大象传媒

CHAPTER THREE
THINGS HOTTING UP

On the 21st April the 144th Brigade were relieved from the Saar sector and were replaced by the 154 brigade of 51st Highland Division to whom we became attached. Then early in May the remainder of the 51st Division was moved into the area formally held by the French.

Both 'C' and 'D' companies were also relieved and moved to an abandoned military camp at Kedange. We knew German patrols frequently came into the area at night - silence became more than just important, it could mean your life.

During daylight we shot small animals since there was no regular form of food supplies available to us but night-time was the worst time for us all. We strung up tin cans around the area as a pre warning of intruders but they were still fearful nights. It was whilst in this position very late at night that I saw a German patrol move stealthily into the woods behind us barely 50 yards from where we were resting. Since there were more of them than us we held our fire. When they passed into the darkness the lad closest to me hissed that he was scared they would find us on their way back to their lines. He wasn't alone with that thought but fortunately we saw or heard no more of them. Had the Germans discovered us it would have been a blood bath since we were so poorly armed. Those few days were the worst for all of us and daylight was our only relief.

The battalion remained in the Metz area as Pioneer battalion to the 51st Division. From the 3rd till the 10th May we sent forward a number of patrols without serious incident. But, they were certainly proved wrong later with a vengeance. We received some artillery fire from the enemy and exchanged some small arms fire but no really serious further action. It was here that we had our first casualties, victims of the very active patrols the Germans sent out.

As it was, on Friday the 10th May 1940 to some extent the Maginot Line proved worthless since the Germans went around it to the north. The Germans unleashed 29 Divisions north of us and a further 45 Divisions through the Ardennes which included 9 armoured Divisions. French Generals thought this route completely impassable to armour. They hit our weakest section of the line manned by the French Ninth Army - weak due to the extent they were spread along the front due to their Generals over confidence with regards to the mountainous area before them.

The German Armoured Divisions poured through the Ardennes and swung north and south in an attempt to cut us off. All this was to become clearer 5 long years later. We received word later that the Germans had entered Belgium and the Netherlands. Our detachment was ordered out on the eve of 15th May but on the 17th we found ourselves back in the line at Bockange assisting in filling the gaps at the poorly defended Maginot forts. There was a mad rush to get hold of additional arms; in particular anti tank guns which were an unknown quantity to us. But once in our hands we received hurried instruction on them and soon put them to good use. Even though we were still poorly armed morale was very high and the men were very keen. It was fortunate that very little action was experienced.

On May 21st the Division joined in the battle for Arras. The town was unrecognisable from our first visit in January and the Germans were eventually pushed out but it was short lived. Meanwhile 'C' company was forced to give ground due to the overwhelming firepower raining down on us and in doing so we lost contact with our main unit. We were advised to join units closer to the coast so we retreated along the German southern flank fighting all the way where we joined and assisted a mixed assortment of troops in holding back the Germans. We heard that the Dutch had surrendered but fighting was still continuing around Amsterdam and The Hague. We eventually managed to re-establish contact with our Division. On the 22nd we were pulled out yet again from our Maginot positions to concentrate at Rouen where our job was to hold the enemy moving in from the North to allow an evacuation of British Troops towards the coast. Abbeville fell to the Germans on the 23rd May with very heavy losses to both sides. The Division collected at Jouaville on the 24th and marched the 15 miles to Mars la Tour during the night.

Flares were continually dropped from aircraft during our march but we arrived safely and unmolested by the enemy. The troops had hardly slept for four days and we were really tired out. On the 25th we entrained once more and after a 50-hour journey we arrived at Rouen on the 27th. We marched to the Infantry base depot No1 to find it deserted. It had been evacuated hours before, leaving behind a great deal of blankets and food stocks not to mention tents and other equipment. We arrived very tired and hungry and in a very ragged state. The day was spent resting up and getting a meal and re-equipping as best we could from the abandoned stores to hand.

The 51st Division was the last remaining British force with the exception of those mixed troops around Dunkirk and our orders were to hold the line around the Somme in the Abbeville area. South of Dunkirk was a gap about 15 miles wide through which Allied troops and refugees, poured in their thousands. At that time Lille was holding out to the south of us manned mainly by French and Belgium troops holding the door open so to speak to allow those who were able, to slip though the gap to the coast. Unfortunately for both them and us, King Leopold of Belgium surrendered his forces unleashing German hoards on our eastern side and those troops still holding out in Lille were cut off and had to fight their way out to join with the rest of the defenders of Dunkirk.

We were now spread out very thinly and most of the Division was still very tired and still very ill equipped. We knew we would be called upon to hold off any extensive battle with armour, which we knew would come as soon as more German units were released from the Dunkirk area. Calais had been under very heavy attack and the request they surrender was turned down but it was eventually over run on May 26th. The Germans seemed to have no qualms at the loss of so many of their tanks not to mention following infantry.

The sky seemed to be full of German aircraft that bombed and machine-gunned anything that moved. How many times were the words spoken? "Where is the RAF?" The weather was perfect flying weather but I never saw a single RAF plane. We had built up a final defensive perimeter 10 miles deep by 20 miles wide on the 28th May around Dieppe stretching almost to Le Harve. On May 29th the Germans reached Boulogne to the North of us and continued to push towards us. On June 3rd the evacuation of Dunkirk was completed, at least it was a relief for those who did manage to get away. On the same day the 51st mounted an attack to straighten out our line and attempt to push back the bridgehead the Germans had gained across the Somme. 'C' company and the Brigade as a whole lost many men in that attack.

The German main attack came on the 4th June using infantry and motorcycle units although surprisingly with very little armoured support. Evidently the German high command felt the marshy area would hold up any heavy armour put to use. A fortunate respite for us. I couldn't help being struck by the size of many of the German infantry attackers who made perfect targets when they appeared in an attempted to break our holding line. Many were quite fearless or maybe felt they were infallible? Enemy aircraft continued to create havoc on the roads, that badly affected the movement of troops. But morale still remained very high throughout.

Two Platoons surrendered when they ran out of ammunition, the remaining scattering of men from these ill fated units made their way back to HQ at Franleu. No 9 platoon were ordered back to defend Company HQ only to discover on their approach to find it was completely surrounded. They took up positions in an orchard close by east of the village where they found themselves under continuous attack from mortar fire and infantry. They managed to hold off the attack for a considerable time until like their brother platoons, they were forced to surrender through the lack of ammunition, food and water. On the 4th June we heard that Dunkirk had finally fallen and those remainders of the French, Belgium, Dutch and British defenders had been captured. We had no idea of how the remaining forces were fairing and we had no idea that we were now alone.

Those of our mixed collection of defenders knew we still had a job to do, which was to get as many of our comrades away as best we could. We heard that the rumours that King Leopold of the Belgians had surrendered his army were true but we shrugged it off. It wasn't until after the war that I discovered the rumour was true and that we were now confronted by at least 35 German Divisions. My thoughts after the war were, 'how in the hell did we manage to hold out so long against such overwhelming odds'? They had swept though Belgium almost unopposed save for a few brave units of both British and French and small groups of Belgians not willing to give up the fight. The Germans had penetrated the defences around Le Harve, which was the final barrier to the advancing Germans where the Allies in a last stand attempted to allow as many of the troops possible to get to the ships off shore. It was to be a stand that came much sooner than we expected. Our bridgehead on June 9th had shrunk down to approximately 20 miles at its widest point around St.Valery on the coast its self. A small band of us were manning a forward observation point in a small wood outside St.Valery when a small German armoured car appeared about 800 yards away on the lane at our front and stopped.

Concealed I raised my field glasses and to my astonishment found myself looking directly at General Rommel himself, commander of the 7th Armoured Panzer Division who had been chasing us across France. The temptation to take aim was a terrible proposition but you knew deep down it wouldn't have made any difference. Later thinking about that incident had this opportunity been taken things might have been far more serious for us than actually transpired. As it was we were receiving everything the enemy could throw at us, I began to wondered if any of us would have survive had one of us had actually shot him?

The remnants of 152nd & 153rd Brigades were dispatch to assist the French Ninth Corps in holding the Somme bridgehead, the bridgehead eventually collapsed. We were now surrounded on three sides by German forces. The 152nd (Seaforths & Camerons) suffered very heavy casualties. The 153rd (Gordon Highlanders & Black Watch) fought a highly successful engagement in clearing the woods at Grand Bois but the pressures on them forced them back to Bresle where they held a line 18 miles long. These positions were only held for 3 days then on the night of June 8th a further withdrawal was carried out to the line of the Bethune.

On June 9th 154th Brigade was detached to defend Le Havre where they fought a frantic delayed action to allow the evacuation by sea of troops being encircled there and where they too were eventually evacuated complete with all their equipment. It had been hoped they would hold this line until the remaining two brigades could join them but the situation was changing so quickly and the arrival of German Armour eventually closed the door on our rescue as they continued to push down to Rouen. A wedge was now pushed between Dunkirk and us. This prevented us getting to Le Harve we were now cut off on all sides.

Yard by yard we were pushed back in towards St.Valery-en-Caux on the Channel coast. A great many of the French troops found their way into our lines in their efforts to escape the now very heavy German attacks. They were running to the Coast like an excited crowd coming out of a football match. I thanked God not all French troops were like this. There was a great deal of abuse thrown at those panic stricken troops from the mixture of British and Belgians and the small French group that remained with us. But our small bridgehead was holding despite our heavy casualties mostly from mortar and shellfire particularly amongst the 152nd, which met the full force of the German attacks. I still wonder how we all carried on as we did. Many of us had not slept for days yet they still fought on, it was all very stirring. There were so many brave acts performed that I personally witnessed during the St.Valery battle, but we were all far to busy to note names for medals but then you don't receive medals for failures. All this was to become very much clearer years later.

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