The Story of LES BAYNTON

...However, we immediately came under heavy fire from mortars and snipers. NCO’s were quickly blacking out chevron stripes so as not top be singled out as targets. One of the snipers had knocked out a couple of tiles in the roof of the nearby hours and was using the loft as a commanding vantage point. It took some time to locate him and eventually one of the Durham Light Infantry flushed him out. We found out later that there had been a sniper school in the area so that explained why so many came to be engaged against us.

Nearby Tilly-sur-Seulles was the scene of bitter fighting and the town changed hands fifteen times. Our division was fighting alongside the 50th (TT) Division. At one point 5 battalions of the Durham Light Infantry, three of theirs and two of ours, plus our Tyneside Scottish, who before re-badging had been the 12th D.L.I were in the line together. They were a great bunch, first class fighting men."

It wasn’t until 19 July, after the Germans had withdrawn across the whole division front, that the village was finally securely in British hands.

The 49th West Riding Division made a name for itself in the fighting to take Rauray. Lord Haw-Haw over the German radio called them the "Polar Bear Butchers". This was after they had dealt with the SS they encountered there. They were quite happy to be called that, however untrue, for they remembered how the SS had shot Canadian and British prisoners at the Chateau d’Audrieu.

"In early August, we were moved to the left of Caen. This was a really poor situation as the enemy was able to oversee the whole region and form its positions on the hills to the south. Consequently we came in for a lot of shelling and there were signs on the roads saying 'Slow, dust means death'.

I think that it was at the end of August that we went through Mezidon, east of Caen and for the first time, we were attacked from the air by the German Luftwaffe. Our 70th Brigade was broken up and replaced by the 56th Brigade as we pushed towards the River Seine.

One of the first three battalions in the 56 Brigade was the 2nd Essex, 'The Pompadours'. This proud battalion had landed with 50th Division on D-Day. The day we were landing, 12th June, they had come up against the Panzer Lehr Division...