The 9th Cameronians join the Fight!

#9thInNormandy

June 6th, 1944 – D-Day.

It had been four long years since the British Army had been pushed out of France and back across the Channel, forced to evacuate from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk. The time had finally come for the Western Allies to bite back and begin the liberation of North West Europe from Nazi occupation.

Although no Cameronian battalions took part in the initial assaults on the beaches of Normandy, two well known Cameronians had been involved in the planning and preparation. General Sir Thomas Riddell-Webster, as Quarter-Master General, and Lieutenant-General J. F. Evetts, as Assistant Chief of the Imperial General Staff, both made a contribution to the planning, supply and general administration of the operation which is impossible to overestimate.

Shortly after the capture of the beaches, the Headquarter Staff of VIII Corps arrived in France, led by another famous Cameronian – Lieutenant-General Richard O’Connor. It was as part of VIII Corps that the first of the four Cameronian battalions to fight as part of the British Liberation Army would arrive in France.

The 9th Cameronians was a War Service battalion. A 9th Battalion had been raised in 1914 and fought with distinction on the Western Front. Just 20 years later, the 9th Battalion of The Cameronians (Scottish Rifles) was raised once again to take part in a World War against Germany and her allies.

The years leading up to D-Day were frustrating for the men of the 9th Cameronians. Destined to remain in the UK undergoing intense training, they were denied the opportunity to take the fight to the enemy like their brothers-in-arms in the 1st Cameronians in Burma, or in the 2nd Cameronians (North Africa, Sicily and Italy). The reward for their patience was that they would be the first Cameronian battalion in action in the invasion of Fortress Europe.

For much of 1943 and 1944 the 9th Battalion would undergo extensive training in co-operation with armoured units, with whom they would fight alongside with great success in Normandy and beyond.

As part of 15th (Scottish) Division, serving in O’Connor’s VIII Corps, the 9th Cameronians were to form part of the force that would break out of the Normandy beachhead and clear a way towards Paris.

On 17 June 1944, the 9th arrived at the Mulberry Harbour at Arromanches. Bad weather would delay their disembarkation and it wasn’t until 23 June that the full Battalion would assemble together. In only three days time they would be thrown into action for the first time…

Follow the blog for more posts about 9th Cameronians fighting advance through France, Belgium, Holland, and into Germany itself.

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