5. THE SMALLEST MILITARY CEMETERY IN THE WORLD
Lieutenant James Gérald Marshall Cornwall (May 23, 1992-July 30, 1944)
The tomb of this Lieutenant is at the end of the field, on the road between Caumont l'Éventé and Cahagnes.
On July 30, 1944, after a stop of several weeks, the 8th British Corps attacked the strong German positions to the south and east of Caumont-l'Eventé. Mondant wood, key position of the defense was held by the 752 th regiment of the 326 th German infantry division.
The 15th Scottish Division, preceded by the 4th Tank Battalion of Grenadier Guards equipped with Churchill tanks, launched the attack. Lieutenant James Marshall Cornwall, then 22 years old, entered the wood with his leading tank, making the first breakthrough on this front.
As he handed over his prisoners to the supporting infantry, he was mortally struck by an enemy bullet.
General James Marshall Cornwall wished his son’s remains to remain at the scene of his act of bravery, and that a commemoration be held every year. He bought a small piece of land. Mr Robert and Mrs Madelaine Dujardin donated the adjoining grove so that the memory of this young British soldier could be perpetuated.
The exodus of the inhabitants of Cahagnes in July 1944 to Neuvy en Mauge in Maine et Loire. Testimony of Ms. Jacqueline Thérin (17 years at the time of the events). Since mid-June, the Germans had requisitioned my parents' house to become the Kommandantur. There were five of them. We lived in the cellar. My father who had fought in the 14/18 war did not want to be evacuated. However, on July 1, the order to leave is given by their leader who threatens to shoot us if we do not leave within the hour. We left everything behind. We left in the morning and walked to Neuvy on July 28. The exodus of the 382 people on foot, in a wagon with horses, was organized by the parish priest of Cahagnes. On the road, he went out on reconnaissance to find something to sleep and to eat a little despite the rationing. Auguste, my father had a little hunting dog named Bobette. She walked back and forth on foot, near the cart, more than 500 km. In Neuvy, we all had a host family to house and feed ourselves. I still remember the Beduneau Hotel, Raimbault at the tobacco store, René and Léon Courant, cattle merchants and farmers, the two daughters of the baker Froger. At the beginning of September, poorly dressed Germans passed unarmed. We understood that it was defeat. The priest and four people went to Cahagnes to find only ruins. So it was decided that everyone would return by September 4. After gathering what we still had, we were happy to go home. We arrived on the evening of September 12th."
Operation Bluecoat. It is an attack of the Second British Army during the Battle of Normandy during the Second World War. It took place from July 30, 1944 to August 7, 1944. The geographical objectives of this attack were to secure the key junction road of Vire and the heights of Mont Pinçon. Strategically, the attack was launched to allow American troops to exploit their breakthrough on the west flank from their coastal beachhead.
The situation. On July 25, the American army managed to make a breakthrough of the German lines during Operation Cobra (which will later be called the breakthrough of Avranches). With Operation Goodwood, British and Canadian troops forced the Germans to concentrate the bulk of their forces south of Caen, to prevent an Allied push south in this area, also the tanks of the British Second Army under the command of Lieutenant General Miles Dempsey, moved from the west towards Villers-Bocage, in contact with the American army. The latter initially planned to attack on 2 August, but the rapidity of events forced him to advance the date. Initially, only two German infantry divisions held the British planned attack zone to the south and east of Caumont-l'Éventé; however, they had laid large minefields and built substantial defences. They also occupied an ideal terrain for defense, bocage.
The attack. A preliminary bombardment by more than 1,000 bombers was supposed to prepare the way for the attack. The weather was bad, and several bombers did not find their target. When the attack was launched, several units were blocked in the minefields and steep ravines, but, in the centre, the attackers managed to advance 8 km. The following day, on July 31, units of the 11 th British Armoured Division took an intact bridge to theabove the Souleuvre, and repelled the counter-attack of armored units of the 1st German army. The British troops were then only 8 km from Vire, but it was on the American side of the dividing line between the British and American armies, and the British attack was deflected to the southeast. This gave the German 7th Army time to regroup and move the SS Panzer divisions to strengthen their defences.
The operation ended. The British advance was blocked by these reinforcements. The 8th Corps also had to protect its eastern flank because the xxx th Corps had not managed to maintain the same rate of progression. The corps commander, Gerard Bucknall, was dismissed on 2 August and the commander of the 7th Armoured Division, George Erskine, was relieved of his command the following day. The advance had to mark a temporary halt on 4 August. After renewed efforts, Vire fell to British and American forces on 6 August. On the same day, the 43rd (Wessex) British Infantry Division took Mount Pinçon.
Result. Operation Bluecoat enabled the retention of substantial German forces, which could not participate in the German counter-attack planned at Avranches, and contributed significantly to the future encirclement of German forces in the Falaise pocket.
