Memorial Le Paradis Massacre

"To the Memory of
the 97 soldiers
who died in the
Massacre on
27th May 1940
at Le Paradis
Northern France

These soldiers were drawn
from 2nd Battalion The
Royal Norfolk Regiment,
1st Battalion The Royal Scots
and other British
Expeditionary Force units"

Monument dedicated on 13 July 2021 by HRH The Princess Royal.

During the German Invasion of France in May 1940 the Battalions of the Royal Norfolk Regiment and the Royal Scots were in the 4th Infantry Brigade of the 2nd Infantry Division and tasked with trying to delay the advance to enable the evacuation of Dunkirk.
After fierce fighting in which the SS Division Totenkopf suffered very heavy casualties, the elements of the 4th Infantry Brigade withdrew to the area around Cornet Farm outside Le Paradis on the Pas de Calais Again there was fierce fighting but eventually the 99 survivors surrendered to SS Hauptsturmfuhrer Fritz Knockleins unit who had been fighting the Royal Scots nearby. Graves later discovered in 2007 suggest that a further 20 Royal Scots may have been killed in a separate massacre. The 99 men who surrendered were marched to a barn where two machine guns had been set up and shot until all had fallen and then the bodies bayoneted. 97 were killed but two men, Private O'Callaghan and Pooley survived with O'Callaghan pulling Pooley to safety overnight before the local French people were forced to bury the bodies the next day. The two men were captured 3 days later and transferred to military hospitals.
Nothing was known of the massacre until Pooley was repatriated in 1943 because of injuries but the authorities refused to believe the Germans were capable of such actions. It wasn't till O'Callaghan was released as a POW in 1945 and confirmed Pooley's story that an investigation began.
Knockleins company was identified as being responsible by the two survivors and French witnesses and he was arrested, tried and found guilty and executed by hanging on 28 January 1949.
The bodies were exhumed in 1942 by the French but only 50 of the 97 could be identified. They were re-buried in Le Paradis churchyard which is now part of Le Paradis Commonwealth War Graves Cemetery.

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Source

• Text: Sharky Ward
• Photos: Anthony (Sharky) Ward