Photos by Olivier Richard, March, 2005. Olivier Richard is one of the three authors of "Dieppe - 19 Aug - 1942". Captions by PT Maule.
See also SSR Tour historical content. Close-up of men in photo.
"On the morning of 27th August, the battalion embussed again on T.C.V.s for the beginning of a long push to the Seine River. They debussed at St. Martin on the edge of the Foret de La Londe which was an eight-mile stretch of thick woodland situated in a large bend of the Seine River, a few miles from Rouen. It was soon established that the forest was defended by high-grade German troops. They fought a bitter battle from tree to tree throughout the forest."
- Chapter 7, The March of the Prairie Men.
Battle description by Dave Robinson.
Action Report and an account of the battle by Major E. W. Thomas.
Casualty Report by Battle & Place by Cec Law.
Map of Foret de La Londe - provided by Olivier Richard.
Forêt de La Londe area. The 1870's war memorial. Through the ages, the forest was always a battlefield. This is not a real ruin, just a memorial erected to commemorate the fierce fights of 1870-71 against the Prussians. After the main battle, French infantymen stayed hidden in the forest and ambushed the Prussians during one year. There is still the lonely grave of one of these brave men, in the heart of the forest.
The lonely grave of Jean-Baptiste Delavigne in the hearth of Forêt de
La Londe, infantryman from the "Régiment des Landes" 1870-71 war.
All photos are courtesy of Olivier Richard, and most were taken in February 2005 - they did have a bit of snow for a few days before it began to melt away. Another view of the castle, it was named "Robert le diable" from a legendary personage who was said to be the father of William the Conqueror, but probably never exist; in reality, this castle was built two centuries after William, by Prince John; brother of Richard Lionheart, Normandy wasn't in France at that time...
The type of forest, hills of area when first entering the Forêt, leading up to the railway bridges..
The railway area and bridges at the Forêt de La Londe. The hills called "Maisie" in the Canadian reports.
Photos of areas of Battle of Forêt de La Londe. Impacts under the railway bridge show as dark spots.
The forest from the railway bridge.
This photo and the next show two entrances - to RR tracks - which Capt Schubert attempted to make his way - until taken POW.
Permissions for display of photographs
Fri, 01 Apr 2005 00:09:22 +0200
Gregory,
Of course, you have my permission for the photos, I'm honoured to see my modest pictures on this great website.
The first picture is another view of the 1870's war monument in front of wich the group with Dave Robinson and Brigadier Clift was posing during the "SSR tour 1992", the castle on the second photo is situated on the other side of the road, on top of a crest, it was called "the monastry" on the SSR War Diary. Some locals told me that Canadian soldiers carved their names in the stones, but I still couldn't verify this because the castle area is a private property, well closed and I don't know who and where is the actual owner!
I know the exact situation of many Canadian and German positions, but still haven't find the "chalk pit" where Major Thomas was photographed, there is a lot of places looking like that in the area, and I haven't accurate map references.
I enclose for you a recent photo (snow is very unusual here!) of the memorial erected in the forest to celebrate the memory of the Canadian soldiers fallen here in 1944.
Thank you for your nice job with the photos.
Best regards
Olivier.
I took this photo in the village of La Londe at the end of august 2004 during the commemoration, two veterans of the 2nd Canadian Infantry division assisted to the ceremony. Left: Mr Charles "Chic" Goodman, veteran of the South Saskatchewan Regiment, right: Mr Richard Ouelette, veteran of the Regiment de Maisonneuve, Mr Ouelette is a very kind and quiet man who served in the 'Maisonneuve" scout platoon during all the 1944-45 campaign, he met his wife in Dieppe in september 1944, they live in the village of Offranville in the Dieppe aera, he still have a bit of "Quebec" accent...Olivier.
HTML presentation par GC Salmers, 31Mar2005. 12Mar2013
