My interest in St Valéry was started by my Mother telling me about the men from her village of Cluny, Aberdeenshire,  Territorials in the Gordon Highlanders, who went off to fight in France in 1939 and were left behind in France in 1940 when the rest of the BEF were evacuated from Dunkirk.  They included Donald Macleod, Sandy Ross and Peter Ferris.  These were the heroes of St Valéry.

2nd Lt Stuart Johnston, Cameron Highlanders, 1939

The Regimental History of the Cameron Highlanders records that "2nd Lieutenant Johnston had been severely wounded in both legs in open ground between two woods, overlooked by German machine-guns and snipers. He had to be left there till night-time, then a safe extraction could be made." He was then 19 years old. He was carried to St. Valéry,and told his son, once, that he vaguely remembers being on a boat taking him "home" and the the two boats, the one in front, and the one at the back, in the convoy, were blown up. After coming out of hospital, he went to join the reformed 51st in North Africa. He was wounded twice in 6 days at Alamein, the second time had him in hospital in Roehampton for 7 months. He ended the war training Nigerians in the West African Frontier Force, going to Burma with them in early 1944.

I am grateful to Rory Johnston for his permission to include details of his father's experience at Saint-Valéry-en-Caux.

The following are articles from the press referring to the action of 51st (Highland Division) and its gallant soldiers.

Daily Telegraph 21st December 1996

Field Marshal Sir James Cassels

FIELD MARSHAL SIR JAMES CASSELS, who has died aged 89, was Chief of the General Staff from 1965 to 1968.

"In France with the BEF, Cassels served with 157 Brigade and was then brigade major to Brigadier Sir John Laurie on the withdrawal to St Valéry en Caux in 1940. His regiment fought extremely well in the long retreat, often opposing German tanks with small-arms fire, and resisted capitulation at St Valéry until French troops carrying white flags marched across their front, masking their guns.

Soon after the Normandy landings, in June 1944, Cassels took over command of 152 Infantry Brigade (51st Highland Division) on the beachhead east of the river Orne. 51st Highland Division was a reconstituted unit, bearing the name of its predecessor which had been taken prisoner at St Valéry four years earlier.

But it had taken heavy punishment from North Africa onwards (including the Battle of Alamein), and morale had not been helped when Montgomery had replaced its commander, Gen Wimberley, blaming him for the fact that the division was no longer "battle-worthy", as he described it. This treatment of a greatly respected commander - to whom the division was devoted - had caused a major crisis in confidence.

Although this was not an unusual example of Montgomery's style, it caused widespread concern that the Army could not make faster progress against enemy forces which had been bled white in earlier battles and was continuing to be driven back in Russia.

The arrival of Cassels as Commander of 152 Infantry Brigade had a heartening effect, and he led the unit with distinction through the capture of Le Havre, the winter operations in Holland, the Ardennes battles and the final advance into Germany.

In 1945 he was appointed GOC 51st Highland Division, which was then occupying the Bremen district. By the end of the war Cassels had been mentioned in despatches twice and, in 1944, awarded a DSO.

Daily Telegraph 11th September 1999

Lieutenant-Colonel John Chillingworth

Veteran of the Great War who in 1940 won a DSO in the fighting retreat of the 51st Highland Division

LIEUTENANT-COLONEL JOHN CHILLINGWORTH, who has died aged 100, was awarded a DSO and also mentioned in despatches in the fighting retreat of the 51st Highland Division to St Valéry in May 1940.

"At the beginning of the German attack on May 10, the 51st had been deployed along the river Saar, but when the Germans drove deeply into northern France the 51st were ordered to make their way to Le Havre.

There they were to link up with 1st Armoured Division (of mere brigade strength), and, under French command, recapture the bridgeheads on the Somme.

This ambitious task was not made easier by conflicting orders from the War Office and the French High Command, but the 51st put up a stiff fight until finally reaching St Valéry, from which fog and other factors made their evacuation impossible.

They surrendered reluctantly under French orders, after the French had already done so."

Daily Telegraph 4th December 1999

Pierre Boudet

Frenchman adopted by the Gordons

PIERRE BOUDET, who has died aged 85, was the French agent de liaison attached to the 1st Battalion the Gordon Highlanders in France with the British Expeditionary Force in September 1939.

"Boudet became a trusted member of the battalion, of which he was immensely proud, although at first he was wore the uniform of the 4th Zouaves.

As he had worked in London, with Crosse & Blackwell, before the war, his English was good, although he had to get used to the broadest Aberdeenshire dialect. His ready smile made him very popular.

If his cherubic appearance was unsoldierlike, he took a full part in the fighting as the 51st Division, including the Gordons, delayed the German advance. Finally Boudet was wounded and taken prisoner with the rest of the Division at St Valéry. He was strongly recommended by his commanding officer for a British gallantry medal, but none was gazetted.

In Rouen hospital, he was a great help to other casualties, but he soon escaped, and made his way to Casablanca where he arranged for Red Cross parcels to be sent to captured Gordons officers.

After the war he resumed his business life. He often attended Gordons reunions, with his wife Harriet, and was the only foreign soldier to be a member of the Highland Brigade Club."

Daily Telegraph 8th January 2000

Colonel Sir Robert 'Raas' Macrae
 

"By 1939 he was Adjutant of the 4th Battalion. As a part of 51st Highland Division, the battalion, after fighting a succession of defensive battles, was eventually taken prisoner at St Valéry in June 1940. Macrae spent the rest of the war as a PoW in various camps in Germany, from which he was eventually released by American troops commanded by General Patton. He was mentioned in despatches in 1945 and returned to London on VE Day."

18th December 2007
I have been contacted by Fred Kennington whose brother, with many others from Berwick who were Territorials in 7th Battalion The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers (RNF),  and were captured at St Valéry and spent the rest of the war in  Stalag IXC (9C) at Bad Sulza.   His brother died in 2001 but some of the Berwick men are still going strong and are in touch with him.   He used their stories to research the Saint-Valéry campaign and their subsequent memories of the POW camps.  In 2004 he wrote and published the results in "No Cheese After Dinner: With the 51st Division from Normandy to Poland and Back Via Hell 1940-1945 " ISBN-10: 0952649640, which is available from the The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers - The Museum Shop.

"AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN, AND IN   THE MORNING, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM"

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Picture of Monument at Falaise d'Amont

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