- 25 -

B Company found nothing in the orchard, but encountered a bit of trouble from snipers in the thick hedges bordering the second wood. Maj Neale, the commander, very wisely ignored the snipers until he had reached and secured, the limit of his objective. He could then afford to locate, and deal with, them one by one. He went after one of them himself, together with Pte Cornell, his runner. Cornell was to distinguish himself greatly all through the campaign, earning the DCM and promotion to sergeant in the process, only to be killed in the final battle of all almost ten months, to the day, later. The two worked themselves back inside the hedge until they got a view of the sniper, whom they promptly shot, but not before he got in a lucky shot himself which hit Maj Neale in the leg. The wound was a serious one which necessitated Neale's evacuation at the time and was, later, to cause him the disappointment of being barred by a. Medical Board from leading his company on further operations.

The evacuation of Neale presented a problem of command as Capt Braithwaite, the second—in—command, had already been evacuated him-self following injuries received in the initial drop. Capt Keene was later moved across from C Company and assumed command of B Company and promoted to major.

B Company killed and captured, some 40 Germans in their woods and then covered the advance of A Company by firing into the displaced wood from the flank.

A Company's wood was very thick with heavy undergrowth and they were lost to View as soon as they entered it so that their progress could only be followed by the sounds of firing and the occasional shouts and screams that arose. This little action was one of the very few occasions when the battalion used their bayonets and it was this weapon which produced the screams.

The displaced wood was divided laterally and could really be regarded as two woods instead of one; the CO was prepared to pass B Company through A on this dividing line if necessary. It turned out to be not only unnecessary, but impossible because the company streamed over the dividing line and did not stop until they reached the far end of the second half of the wood.

It had not been possible to see them cross the division because of the undergrowth so the CO with B Company was uncertain, for a time, whether the second half had been combed or not. To make quite certain he pushed B Company through it as well.

He need not have worried because when the end was reached there were A Company securely in position with a party of over 60 more prisoners.

These prisoners presented a curious spectacle as the Second-in-Command of the Battalion, Maj Steele—Baume, who had been leading Rear Battalion HQ, had taken personal charge of the disarming and searching of them and was having it carried out with the utmost thoroughness. They were formed up in three ranks, suitably spaced out and had laid all the contents of their pockets and pouches on the ground in front of them, as for a kit inspection. When Advanced Battalion HQ arrived on the scene they had just been ordered to remove their jackets as well and were all standing rigidly to attention and looking very silly indeed in their vests. They were a much older lot than one would have expected and many of them had grey hair and lined faces. They all seemed very glad to be out of the war and with a whole skin.