Talking about operational experience, Obituary

[thegimp]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/25/db2501.xml&DCMP=EMC-new_25072006

 

[Scratcher90]

Awesome! Thanks for posting that.

Mind you, I notice some things don't change -

"On reaching the rendezvous, Otway discovered that he had no radio sets which worked, no engineers, no medical orderlies and only a quarter of his men."

Cheers

Scratch

 

[Cuddles]

Awesome! Thanks for posting that.

Mind you, I notice some things don't change -

"On reaching the rendezvous, Otway discovered that he had no radio sets which worked, no engineers, no medical orderlies and only a quarter of his men."

Cheers

Scratch

Golly it's another command task!!

 

[Vimeiro]

I first read about the Merville Battery Op in an old comic annual from the Sixties. Pretty outstanding all the preperation they went though for this action.

 

[Guns]

During my Advanced Amphib Course at Shriv we did the bottle field tour of D-Day and my dit was on this very battle. Having visited the battery and read up on it all - bloody hell springs to mind. If you ever do go to Normandy it is worth a visit. A nice little musem and gift shop. To see the lie of the land you quickly see the problems this man had to cope with. To cap it all a timed NGS bombardment was only to be lift if the codeword for success was recieved. By radio perhapes or some other modern comms???? Nope a number of homing pigeons where to be released and then orders could be passed. Bowman fall back?????

 

[jonny3979]

and the RAF failed to neutralise the target prior to the drop......

 

[Pillager]

Using captured German soldiers to lead his assault teams through the minefields.

He's lucky he died before Cherie Blair had him tried!

 

[Pteranadon]

Using captured German soldiers to lead his assault teams through the minefields.

He's lucky he died before Cherie Blair had him tried!

I hadn't heard about the captured soldiers in front of the paras. What is the source for this statement?

Its not in the locally produced history "Get in Get in" Nor in the history of 9th Parachute Battalion "The day the devils dropped in". The latter book makes it clear that Otway was utterly ruthless. It mentions the French civilians they captured and Otways orders to shoot them on the basis that only collaborators would eb allowed out at that hour!. (They weren't; shot) Its not in any of the many eye witness statements, notr was it mentioned by any of the vets who were in Normandy in 2004.

It seems a little unlikely that the 150 men of 9 para who reached the RV to bring in 23 germans -or for Otway to show them more mercy than the Frecnh . It also seems odd to expect a random scattering of germans to know their way through the minefield at Merville!

 

[Pillager]

From the telegraph article

Twenty-three captured men were then ordered to guide Otway's force through the minefields as the Germans opened fire with shells and mortars from neighbouring positions.

I had presumed these to be Germans though by your account they could also have been French. In any case I had believe (possibly wrongly) that you werent allowed to do this.

 

[CutLunchCommando]

The latter book makes it clear that Otway was utterly ruthless.

Didn't one of Otways subalterns make a report to him as he was dying?