On May 10 the anticipated German invasion of Belgium commenced.
The “Blitz” is a term we have come to associate with concentrated periods of bombing over London during the war. Blitz is a shortening of the German term Blitzkrieg which means lightning war and encompasses more than aerial bombardment. The invasion of Belgium was a planned and determined Blitzkrieg, i.e. fast, furious and frightening using tanks, mobile field artillery and aerial bombardment with the aim of speedily overcoming all military opposition and terrorising the civilian population; something we would now call “shock and awe”.
During the period from January to May the Bucks Battalion had been deployed close to the Belgian border and were for many weeks at Wahagnies. The Belgians had been adamant that French or British military were only to enter Belgium if (and when) the German army invaded. This point of principle cost them dear as the speed of the German advance meant that the Belgian military was all but defeated before the French and British could deploy into their planned positions.
From May 10th to 14th the battalion was on standby and on the 14th received orders to proceed towards Belgium. During this time the sounds of distant gunfire and the sights of aerial dogfights had become more evident and once the order to move forward was received all knew that they would be engaging with the enemy. In consequence unnecessary encumbrances were left behind. This included the battalion band's instruments which were taken by the local people and distributed and hidden in the area. Some of the instruments were buried. This act placed the towns people in considerable jeopardy although they may not have quite realised how much at the time. Throughout the war this part of Northern France was clearly of great strategic importance to the Germans, not only as a potential invasion launch site but as the site for the location of V1 and V2 launch positions. The regime of the occupying army was as brutal if not more so than in other parts of France with in excess of 8000 people from the area summarily executed or transported away never to be seen again. Eliot Viney, an officer with the battalion, recalls returning in 1950 and found out that the farmer in whose property he had been billeted had been taken away and shot. The farmer's wife never knew why. Fortunately the instruments were never discovered and after the end of the war were presented back to the battalion.
During the journey to Alsembourg, about 120km from Wahagnies, the men saw a considerable amount of bombing . They witnessed a German plane crash, two airmen survived the crash and were captured by the battalion. Within a few hours of reaching Alsembourg Battalion orders were to go to Waterloo, a march of about 8.5km and here they were to take up defensive positions. This order changes as the brigade were to move to forward positions. Companies A and D from the Bucks Battalion occupied the forward position on a hill overlooking a valley with the 4 Battalion to the left and the 2 Glosters to the right. Bucks B and C Companies occupied rear positions. During the day of May 15 the battalion witnessed aerial bombardment with attacks on battalion positions in the rear. Private Hammond was killed, the first battalion casualty.
Comrades from A Company recollect contact and action at Waterloo, for them the first action in earnest of the campaign. Eliot Viney ( Major in charge of B Company at this point) recalls the dive bombing and and some skirmishing but says that B Company were not particularly involved at this point, confirming their rearguard position.
Lightning War