Eric Hunt - Mont Pinçon: Normandy, August 1944

In memory of Pat Hennessey, the young Man in a Tank

First published in 2003 and reprinted in 2011 by
LEO COOPER
an imprint of
Pen & Sword Books Limited
47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire S70 2AS

Copyright Eric Hunt, 2003, 2011

ISBN: 0 85052 944 1
PRINT ISBN: 978 0 85052 944 9
PDF ISBN: 978 1 78303 583 0
EPUB ISBN: 978 1 78303 585 4
PRC ISBN: 978 1 78303 584 7

A CIP catalogue of this book is available from the British Library

Printed by Redwood Books Limited
Trowbridge, Wiltshire

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CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In 1995 I was asked to help with the setting up of a memorial to commemorate all those who served in the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Marys Own), from its creation in 1922 to its amalgamation in 1992 with the 15th/19th The Kings Royal Hussars to form The Light Dragoons. The previous year had been the fiftieth anniversary of the D Day landings in Normandy, and an obvious site for the memorial was Mont Pinon. In August 1944 the Regiment had played a signal part in the capture of this important feature. The preparations for the memorial and its dedication led me to research the details of the operation and from that developed a range of happy contacts with a number of people, both from the other units that took part and the local village of le Plessis Grimoult.

The Journal of The Society for Army Historical Research subsequently published an article by me on The Battle for Mont Pinon and in 1998 Adrian Gregory, who had also served in the 13th/18th, produced the video Battle for Mont Pinon 5th, 6th and 7th August 1944. That included a number of interviews with veterans of the 43rd Division and the 13/18 Hussars as well as inhabitants of le Plessis Grimoult and Adrian has kindly allowed me to make use of them. I am also most grateful to those he interviewed; they are listed below (under regiments and ranks at the time of the battle). Several of them, alas, have since died (marked).

13th/18th Royal Hussars: Cpl Roy Cadogan, Lt Hugh Elliot, Capt Julius Neave, Major Sir Delaval Cotter, Lt Hugh Franks, Tpr George Treloar, Lt Brian Edwards, L/Cpl Pat Hennessey, Tpr Douglas Wileman.

Royal Artillery: Capt David Hadow, Sgt Jim Parkins.

Royal Hampshire Regiment: L/Cpl Ken Baker, CSM Laurie Symes.

Duke of Cornwalls Light Infantry: Sgt Fred Bolt, Pte James Gregory.

Wiltshire Regiment: L/Cpl Ron Garner, Pte Will Hanson, Capt Tom Powell, Capt Harry Peace, Major Dim Robbins, Cpl Neville Trim.

Somerset Light Infantry: Lt Sydney Jary, Cpl Douglas Proctor.

Inhabitants of le Plessis Grimoult: Mme Jeanne Groult, M. le Marchand, Mme Madeleine Restout.

My other sources for this short book range from Chester Wilmots The Struggle for Europe, through formation and regimental histories and war diaries, to personal accounts by those who were there. Of these last, some date from after the events described to reminiscences fifty years or more on. It may seem that the more immediate the recollection, the more valuable for those of us who want to walk the battlefield. Personally, I think that they all have a place as have fresh young wines and those of distinguished vintage! I am indebted to all those on whose recollections I have drawn, amongst whom were Dim Robbins and David Hadow, who were also kind enough to let me have comments on an early draft. So too did the late Pat Hennessey, who must have been one of the youngest British tank commanders in Normandy. Adrian Gregory has not only let me quote liberally from his video, but has provided a mass of supporting material from his own researches.

Thanks are also due to: David Fletcher, The Tank Museum; The Air Photo Library, University of Keele; The National Army Museum, Imperial War Museum, Robert Hale Ltd (Normandy Diary Lord Methuen); Harper Collins Publishers Ltd (Struggle for Europe Chester Wilmot). Ralph Dodds and my wife Gill have undertaken the scanning of various drafts and, finally, Roni Wilkinson of Pen & Sword Books has worked wonders in finding pictures and matching them to text.

EEH, Mappowder, July 2003

Single track roads, numerous fields bordered by banking, ditches and high hedges made up the terrain over which Operation BLUECOAT was fought.

INTRODUCTION

Of all the local actions which shaped the pattern of the breakout battle, the attack upon Mont Pinon was one of the most significant, not merely on account of its tactical consequences, but because of the qualities which it called forth in the men concerned.

STRUGGLE FOR EUROPE

One hundred days after D Day on Thursday 14 September 1944 the main story on the front page of the Daily Mail had news of sweeping successes by the Allied armies which were closing in on Germany. American troops had captured their first German village and the British Second Army had pushed the Germans off their line on the Albert Canal. On the same page a local action was reported from some six weeks earlier:

This Was the Epic of Mont Pinon

Red Rose Colonel and His Heroes

Mont Pinon, 1,200ft, highest point in Normandy, lay between Caen and the British advance on the Seine. It was in German hands, and from it enemy fire paralysed all movement over miles of country.

The 43rd Wessex Division, pinned down for seven hours on end, were given the order to attack.

A colonel, wearing a red rose on his battledress and swinging a cane, led his men forward, strolling casually over a bridge under heavy machine gun fire.

His men, spurred on, took the bridge and the hill. The full story of the action one of the most crucial of the Normandy battle is told today.

Throughout the whole advance in the west it has been the lot of our Allies to sweep across three countries, dragging the headlines with them. This story tells of the men who made those headlines possible

The men who made that particular headline possible came from 43rd Wessex Division and 8 Independent Armoured Brigade, together with those fighting alongside them from the other formations of XXX Corps 50th Northumbrian and 7th Armoured Divisions and those of VIII Corps Guards and 11th Armoured Divisions, 15th Scottish Division and 6 Guards Independent Tank Brigade. They were all taking part in Operation BLUECOAT, launched on 30 July 1944, which saw some of the fiercest fighting of the Normandy campaign over an area some ten miles wide and twelve miles deep.

This guide is concerned principally with the capture of the key feature of Mont Pinon; it therefore follows 43rd Division and 8 Armoured Brigade, from their assembly area near Caumont-lvent, into the bocage and up the slopes of Mont Pinon. But the stories of the other formations are also outlined, as the Mont Pinon story is best understood by keeping track of the other actions of BLUECOAT.