2 May 44
To: Maj R. J. Howard, 2 Oxf Bucks
INFM
1. Enemy
(a) Static def in area of ops.
Garrison of the two brs at BENOUVILLE 098748 and RANVILLE 104746 consists of about 50 men, armed with four LAA guns, probably 20 mm, four to six LMG, one AA MG and possibly two A Tk guns of less than 50 cm cal. A concrete shelter is under constr, and the br will have been prepared for demolition. See ph enlargement A21.
(b) Mobile res in area of ops.
One bn of 736 GR is in the area LEBISEY 0471—BIEVILLE 0674 with probably 8 to 12 tks under comd. This bn is either wholly or partially carried in MT and will have at least one coy standing by as an anti-airtpo picket.
Bn HQ of the RIGHT coastal bn of 736 GR is in the area 065772. At least one pl will be available in this area as a fighting patrol, ready to move out at once to seek infm.
(c) State of Alertness.
The large scale preparations necessary for the invasion of the Continent, the suitability of moon and tide will combine to produce a high state of alertness in the GERMAN def. The br grn may be standing to, and charges will have been laid in the demolition chambers.
(d) Detailed infm on enemy def and res is available on demand from Div Int Summaries, air phs and models.
2. Own Tps
(a) 5 Para Bde drops immediately NE of RANVILLE at H minus 4 hrs 30 mins, and moves forthwith to take up a def posn round the two brs.
(b) 3 Para Bde drops at H minus 4 hrs 30 mins and is denying to the enemy the high wooded ground SOUTH of LE MESNIL 1472.
(c) 6 Airldg Bde is ldg NE of RANVILLE and WEST of BENOUVILLE at about H plus 12 hrs, and moves thence to a def posn in the area STE HONORINE LA CHARDONNERETTE 0971—ESCOVILLE 1271.
(d) 3 Br Div is ldg WEST of OUISTREHAM 1079 at H hr with objective CAEN.
3. Ground
See available maps, air ph and models.
INTENTION
4. Your task is to seize intact the brs over R ORNE and canal at BENOUVILLE 098748 and RANVILLE 104746, and to hold them until relief by 7 Para Bn. If the brs are blown, you will est personnel ferries over both water obstacles as soon as possible.
METHOD
5. Composition of force
(a)
Comd
Maj RJ HOWARD 2 OXF BUCKS
(b)
Tps
D Coy 2 OXF BUCKS less sp Brens and 3″M dets.
two pls B Coy 2 OXF BUCKS
det of 20 Sprs 249 Fd Coy (Airborne)
det 1 Wing Glider P Regt
6. Flight plan
(a) HORSA gliders available 6.
(b) LZ X. triangular fd 099745. 3 gliders.
LZ Y. rectangular fd 104747. 3 gliders.
(c) Timing. First ldg H minus 5 hrs.
7. Gen Outline
(a) The capture of the brs will be a coup de main op depending largely on surprise, speed and dash for success.
(b) Provided the bulk of your force lands safely, you should have little difficulty in overcoming the known opposition on the brs.
(c) Your difficulties will arise in holding off an enemy counterattack on the brs, until you are relieved.
8. Possible enemy counter-attack
(a) You must expect a counter-attack any time after H minus 4.
(b) This attack may take the form of a Battle gp consisting of one coy inf in lorries, up to 8 tks and one or two guns mounted on lorries, or it may be a lorried inf coy alone, or inf on foot.
(c) The most likely line of approach for this force is down one of the rds leading from the WEST or SW, but a cross-country route cannot be ignored.
9. Org of def posn
It is vital that the crossing places be held, and to do this you will secure a close brhead on the WEST bank, in addition to guarding the brs. The immediate def of the brs and of the WEST bank of the canal must be held at all costs.
10. Patrolling
(a) You will harass and delay the deployment of the enemy counter-attack forces of 736 GR by offensive patrols covering all rd approaches from the WEST. Patrols will remain mobile and offensive.
(b) Up to one third of your effective force may be used in this role. The remaining two thirds will be used for static def and immediate counterattack.
Emp of RE
11. (a) You will give to your Sprs the following tasks only, in order of priority:-
Neutralising the demolition mechanisms.
Removing charges from demolition chambers.
Establishing personnel ferries.
(b) In your detailed planning of the op you will consult the CRE or RE comd nominated by him in the carrying out of these tasks by the RE personnel under your comd.
12. Relief
I estimate that your relief will NOT be completed until H minus 3 hrs, ie, two hrs after your first ldg. One coy 7 Para Bn will, however, be despatched to your assistance with the utmost possible speed after the ldg of the Bn. They should reach your posn by H minus 3 hrs 30 mins, and will come under your comd until arrival of OC 7 Para Bn as in para 13(b).
INTERCOMN
13. (a)
You will arrange for an offr or senior NCO to meet CO of 7 Para Bn near their Bn RV at H minus 4 hrs 30 mins with the following infn:-
(i) are brs securely held?
(ii) are brs intact?
(iii) are you in contact with enemy, and if so where, and in what strength?
(iv) if brs are blown, state of ferries?
(v) where is your coy HQ?
In addition you will give a pre-arranged sig from the brs, to show that they are in your possession, about H minus 4 hrs 15 mins.
(b)
OC 7 Para Bn will take over comd of the brhead and of your force on his arrival at the EAST br.
MISC
14. Glider Loads
(a) Outline
Gliders 1–4.
One rifle pl less handcart 5 Sprs.
Gliders 5–6.
one rifle pl less handcart. 5 men Coy HQ.
(b) Detailed Load Tables will be worked out by you in conjunc with the RE and Bde Loading Offr.
15. Trg
The trg of your force will be regarded as a first priority matter. Demands for special stores and trg facilities will be sent in through your Bn HQ to HQ 6 Airldg Bde. Until further notice all orders and instrs to you on trg will either originate from or pass through HQ 6 Airldg Bde.
Both Bde HQ will give you every possible help.
NIGEL POETT
Brig.
Comd 5 Para Bde
APO ENGLAND.
Acknowledgments
I wish I could think of an adequate way to express my thanks to every person I interviewed, for the hospitality and helpfulness. Without exception, I was welcomed into homes, always offered a meal and/or a drink, frequently invited to spend the night. In the process of doing two dozen interviews in England, I got to see a great deal of the country, which was fun, and to see a great deal of the British people, which was fascinating. I stayed with old-age pensioners, with successful businessmen, with solicitors, on grand country estates, in East End flats, in fashionable West End town houses. D Company, I came to realize, came from every part of British society, with each part making its own contribution to the organization as a whole.
Their friendliness toward me, an unknown Yank prying into their past, I shall never forget. It has been a great privilege and pleasure to have had the opportunity to meet these men and women and to listen to their stories.
Adam Sisman, my editor, provided enthusiasm, energy, and exceptional efficiency, all of which was gratefully and profitably received.
I would also like to thank the University of New Orleans and the Board of Supervisors of the LSU System. In the fall of 1983 the Board granted me a sabbatical leave, which made it possible for my wife and me to live in London and travel on the Continent, and in Canada, doing the interviews. Without that sabbatical, there would be no book. My gratitude to the University of New Orleans and the
Board is deep and permanent.
My wife, Moira Buckley Ambrose, carried her share of the load with her usual aplomb. As always, she worked hard with me and for me; as always, without her it would not have happened.
Sources
The informants (listed in the order the interviews were done): Jim Wallwork, John Howard, Wally Parr, Dennis Fox, Richard Todd, Nigel Poett, Nigel Taylor, M. Thornton, Oliver Boland, C. Hooper, E. Tappenden, Henry Hickman and Billy Gray (a joint interview), David Wood, John Vaughan, R. Ambrose, Jack Bailey, Joy Howard, Irene Parr, R. Smith, H. Sweeney, E. O’Donnell, Thérèsa Gondrée, and Hans von Luck.
My information on Private Helmut Romer comes from a note Romer sent John Howard, from a POW cage, in late 1945, after reading about Howard and the coup de main in a newspaper. Private Vern Bonck’s story I got from Wally Parr. Major Schmidt’s story came from various British, German, and French sources. Georges Gondrée left a written account of his activities. Lieutenant Werner Kortenhaus kindly wrote me an eight-page letter on his experiences; I want to thank Scotty Hirst for putting me in touch with Kortenhaus.
John Howard very kindly lent me all his notes, diaries, photographs, orders, and intelligence reports. Jim Wallwork gave me a copy of his written report on operation Deadstick.
I read all the standard books. The ones I found most helpful were Napier Crookenden, Drop Zone Normandy; General Richard Gale’s Call to Arms and The 6th Airborne Division in Normandy; the official account of the British airborne divisions, entitled By Air to Battle; Sir Huw Wheldon, Red Berets into Normandy; Milton Dank, The Glider Gang; Hillary Saunders, The Red Beret; Barry Gregory, British Airborne Troops; James Mrazek, Fighting Gliders of World War II; David Howarth, Dawn of D-Day; Cornelius Ryan, The Longest Day; and Michael Hickey, Out of the Sky.
In 1992, the U.S. Congress authorized the building of the National D-Day Museum in New Orleans, on the site where the Higgins Boats were constructed and tested. The Museum’s mission is to remind the American people of the day when the fury of an aroused democracy was hurled against Nazi-occupied Europe, and to inspire future generations by showing that there is nothing this Republic cannot do when everyone gets on the team.
In addition to hands-on displays, a photographic gallery, weapons, uniforms, and other artifacts, the Museum will house an Archives that will hold all printed work on D-Day, plus the oral and written memoirs from participants in the battle that the Eisenhower Center at the University of New Orleans has been gathering since 1983. This is the largest collection of eyewitness accounts of a single battle in the world.
For information on how to become a Friend of the Museum, or to donate artifacts, please write the Eisenhower Center, University of New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, 70148.
ALSO BY STEPHEN E. AMBROSE
Ike’s Spies:
Eisenhower and the Espionage Establishment
Rise to Globalism:
American Foreign Policy 1938–1970
Crazy Horse and Custer:
The Parallel Lives of Two American Warriors
Eisenhower and Berlin, 1945
Duty, Honor, Country:
A History of West Point
The Supreme Commander:
The War Years of General Dwight D. Eisenhower
Eisenhower:
Soldier, General of the Army, President-Elect 1890–1952
Eisenhower: The President
Nixon: The Education of a Politician 1913–1962
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest
D-Day: June 6, 1944:
The Climactic Battle of World War II
Undaunted Courage:
Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West
Americans at War
The Victors:
Eisenhower and His Boys: The Men of World War II
Comrades: Brothers, Fathers, Heroes, Sons, Pals
Nothing Like It in the World:
The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad, 1863–1869
The Wild Blue:
The Men and Boys Who Flew the B-24s over Germany
To America: Personal Reflections of an Historian
Index
Afrika Korps, 53
Ainsworth, Staff Sergeant John, 20, 21, 26, 27, 79, 89, 90, 102–3, 165
Airborne Forces Museum, Aldershot, 171, 176
Air Landing Brigade, British, 19, 47, 135, 148
Air Ministry, British, 51, 80, 170
Airspeed, 51
Algeria, 55
Arnhem Bridge, 11, 114, 164–166, 182
Arromanches, 9, 162
Atlantic Wall, 54, 115
Baines, Darky, 86
Bailey, Corporal Jack, 85, 90, 102, 140, 167, 179
destruction of machine-gun pillbox by, 93, 94, 144
on march to Escoville, 151, 155
during flight over channel, 20, 27
at fortieth anniversary celebration, 172–73
friendship of Gondrée and, 171
and German antitank gun, 123, 132–33
and German gunboat, 147
postwar career of, 170
during training exercises, 44
Barkway, Geoff, 172, 178–79
Battersea Dog’s Home, 169
Becker, Major, 54, 145, 147
Belgium, 39
Bénouville, 15–17, 19, 23, 29, 36, 56, 63, 68, 70, 93, 97, 107, 109–11, 115, 119–21, 127, 133n, 136, 138–45, 147, 148, 150, 151, 162, 171, 181, 182
Berlin, 168
Boland, Staff Sergeant Oliver, 21, 55, 61, 79, 92, 121–22, 151n, 165, 170, 172, 173, 178–79
Bonck, Private Vern, 15, 29, 39, 54, 87, 93, 97, 143, 161
Bren guns, 41, 43, 56, 78, 85, 93–96, 99, 109, 116, 149, 152–55
Bréville, Battle of, 19, 156
Bridge at Remagen, The (Heckler), 11
Bridge Too Far, A (Ryan), 11
Britannia (yacht), 10
British Petroleum (BP), 169
Brotheridge, Lieutenant Den, 41, 59, 79, 83, 85, 87, 113, 126, 171
background of, 37
dash across bridge led by, 77–78, 92, 94–96, 98
death of, 95, 98, 101–3, 108–109
during flight over channel, 20, 23
relationship with his men, 43
during training exercises, 60–61
Brotheridge, Margaret, 60, 108
Browning, Major General F. A. M. “Boy,” 31, 43
Bulge, Battle of the, 166, 168
Business of Murder, The (play), 169
Cabourg, 21, 87
Caen, 16, 18, 22, 26, 28, 54, 64, 68, 71, 72, 74, 76, 87, 96, 97, 103, 119, 121–22, 124, 126, 130–32, 136, 137, 143, 147, 150, 161, 183
Cassino, 54
Charles, Prince of Wales, 9–10, 172
Chatteron, Colonel George, 61, 62
Churchill tanks, 146
Civil Service, British, 166
Cold War, 12
Commandos, 64–65, 136, 144, 146, 147, 151
COSSAC (Chief of Staff, Supreme Allied Commander), 47–48
Crookenden, General Sir Napier, 48
Daily Mirror, 135
Dakota aircraft, 55
D Company, 13, 14, 25, 31–32, 46–47, 75, 81, 82, 104, 107, 126, 130, 134–37, 141, 157, 164–65, 171
at Battle of the Bulge, 166
Commandos and, 146–47
and crash landing of glider #1, 90
in D-Day plans, 58, 63, 65, 67
in defensive phase of battle, 150, 157, 159–61
doctor assigned to, 83
flight over channel of, 19–22
formation of, 36–38
on march to Escoville, 148–149, 151–55
pilots and, 79
reinforcement of, 59, 65
snipers and, 131
in sports competitions, 50
training of, 42–45, 48–49, 51, 55, 58, 60, 116
withdrawn from front, 162–163
Dea
dstick, operation, 56, 61, 62, 80
Drop Zone Normandy (Crookenden), 48
du Maurier, Daphne, 31
Dunkirk, 18
Durham Light Infantry, 46
8th Heavy Grenadier Battalion, German, 126, 147
82nd Airborne Division, U.S., 14
Eisenhower, Dwight D., 12, 13, 47, 130, 182
Eisenhower’s Lieutenants (Weigley), 13
Elizabeth II, Queen, 10
Enfield .303 rifles, 41, 93, 149
Erwin, Private, 176–68
Escoville, 148, 149, 152–55, 157
Falklands War, 10, 135
Feuchtinger, Brigadier General Edgar, 53
5th Para Brigade, British, 46, 64
7th Battalion of, 23, 66, 98, 111, 113, 119, 120, 122, 126, 128, 138, 139, 141, 171
51st Highland Division, British, 156
1st Airborne Division, British, 31, 46, 98, 114, 164, 182
1st Panzer Engineering Company, German, 115, 119
1st Para Brigade, British, 46
1st SS Panzer Division, German, 182–83
Fox, Lieutenant Dennis, 78, 84, 110, 114, 126, 139–140, 145, 179, 181
bridge rushed by, 99–100
during flight over channel, 21
joins D company, 59
postwar career of, 169
prisoner interrogated by, 123–124
return to B company of, 152
Thornton and, 98–99
T-junction taken by, 106, 109, 113, 116, 118–119
French Resistance, see Resistance
Frost, Colonel John, 11, 164, 165
Gale, General Richard “Windy,” 46–48, 56–58, 61, 63, 64, 68, 73, 85, 135–136, 139, 182
Gammon bombs, 42, 107, 110, 116, 143
Gardner, Charlie, 78, 95, 101, 123, 132, 147
Gestapo, 54
Glider Pilot Regiment, British, 20, 40, 55, 61, 65, 179
Godbolt, Corporal, 136, 179
Gold Beach, 9, 182
Gondrée, Arlette, 172, 173, 175, 176
Gondrée, Georges, 16, 29, 87, 97, 125–26, 128–29, 146, 148, 171
information supplied to British by, 39, 68, 74, 76
The Men of World War II Page 137