4 August 1944
“PIAT! PIAT! PIAT!"
Lt Donald Harvey, 244 Field Company Royal Engineers, alongside D Coy 1 Oxf & Bucks.
Probably the best PIAT related quote of the Normandy campaign, said as a Waffen-SS battlegroup appeared behind a British battalion. /1
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I could go into this action in much more detail, but it's almost unbelievable - saving it for another day...
Soon.
A genuinely ridiculous scrap.
Moving on... /2
PIAT was the infantry platoon's principle manhandled anti-tank weapon. 1 per platoon. A real marmite weapon, most complaints stem from poor handling & faulty munitions.
One of the dullest, coolest, more bizarre and fascinating pieces of kit used in Normandy.
Which no one *really* cares abou5.
But I do, and you should too... /1
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Planning for Overlord and Neptune had a serious snag, how to get troops from LSTs onto the beach as simply ramming them up onto the beaches and dropping the ramp was known to damage the exceptionally vulnerable LSTs and felt to be unsustainable in the mid to long term. /2
LSTs were essential in sustaining Overlord's progress and were a subject of major headaches in the planning phase, and a real subject of friction when it came to launching additional amphibious operations such as Op Dragoon.
Loss of a single LST represented a capability nick. /3
I mean surely a bulldozer can't be a key component of Allied victory?
Wrong!
Let's have a look at the D-7 Dozer & Allied logistics in Normandy. /1
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First off, Normandy was a bit of a rural backwater.
The road network was no where near as developed as today, which incorporates many routes constructed/improved by Allied forces.
The land of William the Conqueror place for farming, fishing, market towns with a few railways. /2
21st Army Group had arguably the most enviable engineering services in the world, able to throw up bridges in under a day, construct massive hospitals, water points, fuel depots, pipelines, bypasses (frankly mini-motorways), airfields, command complexes... and much more. /2
What was it to fight in a 6 week battle of pure attrition, where all that mattered was the complete destruction of the enemy?
A battle where any movement could get you & your mates killed?
Well... /1
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Marksmen played a major role, as Ran Williams discovered when his 13 Platoon took over 7 Seaforths most exposed position.
Upon seeing the fresh lieutenant, the sergeant pulled out a machete, slicing off Ran's epaulettes and shoulder titles... /2
Snipers developed a particularly dangerous reputation, and Brigadier Michael Carver stamped on what he felt was 'particularly jittery' behaviour from 53rd Welsh early on, ordering that marksmen were now to be called 'isolated enemy riflemen'.
How did this piece of open topped herp-a-derp become the coolest piece of kit in infantry battalions scrapping their way through liberating North West Europe?*
I know you're curious...
Read on. /1
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The Universal Carrier came about in 1940 as a desire to streamline production processes & merge the Bren Gun and Scout Carriers' roles into a single AFV.
The former's name stuck and gained popular traction.
Bren Carrier (below) for Infantry Battalions' Carrier Platoons. /2
The Scout Carrier was intended to operate alongside Vickers Mk VI Light Tanks for Divisional Reconnaissance Regiments etc.
Various traits of both vehicles, bar the obvious Horstmann suspension, that carried over into the Universal Carrier are quite evident. /3
Throughout the Normandy campaign, Allied commanders anticipated that German soldiers would surrender in large numbers, but this... rarely happened.
The exception over predicted rule.
Why? /1
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Throughout the campaign this question vexed the Allies, not least as Intelligence Officers repeatedly felt the enemy was on the cusp of collapse.
Such problems coincided with confusion as to why Army Group B didn't just withdraw to the Seine.
Many didn't understand the enemy./2
About the time of Operation Epsom, German propaganda kicked up a gear as officers enthused about devastating new Vergeltungswaffen (vengeance weapons) devastating London night after night.
They claimed the British capital was in ruins with millions of dead, & victory loomed./3