As part of the Hill 112 and Hill 262 battles in Normandy we visited these two hills, sadly we again skirted around 262 as we did not have time to give it justice – again it’s a “Must see” for another year – Most of the Falaise Pocket will be! But we visited the Polish War cemetery Grainville-Langannerie Urville is the only Polish World War II cemetery in France, and within its quite confines are 696 graves.
 
The majority of the fallen interred were part of Major-General Maczeks 1st Armored Division, who entered the battle of Normandy in August 1944, as well as other Polish soldiers who died in other parts of France, fighting for its liberation. A V shaped monument, on the pinnacle of which sits the Polish emblem of the eagle, dominates the cemetery.  The gates to the Cemetery are nice with the regiment badges of the various Polish units.

We headed to the Canadian Cemetery at Bretteville-sur-Laize.  Bretteville-sur-Laize was created as a permanent resting place for Canadian soldiers who had been temporarily interred in smaller plots close to where they fell. At the time of the cemetery's creation, France granted Canada a perpetual concession to the land occupied by the cemetery. The graves contain 2793 soldiers from the 2nd Canadian Corps, 91 of them unknown, and 79 RCAF airmen killed in the Battle of Normandy.A large number of dead in the cemetery were killed in the battle for the Falaise Pocket in August 1944. Canadians killed earlier in the Battle of Normandy were interred in the nearby Bény-sur-Mer Canadian War Cemetery.

Leading to a notorious battle – Hill 112 or “Operation Jupiter” was the next port of call on the NMBS itinerary.  Operation Jupiter was an attack launched by the British Second Army's VIII Corps on 10 July 1944. The objective of the attack was to capture the villages of Baron-sur-Odon, Fontaine-Étoupefour, Chateau de Fontaine and recapture Hill 112.

Following the capture of these objectives the Corps would then capture Éterville and the village of Maltot and the ground up to the River Orne. Tanks from the 4th Armored Brigade, supported by infantry, would then advance through the captured ground and secure several further villages to the west of the River Orne.

It was hoped that all objectives could be captured by 0900 hours on the first day following which, elements of the 4th Armored Brigade, could start their attacks. The operation was initially very successful however heavy fighting for Hill 112 went on all day and the village of Maltot changed hands several times.

The first battle for Hill 112 was fought at the end of Operation Epsom, when the tanks of 11th Armored Division broke out from a bridgehead established by the 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders at Tourmauville. Hill 112 was an intermediate objective on the way to the River Orne crossings but such was the German reaction that the 23rd Hussars were only able to capture and hold the hill with difficulty.

Hill 112, at the end of a narrow salient, was held by the infantry of The Rifle Brigade. Here they remained under heavy shell and mortar fire until, warned by Ultra decryptions of German radio traffic that II SS Panzer Corps was arriving and about to attack, Montgomery ordered them to withdraw and the hill to be abandoned to the Germans.

The British commanders, led by Montgomery, intended to hold the approximately seven German Panzer Divisions, on their front. While the British held the panzers, the Americans captured Cherbourg and broke out from the beachhead. The American objective was feasible because the Americans had only the equivalent of one-and-a-half Panzer divisions facing them throughout most of the campaign.

The main attack on Hill 112 was strategically designed to fix the German panzers and tactically to gain 'elbow room' in what was still a tight beachhead. The 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division was to attack positions held by 10th SS Panzer Division in what was an extremely fierce battle. The German defenders survived naval bombardment, air attack and artillery fire but held their ground, crucially supported by Tiger tanks from the 102 SS Heavy Panzer Battalion. These heavy tanks armed with the 88 mm gun had both greater protection and firepower and outclassed the opposing British Churchill and Sherman tanks.

Even though the hill was not captured and was left as a no-man's-land between the two armies, important surrounding villages had been taken. Above all, however, the 9th SS Panzer Division, which had been in the process of moving out of the line to form an operational reserve, was brought back to contain the British. Therefore, on the strategic level Operation Jupiter was a significant success.

It was not until American troops eventually started to break out from the Normandy lodgment, as Operation Cobra developed momentum, in August 1944, that the Germans withdrew from Hill 112 and the 53rd (Welsh) Division occupied the feature with barely a fight. Casualties during that period amounted to approximately 25,000 British troops and 500 British tanks. The 43rd Wessex sustained 7,000 casualties in the 12 days from 10 to 22 July.

We headed next to area where the Panzers blocked the crossing over the river Odon
The VIIIth Corps objective under General O’ Connor was to seize intact the bridges over the river Odon in the first step of the Operation Epsom. On 26 June the Allied forces launched the attack in the rain.

The 227th Brigade of the 15th Scottish Infantry Division and tanks of the 23rd Hussars took Grainville and Colleville pushing back the German infantry. But the Scots were stopped by counter-attacks of the 12nd SS-Panzer-Division tanks. German commandment sent panzer reinforcement to face the VIIIth Corps: Panther of the 2nd Panzer-Division and Tiger of the SS-Panzer-Abteilung 101.

On 27 June the Allied renewed the attack, the German tanks destroyed many British tanks, but they were sent on the battlefield just one tank or in small groups against greater strength. The war of attrition was more and more favourable to the Allied forces. The 2nd Battalion Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders assaulted toward Tourville. At the beginning of the afternoon an intact bridge was captured over the river Odon. The bridgehead was strengthened with tanks of the 23rd Hussars then with the 159e Brigade at the end of the day.

We parked up on the bridge and passing French motorists, bibbed at us.  Lance tutted loudly.

We finally headed to the almost yin and yang of Commonwealth war grave sites. The large Hotton leg Bagues CWGC site has 1036 graves and most are from the battles around Caen.  The Allied offensive in north-western Europe began with the Normandy landings of 6 June 1944. Most of the burials in Hottot-les-Bagues War Cemetery were brought in from the surrounding district, where there was much heavy fighting through June and July 1944 as Commonwealth forces tried to press on from Bayeux in an encircling movement to the south of Caen. The cemetery contains 1,005 Commonwealth burials of the Second World War, 56 of them unidentified, and 132 German graves. There are 21 Special Memorials within the above, bearing the inscription "Buried near this spot"

We then found the smallest CWGC site in France – which with so many sites in the Somme, is quite astounding.  Jerusalem is a tiny hamlet near the village of Chouain. The area was the scene of bitter fighting when a German armoured column sought to retake Bayeux shortly after its liberation. The cemetery was begun on 10 June and is one of the smallest Commonwealth war cemeteries. Jerusalem War Cemetery contains 47 burials, one of them unidentified, and one Czech grave.

The evening twilight was coming and a beer had everyone’s name on it, so we headed back to the gite

The next morning the happy French bell ringers did their work and Steve’s mood was grumpy, well more grumpy than usual.  We set off for the last trip in Normandy and the British beaches at Sword.  Stuart wasn’t feeling too well so had what we call a “Man down day” or a “Stuart Day”, so the rest headed towards Sword. 

We passed through a small little place called Douvres-la-Délivrande, During the Second World War, Douvres-la-Délivrande was the site of an important German air-detection radar installation, part of the strategic Atlantic Wall defenses. Completed in the autumn of 1943, the station was split into two zones by the road from Douvres to Bény-sur-Mer; and heavily fortified with bunkers, machineguns and minefields.

The Northern zone held a large Siemens (another German company who did well out of WWII) ‘Wasserman’ long-range radar and associated structures. The larger Southern zone had two intermediate-range Freya and two short-range Würzburg Riese radars; as well as command and infirmary bunkers, garages and artillery placements. Some 230 Luftwaffe personnel were based at the station, including electricians, engineers and 36 air controllers.

At 11 pm on the night of 5/6 June 1944, the Allies launched intensive jamming of radar frequencies which blinded the entire German radar network from Cherbourg to Le Havre. On the morning of the 6th the antennas at Douvres-la-Délivrande were rendered inoperative by Allied naval artillery bombardment.

Canadian troops who had landed nearby on 'Juno Beach' isolated the station but the Germans successfully defended it for 12 days, awaiting a counter-attack by Panzers; on one occasion it was resupplied with food via a nocturnal paratroop mission from Mont-de-Marsan.

On 17 June, a massive offensive by the British 41 Commando, Royal Marines - preceded by an artillery bombardment and supported by mine-clearing and anti-bunker tanks of 79th Armored Division - secured the surrender of the garrison. We by-passed the radar place and took a few pics, but we could not be fussed with another museum and mannequins (although we made the faux pas later).

Just outside the village we came across a small baker’s shop. Well the breakfast of cheesy croissants was wonderful.  We cannot remember the name but it is right next to the Church and it’s scrummy.

We headed to Lion Sur Mer. Lion Sur Mer is one of the landing beaches in Sword sector. On 6 June 1944, the 4th Special Service Brigade landed on Sword Beach in the second wave. The 41st Royal Marine Commando, under Lieutenant-colonel Gray, slammed ashore aboard six Landing Craft Infantry on Queen Beach. The Commandos were assigned the task to take Lion-sur-Mer. Several officers were killed on the beach. The Commandos reached the coastal road and moved toward their objectives. But in front of Lion-sur-Mer, they encountered the resistance of strongpoint coded “Trout” - Wiederstand Nest 21 for the Germans.

A company of the South Lancashire came to reinforce the 41st Royal Marine Commando without success. Meanwhile, on Queen Beach the tanks werre entangled into a jam and could not land, moreover Brigadier Cunningham commanding the 9th Brigade was wounded. The WN 21 was vanquished on 7 June by the 41st Royal Marine Commando, who made the junction with the N°46 Commando.

Located at the far eastern end of the Normandy coastline stands the small village of Merville-Francville and in 1944 it marked the limit of the D-Day Invasion beaches. To the west, for over 18 miles, the British and Canadian 3rd Divisions were due to begin landing at around 7.30am on the 6th June, and it was vital that once ashore, the landing forces had enough time to consolidate and then expand the bridgehead. Therefore to protect the eastern flank from the bulk of the German tank strength which was situated south of Paris, the 6th Airborne Division was to be dropped to act as a buffer.

This gave the Division many important tasks for D-Day, but its primary objectives were the capture, intact, of the bridges over the Caen Canal and the River Orne at Benouville, and the silencing of a battery of four concrete gun emplacements, near the village of Merville, 3 miles east of Ouistreham. It was believed that they contained guns of 155mm calibre and could therefore pose a serious threat to the landing beaches.

The 9th Battalion under the command of Lt Col Terence Otway stormed this formidable position in the early hours of June 6th. Only 150 men out of the original 650 made it to the RDV. Yet, despite the odds the battery was captured.  There is a cracking museum there now and well worth ganders.  The last stop on the tour of Normandy was Ranville, before we headed back to the gite for one last time and it was quite poignant.  This was part of the area of the first attack on D-Day and also allegedly the first allied casualty.  At approx. 00.15hrs on D-Day, three Horsa gliders landed to capture Pegasus. 

Few minutes later Lt. Danny Brotheridge led his platoon to attack the bridge. Danny was shot in the securing of the bridges, and died of his wounds.  Lieutenant Danny Brotheridge who led the attack was one of the unlucky heroes who gave his life for his country. He became the first Allied soldier to be killed on D-day, although this has been disputed, as some men drowned when the gliders landed in the marshes, but Brotheridge died of his wounds and was the first to be Killed in action.

Private Denis "Eddie" Edwards, No.25 Platoon, "D" Company, 2nd Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, wrote of the incident.

"Charging forward, we reached the wide steel bridge, letting fly with rifles and automatics, and threw grenades, shouting at the top of our voices to frighten the German defenders and to boost our own morale. An enemy machine gun on the far side of the bridge chattered into life. We returned fire and kept going, with our Platoon Commander Lieutenant Brotheridge, leading the way. The machine gun was firing long bursts as we charged, and Brotheridge, who was at the very front of the charge, was hit and fell to the ground mortally wounded. Later, when we heard what had happened, every one of us was really distressed that Lieutenant Brotheridge should have been killed in that way at the very start of our mission. He was a man for whom we had the greatest respect. Like all our airborne officers, he had never asked us to do anything that he would not do himself. As we neared the far side of the bridge, still shouting, firing our weapons and lobbing hand grenades, the Germans jumped to their feet and ran for their lives, scattering in all directions. Relief, exhilaration, incredulity - I experienced all these feelings upon realizing that we had taken the bridge."

After a wander around Ranville and a bite to eat, we headed for the Gite, and to pack.