Black
Orchard
Following
the Herouville battle we were ordered across the canal and formed up along the
railway line just to the North of the Troarn/ Caen road. From threw we went
across the road into the orchard which became known as the Black orchard. One 6
pdr was sited on the southern side and one covering the road. The remaining four
guns stayed back by the railway.
We
were in the orchard about four days and sustained such a heavy concentration of
mortaring and shelling I had ever encountered up to then. I was with Sgt Poole
in a bomb crater in which the CO (Col Welby-Everard) and the Adj (Dick Chambers)
and the IO then sheltered. Sgt Poole and I moved back into a slit trench on the
forward edge of the orchard, which when the weather broke gradually filled in
with water to about half way but it was much safer to stay there. The crater
occupied by the CO’s group received a direct hit and all three were wounded.
It was clear we could not stay there and the order to evacuate was received by
me via Capt Glyn Gilbert.
Our
forward gun had been wrecked and the crew wounded- Harrison killed, impossible
to move the gun. The second gun was limbered up to leave the orchard by the
track on the Eastern side but before going one round of He was fired for good
measure. There were problems as the towing carrier was set on fire by mortars
and blocked the exit to the roadway. The carrier, on fire, was driven away by a
Sgt- very courageously and we were able to manhandle the gun back to the railway
line. The battalion losses were very heavy over the 2/3 days and including
losses up to Herouville were 19 officers and about 400 NCO’s and other ranks.
We were really then non-operational until brought up to strength (which I
don’t think we ever were!)