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Chapter XVIII
THE SECOND WORLD WAR, 1939-45 Mobilisation and Dunkirk
1939
Neville Chamberlain, Prime Minister since 1937, had pursued a policy of appeasement. During the next year, however, Germany invaded Austria, and by 1939 the nation was compelled to face up to the Fuhrer's determination to enslave free peoples. When Hitler occupied Czechoslovakia in March Chamberlain persuaded the French to join in the pledge to help the Poles should they too be attacked.
All hope of appeasement vanished when Hitler invaded Poland on the 1st September. On that day the 5th Battalion and the new 7th Battalion received their orders to mobilise. Two days later Britain and France declared war on Germany.
For the first two months of the war the Battalion was employed in guarding vulnerable points in Sussex. Early in November it was moved with the 4th Battalion to Dorset to complete their war training. A month later the two Territorial Battalions were joined by the Regular 2nd Battalion which came from Belfast to form the splendid Royal Sussex Brigade of the 44th Home Counties Division. These three Battalions were to remain together until after the Battle of Alamein. Training was hard: no palliasses, long route marches and exercises for several days together in bad weather.
1940
In January' Lieut--Col. E. C. Barton, M.C., are gular officer of the Regiment, replaced Lieut.-
Col. Hissey as Commanding Officer. In March, the 44th Division started to move across to France and on the 8th April the Battalion disembarked at Cherbourg. It moved by train to the divisional assembly area near Le Mans and after a week moved up to a training area near St. Pol. In the first week of May Lieut.-Col. F. R. H. Morgan of the Border Regiment took over command from Lieut.-Col. Barton.
On the invasion of Holland and Belgium by the Germans on 10th May the Battalion took over guard duties at vulnerable points in the area of Lillers. The strength of the Battalion was 29 officers and 690 other ranks. The officers were as follows:
CO. Lieut.-Col. F. R. H. Morgan.
Majors: A. J. S. Grant, T.D. (2 i/c), A. J. Odling-Smee and R. O. V. Thompson.Captains: W. R. Ellen (Adjutant), T. M. Hole, M. E. Few, P. M. Claridge, W. P. Blount, R.J. Fuller, J. D. Richards and G. C. M. Bowser.
Lieutenants: I. M. Austin, J. Heasman, J. B. de S. Calthrop, J. H. Hincks. R. D. Waters, E. P. Slowe, D. Richards, E. A. Cooper, E. A. Ree, J. B. Ballard, L. A. Edgar, S. W. G. Shaw, P. C. Oakleigh-Walker and D. F. Cardwell.
Chaplain: The Rev. N. M. Dunlop.
Quartermaster: Lieut. G. W. Ayling. Medical Officer: Lieut. A. R. Dearlove. R.A.M.C.
By the 17th May the Battalion had been moved by motor transport to rejoin the Brigade at Vichte in Belgium. However, at 8 p.m. that evening orders were received to march 17 miles back into France because German armour had been reported at Neuville-en-Ferrain. There, after marching all night, they were directed to return to Vichte and arrived back in the early hours of the 19th - during their double journey they had been marching for 35 miles in just over 24 hours! On the 20th the Battalion moved up into the front line on the high ground overlooking the River Escaut and there dug trenches on the forward slopes in full view of the enemy. The whole area was constantly under accurate shell fire and Battalion H.Q_. at Wortegen was hit six times. The situation was obscure and little information reached the Battalion. An attack by the enemy at dawn on the 22nd May was expected but did not materialise.
During the afternoon orders were received that the Division would withdraw through Courtrai and that all units would be over the River Lys by 7 p.m. on the 23rd when the bridges would be blown. Before the withdrawal enemy infantry overran some forward posts but he did not exploit his success. By the morning of the 24th May, the Battalion was resting in an empty hospital for incurables at St. Andre near Lille: 160 casualties were reported. Two days later the Battalion marched to Vieux Berguin near the Forest of Nieppe.
At midday on the 27th, orders were received to move at once to Strazeele and defend it against a tank attack expected from the West. Major Alex Grant, who went forward to select positions, has left this vivid account of the battle which followed:
'D' was the leading Company and was ordered to move straight through the village to Caestre to assist the 4th Battalion, but they had already moved into their defensive positions on the north side so 'A' Company was sent down the road instead, to be followed by 'B', 'C and 'D' Companies. As the head of 'A' Company cleared the village enemy tanks were observed advancing from the west, distant about 800 yards. 'A' Company were unaware of this as the hedge was thick on the roadside. The Brigade anti-tank platoon had only one gun but it came into action and destroyed at least one tank. Two Artillery two-pounder anti-tank guns, which were in the village, came into action on the road where one was hit. By now eight tanks were moving round the north side of the village and four more round the south side.
The Battalion in the village occupied houses and, with a machine-gun platoon of the 8th Battalion The Middlesex Regiment, engaged the tanks with Bren gun and rifle fire. By now, however, 'A' Company was 500 yards from the village. The leading platoon took cover in some houses but the rest were obliged to take shelter in the roadside ditches. The tanks burst through the hedges and, straddling the long straight ditches, opened up with machine-gun fire which killed or wounded 67 of 'A' and 'D' Companies. The tanks also shot up some lorries and trucks on the Clyte Hill road. The tanks were supported by armoured field guns and mortars. This action started about 1300 hours, and at about 1530 hours the tanks withdrew to a position about 2,000 yards back, leaving the village in our possession.
The Carrier Platoon under Lieut. Austin was dug in on a forward slope on a front of a quarter of a mile. An artillery forward observation post was spotting from this position and by dusk at least eight enemy tanks had been put out of action.
The Battalion then proceeded to take up a position in the area of the Rouge Croix crossroads. Throughout the morning of the 28th May the Germans increased their shellfire, especially during the early afternoon when their infantry launched an attack in heavy rain against the 4th and 5th Battalions. At first the 4th Battalion was more heavily pressed, but later S.O.S. signals went up all along the line of the 5th Battalion. The rain gave place to low-lying mist. Some of the forward positions on the right were overrun and so 'B' Company with some of 'D' Company were pulled back. 'C Company at Rouge Croix was completely overwhelmed; but the Carrier Platoon made a most effective counter-attack which inflicted heavy casualities on the enemy and drove them back. Many of 'C Company who had been captured were thus set free, and the Company was able to re-occupy its former positions. Again we quote from Major Grant's diary:
Later the enemy attack was resumed in greater strength and by dusk most of the roadway to the crossroads south of Rouge Croix had been lost. It must be understood that the Companies had no depth. The forward positions were on one side of the road facing west and the supports on the other, the road being on a small ridge with the ground falling away slightly to each side. Furthermore there was nothing behind them for miles except a very weak 'A' Company. Battalion and Brigade H.Q. were some 500 yards back. At about 2100 hours Brigadier Whitty put in a counter-attack consisting of one platoon of Buffs, some Queen's, a rifle platoon of 8th Middlesex and the Brigade platoon of cooks, runners, batmen, etc., on to the Rouge Croix position which restored the situation for a while, although by nightfall some of the houses were occupied by Germans and some by our men.
Orders were soon received from Brigade to move to the Mont des Cats which, towering in the midst of the plain and crowned by a monastery, had been a familiar landmark to many veterans of the 1914-18 War. When the Battalion arrived there at about 8 a.m. on the 29th May the whole hill was crowded by troops with their guns and transport. They dug and occupied a forward defence line from which they could see the enemy guns taking up positions in the distance. These guns began to register an hour later. At 10 a.m. a low bombing attack by some 20 Stukas caused heavy casualties among the transport. Then came orders to destroy all transport and withdraw towards Dunkirk, starting at 10.30 a.m.
Enemy shellfire was rapidly increasing when elements of H.Q. Company set off on the main road to the coast. Because all roads were under air attack parties of some 20 to 30 men or more, each under an officer, were told to take other routes. Some chose to make their way across country. Then the 5th, with the 4th Battalion behind them, marched on through Proven and Rousbrugge where, during a halt that evening, Brigadier Whitty and the Brigade Major (Marshall) joined them. Gun and machine-gun fire was heard on each flank and the bridges were blown at about 8.30 p.m. The final progress of their withdrawal to Dunkirk during the 30th May is best told in the words of Major Grant, who wrote as follows:
The march was continued throughout the night past blazing parks of cars and stores, each bridge with its defence and demolition party standing by until, on passing over the last bridge, the long straight causeways to the beaches were reached. The low land on each side of these roads had been flooded and the roads themselves were one solid mass of vehicles and guns. It was with the greatest difficulty that the infantry could squeeze through and units became even more separated.
However, on reaching the beaches, the Military Police were able to direct men to the rendezvous of their unit near a large hospital at Bray Dunes. Here eventually eight officers and some 130 men of the Battalion were assembled. Trenches were dug in the sand, but fortunately a low-lying cloudy sky prevented any interference by aircraft. The Embarkation Officer allotted two parties to the Battalion at different times; each party duly paraded on the beach and embarked in small boats, canvas skiffs, etc., and rowed out to the ships.
Major Grant was left in charge of the rear party which sailed at 7.30 p.m. in the Golden Eagle and reached England without further incident.
During the fighting in France and Belgium the Battalion had suffered approximately 354 casualties. Towards the end, it had been almost impossible to get the wounded back to the coast and many had to be left in houses in the care of the inhabitants. All the missing officers and many of the men, some of whom were wounded, eventually turned up after the war.
On its return to England the Battalion was reorganised at Oxford and then moved to Yorkshire by way of Gloucester. All in all, the Dunkirk campaign was a harrowing experience for the Battalion. While constantly on the move with hardly time to draw breath and faced with frequent changes in the situation, it speaks well for the spirit of the Cinque Ports Battalion that when called upon to face the enemy they gave such a good account of themselves.
The 7th Battalion, which having been formed out of the 5th contained many former members of that Battalion, went to France as part of the 12th Division and, because it was not fully trained or equipped, was employed on lines of communication duties. During the German attack on Amiens on the 18th May the 7th Battalion was bombed while in a train nearby and suffered casualties. Later the Battalion fought an action with Rommel's tanks against which a gallant but hopeless bayonet charge was made. Casualties were heavy. On its return to England the 7th Battalion was converted to Light Anti-Aircraft Artillery.
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