The Calvary Cross – The 9th Parachute Battalion RV following the Assault on the Merville Battery.

In the introductory video on the ‘ABOUT’ page, in one scene I can be seen sitting at a Calvary Cross. This was the location of the 9th Parachute Battalion rendezvous for the survivors following the crucial assault on the Merville Gun Battery.

The 75 survivors from the assault arrived here in a state of shock. The Commanding Officer, Lt Col Terence Otway was himself sitting on the steps of the cross, with his head in his hands. Who knows what could have been going through his mind ? As far as he knew, this was all he had left of his battalion following a scattered drop and then the assault.

The tension was broken when Major Allen Parry, who had been wounded in the left leg during the assault, arrived at the position, wheeling himself along on a child’s cart. He then took out a hip flask of brandy, gulped a mouthful and beamed, ‘A jolly good battle, what ?‘ The grim faces of the men burst into smiles and the sullen group of German prisoners looked on in bewilderment !

The Calvary Cross can be found at the crossroads about 1km south of the Battery on the main road (D223) between the coast and Breville.