SCENES IN THE NORMANDY BEACH-HEAD D+1, D+2 (PART 10) [Allocated Title]

No 45 (Royal Marine) Commando finds itself cut off from 1st Special Service Brigade's lines, short of ammunition and burdened with casualties.

Troops belonging to the Commando's 'C' and 'E' Troops take cover by the roadside during their abortive attack on Franceville-Plage on June 7. Expecting trouble, Royal Marines file along a street on the outskirts of the town. Next day, three Wehrmacht medical orderlies and an ex-Italian Army sergeant turned Organisation Todt worker are interrogated by commandos in Merville after being captured with two ambulances. A pall of smoke caused by British naval bombardments (?) hangs over the battered village. Distinguishable by hobnail boots, the corpse of a Wehrmacht soldier lies beneath a hedge. Commandos take up positions in anticipation of a German counter-attack. Stretcher bearers carry casualties from a regimental aid post through ruined cottages and across a bullet-swept orchard, accompanied by a commando waving a large Red Cross flag. Two commandos stand guard over one of the two captured German Renault ambulances which will take some of the wounded through German lines to Le Plein.

35mm