Canadian Signalers on D-Day, minus one

[Raymond Gilbert]

I recently came across a short history of Royal Canadian Signalers Corps during Second World War. Of interest to me was the statement that 17 men of the Canadian Signalers landed on French soil on June 5, 1944. Does anyone have any details on this operation?

[Charlie585]

Hi James,

I am sure that if there is evidence of this held by a member of the forum it will be forthcoming.

I'm no expert, but would only assume that they may have been part of an airborne pathfinder unit.

Most I'm sure are already aware that the airborne have always been credited with being the first allied troops to land in normandy, but as I have always believed, actually on D Day.

As far as the first Seaborne troops go ashore. I have had the pleasure / Honour, of meeting a gent who served as a Royal Engineers Diver on D Day.

He told me that he was one of the first ashore that day. At I think 05.30. His job was to dissarm the mines that were attached to the beach defences.

I'll be interested if any member has story the of the Signallers , better still insignia to go with it.

Did the source of your info contain any insignia James?

Ry

[Recce]

At nightfall on june 5th, everything was going according to plan. In the distance, the bombings could be heard; at 2331 Bomber Command launched an assault against the coastal batteries in the landing zone. Bombs fell until 0515; in all, 1,136 sorties, 5,268 tonnes dropped. The Royal Canadian Air Force 6 Group was part of the operation, targetting batteries at Merville, Franceville and Houlgate.


Meanwhile, French resistance fighters warned by BBC coded messages undertook more than a thousand sabotage actions during a single night. At midnight, the 6th British Airborne division, which included the 1st Canadian Parachute Battalion, dropped off north of Caen to protect the eastern flank of the landing area. On the western side, US paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne were dropped; their mission was to take control of the area inland from Utah Beach.

During the last hours of 5 June 1944 as part of Operation Tonga, transport aircraft and towed gliders carried units of the 6th Airborne to Normandy where they would land just prior to the D-Day landings that took place on the morning of 6 June. They were to land behind Sword Beach and secure the eastern flank. Some of the objectives included the seizure of the bridge over the Caen Canal (later renamed as "Pegasus Bridge" and the bridge over the Orne River (renamed later as Horsa Bridge) by D Company, 2nd Ox & Bucks (commanded by Major John Howard). And also the destruction of the Merville Battery by Lieutenant-Colonel Terence Otway's 9 PARA, both of whom were some of the first units to land and achieve their objectives. The landings proved successful, though many units were scattered across much of Normandy. The area around Pegasus and Horsa were successfully defended until they were eventually relieved, having repulsed numerous counter-attacks by the Germans, later on 6 June by Lord Lovat's 1 Special Service Brigade, followed later by elements of the British 3rd Infantry Division.

http://en.academic.ru/dic.nsf/enwiki/255961

D-Day: Royal Corps of Signals by Ron Pidgley

Operation Overlord was to commence. The weather had worsened, the heavy seas stirred by fierce winds made a 24-hour postponement necessary but on the afternoon of 5th June 1944 we embarked at Warsash on our (LCI)(s) (Landing Craft Infantry (small)) - assault vessels. Each craft carried about 90 men, including the crew, a wooden, flat-bottomed vessel with some armoured plating around the helmsman’s cockpit.

At 1800 hours on 5th June, the flotilla sailed down the Solent. Steaming steadily in line, lead by our HQ craft, we were allowed "on top" until the Nab where we left the shelter provided by the Isle of Wight. The sea becoming choppy with a stiff breeze, Lord Lovat’s piper found the conditions unsuitable for more continuous playing on his bagpipes.

D-DAY At 5.30am on the 6th June we sniffed fresh air, real Continental sea air; not long now. Up on deck now, taking up our positions.

The radio sets were switched to receive, on the allotted frequency. At H-Hour, it was essential to start listening watch in order to receive essential information as arranged. The sets worked well! The code names were Rugby and Cricket. As dawn broke, a glimmer from the East, on this "Our Longest Day", the sky lit up by gunfire flashes, we could see the size of the Armada of which we were a part, in the fore now, stretching as far as the eye could see.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/ww2peopleswar/s...a2496729.shtml

There were not enough aircraft to deliver all three airborne divisions in a single lift. Consequently the decision was taken to drop mostly parachute troops on the night of D Day with enough supporting artillery, engineers and signals plus enough headquarters staff and in a reversal of Sicily, bring in the main forces of glider troops, artillery and even small tanks on the evening of D Day. For the British this meant that on the night of 5/6 June the pathfinders would jump over three drop zones east of the Orne and one west. Shortly after the glider attack on the Orne bridges a single lift would deliver the 5th Parachute Brigade onto Drop Zone N east of the canal and between two villages, Ranville and Breville, providing immediate support to the small force on the bridges. Meanwhile another formation dropped the 3 rd Parachute Brigade - Ist Canadian Parachute Battalion formed part of the brigade - onto Drop Zone V on higher ground north-east from the canal and Drop Zone K south of Drop Zone N along the same line of low hills. This would allow the Canadians to cover the east flank around the village of Varaville when the 9 Para Battalion attacked the Merville Battery on lower ground nearer the mouth of the River Orne. The 8 Para Battalion landing on Drop Zone K would cover against counter attacks from the Bois de Bavent, a small forest to the east.

http://www.britishskytours.com/site/...irbornetwo.htm

Airborne

The first Allied troops to land on French soil were the airborne troops of the American 101st Airborne and 82nd Airborne Divisions and British 6th Airborne Division. The 101st had the task of capturing the western end of the causeways that crossed the flooded areas behind Utah beach, to prevent the Germans from using them to trap the invaders on the beach. The 82nd were to land further inland and occupy the area between Ste-Mère-Eglise and Pont-l'Abbé. The British division had three tasks – to destroy bridges over the River Dives to prevent the Germans from using them to rush reinforcements to the beaches, to capture the bridges across the River Orne and Caen Canal (most famously Pegasus Bridge) and to capture the German batteries at Merville.

http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_D-Day.html

[Bill A]

Hi Recce, You have lost me here. What is the connection of these quotes with James request for information about the 17 RCCS signallers who were on French soil June 5th?