Normandy: June - July 1944
The Division's first commitments were in the nature of mopping up operations in the area of the small town of Cheux and towards Carpiquet Aerodrome on the left flank. The infantry came into the. line within 48 hours of disembarking and the artillery 25 pounders were firing within 24 hours, And on the 27th June it fell to the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry to show, for the first time, the fighting spirit of the Division. That evening, just as a Company of the 5th DCLI had taken over positions in an orchard and adjoining farm buildings, six Panther tanks rumbled suddenly round the corner of the lane only a hundred yards from Company H.Q.
At first without one Piat, and with their 6 pounder anti-tank guns hardly ready for action, the DCLI fought a tense hand-to-hand struggle, using rifles and grenades, as the Panthers broke into the orchard firing machine guns and their main armament. Brave individual action with Piat projectors, the tanks being stalked through the orchards, eventually accounted for two Panthers. The three others were hit and knocked out by the only 6 pounder which could get into action. Two men manned that gun, the rest of the crew being killed or wounded by point blank fire from the Panthers. The Colonel of the Battalion was killed as he stood alongside the gun encouraging his men. With the odds all against them the DCLI had 'killed' five out of the six German tanks, the sixth limping away badly mauled. It was a great start.
The First full Battalion attack was made by the 1st Worcestershires on the village of Mouen. They gained it in one of the slickest operations of the war after the artillery had inflicted heavy losses on the enemy. The 7th Bn Somerset Light Infantry penetrated into Verson after holding sway over the place for days by strong offensive patrolling, and into Fontaine Etoupefour with the DCLI. Then the first units of the 43rd moved across the river Odon to extend and consolidate the bridgehead and to join in the Division's first major battle: Hill 112 and the vital ridge of high ground between the rivers Odon and Orne.
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