Rear-Admiral Teddy Gueritz (D-Day beachmaster who cleared the way for 30,000 troops)

The Telegraph ^ | 07 Jan 2009

[nickcarraway]

D-Day beachmaster who cleared the way for 30,000 troops and endured 19 days under fire.

Rear-Admiral Teddy Gueritz, who has died aged 89, took over as a beachmaster on Sword Beach at 0800 on June 6 1944, wearing a blue-painted helmet and red scarf while armed with only a large blackthorn walking stick.

He was charged with making order out of the chaos as men poured ashore and flail tanks attempted to explode mines and clear wire while the beach exits were jammed by vehicles stuck in soft sand. His sharpest memory was of the sight of his wounded superior, Commander Rowley Nichols, and of his army opposite number, Lieutenant-Colonel DVH Board, who had been killed outright. In addition, a fresh brigade, which landed at about 0930, found that the wind had driven the tide higher than expected, thereby narrowing the beach and covering many of the explosive obstacles.

Gueritz worked unremittingly, calling in landing craft, unloading troops and organising routes leading off the beach by clearing wreckage and casualties and maintaining ship-to-shore communications. By evening some 30,000 troops, several hundred vehicles and tons of ammunition had been landed.

Gueritz survived 19 days under fire on the beach until receiving a serious head wound. He had just put on his helmet, "but didn't duck quickly enough," he recalled, when a shell splinter punched a hole in it. It was not until he fainted in a field hospital, where he had gone to have a hand injury treated, that it was realised the back of his skull had been crushed.

Evacuated to Southampton General Hospital he owed his life to the skill of the surgeon John Richardson, the future Lord Richardson who became president of the General Medical Council. Gueritz's skill and courage were recognised by a Bar to his earlier DSC.

[OrioleFan]

My wife and I are recreational ballroom dancers. Not this Dancing with the Stars crap. Bronze/silver level rhythm and smooth. There is a couple we took lessons from back in the 90’s that we meet at the dances and share a table with. One June he told me, “I went in with the first wave at Utah beach.” I was floored. He was in the 4th ID, 8th IR. We got to talking and he told me that he had been wounded 3 times, and the worst part of D-Day was cutting dead paratroopers out of the trees. I asked him if he ever had a desire to go back to Normandy for a tour. He said he never wanted to see it again.

[Attention Surplus Disorder]

When you look at the newsreels of what those men went through on the D-Day landing, it’s completely beyond belief.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Is this the same gentleman depicted in the movie The Longest Day directing traffic on the beach standing up with his dog on a leash and just a swagger stick?

[Loud Mime]

Another soldier reporting to the mansions of the Lord. God Bless Him and Welcome Him!

[Rummyfan]

Rear-Admiral Teddy Gueritz, who has died aged 89, took over as a beachmaster on Sword Beach at 0800 on June 6 1944, wearing a blue-painted helmet and red scarf while armed with only a large blackthorn walking stick.

Believe this hero was portrayed by Sir Kenneth Moore in The Longest Day....

[LimaLimaMikeFoxtrot]

i was wondering the same. Helluva traffic cop.

[GQuagmire]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Maud

[fieldmarshaldj]

RIP, Admiral.

[SunkenCiv]

· join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic ·
	Gods Graves Glyphs	Thanks nickcarraway. Just adding to the catalog, not sending a general distribution. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list. GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach
· Google · Archaeologica · ArchaeoBlog · Archaeology · Biblical Archaeology Society · · Discover · Nat Geographic · Texas AM Anthro News · Yahoo Anthro & Archaeo · · The Archaeology Channel · Excerpt, or Link only? · cgk's list of ping lists ·

[OrioleFan]

I picked up a copy of “The Battle of the Hedgerows” at the library the other day. The Overlord planners had no plan to handle the terrain behind the beaches in Cotentin Peninsula. The GI’s had to find ways to defeat a well entrenched foe. Then, they’d bring in another unit and they would have to learn the lessons all over again. Bradley and Montgomery ended up fighting a war of attrition for weeks beyond the original plan for a breakout hedgerow by hedgerow. It cost a lot of lives.