Hill 112 – be part of the commemorations, June 2009

Why not join Mine Host, war historian Clive Canvin, and experience the commemorations on and around Sunday, 7th June?

 

'He who holds Hill 112, holds Normandy' said a German general, while the British regarded the hill as 'the Key to Normandy'. During the battle in June and July 1944, both sides were to fight hard for its dominating views over the surrounding area.

 

Hill 112 was seized by 11th Armoured Division. They withdrew when ULTRA decryptions warned Montgomery of II SS Panzer Corps's approach. Just days later, soldiers from the Royal Tank Regiment, West Country, and Scotland struggled to take Hill 112 for a second time. That was when Major General Thomas earned the nickname 'Butcher' in one of the Normandy campaign's bloodiest battles, fought against four SS panzer divisions.

 

“Behind a mossy stone wall, cider apples ripen in a small orchard. A dusty cart track disappears between fields of rustling, waist-high corn towards a distant hamlet. Larks sing in a cloudless sky. It is almost impossible to imagine the battle fought here 65 years ago, a few days after D-Day, that would be remembered as the fiercest and most costly of the Normandy campaign.”

 

Why not join Mine Host, war historian Clive Canvin, and experience the commemorations on and around Sunday, 7th June?

 

Sunday, 7 June 2009

Bénouville

03:30 pm: ceremony at the No. 4 Commando monument.

Bretteville-sur-Laize

10:30 am: ceremony at the Canadian War Cemetery.

 

Esquay-Notre-Dame

11:00 am