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| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information | References to Appendices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1/31 | As per attached Reports. | 16 July. - see Appendix "A". | ||
| 16/17 July. - see Appendix "B" | ||||
| 17 July. - see Appendix "C", |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information | References to Appendices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 30 Jun/1 July. | Slight activity with apparently two E/A shot down. It was alleged that one E/A was in fact a Lancaster. | |||
| 1 July. | At 2030 B hrs the B.C.s, Bty Capts and TP Comds assembled at RHQ for a post mortem on the alleged shooting at a Lancaster. Nothing useful was achieved as no two persons had the same story to tell. The plane shot at had been identified as at least seven different types when illuminated by S/Ls. The C.O. finally took a written report from each observer for submission to Bde Comd. The whole meeting served only to emphasise the difficulty of getting accurate INT. | |||
| 1/2 July. | Little or no air activity. | |||
| 2 July. | A quiet day. E Tp and C Tp returned under comd this Regt. | |||
| 3 July. | No the activity during night. It is now certain that (a) no Lancaster was shot at or down, (b) a Dornier 217 was shot down which, in view of the fact that both were illuminated at the same time, indicates a fine discrimination in the shooting. Further information received today shows that a Lancaster was hit but no further complaints from RAF. | |||
| 4/5 July. | A rather more active night, but no 'kills'. | |||
| 5 July. | A normal quiet day. The guns have not now engaged in daytime for many days. | |||
| 5/6 July. | A little activity but only two real engagements. One of these was most unsuccessful for two reasons,- (a) the plane glided in at right-angles to the coast N - S and only switched on its engines after crossing point (b) no E/W was showing on the plotting-board and AAOR knew nothing of the plane. The Navy, having fighter cover, had not engaged and so no early warning was received from that source. | |||
| 6 July. | The day was quiet. The weather hot and sultry, turning to thunder. | |||
| 6/7 July. | A quiet night. | |||
| 7 July. | Three O.R.s of 321 LAA Bty, R.A./93 LAA Regt, R.A attd to this unit injured by placing a part of a bangalore torpedo on a fire to act as a support for utensils. | |||
| 7/8 July. | Large force of British bombers flew in over beaches to "soften up" CAEN. - 450+ a most impressive sight. One Lancaster seen to crash West of area: crew appeared to bale out safely and the off-shore wind carried them away towards the sea. There was slightly more enemy air activity during the night. Smoke was ordered over the beaches, but due to lack of wind was ineffective until 0145 B hrs when the off-shore wind strengthened. | |||
| 8 July. | Day was uneventful. | |||
| 8/9 July. | Enemy air activity increased and there was some machine-gunning of the area from the air. The main target of E/A appears to be the anchorage. | |||
| 9 July. | Day quiet. | |||
| 9/10 July. | At about 0140 B hrs until 0202 B hrs an incident took place which resulted in post mortems lasting for three days. A friendly fighter-Mosquito was warned as being in distress at about 0140 B hrs . Nothing more was heard of it but at about 0200 B hrs a plane flew into the area from the direction in which the friendly had disappeared. T his plane was engaged. It is alleged that it was still the same friendly fighter, but as no information as to its whereabouts had been given for 20 minutes, the plane was naturally engaged by our guns. | |||
| 10 July. | An uneventful day. | |||
| 10/11 July. | A relatively quiet night with some activity between 0030 - 0200 B hrs. A mine was dropped in the shallow water off BERNIERES, but did no damage. The remains of the mine were handed over to Beach Master. |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information | References to Appendices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 July. | A quiet day. | |||
| 11/12 July. | A quiet night. The early-warning system was difficult. As both Btys were linked to the Regtl Control Post, 375 Bty was firing a Bty controlled barrage from information from HAA site. No satisfactory method of early warning has yet been evolved, due largely to the fact that electrical eqpt is always unreliable and LAA is not catered for. LAA needs something to (a) identify (b) track in, and (c) give height. HAA eqpt is fully occupied supplying infmn to HAA guns and has not the time to supply the needs of LAA fully. | |||
| 12 July. | Day quiet. | |||
| 12/13 July. | Enemy air activity at night chiefly directed at bombing and mining at sea. | |||
| 13 July. | Nothing to report. | |||
| 13/14 July. | Experiments continue to find the answer to LAA fire control. We now have a senior control at H.4 (Heavy AA site) to cover barrages over whole Regtl area with a sub-control, who only speaks when necessary to fill gaps in available infm, at H.3 (HAA site). This brings into play a very extensive network of line comns with a resultant weakening in reception. Air activity almost nil. | |||
| 14 July. | Several E/A observed to crash as a result of AA and fighter attack. The Regt's guns were not in range. French National flags were flown on vehs, and RHQ played a French eleven at football as part of the National Day celebrations. | |||
| 14/15 July. | Enemy air activity increased but AA completely manacled by orders of "Hold Fire". Extremely difficult to explain to gun dets why they cannot fire at a plane which is dropping bombs. Beach Area subjected to fire by presumably friendly LAA fire, firing at too low a Q.E., resulting in 40-mm shells falling and bursting on the shore and just inland. | |||
| 15 July. | Nothing to report. | |||
| 15/16 July. | Little or no air activity. | |||
| 16 July. | Order received that LAA barrage would NOT be commenced, if comns fail,bet ween BCO and AAOR. Owing to uncertainty of wireless comns, C.O. laid it down that comns should mean "line". | A | ||
| 16/17 July. | A mist descended which restricted air activity of both sides. I.A.Z. was extended until mid-morning and we then received 'HOLD FIRE until further notice'. | B | ||
| 17 July. | The news was broken to Tp Comds that LAA would NOT fire during day - that great restrictions were put on our shooting. New state of readiness received. | C | ||
| 17/18 July. | A quiet night. | |||
| 18 July. | A quiet day - efforts still being made satisfactorily to complete line comns. | |||
| 18/19 July. | One Junkers 88 shot down by 372 Bty of this Unit. There were three engagements between 2300 B hrs and 0030 B hrs, but no further incident. | |||
| 19 July. | I.A.Z. again extended, due to ground mist. A quiet day. | |||
| 19/20 July. | One engagement only. Quiet night with I.A.Z. again extended. | |||
| 20 July. | A quiet day. At 2300 B hrs a message was received authorising the engagement of visually identified hostile targets during periods when I.A.Z. is NOT in operation. Copy attached. |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information | References to Appendices |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20/21 July. | No enemy A/C over the area whatsoever. | |||
| 21 Jully. | Periods of I.A.Z. established as between 2300 B hrs to 0500 B hrs | |||
| 21/22 July. | A quiet night. | |||
| 22 July. | A quiet day. The weather broke and there was much rain. | |||
| 22/23 July. | Quiet until 0300 B hrs. Several engagements then took place. A JU 88 was seen to crash about a'mile to the West and another JU 88 or 188 was illuminated but 'Hold Fire had been ordered and hence recognition was necessary and engagement slowed down. Activity ceased about 0400 B hrs. | |||
| 23 July. | A, quiet day. The weather improved rapidly. | |||
| 23/24 July. | Relatively quiet night. what few engagements that were at all possible were interfered with by 'Hold Fire' and lack of Radar infmn. | |||
| 24 July. | A quiet day. At about 1850 B hrs a terrific explosion shook the countryside. It was later found to have been caused by an ammunition lorry blowing up on the nearby amn dump - two men killed. | |||
| 24/25 July. | Hold Fire' received at 2215 B hrs until 2307 B hrs. During this time a strange plane was illuminated and engaged. It dropped or discharged some missile, into the sea, which exploded and flared but did no damage. The plane was variously reported as (a) a JU88 or 188, carrying aerial torpedo or flying bomb. (b) a D0217 with ME109 on its back. (c) a hostile sea-plane. The general opinion seems to be that the higher plane,bomb,or missile was the one that was discharged. Question:- Was it some form of pick-a-back plane? During the night L. and HAA were once more put onto the no firing by day rule. | |||
| 25/26 July. | A quiet night with only two engagements. Copy of Rules for Engagement attached. | |||
| 26 July. | A quiet day. Restrictions put on our fire by night. - i.e. (a) on Radar controlled barrage and (b) on clear visual identification only. State of Readiness amended (copy attached). | |||
| 26/27 July. | A quiet night with no engagements. | |||
| 27 July. | Nothing to report. | |||
| 27/28 July. | Nothing of note to report. Four engagements only. | |||
| 28 July. | Quiet day. | |||
| 28/29 July. | A rather more active night, but interfered with from a LAA point of view by many 'Hold Fire's. It is noted that surrounding Bdes and LAA appear to fire at will even though we are restricted. This does not make the gnrs any happier. Nevertheless morale remains high. | |||
| 29 July. | A quiet day. | |||
| 29/30 July. | A complete change of Hun tactics. No E/A over area but coastal strip from West of GRAYE-sur-MER to East of BERNIERES subjected to shelling by large calibre gun or guns between 2307 B hrs and 0230 B hrs, and 0507 B hrs and 0559 B hrs. One shell at about 0555 B hrs demolished 372 BHQ, killing one man who was on sentry. The BC had a lucky escape when he himself, sleeping on the first floor verandah, found himself on the ground amid a heap of tiles. One gunner was wounded by flying shrapnel during the night on a 'C' Tp site. | |||
| 30/31 July. | A very quiet night. | |||
| 31 July. | Nothing to report. Shelling reported to be from 17-inch gun installed at LE HAVRE. |
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