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Airframes
Benevolens Magister
Continuing with Benouville and Le Port.
By around 01.40 hrs on 6th June, Major Howard and his men began to see the arrival of the first troops from Col. Pine-Coffin's 7 Para, who had been dropped at 00.50 hrs on DZ-N, just outside Ranville, to the east.
However, due to high winds and poor visibility, the drop was quite widely scattered, and only a small proportion of the Battalion reached the bridges and the village during these early hours. They also lacked most of the heavy machine guns and other equipment, that had either been scattered in the drop, or had not arrived by glider.
It took some time, in the pitch dark, for the remaining scattered troops to gather at the designated RV, collect arms and equipment, and then move to their objectives at Benouville and Ranville.
Meanwhile, the depleted B Company of 7 Para, including Richard Todd, took up defensive positions around Benouville, Le Port, and the western bank of the canal, on the north side of the bridge.
Numerous counter attacks were launched, during the night and into the morning hours, by the locally-garrisoned 716th Infantry Regiment, and elements of 21st Panzer, and the Paras, already well under strength, suffered high casualties, but held the ground.
One of the men killed at this time was the Chaplain, G.E.M. Parry, aged 29, known to his men as "Pissy Percy the Parachuting Parson".
He was assisting in tending to the wounded in one of the RAPs (Regimental Aid Post) set up in a house in the village (possibly Cafe Gondree), when German troops burst in and machine-gunned the room, killing Medics, wounded soldiers, and the Chaplain.
He is buried in the church yard of Benouville church, directly opposite our hotel in Le Port, which will be shown later.
During the morning hours, fierce fighting took place in and around Benouville and Le Port, and the building which is now the hotel where we stayed, was involved.
At some point, two men from B Company, 7 Para, needed to move from what was then the garden of the manor house, which was under heavy fire, to join up with troops down the narrow lane between the house and the church yard, near the canal bank. As they prepared to exit the door in the wall, three or four German soldiers appeared, behind the church yard wall, and opened fire. The Paras ducked, threw a grenade, and after a quick burst of Sten gun fire, legged it down the lane.
As the morning wore on, the men around the square in Le Port were subjected to increasing, and effective, sniper fire, suffering quite a number of dead and wounded.
Suspecting that this nuisance was coming from the church tower, Cpl. Killeen (7 Para) made his way through the houses on the opposite side of the square, and took up a position in the upper window of the house at the end of the row, on the cross roads directly across from the church.
He fired a PIAT bomb into the tower, and the sniping (from there, at least) ceased.
He was later seen to remove his helmet before entering the church, where around 12 dead German soldiers were found (numbers vary, depending on accounts).
Many more fierce firefights were taking place, in the village, and around the canal bridge, but around 12.30 hrs, the sound of bagpipes could be heard and Lord Lovat, with his personal piper, Bill Millin, appeared, at the head of his Commandos of 2 Special Service brigade, with a Churchill tank accompanying them.
Reinforcements had arrived, with more following from the landings on Sword beach, although the main task of 2 SSB was to provide extra defensive positions around the high ground at Amfreviile, around 3 miles to the north east of the canal.
The bridge was still under fire, particularly from snipers, so the Commandos had to dash across the bridge, losing several men in the process.
Fighting continued during the course of the day, but with the "missing" Paras now arriving in greater numbers, the vital bridges, "Pegasus" and "Horsa", were held until armour and infantry arrived from Sword beach and the fighting in Ouistreham, six miles to the north.
Major Howard, and the men of 2 Ox and Bucks, had succeeded in carrying out their orders - "hold until relieved".
For the men of 7 Para though, this was just the beginning as, in the following days, they would come up against heavier and heavier attacks from 21st Panzer Division - and the ruthless 12th SS Panzer, "Hitler Jugend" - in the area around Benouville and Ranville.
The pics below show some of the places mentioned, with some "then and now" shots.
Pic 1. The door (arrowed) in the wall of what is now "Manoir Hastings" hotel, where the two Paras made a run for it.
Pic 2. The proximity of the church, and wall, from inside what was the courtyard gates, now part of the hotel restaurant.
Pic 3. The row of houses that Cpl. Killeen made his way through, with the window (arrowed) where he fired the PIAT at the church tower.
Pic 4. Clearer view of the house in Le Port square.
.Pic 5. Benouville (Le Port) church, after the battle, showing the tower where Cpl. Killeen's PIAT round struck.
Pic 6. The church today, taken from the footpath outside the same house used by Cpl. Killeen. (apologies for the "flare" caused by shooting directly into the sun)
Pic 7. Commandos join up with Paras, outside La Chaumiere, Benouville, on the afternoon of June 6th.
Pic 8. The same spot today.
Pic 9. British trucks pass over "Pegasus bridge", in the days following its capture. Note the materials for repairing the road bed, at left.
Pic 10. A similar view, with the new bridge, today.
A few more photos from Le Port to come next, then I'll move onto the Merville battery.
By around 01.40 hrs on 6th June, Major Howard and his men began to see the arrival of the first troops from Col. Pine-Coffin's 7 Para, who had been dropped at 00.50 hrs on DZ-N, just outside Ranville, to the east.
However, due to high winds and poor visibility, the drop was quite widely scattered, and only a small proportion of the Battalion reached the bridges and the village during these early hours. They also lacked most of the heavy machine guns and other equipment, that had either been scattered in the drop, or had not arrived by glider.
It took some time, in the pitch dark, for the remaining scattered troops to gather at the designated RV, collect arms and equipment, and then move to their objectives at Benouville and Ranville.
Meanwhile, the depleted B Company of 7 Para, including Richard Todd, took up defensive positions around Benouville, Le Port, and the western bank of the canal, on the north side of the bridge.
Numerous counter attacks were launched, during the night and into the morning hours, by the locally-garrisoned 716th Infantry Regiment, and elements of 21st Panzer, and the Paras, already well under strength, suffered high casualties, but held the ground.
One of the men killed at this time was the Chaplain, G.E.M. Parry, aged 29, known to his men as "Pissy Percy the Parachuting Parson".
He was assisting in tending to the wounded in one of the RAPs (Regimental Aid Post) set up in a house in the village (possibly Cafe Gondree), when German troops burst in and machine-gunned the room, killing Medics, wounded soldiers, and the Chaplain.
He is buried in the church yard of Benouville church, directly opposite our hotel in Le Port, which will be shown later.
During the morning hours, fierce fighting took place in and around Benouville and Le Port, and the building which is now the hotel where we stayed, was involved.
At some point, two men from B Company, 7 Para, needed to move from what was then the garden of the manor house, which was under heavy fire, to join up with troops down the narrow lane between the house and the church yard, near the canal bank. As they prepared to exit the door in the wall, three or four German soldiers appeared, behind the church yard wall, and opened fire. The Paras ducked, threw a grenade, and after a quick burst of Sten gun fire, legged it down the lane.
As the morning wore on, the men around the square in Le Port were subjected to increasing, and effective, sniper fire, suffering quite a number of dead and wounded.
Suspecting that this nuisance was coming from the church tower, Cpl. Killeen (7 Para) made his way through the houses on the opposite side of the square, and took up a position in the upper window of the house at the end of the row, on the cross roads directly across from the church.
He fired a PIAT bomb into the tower, and the sniping (from there, at least) ceased.
He was later seen to remove his helmet before entering the church, where around 12 dead German soldiers were found (numbers vary, depending on accounts).
Many more fierce firefights were taking place, in the village, and around the canal bridge, but around 12.30 hrs, the sound of bagpipes could be heard and Lord Lovat, with his personal piper, Bill Millin, appeared, at the head of his Commandos of 2 Special Service brigade, with a Churchill tank accompanying them.
Reinforcements had arrived, with more following from the landings on Sword beach, although the main task of 2 SSB was to provide extra defensive positions around the high ground at Amfreviile, around 3 miles to the north east of the canal.
The bridge was still under fire, particularly from snipers, so the Commandos had to dash across the bridge, losing several men in the process.
Fighting continued during the course of the day, but with the "missing" Paras now arriving in greater numbers, the vital bridges, "Pegasus" and "Horsa", were held until armour and infantry arrived from Sword beach and the fighting in Ouistreham, six miles to the north.
Major Howard, and the men of 2 Ox and Bucks, had succeeded in carrying out their orders - "hold until relieved".
For the men of 7 Para though, this was just the beginning as, in the following days, they would come up against heavier and heavier attacks from 21st Panzer Division - and the ruthless 12th SS Panzer, "Hitler Jugend" - in the area around Benouville and Ranville.
The pics below show some of the places mentioned, with some "then and now" shots.
Pic 1. The door (arrowed) in the wall of what is now "Manoir Hastings" hotel, where the two Paras made a run for it.
Pic 2. The proximity of the church, and wall, from inside what was the courtyard gates, now part of the hotel restaurant.
Pic 3. The row of houses that Cpl. Killeen made his way through, with the window (arrowed) where he fired the PIAT at the church tower.
Pic 4. Clearer view of the house in Le Port square.
.Pic 5. Benouville (Le Port) church, after the battle, showing the tower where Cpl. Killeen's PIAT round struck.
Pic 6. The church today, taken from the footpath outside the same house used by Cpl. Killeen. (apologies for the "flare" caused by shooting directly into the sun)
Pic 7. Commandos join up with Paras, outside La Chaumiere, Benouville, on the afternoon of June 6th.
Pic 8. The same spot today.
Pic 9. British trucks pass over "Pegasus bridge", in the days following its capture. Note the materials for repairing the road bed, at left.
Pic 10. A similar view, with the new bridge, today.
A few more photos from Le Port to come next, then I'll move onto the Merville battery.
