St Valery liberation commemorated

The 80th anniversary of the 1944 Liberation of Normandy by Allied Forces was commemorated in France on the second and third of September.

Saint-Valery-en-Caux had been the scene of one of the greatest battles of the Second World War when – in June 1940 – the advancing German army pushed the remaining Allied troops into a small area on the Normandy coast.

With bad weather hampering the waiting rescue ships, troops from 51st Highland Division along with soldiers from 1st Armoured Division and the French 9th Army Corps, were trapped between the sea and the high cliffs surrounding the town. Outgunned and outmanned, hundreds of Scottish soldiers were killed until General Fortune called the surrender.

Thousands of men were taken prisoner and marched to camps in Poland where they remained until 1944 and liberation. In a twist of fate, the first soldiers into St Valery to liberate the citizens, were once again the 51st Highland Division, some of whom had survived the original battle and now returned as liberators.

The plaque commemorating the liberation.

General Officer Scotland, Major General Robin Lindsay, accompanied by Lieutenant Colonel Mike Onslow, representing 51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland, and Captains Holland and O’Duffin, were guests of honour at the event and laid wreaths at the memorials at St Valery and Veules-les-Roses, also unveiling a plaque recognising the sacrifices of those who died defending the town.

General Lindsay (left) presents a painting to Monsieur Jean-Francois Ouvry, the Mayor of St Valery.

General Lindsay presented the Mayor of St Valery, M. Jean-Francois Ouvry, with a painting based on a photograph taken at the time of the liberation. This gift was painted by Colonel Hugo Clark, SO1 Engagement at 51st Infantry Brigade and Headquarters Scotland.

There was an added poignancy for General Robin as his grandfather Sir Martin Lindsay was an officer in the Gordon Highlanders who formed part of the 51st Division taking part in the D-Day invasion of Normandy and the subsequent battles. It was Sir Martin who took the salute of the liberating troops in the very same square where General Robin stood 80 years later.

General Lindsay with 102-year-old Maggie Savoy.

As part of the events, General Lindsay enjoyed a cheery encounter with 102-year-old Maggie Savoy who lived through the fall and liberation of St Valery. Maggie presented the General with a book.

Others attending were Highland RFCA Head of Engagement Michelle McKearnon and civic representatives from Inverness with whom St Valery is twinned.

Highland RFCA Head of Engagement Michelle McKearnon (left) lays a wreath at the 51st Highland Division Memorial at St Valery.