30th April 1944
Panzergrenadier Regiment 304 are moved west for refitting of the division after being badly mauled in the hell of the Eastern Front. They are in Achicort in the Pas de Calais, south of Dunkirk close to the Belgian border and First World War battleground of Mons. The young mostly Austrian Panzergrenadier’s from the school years of 1925 – 1926 had been making the most of ‘the land of milk and honey’ of France. Kept on their toes by regular exercises the nightmare of the Eastern Front was becoming a bad memory.
Aided by trade with French locals for luxuries such as fresh eggs, cheese and cream, life had been good. Such a life can’t last forever, and the order came to move to the Amiens area to the south near the river Somme, to prepare for the threatened Allied invasion of Europe, believed at this time to be planned for Calais area. With practised efficiency - and some muttered grumbles - the move was made in good time.
Upon arrival the age-old soldierly belief of ‘any idiot can be uncomfortable’ was acted upon. In no time holes of up to 1.2 metres deep had been dug for protection for the Panzergrenadiers, and Zeltbahn tents where erected over the top of them. This offered the security of a dug position whist enabling the Grenadiers to stand comfortably - something normally impossible in a Zelt tent. Blankets laid upon hay and many other styles of improvised bedding were made up in the now comfortable Zeltbahn tents by the canny Panzergrenadiers. There were certainly worse ways of fighting a war. At the same time the armoured halftracks used for transport and deployment into battle were maintained, fuelled up and supplied with 2 extra jerry cans of fuel each ready to be moved at a moment’s notice.
Although a largely pleasant existence in Amiens, the war was never far away. The Panzergrenadiers are ordered to stand to in full combat kit between the hours of 18.00 and 22.00 and 04.00 and 08.00 every day and be ready to move into the fight at a moment’s notice…should the fight arrive. At this time an Allied attack or invasion was expected, and the men of the 304th had to be ready to move against enemy airborne forces with speed and aggression. So, no time could be wasted buckling those gaiters or getting that belt to sit right. Everyone stood to, twice a day, every day. As with everything else in military life, this soon became a routine case of ‘hurry up and wait.’ It would transpire the men of the 304 Panzergrenadier Regiment wouldn’t have to wait too long, after all.
6th June 1944
At 02.00 am a telephone buzzes insistently and is snatched from its cradle. No good news is ever found on the end of a phone at two in the morning. 2nd Panzer Division, of whom 304 Panzergrenadier Regiment are part, are told the bad news. The hammer has fallen. Confusion reigns. Wild rumours circulate, order and counter order sets the German armed forces communications infrastructure ablaze in the west. But it’s true - the invasion has begun with massed Anglo-American paratrooper assaults.
Are the Allies are trying to deflect German attention and counterattacks away from the obvious invasion route through the Pas de Calais? Or mounting a diversionary feint in Normandy, of all places? No matter. Forces are held in reserve until the true intent of the enemy becomes clear. Then both the main assault in Calais and the feint in Normandy will be dealt with.
The feeling among German armed forces personnel is the Allies have just set themselves up to experience the debacle of Dieppe all over again, but this time to the hundredfold. Apprehensive but quietly confident, the men of the 304th wait, they are ordered to remain in position at high alert ready to be moved at a moment’s notice. Under the brims of steel helmets, eyes scan the darkness. They must be ready for anything. Perhaps the French Resistance will capitalise on this moment to incite a general uprising?
8th June 1944
After a tense 48 hours in the Normandy area orders to move finally reach the 304 Panzergrenadier Regiment at 3.00 am. The first battalion of the 304, which was fully motorised, is moved to Vignacourt just to the north east of Amiens.
This motorised column attracts allied ‘Jabos’ like wasps to honey. ‘Jabo’ was an abbreviation of the German word Jagdbomber, meaning fighter bomber. Any and all Allied aircraft capable of ground attack were known as such among German soldiers. Although given extensive enemy aircraft recognition training and able to identify most types of Allied aircraft, no individual aircraft name such as ‘Thunderbolt’ or ‘Mustang’ would bring terror so quickly as a shout of ‘Jabo!’ Learning fast after being attacked more than once and the organisation of the column being disrupted, all movement was made slowly in an effort to avoid creating dust clouds. These were easily seen by Jabo pilots. Local terrain or woodland was used to hide as often as possible.
All vehicles were camouflaged with as much foliage as could be fastened to them until they resembled moving bushes. Eventually, in an effort to safeguard as many vehicles and personnel as possible from the seemingly limitless supply of Allied aircraft and munitions, the Regiment is separated into sections to travel. Vehicles are spaced to around 30 metres apart, resulting in a column stretching to just over 3 miles long.
9th June 1944
At 14.00 the division was ordered to move again, this time to the Caumont area. Organised chaos reigns, as tracked vehicles are moved towards Amiens railway station to be loaded onto trains, all under the now ever-present threat of attack from the air. In the end, eleven separate train convoys are needed to move the vehicles of the 2nd Panzer Division towards Paris. The rest of the division are separated into three marching groups, named K1, K2 and K3. 304 Panzergrenadier Regiment is part of marching group K3, along with Panzer Artillery Regiment 74, Pioneer Battalion 38 and Panzerjäger Abteilung 38. With many a nervous glance at the sky, men talk with friends and discuss the latest rumours surrounding the Allied attack on the coast as they march.
11th June 1944
Allied air superiority pays off. The marching groups are spotted by RAF aircraft near Se’es to the south-east of Normandy and harassed. However, losses by 2nd Panzer Division are reported to be low.
12th June 1944
In Paris, the trains carrying the tracked vehicles have started to arrive. They’ve been delayed much as the Allies intended following the protracted assaults from the air on the French transport infrastructure. The Paris rail line received special attention, being bombed thoroughly.
The US Army’s First Infantry Division - The Big Red One - strikes out eastwards and starts their assault on Caumont. It’s starting to appear as if the landing in Normandy could be more than a diversion, after all.
Reconnaissance elements of 2nd Panzer Division comprising the Sdkfz 222 - a four wheeled light armoured car armed with a turreted 20mm automatic cannon and the Sdkfz 232 ‘Puma. The Puma was a vehicle well suited to reconnaissance. Eight-wheeled, fast, manoeuvrable, and able to be driven as efficiently backwards thanks to a duplicate drivers’ position facing rearwards. This may have been a reconnaissance, but a reconnaissance with very sharp teeth. They set out in the direction of Caumont in an effort to link up with the 1st SS Panzer Corps.
The marching groups meanwhile are drastically slowed by having to move through heavily bombed areas - as was the Allied intention. To add to their difficulties, all movement is having to be done after 17.00 in an effort to hide from the dreaded Jabos. Despite their best efforts, sharp eyes on the part of Allied pilots result in several air attacks. Luckily, losses reported by 2nd Panzer Division are again reported to be low. Lessons learnt from the Soviets, well known for their mastery of camouflage, on the Eastern Front are paying off.
2nd Panzer Division are tasked with reinforcing a gap between Caumont and Tilly to check the US drive eastward and offer assistance to the Panzer Lehr division. Panzer Lehr had already felt the combined might of the Allied assault but had accounted well for themselves. Fighting with professionalism and resolve in an increasingly one-sided battle, they secured their place in history.
In addition to this, German forces around Caumont come under heavy bombardment from land-based artillery and heavy Allied Naval units sitting off the coast. An artillery bombardment was one thing but falling prey to the mighty guns of a battleship was an entirely new, and indescribably hellish, experience. Destruction on a previously unprecedented scale rained from the sky. Despite this, elements of 2nd Panzer 4/pz.a.a.2 Schulz move forward into the maelstrom of Caumont.
13th June 1944
A new day finds the main group of 2nd Panzer Division in the Se’es and Alencon area. Following the experiences of yesterday, units are told to move and hold the hill south of Caumont and waste no time in carrying out whatever repairs and maintenance they can manage on vehicles and weapons.
Other than this, the Panzergrenadiers spend the daylight hours hiding in fields, ditches, and local French houses to avoid the constant Allied air presence. Unable to respond in force, the Luftwaffe were outnumbered, outgunned and under-supplied. Allied pilots had free reign and attacked anything suspected to be German. Even walking across a field to relieve yourself could be a death sentence for you and your comrades if spotted. Despite this overwhelming air superiority, the Allies don’t have it all their own way. A 2nd Panzer Division Flak gun claims a kill and downs an Allied aircraft near Se’es.
304 then move in Northerly direction towards Briouze but had to change their plans and travel by a more circuitous route through Saint Charles de Percy and Bremony, finally reaching the hills South of Caumont at around midnight.
We believe the 304 Panzergrenadier Regiment are ordered to move towards Tilly to support the left flank of the well-blooded Panzer Lehr Division counter the British.
304's 1st battalion are seen on historical maps at St pierre du Fresne and Canteloup.
304’s 2nd battalion to the south east of Caumont. They used a water tower for spotting.
Elements of Second Panzer Division, comprising around two companies of infantry of the 2nd regiment, and five to six tanks clashes with 26th Infantry Regiment of the 1st U.S Infantry Division (Big Red One) during the night as they try to hold Caumont. In a confusing fight, two opposing yet equally well regarded and professional fighting forces grapple in the darkness. The difference between life and death hinges on a soldier’s ability to tell friend from foe in a split second in darkness lit only by muzzle flashes.
After giving their all, some men of the 304 Panzergrenadier Regiment lay down their weapons with their honour intact. The First prisoners of war from 304 Panzergrenadier Regiment are recorded by the British on the road to Cahagnes in Briquessard June the 13th at 8 pm. After being searched for any material of intelligence value, these men will be removed from the combat zone and cross the channels on Allied transport ships. They will spend the rest of the war in internment.
Late at night on the 13th June to early morning of the 14 June, a tough decision has to be made. Hold Caumont and the surrounding area and risk being encircled by the Allied juggernaut, or fall back to fight another day? Illuminated by the blazing town, German forces start to pull out of Caumont. The French idyll has been shattered. In a scene straight from Hell, the whole town is ablaze and reduced to rubble and gutted shells of buildings. German troops leave the inferno behind them, shocked, exhausted, but their will to resist unbroken.
14th June 1944
After the nightmarish scenes of the retreat from Caumont, precious rest is snatched wherever it can be found. But the reprieve doesn’t last long. Soldiers’ rations are consumed, and cigarettes are smoked. Everyone is running on adrenaline, which spikes when at 07.30 am, 304’s Second Battalion are ordered to re-launch a frontal attack in the Amaye’ sector and contribute to the fighting around Le Temple to re-take Briquessard.
304 are accompanied by a Waffen-SS Panzer Abteilung, which included the formidable Tiger tanks. The objective of this assault is ‘divide and conquer’ - to cut the road between the British and Americans at Caumont and isolate these mutually supporting elements.
The attack goes ahead with aggression and zeal, and the men of the 304th push themselves once more past fatigue and fear and close with the enemy. Despite this, Allied superiority in men and firepower begins to tip the scale. The Waffen-SS lose Tiger number 104, knocked out during this battle at le Quesnay. the monster tanks are formidable, but not invulnerable. Also, American artillery stationed to the north of Caumont rapidly rains accurate fire onto the attacking German forces, disrupting the attack.
However, it was far from an easy ride on the Allied side. Proof, if any were needed, that the German forces were capable of conducting a flexible, aggressive, and pragmatic defence was soon forthcoming. The British 8th Hussars B Squadron headquarters was hit by accurate German mortar fire, wounding a Major Dunne, and killing Lieutenant May. Although outnumbered and outgunned, the German forces were demonstrating not only high levels of aggression but an ability to select the most damaging places to apply it.
Fighting continues all day, with determined German attack being repelled after 16 hours of fighting, around 23.00 that night. For Allied troops, this was a bitter taste of resistance to come. The 5th Company of Panzer Grenadier Regiment 2 is completely destroyed by British Artillery in Haut de Saint Louet at around 22.30 that night in a maelstrom of steel. Two Panzergrenadiers from the 304th are luckier and are taken prisoner between Cahagnes and Briquessard. 2nd Panzer Division decides to relocate its command post to Bre’moy. The 304 Panzergrenadier regiment do likewise, and its command post is moved to Luny le Chateau.
Fighting continues sporadically in this area (until 18 June) and takes a heavy toll on both sides. Records are hazy due to the fast and disjointed nature of this combat, but British forces claim to have killed 600 German Grenadiers as they tried to assault in the direction of Briquessard. This is possibly an unrealistic or inflated number, but we can say that German losses ran into several hundred. 8 German tanks were also lost. German industry was strained but the vehicles could be replaced. The fathers, sons, husbands, and brothers among the fallen could not.
The front line on this day which transpired to be so costly in blood is currently between La Lande-sur-Drôme and Coulvain. This front line was now starting to bend as the Allies pushed inwards, capitalising on the German withdrawal from Caumont. However, two thrusts outward into Allied territory have been bought and paid for by the fighting ability of the German soldier and the dead comrades he left behind. Some isolated elements of the 304 Panzergrenadier Regiment are still well forward in reconnaissance outside of Cahagnes.
Despite the heavy price paid the objective of this attack has failed, and British from the 7th Armoured Division start to link up with the American First Infantry Division at Caumont.
15th June 1944
German lines start to stabilize. The British 7th armoured division pulling back from heavy fighting to catch their breath, but this area will remain a heavily contested hot zone.
A fallschirmjager division is stationed to second panzer divisions left flank and panzer lehr division on its right flank.
7th armoured division attack Quesnay.
6th kompanie 304 regiment, panzerjager regiment 3.38 and pz. kpfw iv ii/pz. Rgt.130 are defending Quesnay along with support from a tiger from 1st ss pz abt. 101
304 position infantry assault guns 15cm in the village of Temple and on the hills near Craham to cover an attack on Quesnay and a push towards Briquessard planed for the 16th of June. exchanges take place with British reconnaissance units. Members of 304 reg follow the British withdraw from around Anctoville. northwest from Villers bocage. Assisted by 4 x panzer 4s from panzer regiment 130. But turn back around 3;00 pm after being spotted by aircraft.
16th June 1944
The pressure stays on. Continuous night fighting and three large British attacks are made in the direction of Caagnes, supported by an American push towards Torigny. There’s no reprieve to be had by day as Axis units are continually harassed by RAF Typhoon fighter-bombers. the village of Temple is also shelled by the Allies.
Reaching their limit and unable to further offer realistic resistance, 6th kompanie Panzergrenadier Regiment 304 lay down their arms and surrender the 5th Royal Tank Regiment and 16th Queens.
In the evening the Germans prove they still have some fight left in them yet, and make another large push towards Briquessard.
However, the Panzer Division is - inevitably - starting to weaken. A push on a broad front is currently impossible, so a few localised assaults are carried out. A further push was attempted towards Caumont, but the Division is further weakened by accurate Allied mortar and artillery fire. Despite this, incredibly, gains are made. The Division attacks Allied observation positions - responsible for calling in the artillery and mortar fire which have taken such a heavy toll - and retakes the hills south of Caumont by the dawn of the 17th June with a combined action from Vacquerie, Quesnay and Briquessard.
17th June 1944
Time is spent this morning further developing camouflage techniques for men and vehicles for the coming days operation. Allied air superiority had now become an unalterable fact of life, and camouflage and concealment meant a chance of survival. To be seen from the air was tantamount to certain death.
Both battalions of Panzergrenadier Regiment 304 attack the positions of 1/6 Queens in the du Quesnay / Briquessard sectors in the direction of Caumont. The left flank of 304 has 5 PAK 40’s (Panzer Abwehr Kanone - German anti-tank gun) in a Panzerjäger company closely following and supporting the Panzergrenadiers. They also received cover fire from Panzer Artillery Regiment 74, stationed on the hills south of Caumont.
Bitter house to house fighting took place in the Southern part of Le Quesinay for a solid hour, the German forces finally driving the British back to the northern half of the town.
During this action, 9 members of 304 are reported killed and 26 wounded.
Opposing 304’s assault were the 8th Hussars and the Northumberland Fusiliers, who lost 5 Cromwell tanks, and British Lieutenant Colonel Forrester is injured by shrapnel. Once again, 304 seem to show an uncanny ability to home in on the enemy’s command element.
At around 13.00 after being detected by Allied aircraft Second Panzer Divisions Panzer Artillery Regiment is shelled, badly enough to force them to cease their artillery support of the attacking ground units. However, in the evening Second Panzer’s 2 artillery groups begin again to support 304s attack on Briquessard after overcoming the battering they took earlier in the day.
304 suffered heavy losses to cross the Briquessard - Caumont road and push towards Couvigny. Due to enemy bombing, artillery strikes and constant low-level attack from RAF Typhoons any advance soon became untenable. In addition to this, an Allied counterattack was mounted from the woods outside of Briquessard and from the direction of Caumont to further halt any German advance. Somehow, and in testament to their ability as soldiers, 304 managed to halt the counterattack despite no longer having nothing with which to oppose the British armour. Little can we imagine today the herculean reserves of will power shown by each Grenadier in a situation such as this. 304’s flank took heavy losses to the 7th and 8th kompanie when they were finally routed and forced to pull out of Quesnay.
Fighting had taken place almost uninterrupted since the 15th June. Survivors have remarked the smell of rotting corpses both of men and livestock hung heavy in the air, almost making breathing itself unbearable. Bloated cows lay dead in the fields. The dead fighting men of both sides - some little more than boys lay dead in their fox holes and in ditches. Broken machines of war lay abandoned, their burnt and blasted steel carcasses littering country roads, villages, and towns. The dead mean and machines bore silent witness, mute testament to the savagery of the fighting that took place.
18th June 1944
British forces press the advantage and scouts form the 1/7th Queens conduct patrols and are able to get extremely close to the German lines. They find farms and outbuildings eerily deserted.
German Pioneers have mined the area from the Torteval church to the road leading to Caumont and Caen. German mines proved lethal in Normandy, with some variants being made of wood or glass, and containing no metallic parts. This rendered them undetectable to metal detectors. anti-personnel blast mines are used and are triggered when the victim steps on them. Their primary purpose is to blow the victim's foot or leg off, disabling them. Injuring, rather than killing.
Bounding mines are also commonly used, having a small lifting charge that, when activated, launches the main body of the mine out of the ground before it detonates at around chest height. This produces a more lethal spray of shrapnel over a larger area. anti-tank mines are also planted, a type of land mine designed to damage or destroy vehicles including tanks and armoured fighting vehicles
Between 330 - 400 Panzergrenadiers from both regiment 304 and regiment 2 occupy the area around Saint Germain of Ectot and go to ground hoping to remain unseen. However, it’s not long before their presence is reported to the British by French civilians and the area bombed.
Despite this, once more the men on 304 Panzergrenadier Regiment are asked to somehow stop the Allied juggernaut.
With support from Jägdpanzer iv’s of the 3rd Panzerjäger Abteilung, the panzer grenadiers of 304 are tasked to keep fighting in the la temple. Artillery Regiment 74 bombard the heights in the area to deny the defenders the high ground, the gunners feverishly feeding shell after shell into the hungry gun breeches. The gun crews know only weigh of fire and area denial will spare the lives of their comrades making the push.
In the face of this ferocious attack the British 7th Armoured Division retreats to its previous defensive positions 1 kilometre north of Briquessard. The town of Quesinay was captured by the 2nd Battalion of 304 Panzergrenadier Regiment by the end of the day. Torteval was also taken, and contact was made with Panzer Lehr.
Once more the men of 304 had demonstrated adaptability, endurance, and a near super-human ability to absorb punishment. Not only this, they had then found the strength to mount an attack which was carried out with speed, professionalism, and aggression. A feat of arms truly deserving respect.
19th June 1944
Hedgerows and ditches have been now become improvised fighting positions with the addition of foxholes and trenches honeycombing the Saint Germain d’ectot area. This combined with skilful camouflage has rendered the German forces almost invisible from the air. Cables have been laid to enable field telephone communication between units, so they can remain hidden yet still communicate. No more are the German armed forces the uncontested masters of Europe, and the victories of the past have become a bittersweet memory. The men sustain themselves by taking milking and eating the wandering cows, displaced from local farms. German patrols also seek out food and supplies from the local houses and farms. Cream, butter, and sugar are all scavenged from the local towns. Once the uncontested military might of the German Army guaranteed men a certain standard of living. Now German soldiers must hide, and steal to fill hungry stomachs. relay drivers trying to bring food any supplies to the front lines are being harassed by typhoons. Slowing the process causing an increasingly desperate situation for the men trying to hold the lines.
20th June 1944
The RAF begin a series of incendiary based bombing attacks from the 20th to the 30th June in the Saint Germain d’ectot area. This is undertaken to weaken, harass and demoralise elements of the 304 regiment and 2 regiment still engaging the British. It is in the hope this will weaken the will to resist of the Panzergrenadiers. Despite this the men still held their ground.
22nd June 1944
On the evening of 22nd of June a large German supply convoy, carrying desperately needed supplies to the battle-worn troops of the 304th and 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiments is detected by the Allies, between the sectors of Saint Germain and Sept-Vents, and sparks another night of bitter nocturnal battle.
The German forces do start to receive reinforcements in the form of horse-drawn units from Feld-Ersatz Battalion 82. Horse-drawn units in the Heer were in fact the normality, not the rule. Despite possessing some of the most capable and feared fighting vehicles in the world at the time such as the Tiger and Panther tank - most transport in the German Army was actually horse-drawn.
These replacement men began taking the place of combat units at the front, as well as the Panthers from 2nd Panzer Division. Both seem to start taking the majority of the heavy fighting in this area from the 22nd. This traffic once spotted by the Allies is harassed by the British 1/5th Queens shelling the area.
23rd June 1944
304 and 2nd regiments are moved to reinforce the area around Saint-Germain. They are involved in continuous fighting with the British forces over the next few days, the battle-weary Panzergrenadiers are not involved in any more operations in June except holding the ground around Saint Germain and Sept-Vents.
29th June 1944
9 Kompanie of 304 Panzergrenadier Regiment are spotted by the Allies in the woods of Saint-Germain. Still determined to resist despite the overwhelming odds and the pounding these men have taken over the last few weeks, they have set up 20mm flak guns to offer continued resistance. Combined with 2nd Panzer Division Panther tanks which now shoulders the burden of most of the heavy fighting on this area. Once more, the German Army exhibits a skill set which will continue to plague the Allies up until the closing moments of the war - an almost uncanny ability to reorganise and continue to offer effective resistance when many an army in the same position would have been beaten twice over.