Here is a question about "hedgerow", not the Normandy landscape but the word itself. When was the word "hedgerow" first used in reports and documents during the Normandy campaign? What's the oldest document with "hedgerow(s)" in it? My working assumption is this word is not used before the June 6th landing and nowhere to be found in planning documents. I may be wrong though. From then on, I wonder whether the word already appeared in June 1944 at all. Background of the question: I want to date a text which mentions "hedgerows", as I doubt the date on it is genuine. The text is American, so that US documents will be even more appreciated than British. Thanks for idea and pointers!
Hedgerow is widely used in Britain to either state a field boundary or land boundary and hedgerow would have been used in WW2 on many counts.The Americans also use the same terminology. "Until the 17th century, most of Britain had an open-field system but the Enclosure Acts put an end to common grazing in many places, and the tilling of a single piece of land by different groups of peasant workers. New landowners found that hedges were the best way to enclose their fields. Today there are around 500,000 miles of hedgerow in the UK, but that’s still less than half the amount we had before the Second World War. Many were grubbed up to make way for new housing and motorways, while the push to produce more food for the nation saw fields merged and enlarged. " The role of the British hedgerow American https://www.kshs.org/resource/ks_preservation/kpmayjun04hedgerow.pdf for interest re the Bocage https://abmceducation.org/sites/default/files/Boyle-Hedgerow Materials Packet.pdf
HI, In WO171/1366 - 1/5 Queens War Diary for Jul 44 there is a Training Memorandum that discusses methods for tank/infantry co-operation in the 'hedgerows': "The method by which Tks of Armd Regts and Inf can co-operate to the mutual advantage of each is laid down in succeeding paragraphs, and that system has been evolved to deal with the enemy in enclosed country, and in particular, the “Bocage” country of NORMANDY. […] 7. The Adv. (a) It is normally advisable to move on a two pl front and as a result one tp of tks will start by being in direct sp of the Pl nearest to the CL. It will start the adv in rear of the pl and will not move fwd until the Pl Comd calls it fwd (see para 5 (b) (i) above). (b) The pl will adv across one fd and on reaching the far hedgerow, will ascertain whether there is any enemy positioned in the succeeding hedgerow or corners of the field. The use of binoculars is very important at this stage. (c) When the Pl Comd is satisfied that no enemy SP or A.Tk guns can shoot at tks in the line of the hedgerow, he will call the tk tp fwd. The tks will then posn themselves so that they can shoot the Inf on to the next hedgerow should the need arise. (d) The same procedure will adopted on reaching successive hedgerows. (e) At all times, however, the Inf must realise that they possess weapons of great fire power which will enable them to adv. I do now want any offr or soldier to get the impression that we cannot adv without tk support. Such is not the case." I've not seen anything too specific earlier than that - best place to look might be in 30 Corps Neptune Op Orders. Regards Tom
I don't think it was the contemporary term, but I have seen a 'terrain assessment' section in pre-D-Day orders amongst other intelligence. Most of this would have been compiled centrally - say at SHAEF or 21 Army Group - and disseminated to lower formations. What they did with it was largely up to them. Of course, knowing what the terrain is like is not the same as knowing how to fight through it. Regarding 7 Armd Div's trials, it would be good to find a link to the better-known US experiments. AVRE's were used to blow away the banks in some trials and I'm betting there were US observers who went away to find alternatives. An ancestor of the rhino was the use of tank mounted prongs to poke holes for demolition charges.
As it was never expected the Germans would fight for Normandy I don't think much serious thought went into finding measures to mitigate the the problems until late June.
I'm checking the documents at hand: - "Bocage" is described in the planning documents, especially its impact on motor transport. No "hedgerow" (Appendix V to the COSSAC plan, dated 30 July 1943) - I found a more detailed terrain estimate in FUSA Operation Plan for Neptune, dated 20 February 1944. There is good description of the bocage, and it's written using quite a range of vocabulary, but the word "hedgerow" is not there. Still searching...
The other thing to bear in mind is that the true bocage - the areas around the towns and villages so-named - is generally a much more open landscape than the nasty areas around the river valleys that the Americans had to go through. My take on it is that the true bocage tends to be arable and orchards while the American 'bocage' is a predominantly pastoral landscape. The characteristic small fields with thick, banked hedges might be better thought of as 'natural' cattle pens. The embankments could be considered a consequence of trampling cattle hollowing out the enclosures and droveways over the centuries as much as the hedges being built up - if your hedge is stock-proof, why do you need a bank as well?
Since I spent the evening reading it all, I may as well share that I could not find the word "hedgerow" anywhere in the 30 corps documents up to end of June 1944 (WO 171-333 to -336). Especially the June Int. Sum don't use this word, even when describing the German defensive infantry positions, like is done in June 28th Int Sum.
In France,there is abundant evidence of farming boundaries represented by banks of earth. These banks on country roads become formidable obstacles to the progress of mechanised equipment especially when they are built up to form sunken roads.The point about these earthen boundaries is that unlike fencing,they are difficult to remove and must have reduced disputes over land ownership. Bocage and Hedgerows in France. Bocage and hedgerows in France - Pôle bocage et faune sauvage However as a battlefield,bocage had to be negotiated with the enemy taking advantage of defensive principles from them.In the end it was an ad hoc innovation in the field to fit tanks with hedge cutting forks which then would be capable of ripping out earthen banks to progress into land further on.500 US tanks are reported to have carried the Rhino mod in Normandy but It appears that the bocage countryside was not appreciated in the difficulties that would be encountered in that operational maps did not carry indication of these obstacles. From the innovation in the field,it would appear that the Allies had not foreseen the bocage as an impediment to maximise the advantage of mechanised warfare otherwise their armour would have been modified for the invasion. https://abmceducation.org/sites/default/files/Boyle-Hedgerow Materials Packet.pdf It would appear from this ABMC document that little though had gone into operational planning to deal with the enemy in this type of territory.I would think that the bocage would have been interpreted as hedgerows and Bocage would be a French noun too far.
Adding to what CL1 says: John Wright in his A Natural History of the Hedgerow' dates some of the first hedges to the 13th Century. He suggests that the word row descends from the Old English rœw; so it goes back a long way on this side of the Channel (or Le Manche - have it how you will). Roy
you know me mate i do ramble ( on) so now when out and about I shall be counting the different varieties of shrub or tree in a hedgerow,really I make a rod for my own back sometimes but you do find pill box i have gone tad off topic but it does show a thick perimeter hedge with added fortifications could be a tough nut to crack
I think hedge and hedgerow could be used fairly interchangeably. With perhaps a preference for the use of "hedge" / "hedges" over "hedgerow" / "hedgerows" For instance in the SRY wardiary, from 30th July 1944 Regtl Gp is under comd 130 Bde. The preliminary objective, BRIQUESSARD 743596. Wood + village was taken by 5 Dorsets with one Tp of “A” Sqn. with slight opposition. 5 Dorsets + 2 Tps “A” then struck South from LA REPAS but the natural A/Tk obstacles of hedges + ditches combined with mines, made the going very slow. Enemy SA fire was overcome and their F.D.L’s overcome. The Tps manning them were killed or made P.O.W. For the first time since we landed one of our tanks was directly attacked at close range by Infantry firing German “Baookas”. The first shots missed our tanks and one Bazooka was promptly spotted and the crew liquidated after a lengthy interval of Red Indian stalking the Tp located a second Bazooka which was captured with the crew. This Tp had a busy day. The Tp Ldrs Lt Render, himself dismounted and rendered harmless mine which had been hastily strewn on the surface by retreating enemy. He also surprised a whole Pn of enemy walking in an exposed posn in a small open field – unusual conduct for German Infantry. 15 of the enemy were killed and remainder made prisoners. Though there is actually this (below) in the Wardiary of the 24th Lancers: Tessel Wood 25/6/44 At 2230 hours some Panthers stalked ‘C’ Sqns position from the East, coming very quickly up hedgerows. The Sqn deployed into suitable concealed positions and switched all engines off. By the time the Panthers were within range it was too dark to use the sights. Finally, one Panther was blown up by one of ‘C’ Sqns tanks at a distance of only 25 yards. The Sqn opened fire on what tanks they could see but the darkness prevented any accuracy and the remainder of the Panthers slipped away. & Tessel Wood - 26/6/44 For the remainder of the night, the Sqn remained in close leaguer and at first light it was discovered that snipers had worked their way into the hedgerows round the position. The first hour was spent in getting them out with our machine gun fire. And there are other examples of the use of the word "hedgerows" in the wardiary of the 24th L. I took a glance through some transcribed old letters - and here my grandfather's preference was for "hedges" - rather than "hedgerows"... 24th Lancers - Tessel Wood (c25th June 1944) "Eric came in with a broken leg. I didn’t see him. Next day we came back to the FDS (Forward Delivery Squadron) for another crate. After that more stuff was getting off at the beaches so we were eased off. Those first few days were a bit hectic, there wasn’t much stuff around and this country is thick with trees and high hedges, there could be a hidden Boche in every hedge and you just couldn’t spot them We didn’t rely much on the French, they are only farmers and haven’t done too badly. One other little thing Sgt. Cooper was sat in a hedge late one evening when a Tiger* tank came up, he didn’t know what it was until it was twenty five yards away, Cooper is quite bold, so was the Boche and they sat there looking at each other for a moment. Cooper was quickest to the draw and got the Tiger." * Actually a Panther - see: 24th Lancers - Tessel Wood (c25th June 1944) Incidentally bits of the British army had been in Normandy / passing through Normandy in 1940 - 9th Lancers in May and June 1940 i.e. "Thursday 6th June 1940: Recrossing of the River Bresle (and back into Normandy)": Rm.
Thanks Ramilies, So far we have an "hedgerow" on June 25th. Just to remind how the word "hedgerow" become the symbol of the terrain, a quote from Cross-Channel Attack (1951, p.284): The hedgerows (...) were to become the most important single preoccupation of American fighting men during their next two months in Normandy and would remain as their most vivid memory of the land. These hedgerows, ubiquitous throughout the Cotentin and the bocage country, were earth dikes averaging about four feet in height and covered with tangled hedges, bushes, and even trees. Throughout the entire country they boxed in fields and orchards of varying sizes and shapes, few larger than football fields and many much smaller. Each hedgerow was a potential earthwork into which the defenders cut often-elaborate foxholes, trenches, and individual firing pits. The dense bushes atop the hedgerows provided ample concealment for rifle and machine gun positions, which could subject the attacker to devastating hidden fire from three sides. Observation for artillery and mortar fire was generally limited to a single field, particularly in the relatively flat ground of the beachhead areas. Each field thus became a separate battlefield which, when defended with determination, had to be taken by slow costly advances of riflemen hugging the hedgerows to close with the enemy with rifle and grenade. Both Americans and Germans complained that the hedgerows favored the other side and made their own operations difficult. In fact, the country was ideal for static defense and all but impossible for large co-ordinated attacks or counterattacks. The chief burden of the fighting remained with the individual soldier and the advance of his unit depended substantially on his own courage and resourcefulness, and above all on his willingness to move through machine gun and mortar fire to root the enemy out of his holes.
I slightly ;-) discounted this, Wardiary appendix example (below) again from the 24th L wardiary: I guess, that they could very easily have said "hedgerow" / "hedgerows" - but just opted, I suspect, for "hedges" in this case. There was a previous attack on the village of Cristot: The attacks on Cristot (10th to 11th & 16th June 1944) APPX ‘D’ Being an account of an attack by ‘C’ Sqn under KOYLI on 16 June 1944, on the village of Cristot. The plan was for KOYLI to attack the area Cristot – Boulets, which was thought to contain some 400 enemy infantry supported by a few SP guns with six tanks in the vicinity. The KOYLI advanced from Le Haut D’Audrieu, on a front of 500 yards with 2 Coys up. One Troop of tanks led each company with one troop behind the leading platoons. The start line was crossed at 1200 hours and at this time an artillery barrage from 7 Fd Regts, 3 Med Regts and Naval fire opened. The tanks and infantry advanced close behind the barrage with the tanks firing their machine guns into all the hedges in front and to the flanks. Apart from a few snipers no opposition was met until about 500 yards short of Cristot when some heavy mortar fire opened from the direction of the village. Observation was extremely difficult owing to smoke etc., from our own barrage. ‘C’ Sqn fired HE into the village and in particular at the church tower which it was thought might contain an OP, and the artillery under command ‘C’ Sqn was also asked to shell the village. After 15 mins, the enemy mortar fire had ceased and the infantry were able to get into the Western edge of the village. There was a deep sunken road right across the Western edge of the village and this proved to be a difficult Anti Tank obstacle. However, two Tps of tanks, one on each company front managed to cross and support the infantry onto their objectives, the remaining tanks worked their way round to the left flank and got on to the objective while the infantry were consolidating facing East. The wrecks of 2 SP guns, one armd car and 2 ½-tracked TCVS were found in the village, also about 12 German dead. The country was very close with sunken roads and deep ditches and considerable difficulty was experienced in getting tanks into good fire positions. At approx. 1600 hours the infantry moved forward a few hundred yards and took up positions along the hedge facing SE from 881698 to 882701. The tanks moved forward to this position but were unable to get any further forward owing to ditches. The infantry sent patrols forward to the high ground in front, but no opposition was met, although six enemy tanks were seen entering a wood due south of the position. Overall this does outline a lot of the obstacles and difficulties of advancing / attacking through this terrain. The 24th L tanks had been adapted to wade onto the beaches initially, and fighting the 24th L tanks on the beaches was a considered possibility. Means of getting a Sherman though a hedge / hedgerow could have been trialed, equally, I guess, in the UK, but not every hedge or hedgerow is the same. Incidentally there is a BBC James Holland documentary called "Normandy 44 - The Battle Beyond D-Day" (Occasionally repeated, though not currently on the Iplayer, though a search via google might find a source) BBC Two - Normandy '44: The Battle Beyond D-Day In which a "hedgecutter" is shown - for which there is a clip here: BBC Two - Normandy '44: The Battle Beyond D-Day, James makes a hedgecutter fit for the battlefield James makes a hedgecutter fit for the battlefield James Holland joins a team of engineers to manufacture a steel hedgecutter based upon its original 1944 design by Sergeant Curtis Culin.
This evening, I've had a look in 'Normandy to Victory: The War Diary of General Courtney H. Hodges & the First U.S. Army' and, according to the index, the first mention of hedgerows comes on Monday 17 July [p.55]: "In his talk with General Watson, General Hodges emphasized that tanks could and must bust through the hedgerows, that the hedgerows wre becoming a greater psychological hazard than was merited by their defensive worth..." But, glancing through for any other discussions about terrain and find an entry for 10 July that talks about: "The [captured German] positions themselves were minor masterpieces, dug in under the hedgerows, and vulnerable only, perhaps, to direct hit from very heavy stuff." And earlier, on 29 June there is a reference to: "C/S, who returned at 1500, said that the terrain - the usual story of too many hedges" - and not the enemy were the real deterrent to quick success." I think that is the earliest entry. Regards Tom
The Sylvan diary, which you just quoted, is interesting for this matter as it captures the atmosphere at FUSA HQ as it is heard by a witness who otherwise does not attend conference and cannot access documents (except for the daily sitreps Sylvan often copies verbatim to populate his diary). It again suggests "hedgerows" became a common word in July and was very unusual until the very last days of June.
Have you read this one: https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/combat-studies-institute/csi-books/Doubler-Bocage.PDF
