Trooper Sydney Moore
Battle for Noyers-Bocage July 1944 - Day two
THE BATTLE OF NOYERS-BOCAGE - 17th July 1944 OPERATION POMEGRANATE
Darkness fog and shelling caused problems with the supply transports. Replenishment was not complete until 4.30am. This was a second night without sleep for Sid and the rest of his tank crew. In hindsight the order should have been given to press on the attack during the evening. In the morning the British found out that the Germans had reoccupied many of the houses and installed new anti-tank guns. The troops in the town had been reinforced with soldiers from the reconnaissance Regiment of 9 SS Panzer Division. .
By 4.45am Sid’s tank and the remaining 18 other tanks were back up with the infantry in the front line. There was a ground mist that did not clear until 9am. Sid was on his guard as there was fear of a German counter attack and of enemy tanks using the mist to hide themselves as they moved around to the rear of the British front line to mount a flanking attack. Luckily this did not materialise. The morning attacks soon discovered that the Germans had been reinforced. The Germans were using the defensive nature of the bocage countryside to full effect. A couple of tanks were knocked out by German Anti-tank guns and one was destroyed by a concealed hand held bazooka. The infantry could not make headway against the new machine gun posts. It was stalemate.
By night fall the tanks were recalled back to the original assembly point so the engineers could maintain the tanks, refuel them and load on more ammunition. Sid had not slept for over 48 hours. He and the rest of his crew were finally able to shut their eyes.
This video was filmed on the second day of the Operation Pomegranate attack
on 17th July 1944. Notice the railway line and the cordon tape marking safe
passage through minefields. It needs Flash to work so do not watch on an iPad or
iPhone.
THE BATTLE OF NOYERS-BOCAGE - 18th - 23rd July
1944 OPERATION POMEGRANATE
Further attacks were made the following day. They were inching their way towards the final objective of Noyers but it was very heavy going against stiff German resistance and problematic countryside. AVRE mortar tanks were used to blow up buildings and flame throwing Churchill tanks were deployed to deal with dug in infantry. One German anti-tank gun knocked out two flame throwing Churchill tanks and two AVRE mortar tank. Infantry were sent in to knock it out but they were turned away by heavy machine gun fire.
To the north east Operation Goodwood, the big attack to capture
Caen, started.
A similar armoured attack the following morning
on the 19th also failed.
Two further attacks were planned but cancelled at the last minute because of lack of resources. The Attack on Noyers was meant to be a diversion that would pin down enemy troops and not enable them to be deployed elsewhere. It did its job. The order to capture Noyers-Bocage was cancelled. It had cost a heavy list of casualties. Five officers and twenty tank crew members had been killed. Seven officers and twenty nine crew members had been wounded. Twenty tanks had been damaged by mines but all were later recovered and repaired. Seventeen tanks had been hit by anti-tank weapons. Ten of these tanks were later repaired.
The soldiers attacking Caen as part of Operation Goodwood, had
less opposition because of the 144th Regiment, Royal Armoured
Corps diversionary attack on Noyers-Bocage Caen was
completely under Allied control by the morning of 20th July
1944.
The regiment stayed near Noyers-Bocage until 23rd July. There were no more attacks. Time was spent repairing vehicles and filling gaps with reinforcements. On the Sunday following the battle Trooper Sid Moore attended a simple open air church service, held to remember all the lost friends who had died in the battle for Noyers-Bocage.
Books that cover
Op Totalize are 'Blue Flash' written by Alan Jolly (p47 covers
Sid) & 'No
Holding Back' by Brian A Reid
