The Situation
July 1944, Normandy France
Col. Cross’ previous battle had been a crushing defeat, his small force had fought bravely to the bitter end, suffering many casualties, and Cross barely escaped with his life. But now back in command of a whole battalion again, he was more optimistic about this his eighth battle.
Col. Cross’ battalion consisted of 6 companies:
4 Infantry companies
1 Tank Squadron of 17 tanks
1 Support company (Artillery, transport, Vickers MGs, AT guns, armoured cars etc.)
The objectives of this ‘meeting engagement’ were three bridges that crossed a small river that ran north to south. Each bridge was over 2KM from the next, so keeping the battalion as a cohesive unit wasn’t really an option.
The North Bridge was within easy grasp of the Germans, just as the South Bridge was a short walk for the British. Leaving no doubt that there would be a race to the Centre Bridge where it would be contested from the outset.
The Plan
The first part of the British plan was to send one infantry company to capture each of the three bridges.
The South Bridge could be easily claimed by ‘C’ company, and then they would set up in defensive positions with the support of a couple of field guns.
‘B’ company would be given a tank platoon and a half-track platoon to assist them in their race to capture the Centre Bridge. Other support, in the form of armoured cars and field guns, would be made available to ‘B’ company for two reasons: First, they were expected to experience the heaviest fighting, certainly in the opening rounds of the battle; and secondly because it seemed prudent to keep additional assets close to the centre of the battlefield, where they could quickly respond to German pressure in the North or South.
‘A’ company was going to tackle the Northern Bridge on foot. The North Bridge was expected to be well defended by the Germans, so there was no hurry to get there, in fact Cross decided that it would be better if they took their time and let other developments take place on the battlefield before ‘A’ company found themselves heavily engaged in the North.
The “other developments” that Cross was referring to, was a daring and risky plan for the Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) tank squadron and his fourth infantry company (‘D’ company). All but 4 of the RTR’s 17 tanks along with ‘D’ Company would penetrate deep behind enemy lines in the far south, then swing North with their primary objective to attack the Central and Northern bridges from the rear, and once discovered by the enemy to cause much mayhem and confusion while on their way to the Bridges.
![[Image: battle8civ9.th.jpg]](http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/2268/battle8civ9.th.jpg)
Shows all three bridges and the plan at midpoint
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The Battle
One of Cross’s first orders was for Capt. Picton’s artillery to target and destroy the northern bridge. His concern was the Germans would take advantage of their control of the north bridge and push a force onto his side of the river, and jeopardize his whole plan.
As it turns out Picton’s 5.5 inch guns took about 15 minutes before they got some solid hits on the north bridge. Unfortunately, all reports that came in were that the bridge remained intact. Col. Cross abandoned his plan to destroy the bridge as the artillery was now needed elsewhere.
By this time ‘B’ company had made contact with the enemy in the vicinity of the centre bridge. A British Cromwell Tank and a Daimler armoured car that were supporting ‘B’ Co. had each knocked out a German half-track. Col. Cross was encouraged by this news, as it was his observation that the force that scores the first kill often goes on to win the day.
‘B’ Co. also reported discovering a ford just south of the centre bridge. This would have to be covered just in case the Germans were also aware of it. A couple of 25 Pounder field guns had been placed on the hills west of the river hoping to be able to target the bridge areas with direct fire. But visibility was quite low at just over a KM, so these guns would get little opportunity in the direct fire role.
German mortar shells were soon coming down on and near the road west of the centre bridge. They were mostly a nuisance and clearly didn’t have a spotter with direct line-of-sight. Within another 5 minutes or so ‘B’ Company had largely made it across the river and were heading for some buildings where they hoped to establish a firm bridgehead. But before they could get there 120mm rockets started to come down around them, pinning many sections, and causing quite a few casualties. A couple of sections lost four men each.
The worst of the barrage seemed to be over, and surprisingly, there was still little sign of the enemy, except a few sporadic infantry harassing ‘B’ Co. in the centre. This was the calm before the storm however, because it wasn’t long before the Germans mounted a determined attack against ‘B’ Company.
Attacking Capt. Ellsworth’s ‘B’ Company was probably a whole infantry company with at least 4 or 5 halftracks. Ellsworth’s men were still disorganized after the rocket attacks, and difficult terrain was also slowing them. ‘B’ Companies armoured support had fled from the rockets so weren’t immediately available to help. When a tank did race across the bridge to assist, it was quickly knocked out by German infantry. Then more rockets came down on the Tommies making a grim situation even worse.
The Germans pushed the British back along the road towards the centre bridge, and were now joined by at least one Lynx light tank. Most of ‘B’ company was pinned or retreating, when Corp. Downey managed to rally his men, and convinced a brave half-track driver to carry his section back down the road towards the Lynx. Downey’s section unloaded and professionally dispatched the Lynx with a satchel charge. This action seemed to blunt the German attack, and perhaps even turn its tide, and so Downey was awarded with a ‘Mentioned in Despatches’.
This was Lt. Webster’s third battle, having previously won himself a MiD for leadership a few months earlier in Italy. Encouraged by Downey, he was able to knock out a half-track, the crew escaped their burning vehicle and were gunned down by Capt. Ellsworth’s HQ section. 2Lt. Aston’s platoon was so badly mauled by this battle he only had 5 men left under his command, and only one other man in his section. Aston was recognized with a MiD after this his first battle.
Despite these small victories ‘B’ company would not have survived if the RTR hadn’t at that moment arrived at the German’s rear and announced themselves by discovering 4 self-propelled rocket launchers. The RTR knocked out two right away, and then chased down the other two and managed to destroy them within a few minutes. Opening this second front allowed ‘B’ company to counter-attack, but it would be another 15 minutes before they regained most of their lost ground.
‘A’ companies slow advance on the North bridge was starting to run into resistance. They were under a quite heavy artillery barrage, and at least one German platoon was causing them trouble. The advance was losing momentum at a critical point, but in a superb display of leadership Capt. Gilchrist rallied one section after another and got them moving again.
Unfortunately, it wasn’t long before German 12cm shells were coming down on ‘A’ Company with accuracy, and it also became clear that there was at least a company defending the bridge. The British officers tried to rally their men and get them moving forward again, but this time they couldn’t be budged.
A small firefight had broken out just east of the South bridge. Major Kilgore sent some men to probe the attackers to try and determine its size, but the German commander was wily and ‘C ‘ company took pointless losses. The experienced Major Kilgore sensibly ordered his men to make a tactical withdrawal and regroup in defensive positions.
Meanwhile Captains Heart (RTR) and Langdon (OxBucks Light Infantry) were enjoying their surprise arrival at the German rear, and were pushing towards the North and Centre Bridges. Sgt. Garland and Corp. Fisher drove their tanks right among two half-tracks (SP Mortars) and destroyed both. The RTR got a brief chance to take some cautious pot shots at a Tiger Vi in the north, but missed. They also briefly spotted two Panzer IVs and a Panther tank in the centre that appeared to be moving south.
Col. Cross was cautiously confident at this point. A pair of SP Brums had been damaged in the north, but Cross was concerned that so far no heavy German armour had been knocked out. Shortly after voicing this concern, he received word that the RTR had lost one of its valuable Challenger tanks. Apparently the RTR had spotted a Tiger hiding in a line of trees, so set a trap by placing a Challenger – with there formidable 17 Pdr. guns – each side of the tree line, so whichever side the Tiger emerged it would be targeted by a heavy gun. The Tiger came out of the trees, the 17 Pdr. missed but Tiger’s 88 did not. Although the Challenger was destroyed, three of the crew escaped unharmed.
This news was followed by the loss of Sgt. Bellamy. This was his third battle and he was killed when his Cromwell tank was destroyed by a self-propelled gun. Corp. Lake’s Cromwell quickly reacted and knocked out the SP gun.
With the RTR and ‘D’ company bearing down on the rear of the north bridge, ‘A’ company was by now making good progress on its right front, and had crossed the river to threaten the eastern end of the north bridge. However, the Germans held the western approach firmly, and were pushing hard against the left half of ‘A’ Co. which would have crumpled if it hadn’t been for the tenacity of 2Lt. Campbell. Campbell held onto a critical position at the centre of ‘A’ Co. and despite constant artillery and direct fire he refused to budge and kept the left flank of ‘A’ Co. safe. He won a MiD for this action. Campbell was quick to point out the invaluable support from a couple of RTR’s armoured cars, who had impressed all – not least the Germans – who witnessed their hit and run tactics.
North Bridge
![[Image: battle8turn17czp5.th.jpg]](http://img511.imageshack.us/img511/7924/battle8turn17czp5.th.jpg)
If you look closely at the inset box (bottom right of screen) you can see RTR with ‘D’ company (yellow dots) approaching NW up the road toward the North bridge.[color=#0000FF]
The centre bridge was now safely in British hands, with a few scattered Germans left to round up. Col. Cross ordered a tank troop south, as he suspected the missing Panzer IVs and Panther would turn up there.
Capt Langdon’s infantry company ‘D’ then spearheaded the infantry assault on the eastern approach to the north bridge, supported by Capt. Heart’s armour. There were two Tiger tanks still defending the bridge. Corp. Lake’s Cromwell daringly knocked out one, giving Lake his fifth kill of the battle. Lake was awarded a Military Medal for his outstanding performance and initiative on the battlefield with complete disregard for his own safety. The other Tiger was assaulted by Lt. Snowdon MC with support from Capt. Landgon, and then finished off by the RTR.
Capt. Langdon rushed across the bridge, fighting German units on both sides of the bridge and on the bridge itself. Capt. Langdon engaged in hand to hand combat on several occasions, he succeeded in knocking out a MG nest, and two infantry squads surrendered to him. His HQ section neutralized 5 enemy units and damaged others. For his leadership behind enemy lines, and his courage and initiative in the face of the enemy he was awarded a Distinguished Service Order. The DSO is usually reserved for officers of Major and above, and is only awarded to more junior officers for conspicuous valour.
Capt. Gilchrist with perfect timing rallied ‘A’ company, and the Germans defending the northern bridge were soon overwhelmed. In the south the Germans attempted a last ditch effort to uproot the British defenders, but things went badly wrong for them. Some of their 17cm heavy artillery fell short and landed among the German infantry preparing to attack, then their tanks went forward unsupported, and were easy prey for the British infantry. Two Panthers were knocked out by close assaults.
The Germans had suffered high casualties, and all the objectives were now in British hands. On this day it was a solid British victory.
The Casualties, Honours and Awards
A, B and C infantry companies (assigned to the bridges) had 47, 52, and 50 casualties each; out of 140 men in each company. Casualties include those badly wounded.
Capt. Gilchrist earned a Military Cross for his exceptional leadership of ‘A’ company in the north.
Capt. Langdon’s ‘D’ company had only 14 casualties, despite their dangerous ride behind enemy lines and an intense fight for the north bridge. Capt. Langdon, as mentioned earlier, won a DSO for his role in this battle.
Capt. Heart’s RTR squadron started with 17 tanks. 4 were destroyed, 1 immobilized and two others were damaged. Only one tank commander was killed: Sgt Bellamy. Capt. Heart earned a Military Cross for his daring and successful leadership.
Lt. Shannon of the RTR racked up four more kills in this his third battle, giving him a total of 9 kills which equals the battalion record for confirmed kills. Though not far behind is Corp. Lake, who achieved 6 kills in this his first battle, and won a MM.
Total awards in this battle:
1 DSO
2 MC
1 MM
5 MiD
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