Hi all, I have a question regarding 22nd Independent Company on D-Day night How many Eureka beacons were planned on DZ V,K & N. What was the actual numbers of beacons installed on each DZ/LZ I 've thought that 2 beacons were planned on each DZ but I am not sure. Thanks for your help, Ludo
Ludo, I've not looked in my copy of Go To it as it is hidden in a huge pile of books as I am redecorating but in the Otway book he relates either two or three teams per DZ/LZ..so I guess we'd need to look at any of the records for the 22nd IPC to confirm....
A good question Ludo. Going strictly by the WD the impression I get is that each stick (2 for each drop zone in Albermarles) was carrying 2 Eureka Beacons. For example on DZ 'V' it claims: "Of the four 'EUREKAS' dropped on this DZ three were retained intact, the fourth was put out of action by the drop and detonated on the DZ." One was set up early for the Para drop and another afterwards for the assault gliders going into the Merville Battery. The situation on DZ 'N' was initially confused by the mistaken drop of Vischer's stick which was intended for DZ 'K' and sent out the wrong signal for that area. It claims two were set up in DZ 'N' later for the glider landings coming in after 3 A.M. Only one stick made it to DZ 'K' where a Eureka was set up. The comment claims, however, that one set was missing, possibly compromised and another was detonated on the DZ, which could mean that after serving it's purpose the original Eureka was destroyed? Otherwise you have 3 Eurekas in that zone. I think that may have been a rosier picture than what actually transpired for the Paras due to lateness or setting up in tall standing crops. I believe there were also members of the advanced parties mixed in with these sticks. Others may have a different interpretation of the WD statements. I don't have the Barber book, but I'm sure he has something to say on the subject. Here's the WD and another report: http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/war_22coy.htm http://www.pegasusarchive.org/normandy/rep22ipcDDay.htm
Pathfinder Pte Frank Ockenden and his stick were dropped off-zone. Eventually reaching 'K', he bent over the Eureka only to be knocked out by the hobnails of of a landing 13th Bn trooper. His mate, Pte Tommy Green, switched on the beacon. Ockended also comments on the poor maintenance of the beacons, in particular the quality of the batteries. Another Pathfinder, name and LZ/DZ unknown, had his beacon strapped to the outside of his leg with the detonator handle in the primed position. On landing, the handle retracted setting off the explosive to the detriment of both beacon and leg. Steve W.
Other Eureka Beacons Trying to account for all the Eureka beacons mentioned in the WD I was surprised to learn that a small advance party of 7 Paras was also toting a set. The leg bag broke loose as Pte. Moran was descending and he was unable to find it later in the tall corn. (Barber) The set placed at the Merville Battery was put there by 9 Para men who had taken a quick 2 day crash course in it's use just prior to D-Day. Rebecca receivers had been specially installed in the gliders that were to land near the Battery. (Tootal) Regards ...
As a slight aside are there any good books on the 22nd? I have the excellent 'Leading the Way to Arnhem' and 'First In' about the 21st but nothing on their sister company ...
Skip, I don't think there is. A discussion here: http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/18092-22nd-independent-parachute-companypathfinders/#entry219145 Also an article on the "The First of Many - Captain Robert De Latour - Pathfinder." A Black Country tribute to the first man to land on French soil on D-Day - Black Country Bugle Cheers ...
I have a copy of the First of Many not a great deal of info in it unfortunately... I think the problem now on doing a book on the 22nd is the lack of veterans around and their age....For those that have LWA Peter and David were greatly helped by the Fred Weatherley files and I don't think anything exists like the for the 22nd....Happy to be proved wrong of course and if the person that has them -send me a copy and I'll assess viability of a book!
It's probably nothing new for Ludo, but I found the post op report by Captain Bob Midwood on ParaData interesting, especially with regard to the amount of equipment they carried in with them. http://www.paradata.org.uk/media/4337?mediaSection=Documents&mediaItem=48105 As far as a book my first thought was similar to AM's in that it's a bit late for collecting veteran stories as many are now gone. Still it would be a worthwhile effort putting what does exist in the way of accounts and documents under one roof so to speak and giving it all a bit of context in the wider picture. There are a number of claims as to who was the first among the British Airborne to touch down in Normandy on D-Day. Andrew Woolhouse in his book "13 - Lucky for Some" makes one for 13 Para. Regards ...
Hi all, thanks for the messages. Reading all possible documents related to the subject, REBECCA & EUREKA beacons were really interesting features. It seems it was very high technology for the time. Of course it was difficult to organize the drops to set up the equipment. I wonder if the time between the drops of 22nd independent Coy, the advance parties and the main drops was too short (1/2 hour approx). Regards, Ludovic
Ludo, This is colour footage of the beacons, I think it was one beacon per stick and it was two beacons for each Drop Zone. One of the sticks to drop on DZ K landed oN DZ N and began signalling K to aircraft, who dropped most of 8th parachute Bn. the pathfinders stopped when they realised they were on the wrong drop zone. http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/1060003707 I know one of the pathfinders on DZ 'K' buried the beacon on the edge of a field before they were captured, but when they returned they could not find it. It might still be there? brithm
Brithm, that's just an excellent video! I figure it took them 5 to 10 minutes to set one up. If all went well a half hour advance drop would be sufficient. Of course due to various circumstances things didn't go quite as planned. Lugging that leg bag any kind of distance would have been a real chore even if you knew where you were going. Another area that confuses me is the number of Albermarles that went in on the first wave with arrival time of 0020. The number given is 28 or 27 depending on source. Would a stick in this case be 10 men per aircraft? The 22nd Independent Company WD doesn't follow up with the other sticks, just mentioning the 6 that were carrying the Eureka sets. There were also the various Brigade advanced parties mixed in as well. Regards ...
Brithm, it is a very nice film which gives in details all technical questions I had. CEE, phase 1 of Operation TONGA: LZ X: 3 Horsas to Pegasus Bridge (Caen Canal) - Op Coup de Main LZ Y: 3 Horsas to Ranville Bridge (Orne river) - Op Coup de Main LD/DZ N: 2 Albermales of pathfinders (22nd Independant Coy) 5 Albermales of Advances parties (Brigadier N.POETT was among that advance party) LZ/DZ K: 2 Albermales of pathfinders (22nd Independant Coy) 2 Albermales of Advances parties (8th Para) LZ/DZ V: 2 Albermales of pathfinders (22nd Independant Coy) 14 Albermales for C Compny 1st Canadian Para Bat. this gives a figure of 27 Albermales for TONGA 1 the numbers of paras are DZ N : 67 DZ K: 40 DZ V: 150 (one stick returned to base) Regards, Ludo
Thanks Ludo for the break down. It would be great if there were co-ordinates to go along with the Eurekas that were set up. From what I can make out the beacons for DZ "N" were a little off towards the eastern side. The one on DZ "V" along with the lights was not effective at all and one of the causes for the widely scattered drops of the main body intended for that zone. Cheers ...
Hi all, futher to my inital question about 22nd Independent Coy, I today have questions regarding the night markings of LZ/ DZ 1- What is the Code light at the base of the T? could someone explain? 2- If a zone is a DZ and later (2 hours) a LZ, would the pathfinders modify the initial DZ marking to a LZ marking, or would the make a second "new" marking for the DZ? 3- three possible colors for the lights: Red, Green or Amber. Would someone know the colors used for DZ N,K & V on d-Day night? Thanks & Regards, Ludo
http://www.criticalpast.com/products/search/?sort_by=&sort_order=asc&q=rebecca%20and%20Eureka Rebecca and Eureka
Ludo, 1.) The code light on the stem of the "T" formation was a holophane light that blinked the letter of the DZ/LZ in Morse code. I thought this may have been automated but in the American system it was done manually by wire running to the key operator who stayed there punching in the letter repeatedly. 2.) In the case of LZ "N" two landing strips were created side by side for the arrival of the night gliders which meant lines of Rommel's Asparagus had to be removed in preparation. Each runway was 1000 by 60 yards. "T" holophane formations were to be set up at the beginning (?) of each runway. Was some kind of lighting used to outline the runways ...? For the daylight glider landings ground markers would have been used. If in fact they were they should be visible from aerials. Two more wider runways on "N" were supposedly made to the east later to accommodate the Hamilcars. I would imagine something similar would have took place on LZ "W". Having said all that the impression one gets is that gliders were coming in from every which direction. (Barber) 3.) The only one I have so far is green on DZ/LZ "V". (Tootal) Here's a quote on how the Americans set up their "T" arrangement. Not sure if the British followed the same procedure. Noticed in the 22nd IPC WD one "T" is described as only using 5 lights. "Seven of the lights were used in a "T" arrangement, with at least 4 holophane lights across the top and at least 3 holophane lights forming the stem, all lights 25 yards apart. The tail of the "T" pointed in the direction of the jump, the crossbar of the "T" indicated the "go" point. The lights were placed in a position that was easily visible from the air, but almost completely hidden from the ground observers. The tail of the "T" was coded to blink out the signal of the DZ. These lights were also coded in color per drop zone. The Eureka was to be placed within a radius of 100 yards from the head of the T." Hopefully someone will correct any gross inaccuracies there and add more .... Regards ...
Found this article by a Pathfinder P.R. Myllus in the Airwire journal which was the journal of the 2nd Parachute Brigade Signals K Section in Palestine. He writes about how pathfinding actually worked which includes the Eureka Recbecca system. Brithm
