General Joseph Reichert HQ Paratroopers – Pathfinders?

Discussion in 'Airborne' started by brithm, Jan 20, 2012.

  1. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    In the Longest Day Cornelius Ryan wrote how two paratroopers were dropped into General Joseph Reichert’s HQ at the Le Bas de Cabourg, possibly pathfinders but the only members of 22nd Independent Parachute Company that were taken prisoner were attached to 8th Parachute Battalion on DZ K .

    Anyone know who these paratroopers may be?

    This was dramatised in the The Longest Day, I couldn't find a clip of this but the time code for the scene is 01:11:46, one of the paratroopers played by Richard Wattis who was also in The Colditz Story.
     

    Attached Files:

  2. wtid45

    wtid45 Very Senior Member

    Given the info, sounds like it could be two out of the four names listed here as missing.
    0020 - (iii) DZ 'K' refmap 1269
    One stick commanded by Lt. R. MIDWOOD dropped on DZ.

    0035 - One 'EUREKA' set up coding channels D/C, one holophane lamp coding letter 'K'. Five of the stick failed to report to stick RV. Four of these have not been seen since and are reported missing (No.3654430 L sjt BOARDMAN, A., No.14001912 L cpl STOODLEY, R., No.5124865 Pte. NAUGHTON, L cpl HACKMAN, R.) No.1435752 L cpl. O'SULLIVAN, E.D. killed by enemy action on DZ.

    0130 - Remainder of stick assembled under Lt. R. MIDWOOD at 8 Para Bn RV, Road and track junc refmap 132690. A thorough search of DZ was carried out. 22nd Independent Parachute Company
     
  3. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    There is a slight chance that something more may be found in the transcripts of Ryan's interview with Reichert. That would be Box 27 Folder 6 found at the Ryan Collection:

    The Longest Day - German Forces
     
  4. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    I believe Pte. Raymond French of the 9th Parachute Battalion may have been one of the first paratroopers of the 6th Airborne Division to be captured in front of Josef Reichert's HQ.

    I have attached an article I have found, about Lt. Kurt Semmelroth who captured Pte. French immediately who was educated in England.
     

    Attached Files:

  5. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Well done brithm!

    A wonderful find. I liked the "old boy" bit coming from the English educated Lt. Semmelroth ... :lol:
     
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  6. brithm

    brithm Senior Member

    Pte. French was a part of Lt. Alfred Hughes stick, the aircraft was piloted by S/Ldr. Smulian 512 Squadron, took off from Broadwell airfield in a Dakota. They were carrying scaling ladders meant for Merville Battery and were dropped with blue parachutes. None of the stick returned to British lines all were taken prisoner bar Pte. Little and Lt. Hughes who were Killed In Action. Some of the stick were dropped near St. Vaast en Auge. It is hard to know where the stick were dropped from and to. The list below is in jump order from 1 to 20.

    Cpl. EWENS, W.
    Pte. STRONG, D.H.
    L/Cpl. BAILEY, D.A.
    Pte. THOMAS, C.V.
    Pte. WAKELING, E. captured at Varaville Stables, interrogated by a high German official 6th June 1944. He said he knew about my division and my C.O. including Canadians who were in my brigade.
    Pte. LITTLE, K.R. KIA
    L/Cpl. WHITE, C. captured 18th June 1944 Varaville
    Pte. PERRY, T.
    Lt. HUGHES, A.
    Pte. BOOTH, L. captured 15th June Troarn
    Pte. WALLACE, F.G.
    Pte. WINFIELD, J.W.
    Pte. BURLINGTON P.R .
    Pte. WITHY, R.T. captured 6th June 1944 tried to escape from train on 5th July
    Pte. FRENCH, R. captured 6th June 1944
    Pte. WOODAGE, J.S.
    Pte. COOMBES, E.R. captured 6th June 1944
    Sgt. THOMPSON, J.H. captured 6th June 1944

    The Drop of Lt Alfred HUGHES
     
  7. Ludo68000

    Ludo68000 6th Airborne D-Day

    Hi Brithm,

    Glad to know this.
    Lieutenant Alfred HUGHES is buried at Saint Vaast En Auge Churchyard, grave N°7.
    His family gave me his stick (in 2000) which is always on his grave during the annual commemoration on June 5th 15.30
    I know the initial Private Kenneth LITTLE place of burial (along the road D.27).
    He was buried with another 9th Para : Private Douglas HARNESS
    Was he in the same stick?
    I will give you more details this week-end.
    Regards,
    Ludo
     
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  8. Ludo68000

    Ludo68000 6th Airborne D-Day

    Hi all,

    further to my previous post, herewith attached Lt Hughes picture and a map of Lt Hughes stick drop area. Knowing that Little Jumped before Hughes, it is likely that the drop line is as on the attached map.
    The graves of Private LITTLE and Private HARNESS were very well known in the local community (not their names) as they were buried on the busy D.27 road from Caen to Deauville. the exact coordinates of their graves are: 7E/6 409070

    Regards,
    Ludo
     

    Attached Files:

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  9. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    In Neil Barber's book, "The Day the Devils Dropped In", there is a photo of B Coy, 9 Para with quite a number of the men named. The top row is listed from left to right:

    (L to R) Back Row: King, Rose, N/K, Medland, Adams, Pratton, N/K, Young, Wilson, N/K, N/K, Bryant, Munro, Fenson, R. French, T. Knight, Carlson, Green, Staples

    There is a "R. French" 5th from right. Could this be Raymon(d) French? The attached crop comes from ParaData.

    R. French, B Coy, 9 Para.jpg

    In the same group photo some other members of his stick are shown as well - Lt. Hughes, L/Cpl Bailey, Pte. Wakeling, Pte. Little, Pte. Booth, Pte. Wallace and Pte.Coombes.

    One thing that caught my attention in the stick list above is the info on Pte. Wakeling:

    "Pte. WAKELING, E. captured at Varaville Stables, interrogated by a high German official 6th June 1944. He said he knew about my division and my C.O. including Canadians who were in my brigade."

    He did well to make it to Varaville on June 6th. I wonder though if it might not be the "Vauville Stables" which could be another name for the Haras du Quesnay. Also the interrogation by a "high German official" seems to suggest this. Perhaps he was the second Para who was caught immediately upon landing at the 711th Infantry Division's HQ?

    Regards ...
     
    Last edited: Jun 23, 2023
  10. Ludo68000

    Ludo68000 6th Airborne D-Day

    Hi Chuck,
    I think you are right. Pte Wakeling probably meant Vauville Stabbles, known as Le Quesnay.
    It is almost impossible to be at Varraville on 6th June being dropped in the Saint Pierre Azif area.
     
  11. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Ludo,

    Yes I think there is a good possibility that Pte E. Wakeling was the other paratrooper captured after descending near 711 Division HQ at Le Quesnay. Since Paradata no longer has the zoom-in function I don't have a decent resolution photo of him.

    Regards ....
     
  12. Guy Hudson

    Guy Hudson Looker-upper

    5783433 WAKELING Edward Henry J. Pte. 9th Battalion Parachute Regiment A.A.C.
    31st May 1924 - 1988 Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire
    Stalag IVG Pow no. 82073
    Screen Shot 2018-09-10 at 12.41.14.png

    6216180 FRENCH Raymond K. Pte. 9th Battalion Parachute Regiment A.A.C.
    1923 Hendon, Middlesex - 1968 New South Wales, Australia?
    Stalag IVG Pow.no. 82205
    Screen Shot 2018-09-10 at 12.39.56.png
    (Raymond Kemble French emigrated to Australia in 1953, he died in N.S.W. on the 2nd October 1968)
     
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  13. Ludo68000

    Ludo68000 6th Airborne D-Day

    I have been told recently that a Canadian dropped in the middle of the 711 ID Headquarters, but the identity if the inviolded para is not known (probably one of CN274)
    This is probably why the Germans mentionned about the Canadians from the beginning.
     
  14. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Ludo

    Brithm's list has 9 names for CN 274, three of whom were captured and one evaded. They could all potentially be Canadian after checking the 1st Cdn Para Bn nominal roll. There are few spelling and rank variations.

    Regards ...
     
  15. Cornelis

    Cornelis New Member

    Hi Cee, in your June 7, 2017 message you mentioned a photo of B Coy, 9 Para with "quite a number of the men named". I am interested to locate this photo. You wrote that it is in Neil Barber's book, "The Day the Devils Dropped In", however the group photo of B Coy on page 20 of this book shows no names in its 2003 reprint edition. Could you kindly indicate to me where I could find that B Coy photo with the men named ? Thanks !
     
  16. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Hi,

    Perhaps only available in the ebook version of the Barber book. Check this to ascertain if correct or not.

    ‘B’ Company

    (L to R) Back Row: King, Rose, N/K, Medland, Adams, Pratton, N/K, Young, Wilson, N/K, N/K, Bryant, Munro, Fenson, R. French, T. Knight, Carlson, Green, Staples;

    4th Row: Novis, Hannen, Osborne, Bailey, Withey, Booth, Wood, Skene, Harness, Wakeling, N/K, N/K, Hurrell, Owles, N/K, Brien, N/K, N/K;

    3rd Row: N/K, Warrington, Wright, Wallace, Little, Towns, Hawkins, Cooper, N/K, Fowler, Gregory, N/K, Cleary, Hurd, Clark, N/K, Vincent, N/K;

    2nd Row: Mower, N/K, Biggin, Baines, N/K, N/K, N/K, N/K, N/K, Toovey, McLaughlin, Abel, Coombes, Hansen, Murray, Milward, N/K/, N/K;

    Front Row: Holloway, Pratt, Pellegrini, Hurrell, Daniels, Garrett, Salter, Barrett, Lt Hughes, Capt Greenway, Major Bestley, Lt Baber, Beckwith, Pinkus, Thomson, Bullard, Reeves, Hewson, Reid.

    9-para-bn,-b-coy-1944-(2).jpg


    Regards ...
     
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  17. Cornelis

    Cornelis New Member

    Hi, thanks for the full list of names. Very interesting. As suggested I just checked in the ebook version available on Kindle/Amazon but there are no names in it. Could you search where that photo with names came from ? Many thanks.
     
  18. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

    Hi,

    Like I said the names are from my ebook version. See screen capture of ereader page.

    Capture.JPG

    Paradata also has 'B' Coy photo without names:

    Group photo of B Coy, 9th Parachute Battalion, Bulford, 1944. | ParaData

    A PDF on the subject:

    Airborne POWs - Haras du Quesnay.pdf - Icedrive

    Regards ...
     
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  19. Cornelis

    Cornelis New Member

    Many thanks !
    This is all very interesting.
    Regards
     
  20. Cee

    Cee Senior Member Patron

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