The mettle detectors
A
S FRENCH
as Hitler dabbled and dallied. they found the concrete bunkers on Normandy is voluminous.
villages go on
Those who cannot remember the past, are Forty years later, political input devoid of guns (if not devoid of But where do you begin
an unseasonally
condemned to repeat it – a lesson taught at
was at the hub of many of the Germans). researching the achievements of
decisions in the Falklands confl ict These days, a few well-placed beachmaster Colin Maude
warm and bright
Shrivenham to the naval leaders of tomorrow.
– the Belgrano, South Georgia, Tomahawk missiles, perhaps a (and his dog Winston, although
early autumn afternoon,
Richard Hargreaves returned to the beaches of
Goose Green. small special forces unit, would Maude probably did most of the
Ranville is fairly typical.
Normandy with junior offi cers. Sea power was, of course, neutralise an emplacement like work) on Sword Beach, or the
The wooden window shutters
decisive in Normandy. So too in Point du Hoc. arguments between Germans
beloved by Frenchmen are open. And there are Royal Navy Most of the course takes place
the Falklands. But it was also key There is no such technological with unpronounceable surnames
A few people wander around, but sailors here. Not many. Most are at the Joint Services Command
to the British build-up for the solution to storming the sands the (General der Panzertruppen Leo
otherwise this small village on the ‘known unto God’ – ‘A Sailor of and Staff College at Shrivenham.
2003 campaign in Iraq; the heavy guns on the clifftop were designed Freiherr Geyr von Schweppenburg
east bank of the Orne a few miles the 1939-45 War’. Wars, however, are not won in
kit came not by land or air but by to protect. anyone?).
outside Caen is at peace. A few are known. Telegraphist the classroom but on the grey
sea. Omaha Beach – also And, when you’ve found the
And like most French villages Spencer Charles Porter, part of a oceans, in the skies, in the rolling
And sometimes, we forget immortalised by The Longest Day, information, it’s all very well
– or English ones for that matter spotting unit for the guns offshore, terrain of Picardy or the bocage of
the lessons. The obsession with but especially in Saving Private learning facts and fi gures parrot-
– Ranville is dominated by an is one. He died the day he landed Normandy.
technology and missiles in the 70s Ryan – has coloured the popular fashion. The key is understanding.
historic brick church. in France: June 6 1944. His parents And that is why the students
meant the Type 22 frigates had no image of D-Day for six days. That said, the students can ferret
Unlike most French villages, from Sidcup in Kent struggled to come here, between the Orne
guns to pound Argentine positions Although most, though not all, out the odd interesting tidbit: for
however, this church has a huge come to terms with their loss. A and the Douve, to learn how the
in 1982. the German bunkers have gone, example, the blind son of the irate
cemetery attached, the last resting light has gone from our home, they greatest combined operation
Look at any images of the the vast expanse of beach – and French farmer who owned the
place of men who six decades ago had inscribed on his headstone. A in military history succeeded
beaches on the days after June 6 and the high bluffs overlooking it land where the Germans sited the
came to liberate the Conqueror’s voice we loved is still. Rest in peace, (and in some places faltered),
you’ll see the armada shielded by especially – remain a forebidding Longues-sur-Mer coastal battery
homeland (and those, too, who dear son. how planning, intelligence and
an ‘umbrella’ of barrage balloons. sight. provided details of its precise
were determined to stop them). And he does, alongside his preparation and, at times, personal
What might such obstacles have For many of the students, it is location to the Allies.
Ranville is largely a resting place comrades at Ranville, one of 2,563 leadership won the day.
achieved in Falkland Sound 26 here that the scale of Overlord hits “The important thing is that
for paratroopers and airborne men of all nationalities, of all
years ago? home. people have done their research,
forces (the legendary Pegasus arms. On the face of it, parallels
But back to June 6 1944. For the “It’s all very well standing on but also that they have made it
Bridge over the Orne Canal is little Today, Spencer Charles Porter between Normandy and modern
students, the Overlord trail begins the concrete and looking down relevant and contemporary,” says
more than ten minutes away). is not the only named sailor here. amphibious operations aren’t
at Pointe du Hoc, the promontory at the beaches,” said Lt Andrew the course’s offi cial historian, Dr
But there are tank men buried There’s a good three dozen here: entirely apparent.
to the west of Omaha beach. ‘Tupper’ Ware. David Hall.
here: their gravestones symbolically logisticians, weapons engineers, We don’t do ‘opposed landings’
It remains much as it was six
“You have to get down on
“The level of research and
touch, for they died together in navigators, intelligence specialists, – assaulting a fortifi ed beach – any
decades ago. The barbed wire and
the beach and look up –
presentation has been incredibly
their vehicles. warfare specialists, nurses, more.
minefi elds have gone, naturally,
that’s when you get the
impressive, as has been the level of
There are Germans buried here schoolies, RFA, plus a couple of The helicopter has replaced the
(as have the Germans) but the
soldiers’ perspective.”
understanding.”
– 322 of them, their graves marked civil servants. glider and paratroops dropped
concrete gun emplacements are still And if the tutors are impressed,
At Pointe du Hoc, at Omaha,
by simple, rather sombre, dark Ranville is the last port of from DC3s.
cracked and shattered, the clifftop then the students have appreciated
at the German strongpoint
grey headstones with the briefest call for the students of the And, oh yes, we don’t have
is still a cratered moonscape – the the chance to study history rather
overlooking it, Widerstandsnest
of inscriptions. Intermediate Command and Staff 5,000 ships to carry all those men
Allied guns, one logistics offi cer than regurgitate it.
62 (nest of resistance 62), the
There are merchant sailors Course, intended to encourage the and matériel.
observes, “obviously gave it ‘P for “What’s particularly good
students are expected to explain
buried here, for they too took part art of leadership in junior ranking But scratch beneath the surface
plenty’”. is that it’s a ‘grown-up’ course
what happened here – and why –
in the ‘great crusade’ to liberate offi cers (chiefl y lieutenants, a few a little, and the parallels are there.
And it was mostly in vain. When – they want us to think about
that fateful Tuesday before facing
France – and paid the ultimate lieutenant commanders) or their Political interference plagued
US Rangers stormed the 100ft things, analyse mistakes, give our
an interrogation from their peers
price.ice. civil service counterparts. the German defence of Normandy
cliffs (a scene famously recreated opinions, rather than just recite
in The Longgyest Day) on D-Da)yy
afterwards.
facts,,p” explains warfare offi cer Lt
TToo be sure,o bebe sure, the litera the liliterateratture tureure
Nick Hutchinson.NickNick HHutchinsonutchinson.
T
here is arguably no more visible reminder
of the invasion – save for the manifold
on Caen – by six days.
it’. It’s important to feel and touch history. Here you
cemeteries which pepper the Calvados t i hi h th C l d
Before Mulberry was established, there was only
countryside – than the remnants of the
one option for feeding the front: via the beach.
breathe it.”
“It’s also rekindled a lot of why I joined the Navy.
Mulberry harbour off Arromanches.
Cdr Maude (and Winston) might have appeared
The battlefi eld tour is a recent addition to the
I was a bit sceptical about the course before I joined,
If Omaha remains forebidding, Mulberry still has
slightly comical fi gures in The Longest Day, but war is
leadership course, and while the pilgrimage to France
but it’s been really worth doing.”
the power to impress courtesy of its ingenuity, and
far too serious a business for comedians.
is compulsory, attending Shrivenham is not: two out
What has been the biggest eye-opener for an RFA
above all, its scale.
Maude and his team of 25 sailors, Royal Marines
of every fi ve Senior Service offi cers do not attend
sailor, I ask 2/O Andrew Dinnis.
From atop the cliffs of Longues, the remains of the
and soldiers ran Sword beach – under enemy fi re –
(comparative courses for equivalent Army and RAF
“Most of it,” he says. “In the RFA you go from ship
artifi cial harbour continue to calm the Channel inside
with astonishing effi ciency: 28,000 men and 2,600
junior offi cers are mandatory).
to ship to ship, so this course has been given me a
good understanding of the wider MoD. It’s also been
the breakwater.
vehicles were put ashore on June 6. “Every lieutenant should do this course,”
very worthwhile for seeing how everything works.
Today gulls sit on the remnants of the ferroconcrete
“It remains a very responsible job today,” Maj enthuses Lt Chris Emery, deputy weapons
“From an RFA viewpoint, it’s a tough course
Mulberry structures. Children dig sandcastles or kick
Chris Gosney RM, one of the tutors, explains to the engineer offi cer of HMS Southampton.
because we don’t do a lot of this on a day-to-day
balls across the Arromanches beach.
students. “Today it’s performed by the Commando
In the summer and autumn of 1944, this picture-
Logistic Regiment and the Landing Forces Support
“You become very focused on your own department.
basis. On the plus side, we can offer a non-military
postcard seaside town was a port the equivalent of
Party – and they still go ashore in the fi rst wave.”
This course is a broadening experience – it’s not just
perspective and help the RN chaps look outside the
Dover, feeding the voracious demands of the Allied
The deeds of Colin Maude, the Rangers at Pointe
about your job, but about the wider infl uence of the
pure military.”
troops edging into Normandy.
du Hoc, the US 29th Infantry at Omaha, and Spencer
Navy.
Normandy, too, proved an education for 2/O
Each soldier needed an average of 6½lbs of stores
Charles Porter raise a fundamental question.
“It’s also provided a wider understanding of
Dinnis.
to support him in the fi eld every day – chiefl y food
“Whenever you look at people from the 1940s,
politics, economics, and the military. It’s not a deep
“Something hit me seeing the graves of the
and ammunition (not necessarily in that order).
from the Great War, from the Crimea, you ask
understanding, but you begin to appreciate how
merchant navy sailors in the cemetery at Ranville.
By the 18th day of the invasion (D+18), the Allied
yourself: are we cut from the same cloth?” Maj
certain decisions are made. And that helps me explain
It’s a reminder of all the logistics and material they
armies slowly pushing their way into Normandy
Wilson tells his students.
things to my lads – what we are doing, why we are
brought over – at great cost,” he says.
doing it.”
It’s this combination of past and present which,
required 18,000 tons of equipment every day. The “Do we have the same people, do we have the
His fellow students concur. Shrivenham has, if not
says Lt Col Bennett, is at the heart of the leadership
men manning Mulberry had their operation down same commanders with the same mettle?”
given them the big picture, then at least the bigger
course.
to a fi ne art: they could offl oad a ship carrying 78
vehicles in under 40 minutes.
It is a question which, of course, is unanswerable.
picture.
“We study the past to understand the present and
“All those rude things we say about the loggies, but
But by bringing his students to Normandy, that
“We’ve all been in our jobs for the past seven to
shape the future,” he adds.
this is probably the single most impressive technical
mettle, the right stuff, grit, is what course leader
nine years, very focused on being warfare offi cers,
“Through the 300 offi cers we educate a year, we
development of the war – and it’s not designed to kill
Royal Marine Lt Col Neil Bennett hopes to instil in
logisticians, fl iers, without really appreciating what
can infl uence perhaps ten per cent of the Navy with
anyone,” says Maj Dominic Wilson, one of the Army
the Senior Service’s junior leaders.
the other branches and specialisations do,” says Lt
those key attributes: leadership, ethos, grit.
tutors on the course.
“If you want to close with the Taleban, then you
Hutchinson.
“One thing you do every day as an offi cer is lead:
irrespective of your rank or job, irrespective of whether
What Mulberry delivered was designed to kill –
need to come to somewhere like Normandy,” he
Lt Mark Herzberg, a weapon engineer who recently
you hold a command, you are a leader, you are a role
and when operations at the port faltered, so too did
explains.
left HMS Exeter, adds: “We’re very single-Service
model, you set an example.
operations at the front: when storms struck in mid-
“We’re not here to study Normandy per se, rather
orientated: I’m a matelot and that’s it.
June they delayed Operation Epsom – Monty’s thrust
maritime power and how it impacts on land.
“This course makes you realise your wider role –
“Education is the bedrock of everything we do.
“But it is coming to places like this that you ‘get
it’s left me with a much better understanding of how
This is a course which puts dark blue back in your
we all fi t in.
veins.”
022_NN_Dec.indd 1 17/11/08 17:33:36
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