At the Grave of Lt. Colonel Montgomery Cuninghame Commanding Officer of 11th Royal Scots Fusiliers (1941-1944)

Lieutenant Colonel A.W. H. J. Montgomery Cuninghame

Manvieu Military Cemetery

September 2019

On a recent return trip to Normandy, we had reason to visit the Manvieu Military Cemetery for here lay the remains of a mate’s Grandfather and we had promised him that we would lay an RBL cross and photograph the headstone for him. With this promise honoured I took off on a customary amble amongst the headstones looking at the distribution of Regimental insignia that distinguish the otherwise uniform Portland stone headstones from each other. Given my Grandfather’s military service I have become rather adept at spotting from some distance those headstones that bear the Staffordshire knot or the somewhat compressed grenade of the Royal Scots Fusiliers (RSF).

Within the confines of the Manvieu Cemetery there are to be found several seems of RSF headstones and this really came as no surprise as the cemetery is located in the village of Cheux which lies approximately five kilometers from Fontenay-le-Pesnil. It was here in the last week of June that the 11th Battalion RSF, as part of the 49th (West Riding) Division (otherwise known as the ‘Polar Bears’, participated in ‘Operation Martlet’ which was intended to capture Rauray and Noyers Bocage to the South East of Caen, thereby protecting the right flank of VIII Corps who were about to launch the better known ‘Operation Epsom’. ‘Marlet’  pitched the Polar Bears against the armour of the Panzer Lehr Division and 12th SS Panzer Division Hitlerjugend, not to mention the fanaticism of their Panzergrenadiers! The fighting was bitter and was reflected in the casualty tallies on both sides.

The name on one grave jumped out at me, that of Lieutenant Colonel A.W. H. J. Montgomery Cuninghame, Commanding Officer of the 11th Battalion.

The Battalion’s War Diary for July 1944 records the circumstances of his death.

In the first days of July, the Battalion was engaged in regular artillery exchanges with the Germans, so called ‘stonks’ in army parlance. Late on 2nd July orders were received to establish a strong defensive position in the Fontenay area whilst enemy positions continued to be shelled. At 6.30 pm on 3rd July, the Division’s medium artillery registered on enemy occupied targets forward of the ‘C’ Company positions and as such they were to withdraw. However, in the planning, insufficient time had been allowed for digging in at the new position. Without slit trenches for cover, the men were left lying out in the open when the German artillery replied to the British bombardment. Resulting casualties were high in number. At 7.15 pm Lieutenant Colonel A.W. H. J. Montgomery Cuninghame was talking to the Officer in Command of ‘C’ Company when he was hit in the left shoulder and chest by a mortar splinter. The War Diary reported that ‘He died within half an hour at the RAP, apparently not in great pain but unable to breathe. His death came as a great shock to the whole Battalion, whom he had led with such force, determination and lion-hearted in the attack on Fontenay on 25th June, when his conduct was an inspiration to all.

At 3 pm on 4th July ‘Lt. Col Cuninghame was buried at the Calvary’. This was the site of the initial interment of all men of the Battalion who fell in the area of Juvigny and Fontenil-le-Pesnil’. The fallen soldiers were later reburied in the permanent CWGC Cemeteries in the surrounding areas.

'The Calvary'

Fontenay-le-Pesnil

‘Pioneer platoon made a coffin on which were placed his flag, belt and headdress’  (I think that this is transcribed correctly!). ‘As the Battalion was still engaged with the enemy, few were able to attend. Approximately 7 Officers and 40 OR’s of the Battalion attended and six officers attended as bearers’.
In his book ‘An’ It’s Called A Tam O’Shanter’ Fusilier Ken West described the forceful character of Lt. Col Montgomery Cuninghame, otherwise known as ‘Big Monty’.

‘As the name ‘Big Monty’ might imply, Lt.-Col. Montgomery-Cunningham was an awesome figure. Well over six feet tall and built like a giant, he was a forceful and thrusting leader of the Battalion.
He had been in command from the day that the 11th Battalion RSF had been formed in the small county of Rutland back in 1941, and had been the inspiration behind the training of this new unit which was now, three years later, a fighting battalion of the Polar Bear Division.

Of course, some of the methods he had formulated to attain the present discipline and dedication to the job in hand, had not always met with the instant approval of the rank and file.

Tales of Big Monty were being retold to those of us who had recently become members of the battalion as we huddled under any sort of cover from the incessant rain on this Saturday morning, the first day of July.

Back in the British Isles, Big Monty’s constant companions were his huge thumb-stick and his ever faithful dog Bruce. Both had played a part in his disciplinary application.

We heard how the large black dog would lay at the feet of his master as he conducted the daily CO’s orders. Many an unfortunate miscreant vowed that he had been sentenced by the dog and not by the CO, for on some occasions the CO would look at the dog and say “What shall we do with this laddie, eh Bruce?” then depending on how many times the dog wagged his tail, the fusilier would be given one day’s confined to barracks per wag.

Bruce himself was not spared his master’s wrath, for on the occasions when he cocked his leg against a signboard or happened to foul the pathway, he would be wheeled in on CO’s orders and given terms of CB, and would be tethered to the leg of the table in the guardroom for the requisite number of days. Revenge was thereby meted out by sly prods and flicks of the toe-end of an army boot belonging to some fusilier who had at some time patted the Colonel’s dog.

However, since the arrival of the Battalion on the twelfth of June on the invasion beaches, Big Monty had led them with courage and with complete disregard for his own safety. He had died as he set out to visit us at the wood. He was later awarded a posthumous DSO (Distinguished Service Order)’.

Here in the tranquil surroundings of the Manvieu Military Cemetery, the Commanding Offiecer lies flanked by two ordinary Fusiliers as here like in all of the other CWGC sites no consideration is given to rank and position within these extraordinary spaces.

Fallen Soldiers of 11th Battalion Royal Scots Fusiliers

Manvieu Military Cemetery

September 2019

A Tribute to a Soldier of the 5th South Staffordshire Regiment 75 Years On

John and Jan Clews at his Father's grave in the Bayeux Militery Cemery

29th June 2019.

Last month it was my privilege to participate with members of the 59th (Staffordshire) Division Association in their annual pilgrimage to the town of Thury Harcourt and its environs. The 59th Division landed on Normandy in late June 1944 as a follow up Division. Highly trained in the UK, their time as an active fighting unit in France was short. Such was the intensity of the fighting in which they were engaged in Operation Charnwood (a frontal assault on the Northern perimeter of Caen) and Operation Pomegranate (engagements to the south west of the city intended to force a crossing over the River Orne) that the Division was formally disbanded on towards the end of August 1944 and its soldiers were transferred to other reinforcement hungry English, Scottish and Welsh Regiments.

The relationship between the 59th (Staffordshire) Division and the townsfolk is very strong by virtue of the fact that on 13th August 1944 the actions of the 59th finally resulted in the liberation of Thury Harcourt.

My Grandfather served with ‘A’ Company of the 5th South Staffordshire Regiment, a unit within 177 Brigade of the 59th Division. My Grandfather came home from the war, injured but otherwise intact, the same cannot be said for many of his Divisional comrades. One such fellow soldier of ‘C’ Company of the 5th Staffs was 4923121 Private Percy Clews who was killed in action on 10th August 1944, 75 years ago yesterday. One of our travelling party that visited the grave within the Bayeux Military Cemetery was John Clews, son of Percy, who was just two years of age when his father fell. With John was his wife Jan. The couple reside in Lichfield which then as now is the home of the Staffordshire Regiment.

At the time of his death, the 5th South Staffs were engaged with the enemy on a series of ridges that approached the River Orne and overlooked the town of Thury Harcourt. In that second week of August the 5th from their high ground vantage point were able to direct vital artillery fire into the dense forest of Grimbosq, that faced the fragile bridgehead that had formed across the Orne, in which Panzer Battle Groups were forming up for counter attacks intended to smash the bridgehead.

At his Father’s plot, John delivered a speech about the fate of his Dad that was largely based upon a letter sent to his mother by ‘C’ Company Commander, Major Pearson which is reproduced below.

‘Copy of a letter sent to Mrs Percy Clews from Major B. Pearson, The South Staffordshire Regiment

Major B. Pearson
The South Staffordshire Regt
Maindiff Court
Abergevenny
Mon. Wales.
August 29th. 1944

My Dear Mrs Clews,

You have no doubt been wondering why I have taken so long to write, and offer not only my sympathy, but those of the whole Company at the loss of your Husband, my Batman.

I was hit by the same mine, and I have only just heard officially that Percy was killed, as I had feared. 

It isn’t an easy story to tell , Mrs Clews, and I am sure you don’t want to know all the full details.

I found it necessary to lead a patrol with stretcher bearers to recover one of my boys who had been wounded sometime before, and who was in need of treatment. Percy would not think of leaving me behind. We found the man but the Germans had surrounded him with shrapnel mines, I presume they realised that they would try to recover him. A stretcher bearer, after giving aid, trod on a mine which exploded, causing the death of your husband and wounding two of us. 

I had the lives of the others to consider so I ordered them back whilst I tried to give Percy some help, but poor lad, he had gone – without pain and without knowing what had happened. He looked very peaceful, his job well done. I had him recovered the same day and he was given a Military funeral, although I regret that I was not present, being on my way to hospital.

Between and Officer and his Batman there develops a spirit of comradeship far above expression by words – we thought such a lot of each other, and I have grieved for him very much indeed. He was killed giving help to his comrades and myself, and all of the Company have missed him so much.

His determination to make sure that I was not left unprotected at any time caused him to be killed.

He volunteered to join me that morning and was somewhat grieved, his words were “You are not going anywhere without me, are you Sir?” He always said, that to remain behind and wonder what was happening to me, was worse than accompanying me on the various excursions.

Above all my personal feelings, he was so very popular with his comrades. I am told that the whole Company were unbelievably depressed after the news had spread around, and each letter that I have had so far mentions how much they all miss Percy. They cannot miss him anymore than I do. His courage, devotion to duty, his cheerfulness, and his great personality endeared him to all our hearts, a sad loss.

Please forgive me for not writing before – I did hope that in the excitement of the battle that my diagnosis of his death might have been false and in fact he might be alive, I hoped so hard but to no avail.

I do hope that your loss has not proved to be unbearable. My wounds are confined to my left leg and I am managing to get around on crutches.

When I come to Lichfield I will endeavour to call and see you, if I may.

With best wishes for the future, and rest assured that your Husband will not be forgotten by

Yours sincerely,

B. Pearson. Major.'

To read these touching words from a man that I had previously written about in a book about my Grandfather’s service was something else and it was an absolute honour to be with John and Jan Clews as he paid tribute to the Father he never had the opportunity to know.

After the speech John laid the Association wreath at the Cross of sacrifice.

Wreath laying at the Bayeux Military Cemetery Cross of Sacrifice.

59th (Staffordshire) Division Association memorial wreath.

Later we paid a visit to the small but highly poignant Museum to the men of the 59th (Staffordshire) Division in Thury. Here there can be found a photograph of Percy Clews.

Private Percy Clews (Killed in action 10th August 1944)

'C' Company 5th South Staffordshire Regiment.

The incription on his headstone reads:

“MY DARLING HUSBAND PERCY. LOVE STILL LIVES IN TREASURED MEMORIES. WIFE MEG AND SON”

Memorial to Percy Clews in the 59th (Staffordshire) Division Museum

Thury Harcourt.

A Small Act of Remembrance - Normandy 2019

Two weeks ago it was my good fortune to be able to travel to Normandy with members of the 59th (Staffordshire) Division Association on a pilgrimage of Remembrance that formed part of the 75th anniversary commemorations of the D-Day landings.

My Grandfather, Jim Heath, was born in Silverdale, Newcastle-under-Lyme in September 1914. Although he left The Potteries in 1936 to join his older brothers who had found labouring work in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, soon after war came he travelled to Brighton to enlist. In January 1940 he joined the North Staffordshire Territorials and received instruction to report to Lichfield Infantry Training Centre where upon completion of his basic training he was transferred to ‘A’ Company of the 5th Battalion South Staffordshire Regiment. It was with the South Staffords, as part of 59th Division, that he sailed to Normandy as a follow-up Division in the third week of June 1944.

In our small travelling party were close family members (sons and nieces) laying wreaths at the graves of their relatives. But, my Grandfather came back. Nevertheless, I wanted an act of Remembrance of my own. With hundreds or even thousands of graves in each of the three British War Cemeteries that we visited I did some homework to find someone in each with whom I could say that there was a connection with my Grandfather (be it home town or fighting unit or as in this case). Some basic research on the Commonwealth War Grave Commission website threw up some worthy candidates. I picked one Private William Edwin Robinson, like my Grandfather a soldier of the 5th Battalion and of a similar age, separated by 12 months or so (in relative terms at 30 and 31 they were old within their ranks).

On 7th July 1944, the newly arrived troops of the 5th South Staffs looked on from their forming up positions directly north of Caen as Bomber Command sent in wave upon wave of Halifax and Lancaster bombers (467 aircraft all told) over the northern perimeter of the Norman capital. They dropped a combined payload of 2,560 tons of high explosive, incendiary and delayed action bombs. This action was controversial and still triggers passionate debate despite the passage of 75 years. The issue was that Bomber Command insisted upon a 6,000 yard distant safety margin forward of the British line. However, such was the close proximity of the two opposing forces that the raid only served to damage areas behind the German defences and the result was that the bombing gained very little strategic advantage. At best it provided a morale boost to the newly arrived Staffords about to experience combat for the first time.

The 5th South Staffs (of 177 Brigade) were to be held in reserve in front of the fortified village of Cambes-en-Plaine with a view to exploit any gains of 197 Brigade opposite Galmanche and 176 Brigade facing La Bijude, La Londe and Epron.

The 5th first went into action on the afternoon of the 8th July with an attack on the Chateau of Galmanche. In a baptism of blood and fire the 5th Battalion and the 2/6th Battalion suffered heavy losses. Private Robinson’s ‘D’ Company launched a further attack on the Chateau in the half light of evening but were forced to withdraw. A regrouped ‘D’ Company would renew the assault on the 9th.

The fighting on the 9th and 10th July* in which ‘D’ Company of the 5th Battalion were engaged is described within the Battalions War Diary. Where military abbreviations have been used I have added the meaning in brackets for ease of reading.

‘At 1915 hrs 9 July, orders were received for the Coy (Company) attack to be put in on GALMANCHE, an enemy stronghold which the 2/6 S. STAFFORDS had not been able to capture. A recce (reconnaissance) was carried out and a plan was made. A troop of tanks was given to the Coy to support this attack.

The Coy was brought up from the assembly positions and the attack was timed to go in at 2045 hrs. At 2040 hrs the tanks were withdrawn from the Coy, as they had to go and rejoin their Regt. As arranged the attack went in, 16 Pl (Platoon) right, followed by 17 Pl who were detailed to carry out the thorough clearing of the buildings. The final objective was a row of trees some 400 yards from the start line.

The Coy advanced about 200 yards before it was opened up on by 6 or 8 M.G.s (machine guns) firing from either flank – the fire from these M.G.s was held until such time as the nearest M.G.s were firing almost into the rear of the Coy, thereby hemming them in. The enemy M.G.s fire was so fierce, that it was impossible for the Coy to advance further., although some men from 16 Pl actually reached the objective – they were however so few in numbers that they were unable to hold it.

17 and 18 Pls made desperate efforts to enter and clear the buildings, and under the leadership of Lieut L.A Stilling and Lieut T.H. Dando they succeeded in killing several Germans. Fierce fighting continued in the area of the buildings and adjoining orchard, until the enemy fire made it necessary for both the Pls to be withdrawn to the line of the hedgerow some 50 yards from the main buildings. Meantime the remainder of 16 Pl and Coy HQ were pinned to the ground by strong enemy fire from the left and from M.G.s sited in the upper rooms of the house. As it was by this time impossible to advance further, the only alternative was to remain under cover till dark, when it would be possible to withdraw the Coy. At approx. 2315 hrs the Coy was withdrawn, after having been more or less under continual heavy fire for almost 2 ½ hours.

During the clearing of the house excellent leadership was shown by 3770737 Pte (Private) Robinson, who after destroying an enemy M.G. continued to organise parties of men to try and clear the house. The Coy having been withdrawn, it was found that 5 men had been killed and 16 wounded, Lieut L.E. Hall, Comdr (Commander) 16 Pl had also been wounded.

During the night the Coy was reorganised and preparations were made for a further attack the following morning, this time two troops of tanks and on troop of AVREs (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) were in support.

The attack was starting at 1015 hrs and right away the tanks almost completely destroyed the buildings – the Coy advanced with 17 Pl left, 18 Pl right and 16 Pl following 18 Pl to carry out the clearing of the buildings. On this occasion the attack was successful, the objective taken and held until orders were received to rejoin the Battalion. One man was wounded’.

*As one would expect the account included the above quoted Appendix tallies with the information in the body of the War Diary itself in all but one detail. The Annex states that the fighting took place over the 9th to 10th when in fact the battle was fought over the 8th and 9th July, with the 10th occupied by weapons and equipment salvage and burial of the dead.

An aerial reconnaissance photograph of the Chateau and its grounds exists. It is clear even to the non-expert eye the extensive efforts that the SS had made in an attempt to make this stronghold impregnable.

The fortified village of Galmanche ahead of the 59th Division attack.

Today, Galmanche is a remote hamlet. The Chateau has been rebuilt, albeit on a more modest scale. The uninformed visitor would hardly know that anything had happened during the war in this place. Even to those in the know the clues are subtle. If approaching the new building along its extensive drive two of the outer walls of the original Chateau can be seen. Close examination reveals a great many pock marks left by bullets and scars gouged into the masonry by shells. At the top of the driveway almost hidden from view is a memorial to the men of the 59th who gave their lives in the struggle to capture Galmanche.

The battle scarred outer wall of the original Chateau that was destroyed on 9th July 1944.

The memorial to the 59th at Galmanche

(one of the hardest momuments to find in the whole of Normandy).

Our Private Robinson survived the battle and for his leadership of men on 8th July he received the Military Medal.

The citation reads as follows:

‘Pte Robinson took part in “D” Coy attack on the strong enemy posn (position) of GALMANCHE on the evening of 8th Jul 44. His Pl was detailed to clear buildings in which were several enemy machine guns. Several of his section were either killed or wounded, but in the face of heavy enemy fire, Pte Robinson went forward alone with a Bren gun and destroyed one enemy post. He then re-organised his section and continued the attack. Throughout the attack his gallant actions and powers of leadership were an inspiration to his comrades.’

The citation is signed by B.L. Montgomery Commander-in-Chief, 21 Army Group.

The recommendation for the award was initiated on 12th July; just four days after the events took place. However, the passage of the recommendation up the established chain of command was slow such that by the time that Monty added his signature, then Corporal Robinson’s war was over. The Military Medal was awarded posthumously on 19th October 1944.

Corporal William Edwin Robinson was killed on 9th August 1944. He was 31 years old. At that time 176 Brigade had forced a crossing over the River Orne to form a bridgehead opposite the Forêt de Grimbosq. At the same time the 5th battalion with 177 brigade were further to the south fighting for the successive ridges of high ground that approached the river and overlooked the town of Thury Harcourt. It is likely that he fell in this fighting that aimed to hold up German troops and armour and prevent them from turning their attention on the fragile bridgehead at Grimbosq.

In the oppressive heat (37°C in Bayeux) that scorched France on the weekend of our visit, I located the plot and placed a Royal British Legion cross at the grave.

William was son of Emily Duncalf and husband of Annie Robinson, both of Liverpool. His grave bears the inscription ‘A Foreign Grave is a Painful Thing Where Loving Hands No Flowers Can Bring ’.

‘When you go Home, tell them of us and say, For your Tomorrow, we gave our Today’.