Dozulé (Calvados)
The cities of Normandy during the 1944 battles
- Liberation: 21 August 1944
- Deployed units:
No. 41 (Royal Marine) Commando, 4th Special Service Brigade, 6th Airborne Division
No. 48 (Royal Marine) Commando, 4th Special Service Brigade, 6th Airborne Division
7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion, 5th Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Division
13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion, 5th Parachute Brigade, 6th Airborne Division
346. Infanterie-Division
Infanterie-Regiment 744, 711. Infanterie-Division
- History:
In the early hours of June 6, 1944, a British Horsa glider landed by mistake between Dozulé and Angerville. Its occupants, belonging to the 6th Airlanding Brigade, had to walk to the Ranville sector. Joined by British paratroopers, they reached Dozulé around 10:00 a.m. and engaged two German vehicles, shooting down their occupants before continuing their journey towards Bavent. Others, less fortunate, were taken prisoner by the Germans belonging to the 711th Infantry Division.
Several pilots, paratroopers, and airlifted soldiers were hidden by the locals while waiting to return to their lines: among them British, Canadians, and Americans. Some were sheltered by the locals, others took refuge in the Dozulé forest, where they received food brought by the Dozulé residents. A group of eighteen Allied soldiers was discovered by the Germans in June, shortly after the landings, following a tip-off. They were taken prisoner, along with the man who was hiding them, Eugène Postel. Escorted to the girls’ school, the ammunition bag they were carrying was emptied by a German: a grenade triggered a powerful explosion, detonating all the explosives and injuring several occupants. The local population came to their aid, and in response, the Germans released the civilians who were being held captive or interrogated.
In mid-August 1944, the Germans organized their defense by relying on the southern heights of Dozulé, which dominated the sector and prevented the paratroopers of the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion from crossing the road connecting Caen to Pont-l’Évêque, whose rare bridges spanning the marshes near Goustranville were observed and within gun range. The fighters of the 711th Infantry Division also received support from the 346th Infantry Division (ID), previously in charge of the Le Havre region and which, at this time, was spread between Troarn to the north and Airan to the south. The headquarters of the 346th Infantry Division, commanded by Generalleutenant Erich Diestel, took up position on the slopes of the hill overlooking Beuvron-en-Auge, near the place known as Les Forges de Clermont.
General Gale’s 6th Airborne Division prepared the assault aimed at capturing these various ground movements, ensuring the capture of Dozulé and the continuation of operations to the east. To this end, he placed the 1st and 4th Special Service Brigades (SSB) on alert. While the paratroopers of the 5th Parachute Brigade were tasked with securing the road between Goustranville and Dozulé, No. 46 Commando of the 1st SSB was to seize the high ground north of Dozulé, in the municipalities of Cricqueville-en-Auge and Grangues. No. 48 Commando (4th SSB) was directed towards the southern high ground, particularly Hill 120 of Mont Ménard (a major achievement of General Gale’s), to reach Angerville at the end of the movement and thus cut off the German retreat by occupying the road between Dozulé and Annebault.
On the night of August 20, under cover of darkness and making discretion their absolute priority, No. 48 Commando under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel James Moulton launched an assault on the steep slopes, where the attackers were quickly caught under fire from German small arms and mortars from the 731st and 744th Infantry Regiments (711th Infantry Division). At 7:30 a.m. only, the British seized the hill marked 140, near the place called Clermont, forcing the headquarters of the 346th ID to seek a new position in the direction of Repentigny.
The engagement of No. 41 Commando in support of Lieutenant-Colonel Moulton’s men enabled No. 48 Commando to reach Mont Ménard, overlooking Saint-Léger-Dubosq, around 8:00 p.m. Meanwhile, west of Dozulé, the paratroopers of the 13th (Lancashire) Parachute Battalion were relieving the positions held by the 7th (Light Infantry) Parachute Battalion and preparing to continue their movement eastward. But shortly before 10:00 p.m., General Gale gave the order to postpone the capture of Dozulé until the following morning: no movement was to be made after 10:30 p.m., at the risk of incurring friendly fire. With the securing of Mont Ménard having achieved the 6th Airborne Division’s major impact, there was no longer any valid reason to rush the offensive in the dark.
Throughout the night, despite the pouring rain, German and Allied shells set fire to Dozulé, not to mention the possible voluntary action of its defenders.
On August 21, starting at 4:30 a.m., No. 41 and No. 48 Commandos launched a coordinated assault from the southern heights of the village and easily captured the town, the ruins of which were still burning. The Germans had slipped away towards Annebault in the preceding hours; they were now content to harass the new British lines to prevent a general collapse of their defenses.
Map of Dozulé :
