North Nova Scotia Highlanders History

[John McGillivray]

Good day all,

I’ve borrowed a copy of Will Bird’s book “No Retreating Footsteps, The Story of the North Nova Scotia Highlanders”. Here is an excerpt which details the advance of NNSH on the morning of 7th June and the capture of Buron.

“On the morning of June 7th Sergeant Don Baillie and some of his men went to look for the carriers left back of a building. The carriers were found where they had been left, undamaged, and it was apparent that the Enemy had not seen them during his hasty visit. Six dead Germans sprawled in the field, one with a motor cycle, showed the carrier men's ability with their weapons. The dead German cycle rider had a fine pistol that Sgt. Don Baillie gave to his brother, Sgt. Bill Baillie, who carried it throughout the war. At 0645 hours Brigade sent word that the advance was to be continued as soon as the battalion was ready, and at 0740 hours the North Novas moved off in the same order used the previous day, changing the axis of advance approximately twenty-five degrees to go through Villons-les-Buissons along the main road to Carpiquet.

“Snipers were active in distant areas. Occasional bullets zipped overhead but the vanguard met only slight opposition for a time. The country was gently rolling plain with occasional clumps of trees, farm hedges and hay stacks. The only feature was the small villages where the farmers lived in groups of small houses, barns and outbuildings surrounding a church, some shops and estaminets. The inevitable horse pond and a few fruit trees plus stretches of stone wall completed each community.

“Villons-les-Buissons was cleared without difficulty. A Company moved around the right of the village and B Company went around the left. The rest of the unit proceeded along the axis. Soon the advance guard came under fire from Les Buissons. Just to the right of the village an enemy 88 opened fire on the tanks, and a recce tank was knocked out. Its crew escaped and came back with two prisoners. Major Learment ordered Sgt. Crosson, in charge of the Mortar Section, to fire twelve rounds into the area of the 88. Captain C. F. Eraser, commanding C Company, and Captain E. S. Gray, commanding the Carrier Platoon, made a dash around to the right and cleared back through the village. This was a pincer movement with the infantry cooperating and the 88 was captured quickly, with several prisoners. Minutes later a 16-barreled German mortar was knocked out by the vanguard, as well as three half-tracks. All was going well and everyone was in high spirits. By 0930 hours the village had been cleared and Command Post moved up to that point. Then the vanguard moved on toward Buron, a larger village that had a large chateau at right centre, and a low stone wall running left from the road that passed through and on to Authie.

“Meanwhile A Company had had some trouble on the right of Les Buissons where they cleared a small wood of snipers and machine guns. Major Rhodenizer was making sure of his ground as he went along and he found slit trenches dug and a self-propelled gun. A German walked from the bushes and surrendered as the Novas were investigating the position. He led them to a courtyard where four wounded Germans were lying. The North Nova stretcher bearers bandaged them as best they could and as they finished their work two more of the enemy emerged from shrubbery and surrendered. This made Major Rhodenizer more careful than ever and soon more of the enemy were flushed from hiding places and captured. Then A Company moved on, noting that the rest of the battalion were some distance ahead.

“B Company, on the left, riding Sherman tanks, came under heavy fire from St. Contest. This village was on slightly higher ground, giving good observation to the enemy, and was no more than a thousand yards away from Buron, lying almost parallel with it. It was then quite evident that the 3rd British Division on the left had been unable to keep up according to plan but everyone felt it was but a matter of time before the attack on St Contest would begin. It did look, though, as if the North Novas were far in front with no force visible to support them on either flank. The Seventh Brigade was keeping pace but was so far over on the right that none of its units could be seen.

“The fire from St. Contest became so hot that the tanks stopped and the company had to dismount and scatter for cover. Major J. W. Douglas, commanding B Company, had discovered that one section of Lt. Grieve's platoon had been left behind, and he could only hope that it would catch up with the company later in the day. Lt. Fraser Campbell, commanding the second platoon in B Company, had kept his men together but the other two platoons scattered, and Major Douglas had difficulty in rounding them up again and getting them on tanks when the shelling abated. It was the first heavy shelling the company had experienced, and, to add to his difficulties, the tanks were anxious to get at grips with the enemy. Finally, the men were back on the tanks and the advance continued. The heavy fire was immediately resumed and this time several casualties resulted.

“Captain Clarke, second-in-command of B Company, had the dubious honor of being the first officer of the Novas to be wounded. He was hit by shrapnel while in his vehicle talking on the set to Lt-Col. Petch and he had to be evacuated at once. All the company had scattered from the tanks again and Major Douglas, assisted by Lt. Campbell, began once more to collect the men. Some of them had taken, refuge in a large anti-tank ditch that extended across the way. Lt Brown had a difficult time locating the sections of his platoon. Lt. Grieve took over as second-in-command of B Company and Sgt. S. S. Hughes took charge of Twelve Platoon. He soon had a number of the men on the move toward Buron while Lt. Campbell and his platoon went along with Major Douglas and reached Buron on foot. The shelling and mortaring from St. Contest had continued and there was no artillery to offer reply except the self-propelled anti-tank guns which concentrated their fire on the church steeple of St. Contest and scored a direct hit. More casualties occurred and B Company men were glad to reach the shelter of the stone wall at Buron. The Sherbrooke tanks had sighted enemy tanks and made off to engage them. Lt. Campbell's platoon was ranged along the wall, then B Company headquarters and Sgt. Hughes with his platoon. Lt. Brown had not arrived but Sgt Bill Baillie was doing great work in rounding up stragglers and making sure that casualties were sent to the rear. Sgt Hughes handled his men well and his section leaders were L/Sgt P. Whelan, Cpl. V. Frizzell and Cpl. Whitehead. This platoon had caught the heaviest of the shelling and had been the most scattered.

“The vanguard had moved on to Buron as soon as Les Buissons was cleared. At the edge of the road going into the village another enemy 88 was operating, but it was demolished by fire from a 75 tank gun and the crew captured. Meanwhile Lt.-Col. Petch and Lt. Cunningham, the Intelligence Officer, had been surprised by hidden snipers at Les Buissons and had had to fight a small battle of their own. Cunningham, using Driver Mac-Neill's Bren gun, killed four of the enemy.

“Lt. Herb Langley had the leading platoon of the vanguard. Lt. Jack Veness had the second, and Lt. Graves the third. Buron seemed alive with snipers and machine guns and it took some time to get a foothold in the place. There were too many gardens and alleys and crooks and crannies to make easy going, and Lt. Veness rested his platoon on the right of the road, with the rest of the company on the left. A machine gun was shooting down the middle of the main street and every head had to be kept down. Snipers were popping away from house windows and all sorts of places, while enemy artillery had begun to range on the village.

“Lt.-Col. Petch drove up with Lt. Cunningham to examine the situation and as the Commanding Officer stood up to jump from the carrier, a shell exploded close by, knocking him to the ground. He was unhurt, however, and carried on, talking with Major Learment. He gave orders to feel out the strength of the enemy and small patrols began probing. Lt. Langley sent some men out on the left flank and they found a large self-propelled anti-tank gun not fifty yards away, with a machine gun mounted alongside to protect the crew from infantry attack. The German crew was stunned by the sudden appearance of the North Novas and before they could organize, Langley's men had tossed grenades among them, then rushed in with Stens and bayonets. The affair was over very quickly and, encouraged by results, the patrols began to be more aggressive, killing or capturing every German they could find. Soon the town seemed cleared. A flight of a dozen enemy fighter planes flew low over the position but did nothing hostile. Spitfires appeared from out of the blue and a dog fight was on. One British plane burst into flames, and crashed a few hundred yards away. The pilot had bailed out and he landed shortly after very near his machine. Lt. Veness shouted and waved to him and a German plane roared low to take shots at the North Nova officer.

“A German vehicle was found in the town and the searching that was going on produced many prisoners. They were hiding in cellars, in attics, everywhere, and the few civilians who could be seen were too scared to assist in any way. Orders had been, however, not to delay too long, but to leave the heavy mopping-up to others, so the vanguard moved on southward along the road to Authie, leaving D Company to finish cleaning the enemy from Buron.”

Let me know if you want to see more.

John