In Northern Europe, no matter the time of the year, it is often difficult getting into a campsite halfway through a weekend. This is especially true of popular sites near the coast. In high season there are so many more camper vans on the road chasing a finite number of places. In the low season many campsites close and, at least during weekends, competition for the reduced number of places increases. As a result, as the weekend approaches, we look to book a place in advance for the Friday and Saturday night and this is how it came about that we were destined to stay a whole weekend on a site in Merville-Franceville. One night would ordinarily have been enough.
Nothing against Merville-Franceville, it is a pleasant friendly family resort with a good selection of restaurant-bars and a fair amount going on in the area… if it is a warm sunny day in the high season and if you are interested in the D Day landings. We were out of season, the weather was cold and, unlike me, Vanya has absolutely no interest in D Day. That being the case I was delighted Vanya had booked us into ‘Camping Seasonova Le Point de Jour’. It’s a well appointed campsite with direct access to a sandy beach and just 15 minutes walk from the small town. Most important, it has a couple of tame goats wandering the site which were always going to keep Vanya amused while I went off exploring.
After a lazy morning playing with the dogs on the beach, Vanya repaired to the Van to check out the goats and I set off towards the town to check out the local sights and find a decent restaurant for the evening.
I started with a walk through the town and along the beach to the River Orne. I could see Ouistreham across the estuary and thought to cross the river via the Pegasus Bridge (the scene of a WWII Battle on D-Day) but the bridge is a few kilometres inland at the small village of Benouville and “a bridge too far” (blame Cornelius Ryan for my pun). Instead I made my way back into Merville-Franceville and then inland along Avenue Alexandre de Lavergne to the WWII Merville Battery.
I should perhaps explain that, as part of the D Day landings during WWII, various British Airborne forces were ordered as part of Operation Tonga to seal off the eastern end of a 50 mile long invasion area that would later be known as the Sword, Juno, Gold, Omaha and Utah Beaches. Sword was the most easterly of the beaches and Utah the most westerly. Amongst other things, Operation Tonga required almost 200 glider troops under Major John Howard to seize and hold the Benouville Bridge (later renamed the Pegasus Bridge, after the winged horse of Greek Mythology and the military patch worn by British Airborne units) and a further 700 paratroopers under Lieutenant Colonel Terence Otway to parachute into France near Merville-Franceville and neutralise a German artillery battery located there. The size of the concrete emplacements housing the German artillery suggested the guns themselves were large calibre (150mm), with an estimated range of about 8 miles (13 km), which would threaten the impending landings all along Sword Beach which stretched west from Ouistreham.
Major Howard’s part of the operation (to seize the bridge at Benouville) was a complete success with 5 gliders landing within 50 yards of the target and the bridge being taken just 10 minutes later with very few casualties (two British soldiers were killed, Lieutenant Den Brotheridge and Lance Corporal Fred Greenhaigh). The bridge was held until relieved by Lord Lovat’s Commandos and elements of the 7th Parachute Battalion. Ironically, one of the officers amongst the reinforcements was an aspiring actor, Lieutenant Richard Todd of 7 Para, who would subsequently play the part of Major John Howard in the film ‘The Longest Day’. Not many people know that.
Colonel Otway’s mission got off to the worst possible start with a bombing raid on the Merville Battery completely missing the target. In truth, the complex was never going to be an easy target from the air; comprising as it did, an underground command post, four gun casemates with 6 foot thick steel reinforced walls, a concrete trench system with ancillary bunkers to accommodate men and ammunition and a 20mm anti-aircraft gun. Worse still, 9 Parachute Battalion were dropped all over the countryside and; if that wasn’t enough, one of five gliders carrying essential equipment lost it’s tow rope and came down in the English Channel (killing everyone on board) and the remaining gliders were scattered and landed off target in flooded marshes. With the loss of the gliders, the assault force lost it’s anti-tank weapons, mortars, heavy machine guns, ammunition, demolition equipment, mine detectors and marking tapes, etc.
I should have mentioned earlier that the Merville Battery fortifications also included multiple heavy machine gun positions, an anti-tank ditch and mine fields but, even so, at 04.30 hours Colonel Otway attacked the Merville Battery complex – with just 150 men. The following plaque is be seen at the site which now forms a WWII museum:-
The attack on the Merville Battery was by no means a complete success. The guns were found to be of a lower calibre than expected. Some of the German garrison locked themselves in their bunkers and the victorious paratroopers didn’t have the weapons to clear them. Moreover, the paras didn’t have the demolition equipment to permanently disable all the guns before moving on to their next objective and two of the guns were subsequently restored to active service. However, none of the above detracts from the incredible bravery of the men of 9 Parachute Battalion – Utrinque Paratus.
I make no apology for devoting so much of this particular blog to the battles at Benouville and Merville. D day is a major feature of this Region’s history but, that is enough about the war for now.
Normandy is one of the 13 administrative Regions of France (there are another five outside of the country) and Normandy has long had it’s own quite unique culture and traditions. Principal amongst them is gastronomy and, especially, seafood (not to mention the five “C’s”, being camembert, cream, crepes, cider and calvados). I was charged by Vanya with finding a decent seafood restaurant in Merville for at least one meal out. I found Le France on Avenue Houdard.
Le France comes with mixed reviews and is not cheap but we enjoyed it. The welcome was warm, the service was attentive and the seafood was very good. I would recommend it.
I’d recommend Merville Franceville too and as for Nala and Beanie…
