OPERATION EPSOM - 8TH CORPS' FORMATIONS IN ACTION (PART 12) [Allocated Title]

Elements of the 31st Armoured and 44th Infantry Brigades participate in an operation designed to secure the 'Scottish Corridor's' western flank.

At La Gaule, Lieutenant-Colonels Delacombe and Gaisford (officers commanding 8th Battalion Royal Scots and 7th Royal Tank Regiment respectively) hold an 'O' group with Major Taylor, a 131st Field Regiment Royal Artillery battery commander, on a Churchill 6-pounder gun tank during the afternoon of 28th June 1944. Nearby, the Royal Scots march along the Caen - Fontenay-le-Pesnel road to their startlines past an RTR 'HQ' Squadron Humber scout car; visible along the roadside are Loyd Carriers from the Royal Scots' anti-tank platoon. The 7th RTR and the Royal Scots advance south-eastwards towards the Château de Grainville across undulating wheatfields and then through meadows, copses and hedgerows masking their objective. (2) 25-pounder gun detachments ('E' troop, 531 Battery, 181st Field Regiment RA) are seen in action at Le Mesnil-Patry in support of the 7th Seaforth Highlanders. Crates containing high explosive rounds are unloaded from an Austin K5 lorry and stacked nearby. A gun crew has lunch and goes into action. (3) A 'B' Squadron Churchill breaks through a hedgerow, followed by three cautious riflemen. Infantrymen advance warily towards their objective through waist-high wheat.

35mm