The Battle for Breville

On a ridge overlooking the villages of Amfreville and Ranville and the flat fields which formed the landing area for the gliders of the 6th Airborne Division, running down to the River Orne with the Caen Canal with its famous Pegasus Bridge, lies the peaceful village of Breville. The village is small comprising a population of some 750 people and is situated on the junction of the roads from Amfreville to Troarn and from Ranville to Merville. In June 1944 it was half the size it is today with a population of some 200, with its old church, the Chateau, farm buildings, houses and orchards.

The areas to the North of Breville, around Merville and Ouistreham were held by the Allies, as were Amfreville to the West and the ridge to the South-East with the prominent and much fought over, Chateau St. Come. In the valley below, Ranville and the lands around the river and canal formed the heart of the British defence to the German forces. The importance of Breville lay in the fact that it was a gap in the Allies defensive line, it overlooked the whole of the landing areas, was held by the Germans and used by them to launch attack after attack against the Allies, such attacks being beaten back with difficulty and with substantial casualties.

Breville was occupied by the German 346th Infantry Division which had advanced from its base in Le Havre. The 744th and 857th (OST) Grenadier Regiments, which formed part of the 346th Division, were active in the attacks made through Breville. They appeared plentifully supplied with light automatic weapons, mortars and self-propelled guns. They were dug in strongly in the village amongst the buildings and the orchards on the outskirts.

Attacks by the 744th and 857th Regiments were made on the 6th Commandos and the 9th Parachute Regiments over the 7th & 8th June. On the 9th June the 9th Paras were again attacked but on each occasion, the attacks were repulsed with difficulty.

On the 10th June, the Germans put in a heavy attack on Le Plein, adjoining Amfreville and on the area South of Breville. They were held by Lord Lovat's Commandos, the 1st Special Service Brigade, around Le Plein and by the 9th Parachute Battalion to the South but were able to push through the gap below Breville towards the positions at Ranville through the smashed up gliders in the landing area. Here they were met by devastating fire from the 13th Parachute Battalion and retreated leaving over 400 dead and 150 captured.

On the 11th June, Major-General Richard Gale, the commanding officer of the 6th Airborne, ordered an attack on Breville by the 5th Battalion the Black Watch supported by a squadron of Sherman tanks of the 13/18 Hussars in order to plug the gap. The advance was from the South West across 250 yards of open ground, as they neared the village, the supporting artillery fire ceased and the Germans opened up with artillery, mortar and small arms fire. The leading company of the Black Watch was entirely wiped out. The attack failed with heavy losses amounting to some 200 casualties and they withdrew to Chateau St. Come. In the afternoon, 3 tanks of the 13th /18th Hussars, part of the troops sent to support the Black Watch at the Chateau, were destroyed by a German self-propelled gun.

The next day, the 12th June, the Germans attacked from Breville against the positions of the 1st Canadian Parachute Regiment, the Black Watch and the 9th Parachute Battalion. Heavy casualties were suffered by the defenders and the situation was saved only by a gallant counter-attack by the Canadians led by their CO, Brigadier James Hill. At this point, General Gale decided in his own words "It was plain that once and for all the Breville sore must be liquidated. The problem was when and how."

The General decided to launch an attack on Breville that night on the basis that the Germans would be tired after a day of fighting and would not anticipate that the Allies would have the ability to stage an attack. There were scarce reserves of Companies resting from the front line, these comprised about 300 men from the 12th Parachute Battalion whose CO was Lt. Col. Anthony ("Johnny") Johnson and 80 men comprising "D" Company of the 12th Battalion Devonshire Regiment under the command of Major John Bampfylde. In support was to be "A" Squadron of the 13/18 Hussars with Sherman tanks and some field artillery.

General Gale issued his orders at 1900 hrs to launch the attack at 2200 hrs. The plan was for the attack to go in from the West with the start line at Le Plein on the outer edge Amfreville. The tanks were to advance on either flank and give support in the village until anti-tank guns could be brought up in the morning against anticipated counter-attacks. Lt. Col Johnny Johnson was in command of the assault; he decided that the 12th Battalion "C" Company would secure the Chateau on the South-West corner of the village, "A" Company the South East. "B" Company would act as reserve. The 12th Devons would attack the North and North-East of the village. The tanks would support the attack. The assaulting troops would advance along either side of the road from Le Plein to Breville and across an open field some 400 yards wide lying between the start line, which was a field hedge at Le Plein, and the outskirts of Breville where the Germans were strongly entrenched amongst the trees and in a sunken track.

Resting in a quarry down by the river and being nearer to Amfreville and Le Plein, 12th Battalion were able to reach their rendez-vous at the Church around 2130 hrs where the officers were briefed, they then briefed their platoon commanders immediately before the assault began. The 12th Devons, being some 3 miles away at Le Bas de Ranville, arrived only as the assault began and as Major Bamfylde was by that time dead, they were without orders or plan of attack.

At 2145 hrs supporting artillery opened up and at the same time, the German artillery commenced firing. It was unfortunate that some of the shells of the supporting fire fell short on the orchard by the start line, killing Col. Johnson CO of the 12th Battalion and Major Bampfylde CO of the 12th Devons. It also seriously wounded Brigadier the Lord Lovat CO of the 1st Special Service Brigade in the abdomen and Brigadier Hugh Kindersley CO of the 6th Landing Brigade, in the thigh. Col. Reginald Parker (formerly CO of the 12th Paras) was wounded but able to take over command of the 12th Battalion. Fortunately, he knew the details of the planned attack.

The 12th Battalion, which had been resting in a quarry near the River Orme reached the Church on the green at Le Plein around 2130 hrs. The officers were briefed by Col. Johnson and the officers briefed the Platoon Commanders, by the start line.

The leading Company was "C" Company under Major C.W. Stephens and they crossed the start line at 2200 hrs but almost immediately its two officers and the Company Sergeant Major became casualties leaving a non-commissioned officer Sergeant Warcup, to take command. The survivors advanced towards the village which was now burning fiercely. "A" Company, commanded by Capt. P.C. Bernhard, forming the second wave now advanced, the Company Commander was wounded crossing the start line and every member of No.2 platoon was killed. The CSM assumed command but he was killed on reaching Breville. "A" Company achieved its objective, the Chateau in the South of the village and the area beyond the Chateau on the South-East, under the command of two platoon sergeants.

The 12th Parachute Battalion had 8 officers and 133 ORs killed, missing or wounded out of their original number of about 300 men.

As for "D" Company of the 12th Devons, on the evening of 12th June at about 1930 hrs, the Commanding Officer, Major Bampfylde, informed Captain John Warwick-Pengelly, his second in command, that "D" Company was to attack Breville and should move to the start line at Le Plein (now part of Amfreville) about 3 miles away for 2145 hrs. The company, on very short notice and with no proper briefing and now comprising about 80 men, was ordered to move to Amfreville to attack Breville with the 12th Bn Parachute Regiment, comprising about 300 men and a tank squadron from the 13/18th Royal Hussars. The Company forced marched to Breville with the heavy equipment in handcarts along the track running parallel with the River Orne and then turned North along a trackway leading up to Amfreville, entering the village by the church just before 2200 hrs.

As the Company struggled up the trackway towards the assembly point by the church at Le Plein, shells landed amongst the men causing casualties. The Company was then ordered by Captain Pengelly to an orchard on the edge of Amfreville just below Breville from where the attack would start. All the time the men were under shell fire during which Captain Pengelly was wounded.

At 2145, British heavy artillery was concentrated on Breville to soften up the defences. Major Bampfylde had gone ahead of his Company but due to some shells falling short and landing in the orchard which was the start point of the attack, he was killed as well as Col. Johnny Johnson the CO of the 12 Paras. As a result, none of the officers and Platoon Commanders of the 12th Devons were fully briefed and none of the Section Commanders had any orders at all. All the men knew was that they had to capture Breville but without any attack plan!

Major Eddie Warren, the Support Company Commander of the 12th Devons, who had come forward to watch the battle and who had been asked by Major Bampfylde to hurry on "D" Company now took control of the Company having found Major Bampfylde dead along with eight or nine others just near the start line and no one appearing to have any idea of what the Company objectives were. He directed the Company across the corn field towards the trees and orchards on the North side of the village. "D" Company was the third Company to advance after "C" and "A" Company of the 12th Battalion. The men advanced in open order across the cornfield then across up a sunken lane that was full of dead and dying Germans as a result of the shell fire. Wounded men from 12 Para, who had advanced in front, were coming back down from the village. Dead and wounded lay in the field. Some Sherman tanks came forward in support of the advance, one was hit, giving off black smoke. The Company made towards the area to the North of the village crawling through the gardens of various houses; there was the sound of a lot of firing coming from the direction of the Church.

They reached their objective, the road from Cabourg to Ranville, and dug in. Major Warren then went into the village centre and met with the men from 12 Para by the ruined church which was on fire. With him there was Lieut. Laurence Salt, Lieut. Reakes and Lieut. Grange with the survivors of their platoons. The village was captured accompanied by the strange noise from the burning church as the air, heated by the flames, passed through the organ pipes created an eerie music. At that moment, the surviving attackers were again shelled, apparently by their own supporting guns and everyone immediately took cover. The village was already strewn with bodies of British and German soldiers, either dead or wounded and, as a result of the further shelling, more casualties were incurred by the 12th Paras and 12th Devons.

Captain John Warwick-Pengelly, who was second-in-command, was wounded twice whilst leading a party along the South of the road into Breville and was forced to retire for medical treatment.

In all, "D" Company lost 1 officer killed (Major Bampfylde), 2 officers wounded (Capt. J. Pengelly & Lt. P.Taylor), 5 ORs killed, 5 missing and 18 ORs wounded; a total of 31 casualties out of the 80 soldiers who commenced the attack.

After that "D" Company dug in in on the North and North-East corners and the two Companies of 12th Battalion dug into the South & South-East corners of the village to await the German counter attack which fortunately never came. It was a long night accompanied by the eerie light from burning buildings, the stench of dead bodies and the moans of the wounded who had not yet been traced beneath the ruins of the buildings. A troop of Sherman tanks arrived as reinforcements at 2am, much to everyone's relief. The survivors were relieved at 1400 hrs the next day by the 1st Battalion RUR.

Lt. Col. Dick Harrap met with the officers for a briefing at Le Plein at 2138 hrs. Three Troops and the Squadron HQ made towards the orchards to the North of the village firing to "soften up" the defences. Artillery firing began at 2145 hrs combining with the 75mm shells from the Sherman tanks. High explosive shells were used which burst in the air on contact with the trees which was lethal for any enemy not in covered tranches. In the area North of the village, which was the objective of the 12th Devons, some 100 German dead were found; it was likely that they were caught in the open whilst forming up for a counter-attack. This was a fortunate break for the Devons who by that time numbered only about 50 men advancing across open ground and who might well have suffered considerable losses if the counter-attack had been put in by a superior number of Germans.

At 2200 hrs, One Troop gave fire support to the wood on the East of the village, moving down the road from Amfreville to Breville supporting "C" and "A" Companies of the 12th Paras, their task to destroy an identified strongpoint, which they did, the tank being hit by a German 75mm shell which passed right through the turret without exploding but destroying the wireless.

In the words of General Gale "For about two hours Breville was a night hell. But we won. We captured Breville and the 346th German Infantry Division was beaten. It never put in another single attack." and "There is a turning point in all battles. In the fight for the Orne bridgehead the Battle of Breville was the turning point. Neither in the North nor in the South were we ever seriously attacked again."

Lt. Col. Anthony "Johnny" Johnson

Maj. J.H. Rogers

Lieut. Campbell

Lieut Brewer

Sgt. Murray

CO "A" Company

2nd in command "C" Company

CO "C" Company