WRECKED BRITISH AND GERMAN TANKS IN THE RUINS OF LINGEVRES (PART 1) [Allocated Title]

Evidence of heavy fighting between the 50th (Northumbrian) Division and the 130th 'Panzerlehr' Division is found in Lingevres, a village on the Caen-St Lo road captured on June 14th 1944.

The cameraman surveys the extent of the destruction in the village caused mainly by British artillery bombardment; two wrecked (?) Universal carriers lie among the ruins. A sign on the wall at the centre of Lingevres gives the distances to neighbouring villages and Bordeaux. Tank casualties from both sides are found in and around the village; a knocked-out Panther Ausf A and the charred hulk of a Sherman tank from 4/7th Doctoragoon Guards' 'A' Squadron lie a few yards from each other on the village green by Lingevres' undamaged 1914-1918 war memorial. Traffic - most notably a DR (despatch rider) and a Universal carrier detachment from the 1st Battalion Hampstead Regiment - heads through the village past the two wrecks. A short distance away on the Caen-St Lo road, two more Panther Ausf A tanks successfully attacked by the Doctoragoon Guards' 'A' Squadron lie forlornly by the roadside. A shrapnel-peppered sign greets all who enter the village.

35mm