295 Sqn beat the OX & Bucks to Normandy?

[blue up]

Pictures by foggythomas - Photobucket (http://s82.photobucket.com/albums/j279/foggythomas/)

On here I've posted a copy of a letter from A.V.M. Hollingshurst stating that they "cheated" to get to Normandy ahead of anyone else. A couple of other reports etc also added. Any thoughts as to the likelihood that the 22nd I.P.C. of the Paras beat the Ox & Bucks onto the ground on D-Day? Anyone got access to a copy of the reports from the Gliders that dropped onto Pegasus Bridge?

Any other useful info that I can add to the family files? Anything would be appreciated.

[airborne_artist]

It's not new news - see this page (http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/rep22ipcDDay.htm), which has a direct transcript of the first page you
posted.

Edit - Wiki says that the Ox and Bucks landed at 00.16 - so they beat 22 IPC by a full 60 seconds.

[blue up]

Thanks. I think he got it from me a while ago.

[blue up]

Landed or dropped? I bet a Para sinks at a higher rate than a Horsa! I would have expected that timings would have been collated from release of a glider rather than E.T.A. on the deck.

[airborne_artist]

Indeed - I'll see an officer who served with the Ox and Bucks tomorrow - who may know where to find the answer. I will report back.

[MAINJAFAD]

I've just been though my photos of both 295 and 298's F540 / F541's for operations on D-Day from a microfilch at Kew. No help from those on Drop / Release times.

However I've also got photos of two of the 38 Group Glider raid reports from 298 Sqn which cover the Coup de Main operation.

They include the one for the tug (Halifax V LL335 8T-G, pilot W/C Duder) of Major Howard's Horsa (PF800 'Chalk 91') which was released at 00:18, from 4,500 ft, on a heading of 200 degrees magnetic, the LZ at the time on a bearing of 230 degrees magnetic.

The other is for Chalk 93 which was released at 00:22:30 from 4,500ft on a heading of 245 Deg Magnetic.

What is not in doubt, is the fact that the Ox and Bucks were the first unit to fight on the ground as a unit.

The first aircraft to drop is thought to be that of S/L Merrick (Albermarle V1740 8Z-A) of 295 Sqn which is shown being loaded up at Harwell just before its take off on the cover of this book. S/L Merrick is standing in front of the 8 on the side of the aircraft.

http://books.stonebooks.com/reading/clark_orne.jpg

[angels]

I'm just back from a tour of the landing beaches and para drop zones in Normandy.

Officially, the first casualties were from the Ox and Bucks. I'm afraid I've left my notes at home but from memory it was a chap called Greenhalgh (sp) who died first. He was on the second glider and drowned in the pond by the bridge.

Brotheridge was the first to die in action. He is buried in Ranville Cemetry.

That said, I took a photo of a grave in the Ranville Cemetry which has a date of death of June 5. I don't have the pic to hand but am going to check this out.

Also, people forget there was a fourth glider on the Pegasus Bridge operation. The glider pilot got confused and landed next to a bridge on the Dives River six or seven miles to the east. Being paras, they blew the bridge anyway and then tramped back to the proper DZ.

It is well worth going to these places. When you see the ridge running south down from Merville, through Breville on the way to Caen you realise how vital that ridge, and the intact Ham and Jam bridges, were.

[Wensleydale]

Clearing up any confusion!(?)

Six Gliders were assigned to Op Deadstick - the capture of two bridges across the Caen Canal and the River Odon. Thee gliders were assigned to each bridge, carrying troops from D Company 2nd Ox & Bucks Light Infantry (supported by two platoons from B Company). The famous Bridge at Benouville (Pegasus) was captured folowing a brief firefieght at which the Platoon Cdr, Lt Den Brotheridge was killed - he was the first casualty of combat on D-Day although one trooper in the second glider died when the glider came to rest in a pond (the pilot S/Sgt Boland had to swerve to avoid the first glider and this broke the glider's back catapulting some of the passengers clear). The feat of landing the giliders at night in poor weather to within a few yards of the bridge was described by Leigh Mallory as one of the greatest feats of flying in WWII. S/Sgt Jim Wallwork of the Gluder Pilot Regt received a DFM as a result. The official landing time is 00:16. Note that the second road bridge over the river was undefended, and captured although one glider landed at the wrong river (the river Dives) which was 7 miles to the East. The troops from this glider rejoined later in the day.

The 22nd Independent Para Company was dropped from 6 x Albermarles at 00:20. The drop was scattered (only 2 x Albermarles to DZ "N" were on target) and marking of the drop zones was inadequate leading to a very poor concentration for the main Para Drop (Op Tonga) which began at 00:50. Lt Col' Otway's 9th Battalion assault on Merville Battery was carried out by only 150 out of 670 paras dropped!

Therefore, although only a few minutes separated the Ox & Bucks and the paras, the Ox & Bucks were able to carry out their mission with success. To all purposes, the paras claim is an empty boast.

[Climebear]

There has always been a debate as to who was the first to land. Stephen Ambrose comments on this in the introduction to his very readable book Pegasus Bridge:

There will always be controversy over who was the first Allied soldier to touch the soil of France on June 6, 1944. Pathfinders from the U.S. 82d and 101st Airborne, and the British 6th Airborne, all have claims to the honour. Whether Jim Wallwork, John Howard, and others in D Company's #1 glider were abolute first or not is impossible to say. What is absolutely fixed is that D Company of the Ox and Bucks was the first company to go into action as a unit on D-Day. It also had the most demanding and important task of any of the thousands of companies involved in the assault. It carried its task out brilliantly.

Also recommended is The Pegasus Diaries: The Private Papers of Major John Howard DSO.

http://www.studio88.co.uk/acatalog/large_pegasus_bridge.jpg

[Wensleydale]

http://www.mapsworldwide.com/itm_img/0755808002.jpg

Photo taken on 7 Jun 44. Pegasus bridge is on the left - you can see how close the 3 x gliders got for the Coup de Main. (In the dark, with no engine - about 12 minutes gliding on just a compass and stopwatch). Allso in view is one of the gliders to the north of Horsa Bridge. The gliders to the right are those of the second drop that arrived in the evening of 6 Jun (Clear Land 200 on?). Stephen Ambrose talks of the gun boat that approached the bridges in the morning of 6 Jun and beached following a successful PIAT attack. Is this the boat wedged accross the river south of Horsa Bridge? Must admit that I'm not a fan of Stephen Ambrose though - he doesn't let the facts get in the way of a good embellishment (he also uses wrong nomenclature for German armour).

[HighTow]

I think that "wedged" boat is actually a Bailey bridge erected to help speed up the flow of traffic over the canal. That was erected 8th June and was, apparently, the first such bridge deployed operationally. There is a marker on the spot commemorating the fact.

Is there any official document that states that the coup-de-main operation was called "Operation Deadstick"? I've heard it called that many times but I've also read that the work up exercises in the UK carried this name?

Ambrose's book is good reading but I've come across several errors of fact in it which were confirmed by a few people involved in the operation that I've spoken too.

[Wensleydale]

High Tow,

Thanks for the feedback.

Most books have the Coup de Main under Op Tonga (the main parachute drop), but also have seen Deadstick from a good few sources - as you suggest perhaps the Coup de Main became known as Deadstick after the training exercises? My main source, Red Devils in Normandy by Georges Bernage does not mention it.

I also agree that the Bailey Bridge appears to be the better option. It is just that the photo has been labelled in several places as being taken on the morning of 7 Jun and therefore pre-dates the Bailey Bridges (several of which were subsequently built). However, if the photo was infact on 8 Jun then the bridge would make sense. The routes leading to the bailey bridge are not well defined however, so this would lead to the notion that it has just been built.

As for Stephen Ambrose - I believe that he relies too heavily on eyewitness accounts - these taken from men many years after the event and their memories may have become blurred over the years. Therefore, although he writes a very good story and pays correct tribute to his subject, his histories should not be taken as Gospel. Ambrose calls the Coup de Main "Deadstick" in his book, so maybe this is another example of a half truth? His books make a good introduction to an Operation though and are very readable.

W

[wz662]

I'd just like to remind Angels that the troops that landed in gliders were NOT paras they were airlanded infantry, in those days you didn't need to do the parachute course to get a Red Beret.

The paras can claim what they like about being the first on the ground, but the time it takes to rally a stick and then that stick to find its equipment containers (dropped mid stick in those days) and then get on with the war probably exceded the time taken by the Ox and Bucks to disembark the gliders and capture the bridges.

I know a member of the GPR who still fumes at the "Para Mafia" for hijacking the Market Garden op (only abut 40% of the troops arrived by parachute) and he certainly hasn't forgiven the paras for leaving Arnhem without telling him they were going.

[angels]

wz - Mea culpa in the last paragraph of my post. Got the second one right though! Apologies.

Typical me though, I forgot to have a decko at the photo I took of the cemetery in the Ranville cemetery of the casualty with June 5 on the tombstone.

As I said on another thread, when you see the ridge running from Merville, through Breville and south towards eestern Caen you realise how crucial the whole operation on the eastern flank was and what a fantastic job all those involved did.

[HighTow]

re the Bailey bridge, if I've learnt anything over the past 15 years of reading and researching the history of the GPR is that the "fog of war" always skews dates. My source says the bridge was put in on the 8th, the photo the 7th. Can't say I'm right, only what my source says so I'd give it 24 hours either side. :)

I did make one minor gaff - the bridge in that picture is over the river Orne - the first built was actually over the Caen canal and is just out of shot of the picture. The following two small pics are of the actual Orne Bailey bridge in the photo above.

http://img26.imageshack.us/img26/696/baileybridge.jpg http://img24.imageshack.us/img24/5458/caenc1.jpg

I've myself found that eyewitness accounts and memories can be a problem. Having got to know and chat with a lot of glider pilots over the years I've discovered you have to double or triple check everything. I know they don't mean to mislead but after 65 years memories get distorted or mixed and you end up all over the place.

And yes, oh how the glider gang hate it when the press talk about the "paras" that captured Pegasus bridge. :8

[wz662]

My father served with the 51 Highland Division which landed in the days after D Day. The division was sent to the Eastern side of the beachead to reinforce the Airborne troops (paras and airlanded) and in their tradition plastered the route including the canal and river Bridges with the Divisional HD sign, hence their nickname of Highway Decorators.
After protests from the airborne troops they were made to remove the HD symbol from the bridges they have been known as Pegasus (canal) and Horsa (river) bridges ever since.

[angels]

I've found the details of the grave of the chap that died on June 5.

CWGC :: Casualty Details (http://www.cwgc.org/search/casualty_details.aspx?casualty=2345267)

I wonder if he was a pathfinder?

wz - Your dad's mob left a plaque at Juno beach where they landed. Again, I've got a pic of it which I will post, hopefully shortly as my wife is e-mailing my pics to me here at work.

Strange that 51st HD landed on the Candian beach and then had to go east. Maybe Sword beach -- the more logical beach to land -- was congested.

Edited to add -- He was a RA spotter for the navy and died in a glider on the way over. It doesn't seem to be recorded how he died, IE flak, friendly fire, natural causes etc.

[wz662]

The 51HD did infact spend some time attached to the Canadian army but only after/during the breakout taking part in Operation Totalise (a Candian plan to close the Falaise gap). Because of this I have seen some books that credit the destruction of the Panzer ace Michael Whittmann to Canadian tanks. Would someone like to point out to me the part of Canada that the Northamptonshire Yeomanry (the HD tank support) comes from?

[Wensleydale]

Both 1st Northamptonshire Yeomanry and 51st HD were attached to the 1st Canadian Army (II Canadian Corps) for the latter part of the Normandy campaign. So for example, the left hand column of Operation Totalise on the night of 8 Aug 44 consisted of 1NY (from 33rd Armoured Brigade) and 51st HD from 154th Infantry brigade supported by specialised armour from 79 AD (XXII Dragoons - flail and AVRE from 1st Assault brigade RE). One company of 51 HD was carried in SP gun chassis converted to APCs - these belonging to the 25th Canadian Armoured Delivery Sqn. This column was under Canadian command - as was the 1st Polish AD which took part in the follow up actions to the night column action. Hence the debate about who eventually killed Wittmann. Best evidence is Trooper Atkins in a Sherman Firefly belonging to 1NY (if you believe Ken Tout who has wriitten extensively about the campaign and was also in 1NY).

[fayslag]

WZ662, I read that the 51st Highland Div got hit quite hard at Breville in the Bois du Monts. Could you recommend any literature for that battle apart from 'The Day the Devils dropped in'?

[wz662]

Fayslag, I'm working away from home at the moment so I'm unable to check my book / document collection.
My father was with 1st Black Watch so my interest is somewhat slanted in that direction.
Have you tried the 51st HD website? 51 Highland Division Website : History (http://www.51hd.co.uk/history/normandy/tri)

[Wensleydale]

If you want an "eye-witness" type account of 51st HD during the campaign then "Monty's Highlanders" by Patrick Delaforce may well give some background for you.

Basically, the Germans counterattacked the flank of the Normandy bridgehead against the Paras at Breville on 10 Jun. This produced a salient that 3 battalions of 51 HD (153 Brigade) supported by the 6th Air Landing Brigade helped reduce and stabilise the front line again by 11 Jun.

[fayslag]

Wensleydale and 662 - many thanks for that. Will get researching.

[Wensleydale]

I did a Google search for Breville, and amongst the Toasters found a bit about the 51st HD. 5th Black Watch was placed under command of 6th Airborne division and given the task of capturing Breville; they walked straight into an ambush. A company was badly hit with the lead platoon being completely wiped out by MG fire. Some BW prisoners were executed. There are one or 2 blogs about the action if you care to look.

W

[angels]

I'm new at this photo thingy, but am going to try and pop some photos on this thread that were taken a couple of weeks ago.

http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv223/harlickbalham/CIMG1714.jpg

This is the grave of Bombardier Hall in Ranville Churchyard Cemetery.

http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv223/harlickbalham/CIMG1713.jpg

Brotheridge's grave, also in the Churchayard, as opposed to the military cemetery.

http://i686.photobucket.com/albums/vv223/harlickbalham/CIMG1698-1.jpg

The original Pegasus Bridge. The new one was built in Germany....

The pic of the 51HD plaque at Juno didn't upload from some reason, Will try again tomorrow.

[ProM]

I know this is well off topic but...
Can someone tell me which UK regiments were part of the 51st HD that landed on that beach. The reason is that I took my Dad over to Normandy several years ago and his recollection of where he landed (albeit skewed by decades of time spent and the coastline changing in that time) was was of the Candian beach whereas my history books said he should have been on Sword.

I know some units got dragged down the beach by the tide but I never saw a definitive list of which ones. I always assumed that his was one of the ones dragged down the coast but I could never be sure

Would be nice to know.

[Wensleydale]

Prom,

51HD was the follow up division for I CORPS landing at both Sword and Juno after the initial assaults had taken place (Gold was responsibility of XXX Corps). The consituents parts of 51 HD were

152 Brigade: 2nd Seaforths; 5th Seaforths; 5th Cameron Highlanders
153rd Brigade: 5 Black Watch; 1st Gordons; 5/7th Gordons
154th Brigade: 1 Black Watch; 7 Black Watch; 7 Argyll Sutherlands

Recce: 2nd Derbyshire Yeomanry
MG Batn: 1/7th Middlesex

Artillery: 126 FR; 127 FR; 128 FR; 61 AT Regt; 40 Light AA Regt
Engineers: 274, 275, 276 Field Coys; 239 Field Park Coy; 16 Bridging Pln.

Med: 174; 175; 176 Field Ambulances; 5th, 6th Fld Dressing Stns

RASC: 525, 526,527 Coys; 458 Div Coy.


Plus Divisional Signals; HQ Coy; Provost; Post Office; Brigade REME etc.

The Division stayed as a reserve and fought piecemeal for the early part of the campaign (hence the attachment to 6th Para for the assault on Breville on 11/12 Jun). There were also some bit parts in the Eastern bridgehead during Goodwood 18-19 Jul. The Division finally fought together for Op TOTALISE on 8 Aug 44. The division liberated St Valery in Aug 44 - a poignant moment as it was here that the first 51 HD surrendered (some say sacrificed) to the Germans in Jun 1940. The "second" 51 HD was formed by re-naming 9th Division back in the UK.

PS. If you are prepared to PM me with your correct e-mail address, I will send you my full Order of Battle for the Normandy campaign (a sad hobby of mine). I tried to paste some of it into here, but was deemed too big.

W

[wz662]

Wenslydale, you've got a PM from me.