The Breakout from Cassel

The Breakout (part 1 of 2)

The Breakout from Cassel, Wednesday 29th - Thursday 30th May 1940 The tragedy of Nigel Somerset's planned breakout was that the Germans had occupied the plains surrounding Cassel and, by 29th May, had already well-prepared positions with mobile tank-born troops as well as infantry that were scouring the area searching for BEF troops on the...

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The Breakout (part 2 of 2)

Thursday 30th - Friday 31st May 1940 As the columns of 145 Brigade men crossed the Belgian frontier during 30th May a further 53,823 men were being evacuated from Dunkirk. Bois St.Acaire The flat and relatively featureless Flanders landscape had provided little in the way of natural cover for the escaping soldiers.  As morning broke,...

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Breakout- East Riding Yeomanry

  East Riding Yeomanry Regiment's Breakout Diary The East Riding Regiment's War Diary provides a graphic account of the  Breakout from Cassel and is quoted here verbatim: - 29th May 1940: 21:30 hrs: Withdrawal of 145 Brigade [Somerforce] commenced Order of march:- Advanced Guard – 4th Ox & Bucks. Light Infantry; Brigade H.Q Staff, Royal...

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Watou and the Temporary Burial Ground

Watou The Belgian frontier village of Watou is about 10 miles to the East of Cassel and straddles one the main evacuation routes towards Dunkirk.  In the First World War it was behind the lines of the British held Ypres Salient and many British soldiers were billeted here.  During May 1940, Watou was in British...

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Breakout Walk to Watou

Using the War Diary and other accounts, I recreated a 'Cassel Breakout Walk' in 2019.  Although it isn't possible to walk directly over farmland, the flat landscape gives a good impression of the features that the Somerforce soldiers would have used to dead-reckon their way towards the Dunkirk beaches. Starting Point I used the newly-created...

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Battle of Cassel- a Virtual 80th Anniversary Reunion

May 2020 was the 80th anniversary of the Battle of Cassel.  Our intention was to commemorate that anniversary by visiting Cassel and the route of the Breakout.  That visit had to be cancelled because of the travel restrictions imposed during the SARS-COV-2 pandemic and so a decision was made to replace it by holding a ...

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Lt Jack May, Lt Roddy Hawes, Sgt Ernest Harcombe, Driver William Martin. 367 Battery members ‘who got away’

A tiny fraction of 367 Battery at Cassel managed to escape to Dunkirk. I estimate about 30-40 men, the majority of whom had been wounded at Cassel in the fighting prior to the 29th May breakout, or had been at the Regiment's supplies area at the village of Eecke about 5 miles to the East...

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Breakout – Prisoners of War

The following sixteen 140th Regiment Officers were recorded as Prisoners of War in a Roll of Honour in ‘Grand Party’: Lieutenant-Colonel C.J. ODLING T.D. (wounded at Cassel) Major N. CHRISTOPHERSON M.C. (wounded at Cassel) Captain H. WESTLEY Captain C.A. HOOD Captain C.L MacDOUGALL (on the run in occupied France until July 1940) Captain F.N. SIRKETT Lieutenant R.N....

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