#280
Post
by Michael Kenny » 23 Feb 2015, 10:32
Some comments on the events of 12-15 June 1944 by
Charles W. Pearce
The Tiger then came round the bend
and I shot off down the road to B Sqn which I had thought
that I should have found with or just behind the Recce.
However I was wrong, so I concluded that they must be a
little further back.
The long road stretched ahead and I went on and on past
the Mairie,now on my left but I could not see B Sqn. The road
was absolutely empty and silent, no people, no vehicles and I
had a curious feeling of utter loneliness, thinking that I had
made an appalling mistake. I had kept trying to get on the air
to B Sqn HQ to alert the Squadron Leader about RHQ and the
Tiger but the air was still jammed as A Sqn was continually
under heavy attack.
Arrival at B Sqn
At last I saw a B Sqn tank at the very bottom of the town on
its own and much further back than I ever expected. It was a
Firefly commanded by Sergeant Lockwood who I knew. He
was a very capable senior NCO.
His tank was well sighted and I told him about RHQ and the
Tiger coming towards him. He told me where B Sqn HQ was
and I set off, finding it easily from his directions. This was the
first piece of luck that I had and answered my problem of
finding a Firefly.
After I had left. Sergeant Lockwood moved his tank forward
some 100 yards and engaged the Tiger. He was the first to
tackle the Tiger with a chance of damaging it, and in fact the
Tiger eventually turned round and retreated back towards
what was left of RHQ.
I realised now as I approached B Sqn HQ that, in my view,
there was no adequate Regimental control nor any rear link to
Brigade, also I was completely puzzled that B Sqn did not
appear to be fully deployed. It seemed to me that the Tiger,
apart from Sergeant Lockwood, would have had no
opposition all the way to the bottom of the town.
B. Sqn. HQ
When I arrived at B Sqn HQ I saw Major I.B. (Ibby) Aird (OC
B Sqn) sitting in the tunet of his Cromwell looking quite
complacent so I climbed on his tank and saluted him. I told
him about RHQ, the Tiger tank and that I had seen Sergeant
Lockwood. He did not acknowledge me nor did he say
anything.
I stood there, then I told him about the attack on A Sqn but
he must already have known about that. I then said that he
must alert his Sqn, as there was nothing between him and A
Sqn, some 1.5miles away. I also offered to alert his Sqn for
him on my wireless, but he said absolutely nothing giving me
no response in any way. I was absolutely at my wits' end
Ihen, out of the blue. Major Peter McColl (OC C Sqn)
appeared and wanted to know what the hold up was as the
back of B Sqn and also C Sqn, were blocking the road into
Villers-Bocage so the Queens Battalion could not get through
into the town. -
I jumped down from Major Aird's tank and told Peter
McColl what I had said to Ibby Aird and explained that I could
get no response from Ibby. Peter, in no uncertain terms, told
Ibby Aird to alert and deploy B Sqn and move them off the
road.
To my surprise, Ibby Aird did take action and then Peter and
1 had a long talk about the situation, discussing such matters
as Regimental control, and setting up a new wireless rear link
to Brigade as the existing rear link in RHQ had been destroyed
by the Tiger tank in the attack on RHQ.