249th (Airborne) Field Company RE on D-Day and Battle of Normandy

Xavier,

My understanding is that "Part VII - 6 Airborne Divisional Troops" is a Staff College document created post war. It does contain within some war era documents like Operating Orders for example. The information you point to that differs from the 249 Field Coys war diary derives from the 4 day account, June 6th to 9th, in Appendix C (page 62).

A narrative has been created to account for the activities of all the different elements of the company during the stated time period. Unfortunately it doesn't gives sources for the events it claims took place. We can only assume this is information that came to light after the war diaries were written. It should be noted that after the war Lt-Col. Frank Lowman, CRE 6th Airborne Division, "was on the DS at Camberley and attended the Joint Services Staff College."

Regards ...

 

Hey all,

The war diary of the 249th refer that the 2nd platoon participated with the Ox and Bucks, to an exercise named "PIAVE" on 16th and 17th May 1944.
Does anybody knows more about it ?

Regards,

Xavier

 

Xavier,

The full quote in your snip is not visible. I couldn't find anything on Exercise Pibue, May 16/17. There may be a slim chance that it is mentioned in the Ox and Bucks war diary. Major Howard and his men were heavily involved in bridge capture training during the month of May. Some of events during that period taken mostly from the Lightbobs site:

May 14 - Major Howard leads a representative company of Ox and Bucks men during a "Salute the Soldier" parade in Oxford. They were given a 2 day break at the same time.

May 18 - "The divisional commander addressed all officers in the garrison theatre on the 18th."

May 19 - The King, Queen and Princess Royal inspect the 6th Airborne Division.

May 21 - Howard's party begins training at the Countess Wear Bridges in Exeter and remain there for several days (3-6 days depending on the account).

May 26 - The Coup de Main party move to Tarrant Rushton Transit Camp.

Regards ...

 

Hey Cee,
Below the full quote.
Maybe exercises on Countess Wear Bridges and PIAVE are related. But impossible to confirm that.
Another day perhaps we will know more...
Regards,
Xavier

 

Hi,

Attached are the details of Exercise Piave.

Regards

Danny

 

Hey,

About the difference between the theoretical number of men of the company who landed on 6th June 1944 (Juno + Pegasus> 300 men) and the number of soldiers in a Field Company RE (250), I founded a theory :

The 18th May 1944, the 2nd platoon of the 249th was designed to landed with Major Howard Troop on Pegasus Bridge, which is equivalent to 60 men.

The Landing Tables for Juno dated 13 April 1944, one month before this designation, and it was possible that this men were included in the serial ferry service.

That's why there is a big difference between the strenght of the 249th in the war diary of the unit, about 250 men, and the total present in the serial ferry service added to the troops that landed in gliders, 298 men (238 by sea and 60 by glider).

Regards,

Xavier

 

Hey all,

Does anybody know how the soldiers of the 22, 24 and 25 Platoons who did not participate in the "Coup de Main" raid was designated ? And when ?

Regards,

Xavier

 

Xavier,

So who was left behind from the Ox and Bucks platoons that took part in the coup de main raid and how did they arrive in Normandy. According to Stephen Ambrose they trimmed two men per glider due to weight problems and chose them by date of joining the regiment. This would have occurred after their move to the Tarrant Rushton transit camp. I have never run across the names of these particular men.

First thought is any who were cut from the coup de main parties and perhaps others who weren't selected in the first place were accommodated on gliders that left from RAF Keevil (CN 152-183) and RAF Harwell (CN 113-145) on Operation Mallard. I'm not aware of any manifest for these particular gliders that landed on LZ 'W' at around 9 P.M., June 6th.

There was a glider that left from RAF Brize Norton carrying 28 Ox and Buck troops on Operation Tonga. CN 38 piloted by Staff Sergeant Fred Corry and Staff Sergeant Robin Wright landed on a school playing field in Ranville at approximately 3:40 A.M. These men are unnamed as well as the platoon(s) they belong to, nor is anything known of their objective. See this thread:

Operation Deadstick Questions

Another curiosity is a recent discovery by brithm concerning an Airborne man that was present at the the death of Padre Parry in Benouville. The son of Raymond Devenish claims he was with the Ox and Bucks and arrived by glider on D-Day. He is not among those listed on the coup de main roll. Perhaps he was on CN 38 and headed for the bridge after arrival. Or was he in fact a 7 Parachute Battalion soldier?

Help finding info about my Dad Ray Devenish in the obli

So not very helpful and I may have missed other accounts.

Regards ...

Edit: Added RAF Harwell, etc.

 

Hey,

For me, Ray Devenish was from the Ox and Bucks, see me reply on "Help finding info about my Dad Ray Devenish in the obli".

The 18 following men were of 22/23/24 and 25 Platoons but did not participate in the Coup-de-Main raid :
Coup de Main Force

Glider 1
Men of No.25 Platoon :
Privates Saunders, Fry, Taylor, Whale, Wilks and Sergeant Page.

Glider 2
Men of No.24 Platoon :
Privates Orris, Davis, Batchelor, Irving, Brooks and Meredith.

Glider 4
Men of No.22 Platoon :
Lance-Corporal Griffiths, Privates Harris and Nicholls.

Glider 5
Men of No.23 Platoon :
Privates Fergoson, Giles and Lance-Corporal Lennon.

May be the two men per glider who were cut are in this list.
There is no information about the men of the 14 and 17 Platoons, gliders 3 and 6, "B" Company, who were cut of the glider.

18 + 4 (men of the 14 and 17 platoon) = 22 men. There are 6 missing soldiers to complete the CN 38 !!

How many people there was in the company’s Mortar Section ("Darkie" Baine...) ?

Regards,

Xavier

 

Hi,

My real research concern to know if it's just 30 men of the 2nd platoon of the 249th who participated to exercices on Exeter's bridge, or if it's the entire platoon ? The same thought can be done for the Ox and Bucks...

What happens if men where injured during exercice ? The number in concerning glider would have been reduced ?!?$# There were no men in reserve ?

Could anyone enlighten me on this subject ?

Regards,

Xavier

 

Xavier,

I can't find any mention of extra sappers being taken on for the coup de main training. It would have been the common sense thing to do in case of an injury prior to D-Day. Stephen Ambrose who is not always to be trusted made the following remark:

"Howard had them practise every possible development he could imagine - only one glider getting down, or the gliders landing out of proper sequence, or the dozens of other possibilities. He taught every man the basic rudiments of the sappers' jobs; he instructed the sappers in the functions of the platoons; he made certain that each of his officers was prepared to take command of the whole operation, and sergeants and corporals to take command of each platoon, if need be."

As for the Ox and Bucks platoons involved in Deadstick I would think all members of the platoons would have taken part in the training even the few men who weren't selected to go. From the Barber book:

"And so the platoon commanders each had the extremely difficult task of choosing and then informing several men that they were not going. Lieutenant Wood arrived at a solution:

I think it was the last man to join the platoon. I think that was the kindest way. Nobody wanted to be left behind and John Howard said they were in tears when they were told they were to be left out. We never considered whether somebody was married or not.5

Footnote 5 - Lieutenant Wood: All the men were weighed, but not the officers. Someone said, ‘We can’t help it if Lieutenant Wood is X number of stone, he’s got to go.’ Bill Howard thinks that three men were left out of the No 5 glider: Sandy Ferguson from his section, Colin Willcox (Sweeney’s batman) and one other. Pearson, the glider pilot does not think this due to being overloaded! On John Howard’s glider, Bill Gray believes that they dropped some ammunition instead."

So you can see from that it may have been a much more varied choice than Ambrose's claim that two men were knocked off per glider due to the weight problem.

Regards ...

 

Hi Cee,
I found a "possible" mention to confirm the presence of all the 2nd platoon of the 249th during the coup de main training on Exeter's bridge.
Extract from war diary :
20th May - Coy vehicle party left Bulford for camp C5 at 14h00, arriving 17h00. Remainder less 2 Pl. left barracks at 18h00 but did not arrive until 03h00.
21st May - 2 Pl. move by road to Exminster with Ox and Bucks "D" Coy for training on special operational task.
24th May - 2 Pl. returns to Bulford in afternoon.
25th May - 2 Pl. carries out last minute administration before move to Tarrant Rushton. Glider rafting party leaves for Brize Norton.
Regards,
Xavier

 

Xavier,

Good find! It certainly looks like the whole platoon went to Exminister. How big is an Airborne RE platoon?

Regards ....

 

66 men = Airborne RE platoon

Other possibles proofs :
-Howard wished that his men did the german role during exercice on Exeter's bridges. How could they do that if they are just the same number who landed on D-Day ?
-They practised the exercice during 36 hours, a lot of time, without interruption. Have they never rested ?

Xavier

 

Xavier,

Polish troops from the 1st Polish Parachute Brigade were dressed up as Germans to act as opposition during Exercise Mush, April 21/22. From the Barber book:

"Exercise ‘MUSH’ was taking place near Cirencester in Gloucestershire. The six platoons were to capture and hold two bridges at Cerney Wick. To make the assaults as close to reality as possible, Howard had requested that soldiers in German uniform defend the bridges. These turned out to be very enthusiastic members of 1 Polish Parachute Brigade."

Denis Edwards in his book, The Devil's Own Luck, claims the Polish were also used at the two bridges over the river and canal in Exeter. Has he mixed up the two separate episodes or were the Polish brought there as well?

"The Countess Weir bridges were defended by extremely conscientious Polish paratroops who were not ready or willing to surrender anything to anyone, and there were some fierce and physical exchanges with them as they fought ferociously, as if for the honour of Poland! For three days and nights we continued with the exercise, being driven to within varying distances of the bridges in trucks, to simulate glider landings, and then trying to wrest control of the bridges from those very uncooperative Poles."

Lieutenant David J. Wood in the INA video says during the rehearsals at Exeter:

"We had people who acted as the enemy. And the enemy would take up their defensive position on the bridges and around them as we believed they would be in real life. We then attacked from here using blank ammunition, thunder flashes, a simple form of stun grenade as you would call it today, which made a lot of noise but of course wouldn't hurt anybody"

Pegasus Bridge : les préparatifs à Exeter

I haven't come across mention of a non-stop period of 36 hour training while there, only that they practised intensively day and night for three days.

Regards ...

 

I agree with you, no mention of a non-stop period of 36 hour training, I was wrong.
About the polish...very difficult to know if yes or no.
If we could find the same document about training on Exeter's bridge, as DannyM send us for "Exercice Piave", we would know more about it. But...
Regards,
Xavier

 

From the recording of the programme the Glider Pilot recalls doing a run, then being taken back to the aerodrome where he says they would 'sleep for a couple of hours', before repeating the exercise again so long as there was a full moon.

I would guess they exercised day & night as at that time they did not know what time of day or night the operation would take place

TD

 

Hi,

Question about fighting in Hérouvillette, 16th June 2017...

Extract from war diary of 7th Para Battalion : 7th Parachute Battalion
The village had been held previously by 2 OXF & BUCKS (who had had a battle there) but at the time of take over was occupied only by troops Div. Park Coy R.E.
The RE had taken over the positions of the OXF & BUCKS but I did not altogether like them and occupied rather different ones myself. I therefore kept A coy (two platoons strong only) up my sleeve and disposed C Coy on the St HONORINE flank and B coy on the ESCOVILLE one.
The other two flanks (East and North) I did not consider likely to be attacked and entrusted to the RE, who remained in the area even though I had taken over from them.

Extract from war diary of 249th Field Company RE : 249th (Airborne) Field Company, RE
16th June 1944
Place: Normandy
Coy still at HEROUVILLETTE! Early morning mortar barrage continuous for 2½ hours. 2 wounded. Wood clearing by 1 pl & ½ 3 pl. Approx 5 huns killed. Coy in defensive position all day.

Does anyone know where was this wood ?

Regards,

Xavier

 

Xavier,

The 7 Para coordinates aren't very helpful. 1272 for instance could just be a marker for Herouvillette. There is a farm house (chateau) near that spot so possibly the 7 Para HQ. North of Escoville there are a couple of fields that are enclosed by trees that probably belonged to the Chateau de Escoville which has since been demolished. The trees surrounding the fields appear to be six or more rows thick on the east side and less so to north and west.

B Coy was in the area facing south to Escoville. Apparently in front of them was a dog-leg wood, the approach to which was planted with mines. Later A Coy enters these woods to the west and penetrates as far as the Chateau de Escoville. There was at the time a thick hedge line that looks like the hind leg of a dog that connected to the eastern edge of the enclosed area described above. The trees have since been removed. Of course that is only guess work, but I can see some sense to it.

Where are the woods the platoons of 249 Fld Coy RE entered and killed 5 Germans? If they were east of B Coy perhaps one in that direction. Not sure at this time. We need some good period aerials

Regards ...

 

Hi,

There was a lot of woods to the east of the town.

Where were the other airborne units in this direction (East) ?

Another option, may be a part of the 249th could have helped the A Coy ... ... ...

Regards,

Xavier