[John McGillivray]

When the first shells roared overhead and burst among the creeping enemy D Company, dazed at first after four hours' of continuous shelling, then comprehending, wanted to stand and cheer. The blasting fire crashed down at the outskirts of Buron. It routed the Germans. They could be seen running in all directions. The men of Sixteen Platoon, Murphy's, who had been captured, dived into the wheat as their captors went to ground, and escaped. But the S.S. fanatic guarding Murphy shot him, before he dove away like a scuttling rat, and the gallant officer died from his wound a few days later.

The guns poured it in and the Germans had had enough. He had been up against men who were better fighters and had persisted in attack because he had far superior numbers and every possible advantage. He was fighting men who had only small arms fire with which to defend themselves and once he had artillery fire coming at him he was finished. So the camouflaged creepers in the grain changed to scuttling fleeing losers. They got back into Buron as fast as they could go and kept right on through it. Twelve tanks came out and chased them, killing dozens with accurate fire. German tanks had vanished at first sound of artillery on the scene and the enemy were hounded back to Authie, dying in groups all over the field. Their losses were such that they could not organize another attack.

Comparative quiet settled down over the trenches of D Company. A tank rolled up with a load of ammunition but it dropped just one box before scurrying back to cover as the driver, seeing so many dead Germans about, felt that he was in an enemy position. As night fell Lt.-Col. Petch organized a relieving force, with a tank to accompany it, to bring D Company in, and the remnants of the battalion that had begun the day so confidently filed back to Les Buissons with Lt. Murphy and other wounded on the tank. The Novas were utterly weary but they had put up a wonderful fight against terrific odds and their day's work was of far-reaching consequence. The long hours had been filled with glorious personal achievement, with dogged resistance to overwhelming numbers. They had been brightened by countless acts of individual bravery, by the great courage of Captain Fraser and his men in the orchard at Authie. Now came the task of finding how many had survived the battle.

Some of the escapes were little short of incredible. Cpl. R. M. Harrison was driving the platoon commander of the point section that had advanced toward Franqueville, and when they were attacked many men were wounded. There was heavy fire from enemy tanks as well. Cpl. Harrison crawled out time and again and brought the wounded back to his carrier which he had parked at a low spot in the ground, then drove them back to safety despite the fact that the enemy tanks had already accounted for the rest of the carriers in his section. As soon as he had the wounded unloaded he started back again on another errand of mercy but by this time C Company had been over-run and many enemy tanks were about so that it was only by extreme good fortune that he was able to get back himself. He showed unusual courage, as did so many men of the Novas that day.

L/Cpl. J. E. Porter was No. 1 on a Bren gun team in Lt. Campbell's platoon. When near Authie he was wounded severely in the leg by shrapnel. He managed to crawl to a hedge and there was bandaged by a stretcher bearer from another company who told him to stay by the hedge until medical aid picked him up. But Porter saw the carriers going back to Buron and became alarmed. The shelling became very heavy. So he crawled to the road and was taken back by an artillery officer to C.S.M. Snooks of B Company who placed him, with three other wounded, in a carrier and so got him back to Les Buissons. The carriers had done excellent work in getting the wounded back, removing many of the Sherbrooke Fusiliers and Cameron Highlanders as well as North Novas. The carrier crews had suffered many casualties. Sgt. "Moose" Schurman who had taken the German officers out of the cellar in Buron, was killed in Authie when a shell struck a house in which he had taken temporary refuge. Pte. Jerry Willigar was killed when a shell struck his carrier, and Sgt. Don Baillie was wounded so badly that he died a few days later. After being wounded Baillie asked for a rifle. He said he had been too badly wounded to be removed and would hold off the enemy as long as possible.

Lt. MacDonald's mortar men had acquitted themselves well. They had first dug in back of D Company with o-pips in the big ditch, and had brought down indirect fire forward of A and B Companies. As the battle increased the firing was directed on Buron and it was then that Lt MacDonald heard Major Rhodenizer's voice on the 18 set, saying his men were surrounded and fighting, and needed help. Soon the Germans could be seen emerging from Buron and Sgt. MacLeod of the mortars fired on them with a German machine gun he had picked up at Buron. The tank battle was raging all around and MacDonald wondered what was to happen. Then Sgt. Wilson, his second-in-command, told him the mortar ammunition was expended so the platoon was ordered back to Les Buissons. On reaching there they were supplied with shells by the Glens and at once laid down a heavy fire on the front of D Company's position which they maintained vigorously while the action lasted.

Lt. Sutherland and men who were with him was the first to get back from Authie. Then Sgt. Paynter came in with more. Lt. Bob Graves got back with a handful from his platoon. About thirty-five got back from A and C Companies, with an officer and sergeant from each. B Company came in sixty strong with Lts. Brown and Grieves. D Company could muster seventy of all ranks. Seventy-four men had been killed and seventeen of the number were N.C.O's. Most of them had proved to be excellent leaders. Some had shown great courage as did Sgt. Jimmy McInnis of D Company who stayed at Buron to the finish and was last seen with both pistols blazing, surrounded by German dead. Thirty of all ranks had been wounded and evacuated. Twenty-one more had been wounded and had to be left behind to be taken prisoner. One hundred and five others had been captured as the weight of two battalions of German infantry and squadrons of Panzers fought to beat down the company in the Authie orchard and another company on the open ground south of Authie, aided by unlimited artillery and mortars. Kurt Meyer's Panzer troops were supposed to be invincible. Meyer said he had fifty tanks at his disposal that June 7th but blamed his losses on a lack of petrol. Feuchtinzer, commanding the 21st Panzers in Caen, said that Meyer's excuse was a lie, that he had had plenty of petrol and that Meyer had assured him that the English, the "kleine fische," would be driven to the sea. The fighting qualities of one Canadian battalion, minus artillery, had given the lie to that boast.

Much was written about the feat of the North Novas and their story will live. The gist of all that war correspondents and others said was that the determined thrust of the Novas took them deeper into Normandy during the first hours of the invasion than any other unit on their front, a brilliant epic of Canadian fighting in France. That the Novas had pushed to within a short distance of their objective, entirely unsupported, had fought off the first tank-supported and determined counter-attack delivered against the Canadians, that the Novas were machine-gunned, mortared, shelled and attacked by German tanks in great numbers, were pressed by more than twice their number of fanatical S.S. troops clad in camouflage, and that after wrecking every attempt made to break through them, the Novas were withdrawn to positions around Les Buissons where they formed a solid front with the sister battalions of their brigade—the Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry Highlanders, and the Highland Light Infantry of Canada. The Germans had absorbed so much punishment that they contented themselves thereafter in that sector with mortar and shell bombardments of the Canadian position.

Strangely, the Anti-Tank Platoon had escaped without a casualty. Two sections had been riding with the vanguard. One was to drop off at Buron and remain until the last of the brigade had passed, and another section was to do the same at the crossroads beyond Authie. The two sections were in position for some time between Buron and Les Buissons and it was there that Sgt Martin did such good work. When word came for the withdrawal to Les Buissons one of the anti-tank carriers had a track blown off and a mortar carrier brought back the gun and crew. The mishap to the carrier was the first and only loss of the day, and Lt Murray Leaman was quite proud of the showing of his men.

Everyone dug in well but the position at Les Buissons was very crowded. More tanks and guns had arrived and the congestion was great. More anti-tank guns, too, had arrived. However the tanks left in the morning and there was more room as the battalion got organized. The anti-tank guns were dug in after filling in places left by the tanks. The mortars were dug in in the defence perimeter immediately behind BHQ and during the cool and quiet morning a much-needed rest was had by all members of the unit. The losses had been heavy.

Captain F. C. Fraser, Lt. J. H. Langley, Captain H. G. Longley, Sgts. J. A. McInnis and L. O. Schurman, Cpls. G. T. Holm, J. F. Maclntyre, F. F. MacKenzie, W. L. McKinnon, G. L. O'Leary and T. M. Riggs, L/Cpls. J. F. Arseneault, J. R. Arseneault, H. W. Bailey, R. N. MacMillan, J. B. Murray, D. S. Orford, H. J. Penney, S. U. Swallow, and C. A. Tolson, and Ptes. A. B. Barrett, O. J. Beaudoin, O. J. Bellefontaine, F. U. Bigelow, L. Brown, H. T. Carter, C. J. Casey, D. T. Clattenburg, M. J. Coldwell, I. L. Crowe, F. Dalling, F. Daries, J. J. David, A. Dennis, J. E. A. Deveau, W. M. Doherty, C. Doucette, L. A. Fleet, A. H. Gallant, S. Gosse, J. D. Hargreaves, L. W. Izzard, G. E. Jordan, A. Julian, R. Keeping, A. N. Levy, C. J. MacDonald, E. MacDonald, H. A. MacDonald, J. W. MacKinnon, G. R. MacPherson, R. N. MacRae, W. J. McGinnis, H. L. McKeil, C. S. McKenzie, G. R. McNaughton, J. Metcalfe, G. E. Millar, T. E. Mont, R. Moore, J. A. Moss, G. Muntion, W. Nichol, E. O'Hanley, R. E. Pearson, J. E. Reynolds, C. Riggs, H. M. Shirton, J. S. Webster, G. Westtake, J. P. Williams, G. R. S. Willigar, G. Wilson and A. W. Wright were killed. Lt. H. E. Murphy and Sgt. Don Baillie died later of wounds.

Major J. W. Douglas, Captain D. L. Clarke, Cpls. W. E. Fullerton, A. R. Mac-Intyre, G. L. Sceeles and L. D. Wigmore, L/Cpls. G. Fougere, W. L. MacKay, J. E. Porter, Ptes. F. E. Avery, E. Clarke, G. T. Elgie, J. Hall, R. E. Hanebury, W. K. Hyatt, B. S. James, A. E. V. Knapper, E. A. Lane, N. J. LeBlanc, J. B. MacCormack, E. D. Mack, R. D. Matthews, H. B. Messereau, J. Reid, J. A. Rice, G. P. Scoville, W. L. Simpson, G. G. Weatherby and A. L. Glennie were wounded and evacuated.

Sgts. S. Dudka and C. B. Morris, Cpl. C. O. Gourley and Ptes. F. N. Aucoin, A. J. Campbell, P. J. Diggins, R. L. Dunn, A. F. Fisher, D. B, Gordon, G. A. Laforet, J. M. Macdonald, R. J. U. Masse, P. F. McConnell, J. McNeil, D. W. Melanson, E. Peters, H. W. Pyke, R. J. Richards, S. A. Sampson, M. S. Sweeney and M. G. Whitehead were wounded and, not evacuated, were taken prisoner.

Maj. J. D. Learment, Maj. L. M. Rhodenizer, Capt. J. A. Trainor, Lts. S. F. Campbell, G. A. P. Smith, J. M. Veness and J. L. Fairweather, C.S.M. R. Adair, C.S. M. J. A. Mackey, Sgts. G. R. M. Higgins and A. M. Walters, Cpls. S. R. Bell, J. R. B. Campbell, E. H. MacCallum, L/Cpls. T. F. Buck-ley, F. S. Carter, P. T. Griffin, T. G. Humphrey, B. E. R. Joudrey, W. E. Jury, L. E. Pace, W. Smith, W. S. Stevenson and H. J. White, Ptes. W. A. Adamson, B. E. Avery, S. W. Avery, C. T. Baglole, F. Baglole, L. J. Barlow, L. E. Barteaux, T. Bird, R. W. Bishop, W. A. Bonnar, G. C. Boutilier, G. C. Carrier, C. E. Carroll, J. G. Chartrand, L. Clements, N. Cooke, B. J. Cormier, O. T. Crooks, R. P. Curley, A. S. Darragh, D. L. Deschaine, S. B. Doiron, J. L. Donovan, A. Doolan, W. Dube, A. J. Edmunds, E. C. Fanning, E. G. Fillmore, T. M. Flynn, M. J. Folland, C. H. Fogerson, A. S. Fraser, J. H. Gass, W. H. Gerrior, A. J. Gould, H. M. Guy, T. E. Higgins, D. L. Horton, S. Hughes, G. W. Keddy, L. J. Kelly, J. W. Lawless, D. H. Lewis, J. E. MacAloney, G. D. MacDonald, C. ,S. MacLennan, C. B. MacPherson, R. Madore, S. T. Mauger, H. E. McCulloch, D. A. McLellan, W. T. McLeod, A. B. McSween, G. Metcalfe, A. A. Mills, J. G. Mills, F. A. Norton, W. G. Nick-«rson, N. B. O'Brien, P. O. O'Brien, D. A. O'Handley, M. Otis, .A. L. Perry, G. W. Phillips, C. G. Rafuse, G. E. Richards, H. K. Robinson, F. P. Rose, J. M. Russell, R. L. Saulnier, W. C. Seller, H. W. Sherrah, W. C. C. Silver, P. H. Smith, J. L. Spanks, G. P. Talbot, G. H. Thompson, R. Trask, A. R. S. Wardrope and KB. Whidden were taken prisoner.

Lts. Fraser Campbell and G. A. P. Smith were being marched with the other prisoners a few days later when they dodged from the column into a side road, and hid. They were not missed until the party had gone three miles. By that time they were well hidden and soon after changed their clothing for French dress. The French hid them and fed them. They were given a bicycle and pistol each and passed along from one party to another until they reached a large town not far back of the German lines opposing the Americans. They boldly entered the town and moved among the Germans and reached a home where they were hidden under a bed as German officers had dinner in the next room. They then tried to get across the lines at night but two attempts failed as they did not know the enemy positions. Both times they got back safely and for four days stayed in a forward air raid shelter, making ready for a third try. Then a German patrol was passing when heavy shelling started and the men, going to ground, found Campbell and Smith in their hiding place. L/Cpl. Bill MacKay was starved at his prison camp until he had lost sixty pounds. Then, in a sudden surge, the Americans captured the town and the German prison camp and MacKay was released. He soon regained his health, returned to the North Novas and became an outstanding soldier.

Lts. Fairweather and Veness and Major Don Learment escaped from a train as it climbed a grade and hid in a forest, helped by the French Underground. They served for some little time with the French and Fairweather and Veness were engaged in a battle with the Germans. Then all three were taken to England by plane and soon Fairweather and Veness were back with the unit, joining it at the Scheldt. Both officers were outstanding and became majors. Major Learment also returned to the North Novas for two different periods.

Interrogation of prisoners taken later in the Buron sector showed that the Germans had thought the Novas returned to the line at Buron and it was the latter part of June 8th before the lack of shelling or shooting from that position roused the suspicions of the enemy. They sent three platoons to investigate, and were surprised to find Buron quite empty of Canadians.