Major-General Hubert Essame, CBE, DSO, MC (1896–1976) was a British Army officer who fought in the First and Second World Wars. Following his retirement from the army, Hubert lectured in military history at King’s College London, and published several books and articles. He was also an advisor to television producers for military programmes. To commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War, his granddaughter Antonia shares her memories of him below.
Hubert Essame
Brigadier, later Major-General, Hubert Essame led 214 Independent Infantry Brigade, part of 43rd Wessex Division, in the capture of Mont Pincon, the key to Normandy, as well as of Hill 112, the successful yet most costly single battalion action of the Overlord campaign.
He was a sharp-witted and determined man remembered by the actor and raconteur Dirk Bogarde, his one-time liaison officer, for his “brilliant blue eyes and tongue like a whip”. He had a caustic sense of humour and was a formidable leader from the front.
Soon after the war, Hubert wrote the Division’s official history, The 43rd Wessex Division at War, 1944-45, and later Battle for Normandy, Normandy Bridgehead, The Battle for Germany, and a biography of General Patton. His perspective as a leader of troops into battle, alongside his use of a wide-ranging variety of sources as a historian, makes for a great read even for those who know about Operation Overlord.
His 214 Independent Infantry Brigade, which together with 129 and 130 Brigade and their supporting arms formed Major General Ivor Thomas’s 43rd Wessex Division, were in turn part of the XXX Corps commanded by Lieutenant-General Sir Brian Horrocks all the way from Normandy to Bremerhaven.
The Wessex Division story spans the stormy Overlord crossing and later the crucial Battle for Hill 112. This point south-west of Caen was defined by Eberbach, commander of Panzer Group West, as the “pivotal point of the whole position” and it saw the first of the grim battles of attrition immediately following Caen’s fall. The battle involved heavy casualties and tested the 43rd Division against some of the most seasoned German divisions, well dug in and skilfully hidden.
Road and rail lines lay at right angles to the direction of advance. The bocage of tiny, often boggy fields with sunken lanes and thick hedges reduced visibility for artillery and impeded all movement. And it was high summer. Hubert describes vividly how he crawled forward in the August heat to assess Mont Pincon’s southern slopes before its eventual capture by the Division and 8th Armoured Brigade.
Hubert was a writer whose extraordinarily immediate account includes, for example, the information he gained from German prisoners, subsequent revelations about Hitler’s orders to his generals, and his own point of view at the head of 214 Brigade. His perspective sheds light on some of the huge challenges of the campaign, such as that of establishing a key bridgehead over the Seine at Vernon despite the civilian population’s determination to celebrate as though the campaign was already won.
214 Brigade fought on through northern France and the Netherlands, including Operation Market Garden, and were among the first Allied troops to enter Germany. They played a key part in the turning of the tide in the Reichswald. I am proud that ‘Brigadier Twinkletoes’ was my grandfather and attempt to read across from his high standards of resolve and determination to the greyer demands of the here and now.
By Hubert Essame:
