkers remains. Across the other side of the harbor, on the western cliff, more evidence of the German defenses can be found. Port-en-Bessin represented the demarcation line between the British and American sector. It is, however, most famous for its siting as the continental terminal of PLUTO, the “Pipe Line under the Ocean” that ran from Sandown and Shanklin on the Isle of Wight, beneath the English Channel, and into Port-en-Bessin. In fact there were four 150mm pipelines: one each for petrol, oil, and water, plus a reserve pipeline in case one of the others was damaged. The pipeline was completed and in working order by June 25th. A week later, a second terminal was constructed in the American sector at St Honorine. Between the two terminals, over 7,000 tons of fuel were brought ashore to the fighting armies each day.
On leaving Port-en-Bessin take the D-6 signposted Bayeux. Approximately one kilometer along the road, on the left, is the Musée des Épaves Sous-marines du Débarquement [Museum of D-Day Wrecks]. This museum displays a selection of military equipment that has been salvaged by underwater exploration off the D-Day landing beaches. As well as large military vehicles, like tanks, landing craft, and artillery, many personal effects have also been discovered and are now on display as a testament to the sacrifice of those who were killed in the battle for Normandy.
Continue along the D-6 to Bayeux, turn left on the main ring road around Bayeux and follow the road around until you come to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission Cemetery on your right. Parking spaces are provided in front of the cemetery gates. Bayeux War Cemetery is the largest of all the Commonwealth World War Two cemeteries in France with 4,648 graves. Most are British (3,935 graves), while the rest are made up of: 466 Germans, 181 Canadian, 25 Polish, 17 Australian, 8 New Zealanders, 7 Russians, 3 French, 2 Czechs, 2 Italians, 1 South African, and 1 unidentified. The names of all these can be found in the cemetery register situated in the small stone building on the left of the cemetery. Among those buried here are Corporal Stanley Bates who was awarded the Victoria Cross.
The Bayeux Memorial.
A Normandy veteran visits old comrades at the Bayeux War Cemetery.
Directly across the road from the cemetery is the Bayeux Memorial. On this are engraved the names of the 1,808 men of the Commonwealth forces who fell in the Battle for Normandy and who have no known grave. Among those names are 189 men from the 43rd Divisional Reconnaissance Regiment who had been aboard the ill-fated Derry Cunihy. This ship was anchored off the coast of Ouistreham, on the night of July 23rd, awaiting a chance for the men aboard to disembark. That night there was the usual activity from German aircraft who regularly flew over the channel dropping mines. The next morning at 0800 when the ship’s engines were started, disaster struck. The engine noise detonated a submerged mine and the ship’s hull was ripped apart. As the ship sank in minutes, the men below decks didn’t stand a chance. At roll call that evening 150 men were confirmed wounded; a further 189 were listed as missing. It is these men who now have their names immortalized in the white stone of the Bayeux Memorial. The Latin epitaph along the frieze of this memorial makes reference to William the Bastard’s (Conqueror) invasion of England in 1066. The translation reads: “We, once conquered by William, have now set free the Conqueror’s native land.”
From the cemetery continue along the road for about 200 meters and turn left into the parking lot of the Musée Memorial de la Bataille de Normandie. This museum has information and exhibits relating to the whole of the Normandy campaign. On display is the largest selection of uniforms, small arms, photographs, documents, and other military equipment in Normandy and is well worth a visit. The museum also has toilets, a small selection of refreshments, and a bookstall. Among the exhibits outside are a German Hetzer, a Sherman tank, and one of Hobart’s Funnies – a flame-throwing Churchill “Crocodile” tank.
From the Battle of Normandy Museum in Bayeux, continue along the ring road and take the third exit right, the D-6 signposted Tilly-sur-Seulles. After eight kilometers, on the left hand side of the road, is the smallest World War Two Commonwealth Cemetery in France. Called Jérusalem, named after the small hamlet near Chouain, this cemetery has only forty-seven burials. The cemetery was started on June 10th, 1944 with the burials of three men from the Durham Light Infantry. Nearly half of those buried here come from that same regiment. This area was part of the battlefield that witnessed vicious counterattacks by the German panzer divisions who sought to retake Bayeux.
From Jérusalem continue along the D-6 until you reach Tilly-sur-Seulles. In the center of the village take a right at the main crossroads onto the D-13. One kilometer on the left hand side is Tilly-sur-Seulles War Cemetery. The village of Tilly-sur-Seulles was taken and lost a total of twenty-two times between June 7th and 18th in battles between the Panzer (Lehr) and the 49th and 50th Infantry Divisions and the 7th Armored Division. After the village was taken for the twenty-third time, it remained in British hands though the battles continued, and casualties mounted, well into July. This cemetery is one of two in the area that contains the dead of those bloody and costly battles. There are 1,222 burials here: 986 British, 322 Germans, 2 New Zealanders, 1 Canadian, and 1 Australian.
Return to Tilly-sur-Seulles and turn right back onto the D-6. On the right, in the Chapel of Notre Dame du Val, is the Musée de la Bataille de Tilly. This museum has a selection of documents, maps, photographs, and weapons that were found on the battlefield and are now displayed in the now tranquil setting of this twelfth-century chapel.
Return to the D-6 and continue through Tilly-sur-Seulles until you reach the T-junction with the D-9. Turn right and the cemetery of Hottot-les-Bagues is about 600 meters on your right. There are 1,137 burials: 965 British, 132 German, 34 Canadian, 3 Australian, 2 New Zealanders, and 1 South African.
Drive back along the D-9 and take the next right onto the D-6 and continue through Villers-Bocage. Take a right onto the N-175 to St Martin-des-Besaces. In this village is the Musée de la Percee du Bocage. This museum tells the story of how the British broke through the Bocage region in the summer of 1944 and of the liberation of St Martin-des-Besaces by the 11th Armored Division.
Return to the N-175 and continue until you reach the D-56, signposted Le Bény-Bocage, on the left. Follow this road until you reach a small bridge over the River Souleuvre. This is the bridge captured intact by Lieutenant Powle of the 2nd Household Cavalry, 11th Armored Division, which allowed the swift advance into Le Bény-Bocage. Now called “Le Pont du Taureau,” a plaque on the bridge commemorates this achievement.
Continue along the D-56, through Le Bény-Bocage and the small hamlet of le Ferronniere. Take the next right and just past the cemetery on the left, park your car. This is the St Charles-de-Percy Commonwealth War Cemetery and the furthest south of all the Normandy War Cemeteries. In the heart of the Bocage country this isolated cemetery is the final resting places of 789 Allied servicemen. Four of the graves are Canadian (including three airmen); the rest are British. Most of the soldiers buried here died during Operation Bluecoat, the offensive of the British Second Army to drive a wedge between the two German Army groups of 7th Army and Panzer Group West during the period of July 31st to August 7th.
From St Charles-de-Percy you can retrace your route back to Le Ferronniere; then take a right turn onto the D-577. Follow this road to the end and take a right onto N-175. This will take you straight onto the Caen “périphérique” (ring-road). Alternatively, turn off at Villers-Bocage and take the D-6 back into Bayeux.
* Though the Victoria Cross citation states Sourdevalle, the action actually took place in a field near Pavée.