Francja / Historia
Oznacz
Udostępnij
Trasa
To prevent the Germans from crossing the area on the right bank of the Orne, the British paratroopers were tasked with the destruction of four bridges on the Dives river and one bridge further north, the bridge of Varaville over the Divette river. The destruction of the Bures and Troarn bridges was entrusted to the sappers of the 8th Parachute Battalion commanded by Major Tim Roseveare. Between 06:00 and 09:15 all bridges were destroyed.
At the exit of Troarn, east of Caen, the bridge of Saint-Samson over the Dives river was the objective of a heroic act on 6 June 1944. Around 05:00, a five meters wide first breach was opened between the pillars of the bridge. The originator of this plan was Major Roseveare of the 3rd Parachute Squadron of the 6th British Airborne Division.
Tim Roseveare was born in 1914. He was commissioned into the Royal Engineers in 1939, and from 1941 to 1942 he was an instructor for the 141 Officer Cadet Training Unit E. He joined the Airborne Forces in 1943 and was given command of the 3rd Parachute Squadron.
Tim Roseveare was parachuted at 00:50 at the drop zone of Ranville, unfortunately eleven kilometres from his planned drop point and his first objective, the Troarn bridge. He was able to gather around him a small group of lost sappers, before advancing on foot with as many explosives as they could pick up. After dividing his men into two groups, he made his way to the Troarn bridge.
In the meanwhile, he got his hands on a medical jeep. He emptied it of medical equipment, piled on board seven men and set up an eight soldier in the trailer to act as a rear shooter. Roseveare himself took the wheel of the vehicle. At the entrance of Troarn, he could not avoid a barbed wire roadblock. It took twenty minutes to free the jeep. Roseveare rushed down the main street, while the men’s machine-guns crackled under a flood of German bursts. Unfortunately, the soldier in charge of the rear machine-gun tipped out of the trailer. He would be taken prisoner, after which no one would see him again.
Roseveare finally reached the bridge of Troarn, detached the trailer which he installed in the middle of the structure, lit a mini-rocket, and opened a breach of eight meters.
Abandoning his jeep, Roseveare and his men retreated through the marshes via a small path towards the Bois de Bures, then towards the headquarters of the brigade that they would reach in the afternoon.
Because of the German resistance, the British would have to wait until midday to definitively take the bridge, complete its destruction and liberate Troarn.