On the night of 12th/13June 1944 Major General Richard Gale decided to provide relief for the Divisions involved (12th Parachute Division and Devonshire Regiment) in the Breville attack. To provide fire support, Gale was given a squadron of tanks from the 13th/18th Royal Hussars, three Field Regiments,the division's own artillery the 53rd (Worcester Yeomanry) and a medium artillery regiment of 5.5 inch guns. Would anyone know which Medium Regiment this was? John
John If your looking at 53rd Division, they were under command of X11 Corps X11 Corps, AGRA was 8AGRA, so the Medium Regt was one of the following at this time: 61, 63, 68 or 77 Medium. Rob
I lifted the intro from The Battle of Breville -12th June that Michel referenced. I was looking to see if by chance it was the 65th Medium Regiment as they were in support of 51 Highland and 6th Airborne Divisions on the 10th and the 5 th Black Watch at Breville on the 11th. No WD entry on the 12th but again in support of 51 Highland on the 13th. John
Not 53rd (Welch) Infantry Division which arrived on 28 Jun, but 53 (Worc Yeo) i.e. 53rd Airlanding Light Regiment, RA. Michel
Thanks Michel but i am thinking that as the 65th Medium had been in action supporting both the 5th Black Watch on Breville as well as supporting the 51 st Highland Division and 6th Airborne in the period 10th to 14th June that there was a good chance that they were also part of the support force on the last Breville attack organised by General Gale. Having searched the various sources of related articles no one has named the Medium Regiment! Confirmation of their involvement on the 13/14th is what i am (hopefully) seeking. Thanks for you input John
I have been trying to find documents relating to the battle of Breville on 12th June 1944,. but have not had much success to date. While the battle was ultimately successful and the firepower of the guns devastated the Germans, there was a lot wrong with the fireplan and conduct of the artillery battle. The late master gunner General sir Martin Farndale claimed that it was British artillery that hit the Paras in the FUP killing or wounding the entire command structure. There was also a communications error. When the codeword was sent to call for the defensive fireplan after capturing the village, it was interpreted as a call to repeat the assault fireplan. After captain Ward the 53 Regiment FOO was killed, his signaller, Gunner Allsop (?) had the fire stopped, fpor which he was mentioned in dicpatches. The fireplan was controlled by HQRA 51 Highland Division, though in support of 6 AB Division. The AB division did not have as good a communications and artillery staff set up as an infantry division. However 51 Div's staff were one level removed from the battle. One of the jobs of the Ops staff in HQRA is to check that artillery fire is aimed at the enemy and stop incidents such as shelling your own troops. That is much easier to do if its your own division. The G3 log for 51 HD or 6 AB div might have the information.
Thanks for input Sheldrake. As i found in the 65th's WD they were firing on Breville in support of the 5th Black watch on the 11th June and also in support of the 51st (H) Division on the 13th, both of whom you confirm in your response. It would seem to me that unless the 51st were also in action on other fronts on the 13th then the Breville attack is what the 65th Medium may have participated in and are likely to be the unnamed Med. Regt. Unless as Rob suggests they were part of 53rd Division/8 AGRA and the ''Medium Regt was one of the following at this time: 61, 63, 68 or 77 Medium.'' I would think that there is a record somewhere as to the specific Medium Regt that came under Gale's attack. What's the G3 LOG to which you refer? John
Hi John, Here's a page from the "6th Airborne Division Report on Operation Overlord". Nothing specific for the evening battle at Breville on June 12th. Earlier in the day it mentions "DF tasks being fired by 3 Br Div and 51 (H) Div ..." Bombardier Leslie Allsopp here: Bombardier Leslie Allsopp Check out the WDs under 2nd British Army at the bottom of this page. War Diaries Regards ...
Hi Cee, Thanks for info. I have looked at the Pegasus page before but not explored the whole of the 2nd British Army before.The 150th Field is giving me some useful information that i need to study more.The page from the 6th Airborne is also of interest but again only mentions 4 Field Regts and one Med Regt. As yet no identification of which one but may come clearer later. Once i've studied you attachments in more depth i will let you know if i've added to my knowledge but it looks promising. Thanks again, John
Hi John, if you haven’t found the info I can rule out 77th as they didn’t land until d day +9. Apologies if you’ve already found out but I’ve only just joined whilst searching my grandads regiment out. Thanks Greg
Thanks for your information Greg and apologies for the late response.I have only just returned to the forum after a long break. John
Hi all, I am mid-dissertation and my topic is 12 Para 6-12 June with a particular focus on the Battle of Breville on the 12th and all the fighting that led up to it. SO I'm very much active and obsessed with this topic all the time after 2.5yrs of research. I think I can help here. The artillery incident at the FUP / start line was investigated by 6th Airbone Div GSO-1 Bobby Bray in the mid 1950's and I have the collection of letters and reports that came out of that. It's not a ton but it does have personal correspondence with key commanders in 6th Airborne and importantly 51st Highland artillery that set the fire plans etc. I'm continually hunting for any and every titbit on Breville from anywhere so would love to keep this thread active and see what everyone else has been able to find on it.
Hello and welcome Adam, The big question is why did the artillery support barrage fall short with disastrous results on 12 Para and 12 Devons before the commencement of the battle. What role did the 12 Para FOO party play? Regards ...
Yo, It is probably common knowledge but as it turns out Captain Hugh William Ward was the FOO. Believe he was killed in the second bombardment which also went wrong: " ... On the 12th June, Major-General Gale gave the order to attack Bréville. Colonel Parker was observing the attack with a group of fellow senior officers when an Allied shell, believed to have been fired from a gun of the 51st Highland Division, fell short of the village and exploded amongst them. Brigadiers The Lord Lovat and Hugh Kindersley were seriously injured, and amongst the dead was Lieutenant-Colonel Johnson of the 12th Parachute Battalion. Although Parker had himself been wounded in the blast, he immediately recognised that the attacking battalion was now leaderless, and so he resumed command of his old unit. Once he was inside the village, Parker toured the defences ceaselessly and, with the assistance of an artillery observer of the 53rd Light Regiment, called for artillery support on German positions outside of Bréville to prevent a counterattack. Unfortunately the order passed to the Allied guns was misunderstood, possibly because of similar codewords for attacking and defensive fire, and, believing Bréville to still be in the hands of the enemy, the artillery opened fire on the village for a second time and caused yet more casualties amongst the 12th Battalion and Devonshires. ... " Regards ...
And to add: Bombardier Leslie Allsopp in his account claims to have been attached to 8 Para when in fact he was clearly with the 12 Para FOO detachment (No. 5 Para FOO). His CO was Capt. Ward. Regards ...
Here I have an answer from the number two guy in 6th Airborne Division, GSO-1 Lieutenant Colonel Bobby Bray. He investigated the artillery incidents at the battle in 1955-6. 53rd Airlanding Regiment Lieutenant Colonel Tony Teacher said in a February 1956 letter to Bray that it was 211 Battery of his regiment that was responsible for the short rounds. Bray says in a December 1955 letter to 5th Parachute Brigade CO Brigadier Nigel Poett that he also heard a faulty map reference was to blame for 211 Battery's short fire. The second barrage that also went horribly wrong, however, is more complicated...
Both FOOs (Ward & Bannerman) dying at the battle is tragic and extremely unhelpful so we can't know exactly who said what down the radio to who and corroborate it.
