VAUDRY

3 (British) Division initially consisted of 8th Infantry Brigade, 185th Infantry Brigade and 9th Infantry Brigade plus Headquarters troops, Engineers, Gunners, a heavy Machine Gun Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment and the supporting arms. 

After some very intensive fighting to the Eastern side of the front, by 6 August the advance was approaching the D55 Estry – Vire road with 9 (Inf) Brigade on the Right flank. 

The Brigade consisted of 2nd Battalion the Lincolnshire Regiment on the right (West) flank, and the 1st Battalion Kings Own Scottish Borderers on the left adjoining the most Westerly elements of 185 Brigade. 2 Royal Ulster Rifles were in Brigade Reserve around Montisenger and the Brigade was being supported by 44 Royal Tank Regiment and 33 Field Regiment RA. The frontage of the two battalions was less that 2km, with the extreme right hand Company of 2 LINCOLN being around 100m to the right (West) of the junction between the D55a (Vaudry) road going South and the D55 Vire-Estry road. 2 LINCOLN were in periodic contact with 23rd (US) Infantry Regiment who were in the process of fighting through Vire. 

9 Infantry Brigade were given the initial task of cutting the Vire-Estry road (now the D55) and then climbing up from there to take and cut the Vire-Vassy road , which was a main supply route for the Germans. It was known that the land from the railway line was strongly held by the Germans and that the approach from the Vire–Estry road was very exposed to fire, which was controlled by numerous well sited Observation Posts. By the time that the Brigade forward elements arrived at Montisenger the Germans had already blown the bridge over the River Alliere at Pont de Vaudry making the route up the hill impassable to vehicles until a re-placement bridge had been constructed. 

Saturday August 5. Marie-Thérèse Gallet (age 19)

Around 5am a noise and a shake more violent that the others [shells landing] makes us all jump. Doors and windows open, some are torn. Many of the windows fall, plaster tumbles and the cornices of cupboards fall. The roof was literally raised and then fell, there are cracks everywhere. We decide to go to the trenches [in the garden]. We remain in the trenches until 7pm and then, the battle having subsided, we go out one after the other and go home to eat and have a quick toilet. We then learn that the bridge over the road blew up……… for the moment we hear no more cannon, only an uninterrupted roll of tanks on the road. I think that today we will see the arrival of the English, definitively this time. 

The first British Troops arrive at the Chateau

Thursday August 3 – Personal diary, Marie-Therese Gallet 

THEY ARE HERE! We saw the first tanks come down the road at 11am. Needless to say we rushed for the distri-bution of chocolate, cigarettes, candy etc. At the moment there are four tanks spitting grapeshot on all the bushes. There are still, here and there, a few Germans throwing grenades. 

It’s hard to imagine the joy we feel to see, for the first time in four years khaki uniforms and hear “How do you do” pronounced with a real English accent. 

These are the English and not the Americans. They have helmets reminiscent of German helmets and no longer their slightly ridiculous shaving dishes. 

By 1500 on the afternoon of 6th August both the Kings Own Scottish Borderers (KOSB) on the left (East) and the 2nd Bn Lincolnshire Regiment (2 LINCOLN) had crossed the Vire – Estry road and had begun to infiltrate onto the South side of the River Alliere (200m from the front of the house). Until that point there had been little sign of German resistance, however the advancing troops had clearly been seen from the commanding heights to the South, and sporadic shelling and mortar fire began. An early casualty from this shelling was the Commanding Officer from 2 LINCOLN Lt Col Wilson. The Regimental Aid post was also hit wounding both the medical Officer and the Padre together with two Lieutenants. In addition Lt A Hempsall was killed, together with 2 ORs and an addi-tional 12 ORs were wounded. 2 LINCOLN and KOSB were ordered to hold firm in this location overnight and not to advance or patrol beyond the Granville-Paris railway line 1Km past the house. The plan was that 253 Field Company Royal engineers would build a bridge over the Alliere during the night to allow (initially) the Batallion’s vehicle borne recce elements and later the Sherman Tanks of 44 Royal Tank Regiment (44 RTR) to cross. 

1st KOSB War Diary Entry for 6th August, 1944

Bn moved out in TCVs (Troop Carrying Vehicle) at 0500 hrs and arrived at assembly area 672379 at 0700 hrs.

The 'O' Group moved to S.L. at 0815 and the attack with "C" Coy on left and "D" Coy on right commenced at 0845 hrs.

By 0955 hrs MONTISANGER was occupied without opposition. Patrols were sent out to the main road and river S of PISSOT. Two bridges (675340 - 666340) reported blown.

An attack on positions S of the river (sqs 6734, 6735) was ordered at 1700 hrs to start at 1800 hrs. This attack was carried out with "C" Coy on the right and "A" Coy on the left. The two coys reached their first objective and pushed on but were pinned down by enemy MG fire from flanks when approaching the railway (sq 6737). These two coys made this adv against fairly heavy opposition, almost completely unsupported. Owing to the blowing of the br (675340) and the speed with which the attack had to be prepared, it was not possible to get any sp arms to them except one tp of tanks which got over later in the evening, and, by a very gallant attack, saved the situation on "C" Coy front.

One complete pl of "A" Coy is missing from this operation and many offrs and ORs of both coys were killed and wounded.

Late that night orders were received from Bde that the Bn was to consolidate - if necessary withdrawing.

The withdrawal of the two fwd coys was carried out and by first light the Bn was in position astride the bridge at 675340.

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Sunday August 6th Mme Anne-Marie Gallet (Maman) 

We spent the night, some in the trenches, others in individual holes right next to it, others, including me and the three little ones, in a large hole. This hole, dug by the Germans to put a truck in, is vast. We put a tarpaulin over it and brought straw mattresses and blankets. The day was spent in or near the trench. Around 11am we are shaken by two explosions and we learn shortly after that two shells fell near the house. The Wellingtonia and the Tulipier are hit, but the house received only fragments.

Evening arrives, a few isolated Germans pass by us. One, carrying a sub machine gun, stops next to our trench and then runs away. We then hear the sound of a machine gun directed at our tarpaulin. It is the English. The tarpaulin and mattresses are perforated and I get wool on my head. Little Martine screams as much as she can. Her cries were heard and the shooting stops. We see four English soldiers carrying grenades who look at us in bewilderment. We scream “French” and we show the baby. We cry “ go away, you will get us killed”. 

Bridging the Alliere 

The initial plan was that 253 Fd Coy RE would lay a Valentine Tank Bridge over the Alliere to the West of the destroyed bridge (to allow the lighter vehicles to cross) and create a ford using repurposed ramps from a Horsa Glider. No 1 Platoon (1 PL) were to begin to build a 60 foot Bailey Bridge to carry the heavy vehicles. However, as the bridging site was overlooked by well sited German Observation Posts (OPs), it proved impossible to start the work until 0800 on the morning of the 7th and the work was incredibly dangerous. Only three men at a time were allowed to work on the abutments of the bridge as the site was under continuous shell and mortar fire. During the evening, the Recce vehicle of 1 Pl was hit by shellfire, wounding both the Platoon officer and Platoon Sergeant. 

A Lance Sergeant was killed as were 4 ORs, with an additional 7 ORs wounded. Work on the Bailey bridge stopped and did not re-start until 9th. 

A fatal mistake is made 

At 1000 on 7 August, and in contradiction of even the most basic of accepted infantry tactics, the Commander of 9 Infantry Brigade ordered 2 LINCOLN to advance alone to the railway line, which was around 600m away from the foremost Battalion position and then to push forward to the top of the hill. No orders were given to KOSB to advance on their left and they remained astride the Vire Estry road.

In support of 2 LINCOLN were a Squadron of 44 RTR and 101 Anti-Tank Battery RA, a heavy machine gun platoon of 2 Bn Middlesex Regt and one Battery 33 Field Regiment RA with self-propelled 105mm guns.

The advance began with C and D Companies of the Lincolns to the left (East) of the D55a (Vaudry) road and A and B companies to the right. A platoon of 253 Fd Coy RE were in sup-port to provide mine clearance. 

Almost as soon as A Coy moved out they were mortared heavily, immediately killing a signaller, destroying the wireless set and temporarily blinding the platoon commander. Heavy machine gun fire from well dug in weapon pits in the hedgerows and on the South side of the railway line. Two tanks from 44RTR moved in on the right flank to assist but were rapidly knocked out. The first by a Panzerfaust (German Bazooka equivalent) and the second by a mine. After supporting fire by the artillery, A company eventually reached the railway line, but by now all the Company officers had been injured. Two German machine guns, sited in the railway crossing keeper’s cottage took a particularly heavy toll. The remaining RTR tanks attempted to reach the railway crossing, but the two leading tanks were disabled by mines, which effectively blocked the (sunken) road about 100m short of the crossing. The RE Section attempting to clear the mines also suffered casualties. 

On the left of the advance, D company had initially made good progress to La Lande, however, they were unsupported on their left flank as a result of the fact that the KOSB had been ordered to remain astride the Vire-Estry road and they were rapidly outflanked by German troops, who were now firing at them both from ahead and be-hind and to the left. Two sections (20 men) of the foremost platoon had managed to cross the railway line and were effectively surrounded. 

At this point of the attack, it was decided that the attack was getting nowhere on either flank and could not continue without further heavy losses. Consequently the Companies on both of the sides of the Vaudry road were extricated back to the start point under a smokescreen laid by the artillery. Unfortunately, it did not prove possible to contact one of the Sections of D Company which had crossed the railway line and these were initially posted missing. All 11 men were later found dead. Which was in addition to the other three ORs killed and two officers and 25 ORs wounded. One of these soldiers was Private Arthur Papworth, who is the Soldier buried in Vaudry churchyard. 

As a result of this failed attack and because the Brigade Commander had failed to provide support on either flank , and also because this was not the first time that the Brigade Commander had erred, he was sacked at 2200 that evening and replaced. 

From 9th Infantry Brigade War Diary for 7th August:

Patrols of both 2 Lincolns and 1 KOSB respectively reported contacting the enemy in some str in area 674385, 657327 and 658326, the Lincolns patrol having met and killed one German NCO on their travels. A rather informative deserter from A tk Bn of 3 Para Div who are in the line facing us, reported that they had one coy 100 m South of rly 6632 and their 2 and 3 coys fighting as inf – this stresses the pt that the enemy is finding manpower an increasingly difficult problem.

2 LINCOLN were relieved the next day (8th) by 2 Bn East Yorks and moved into Brigade Reserve. 44 RTR were also relieved by the County of London Yeomanry and KOSB were relieved by 1 Suffolk.

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During the night of the 8th it became evident that there was a significant reduction in the aggression of the German troops defending the hill (it later became evident from heavy patrolling by 1 Suffolk and 2 Lincoln that very significant numbers of German troops had been withdrawn from the area this was to the Mortain area to support Hitler’s personally planned and driven ‘Operation Luttich’ in which he had aimed to re-take Mortain and Avranches).

The construction of the 60’ Bailey Bridge recommenced on 9 August after a relatively quiet night. 

By 0800 on 9th August 1 KOSB were on the South side of the rail-way line unopposed and the village of Vaudry had been occupied by 2 Royal Ulster Rifles without major incident, other than a slight hold up caused by mines on the line of advance. 

Saturday August 12 Marie-Therese Gallet 

Mother enjoined us to move away when the soldiers were soaping naked in the river without worrying about the ‘civilians’. I do not know what Mother would have said if the had known that her daughter (me) had been invited to fire the cannon in Ken’s Battery in the garden. Fred, his mate, a funny Scotstman was in charge of signals, and the gun was firing according to the orders received by telephone. Who would have thought that the gun was fired by pulling a string and that the string was in my hand. When I heard the word ‘FIRE’ I pulled hard, whilst praying to heaven, given the direction in which the gun was pointed, that the shells do not fall on La Ritiere. 

Researched and written by Nick Shacklock, Ex Royal Engineers and Vice Chairman of the RBL Normandy Branch.