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press correspondent also drove into "C" Company's area and was most surprised to find that he could not return. We held this feature for two days and the time was invaluable to us. We cleaned up and checked over our weapons, the balance of our vehicles were landed and joined us and, apart from a small residue of "Luxury" vehicles, we were upto scale.

In the late evening of 9 June we were relieved and spent a wet night in the fields near BAYEUX before coming under command of 7 Armoured Division (The Desert Rats) on the following day. Before first light we were off again and by midday we had put several miles between ourselves and BAYEUX We paused for several hours near the village of ELLON whilst the "I" people decided where the opposition really was. Some stray Champagne helped to cheer us up and then we heard that the enemy were holding the Monastery at JUAYE MONDAYE, a most substantial building little more than a mile from our own positions. By now we were in typical Bocage country - small fields with extremely thick hedges, scattered woods and sunken roads and footpaths with everything in favour of the defender and nothing to help the attacker who must crash through all the obstacles and never see the enemy who waits until he cannot miss. Through such country "D" Company attacked JUAYE MONDAYE after a considerable artillery preparation. Even now the enemy had not recovered from his initial shock, and as we advanced in extended line, he ran for the shelter of the woods to his rear and only a few snipers remained to worry us together with cross fire from Spandaus in the woods. The monastery area was quickly cleared but the Boche made some pretence of standing in these woods and there was little future in putting one's head above the level of banks or ditches. Again quite a sizeable piece of ground had been won at the cost of only a few casualties.


(Archive transcripts © Copyright Normandy War Guide)

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Archive: Normandy 2nd Battalion The Essex Regiment

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