A Tribute to a Soldier of the 5th South Staffordshire Regiment 75 Years On

John and Jan Clews at his Father's grave in the Bayeux Militery Cemery

29th June 2019.

Last month it was my privilege to participate with members of the 59th (Staffordshire) Division Association in their annual pilgrimage to the town of Thury Harcourt and its environs. The 59th Division landed on Normandy in late June 1944 as a follow up Division. Highly trained in the UK, their time as an active fighting unit in France was short. Such was the intensity of the fighting in which they were engaged in Operation Charnwood (a frontal assault on the Northern perimeter of Caen) and Operation Pomegranate (engagements to the south west of the city intended to force a crossing over the River Orne) that the Division was formally disbanded on towards the end of August 1944 and its soldiers were transferred to other reinforcement hungry English, Scottish and Welsh Regiments.

The relationship between the 59th (Staffordshire) Division and the townsfolk is very strong by virtue of the fact that on 13th August 1944 the actions of the 59th finally resulted in the liberation of Thury Harcourt.

My Grandfather served with ‘A’ Company of the 5th South Staffordshire Regiment, a unit within 177 Brigade of the 59th Division. My Grandfather came home from the war, injured but otherwise intact, the same cannot be said for many of his Divisional comrades. One such fellow soldier of ‘C’ Company of the 5th Staffs was 4923121 Private Percy Clews who was killed in action on 10th August 1944, 75 years ago yesterday. One of our travelling party that visited the grave within the Bayeux Military Cemetery was John Clews, son of Percy, who was just two years of age when his father fell. With John was his wife Jan. The couple reside in Lichfield which then as now is the home of the Staffordshire Regiment.

At the time of his death, the 5th South Staffs were engaged with the enemy on a series of ridges that approached the River Orne and overlooked the town of Thury Harcourt. In that second week of August the 5th from their high ground vantage point were able to direct vital artillery fire into the dense forest of Grimbosq, that faced the fragile bridgehead that had formed across the Orne, in which Panzer Battle Groups were forming up for counter attacks intended to smash the bridgehead.

At his Father’s plot, John delivered a speech about the fate of his Dad that was largely based upon a letter sent to his mother by ‘C’ Company Commander, Major Pearson which is reproduced below.

‘Copy of a letter sent to Mrs Percy Clews from Major B. Pearson, The South Staffordshire Regiment

Major B. Pearson
The South Staffordshire Regt
Maindiff Court
Abergevenny
Mon. Wales.
August 29th. 1944

My Dear Mrs Clews,

You have no doubt been wondering why I have taken so long to write, and offer not only my sympathy, but those of the whole Company at the loss of your Husband, my Batman.

I was hit by the same mine, and I have only just heard officially that Percy was killed, as I had feared. 

It isn’t an easy story to tell , Mrs Clews, and I am sure you don’t want to know all the full details.

I found it necessary to lead a patrol with stretcher bearers to recover one of my boys who had been wounded sometime before, and who was in need of treatment. Percy would not think of leaving me behind. We found the man but the Germans had surrounded him with shrapnel mines, I presume they realised that they would try to recover him. A stretcher bearer, after giving aid, trod on a mine which exploded, causing the death of your husband and wounding two of us. 

I had the lives of the others to consider so I ordered them back whilst I tried to give Percy some help, but poor lad, he had gone – without pain and without knowing what had happened. He looked very peaceful, his job well done. I had him recovered the same day and he was given a Military funeral, although I regret that I was not present, being on my way to hospital.

Between and Officer and his Batman there develops a spirit of comradeship far above expression by words – we thought such a lot of each other, and I have grieved for him very much indeed. He was killed giving help to his comrades and myself, and all of the Company have missed him so much.

His determination to make sure that I was not left unprotected at any time caused him to be killed.

He volunteered to join me that morning and was somewhat grieved, his words were “You are not going anywhere without me, are you Sir?” He always said, that to remain behind and wonder what was happening to me, was worse than accompanying me on the various excursions.

Above all my personal feelings, he was so very popular with his comrades. I am told that the whole Company were unbelievably depressed after the news had spread around, and each letter that I have had so far mentions how much they all miss Percy. They cannot miss him anymore than I do. His courage, devotion to duty, his cheerfulness, and his great personality endeared him to all our hearts, a sad loss.

Please forgive me for not writing before – I did hope that in the excitement of the battle that my diagnosis of his death might have been false and in fact he might be alive, I hoped so hard but to no avail.

I do hope that your loss has not proved to be unbearable. My wounds are confined to my left leg and I am managing to get around on crutches.

When I come to Lichfield I will endeavour to call and see you, if I may.

With best wishes for the future, and rest assured that your Husband will not be forgotten by

Yours sincerely,

B. Pearson. Major.'

To read these touching words from a man that I had previously written about in a book about my Grandfather’s service was something else and it was an absolute honour to be with John and Jan Clews as he paid tribute to the Father he never had the opportunity to know.

After the speech John laid the Association wreath at the Cross of sacrifice.

Wreath laying at the Bayeux Military Cemetery Cross of Sacrifice.

59th (Staffordshire) Division Association memorial wreath.

Later we paid a visit to the small but highly poignant Museum to the men of the 59th (Staffordshire) Division in Thury. Here there can be found a photograph of Percy Clews.

Private Percy Clews (Killed in action 10th August 1944)

'C' Company 5th South Staffordshire Regiment.

The incription on his headstone reads:

“MY DARLING HUSBAND PERCY. LOVE STILL LIVES IN TREASURED MEMORIES. WIFE MEG AND SON”

Memorial to Percy Clews in the 59th (Staffordshire) Division Museum

Thury Harcourt.

A Small Act of Remembrance - Normandy 2019

Two weeks ago it was my good fortune to be able to travel to Normandy with members of the 59th (Staffordshire) Division Association on a pilgrimage of Remembrance that formed part of the 75th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day landings.

My Grandfather, Jim Heath, was born in Silverdale, Newcastle-under-Lyme in September 1914. Although he left The Potteries in 1936 to join his older brothers who had found labouring work in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, soon after war came he travelled to Brighton to enlist. In January 1940 he joined the North Staffordshire Territorials and received instruction to report to Lichfield Infantry Training Centre where upon completion of his basic training he was transferred to ‘A’ Company of the 5th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment. It was with the South Staffords, as part of 59th Division, that he sailed to Normandy as a follow-up Division in the third week of June 1944.

In our small travelling party were close family members (sons and nieces) laying wreaths at the graves of their relatives. But, my Grandfather came back. Nevertheless, I wanted an act of Remembrance of my own. With hundreds or even thousands of graves in each of the three British War Cemeteries that we visited I did some homework to find someone in each with whom I could say that there was a connection with my Grandfather (be it home town or fighting unit or as in this case). Some basic research on the Commonwealth War Grave Commission website threw up some worthy candidates. I picked one Private William Edwin Robinson, like my Grandfather a soldier of the 5th Battalion and of a similar age, separated by 12 months or so (in relative terms at 30 and 31 they were old within their ranks).

On 7th July 1944, the newly arrived troops of the 5th South Staffs looked on from their forming up positions directly north of Caen as Bomber Command sent in wave upon wave of Halifax and Lancaster bombers (467 aircraft all told) over the northern perimeter of the Norman capital. They dropped a combined payload of 2,560 tons of high explosive, incendiary and delayed action bombs. This action was controversial and still triggers passionate debate despite the passage of 75 years. The issue was that Bomber Command insisted upon a 6,000 yard distant safety margin forward of the British line. However, such was the close proximity of the two opposing forces that the raid only served to damage areas behind the German defences and the result was that the bombing gained very little strategic advantage. At best it provided a morale boost to the newly arrived Staffords about to experience combat for the first time.

The 5th South Staffs (of 177 Brigade) were to be held in reserve in front of the fortified village of Cambes-en-Plaine with a view to exploit any gains of 197 Brigade opposite Galmanche and 176 Brigade facing La Bijude, La Londe and Epron.

The 5th first went into action on the afternoon of the 8th July with an attack on the Chateau of Galmanche. In a baptism of blood and fire the 5th Battalion and the 2/6th Battalion suffered heavy losses. Private Robinson’s ‘D’ Company launched a further attack on the Chateau in the half light of evening but were forced to withdraw. A regrouped ‘D’ Company would renew the assault on the 9th.

The fighting on the 9th and 10th July* in which ‘D’ Company of the 5th Battalion were engaged is described within the Battalions War Diary. Where military abbreviations have been used I have added the meaning in brackets for ease of reading.

‘At 1915 hrs 9 July, orders were received for the Coy (Company) attack to be put in on GALMANCHE, an enemy stronghold which the 2/6 S. STAFFORDS had not been able to capture. A recce (reconnaissance) was carried out and a plan was made. A troop of tanks was given to the Coy to support this attack.

The Coy was brought up from the assembly positions and the attack was timed to go in at 2045 hrs. At 2040 hrs the tanks were withdrawn from the Coy, as they had to go and rejoin their Regt. As arranged the attack went in, 16 Pl (Platoon) right, followed by 17 Pl who were detailed to carry out the thorough clearing of the buildings. The final objective was a row of trees some 400 yards from the start line.

The Coy advanced about 200 yards before it was opened up on by 6 or 8 M.G.s (machine guns) firing from either flank – the fire from these M.G.s was held until such time as the nearest M.G.s were firing almost into the rear of the Coy, thereby hemming them in. The enemy M.G.s fire was so fierce, that it was impossible for the Coy to advance further., although some men from 16 Pl actually reached the objective – they were however so few in numbers that they were unable to hold it.

17 and 18 Pls made desperate efforts to enter and clear the buildings, and under the leadership of Lieut L.A Stilling and Lieut T.H. Dando they succeeded in killing several Germans. Fierce fighting continued in the area of the buildings and adjoining orchard, until the enemy fire made it necessary for both the Pls to be withdrawn to the line of the hedgerow some 50 yards from the main buildings. Meantime the remainder of 16 Pl and Coy HQ were pinned to the ground by strong enemy fire from the left and from M.G.s sited in the upper rooms of the house. As it was by this time impossible to advance further, the only alternative was to remain under cover till dark, when it would be possible to withdraw the Coy. At approx. 2315 hrs the Coy was withdrawn, after having been more or less under continual heavy fire for almost 2 ½ hours.

During the clearing of the house excellent leadership was shown by 3770737 Pte (Private) Robinson, who after destroying an enemy M.G. continued to organise parties of men to try and clear the house. The Coy having been withdrawn, it was found that 5 men had been killed and 16 wounded, Lieut L.E. Hall, Comdr (Commander) 16 Pl had also been wounded.

During the night the Coy was reorganised and preparations were made for a further attack the following morning, this time two troops of tanks and on troop of AVREs (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) were in support.

The attack was starting at 1015 hrs and right away the tanks almost completely destroyed the buildings – the Coy advanced with 17 Pl left, 18 Pl right and 16 Pl following 18 Pl to carry out the clearing of the buildings. On this occasion the attack was successful, the objective taken and held until orders were received to rejoin the Battalion. One man was wounded’.

*As one would expect the account included the above quoted Appendix tallies with the information in the body of the War Diary itself in all but one detail. The Annex states that the fighting took place over the 9th to 10th when in fact the battle was fought over the 8th and 9th July, with the 10th occupied by weapons and equipment salvage and burial of the dead.

An aerial reconnaissance photograph of the Chateau and its grounds exists. It is clear even to the non-expert eye the extensive efforts that the SS had made in an attempt to make this stronghold impregnable.

The fortified village of Galmanche ahead of the 59th Division attack.

Today, Galmanche is a remote hamlet. The Chateau has been rebuilt, albeit on a more modest scale. The uninformed visitor would hardly know that anything had happened during the war in this place. Even to those in the know the clues are subtle. If approaching the new building along its extensive drive two of the outer walls of the original Chateau can be seen. Close examination reveals a great many pock marks left by bullets and scars gouged into the masonry by shells. At the top of the driveway almost hidden from view is a memorial to the men of the 59th who gave their lives in the struggle to capture Galmanche.

The battle scarred outer wall of the original Chateau that was destroyed on 9th July 1944.

The memorial to the 59th at Galmanche

(one of the hardest momuments to find in the whole of Normandy).

Our Private Robinson survived the battle and for his leadership of men on 8th July he received the Military Medal.

The citation reads as follows:

‘Pte Robinson took part in “D” Coy attack on the strong enemy posn (position) of GALMANCHE on the evening of 8th Jul 44. His Pl was detailed to clear buildings in which were several enemy machine guns. Several of his section were either killed or wounded, but in the face of heavy enemy fire, Pte Robinson went forward alone with a Bren gun and destroyed one enemy post. He then re-organised his section and continued the attack. Throughout the attack his gallant actions and powers of leadership were an inspiration to his comrades.’

The citation is signed by B.L. Montgomery Commander-in-Chief, 21 Army Group.

The recommendation for the award was initiated on 12th July; just four days after the events took place. However, the passage of the recommendation up the established chain of command was slow such that by the time that Monty added his signature, then Corporal Robinson’s war was over. The Military Medal was awarded posthumously on 19th October 1944.

Corporal William Edwin Robinson was killed on 9th August 1944. He was 31 years old. At that time 176 Brigade had forced a crossing over the River Orne to form a bridgehead opposite the Forêt de Grimbosq. At the same time the 5th battalion with 177 brigade were further to the south fighting for the successive ridges of high ground that approached the river and overlooked the town of Thury Harcourt. It is likely that he fell in this fighting that aimed to hold up German troops and armour and prevent them from turning their attention on the fragile bridgehead at Grimbosq.

In the oppressive heat (37°C in Bayeux) that scorched France on the weekend of our visit, I located the plot and placed a Royal British Legion cross at the grave.

William was son of Emily Duncalf and husband of Annie Robinson, both of Liverpool. His grave bears the inscription ‘A Foreign Grave is a Painful Thing Where Loving Hands No Flowers Can Bring ’.

‘When you go Home, tell them of us and say, For your Tomorrow, we gave our Today’.

59th (Staffordshire) Division Memorial Galmanche 19th May 2017

In May 2017 I returned to Normandy for the third time with some special tasks in mind that would wrap up my efforts to complete this 'Pithead Polar Bear' project of mine. 

In 2014, with the research in its infancy I made it to St Contest and the 59th Memorial in the square. On that occasion I left believing that the impressive property located next to the Church was the focus of the fighting in which my Grandfather with the 5th South Staffords was engaged over the 8th and 9th July 1944. 

Whilst La Grande Ferme, the aforementioned property, was indeed occupied and fought over,  the objective of the 5th South Staffs was located about a kilometer away. It was only on our most recent visit that Owen and I determined to finally find the elusive Galmanche memorial come what may. 

After the usual circuitous journeying along the narrowest of country lanes we spied two flag poles. Could it be that the side by side Tricolour and Union Flag marked the much sought after spot. Indeed it did and I was finally able to pay my respects at a spot that lay within 100 yards of where my Grandfather had fought 73 years earlier. Unusually I was well prepared and had with me a Royal British Legion with me for the occasion.

Over the past few years it had been my understanding that the only remaining evidence of the Chateau of Galmanche was now fashioned into the cross design memorial to the 59th that stands in St. Contest. However, having finally located this corner of Calvados we decided to venture further down the track, at the end of which the rebuilt property was visible. 

I have to say that I was thrilled to see that on either side of the new building their remained a couple of sections of the outer walls of the original Chateau and what's more, these walls were suitably peppered with bullet holes as well as bearing the scars of artillery attention.

Just to think that one of these pock marks could have originated from my Grandad's rifle...... assuming that he could shoot straight!

The approach to the original Chateau from the memorial site.

The rebuilt property on the site of the original Chateau Galmanche.

It is notable that the new building has retained the spiraled wrought iron work on the gates that can been seen on the photograph of the pre-war Chateau.

The original Chateau de Galmanche.

The photographs below show a section of the outer wall of the original Chateau bearing the scars of the July fighting as the 59th tried to dislodge the SS from the fortified position of Galmanche.

Scarred exterior wall of the original Chateau.

One of Jim Heath's potshots?

A Pithead Polar Bear is now available for purchase

I'm a bit late with this blog site, but the culmination of the work put in on here has finally been realised in print and I am very happy with the results. I am really pleased with the way that the sales are going. So far, 111 books of the 150 print run are accounted for. It is quite something for me to think that this humble family history is to be found on the bookshelves of friends and colleagues in the UK, France, Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, America, Canada and Australia. Thank you one and all!

Adrian x.

More details can be found at:

http://apitheadpolarbear.blogspot.co.uk/

'A Pithead Polar Bear' to be Published in May

The waiting is nearly over. I have taken the plunge and sent ‘A Pithead Polar Bear’ off to the publishers so I can say with certainty that it will be available this month.

Details of how and where to get the book will follow in the next few days.

Many thanks,

Adrian.

A Pithead Polar Bear - Coming Soon!

The culmination of three years research (not full time I may add) will be the publication of a physical book to be entitled 'A Pithead Polar Bear From Brighton to Belsen 1940 - 1946'.

I have set up a separate website in order to provide further information on the book, where and how to get it and any feedback I get on it as and when I get it out there (weeks rather than months now for certain).

apitheadpolarbear.blogspot.co.uk/

However, that is not the end of the road, this site will continue to be an means of passing on new information and discoveries as I intend to keep digging into this history (and the story on here is not yet complete anyway!).

Please feel free to share....

Best wishes,

Adrian.

General Sir James Steele

Last week I received an email from Mark McKinty from Larne requesting some information on source documentation on the 59th (Staffordshire) Division. He enclosed an article that he had penned last summer to mark the 40th anniversary of the death of General Sir James Steele which I thought may be of interest to visitors of this site.

General Sir James Steele commanded the 59th (Staffordshire) Division from 15th February 1941 to 5th April 1942.

Opposing Forces At Thury Harcourt 9th to 14th August

Map showing the 59 (Staffordshire) Division on either side of the Orne

9th to 14th August

(with thanks to http://59div.morssweb.com/)

The Allies

59 (Staffordshire) Division

177 Brigade

Located at Fresnay, to the north west of Thury Harcourt.

197 Brigade

Located east of the Orne.

A follow-up formation described at length on this site.

53 (Welsh) Division

A follow-up formation described under the 'Operation Pomegranate' section.

56 (Independent) Infantry Brigade

Originally a First World War Brigade the 56 (Independent) Infantry Brigade was a part of Kitchener's Army (formed out of the 1914 recruitment drive). The Brigade was a first wave unit landing in Normandy on 6th June. It was responsible early on in the Normandy campaign for the liberation of Bayeux.

In late August 1944 the Brigade was involved with the 59th in the fighting on the Orne and the subsequent liberation of Thury Harcourt. After the destruction of the the remaining German forces west of the Seine in the Falaise Pocket, the men of 56th Brigade were transferred to the 49 (West Riding) Division where they again fought side by side with the men of the former 59 (Staffordshire) Division in Belgium and Holland as part of the First Canadian Army. The Brigade's active service ended in Germany with the cessation of hostilities.

271 Infantry Division

A Wehrmacht infantry division described in the Orne bridgehead section.

Operation Pomegranate 16th – 17th July 1944

Map indicating the operational area of 'Pomegranate' 16th-17th July 1944

(with thanks to http://59div.morssweb.com/)

The second engagement in Normandy in which soldiers of the 59th Division were to play a role was known as ‘Operation Pomegranate’. Coupled with ‘Operation Greenline’ of the 15th to the 17th July, ‘Pomegranate’ was part of an action that history recalls as ‘The Second Battle Of The Odon’.

As the D-Day objective of Caen eluded the British and Canadian forces on 6th June, Allied efforts shifted to the south west of the city, commencing on 7th June with ‘Operation Perch’ a combined pincer action of encirclement of the Norman capital from east to west by I Corps and XXX Corps respectively. The attack by I Corps was halted by the 21st Panzer Division, whilst the XXX Corps assault faltered at Tilly-sur-Seulles in the face of the Panzer-Lehr Division.

In the week of the 7th to 14th June XXX Corps attempted to manoeuvre around the defences of the Panzer-Lehr Division and in doing so captured Villers-Bocage to the west of Caen. Later in the action, on 17th June, Tilly-sur-Seulles was taken as the Panzer-Lehr Division was again pushed back.

Further offensive action was delayed by poor weather, when a severe storm blew up on 19th June and hampered any further operations for several days.

On 25th June ‘Operation Martlet’ opened up which intended to secure the left flank of VIII Corps who had received orders to advance southwards on the left flank of XXX Corps on 26th June. The action of the 26th to the 29th June was later designated as ‘The First Battle Of The Odon’, but is perhaps better known to historians as ‘Operation Epsom’ which had the intended outcome of a breakout of the Orne bridgehead to the west of Caen by crossing the Odon and Orne rivers and securing the objective of the high ground around Bretteville-sur-Laize.

The planned breakout failed as a result of determined German resistance and the offensive operation was halted around the high ground of Hill 112. However, ‘Epsom’ was a partial success in that the German Army was forced to commit reserve forces, newly arrived in Normandy, to the fighting. These reserve units were intended to engage Allied positions away from Caen in the vicinity of Bayeux.  Whilst held up to the west of Caen, well away from the advancing US forces, much damage was inflicted upon German heavy armour by intensive RAF sorties over the battlefield.

Footage of 'Operation Pomegranate' 17th July 1944

The Second Battle Of The Odon commenced at 9.30 on the evening of 15th July when, under the illumination of the so-called ‘Monty’s Moonlight’ (searchlight beams reflected from the underside of low lying cloud cover in order to light up the battlefield), Operation Greenline was launched.

In this action, a reinforced 15th (Scottish) Division, the 43rd (Wessex) Infantry Division and two brigades of the 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division were to secure the high ground of Hill 112 and to force the advance on Auray-sur-Odon to the south of Villers-Bocage or better still, Thury Harcourt to the south east, should the action result in a German withdrawal.

Starting on 16th July Operation Pomegranate to the west of the Greenline plan, XXX Corps shaped up with an attack of the 49th (West Riding) Infantry Division on the right flank, the 59th Division again in the centre with the 53rd (Welsh) Division on the left.

In the ensuing battle, the plan was for the 49th to take Vendes and its surrounding area, the 59th to capture Noyers-Bocage , Haut des Forges and Landelle. The role for the 53rd (Welsh) was to exploit any opportunities to move on Villers-Bocage to the south.

A Small Act Of Remembrance - Cambes-en-Plaine Cemetery 10th May 2014

Having just seen the now much transformed location of the 5th Battalion's first action, it was absolutely fitting that our next port of call would be the Cambes-en-Plaine Cemetery, a few kilometers from St. Contest and seven kilometers north west of Caen.

Entrance to the Cambes-en-Plaine Cemetery

It is in this cemetery that many of the men of both the South and North Staffordshire Regiments who fell during the Charnwood fighting of the 8th and 9th July are buried. Impeccably tended (as indeed are all accessible Commonwealth War Grave cemeteries), I found this again to be very moving as this place brought home the human cost of an action such as Charnwood, the impact of which in 2014 is more or less invisible in the villages in which so much blood was shed. Accounts of the battle in print are all well and good, but facts and figures cannot convey the horrors of war in the way that a cemetery can!

In Cambes-en-Plaine Cemetery row upon row of the familiar portland headstones bear the knot of Staffordshire. In fact more than half of the 224 burials in this small plot of land are of Staffords of the 59th Division.

Staffords lined up in Cambes-en-Plaine Cemetery

On an trip earlier in the week to the Wellington Quarry (La Carriére Wellington) in Arras I picked up a British Legion cross with the express intention of laying it, as a representative of my Grandfather. in one of the cemeteries most closely associated with the 59th (Staffordshire) Division.

Initially, I planned to lay the tribute in the Divisional cemetery further to the south in the Fontenay-le-Pesnel, but after our recent encounter in St. Contest a grave in the Cambes-en-Plaine Cemetery seemed to be the right place.

I originally had the idea to locate the grave of an unknown soldier of the South Staffordshire Regiment upon which to place the poppy. However, in contrast to the cemeteries of The Great War with which I am much more familiar, the war cemeteries in Normandy do not contain the graves of many unknown soldiers. This reflects the differences in the campaigns that were fought. In World War I many of the battlefields on the Western front formed the front line on more than one occasion with the result that established cemeteries from earlier engagements were disrupted as the war once again pased through. The remains of soldiers were disinterred to the extent that at the point of battlefield clearance many remains were unidentifiable. In contrast, the fighting in Normandy was nowhere near as static which meant that those who were killed in action had a far better chance of being positively identified and so named with regiment, rank and number on the headstone.

As the weather started to turn for the worse...... always the most appropriate weather for a garveyard I think, I perused row upon row of headstones in my search for the elusive unknown Staffordshire warrior. In the end I admitted defeat and adopted a different tack. My plan was now to locate a soldier of the South Staffordshire Regiment of the same rank and age as my Grandfather in July 1944 (I go for a bit of symbolism me!). A further fifteen minutes of searching and I had found my man.

The engraving on the headstone reads as follows:

'4919758 L. CPL

T. LEE

SOUTH STAFFORDSHIRE REGIMENT

8TH JULY 1944 AGE 29

'SAY NOT GOODBYE MY DARLING

BUT IN SOME FAIRER CLIME

BID ME GOOD MORNING'

The additional request would have been at the request of a sweetheart or wife of the dead soldier. These words brought to mind the torment of those at home, such as my Grandmother June Heath, who with no news from the front could only get by on hope that a loved one would remain unharmed to return at a later date.

Headstone of L/Cpl T. Lee (centre) Cambes-en-Plaine Cemetery, Normandy

A cross check with the Commonwealth War Graves Commision records reveals that T. Lee (or Thomas as he was known to his friends and family) was a Lancashire man of the 7th Battalion South Staffordshre Regiment. He was the son of Thomas and Margaret Lee and husband of Elizabeth Ellen Lee of Kirkham, Lancashire.

As part of the 176 Infantry Brigade it is likely that Thomas Lee fell in the fighting on the left flank of the 59th Division's line in the area of La Bijude and Epron.

St. Contest and Galamanche - 11th May 2014

Arial view of St. Contest showing the location of the Church and Chateau

Having spent a full Saturday driving along three quarters of the Overlord front (Utah on the Contetin Penninsula being a little too far when we were hungry and I, as non-driver, had my sights set on assaulting a beer in the nearby town of Bayeaux!) we headed back to our hotel to consider which sites relevant to the 59th we were going to head for in the morning.

As our hotel was located in the north of Caen it was logical that we should initially head into the area where Operation Charnwood played out.

A few days before leaving for Normandy, as a result of contacting the Staffordshire Regimental Museum, I had been sent a chapter of ‘Your men in battle; the story of the South Staffordshire Regiment- 1939-45’ that documented the actions of the Regiment throughout the Normandy campaign. Armed with this detailed account we aimed to locate the chateaux of St. Contest which had been the scene of such fierce fighting on the night of the 8th July.

Even equipped as we were with a detailed road map of the area, the unique nature of French road signs and their tendency to present the information that they are intended to convey against the direction of travel meant that we took considerably longer than anticipated to locate St. Contest and its church spire.

St. Contest Church

Parking up in front of the church, we left the vehicle to cross the road to the location of the 59th (Staffordshire) Division.

Memorial to the 59th (Staffordshire) Division

St. Contest, Normandy

The simple plaque commemorates the role played by the men of the 59th Division in the St. Contest area on 8th and 9th July that was ultimately to lead to the liberation of Caen.

The fighting in St. Contest and neighbouring Galamanche centred on the 'chateau', then occupied by the SS.

Of this chateau I recall an often repeated anecdote of my Grandfather's that involved a house (as he described it) the ground floor of which was occupied by two British soldiers whilst, unbeknownst to them, the upper floor was the chosen residence of many German soldiers. In my childish mind's eye, I equated this house to something like the council house that my Grandparents lived in (my points of reference were somewhat limited at that age!). The story continued that the two British soldiers emerged from the property unscathed and still unaware of their overnight co-habitees! Such was the unusual nature of this unintentional close encounter with the enemy that the story was relayed back to the UK where it appeared in the national press in the days that followed.

Imagine then my surprise when I read the following passage in the account of the St. Contest action as recounted in ‘Your men in battle; the story of the South Staffordshire Regiment- 1939-45’.

'Two men of D Company of the 5th Battalion [South Staffordshire Regiment], unknown to each other, had spent the night inside the chateau with the Germans without the enemy knowing of their presence, although both knew the Germans were there. As dawn broke one man crawled away, but was quickly followed by a German with a bayonet clenched in his hands. The other man, Private Parker, looking through a slit, saw what was happening and set off in pursuit. Just as the German was about to rush forward to make his kill, Private Parker killed him with his bayonet thus saving his comrade's life. Private Parker, who was killed at a later date, was awarded the Military Medal'.

So here I had, for the first time, courtesy of the above printed passage a concrete correlation between a contemporary written account of the battle* and one of my Grandfather's rare recollections of his part in the fighting. There were some differences in the detail and my Grandfather spared me the gory conclusion, but I am convinced that both book and anecdote describe one and the same event.

The task was now to locate the chateau and to place it within the context of the fighting.

Looking at the pen and ink map of St. Contest and Galamanche as it appears in ‘Your men in battle; the story of the South Staffordshire Regiment- 1939-45’ a roughly square feature to the right of the church was a logical candidate for the chateau. 

Access to the property (at least from this side) was via a gate which runs onto a courtyard in front of the house.

Having found what we believed to be our chateau, I was ever keen to photograph the property for this site**. As I snapped away through the gate my actions clearly aroused the suspicions of the owner who emerged from the building in order to establish exactly why two black-clad strangers were busy photographing his rather desirable house. In fairness to him, in his shoes I would not have been impressed either! Anticipating another poor reception from an irate Frenchman (two days previously, some words had been exchanged over parking with a rather unpleasant farmer at the gates of Serre Road Cemetery No. 1 in the Somme region), we moved forward to greet the owner.

On this occasion, our expectations were unfounded, as once we explained the reason for our visit in rusty school French aided by English pointing (in the direction of the memorial), and our interest in his house he was very obliging. The owner, whose name I am sorry to say I didn't get, confirmed that our assumptions were correct and that his property had indeed been the focal point of the fighting in the area in July 1944 since it was serving as an SS Panzer Headquarters. As an H.Q. at the time of the fighting, the chateau would have been bristling with machine-gun posts dug into a warren of interlocking trenches and well concealed snipers would have been in position to pick off unfortunate individuals. One such sniper was positioned in the bell tower of the adjacent St. Contest church. Moreover, the owner was happy to snap away. In one photograph the scars of the fighting can still be seen on the building. Were the pump on the front of the building still required to draw up water from a nearby well, more than one bucket would be required for collection as the pump is riddled with bullet holes (supposedly thanks to the efforts of the bell tower sniper).

View of the Chateau through the gate on the corner of the 'square' of St. Contest

(note the owner on his way out).

The front aspect of the Chateau

(Owen engages the owner as best he can!).

The bullet holed water pump.

The Chateau looking in the direction of St. Contest Church.

The grounds of the Chateau, showing outbuildings on the other side of the gate.

The bell tower of St. Contest church from which a German sniper operated.

After taking these photographs and exhausting our very limited French vocabulary, we parted with the owner who returned to his kitchen and lunch preparations whilst we headed off in the direction of the nearby Cambes-en-Plaine cemetery.

I have to say that the time we spent locating St. Contest and the time spent looking over the exterior of the Chateau were quite emotional for me. On the preparation of this blog, I have described to people how it has once again brought me very close to my Grandfather twenty years after his death. In St. Contest, to be standing in exactly the place where he fought as a young soldier of 'A' Company on 8th July 1944 was, for wont of a better word, surreal.

* ‘Your men in battle; the story of the South Staffordshire Regiment- 1939-45’ is a compilation of official and unofficial reports by the officers of the regiment that was published by the Wolverhampton Express and Star in 1945).

** Not long after this visit the confusion about the Chateau objective of the 59th was resolved. Whilst as already stated the Grand Farmhouse located in St. Contest was indeed fought over, it was the Chateau in Galmanche, a couple of kilometers away that was the focus of the SS defence.

Later I was able to find an old postcard of the building prior to the fighting.

Chateau de Galmanche in more prosperous times.

This RAF aerial reconnaissance photograph clearly shows the importance of this position and the lengths that the German SS units went to defend it on the outer limits of Caen.

In the fighting of the 8th and 9th July and in subsequent bombardments the Chateau de Galmanche was reduced to rubble, the cornerstone of the building becoming the 59th Staffordshire Division memorial on the small square of St. Contest.

However, a small memorial honours the fallen of the 59th close to the site of the former Chateau.

Memorial to the 59th (Staffordshire) Division

Galmanche.

(Photograph courtesy of Bert Bamford of the 5th South Staffordshire Regiment)

It is worthwhile to compare the original Chateau with the more modest version that replaced it. Notably the spiraled wrought iron gates of the original have been reproduced.

Galmanche today.