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Introduction

One of my uncles, Private Ronald Ritson, RAMC, was a member of 26 Field Hygiene Section and took part in the Normandy landings. For most of June and July 1944, 26 FHS was camped at Plumetot, Calvados, approximately halfway between Caen and the Landing Beaches. Next to their camp was one of the nineteen airstrips constructed by the Allies during the Battle of Normandy, this one being designated ‘B10‘.

This account has been written based on my uncle’s memories, contemporaneous written evidence from the C.O. of 26 FHS, Major E.R. Hargreaves, other original archive sources and additional information provided by the friendly and knowledgeable villagers of Plumetot. I wish to acknowledge their contributions that helped my university research in French and thank them for sharing their detailed knowledge. Little has been written about this aerodrome, even though it played a key part in the air battle over Normandy during the summer of 1944. I am pleased to make this small contribution in English and put on record a little about 26 FHS and Plumetot Aerodrome.

The aerodrome before D-Day

About fifteen minutes drive to the north of Caen are the villages of Mathieu, Plumetot and Cresserons. It was actually the French Government who in 1938 - 1939, first built a small airstrip to the north of Caen, between Mathieu and Plumetot. A number of elms and other trees were felled allowing aircraft to take off and land, although it was little used during the ‘Phoney War’ period of 1939 - 1940.

After the German breakthrough in the Ardennes in the summer 1940, the Allies evacuated the ‘Mathieu aerodrome’ as it was known at the time. A number of RAF aircraft could not be repaired before being flown back across the English Channel. These were destroyed to stop them falling into German hands.

Between June 1940 and June 1944 the Germans took possession of the airfield, using the airstrip closer to Plumetot on land requisitioned from local farmers. A number of the German aeroplanes crashed during the Occupation, partly it is believed, because the aircraft were older and poorly maintained having been brought back from Spain. For the Germans, the Mathieu / Plumetot aerodrome was not a high priority, and they did in fact cultivate crops and graze cattle on some of the requisitioned land. However, they did station some Anti-aircraft guns to the north at Cresserons, to protect the aerodrome from Allied aircraft.

For the Allies, one of the main strategic targets in the Caen sector was the capture of Carpiquet aerodrome to the west of the city. Most historical accounts of the Battle of Normandy refer to this. The Allies must also have been aware of the existence of the smaller Mathieu / Plumetot aerodrome and its potential importance in any battle although few, if any, researchers refer to this. For their part, the Germans constructed an anti-tank trench across the airstrip and planted some of ‘Rommel’s Asparagus’ although they did not have the time to fully complete the job.

The Allies arrive in Plumetot

Most of 26 FHS arrived at Sword beach on D-Day + 2, 8 June 1944. The Commanding Officer, Major E.R. Hargreaves landed on D-Day 6 June, being temporarily attached to 9 Field Ambulance for the first wave of the invasion. By the time 26 FHS had arrived in Normandy, the Germans had evacuated Plumetot and they first camped next to the Plumetot airfield late on Saturday 10 June. Ronald remembered how friendly and welcoming some of the villagers at Plumetot were the following day, with lots of handshakes, smiles, waves, hugs and kisses to welcome the ‘liberators’. After the first day or so, things settled down.

As a medical unit, 26 FHS were able to help some of the civilians. According to Ronald, Major Hargreaves was a great and good man, and being a doctor was able to attend to the medical needs of Plumetot and the surrounding villages as well carry out his army duties. Even in wartime there are simple acts of duty, service and kindness to others. The main role for 26 FHS after D-Day was to find and provide clean water for drinking and bathing to keep the troops healthy.

Because the front line between the Allies and the Germans was so close to the edge of the airfield, sniper activity often made it difficult to carry out work. Ronald remembered one occasion not long after arriving at Plumetot when the C.O. sent him to get a report from a sentry when a German sniper fired at him, but missed!

Beside the 26 FHS camp at Plumetot, there was also a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) encampment. So while the RAMC Section at Plumetot went about their medical duties, the RCAF boys set about restoring the airstrip so it could be used in winning the battle.

Aerodrome B10

On 18 June 1944 the Engineers began laying out an asphalt landing strip, which ran parallel to another grass landing strip. The Imperial War Museum have photographs of Engineers laying out the airstrip on this date, as well as other photographs from the surrounding area, including an Ack Ack gun at Cresserons (‘Ian Hammerton Collection’ ). This time the Mathieu / Plumetot / Cresserons aerodrome was designated ‘B10’ by the Allies.

During the Battle of Normandy, a little-discussed fact is that the Allies constructed a total of nineteen airstrips. These were valuable bases for the repair, refuelling and emergency landings of Allied aircraft. Aerodrome ‘B10’ seems to have been the only one given an asphalt surface. It had a length of about 1200 metres (¾ mile). While Caen was still in German hands, Plumetot was the closest airstrip to the city.

Within a few days, Typhoons (‘Tiffies’), Mustangs and Spitfires were able to land. For the French, one particular landing stands out, that of the Free French fighter ‘Ace’ Squadron Leader Yves Ezzano who was attached to 198 Fighter Squadron of the RAF. This stands out for French people because here was Squadron Leader Ezzano, ‘one of their own’ helping to liberate their land.

Even a few Lancaster Bombers were able to land after finding themselves in difficulties after bombing sorties. On 4 July 1944 Squadron Leader N.A. Williamson, DFC, RAF was interviewed by ´óÏó´«Ã½ Radio after having had to make an emergency landing on ‘a fighter strip in France’. At the time, references to specific locations were often omitted from radio reports to avoid giving information to the enemy. However, evidence suggests this ‘fighter strip’ was likely to have been aerodrome ‘B10’ at Plumetot. This is because the same day, 4 July 1944, the ´óÏó´«Ã½ broadcast a talk by the Canadian C.O of the Plumetot aerodrome. Another Lancaster bomber had to land at Plumetot aerodrome on 7 July after taking part in dropping 2500 tonnes of bombs over the northern suburbs of Caen.

A couple of days after the ´óÏó´«Ã½ broadcast from Plumetot, Wing Commander Don MacDonald of Vancouver, Canada the Commanding Officer of aerodrome ‘B10’ at Plumetot was introduced to the C.O. of 26 FHS, Major Hargreaves. There is a transcript of the Wing Commander’s 4 July broadcast in a ´óÏó´«Ã½ book entitled ‘War Report: From D-Day to V.E. Day’, pp 108-109, (Edited by Desmond Hawkins). He talks about airfield being the closest to the front line, German shelling of the aerodrome, men going about their duties and writing letters home, and the film shows they have.

The Medical Officer of the Canadians while at Plumetot was Wing Commander Metzler, from Toronto. Not all of the RCAF personnel were actually from Canada. Some of them were British, but posted to the RCAF at that time. Now and again at quiet moments, the Air Force and Army lads shared a pot of tea together, talking over where they were from and showing each other letters they had received from family back home, wherever that was.

German reconnaissance

After the bombing of Caen on 7 July 1944 most of the city had been liberated by the evening of 9 July and the rest of the city by 19 July. As time went on, to those on the ground in Plumetot there appeared to be less German activity around the Plumetot aerodrome.

However, more than fifty years after the end of the war, evidence came into the public domain that proved the Germans still retained an important interest in the aerodrome, particularly because the airstrip had a hard surface. In early August 1944, one of the first reconnaissance jet aircraft, an Arado 234, took aerial photographs at a height of 30,000 feet of all nineteen Allied aerodromes in the Normandy Battle Zone, designating the Plumetot aerodrome the number ‘1023’. The photographs were taken back to Germany awaiting instructions about what to do next. Despite obtaining detailed knowledge of the aerodromes, the Germans did not have the capacity to do anything about attacking them.

The Allies captured the photographs when they moved into Germany in 1945 and they were placed in the American Archives. Some of the villagers living near the aerodrome have researched its history and have obtained copies of the German reconnaissance aircraft photographs. The RCAF and the 26 FHS encampments are clearly visible.

Conclusion

The Mathieu / Plumetot / Cresserons aerodrome has since reverted back to its former use as farmland and an apple orchard. During the Battle of Normandy this small area played an important if often overlooked part in the final Allied victory. The villagers are still as warm, friendly and welcoming as they were in 1944.

During the war, only one building in Plumetot was destroyed. Neverless, it resulted in the death of three villagers. Early in the morning of 7 July 1944, at about 1.30 am, a German incendiary bomb landed in the living room of the local estaminet, killing the proprietors Pierre and Andrée Requis and their young daughter Eliane. Only the grandmother and the family dog, a German Shepherd, survived. This family had been very kind, friendly and generous to the Allied troops . This incident is mentioned here to pay a small tribute to them and so that people might know and remember that sometimes in war it is innocent civilians that become casualties. None of the Allied troops encamped in the village dring the Battle of Normandy were killed. The 'Requis estaminet' site was built upon after the war. It is now a private dwelling.

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