Archive for France
The Only Victoria Cross of 6th June 1944
Posted by: | Comments6th June 1944 saw the biggest invasion force of all time land on the beaches at Normandy just a couple of hours after a large number of paratroopers had dropped in German occupied France. D-Day was eventually underway.
1000s of Allied soldiers landed at the five beaches of Normandy; Gold, Sword, Juno, Omaha and Utah. There were countless acts of bravery but yet there was simply one single Victoria Cross granted on D-Day. It was granted to CSM Stan Hollis who landed on Gold Beach.
Hollis was an experienced veteran who had already been in combat at Dunkirk, El Alamein and Sciliy. He’d previously been captured by the Afrika Korps but managed to get away to rejoin the war.
Self-discipline wise, Hollis was not really a model soldier yet on D-Day, there was no doubting his expertise as a soldier. He had already been recommended for a Distinguished Conduct Medal while in action in Italy and it was as part of the assault on the Mont Fleury Battery that Hollis earned his Victoria Cross fighting with the Green Howards regiment.
While his company, advanced away from the coast, he observed 2 pillboxes had been missed. As Hollis went over to look at, the Nazis within began shooting. Hollis assaulted the Germans and cleared both pillboxes acquiring a lot of prisoners in the process. This made it possible for the main exit from the beachfront to remain open.
Later in the same day outside of the village of Crepon, Hollis engaged the enemy with his Bren gun to free two British soldiers who were cornered in a building. He successfully saved both soldiers. The courage shown by Hollis in Normandy on D-Day saved many British lives and he was given the Victoria Cross. He was wounded in Sept of that year and the following month was awarded his medal by King George VI. Now, his medal is on display at the Green Howards Museum in Yorkshire along with a handful of other Victoria Cross accorded in combat to other soldiers of the same regiment.
The Activities of the Churchill’s Secret Army
Posted by: | CommentsDespite the fact that it was technically formed in July 1940, the SOE (Special Operations Executive) had been created in 1938 with the merger of 3 existing, key sections just after Germany annexed Austria. Churchill’s Secret Army was told to “Set Europe Ablaze”.
SOE agents were directed to many different Nazi occupied countries to both cause havoc behind German lines and at the same time make an effort to come across local resistance groups they would quite possibly work with as the occasion for invasion was here. Theatres of Operation included France, Belgium, Poland, Germany, Yugoslavia, Greece, Hungary, Albania, Czechoslovakia, Norway, Denmark, Romania, Abyssinia and the Far East.
As agents had to operate deep in Nazi held nations and they were chosen from a range of social class and background. The primary criteria was that the probable operative had exhaustive understanding of the region they would operate in and would pass as a native of that country. That is why, operatives in possession of dual nationality were highly sought-after.
The renowned airplane utilised by the Special Operations Executives in France was the Westland Lysander. It was a small airplane which meant it was so much more tough to see and was strong enough to land on makeshift landing strips. It was used to transport operatives to and from the United Kingdom together with lifting individuals who had to be debriefed in London. Airmen who had been shot down were also at times brought back to the Britain by Lysander.
Amid the Special Operations Executive group were a number of female agents and around 30% of the female agents routed into France from Section F, did not come back. The types of missions in each region were wide ranging. For example, in Poland, there was little need to encourage the local population as there was already general hate of the Germans. This was in contrast to areas such as Vichy France which worked with with the occupying forces and the possibility of SOE agents being betrayed was greatly increased.
For the duration of World War II, the SOE had utilised around 13,000 people who directly backed or provided somewhere in the region of 1 million agents.
