June 15th 1914-July 23rd 2006
[Written by an Old Dovorian]
Otway commanded 9 Parachute Regiment at the Normandy landings on D-day on June 6th, 1944. He trained his 700 men on Salisbury Plain prior to the invasion, setting up a replica of the German Gun Battery he was to attack (which comprised 4 heavy guns in concrete casemates) to train his force.
The German Gun Battery, located at Merville-Franceville-sur-Plage, near the eastern bank at the mouth of the river Orne, commanded both the landing beaches and offshore sea area where the ships of the invasion fleet would arrive. It had to be put out of action.
The RAF flew the regiment in at night some hours before dawn in both DC3 aircraft and gliders. Unfortunately , due to a combination of anti-aircraft fire and poor navigation, the men were dropped over a wide area, many distant from the objective. 200 men dropped into a swamp created by the Germans who had flooded the marshes, and were never seen again. Most of the heavy weaponry and BangaloreTorpedoes essential to breach the barbed wire were lost.
So only 150 men arrived at the RV. Nevertheless, Otway ordered his men “get in, get in’. They did so and disabled the guns for a sufficient time to allow the invasion to land successfully, although the Germans reoccupied the battery afterwards. Of the 160 men who reached the target and went in, only 65 emerged.
Otway was afterwards awarded the Distinguished Service Order.
The Gun Battery remains and has been preserved by the French. The 4 casemates seem little marked on the outside, but inside there is massive scarring caused by hand weapons and grenades which indicate the fierce hand to hand fighting which must have taken place.
The French have turned the site into a museum, but the writer’s comment is that they have concentrated on creating a tourist attraction as much as a memorial. A DC3 aircraft is on display. A Video is on sale and there is the usual shop. This above bust of Otway has been put up in the area. Otway’s medals are on display.
