Page 25 - QARANC Vol 15 No 1 2017

Defence Medical Group (South East)
Battlefield Study Tour 2016
On 30 August 2016, DMG (SE) left the English coast and headed for the French coast to conduct a battlefield study tour.
Clear weather made for smooth sailing across the channel, which pleased several people after confessing to seasickness! After what seemed like forever, we finally arrived in Caen and visited the musée De Caen, a memorial to the town of Caen following the liberation of it during the 2nd World War. There was a lot to see there with an enormous statue outside. From the Museum, we moved to our hotel in Caen and
rested for the night ready for the next busy day. Day 2
We started day 2 with a trip to the Pegasus Bridge. The taking of Pegasus Bridge in the early hours of D-Day was a major triumph for the Allies. The control of Pegasus Bridge gave the Allies the opportunity to disrupt the Germans ability to bring in re-enforcements to the Normandy beaches, especially those that the British and Canadians were landing at – Gold, Juno and Sword.
Our second destination was the Merville bunker. The 9th Parachute Battalion, part of the 3rd Parachute Brigade attached to 6th Airborne Division, was given the objective of destroying the battery. However, when the battalion arrived over Normandy, their parachute descent was dispersed over a large area, so instead of over 600 men, only 150 with no heavy weapons or equipment arrived at the battalion assembly point. Regardless, they pressed home their attack and succeeded in capturing the battery, only to discover that the guns were of a lower calibre than expected. However, these still had the range (over 8000 metres) to hit targets on Sword Beach and in Ouistreham. Using what explosives they had been able to recover, the surviving 75 men tried to disable the guns.
Next we hit the beach; however, not for a swim, although we could have done with it as it was a very warm day!
We arrived at SWORD Beach; this was one of Britain’s landing areas on D-Day. The assault on Sword began at about 0300 with aerial and naval bombardment of German coastal defences and artillery sites. Troops then made beach landings in landing craft and made the perilous advance up the beach under enemy fire, mines and barbed wire.
After receiving a talk on the Hillman Bunker from Sgt Giles and Cpl Devine, Maj Berski (Wikipedia on legs!) gave a comprehensive talk on Sword Beach. We then made a short journey to our next destination at the Hermanville Commonwealth War graves.
A beautiful setting in a peaceful area, personnel took the time to show their respects and walked around the graves after they had a talk from the consultants we had with us.
Day 3
The third day was going to be a busy day with 6 locations to visit.
We arrived at Gold Beach where Cpl French gave a talk about the Beach. There were some serious problems when they tried to take this beach. The time for the landing at Gold Beach was set at 07.25. However, the British forces here experienced a major problem. Intelligence had provided the British with information that the Beach was littered with defences – be they Rommel’s anti-tank creations or mines.
On the morning of 6 June, a strong wind whipped up the water along the coast so that it was higher than planners had anticipated. The major problem was that the seawater covered over the mines and other obstacles so that engineers could not go in and disarm them.
The first landing craft landed military vehicles that were subsequently damaged by mines. Twenty armoured cars were damaged this way. Such a situation could have been very dangerous but the German defenders had been neutralised by constant and accurate naval and aerial bombardment. By midday, a lot of the designated beach was in the hands of the British.
From here we walked a short distance to visit the Arrowmanche 360 tour and museum. This was an amazing setup with a 360 degree cinema screen that was showing video footage from the attack on Gold Beach, everything from the sea invasion to the landings.
From here we drove to Omaha Beach; Cpls Sherman and Dawkins gave a talk here on the US contingents part in D-Day. The primary objective at Omaha was to secure a Beachhead of eight kilometres (5 miles) depth, between Port-en-Bessin and the Vire River, linking with the British landings at Gold to the east, and reaching the area of Isigny to the west to link up with VII Corps landing at Utah. Opposing the landings was the German 352nd Infantry Division. Of the 12,020 men of the division, 6,800 were experienced combat troops, detailed to defend a 53-kilometer (33 mi) front. The Germans were largely deployed in strongpoints along the coast—the German strategy was based on defeating any seaborne assault at the water line.
A short distance away was the Pointe du Hoc. The German army fortified the area with concrete casemates and gun pits. On D-Day (6 June 1944) the United States Army Ranger Assault Group assaulted and captured Pointe du Hoc after scaling the cliffs.
Next up was the town of Sainte-Mère-Église; a well- known incident involved paratrooper John Steele of the 505th Parachute Infantry Regiment (PIR), whose parachute got caught on the spire of the town church, and could only observe the fighting going on below. He hung there limply for two hours, pretending to be dead, before the Germans took him prisoner. Steele later escaped from the Germans and re- joined his division when US troops of the 3rd Battalion, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment attacked the village, capturing thirty Germans and killing another eleven. The incident was portrayed in the movie The Longest Day. There is also a memorial stained glass window in the town church depicting the event.
Last on the schedule was the Bayeux War Cemetery, with its memorial, including the largest British cemetery dating from the Second World War in France. There are 4,648 graves, including 3,935 British and 466 Germans. Most of those buried there were killed in the invasion of Normandy.
We laid a wreath in memory of those who sacrificed their lives.
After a long, but very enjoyable few days, it was time to return to good ol’ Blighty!
THE GAZETTE QARANC 23