D-Day + 2

[marcus69x]

To comemorate the anniversary of D-Day + 2, I want to read about specific battles that happened on this day.

A quick browse on google, and I'm struggling to find anything.
Any of you forum goers know of any battles I can read about?

Cheers
marcus

[spidge]

You might find something interesting here on a day by day diary of D-Day+

D-Day Diary - June 8th 1944

THURSDAY 8 JUNE 1944.
Components for the Mulberry Harbours depart British ports under tow for France.
Elements of much battered Panzer Lehr Division attack Canadian forces around Norrey-en-Bessin.

D Day Tanks and countdown to 60th anniversary of D-Day from the Tank Museum Bovington

[marcus69x]

Cheers Spidge. Yeah I saw that earlier but it's only got a little entry for that day. May be useful for future dates. I'll bookmark it.

[spidge]

This is a more extensive 8th of June for all areas.

June 8th, 1944

UNITED KINGDOM: The first deep-penetration 12,000-lb. "Tallboy" bomb is dropped on the Saumur tunnel by an RAF Lancaster bomber. (22)
Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz, Commanding General, U.S. Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF), places oil as the first priority target for the USAAF's Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces as a result of the destructive effect achieved by several missions against oil centers in May 1944. (Jack McKillop)
The USAAF's Eighth Air Force in England flies Mission 400: 1,178 bombers and 1,353 fighter sorties are flown on communications in France to isolate German forward elements, and airfields are bombed to prevent Luftwaffe support. Cloud conditions prevent 400+ bombers from executing attacks.
1. 640 B-17 Flying Fortresses are dispatched to La Frilliere (66 bomb), Orleans (36 bomb), Rennes Airfield (30 bomb), Orleans/Les Aubrais marshalling yard (60 bomb), Nantes (25 bomb), La Huchetiere (31 bomb), Tours/La Riche (61 bomb) and Cinq Mars bridge (57 bomb); 18 hit Bruz, two hit Rennes and 13 hit targets of opportunity; one1 B-17 is lost.
2. 538 B-24 Liberators are dispatched to Pontaubault (67 bomb), Angers/St Laud (24 bomb), Angers (19 bomb), Le Mans/Arnage Airfield (14 bomb), Pontaubault (13 bomb), Nantes (42 bomb) and Cinq Mars bridge (55 bomb); five hit Dinon, one hits Precey, one hits Cinq Mars bridge, 30 hit Grandville Harbor, 19 hit a bridge at Rennes, nine hit Precey and 26 hit targets of opportunity; an attack on the Melun bridge by an Azon unit is foiled by clouds; two B-24s are lost.
Escort for the bombers is provided by 116 P-51 Mustangs; they claim 3-0-1 Luftwaffe aircraft; two P-51s are lost.
Other fighter-bomber missions are:
1. 381 P-38 Lightnings, 24 P-47 Thunderbolts and 89 P-51s fly sweeps and patrols along the Normandy beachhead and the Channel area; P-47s claim 1-0-0 Luftwaffe aircraft; three P-51s are lost.
2. 333 P-47s and 526 P-51s fly fighter-bomber missions against communications in northwestern France; they claim 27-2-4 Luftwaffe aircraft in the air and 21-0-11 on the ground; six P-47s and eleven P-51s are lost.
Overall, the fighters fly 1,405 sorties and attack nearly 75 targets during the day. (Jack McKillop)
The USAAF's Ninth Air Force in England dispatches around 400 B-26 Marauders to attack rail and road bridges and junctions, rail sidings, marshalling yards, town areas, fuel storage tanks, ammunition dumps, troop concentration and strong points in the Calais, France area. Around 1,300 fighter sorties provide support to B-26s and high cover over the assault area, and bomb and strafe bridges, marshalling yards, gun batteries, rail facilities, vehicles, towns, and troop concentrations. (Jack McKillop)
Corvette HMCS Arnprior (ex HMS Rising Castle) commissioned Belfast.
Paymaster Captain John Alick Edward Woodhouse RN (on loan to RCN) awarded CBE.
Captain John Wallace Thomas MN Master SS Empress of Japan awarded CBE.
A/Capt William Lavallin Puyley RN (on Loan to RCN) awarded OBE.CPO/Sup Ernest Sydney Johnson RCN awarded BEM.
A/LCdr Arthur Hugh Snow Mayne RCNVR awarded Mention in Dispatches.
RPO James Henry Wheeler RCNR awarded LSandGC medal.

(Dave Shirlaw)
ENGLISH CHANNEL: A 'Liberator' patrol a/c from RAF 224 Sqn, piloted by F/Lt KO Moore, RCAF, sank 2 U-boats in less than 30 minutes in the English Channel, by radar-visual attacks on a bright moonlit night. They were - U-441, Kptlt. Klaus Hartmann, CO, at 48.27N, 005.47W and U-373, OLtzS Detlev Von Lehsten, CO, at 48.10N, 005.31W. There were no survivors from U-441's crew of 51 men; however, all but 4 of the 51 crewmembers from U-373 were rescued. OLtzS Von Lehsten has been listed among those lost by some sources (see below). For his part in the action, F/Lt. Moore was awarded the DSO and the US Silver Star. (Dave Shirlaw)
FRANCE: The Allied second wave is now ashore at Normandy. Normandy: German troops capture a set of US operations plans; only now do they realize that the Normandy landings are the start of the planned invasion of France, not a diversionary attack.
At Bretteville l'Orgueilleuse a Canadian rifle regiment defeats the 12th SS Panzer Regiment, claiming 12 Panthers (Kurt Meyer admitted to losing 6) destroyed in a night engagement where 6-pdr anti-tank guns claimed 6 Panthers in the first charge. One Panther was dispatched with multiple PIAT hits and a necklace of '75' grenades. (Stuart Millis)
Whilst acting as HQ ship for the assault forces off Juno beach, frigate HMS Lawford is attacked and sunk by Luftwaffe Do-217 aircraft armed with Henschel 293 missiles, off Courcelles. Location Seine Bay, Juno Beach area. There are 24 casualties. (Alex Gordon)(108)
ITALY: German forces withdraw along the Adriatic coast.
The USAAF's Fifteenth Air Force in Italy dispatches 52 B-17s, with P-47 escort, to bomb the navy yard and drydocks at Pola, Yugoslavia. (Jack McKillop)
NEW GUINEA: US forces repel a Japanese fleet which attempts to supply the garrison on Biak Island.
CANADA: Repair ship HMS Beachy Head (later HMCS Cape Scott) laid down Vancouver.
Minesweeper HMCS Middlesex commissioned.
HMCS Orkney arrived Halifax from Esquimalt. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: The motion picture "The Mask of Dimitrious" is released in the U.S. This mystery based on Eric Ambler's novel "A Coffin for Dimitrious," is directed by Jean Negulesco and stars Peter Lorre, Sydney Greenstreet, Zachary Scott, Faye Emerson and George Tobias. The plot involves a mystery writer (Lorre) tracing the life of a notorious criminal (Scott). (Jack McKillop)
Corvette HMCS Hepatica completed forecastle extension refit in New York and left for workups. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: Destroyers HMCS Qu'Appelle and Skeena attacked by U-953, OLtzS Karl-Heinz Marbach, CO. A 'Gnat' acoustic-homing torpedo exploded in the ships' wakes. (Dave Shirlaw)

[sapper]

There were some quite outrageous claims by the press, often invented at home on the Editors desk. Claims of "panthers" being destroyed OH Yea! Multiple Piat hits Oh Yea?
There was very little information given out for secrecy's sake.

[marcus69x]

Cheers Spidge, good reading. Been looking for stories of particular british units and their movements on 08/06 but so far I haven't been able to get anything personalised to any particular unit/company etc. Mostly just facts and numbers.

[51highland]

8th June, 5th Camerons were sent to clear woods just east of Fontaine-Henry. A number of enemy were captured and 30 British and Canadian wounded, who had been held prisoner in local caves, were released. "A" Company was ordered to clear the east bank of the river Mue as far south as Barbiere, "B" company went to clear the west bank down to Thaon. "A" company took a further 24 prisoners, who had been manning 4 field guns on the escarpment, and destroyed the guns.

[marcus69x]

Cheers 51highland. Anyone got anymore?

[Owen]

War Diary of Regina Rifles available to view here.
The Regina Rifles in WW II

Up the Johns! History of Regina Rifles - Normandy

I have a photo of them in Bretteville. On the night of 8/9th June faced a German attack. Panther knocked out 30 yards from Bn HQ with a PIAT.
Riflemen JE Lapointe, Rfn Carnie and L/Cpl CV Hewitt.
There are some great Then & Now shots in The Canadian Battlefields in Normandy A Visitor's Guide by Terry Copp & Mike Bechthold.

See also

Bretteville l'Orgueilleuse, Norrey-en-Bessin and Putot-en-Bessin in normandy 1944



First Hussars Regimental - Normandy Part Two

[Owen]

Masacre of Canadian POws by 12th SS Panzer Div. (Hitler Jugend.)


Gateway | March Issue Story 2

Other Canadians were captured and taken to the Abbaye d'Ardenne, the headquarters of the German division where Meyer had watched the battle unfold. In the abbey garden eleven Canadians were interrogated and then killed on 7 June, each Canadian prisoner shaking hands with his comrades before being executed. At noon the next day seven more Canadians were shot at the Abbaye; their murders coincided with the execution of Canadian POWs on the Caen-Fountenay Road. The following evening Canadian prisoners were taken to the 12th SS's 2nd Battalion headquarters to meet their death. On the now tranquil grounds of the Chateau d'Audrieu, Canadian POWs were interrogated and duly executed, first in threes and later in more efficient larger numbers. These large-scale incidents represent 120 of 156 murders committed by the Hitlerjugend during the first ten days of the Normandy Campaign.

also

Waffen-SS: Battle for Caen, 1944