Maps are being added to the archive again, thanks to a new 2TB drive. This update has two new maps along with diaries for several units.
Behind the Scenes: A Pause, Then a New Drive
In the week after the last project update, updates to the site slowed down and stalled as in my day job I'm a web developer, and a few long evenings were spent updating PHP applications and servers due to a global critical security issue affecting PHP.
That wasn't the only blocker that week as in the last update I mentioned that disk space had become a problem. With the already digitised maps taking up hundreds of gigabytes, a few days later I ran out of disk space, stopping progress. After a few issues a new 2TB drive was finally delivered. With the new disk installed I've already started scanning and georeferencing more maps!
No. 8 Beach Group, 1944 war diaries
The April to August 1944 war diaries of the No. 8 Beach Group (WO 171/812) are now on the site with the remaining months still in progress but due to be added in the coming week.
April and May cover the final preparations around Southampton, taking part in Exercise TROUSERS and the large-scale rehearsal FABIUS III with the 3rd Canadian Infantry Division, before being sealed in camps while every man was briefed on Operation Neptune using sand models, maps and aerial photographs.
On D-Day the unit landed at Bernières-sur-Mer, on the Nan sector of Juno Beach. 144 Company, Pioneer Corps had the worst of it. An underwater mine blew away the front of their craft as it approached the shore, leaving 12 presumed killed and 27 wounded. The survivors, five and a half sections under Major H.V. Worrall, were taken back to England to re-equip, and reported back to the beach a week later. The diary also records the first BARV of 23 Beach Recovery Section REME coming ashore east of Bernières at 0745 and Churchill landing at Courseulles on 13 June. By the end of the month the group had landed 73,586 tons of supplies, despite days when the weather made unloading almost impossible.
July continues the running of the Beach Maintenance Area at Bernières, Courseulles and St Aubin through bad weather, night air raids and occasional shelling.
August is the group's last month on the beach. On 14 August shells fired from the Trouville and Villers-sur-Mer area killed a man of 1034 Port Operating Company. Even so, the group set a record of 7,420 tons on 18 August. At 0700 on 26 August the diary simply records "Beach Group ceases to exist", after 319,980 tons landed since D-Day.
152 Infantry Brigade, August 1944
I've also added the 152nd (Highland) Infantry Brigade's August 1944 diary, completing WO 171/674, which only covers from June to August 1944. It starts with the night attack on Tilly-la-Campagne and Lorguichon during Operation TOTALIZE, then crosses the Laison, the Dives and the Vie through St Pierre-sur-Dives towards Lisieux, before the push north to Bourg-Achard.
30th Armoured Brigade, September 1944
With the addition of two diaries for September I've completed the 30th Armoured Brigade's diary (WO 171/628), which covers January to September 1944. The brigade was part of the 79th Armoured Division. The main diary follows the brigade from the Seine to Belgium. The A&Q diary, also for September, covers fuel, mail, replacement tanks and special ammunition for the Assault RE and the Crocodiles, plus the recovery lessons learned at Le Havre.
Two New Maps
Two more GSGS 4250 sheets have been added to the archive, both War Office 1943 sheets, extending the coverage further south.
6G/6 Ernée Ernée, St Germain-le-Guillaume, Châtillon-sur-Colmont, Chailland and Juvigné
7G/5 Mayenne Mayenne and Oisseau in the west to Villaines-la-Juhel in the east
What's Coming
With the new drive installed, I'm making a big push on the GSGS 4250 series. About a dozen sheets are nearly ready to publish, adding more coverage to the east and south. After those, I have around another 20 to scan, which will add scattered coverage inland and in Brittany.
Thank you, as always. Your support helps cover costs like this new drive, and it's what lets me keep these maps and diaries free for anyone who needs them.
Phil