Nice little thread on the perils of German memoirs. It reminds me of an account from another senior German that I looked into earlier this year – the capture of Fecamp in June 1940 by Hans von Luck, as related in his book 'Panzer Commander'. https://twitter.com/BloodPhilip/status/1339645304585523200

Von Luck's account starts innocently enough. He's a day out as the advance to the sea was on the 10th, but he wrote his book 40 years later so we can forgive him that. But already seeds of a myth are planted, with 'one of the oddest... almost amusing episodes of the campaign."

The big lie starts almost immediately though with the description of two British destroyers in the harbour, enemy movement and evacuation. None of this is true. Evacuation from this part of the coast wasn't even under consideration yet as the Allies were falling back to Le Havre.

It was only the fall of Fecamp that caused General Fortune, commander of the 51st Division, to realise that he was cut off, and only then did evacuation from this far-from-ideal coast become necessary. As far as I can tell, there were no British units in Fecamp.

Von Luck's account gets weirder, but sooo much more chivalric. Rather than fire on two destroyers bottled up in a harbour, he elects to wait until the next day before doing anything. Then, he alerts the British to his presence! Hardly sound military strategy.

Now the British act stupid. Aware that there are German guns on the cliffs above them, do the destroyers pull out? No. Instead they apparently continue embarking troops/materiel while von Luck's men hold off even longer. Some 15 hours at least must have elapsed by now.

It's not totally clear where von Luck's forces are meant to be, but lets face it – any destroyer commander who waits in this harbour knowing that German guns have him in plain site is quite, quite mad. Agglomeration Fécamp Caux Littoral

But don't worry. Britain has its share of stupid, but quite simply there were no destroyers in Fecamp. I've read hundreds and hundreds of naval reports connected to Operation Cycle – if you can't get to sleep, there's a thread on it here. https://twitter.com/SeaSpitfires/status/1005176900313022465

Nowhere is there any reference to two destroyers entering Fecamp AND remaining there overnight. Or any ship, of any type. Burt lets indulge von Luck a little longer. Now we get to the real chivalry.

And in a short, sharp action that has spared the town's cultural heritage, the British are defeated.

So who were these phantom destroyers? The only British ship of any description near Fecamp was the destroyer HMS Ambuscande, which was hit by shellfire fired from the shore on the afternoon of the 10th. She wasn't in harbour though. https://twitter.com/SeaSpitfires/status/1005807411146485760

Or HMS Bulldog and Boadicea – the latter sent her ship's boats into Veulletes-sur-Mer, but this is some way from Fecamp. Still no ships in harbours. https://twitter.com/SeaSpitfires/status/1005809939963670528

Earlier this year a military history magazine identified the two destroyers as HMS Ambuscade and HMS Hampton, which is impressive. But Ambuscande's report is quite clear that she never ventured into harbour. She was fired on at 1530, around the time the Germans reached the coast.

And HMS Hampton? She's not a destroyer. As a coal fuelled ferry, her activity was limited. She sailed to Le Havre on the 9th, returned to Portsmouth on the 10th, then stooged off the French coast on the 11th. Her report doesn't mention Fecamp once.

But back to von Luck. Now we get to a true bit, although wrong aircraft and wrong date (even accepting his already wrong dates). The two airman who went into the bag flew a Blenheim on the 12th June. But the real story here is the merciful German and the grateful French.

I don't know the actual circumstances of Fecamp's fall – there may have been a French garrison and some civilian vessels. Some of this may be true, but he's still a day out - St Valery surrendered on the 12th.

Did the band play on the 12th? Maybe. The meal at least, did happen – that much is true. But I don't know of any sunken U-boats in the Channel in 1940.

So the bit about the British airmen can be verified, but really not much else. There were definitely no British destroyers sat waiting in a harbour in the full knowledge that German guns were pointed at them. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8155359/A-stroke-Luck-Captured-British-airmen-sit-champagne-caviar-German-officer.html

The evidence also suggests the German forces that reached Fecamp almost immediately engaged in an artillery duel with the one destroyer visible off shore (rather than sitting on a hill for more than half a day doing nothing but watching their enemy loading ships in harbour).

Charitably, we could assume that von Luck's memories have become clouded over 40 years, but even so, that's quite a cloud. I have no knowledge of his war record and I don't know if he sought to reinvent himself post war in the same way as Galland, but his story about Fecamp...

...reeks of an attempt to create a tale of chivalry and gracious treatment of cultural heritage. It's undone by historical records (as always) and an unsound strategy though. This is a good thing, as it's basically duff history. Sadly its already a well regurgitated story...