Dear All Would anyone be kind enough to share a transcription/image of the 2nd Devonshire War Diary or/and the page from the official history Jeremy Taylor, The Devons: A History of the Devonshire Regiment 1685-1945. Bristol: The White Swan Press, 1951 for 7th June 1944? I am visiting Longues as part of a school trip to the D-Day battlefields and would like to use it to help bring the army bit of the action involving the battery to life (also interested in the other actions taken by the 2nd Devonshire Regiment on that day other than Longues). I would be very grateful if a member of the forum would be prepared to help. Best Justin
Justin, I'm afraid The Devons doesn't actually relate the capture of the Longues battery. I suppose something had to give in trying to cram 260 years of history into not many more pages. There is a one page description of the battalion's attack on an unnamed chateau south of Escures, which is itself south of Port-en-Bessin.
As for the war diary , I'm sure Andy (Drew5233) has this , as I'm sure he copied it for another member awhile ago.
Thanks to both Idler and Owen, I will get in touch with Andy and see if he has the relevant images. Thanks Justin
Hello Justin, Some useful data on sources of information in this thread: http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/36177-2nd-devonshires-in-normandy/?hl=%2B2nd+%2Bdevons#entry449138 Best, Steve.
Thanks Steve, with the War Diary it should mean that there will be a lot of information to use. Best Justin
LInk to the war diary 2nd Devonshire Regt for June 1944 (No Appendicies). http://s873.photobucket.com/user/rahonour3947/library/2ND%20BATTALION%20THE%20DEVONSHIRE%20REGT%20-%20JUNE%201944?sort=3&page=1 Page for 7 June 1944.
Ramacal, thank you so much for this, I read through all of the entries for June and it helped very much to put the experiences of the 2nd Devonshires into perspective, which I will pass on to the children on the school trip. I was especially moved by the accounts of waiting for D-Day, the sea crossing and the landing. The war diary account of Longues and its capture (of its sailors since the gun was manned by the German Navy) will mean that I can really place the damage you see from the attack of the Devonshires on one of the casemates in perspective. I am also going to ask the students to remember Captain P.E. Clark whilst we are at Longues. Ramacal thank you again for sharing this. Andy thanks for looking, I am very likely to be in touch with you soon about some other war diaries you may have. What a wonderful forum this is. Best Justin