197 Sqn, D-Day - target reference?

[wwrsimon]

A quick update. I sent off an e-mail to the RAF Museum, asking if they had any info. They replied that they didn't, but helpfully suggested that the information may lie within the AIR 37 series of files at the National Archives.

The owner of 'La Cueillette du Grand Parc' also sent over some documentation, including some aerial photos. They're taken sometime just after the war by the look of them, and show the remains of a German barracks, some destroyed buildings and the foundations of an incomplete bunker.

He also sent over some pages from the War Diary of the 7th Gordon Highlanders, in which it describes the unit being fired upon from a 'Fortified Farm' at Le Parc, and gives the reference 878752. The 7th G.H. withdrew, and Le Parc was 'successfully engaged by H.M.S. Orion.'

Another document from May 1944 describes the Le Parc with the reference 8775: 'A double wire fence has been thrown around these farm buildings (probably with mines in between) and inside the enclosure a pillbox and fire posts have been made. The position is presumably designed to cover the nearby D.F. Station.'

One more item he scanned and sent over was an extract from the book 'Gold Beach' by Simon Trew, describing the actions of the Green Howards of June 7th(?), who met opposition at a 'German radio station south of Coulombs...[a] well fortified position...[with] a garrison of 50 Luftwaffe personnel.'

Regards

Simon