The 2nd Battalion, the Gloucestershire Regiment on D-Day

This particular battalion of the brave got off relatively lightly on D-Day itself. The 2nd Battalion, the Gloucestershire Regiment, came ashore on Gold Beach, one of the five designated landing beaches, on June 6, 1944. The Glosters though didn’t actually ‘fight them on the beaches’, to paraphrase a bit of Churchill, as their landing craft got lost or redirected and ended up on an unprotected section of the shore. The fighting that ensued in and around Bayeux more than made up for this, though. In the year that we mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings, I’m honoured to be able to tell their story.

Troops marching through Bayeux, Normandy, June 1944. Pic: Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum The Gloucestershire Regiment’s 2nd Battalion sploshed ashore as part of the second wave of landings that took place on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Understandably, they expected determined resistance from the Germans holding Gold beach in the vicinity of the town of Le Hamel, the kind of entrenched firepower that was seen on other beaches, especially the American target which forever became known as ‘Bloody Omaha’. To the 2nd Battalion’s total surprise though, the ramps on the landing craft dropped to reveal a scene of relative calm and order. They had no way of knowing, but with the first wave having failed to secure the required beachhead at Le Hamel where a bunch of Germans held on determinedly, the Glosters had been shunted two miles further east to another beach at Hable de Huertot. The only Germans present here weren’t brandishing weapons; they had already become PoWs, captured by the invasion force’s advanced parties. There was evidence, however, of some of the earlier fighting: wrecked landing craft; vehicles drowned; tanks disabled; the flotsam and jetsam of an amphibious landing. As the men began to make their way inland there was further evidence of what had taken place; houses shattered and smoke billowing up in plumes.

Gun emplacement at Longues-sur-Mer battery, photographed in 2008. Pic: Nitot The Glosters were not alone having landed alongside men of the Essex Regiment and South Wales Borderers. They marched together across land pockmarked with barbed wire and minefields. They were heading for the village of Buhot, yet soon had the Nazis’ fearsome 88mm artillery piece finding their range. Although originally developed as an anti-aircraft weapon, it hadn’t taken the Germans long to appreciate that the power of this cannon could decimate any column of armoured vehicles and leave any supporting infantry in a state of chaos. The 88 mm was rendered harmless by a US Sherman tank, however, this came too late to save the 2nd Battalion from picking up its first two casualties of D-Day, Sgt. Price and Private Cresswell, both of ‘B’ Company.

Gold Beach including remains of the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches. Pic: Dennis Peeters It was 15.30 on June 6 when the battalion eventually reached Buhot. Its next objective was to attain the high ground to the south-west of the town of Bayeux, famed for its 11th-century tapestry depicting an invasion that had crossed the Channel in the other direction; now it was to be fought over almost 900 years later. Being held up by the potency of the 88 mm had cost the battalion much of the daylight though, even in June, so it was decided that it would be prudent to dig in for the night at the nearby village of Magny. ‘On the Beach’ may have resembled a bit of a holiday picnic but the men now needed to be ever watchful, their advance constantly plagued by German snipers who’d become a hidden, stealthy and deadly accompaniment of the landscape they were now engaged in liberating. Although only 80 years ago, it was still a different age communication-wise and the overall situation facing the Allies was still very unclear which necessitated caution; extensive night patrols had to be carried out. Fighting continued sporadically with Germans also fleeing in the face of the Allied advance and more of the enemy being taken as PoWs; by the close of the first day the 2nd Battalion of the Glosters had 31 Germans to keep their eyes on.

The church in Magny-en-Bessin, the village where the men of the 2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, dug in on their first night in Normandy, before they advanced on Bayeux the following morning – the Glosters had to withstand the attentions of German snipers who’d set themselves up in the church tower Photo: Roida Gobert The coming of the dawn certainly didn’t offer the Glosters any respite from nervousness; they suddenly found themselves under relentless sniper fire. It soon became apparent that three Germans had ensconced themselves in the tower of the village church on the previous evening and now availed themselves of this fine vantage point by opening fire on the relatively exposed men of the 2nd Battalion. Although various attempts were made to dislodge the trio, the battalion didn’t posses a weapon that could achieve the required angle so in the end it was decided to leave them there and get on the road. At 08.30 the Glosters were on their way again heading for Bayeux where they would arrive at midday. The snipers were left with nothing to fire at. In Bayeux meanwhile the battalion was mobbed by joyous civilians, all of them deliriously happy, some of them the worse for wear, but all overjoyed that finally the Nazi occupation of their town was at an end. It must have been quite a heady moment for those boys to be welcomed as liberators.

The historic centre of Bayeux which the 2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, reached at midday on June 7 to be greeted by a joyous populace who welcomed the Glosters as their liberators. Pic: Mairie de Bayeux The time for any rejoicing was all too short for the men of the 2nd Battalion, however, as the war was far from over. Reports of German armour massing to the south of them were coming in so not for the first time the Glosters sought out the high ground. The tanks may not have materialised on this occasion but the battalion was nevertheless still ambushed by a group of ten Germans who kept up a spirited resistance until the Glosters’ Bren guns got too hot for them; the white flag was raised and more PoWs were taken. For several days the men would remain billeted in Bayeux, continuing to maintain their vigilant patrols and forever keeping a look out for snipers who remained a frequent menace.

If the men of the 2nd Battalion had any thoughts that they were having an easy ride the disillusionment was not long coming. Eyewitness testimony from Private Arthur Croome is a far more eloquent and poignant statement than anything I could possibly conjure up. Arthur confirmed that the 2nd Battalion had sailed from Portsmouth, the journey across the Channel terrifying and the approach to the beaches even more so, accompanied as it was by ‘a cacophony of noise from the guns; made us totally deaf’. He’d almost come a cropper at the very start when exiting the beach landing craft: ‘I stepped off into the water; must have been over six feet deep. My comrades pulled me, gasping, ashore’. Croome would ‘relive the moment, the fear, every night’ in his sleep. Once ashore, the men, weighed down with equipment, got off the beach as fast as possible, seeking the relative sanctuary of cover.

The Town Hall in Épaignes where the 2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment endured a fierce firefight which inflicted 53 casualties one of whom was Private Arthur Croome who was wounded when a bullet hit his steel helmet rendering him unconscious. Pic: Gerard Janot Croome drove a Bren gun carrier through France and Belgium, dates and places forever etched deep in his brain. ‘We battled fiercely, heroically, overcoming fear and hardship; definitely no fun. We would not give up until we reached our target, the incredibly important River Seine’. Joining up with other units, Croome described the slow push east. ‘By the 11th June, Tilly-sur-Seulles … had been reached. On 30th July … the Saint-Germain-d’Ectot ridge. Then by 12th August, Thury-Harcourt … taken, ditch by ditch’. The worst was to come though. ‘And then, on 25th August, a major, bruising, destructive engagement at Épaignes; some of the fiercest street-by-street fighting of that vicious war. I was one of the 53 casualties (when) a sniper bullet hit my helmet and knocked me flat on my back. A long crease was made in that safety steel hat. I was knocked unconscious but my courageous mates pulled me through; without the selflessness of comrades in battle, just what would we do?’

Other than a splitting headache, Croome was deemed fit enough to resume duties. On September 2 he crossed the River Rouen, ‘but we were getting further and further away from our home. We spearheaded the assault on Le Havre on September 10. Two days later we were the first to enter and capture their fort together with 1,500 prisoners and more beer than we could drink. But the fact that 40 of our comrades were killed or were injured made our hearts sink’.

The battalion fought on until the end of the conflict, its last significant action of the war on April 12, 1945, when it pushed across the river at Arnhem. Following the German surrender on May 8, the 2nd Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment, entered Germany itself. Its progress across North-West Europe had come at a grave cost, however, with more than 700 casualties suffered.

Troops coming ashore, Queen Sector, Gold Beach, Normandy, June 8, 1944. Pic: Soldiers of Gloucestershire Museum References