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Stationed at Kings Lynn, Norfolk 6458484
R W Friend was transferred to 1/6 Queens Regiment end of
March 44 because the 11 Bn Royal Fusiliers was disbanded.
Embarked for Normandy at Tilbury Docks on 4th June 44 and
disembarked on 9th at Sword Beach as part of 2nd Army UK, 131st Infantry
Division.
Queens
regiment involved in Battle of
Battle of Villers-Bocage
(fighting
the infamous Waffen
SS Tank
Commander Michael Wittman)
alongside 7th Armoured Div aka "Desert Rats".
At dawn on
12 June, the British 7th Armoured Division (aka "The Desert
Rats") supported by 131st Infantry Brigade (Queen’s Brigade
as it was composed of Queens Royal Regiment BN’s) passed
through the Caumont Gap south of Bayeux and headed
for Villers-Bocage and the ridge beyond. On the right flank
the US 1st and 2nd Infantry Divisions attacked along the
narrow lanes with high hedge rows around small paddocks and
woodlands (the bocage) to the west of Caumont. There was
considerable shell fire between the tank and infantry units
on each side and unfortunately RW Friend was seriously
wounded by a mortar bomb. He was repatriated to the Park
Prewett military hospital, Basingstoke and was not fully fit
for duty until Dec 1944.
.
Click
above map to view approximate site of R.W. Friend's
wounding. You can
see the terrain and the type of the fighting in the first 25
mins of this video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLik88saFe8
The allies
did not break out of the area around Caen until mid August
during
Battle of the Falaise Pocket
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