Hull in the Second World War | D-Day 1944 front page
It became known as The Longest Day. The invasion of occupied Europe by the Allied forces on D-Day, June 6, 1944, proved to be one of the most important dates in history.
From the early hours of the morning until the day ended, the largest invasion force in history descended on the coastline of Normandy. By the close of the day, thousands of men lay dead with many more wounded.
But the success of the operation was not in doubt. The Allies had secured a foothold in Europe and Nazi Germany, now fighting a war on three fronts – in Eastern Europe, Italy and now France – was doomed.
But for the men who landed in Normandy that day, months of bitter, bloody fighting lay ahead. And at the vanguard were the men of the East Yorkshire Regiment.
Their war would last another 11 months and take them through the hedgerows of France to the lowlands of Belgium and into the Netherlands before finally pushing into Germany itself.
In less than a year, the East Yorkshire Regiment picked up 16 battle honours. Those battles are listed here:
NORMANDY LANDINGS
THE East Yorkshire Regiment was the only unit to send two battalions – the 2nd and the 5th – into action on D-Day.
After being lowered onto landing craft from the warships Empire Battleaxe and HMS Glenearn, in the English Channel, the men of 2nd Battalion East Yorks set off on the seven-mile journey to take up the left flank of Sword Beach.
They landed at 7.35am on the very eastern flank of the invasion, encountering heavy mortar, machine gun and artillery fire.
Backed by tanks, they forced their way off the beach, targeting German strong points inland.
After sporadic fighting through the day, they rested for the night in a cornfield about two miles inland.
By the end of the day, the East Yorks had lost five officers and 60 men, and four officers and 137 men were wounded.
The 5th Battalion was put down on the left flank of Gold Beach, further up the Normandy coast. They landed in about 4ft of water, according to reports.
A German anti-tank gun at La Rivière survived naval bombardments virtually intact. The defenders also had machine gun posts in the houses and were firing from the sea-wall.
The battalion suffered heavy losses in the assault. Ten officers became casualties, while about 85 other ranks were killed on the beaches.
Despite this, the battalion pushed on to secure its objectives and ended the day about five miles inland, having captured the villages of Villiers-le-Sec and Saint-Gabriel-Brécy.
TILLY-SUR-SEULLES
BY THE evening of D-Day, German tank units had started to form a ring of steel around the city of Caen, the primary target for the British invasion task force.
Hopes that the Allies could break through quickly to the ancient city were abandoned in the face of fierce opposition. The British commander, Field Marshall Bernard Montgomery, launched a series of offensives to try to flank the city from the west.
The East Yorks took part in this attack but were among those brought to a standstill outside Tilly-sur-Seulles on June 9 by German armour. The town was reduced to rubble during the fighting and took ten days to capture.
ODON
NOW engaged in a bitter battle to take small pockets of territory surrounding Caen, Montgomery again tried an assault to take the city, lasting from June 26 to 30, in which the East Yorks took part.
The battle of Odon, also known as Operation Epsom, was a major attack by thousands of British and Canadian troops and tanks to the west of Caen.
After six days of fierce fighting, the Allies had made little ground but had worn down the German defenders and achieved a decisive tactical victory.
CAEN
IN THE second week of July, the British finally made a breakthrough into the now devastated city of Caen and managed to occupy northern regions of the city.
The East Yorkshire Regiment took part in the continuing assault, which finally led to the city's capture from the Germans and liberation on July 18.
BOURGUÉBUS RIDGE
ALSO known as Operation Goodwood, the attack on Bourguébus Ridge took place between July 18 and 20, when three armoured divisions, including elements from the East Yorks, launched a major attack aimed at driving the remaining German forces around Caen back and seizing the German-held Bourguébus Ridge.
TROARN
AFTER the heavy fighting in and around Caen, the East Yorks were moved west towards the town of Troarn, at the edge of the British lines.
Continuous rain bogged down any advances and troops were forced to dig trenches as protection from intense shelling and mortar fire.
Here the troops were also subjected to fire from multi-barrelled mortars called Nebelwerfers and nicknamed "Moaning Minnies".
When the rain lifted, the soldiers were faced with fighting through thick hedges and woods. The Allies were limited to armed reconnaissance as they tried to inch forward.
MONT PINÇON
IN EARLY August, the British advanced as far as Le Mont Pinçon, a 400m hill and a key German defensive point in Normandy.
At midday on August 6, the British, including the East Yorks, attacked. Despite a fierce defence, tanks broke through the German lines and reached the top of the hill by mid-afternoon.
ST-PIERRE-LA-VIELLE
CONTINUING their advance inland, the East Yorks helped liberate the small town of St-Pierre-la-Vielle, on August 11 and 12, after heavy fighting.
This would be the regiment's last major action in France before the offensives into Belgium and Holland four weeks later.
GEEL
ONE of the largest and most costly battles in the liberation of Belgium took place at the city of Geel, from September 8 to 24, with the 5th Battalion the East Yorks being involved.
Fighting took place on the Albert Canal and the city itself changed hands twice before the British finally overcame the stubborn German armoured defence.
British losses were estimated at 2,000 dead, wounded or captured, with the Germans suffering 2,500 dead, wounded or captured.
At least 130 civilians also died during the fighting.
NEDERRIJN
THE East Yorks now took part in the rapid advance through Holland as part of Montgomery's grand Market Garden operation, which was designed to burst through German lines and reach the Rhine and German frontier east of the Netherlands.
The East Yorks were among those who fought their way up through the Netherlands, trying to link up with bridges captured by British and American airborne soldiers.
They reached the outskirts of Arnhem in the eastern Netherlands but were too late to save the heroic Parachute Regiment soldiers who had been trapped for days fighting overwhelming German forces in a battle that was immortalised in the 1977 film, A Bridge Too Far.
AAM
THE Allies now faced a fierce counter-attack, ordered by Hitler, on the bridges seized by the airborne troops during Market Garden.
At the tiny hamlet of scattered farm buildings called Aam, in late September and early October, the East Yorks were part of an Allied group that withheld a furious assault by German tanks and artillery designed to recapture the bridges.
After heavy casualties on both sides, the Germans withdrew.
VENRAY
THE Battle of Venray took place in late October, 1944, as the Allies tried to move forward from their stalled positions in the Netherlands and towards the Rhine.
The town of Venray was finally liberated after a fierce tank battle between British and German armoured units around the village of Overloon.
The subsequent advance on Venray resulted in heavy losses, especially around a flooded small river that was swollen after heavy autumn rains and mined by the Germans.
The village of Overloon was destroyed in the fighting and about 2,500 soldiers were killed, making it one of the bloodiest battles in the Netherlands during the Second World War.
RHINELAND
THE East Yorks crossed the Rhine following the huge Operation Varsity airborne and river assault on March 24, 1945, which saw the Allies finally invade Germany, almost ten months after D-Day.
SCHADENHOF
NOW in Germany, the 2nd East Yorks were ordered to advance and secure a key bridge in the wooded area east of Weeze in late February, 1945, in an area of farm buildings known as Schadenhof.
What seemed like a simple assault turned into a bloody battle, with determined German defenders having to be attacked with flame-throwers. The East Yorks managed to secure the bridge before the Germans could set off demolition charges.
The soldiers then dug in as the Germans launched a series of counter-attacks.
In an increasingly desperate fight, the East Yorks ammunition started to run out and German soldiers began to reach the bridge.
Fighting carried on into the night and, at about 3am, the bridge was completely surrounded by the Germans.
But, finally rearmed, the British artillery started to fire on the attackers and a relief squad from the Royal Welsh Fusiliers reached the bridge at 9am to help drive off the Germans. The bridge was christened "The Yorkshire Bridge" after the battle.
BRINKUM
ON THE outskirts of Bremen, the East Yorks fought some of their final engagements, with sporadic German units still holding out on the outskirts of the city.
The village of Brinkum was taken on April 21 after heavy fighting.
BREMEN
THE East Yorkshire Regiment's final combat of the war took place as they entered the German port of Bremen in the last week of April and fought in the rubble of the destroyed port.
The city's Nazi commanders had refused to surrender, despite the imminent collapse of Germany and, in spite of an Allied ceasefire, they refused to evacuate the 300,000 citizens.
A final bombardment and assault brought the battle to a close and, 11 months after landing in Normandy, for the men of the East Yorks, the war was finally over.
