tA
Tribute to
David
Priest
06
March 1925- 08 July 1944
age
19 years
click to enlarge
David
Priest
David
Priest was born in Puslinch
Township on the Gore Road, where Hoover
Park is today, on March 6, 1925. David
was the 3rd
youngest
of 9 children and attended Crief
school.
In
the spring of 1944, David
enlisted, joining
the Highland
Light Infantry (H.L.I.) stationed in Galt,
Ontario. He
was Private David
Lorne Priest, A108935.
After basic training, he was sent overseas a short time later to
join the First Battalion of
the Highland
Light Infantry of' Canada in Gourock,
Scotland for
further
intense training.
In
England, they were primarily a defence
force
until after the air war was won over Britain and then they were trained
as an invasionary
force. Battle training
took place on the Isle of Wight,
using
live ammunition with an expected casualty rate of 10%.
As
assault Phase Commander for Overlord,
(code name
for invasionary
force) General Montgomery
assigned Juno beach to the 3rd
Canadian. The 9th
Infantry
Battalion landed at St. Aubin
as reserves after the 7th
and 8th
Canadian Infantry battalion had taken the beach. They then headed inland
to the south. The objective was the Carpiquet
Airfield just three miles to the west of the city of Caen, the communications
centre. It was an eleven mile dash on bicycles, supporting vehicles and weapons
carriers.
Leading
the 9th
Highlanders on D.Day
plus one, the North Nova Scotia
Highlanders pushed through Buron
but were met head on by the 21st
Panzer Division and forced to dig in on the outskirts of Buron.
Their ranks were devastated
and prisoners shot by the Germans.
This standoff remained for a month.
The
21st Panzer Division was comprised of Hitler
Youth full of
Nazi ideology and seasoned officers, many of whom
had fought on the Russian front. 65%
of personnel were 18 years of age, and 3% over 25.
For
this month, raids were carried out, with shelling and mortar fire being returned
daily. All this time, German
forces
were being consolidated in the area. During this period, many
men were killed or wounded but they kept the Germans
off
guard and from
making
a counter attack.
Operation
Charnwood
was designed by Montgomery to break out of the
area. The H.L.I. job was to take Buron.
At
5 a.m.
on July 8, 1944, the overhead aircraft bombardment began
and supporting artillery fire. By 7:30 a.m.
the two assaulting companies crossed the start line. At
the anti‑tank ditches fierce opposition was encountered with hand-to-hand
combat. The youthful Germans
would not give up and suffered many casualties. It was a most horrendous
and bloody battle.
Private
David
Priest was killed on this day. There were 262 Canadian casualties with 62
dead. Of the 21,000 strong German
12th SS Panzer Grenadier Division, only 25%
remained. They had crossed an open field in daylight to take a village of
equal or greater number
of' well dug
in defenders and succeeded.
David
is buried in Beny
Sur
Mer
Canadian War Cemetery in France. David
is an uncle of Nancy
Kitchen.
Reference:
1. Captain J.
Allan
Snowie,
Bloody Buron,
1984, Boston Mills Press
