saint venant 1940-------farm boulet

**ivor43** · 15-07-2012, 17:35

Good Morning all.
Not a bad morning here in West Wales, well it is not raining at the moment.
It has been suggested that my concluding sentence in my last post was a bit harsh. I apologise for that. But it was not meant to be. What we are doing is totally different to what has been done previous. The previous investigation seems to have been principally involved with the western action. We have been looking at the whole picture. If as a result we find, for example, unit positions to be different from the previous investigation, then what are we to do? Say nothing and allow another error to become history. I am sorry guy’s but if we are to find teecee’s uncle then we will have to make ALL the relevant facts known to certain authorities and I can not see any way this will not become public. I am sorry but if our findings are inconvenient to others…..

Do not get me wrong I fully respect the work done in the Tom Rogers Investigation it is just that I am a bit uneasy with some of its conclusions in the light of what we have been doing.

OK I am about to ask a couple of favors

First. John,
We have a report that Col Harrison escaped over the second bridge but was killed
Some time later not 15 min or an hour but some time later. A puzzle.
We have a village on the Merville Rd that has a road named after Col Harrison. Another puzzle.

We have a tank crossing the bridge and heading towards Haveskirque which is taken out by a 18 lb’er. Now this is not just a puzzle this is, well I don’t really know.

I imagined the scene north of the Lys to be total chaos. Men, Machinery and everything else all over the area.

But someone has the presence of mind and the authority, to commander an 18lb’er and who knows what else, take out this tank and maybe set up a defense of this village, until he was killed.

Could this be the reason why Col Harrison is honored by the village. John, when I asked before I just thought it could be interesting. Now I think it could be of greater significance than we had possibly realized.

Whatever occurred here was obviously important to the village. So if there is an account of this action then it might indicate which bridge the tank came over. I think this needs to be looked at.

Now for my second favor.

Jungle and Bob Lake I am asking you guy’s because you are contributing good info but not, like some of us ,up to our necks in muck and bullets.
Would you both consider Google Earthing the field which I believe contains tank tracks.
It is on the north side of the Lys just to the east of St Floris directly across from the Rue De Motte Baudet.

I would like your opinion.

ivor

**jungle1810** · 15-07-2012, 18:27

Hello Vori,
I am sending the details of Col Harrison's death from the W W 2 Royal Welch Casualties book. Harrison Lt/Col Herbert Berkeley M.C. 1st battalion RWF 27th May 1940 age 43. Son of Brigadier -General Robert Arthur Gwynne Harrison C.M.G. three times Mentioned in Despatches and Alice Harrison of King's Worthy Hampshire husband of of Jeanette Marion Harrison of Denbigh interred at Haverskerque British Cemetery (Nord) Row E E Grave 1
I have seen a photo of a village street named after Col Harrison but I am unable to find it, I have a photo of PLACE DE ROYAL WELCH FUSILIERS 4th and 6th battalions and I am stood by this street name. I tried to post it on the forum but I need to change the format to JPG. I will work on it. I will post more info from the ORBAT of the 27th of May
Regards RBD akajungle1810.

**jungle1810** · 15-07-2012, 19:05

Hello Vori,
Continuation from my last thread from the Red Dragon by lt/Commander Kemp and John Graves
After the death of 2nd n L/t Garnet it reports that "C" Company was held up on the western edge of St Floris by strong and accurate Machine gun fire from the enemy positions on the Bourne Canal. In an attempt to dislodge them LT/Col Harrison sent "B" Company round the left flank of "C" Company. They came up against an enemy platoon which they had little difficulty in dis lodging and reached their objective, 'though with the 3 platoons some what strung out through lack of maps and out of touch of each other.The story of "D" Company was less happy. Again through lack of maps of the area, they were ambushed in the dark and had suffered heavy casualties, including Lt R L Boyle , the Company Commander. Lacking good information on their fate and or the whereabouts at battalion HQ the Company Commanding officer sent Major Owen to discover what was happening. After a long search he found the remnants of Company withdrawing from the scene of the ambush and led them back to CALONNE.
By now darkness had fallen any further attempt to advance towards the four bridges across unknown country seemed useless. Since little was know of the enemies strength or dispositions LT/ Col Harrison decided to concentrate what was left of the Battalion at SAINT FLORIS for the night and the four Companies were brought back to form a defensive "BOX" around the village. Active patrolling was carried out throughout the night and those who could were ordered to get as much rest as they could in view of the heavy fighting expected the next day. As dawn broke on the 25th of May he battalion advanced once again towards their objectives, the four bridges across the LA BASSEE CANAL "A"and "C" Companies on the right made good progress brushing aside the slight opposition they met on the way .They reached the small town of ST VENANT, found it to be clear of the enemy and proceeded to the bridge was their objective.They were held up by heavy machine gun and mortar fire about half a mile beyond the town and because of the flat and openness of the country were unable to work their way around thee enemyies position . Unable to advance, they dug themselves in.
To be continued until the 27th of May (Tea time )
Regards RBD aka jungle1810

**jungle1810** · 15-07-2012, 21:49

Hello Vori et al,
Continuation of the ORBAT of the 1st Battalion RWF
"B" Company on the left were even less fortunate. Their route led through the village of ROBECQ to the remaining three bridges beyond. Almost at once they ran into strong opposition but under cover of supporting fire from their own weapons managed at last to reach the village. Here they were pinned down by intense machine gun fire from the road beyond. but worse still was to follow. In order to hang on to the gains already made, Captain Captain J R Johnson at once began to fortify the village only to discover parties of the enemy working round both flanks. All attempts to check them failed , and by mid -afternoon "B" Company was effectively surrounded the enemy digging a line of weapon pits across the return route to ST FLORIS.By noon, then,the battalion was in a bad way " A" and "C" Companies unable to make any progress towards their final objectives and finding their position in the open untenable in the face of growing machine gun and mortar fire, began to withdraw in small parties. The original intention had been to retire on ST VENANT and to form a strong defence line on the outskirts of the town, but many of the parties mistook their orders and in fact withdrew to ST FLORIS, from where they had started in the morning. Both Companies suffered very heavy casualties and although most of the wounded were successfully evacuated some had to be left behind in ST VENANT where they were placed in the care of the nuns in the local hospital
In the meantime Col Harrison had brought Battalion HQ up to the out skirts of ST VENANT only to discover that the remnants of "A" and "C" Companies had passed through the town on their way back and were now at ST FLORIS. Col Harrison sent the indefatigable Major Owen back to bring them up again and placed the re-organisation of H Q and "D" in the hands of of Captain Willes, who had returned from a recce towards ROBECQ in a fruitless attempt to make contact with "B" Company. With the few men still available ,the C/O organised a new defence line covering ST VENANT and the bridge across the BOURNE Canal, and as the various Companies arrived they were placed in the new line. All four Companies were up "A" on the right then "C" "D" and HQ. The left flank was known to be open, but it was thought that the 1st Battalion the Royal Berkshire Regiment were holding the area to the right. In the absence of any maps how ever, it was impossible to know exactly where they were. There was nothing left for the depleted Battalion to do but dig in and await the enemy attack which all knew was coming Attempts to establish communication with "B" Company were still fruitless and the lack of knowledge of what was happening at ROBECQ was a depressing factor. In point of fact "B" Company was approaching the end of it's battle . Casualties had increased throughout the day necessitating a continually contracting perimeter. In the evening Capt Johnson was seriously wounded and the command of the Company devolved 2LT F M Edwards. With considerable skill and tenacity he continued to organise the defence through the night, inflicting considerable casualties on the enemy when ever the opportunity occurred but the end was in sight. In the early hours of the morning the Germans put in an attack supported BY ONE TANK. It was held and driven back. An hour later a second attack with three tanks in support was put in. Slowly "B" Company gave ground, but the enemy dominated the flat ground round the village offered no chance of an organised break out. Calling the Company together for the last time. 2nd Lt Edwards split it up into two groups each under the command of an N.CO. or a senior soldier. he showed the groups the general direction in which the Battalion lines lay and ordered them to lie up for the rest of the day and to try to make their own way back individually under the cover of darkness. At 11 A M "B" Company as a Company ceased to exist
To be continued
Regards RBD aka jungle1810

**ivor43** · 16-07-2012, 00:37

Evening.

Brian.Thanks for the info. The stuff on Col Harrison is very interesting. La Rue Du Colonel Harrison is at the western end of the village of, I think it was La Crbie or something like that which is situated on the Haveskirque to Merville Rd a couple of miles to the east of Haveskirque. If Johns friend would check this out for us it might prove very interesting.

teecee, jim.on a slightly different aspect of this, something i wrote on an earlier post 'if this goes public' if we are successful have you given any thought to what sort of publicity this is going to generate. this is a young man, wounded. murdered by the S.S. give it some thought.

ivor

**Baconwallah** · 16-07-2012, 14:02

Ivor, mon cher ami, I have received the following info from France:

Due to the importance of the Route Nationale No.16 (Amiens to Dunkirk) the French army had built two new bridges alongside the old and narrow (2.5 m) drawbridges at l'Epinette (Canal d'Aire) and St Venant (Canal de la Lys). These new bridges were of the type known as Pigeau No.3. The bridge at l'Epinette, a metal construction, was completed in March 1940; the one at Saint-Venant, built of wood, was completed on 6th April. The bridge at Saint-Venant was 160 (159.5 to be precise) metres long.

Dispositions on 25th May:

Following the unsuccessful attempt by A and C Companies to reach the bridge at l'Epinette, LtCol HARRISON spread out his troops to defend Saint-Venant. A, C and D Companies and the headquarters were to hold the area between the Robecq and the Busnes roads, together with the Ringot road. This was just a short distance from Saint-Venant. B Company had been cut off in Robecq. A Company had only 2 platoons of 15 men each. There were no AT weapons or radios.

At approx 2200 hrs the DLI arrived from St Floris. A, B and C companies took up their positions in the free area from Les Amusoires to the Robecq road. D Company was sent to fill the breach between the right flank of the RWF and the 1st Royal Berks at Bas-Hamel. LtCol SIMPSON who was commanding the battalion set up his command post in the Taverne family home at the intersection of the Les Amusoires road and the Canal de la Lys dyke.

Situation on 26 May:

In the afternoon LtCol HARRISON withdrew his HQ to the Saint-Venant cemetery, close to the DLI HQ at the Taverne farm. The DLI were still positioned between the Robecq and les Amusoires roads. The defensive system was now focused around Saint-Venant but there were still a few gaps in the line, where the junction between D Company DLI and the RWF had not been established. Saint-Floris was no longer protected as 2/5th West Yorks had been withdrawn to Calonne-sur-la-Lys for transfer to the Fôret de Nieppe. Calonne was held by the 4th Brigade, and in the evening 70 men of the French 401st Pioneer Regiment were sent to Cornet-Malo in an attempt to fill the gap.

Meanwhile 3rd Panzer Division was preparing for the attack. The right-hand group was to advance on Merville and Bailleul. The objective of the left-hand group was Saint-Venant. It included the 2nd Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Regiment, the 2nd Battalion of the 7th Machine-gun Regiment, the 2nd Battery of the 75th Artillery Regiment and the 1st Battalion of the 5th Pioneer Regiment.The 1st Battalion of the 3rd Infantry Regiment were in reserve at Robecq. Elements of the SS Germania Regiment were also attached to this group.

The attack of 27th May:

At 0800 hours the German artillery engaged the British lines and Saint-Venant. The British furiously defended themselves but their artillery support was limited. A, C and D Companies RWF were forced to withdraw as enemy tanks had now joined the battle and they were outgunned. Both platoons of A Company withdrew towards the canal. D Company was surrounded and had to surrender.

While the German infantry infiltrated into Saint-Venant, tanks pierced the defence of the DLI along the railway and made their way along Rue des Amusoires to the canal. The DLI HQ in the Taverne farmhouse was shelled. RSM Goddard attempted to evacuate the HQ transport, but without success. Durhams holding out in the café on the crossroads of Rue des Amusoires and Rue de Saint-Floris were cut off and had to surrender. The remainiing Durhams crawled along the canal to the bridge in order to reach Haverskerque. They were very quickly hit by mortar fire and suffered casualties.

At about 1100 hours Brigadier Furlong’s order to withdraw finally reached the battalion HQ of the RWF, which was still positioned in the town’s cemetery. Capt TOWNSEND crawled from DLI HQ to LtCol HARRISON at the cemetery to receive the message and pass it to LtCol SIMPSON, who was in a trench near his HQ. Two tanks appeared on the intersection of Rue des Amusoires and the canal dyke. LtCol SIMPSON, armed only with a revolver, had to surrender.

LtCol HARRISON now knew that he would be the last man to leave the battlefield, together with the handful of men he had left. He sent Major OWEN to defend the bridge and cover the withdrawal of the DLI. The Durhams crawled slowly towards the bridge they wanted to cross; some were hit, others managed to jump into the river and swim across. Captain TOWNSEND was one of the last to set off for Haverskerque.

Maj OWEN together with around thirty men managed somehow to reach the other side of the river. Faced with a situation which was deteriorating with each passing minute, LtCol HARRISON ordered Capt CLOUGH TAYLOR to send the rest of the battalion to the opposite bank in small groups of two or three. LtCol HARRISON and Capt CLOUGH TAYLOR were the last two to risk it on the bridge. As they were crossing it, the Captain suffered leg wounds whilst the Commanding Officer managed to make it across. He waited until his companion was totally out of harm’s way before giving the order to blow the wooden bridge; the drawbridge had already been partially destroyed. Unfortunately, the engineers charged with this task did not respond. As LtCol HARRISON was withdrawing towards Haverskerque the first enemy tank appeared; its machine-gun targeted the brave LtCol and he fell under its murderous fire.

The German infantry, supported by tanks, now advanced to within 300 metres of Haverskerque, overrunning the RWF Aid Post and capturing Maj OWEN, Lt LUNDIE (the RWF MO) and 23 men. A British counter-attack with some carriers to recapture the bridge did not succeed. The British then withdrew to a new position at Le Touquet, where they found 2/5th West Yorks, 99th Field Regt RA and 6th Bde HQ. This small force was joined by survivors of 1st Berks and 2nd DLI. The power of the German tanks and artillery finally forced the British to withdraw to the Forêt de Nieppe and to try and reach Dunkirk.

So there you have the full story. It explains why the RWF memorial is located at the spot where the wooden bridge was, and nowhere else.

John

**ivor43** · 16-07-2012, 21:03

OK Guys.
Jungle, John. What you have posted is fantastic and on the face of it overwhelming evidence that I am wrong.
But I am sorry, no white flag yet guy’s. not while I still have some ammo. If I am going down I sure as hell am going down fighting.

Right, From your own accounts the only resistance encountered when the RWF were approaching ST Venant was at St Floris. Which was easily overcome. Why.
From the RWF Diary, Bridging material was captured at St Floris. exactly where?. And why was it here when there were two bridges in St Venant.?
was this slight opposition actually a small number of troops guarding this material?
When RWF got to St Venant they found it unoccupied. Again why? It has 2 relatively new bridges.
Conclusion. they were not interested in St Venant or is bridges . Not Suitable.
Reasoning. What was the average weight of a motor lorry in 1940, about 6 – 10 tons. So even if the bridges were stressed to 15 tons they would not be suitable for 20+ ton tanks.
But why bother when you have your own purpose built bridges with you.

What follow is pure speculation from the view of the German bridge unit commander.….. or is it.

There is a gap opened up in the line of the retreating British around the town of St Venant. We have been ordered foreword to prepare for the crossing of the Bourne canal prior to our strike towards Merville.
I have a few days as the nearest British units are some distance to the east apparently resting after there battle at the Dyle.
My engineers and I have surveyed the bridges at St Venant and we do not believe them suitable for our purpose. So we will use one or two of our own.
Having surveyed the surrounding area it is not practical to place our bridge near the other bridges as there are too many buildings around to allow for a holding/regrouping area. Also there is a cemetery in the way.
Surveying the canal bank we can find no suitably solid place before we get to the east of ST Floris. Where there is already a road in place which connects to the main road. Useful.
Also it is in an open area. so there is a farm to the east. No real problem
OK we have the main part of the bridge across but as it is late we will finish it tomorrow and start on the second.
I have posted guards on the equipment and my engineers and i are going to sample the delights of Haveskirque for he night. I do not expect our troops for another day or so.
When returning to the bridge the next morning .WHAT!!! Ambush.. we are under attack from the British… Where did they come from. The end.

OK back to reality. Fantasy, imaginative yes. But based on known facts. If The RWF etc had not been moved toward this gap, earlier than planned I believe that the Germans may well have been in this area in strength. With a suitable bridge.

John. I would still like to know the story behind the Rue Du Colonel Harrison.

Ivor

**Baconwallah** · 16-07-2012, 22:12

The German units N of the Canal de l'Aire were an advance guard of SS Verfügungsdivision and 3 Pz which had broken through the French resistance along the Canal de l'Aire on the 24th. One part of this advance guard crossed the St Venant bridge and advanced to Haverskerque but was thrown back by B Coy 6th KORR. Another part (the so called Russow patrol) followed the canal along the N bank, was cut off near Merville and destroyed in the next two days. The bridging element, very likely intended for the attack on Merville and trying the canal route because there were British units in Calonne, ran into 1 RWF at St Floris. Subsequently all German units were pulled back to the Canal de l'Aire for regrouping as the result of Hitler's 'Halt order'. Quote from the report of Standartenführer Demelhuber (CO SS Inf Regt 'Germania'): "Next day unexpected div. order (supposed to have come right from the top) about withdrawal of bridgehead north of canal and setting-up of main line of battle along canal. No reconnaissance or patrols north of canal. Withdrawal of II Bn Inf Regt 'Germania' and remaining sections behind LA BASSEE CANAL."

The old drawbridges had a 7 ton limit. The new Pigeau bridges built by the French engineers were specifically intended to make the Route Nationale No.16 suitable for the amount of traffic to be expected in the war. They could - and did - take tanks with ease.

As for the final stand of RWF and DLI taking place near another bridge than the one at St Venant: let's make this a little tac exercise, Ivor.

You have your HQ in the St Venant cemetery (I think we're agreed on that, as all eyewitnesses are; there is no other cemetery until you come to Merville, anyway) and have to withdraw across the canal. Behind you is a bridge, about 450 yards away, the perimeter of which is still held by your men. In front of you is supposedly another bridge, some 3000 yards away, with enemy tanks and unknown numbers of infantry at the junction you'll have to cross to get there. Which way do you go?

The Rue du Col Harrison I am told received its name as the commune had an as yet nameless road and wished to honour a local hero. No more, no less. Remember that there are more towns with Churchill Avenues and Churchill Squares in NW Europe than the good man ever visited or even knew existed.

John

**ivor43** · 17-07-2012, 01:02

john
i will answer your challenge shortly but i came across this. interesting reading
http://www.feldgrau.net/forum/viewto...p?f=24&t=22877

ivor

**Baconwallah** · 17-07-2012, 01:13

Thanks for the link, Ivor. Apart from the large number of tanks repeatedly mentioned in the text, which in fact consisted of some light French R35 3-man tanks without radio, it confirms what I wrote below.

John