On 25 June 1944, XXX Corps’ opening moves against [ the ] Rauray Spur, to capture the higher ground overlooking the right flank of VIII Corps’ advance, made slow pro- gress. In its first battle the fresh British 49th Division was given the initial task of seizing Fontenay le Pesnil, then pushing on to Rauray and the high ground beyond. By the end of the day it had still not se-cured its first objective. Opposing the division were 12.SS- Hitlerjugend Panzer Division. Backed by tanks, the SS troops resisted the British attack with determination. Also involved in the struggle were the men of Panzer Lehr who were drawn into the battle as the 49th Division hit their right flank on the ground to the north of Vendes. Ominously, when EPSOM began the next day, the hills along the Rauray spur, overlooking the ground over which the Scottish Division would advance, were still firmly in enemy hands and lined with tanks and guns. The main thrust of EPSOM began at 07.00hrs on 26 June with a devastating barrage from 700 guns of I, VIII and XXX Corps’ artillery, supported by 6in. guns of three cruisers anchored off the beaches. Bad flying-weather grounded air support from England, but 83 Group was able to fly its aircraft from their local airfields in Normandy. The group flew over 500 sorties during the day, but their efforts were hampered by low cloud and heavy ground mist. 15th Scottish Baptism of Fire At 07.30hrs, 15 Scottish Div began its attack supported by 31 Tank Brigade, with 44 Lowland Brigade on the left and 46 Highland Brigade on the right. They set off on a 4km (2.4 mi.) frontage behind a slow-moving barrage of shellfire that pounded the enemy in front of them. Progress was initially good with Scottish infantry moving across open cornfields in good order, their front swept by plunging shellfire. When the Scotsmen began to reach the fortified villages in front of them, the advance slowed down alarmingly. The hamlet of La Guale was taken after a brief struggle, but St Manvieu, Cheux and Le Haut du Bosq were only partly occupied after hours of bitter hand-to-hand fighting. 15 Scottish Div had found that the front line was only lightly held and that the main German line of defence was much further back. The artillery barrage had rolled over the Germans, causing only minor damage to those troops who were dug into well-constructed underground positions. Once the waves of shellfire had passed over them, Panzergrenadiers emerged from their trenches and shelters to engage the Scottish troops at close quarters, often from their rear. Fighting for control of the villages went on all morning. Once St Manvieu was finally taken, the Germans rapidly launched two counterattacks, first with tanks and infantry from Hitlerjugend then with a company of PzKpfw IVs from 21.Panzerdivision who were holding the line to the left of Hitlerjugend. Both attacks were beaten off by intense artillery fire. The long straggling village of Cheux was not fully occupied by 1 Glasgow Highlanders of 46 Brigade until late in the day. The battle to secure it had been bloody, with the battalion losing almost 200 men during this its first day of action. Cheux was now pounded by the German artillery situated on the high ground overlooking the village east of Rauray, still unaffected by 49th Division’s attack that had started the day before. By the time 46 Brigade had established itself in Cheux, the village had been reduced to nothing more than piles of rubble and its roads were choked with collapsed buildings.
Two roads led south from Cheux towards the River Odon. One, to the south-west, passed through the eastern side of Le Haut de Bosq, through Grainville and Le Valtru on to the two bridges over the Odon at Gavrus. The other road led south-east towards Colleville, through Tourville to the bridge at Tourmauville. Maj-Gen Roberts’ 11th Armoured Division was ordered to send his tanks along these two roads and seize the crossings over the Odon. The armoured attack was slow in starting and its progress disap- pointing. The congested ruins of Cheux, under continuous shellfire from the enemy, delayed the deployment of 29 Armoured Bri- gade. When its tanks had finally picked their way through the bat- tered ruins of Cheux and moved out to the south of the village, they were met by determined resistance and forced to a halt. Opposition from small groups of enemy infantry with well-con-
advance. It soon became clear that the tanks were not going to make the dash for the Odon before nightfall and at 18.00hrs the corps commander ordered 15 Scottish Div to send its reserve brigade, 227 Infantry Brigade, forward to carry on the advance.
The third of the Scottish Division’s brigades now went into action in pouring rain and met with the same ferocious opposition that had confronted the tanks. On the right, progress along the road leading south-westwards was halted on the outskirts of Le Haut du Bosq by the guns positioned on the rising ground in front of Grainville. Fading light and driving rain helped confuse the advance and the infantry were quickly embroiled in close-quarters fighting and disjointed actions with enemy tanks. Conti- nuous German mortaring broke up each of the Scottish attacks as it went in and the tank support fell victim to anti-tank fire. The advance along Colleville road fared only slightly better. An advance guard made it into the village, but the main body was held up along the diminutive Salbey stream about a kilometre south of Cheux. By the end of the day, the advance had stop- ped and the infantry were digging in for the night. The first day of Operation Epsom had not been the hoped-for success. The Odon had not been reached and the high ground barring the way south was still in enemy hands. XXX Corps’ progress to the west had been equally unimpressive, with Rauray and its spur still in enemy hands. EPSOM: 27 June 1944 EPSOM continued on 27 June with 15 Scottish Div once more entering the attack at 05.00hrs. 43 Wessex had come forward to take over the captured villages and allow the Scottish Division to continue the advance to the Odon. However, the further 15 and 11 Armoured Div pushed forwards, the greater the salient being carved out of enemy territory and the longer their exposed flanks became. This salient became known as "The Scottish Corridor." More and more of the tanks and infantry of VIII Corps had to be employed holding these gains, rather than securing addi- tional ground. Sherman tanks of 4 Armoured Brigade and the heavy Churchills of 31 Tank Brigade were now deployed east and west of the main attack to hold the flanks of the salient. EPSOM had now become a slogging-match, a war of attrition to break the enemy. Once again heavy fighting on the western road south of Cheux limited the move towards Grainville and the Scotsmen of 15 Division battered away all day against determined enemy resistance, without getting past Le Haut du Bosq. On the road from Cheux to the south-east, determined infantry attacks took Colleville and then pushed on to take Tourville and Mondrainville. 15 Scottish was now looking down into the valley of the River Odon. 2nd Argylls & The Bridge at Tourmaville In mid afternoon, 2 Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders from 227 Infantry Brigade came forward and pushed down the slopes to the river, seizing the bridge over the Odon at Tourmauville and establishing a bridgehead on the far side. This was imme- diately exploited by 23 Hussars from 11 Armoured, who crossed the bridge and moved out southwards onto the long nor-thern slopes of Hill 112. With tanks over the river guarding the lodgement, it was time to bring forward the division’s other two armoured battalions and infantry. Shermans of 2 Fife and Forfar Yeomanry and 3 Royal Tanks now prepared to join the Hussars across the Odon, followed by 3 Monmouthshires and 4 KSLI from 159 Infantry Brigade who were to occupy the villages of Baron and Tourmauville respectively. The 15 Division was now positioned on the Caen–Villers Bocage road and was able to send a battalion westwards in an attempt to force its way into Grainville from the east and relieve the bottleneck on the road south-west from Cheux. This was no easy task as the SS troops defending Grainville were determined to hold onto the village. Although the Scotsmen finally fought their way to the outskirts of the village, it was too late to capture the place before nightfall. Next installment coming soon .... |
| THE KOSB AT WAR 1939-45 A Second World War Historical Reenactment Unit in Texas, commemorating the service and sacrifice of the 6th King's Own Scottish Borderers in Northwest Europe 1944-45 |
| OPERATION EPSOM: THE "SCOTTISH CORRIDOR" |
| Operation EPSOM 26 June 1944 MAP COURTESY FLAMESOFWAR.COM. CLICK ON MAP TO ENLARGE. |
| 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers, Cheax, 26 June 1944 PHOTO COURTESY IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM 44 Lowland Brigade infantry were outfitted in the manner above, tin helmets, battledress, webbing with the workhorse of the British Army in Normandy: the ever reliable, No. 4 Mk. 1 .303 Enfield rifle. |
| Lt. Harry McLeod, KOSB PHOTO COURTESY IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM Lt. Harry McLeod, 10 Platoon, 6th KOSB, during the fighting in Normandy. Notice the field dressing under helmet net. Casualties among officers in 6th KOSB and other regiments were nearly 65% of the total casualties during the first week of EPSOM. |