80 Assault Squadron RE: The Fallen from 06/06/1944 - 09/06/1944

The 4 Troop report for the assault was written by Lt Gloyn some time later as Lt Hornby was dead and father-in-law was wounded and evacuated on 9 Jun. By his own admission they were trying to remove some snipers by using the AVRE's gun and he was standing outside his vehicle at the time - and so caught a splinter from his own round in the calf. Whilst I have no doubt that Lt Gloyn's account is factually accurate (as he would have talked to those who were there) his LCT didn't make it ashore until the morning of D+1. This may account for why it's quite difficult to work out where LCT1413a fits in. It features in the 4 Tp report but Gloyn doesn't seem to know what was in it. The 3 Tp (of which Gloyn was the OC) account lists 1412 and 1413 so maybe 1413a was Maj Wiltshire's craft?

 

Yes, I believe Maj Wiltshire was in LCT 1413A in his AVRE, landing second after a BARV from 23 Beach Rec Sec and before the 80 Sqn Churchill ARV and an Armoured Angledozer probably from 149 Alst Pk Sqn.

 

Thank you. That makes sense and gets the number of LCTs up to the 10 mentioned in the War Diary. It looks as if the Sqn OC and 2i/c both had an A after their LCT serial. What slightly mystifies me is that Wiltshire says that he went in with 3 Tp after Gloyn didn't turn up, yet is listed as being part of 4 Tp's assault in Gloyn's account. I guess that's just one of many small inconsistencies that inevitably arise. Are you aware of any identifiable pictures that exist of 80 Sqn at this time?

 

OC 3 Tp was Capt Essery, with Lt Gloyn as 2iC.

I cannot find any mention of that. Can you show us where it comes from?

I do not know of any photo showing any AVRE of 3 or 4 Tp, 80 Aslt Sqn before or on D Day apart from aerial views. However, Tank Museum photo 2793-E6 shows AVRE 4A's Bobbin assembly discarded at the first lateral road at the top of 4 Tp Gap, just as per the Report:


The same group of houses appears on IWM film A70 37-1 from 00:48:


Aerial photo Sortie US7/1742 Frame 4033 covers NAN RED Beach and shows the Bobbin Core as well as the 4 Tp AVsRE (possibly including Maj Wiltshire's tank and/or the Sqn ARV):


A close-up of the Bobbin Core and AVsRE. Note that there are at least six Churchill-type tanks grouped near the discarded Bobbin:


A few other photos/frames follow, whose angles of shot I indicated in the aerial view above.

IWM B5225:


B5224:


B5217, with the 3 Tp SBG bridge in the foreground, as identified by Arty back in 2014. There is an unidentified 79 Armd Div vehicle on the extreme right (see the Div sign just above the SBG bridge on the right edge of the photo):


A frame from film A70 37-1 from 00:30 showing 4 Tp's Gap from inland:


A Sherman V OP from one of the Field Regiments by the road to Saint Aubin (A70 37-1 from 04:08):


Finally, the top of the beach looking West from the Exit. The 3 Tp SBG bridge is behind the head of the soldier with the Red Cross armband, on the right. Note the couple of German PW on the left:


Michel

 

Michel, that is outstanding. The picture of the Bobbin core from father-in-law's AVRE and the aerial shot of what may well be the troop tanks grouped by it are brilliant. All I now have to do is to try and locate that site today. I'm extremely grateful for you providing all of this. My last set of researches was following my grandfather's war in Aug '14 (as a cavalryman on the Retreat) so I know how much time this all takes.
With regards to Gloyn, he signed off the 4 Tp Annex to the War Diary (I think he took over the Troop after B-S was wounded), the first page of which shows the 4 Troop LCT loading plan. On the right he lists LCT1413a - although clearly didn't know what was in it other than the dozer. Hence my slight puzzlement as Wiltshire said he went in with 3 Tp. I guess that it is probably no more than the Troop sergeant being asked a fortnight later how the landing was organised and mentioning that 1413a was to their right.

 

You're very welcome Dustyvon!

LCT 1413A was not exclusive to 4 Tp. She is mentioned in the 4 Tp Report only because the dozer was 4 Tp's. However the other vehs were not, which is why they are replaced with a "?" in the LCT loading plan, either because 4 Tp did not know what they were or they deliberately avoided listing them lest confusion should arise.

The location is the eastern end of Bernières-sur-Mer, close to its boundary with Saint Aubin-sur-Mer. See Danny's posts here and here.

Michel

 

A couple of postcards with ID:





Michel

 

That's much more logical. It makes sense for the Sqn HQ LCT to take on the 4 Tp dozer and then for the 4Tp report to only include that LCT because it had one of their vehicles. Danny's posts very helpful and it appears to me as if it pins the actual landing spot to where the Canadian memorial now stands -ish. If I read the situation correctly then 4 Tp would have been left with 4 AVREs after landing as the 4B, the SBG, was lost having been hit by an LCA . It may have been only 3 if 4D's missing air intake louvre caused the engine to flood - which isn't clear from the report. That might explain two groups on 3 in the leaguer.
But brilliant. So much more information there than I expected to find.
One last question - where are the originals of the air photos held if I want to get a copy? Kew?

 

You can order a hi res scan from the NCAP which hold the originals (see Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer; Lower Normandy; France | NCAP - National Collection of Aerial Photography), but a medium res copy may be downloaded from NARA here : National Archives NextGen Catalog

Michel

 

Many thanks.

 

Hi,
The silhouette of an 80 Sqd AVRE appears in photo B 5221.

Not sure if it is a 3 or 4 Troop AVRE due to its location. Photo attached showing the location that photos B 5220/B 5221 were taken at.

Sometimes the captions of these two photos say that the Commandos are going towards St Aubin but at this stage these Commandos are heading towards Bernieres.

Regards

Danny

 

Thank you Danny - your AFV recognition is rather better than mine at that range!

 

Remembering today on this 80 years anniversary of D Day the brave lads that landed on Juno beach of the 80 Assault Squadron RE.
God bless you all

 

Hi there, sorry, it's been ages since I last logged in here. Nothing like kids to eat up any free time you have! Thanks for your info about my granny's brother, Jack Hornby. Are you able to message me any further details that you're father-in-law passed on about Jack's death? Or his life in the unit in general? I'd really appreciate it as aside from the war diary entry, and a few censored letters, we don't know much about his time in the army leading up to his death.

 

Remembering today

 

Remembering today