wn30 Courseulles-sur-Mer (Sud), K.V.U.Gruppe Courseulles

StP Courseulles (Wn29,30 &31) was held by 6th Company of the 2nd Battalion, 736th Regiment.

Canadians advancing through Courseulles to attack Wn30 and pass on to Tailleville.

The photo is just showing how the advance through the town may have looked.

StP Courseulles showing all its positions. Wn30 was just a few trenches and small bunkers and was just a rallying point and also covering the rear defence of Courseulles if it was to be attacked from the rear.

This picture shows the position of Wn30, the walled and the cemetery on the left.garden of Wn30

Looking at the plan, there seems to be a pylon, an aerial and a Vf shelter used to transmit radio signals. Red are trenches linking different bunker together. One defence machine gun position.

The field was completely walled around with a 3m wall. In the north side was an MG Stand and here in the Google photo it shows a modified wall and two square equidistant holes, filled in with local stone. The houses were all built post war.

One of the Vf shelters still in the walled garden and now used as a car park.

Lieutenant R.R. Smith briefing the non-commissioned officers of the Regina Rifles with a sketch of their objective, Courseulles-sur-Mer, France. (e011084119).

D-DAY AND NORMANDY

The Landing

The Regina Rifles landed under heavy fire on NAN GREEN beach at Courseulles sur Mer, Normandy, on June 6, 1944. The wave-tossed landing craft of A Company, the first company in, struggled to shore at 0805 hours, 20 minutes after H hour (H+20), after making the Channel crossing on the Isle of Thanet. B Company wallowed in on the left at 0815 hours. Landing time had been set so that the low tide would expose obstacles on the beach which now stretched some 400 yards ahead of them to the sea wall.  

On the Battalion’s right, the Royal Winnipeg Rifles with a company of the Canadian Scottish Regiment came in on MIKE RED beach. The remainder of the Canadian Scottish, the reserve battalion for 7th Brigade, waited to come ashore at MIKE RED, later in the morning. On the Battalion’s left, to the east, the Queen’s Own Rifles of 8th Brigade was landing at Bernieres, on NAN WHITE beach. To the flanks, the Sherman tanks of the 6th Canadian Armoured Regiment (1st Hussars) gave support, with B Squadron assaulting along side of the Reginas.

In the Regina Rifles’ sector designated for the assault, the town of Courseulles had been divided into blocks numbered 1 to 12. Block number 1 was located on the beach starting at the mouth of the Seulles River and encompassing the area around a built-in gun emplacement. A second gun emplacement stood on the other side of the canal, in the Winnipeg Rifles’ area. Stretching behind block number 1 along a canal were blocks 5, 6, and 7. On the left, block number 2 also began at the beach and sea wall area. Behind it stretched blocks 3, 4, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. The rear boundary of block 12 was the road behind the town, one fork of which led to Reviers, two miles inland, the other leading east to Caen.

During the initial assault, as the landing craft of A Company splashed onto the shore in front of the block 1 sector, the company commander, Major Duncan Grosch, was wounded and became a casualty. At 0830 hours, the company, still on the beach, reported that it was pinned down and taking casualties from heavy machine gun fire and rounds from an 88mm gun from inside the emplacement. Despite the heavy early morning bombardment from naval gunfire, the gun emplacement, with its four-foot thick reinforced concrete walls and supporting fortified positions, was still intact. The men of A Company lay huddled on the beach, exposed to the withering fire directed at them. They could go no farther. In those first few critical minutes the fate of the company’s assault hung in the balance.

However, Lieutenant Bill Grayson, a platoon commander, had jumped from his landing craft on crashing the beach and had hurried across the bare expanse of sand through a gap in the wire strung along the beach, to the edge of the first row of houses facing the sea. There, he took cover behind a corner of a house near the German concrete gun emplacement where he could not be observed by the crew inside. The emplacement was at the far end of an alley from the house behind which he was hiding. Between the gun emplacement and himself was more barbed wire and a German MG42 machine gun post. He noticed that the firing from the machine gun came in bursts at timed intervals along a fixed arc of fire. Grayson checked the timing of the bursts and estimated that he would be able to get past the machine gun and run to the side of the emplacement where he could toss a grenade through the gun slit. Immediately after the next burst from the machine gun, he made a mad dash for the emplacement only to become entangled in the wire that formed the protective barrier for the gun. Miraculously, the next burst of fire was delayed. Grayson tore himself free and tossed in his grenade. On hearing the explosion, he dived in after it through the aperture. He leaped up just in time to see the last of the German gun crew disappearing through the back door of the emplacement. The rear man, on seeing Grayson, turned and threw a “potato masher” grenade at him, which landed between his legs. Coolly, Grayson reached down, grabbed the handle and threw the grenade back at the German who left abruptly before it exploded. Grayson then followed the Germans into a trench which zigzagged along to a covered underground protective area. On looking into this dark hole he could make out three or four figures. He heard shouts of “Kamerad,” so he motioned with his pistol for them to come out. Out came 35 men whom he promptly took prisoner. By then, other men from A Company had reached the emplacement, and they disarmed the prisoners and led them away. With the 88mm gun out of action, A Company was able to push on into the town to clear block 5. For his daring action Grayson was later awarded the Military Cross.

Meanwhile, on the left, while Grayson was silencing the pillbox, B Company, under Major F.L. Peters, had been able to move inland somewhat more quickly. After their initial landing in front of block 2 sector, the assaulting troops had been held up by the sea wall until it was breached by gunfire from one of the supporting tanks. B Company was then able to get on with clearing block 3. The company quickly moved through its block, into block 4 and then onward into the town. The reserve companies were now committed to come ashore. The two reserve companies, C on the right and D on the left, landed at 0835 hours and 0855 hours respectively. C Company, under Major C.S.T. Tubb, splashed down without mishap and moved into the town to clear its designated area. The Company quickly cleared block 8 and then went on to clear blocks 9,10, and 11. Unfortunately, as D Company moved in, two of its landing craft were blown up by mines about 250 yards from the beach, leaving many casualties. Among the dead were Major J.V. Love, the company commander, as well as CSM Danny Yeo and Lieutenant R.B. Murchison, the signals officer. A few of the men were rescued by Royal Navy craft while others were able to swim ashore.

At 0900 hours the battalion headquarters group with Lieutenant Colonel Matheson came ashore and the headquarters was established in block 8 after it had been cleared by C Company. The commanding officer of the 13th Field Regiment co-located his regimental headquarters with the Regina’s battalion headquarters, and from there he was able to direct the fire of the 95mm guns of the tanks of B Squadron. His own field guns were to come ashore later.

Meanwhile, A Company, now under Captain Ron Shawcross, engaged in clearing blocks 5,6, and 7 along the locks of the canal running through the centre of the town, reported that he was being fired upon from the rear. The fire was coming from block 1, which it had just finished clearing! The tenacious Germans had returned through underground tunnels and re-established themselves in the fortified positions. As a consequence A Company was ordered to return to block 1, and clear it out once again. To help them in their task the company was given another troop of Sherman tanks for support. By 1000 hours, a seriously depleted A Company was still engaged in heavy fighting in the beach area and in the areas behind the beyond.

https://warchronicle.com/the-story-of-the-royal-regina-rifles/

Air photo taken by 140Sq RAF 17 March 145 to illustrate the landing beaches for a publication written about the D-Day landings.

Canadian troops having a moment for one of the Amy photographers. Its an interesting view, the troops look very relaxed, the one standing on the left, looks like he has a pistol holster from a German officer. The red cross on the privates arm. They are wearing the new tin helmets that continued on for the British army until the 1970's the Mk III "Turtle" helmet. A Lee Enfield 303 rifle leaning against the Bren Gun Carriere that may even have been manufactured in Canada. Also note that the sensor has covered over the shoulder flashes of their unit.