C a m pa i g n s a n d B at t l e s
C a m pa i g n s a n d B at t l e s
the van. The 7th Green Howards was in support and landed in the second wave. The 5th East Yorkshires landed on time in the right place, A and B Companies were to take Vers sur Mer while D and C Companies were to take La Rivière and then the Green Howards would pass through them to take secondary Brigade objectives further inland. A Company met little opposition and the Germans facing them soon surrendered. However, on the left flank, a German anti-tank gun quickly put three Sherman Duplex Drive (amphibious) tanks out of action and destroyed a Royal Engineers’ Petard armed Armoured Vehicle. Eventually D Company put the anti tank gun out of action and, using a tank from the 4/7th RDG to break through the back garden walls, completed the liberation of La Rivière, German survivors surrendering as C and D Companies met in a pincer movement at the rear of the village. The 7th Battalion Green Howards moved through even before La Rivière was consolidated. The 5th Bn reorganised, with A and B Companies moving straight on to Crépon, and C and D Companies forming a composite Company, due to their casualties, before moving on. The troops, in extended line and supported by tanks, were engaged in flushing out Germans along the way, taking St Gabriel and a wood, both of which were briefly contested by the Germans. By nightfall the battalion had reached the village of Brecy. Also at 0725 hrs, the leading companies of the 6th Battalion Green Howards waded the last 60 yards onto the shore of France. In the face of heavy mortar and machine gun fire from German pill boxes, Captain F H Honeyman led A Company with great dash across the beaches and, with the assistance of one tank from 4/7th Royal Dragoon Guards, overcame this resistance and breached the sea wall defences. D Company, commanded by Major R Lofthouse, ran into deep water, mines and heavy mortar fire as it landed and suffered many casualties. Major Lofthouse collected the remainder of his Company and led them across the minefield into the enemy’s positions. So swift had been his progress, the enemy troops defending the battery were taken by surprise and were either killed or taken prisoner. Major Lofthouse immediately exploited his success and soon established his Company in a position from which he was able to dominate the front of the whole battalion. This success enabled a track exit from the beach to be opened at an early
stage in the proceedings and had a direct bearing on the operation as a whole. During this time CSM Hollis captured two enemy pill boxes singlehandedly and took 15 Germans prisoner. Later the same day in the village of Crépon, the company encountered a field gun and crew, armed with Spandaus, at 100 yards range. CSM Hollis was put in command of a party to cover an attack on the gun, but the movement was held up. Seeing this, CSM Hollis, with some men, pushed right forward to engage the gun with a PIAT (Projector Infantry Anti Tank) from a house at 50 yards range. He was observed by a sniper who fired and grazed his right cheek, and at the same moment, the gun swung round and fired at point blank range into the house. To avoid the falling masonry CSM Hollis moved his party to an alternative position. Two of the enemy gun crew had by this time been killed and the gun was destroyed shortly afterwards. The CSM later found that two of his men had stayed behind in the house and immediately volunteered to get them out. In full view of the enemy, who were continually firing at him, he went forward alone, using a Bren gun to distract their attention from the other men. Under cover of his diversion the two men were able to return to their platoon. B Company, commanded by Major G Young, following behind the assault company, rapidly secured its objectives, clearing a quarry occupied by the enemy on the way and taking many prisoners who were directed back to the beachhead. C Company waded ashore 13 minutes behind the leading Companies. By this time the enemy had recovered from their initial surprise and were plastering the high watermark with all the weapons at their disposal. Halfway up the beach the Company Commander, Captain Linn, was wounded in the leg but continued to direct operations from a sitting position until he was hit again and killed. C Company then advanced through D Company, by now firmly established on the site of the coastal battery, which had been captured. The next two objectives, well inland, were an 88mm gun position and a rocket projector hidden in a wood. When the Green Howards arrived at the gun position, they found the crew had made good use of the gun’s mobility and had not waited for the arrival of the British troops. Accordingly, C Company pushed straight on to the rocket projector site. This was in a wood, easily identified as there was a long tunnel running
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