Summary: Units of the 7th Armoured Division enter the devastated village of Aunay-sur-Odon from the north-west and set about clearing the streets of debris and German booby-traps.
Description: Among all the towns and villages of Normandy badly damaged in the fighting since D-Day, Aunay-sur-Odon is unique for the only structure still standing at its centre is a church steeple; Mont Pincon looms ominously in the background to the south. A Daimler armoured car belonging to the 11th Hussars is unable to make much progress through the bomb-craters and the heaped-up rubble; two crew members survey the desolate probe fields adjacent to a road leading into the stricken village for mines while their comrades keep watch from a Morris II light recce. car. A bulldozer starts to clear a path for military traffic. A bent road sign points the way to Thury-Harcourt and Falaise, two towns that will undergo a similar ordeal to that of Aunay in the next few weeks.
Production Details: Directorate of Public Relations, War Office (Production sponsor)
Army Film and Photographic Unit (Production company)
Covey (Sergeant) (Production individual)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: British Army, Hussars, 11 (regiment/service)
British Army, Royal Engineers (regiment/service)
British Army, Div, Armoured, 7 (regiment/service)
British Army, Corps 30 (regiment/service)
Keywords: armour, British - armoured car: Daimler (object name)
armour, British - armoured car: Morris II light reconnaissance car (object name)
destruction, French military - area: bomb (object name)
signs, military and civilian (object name)
Operation Bluecoat, Mont Pinçon 1944, North West Europe, Second World War (event)
Normandy, France (geography)
