July 25, 2024
/
A moving ceremony was held in the northern French town of Houdetot to pay tribute to the Scottish and French soldiers who fell in the Normandy town in June 1940.
On Saturday 6 July flags were flying at Houdetot Cemetery and, in front of a large crowd, piper Christophe Toullec played Scotland the Brave to mark the beginning of the tribute.
In June 1940 soldiers of the 51st Highland Division were fighting against an advancing German army.
Alongside soldiers from 1st Armoured Division and the French 9th Army Corps, they fought under French command against huge odds for nearly 10 days until surrounded at the fishing town of Saint-Valery-en-Caux.
Highland Division, initially with a complement of 20,000, comprised nine Battalions of the Highland Infantry Regiments. They had been detached from the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) and had escaped encirclement around Dunkirk.
From June 4 they were conducting a fighting withdrawal West from the Somme. The German advance was so rapid that they, and part of the French army, were cut off. And, so, they found themselves in Saint-Valery-en-Caux under siege from four German divisions. 10,000 exhausted men, under the command of General Victor Fortune, surrendered to the Germans on 12 June.
The capitulation came days after the successful mass evacuations at Dunkirk, 200 kilometres to the north.
At the conclusion of the Houdetot ceremony and laying of wreaths, the children of the town placed a white rose on each British grave in recognition of the 20 soldiers who fell there in defence of France. Houdetot is fewer than 10km from Saint-Valery-en-Caux.
Children lay flowers on the graves of fallen Highland soldiers.
Back at the town hall, a tribute by Houdetot Mayor Jean-Paul Renaux was paid to soldier Robert Balfour of 1st Battalion The Black Watch (part of the 51st Highland Division). Fife-born Private Balfour was declared missing on June 12, 1940, and his body was never found.
In the presence of the Balfour family, the registered fork belonging to the Highlander – and found in the basement of a farmhouse in the town – was handed over to his youngest son David. He was born in June 1940, a week after his father’s disappearance.
Private Balfour’s fork being returned to his youngest son David.
Events concluded with a meal prepared by members of the municipal council and residents in honour of David Balfour and his family, in the presence of Colonel Monneveu, National Vice President of the Alpine Hunters’ Association, and Jean Ridel, a witness to the events of June 1940.
The main image (top of page) shows (from left): Hervé Savary (organiser), Jean-Paul Renaux (Mayor of Houdetot), Benjamin Gorgibus (Vice President of the community of communes of the Côte d’Albâtre), and David Balfour, youngest son of Private Robert Balfour and his family.
◼︎ In commemoration of this year’s 80th anniversary of the liberation of Saint-Valery-en-Caux, Armed Forces Covenant signatory and Defence Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Bronze Award holder Wasted Degrees Brewing has produced a limited edition beer at its microbrewery in Perthshire. Profits from the sale of this beer will go to Poppyscotland and its equivalent organisation in France, Le Bleuet (cornflower) de France. Find out more about Wasted Degrees.
