Hi all, These extracts from the 659 Artisan Works Company War Diary might be of interest to those of you interested in the Normandy campaign. My grandfather served in this unit in NW Europe. 659 Company RE had landed at Gold Beach on 8th June and had been employed on road maintenance and beach clearance tasks thereafter. Suddenly on 11 July a section begins training in mine clearance and is tasked with clearing all minefields at the Longues battery. As the diary shows two men were soon killed and others injured, including the CO of the company. Was this kind of work usually have done by specialist units? It just seems a little odd to me that a unit with seemingly little experience in this are was given the task of clearing all the mines at Longues. From what I’ve read online it seems as though the minefields at Longues were extensive and clearing the mines presumably have been a tough/difficult task. If anyone can shed any light on this kind of operation it would be much appreciated. Many thanks
