10th July 1944 - British 8th Corps (part of 2nd Army) began new attacks toward Evrecy - a village south-west of Caen, across the River Orne from Grainville. This was to pave the way for Operation Goodwood"a plan to employ massed armour in break through the German defences constructed on the Orne bridgehead" (From ‘Overlord’ by Max Hastings, Macmillan 2016 edition, and Chronology of World War II.)
Dick's former unit, the 43rd (Wessex) Division, suffers 2,000 casualties in Operation Jupiter, trying to rest Hill 112 (see First In, Last Out) back from the Germans. The Division also his included his first regiment, The Dorsets (see 43rd (Wessex) Division Memorial). The battle was of "shattering intensity, even by the standards of Normandy" (Hastings).
61st Recce's 50th Division was involved in fierce fighting around Éterville and Maltot south-west of Caen. Eric Brewer was still at Grainville-sur-Odon, only a few kilometres north-west of Hill 112. His diary records “have taken up a position in front of slit* trenches” (from Eric Brewer’s Diary by kind permission of Derek Brewer and his family).
* 'slit trenches' - a very shallow excavation allowing one man to lie horizontally while shielding his body from nearby shell bursts and small arms fire.
Sometime in July, when Sandy Handley was still in a Bren carrier, he was involved in an assault action that may have been this one:
“I remember one little action we took part in with 4 Bren carriers. We had to charge across to the corner of a field. I was flat on my stomach firing away, no question of taking aim. With the motion over the bumpy field, the bullets went everywhere but the corner of this field.
We got closer and saw a white surrender flag come up. One German Officer and six troopers were made prisoner, fortunately for them no one killed. Our officer* was pleased. The Officer, Captain Truman**, got an M.C. (Militiary Cross) for a similar action. Our officer questioned the captured German Officer*** and asked if he had any more troops in the wood. He replied indicating he wasn’t obliged to tell us.
However, Captain Truman ordered all the Bren Gunners and the N.C.O.s to get off our vehicles with tommy guns, to spread out and walk through the wood and keep firing. This meant walking through this wood Bren guns and tommy guns all firing, the bullets bouncing off the tree branches - pretty frightening. I had used the Bren gun quite a lot from our armoured car since we landed but now from a Bren Carrier (which I had never had training for) and walking through a wood firing from the hip, like John Wayne, was something new. Any minute we expected a burst coming at us.
When we were well in the wood another dirty white rag went up - six more frightened Germans, hands up. Let’s face it, I was frightened too and I’m sure the other lads were as well.
We now had 13 more prisoners who seemed glad it was all over for them anyway. I hoped I wouldn’t have to go through that again but that was only July ’44. We had a long way to go, how long no one knew."
*Presumably Lt. Dick Williams, Sandy's troop commander.
**In his account of 61st Recce, Colonel Brownrigg describes Lieutenant Truman carrying out impressive reconnaissance manoeuvres with his troop later in the Normandy campaign at Amayé-sur-Seulles (for which he received the MC).
*** Dick had learnt to speak German while training for Intelligence work in 1941. He also spoke fluent French.
(From Ex Trooper S Handley’s ‘61 Recce - Memories of Normandy 1944 – 1945’, unpublished)
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