A South African contribution

Squadron Leader JJ (Chris) Le Roux

As well as being one of the best preserved of the Atlantik Wall fortifications, and well worth a visit to see the perfection position it held between Omaha and Gold beaches, the battery at Longues-sur-Mer is also home to Advanced Landing Ground B11, which the allies had operational by 26 June 1944, a mere 19 days after taking the battery itself.

It was from this airfield that South African pilot Jacobus Johannes Le Roux, as commander of the 602 squadron, took off on 17 July is believed to be the pilot who strafed the vehicle carrying Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. The driver was hit, and the car veered off the road, seriously injuring Rommel, but not killing him. That was done three months later.

JJ (Chris) Le Roux went missing on 29 August 1944 when he was flying his Spitfire to England.