5 June 1944 Part 1

5 June 1944

A low-level attack on a Luftwaffe radar installation on Guernsey caused one serious and one slight casualty; one attacking aircraft crashed west of Guernsey. Four fighters also attacked the radar and aerial installations on the Casquets without damage. [T-1022/2174, PG 38468, scans 0294-0295]

Typhoons and other fighter-bombers attacked batteries and coastal installations in the Normandy and Seine–Somme sectors. German batteries submitted several destruction claims. Radar, observation and communications sites remained principal targets, and damage reports were passed while repairs continued.

The command’s invasion review described the expected sequence of an assault: intensified reconnaissance, bombing and airborne operations, naval preparation, minesweeping and the concentration of shipping, followed by landings. Enemy ship movements and activity opposite the Houlgate–Ouistreham sector were treated as especially significant.

The review warned that the withdrawal or movement of German batteries had weakened parts of the coast and stressed that coastal artillery must resist an assault fleet for as long as possible. Preparations were ordered or reviewed for mining the Seine approaches, reinforcing harbour-defence craft, and meeting possible landings between the Vire and the Orne.

Roll 2174, PG 38468, scans 0294–0295.