Bény-sur-Mer (, literally Bény on Sea) is a commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region, in northwestern France.Commune de Bény-sur-Mer (14062), INSEE It lies 5 km south of Bernières-sur-Mer and 13 km north of Caen.Quelques villes proches de Bény-sur-Mer, villorama.com
World War II During World War II, Bény-sur-Mer was liberated on D-Day by Le Régiment de la Chaudière, a French Canadian unit. There was a gun battery located near the town at the time.
D-Day: morning Although garrisoned during the Occupation, Beny-sur-Mer did not play a central role in a major tactical confrontation on D-Day. Instead, the village witnessed three noteworthy incidents on that day. To the northeast, a prolonged struggle unfolded at Château-de-Tailleville (WN 23) before Beny-sur-Mer's security was assured. Directly to its west, a brief encounter occurred at WN 28a later in the day. Additionally, early in the morning, two battalions from the 716 Infantry Division encountered a transformative shift in their day due to Naval Gunfire.
Kompanie 8 (schwere). / Battalion II./ Grenadier-Regiment 736., commanded by Hauptmann Johann Grzeski, the Ballation reserve, was sited at Les Ruines Saint-Ursin: La Haye de Saule (at North 49.3078 Deg / West 00.4386 Deg), in a ‘Open Field Earth (Hinzu kommen Positionen in offener Feldstellung) Fa Position’.Steiger, Capt. A.G., Report No. 41 - Historical Section (G.S.) Army Headquarters. The German Defences in the Courseulles-St.Aubin Area of the Normandy Coast: Information from German Sources. 716 Inf Div 6 Jun 44 Initial Situation. Appendix C: 716 Inf Div Initial Situation / Appendix D: Enlarged Trace. Dated 20 Jul 51 It is reported that at 0510 hrs HQ Stab Btl II. / 736 reported, to HQ 716 Inf.Div., of airborne landings south of Bernières-sur-Mer (WN 28) and north of the Chateau-de-Tailleville (WN 23) inferring enemy troopers had penetrated up into Bernières-sur-Mer. Consistent with tactical doctrine, the Kdr. Btl II./ 736., ordered Ko 8./II 736. to mount a counterattack, and destroy the threat (... ‘no one is to wait, for higher…’).Steiger, Capt. A.G., Report No. 41 - Historical Section (G.S.) Army Headquarters. The German Defences in the Courseulles-St.Aubin Area of the Normandy Coast: Information from German Sources. 716 Inf Div 6 Jun 44 Initial Situation. Page 12./Para 22. Dated 20 Jul 51 Though the details of the action are not confirmed, it is suggested that Ko 8. was lost. Committed, from a well dug-in position, in its action, moving across open ground, it would have taken naval gun fire, from HMS Kempenfelt, it shelling Kompanie 3. (Flak)/Pz.Jg.-Abt.716., at la-Tomblette. ‘Nobody returned … so the details are not known.’ Kdr 716 Inf.Div.Steiger, Capt. A.G., Report No. 50 - Historical Section (G.S.) Army Headquarters. The Campaign in North-West Europe: Information from German Sources. Part II: Invasion and Battle of Normandy (6 Jun - 22 Aug 44). Page 15./Para 26. (Richter Narrative: The Battle of 716 Inf Div In Normandy). Dated 14 Oct 52Capt. A.G. Steiger, Report No. 50 - Historical Section (G.S.) Army Headquarters, The Campaign in North-West Europe: Information from German Sources. Part II: Invasion and Battle Of Normandy (6 Jun - 22 Aug 44). Dated 14 Oct 52 3. (FlaK) Kompanie. / Panzerjäger-Abteilung 716., on Le Pommeret (la Tomblette) was sited on the low ridge overlooking the beaches from St. Aubin to Courseulles, north of Beny-sur-Mer, under the leadership of the Oberleutnant Kurt Kaergel, his Panzerjäger-Abteilung 716, Gefechtsstand: Sallenelles. The primary target of HMS Kempenfelt, its two platoons were shelled at 06h19 BST, in positions at N 49.3026Deg / W 0.4238Deg and at N 49.3015Deg / W 0.4202Deg. Züg - 3. (Flak) Kp. /Pz.Jg.-Abt.716. x6 7.5 cm D.C.A. Mle 1938(f) Static AA guns, in a field emplacement.Anderson Richard C., Cracking Hitler's Atlantic Wall: The 1st Assault Brigade Royal Engineers on D-Day, Stackpole Books, Mechanicsburg, PA., 2010, , Chapter 4 German Planning and Preparation: The German Defences - Page 74. Accessed 18.05.2016 Züg - 3. (Flak) Kp. /Pz.Jg.-Abt.716. x20 3.2 cm Wurfgerät 40/41, set up in Packkiste, in an open field emplacement.
Late in the Occupation, Beny-sur-Mer garrisoned a German a [Hauptkolonnen (Main) or Saunderkolonnen (Special) 160] supply transportation unit assigned from LXXXIV Armeekorps (Stab: St. Lô), to KVA H1 Caen. Located centrally to the work and units of Infantry-Division 716, a sub-unit of Kw.Trsp.Kp. 4./ Kw.Trsp.Abt. 564., it was noted to be in Beny-sur-Mer on D-Day.Steiger, Capt. A.G., Report No. 41 - Historical Section (G.S.) Army Headquarters. The German Defences in the Courseulles-St.Aubin Area of the Normandy Coast: Information from German Sources. 716 Inf Div 6 Jun 44 Initial Situation. Appendix C: 716 Inf Div Initial Situation / Appendix D: Enlarged Trace. Dated 20 Jul 51 The supply and transport services of Occupation Static Divisions (Coastal Defense) were organized on the design that artillery batteries were not moved; as such artillery ammunition and the troop supply trains were not well resourced. From 1941, the priority for motorized and horse-drawn transport was for Divisions fighting in Russia; with almost no additional vehicles available for Divisions on occupation duty, in France. While a ‘standard’ Division Supply Column (Trains) should see up to eight motor transport columns, when mobilized in 1941, Inf.Div. 716., was allocated no supply commander, and only one motor transport column.
Kraftwagen-Transport-Abteilung 564 (Motor Vehicle Transport Battalion: Kw.Trsp.Abt.564.) was established (Aufstellung) in June 1941 in Wehrkreis IV: Dresden, and assigned to Heerestruppe bei der Heeresgruppe B im Westen (H.Gr.B - La Roche Guyon). In December 1941, it added Kompanien 3. (FN 44363 aus WK IX: Kassel) and Kompanien 4. (FN 45651 aus WK VI: Münster) and in May 1943, designated ‘z. b. V.’ (zur besonderer Verwendung: for special purposes / for special use). With an OB West February 1944 reorganization: Kraftwagen-Transport-Regiment z.b.V. West., (Standarten) was established (in France) regrouping its three Kw.Trsp.Abt, fielding 13 Companies. The new Kw.Trsp.Rgt. West was designated Heeresgruppen-Truppen beim OB West (Paris: St Germain-en-Laye), commanded by General des Transportwesens West. Consequently, Kw.Trsp.Abt. 564 z.b.V. (Versorgungstruppen Nu. 21108010) was assigned (directly) as (Unterstellung): Kw.Trsp.Abt 564 (Stab Paris: Rueil-Malmaison) to 7. Armee (Stab: Le Mans) in der Kompanie NSKK (Nationalsozialistisches Kraftfahrkorps) Transportabteilung zur Wehrmacht. AOK 7 allocated Kraftwagen Transport Kompanie 4., to LXXXIV Armeekorps (Stab: St. Lô) for employment with NSKK Transportkorps Speer, supporting allocated Divisions in defence and construction of Coastal fortifications. Feldpostnummern FN 45651 was first used in July 1941, assigned to 4.Kompanie Kraftwagen-Transport-Abteilung z.b.V. 564 (zur besonderer Verwendung). It changed designation in March 1942 to 4. Kompanie Kraftwagen-Transport-Abteilung 564. With a further reorganization, in October 1943, it was deleted, as a standalone unit in the Field Postal Directory (with the eventual forming of Kraftwagen-Transport-Regiment West).
D-Day: around noon Widerstandnesten WN 23 was located at North 49.308275 Degrees / West 00.409888 Degrees and in June 1944, for targeting purposes, at: LZ1 vT MR Grid 003823 (Ref. GSGS 4250 1:50K: Creully Sheet 7E/5). The (WN) - Resistance Nest at the Château-de-Tailleville (de la colonie) was a unique ‘platoon-sized’ position, incorporating standard concrete (Verstärkt Feltmessig: Vf Type 2) gun casemates, with well-sited observation and crewed fighting positions. Located to dominate the roads entering the town, the position did dispose of an integrated network of trenches and tunnels, partially surrounded by a stone wall, permitting unobserved movement under cover.The North Shore Regiment, WWII: Tailleville Attacked. See: http://www.gnb.ca/0007/Heritage/Regiment/frameset.htm Accessed 29.01.2018
Hauptmann Deptolla, Kommandeur Bataillon II./ 736., defending with only his Stabs-züg (Lt Heinz Rix, Karl Rub), and the Stabs-kompanie, perhaps undermanned, would cause problems all day for the Canadians. Planning to fight with his west flank secured by Kompanie 8.(schwere)/ II 736., at Les Ruines Saint-Ursin, off to the west, his right flank by Kompanie 12.(schwere)/ Bataillon III./736., to the east, in front of Douvres (WN 23a), and drawing ‘artillery’ support from Kompanie 3.(Flak)/Pz.Jg.-Abt.716., to his immediate west, he found himself alone. Having been located and well targeted, in 3rd Canadian Infantry Division planning, the fight for WN 23 was first impacted by Naval Counter Battery Gun Fire from the destroyer HMS Kempenfelt (R03) (at 06h19m), she shelling Kompanie 3 (Flak)./Pz.Jg.-Abt.716., sited in an open field emplacement, at Tailleville-la-Tomblette. This followed later in the morning by RAF Medium (Day) Bombers at 07h55 (BST).Capt. A.G. Steiger, Report No. 50 - Historical Section (G.S.) Army Headquarters. The Campaign in North-West Europe: Information from German Sources, Part II: Invasion and Battle of Normandy (6 Jun-22 Aug 44), Page16.Para 28. (Richter). Dated 14 Oct 52
WN 23 was overcome by the efforts of 'C' Company, The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment (O.C. Major Daughney), landing at Saint Aubin-sur-Mer at 09h45. When able to bypass the fight for WN 27, intending to make a quick run to Tailleville, ‘C’ Company, The North Shore Regiment, was attached a tank troop from 'C' Squadron, The Fort Garry Horse. First reporting contact around noon, moving South, at MR Grid 004823, enemy mortars slowed the advance, the ‘C’ Sqn tanks moved-up, giving the necessary fire and moral support to get the North Shores up to the Chateau.Lt. R.H. Roy, Report No. 54 - Historical Section (G.S.) Army Headquarters. Canadian Participation in the Operations in North-West Europe, 1944. Part 1: The Assault and subsequent operations of 3 Cdn Inf Div. Appendix I Map Showing: ‘Eastern Flank of the Normandy Bridgehead German Defences 6 June 1944’. Dated 3 Dec 45. Accessed 26.07.2K16 Getting into the position at 13h52, a Sherman tank penetrated the walls, fronting the Chateau grounds, and shot up the trenches and their defenders with high explosive shells, at point blank range. After six hours of fighting, the remnants of the garrison surrendering, ‘C’ Company ‘secured’ Tailleville, at 17h30. 'D' Company was moved up to Tailleville on the east flank, as 'A' Company had previously sealed off the southern side of the position.War Diary: The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer: Page 2, 6 Jun 44. See: http://lmharchive.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/North-Shore-New-Brunswick-Regiment.pdf Accessed 29.01.2018
Having consolidated on the position, ‘C’ Company captured 4 Officers and 57 other prisoners, this reported at 20h10. It continued to root in the underground workings of the Château; around 23h00 producing more prisoners, including two wounded monocled officers. At 23h30 all of 'C' Squadron, The Fort Garry Horse, moved into position with the North Shores, the squadron laagered and passed an uncomfortable night constantly on the alert in expectation of a German counterattack. The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment lost 34 killed and 90 wounded in the fight for WN 23.War Diary: The North Shore (New Brunswick) Regiment, Saint-Aubin-sur-Mer: 6 Jun 44. See: http://lmharchive.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/North-Shore-New-Brunswick-Regiment.pdf Accessed 29.01.2018
German Crew Served Weapons at Châteaux de Tailleville.