With the 80th Anniversary of D-Day upon us, I thought it fitting to share (with the commissioning family’s permission) this story of one man’s experience that I pieced together for the family’s Family Story. It wasn’t widely known before, and took a lot of digging to piece together the likely course of events. The bravery exhibited by Dennis Hagens and his comrades during the landings and beyond, as well as his family at home is quite remarkable.
The Hagens: German Publicans
The Hagens family were originally from Germany, Dennis’s Grandfather was born there around 1831. The Hagens had been in England from at least the 1850s, when Dennis’s Grandfather arrived as a Merchant Seaman. He married an Essex Girl and ran the Enterprise Pub in North West London in the 1870s, before taking over the Duke of Cornwall Pub in Wandsworth Road Clapham, South London, for many years. He finally ending up running the Nelson Beer House at 46 Berner Street Westminster (shown below as the corner building some years later) at the time of the murder of Elizabeth Stride by Jack The Ripper in a yard three doors down(entrance below the cartwheel on the wall in the picture).
It is likely that the family quickly lost any ‘German’ identity within a generation or two. German Lutheran and other Pastors had been complaining about this loss of identity in German Communities in London; once the original immigrants married English women and had a family they blended in with the rest of the London Cockney Community. By the time of the outbreak of the Great War in 1914, it is likely that no one who knew the Hagens would have realised they were of partial German descent, unless they knew the publican from his time running the Pub in the Wandsworth Road.
Peabody Buildings
Dennis Hagens was born in 1923 in the Peabody Buildings, Rosendale Road, Herne Hill, South London, his father was a London County Council Tram Driver. His Father died when Dennis was 9 years old, after spending the previous 2 years in and out of a sanitorium. Home visits for Dennis’ father where tinged with sadness as Dennis was sent away in order to protect him from the danger of being infected with his father’s illness. This estrangement and bereavement at such a young age has lead the family to believe that his father did not have the time or opportunity to explain to Dennis about his German roots. It would have been a sensitive subject to share with such a young child, who might innocently ‘spill the beans’ to neighbours who had just come through WW1.
By 1939, after his father’s death, Dennis was living with two of his brothers and his widowed Mother in the Peabody Buildings, at Clapham Junction, in South London. Dennis was a Boy Messenger in the Post Office, and his brothers had good regular jobs, as a Conductor on a Trolley Bus and as a Contractual Engineer. All the brothers were unmarried, and Mum Florence was looking after the house for them. With regular money coming in it would have been a comfortable household for a working family.
The Peabody estate was built in 1936 during the Great Depression and to save money the flats had a bath in the scullery that was covered with a working surface when not in use. In 1936 weekly rents ranged from 5 shillings for a one-room flat to 16 shillings and sixpence for a four room flat.
These Peabody Buildings were very respectable residences for Working Class people at the time, deliberately so, there were many rules that had to be complied with, mainly around Rent, Cleanliness – including helping to clean your own part of communal stairways etc, and Behaviour – drunkenness, loose morals, and anti-social behaviour were not tolerated, many infringements ran the risk of eviction, and this was enforced often to ‘weed out’ ‘undesirable tenants’ and ‘problem families’.
If a family stayed in Peabody Estates over a long period of time, as the Hagens did, over decades and through generations, then we can draw the conclusion that they were highly respectable Working Class earning regular wages. They were models of Working Class people trying to better themselves, despite having lost the main breadwinner, Dennis’s father.
In 1943 Dennis married Lilian, Dennis had worked as a Postman and Lilian worked for the Post Office as a Telegraphist, so happily they met at work. Just before they married Dennis was conscripted into the Army in the Royal Armoured Corps.
Dennis During World War II
After initial training Dennis became a Tank Driver in the 22nd Light Dragoons, nicknamed the ‘Dinkey-Doos’ in reference to the housey-housey call for twenty-two.
In October 1943 the regiment was briefed on its future role by Major General Hobart; the 30th Armoured Brigade, of which they were a part was to become a Flail Regiment to clear away mines and barbed wire on the beaches of Normandy in the impending invasion for D-Day, and after the beaches were taken as the vanguard of attacks on German defended positions. This news caused some consternation in the Regiment as it would mean advancing up the beach on D Day at 1.5 MPH using the large ‘Flail’ on the front of their Tanks to flatten barbed wire and set off landmines whilst under heavy fire from German positions. These adapted Tanks were called ‘Funnies’ by everyone else in the army, sometimes the subject of scorn, and Army planners had estimated that up to half of the force would be lost in the initial Landings. Things did not bode well for young Dennis, and exciting as the prospect of driving a tank in battle had been, this new situation must have really tested his nerves.
Although we don’t know exactly what Dennis’s movements were (it can take a year to get WW2 records from the MOD) we do know the movements of his regiment, so can make some assumptions on the action that he saw.
D Day 6th June 1944
The regiment embarked at Lepe Beach in the New Forest on the South Hampshire Coast, On D Day 6th June 1944, after a long period of delay waiting for the weather to clear to enable air cover, the Allied Invasion Force set off across the channel, Dennis and the other crews mainly in their tanks for the journey, suffered sea sickness and the pangs of fear of the unknown playing on their nerves.
The 22nd Dragoons were in the vanguard of the attacks on both Sword and Juno beaches under the command of the beach clearing engineer regiments, ahead of the landing of the main fighting troops. They immediately came under intense fire from the German defenders, but although the casualties to the actual flails was high, the casualties amongst Tank Crews were comparatively light, this was put down to the Germans, never having seen ‘Funnies’ before, opening fire on the flails on the front of the Tanks rather than on the body of the tanks, effectively putting the mine clearing effect of the tanks out of commission, but without destroying the tanks themselves. This meant that the Dinkey-Doos could then carry on fighting as more or less normal tanks in support of the troop landings.
We know some of the opposition and hits taken by the Dinky-Doos from various War Diaries and other sources, and although we don’t know which Tank Dennis was in, the records give a flavour for what he faced as a 22 year old on D-Day. The Tanks were given codes of a number representing the Troop and a letter for each individual Tank.
Landing Sword Beach
1 Troop
Tank IC was hit by enemy fire whilst still some 400 yards offshore, but no serious damage was suffered. The flail Tanks 1G and 1H landed and flogged up the beach, 1A landed and followed the flails. 1C was hit again and then its Bobbin (mat laying apparatus) was hit as it went down the ramp into the water, it followed 1A up the beach, hit a mine and lost a bogie (track suspension unit) but carried on.
The flails managed to cross the dunes unaided and continued flailing inland. 1C were ordered to establish a windsock to mark the gap, but hit a mine and lost two bogies and the left track. Two crew then jumped out to put up the windsock but one was killed by a mine. With the vehicle immobile and the mine crater filling with petrol, the crew abandoned the tank, destroying codex slides and codes and taking all arms with them. 1A was now at the top of the gap, 1B was at the bottom and the crew of 1C formed a defensive patrol with Brens, Stens and revolvers.
Flail 1G advanced inland followed by the crew of 1C on foot and covered by 1A. When no more mines were found the crew of 1C formed a defensive position and the Serjeant went back to bring up 1A and 1B. The personnel on foot were joined by another crew from a disabled AVRE (Armoured Vehicle Royal Engineers) of 3 Troop and two infantrymen. The dismounted personnel then moved up to a road and cleared and held the road junction until other units arrived. They then cleared mines from the squadron rendezvous area.
2 Troop
This troop landed to the right of 1 Troop instead of to the left as planned. When the LCTs (Landing Craft Tanks) were approaching the shore, dust and smoke had obscured the view and they could not identify the landing point. At about 300 yards the landmarks became visible and LCT 112 carrying 1 Troop, altered course sharply to the left. LCT 111 could not swing left as there was another craft in its beaching place so landed 80 yards to the right of 1 Troop.
A gun firing towards 1 Troop caused much trouble. The two flails, 2G and 2H ran up to the high water mark and then flailed straight towards the gun, 2H was hit three times in the engine compartment and burst into flames 2G was hit on the turret, the operator was killed, and the commander and gunner wounded. 2A followed the flailed path and turned right before reaching the gun position. 2B followed and actually dropped its bridge on top of the gun position.
2G had flailed a path to the dunes and 2A used it to push the Boase torpedoes (also called “Bangalore Torpedoes” – explosives used to clear obstructions) into a blocking dune but had trouble cutting it lose. 2B went on to make a second gap and cleared a lane through gardens between two houses. 2C had been waiting hull down in the water and was now ordered up to place a windsock at the gap.
2A succeeded in freeing the Boase torpedoes and reversed away. The torpedoes were detonated by enemy fire but made a good gap. 2A returned to the bridge and started to cross it when a support on the log carpet frame was shot away and the carpet fell onto the bridge. Together with some pioneers the crew straightened the log carpet to make a straight run at the bridge. They then crossed the bridge, which was still over the (German) anti-tank gun (position).
Flail 2H lost a track but 2G cleared the road for 300 yards to the right before it was ordered to return and make contact with 1 Troop on the left.
All three AVREs (Concrete Busting Tanks) were knocked out, the Troop Commander was killed and the Lieutenant was mortally wounded. The surviving crew members rallied on foot and the gap was made with hand placed charges. The troop then rallied at the squadron rendezvous.
3 Troop
No 3 troop landed ten minutes behind schedule and at the wrong point, having grounded on a DD tank (a sunken amphibious ‘Swimming Tank’).
The two flails landed and flailed up the beach guided by 3A following behind, as the flails were blind when flailing. 3C stopped in the water having blown a track on a mine. This was later found to be a Teller mine dislodged from a beach obstacle. It was also hit by an anti-tank gun and was drowned as the tide came in.
3A was also hit on the turret and on the carpet release. The carpet had to be cut loose and abandoned in a pile. 3A and 3B, together with an armoured dozer made a gap. The dozer later blew a track on a mine and the commanders of both flails were killed.
3G engaged a pill box which was laying down mortar fire and silenced it. 3G was then knocked out by an anti-tank gun. 3H engaged the anti-tank gun and was also knocked out at short range.
4 Troop
No 4 troop could not land. As soon as the LCT ramp was lowered, the flails were engaged by an emplaced 75mm anti-tank gun. The leading flail, 4G was hit three times before it had cleared the water line. All the crew were killed except for one who escaped wounded and with his clothes on fire.
The second flail, 4H, with the Commanding Officer 5 Assault Regiment Royal Engineers aboard, was moving forward to disembark when two shells hit the LCTs bows and a third hit the flail tank causing it to slew and block the exit. A shell then hit the Boase torpedoes on AVRE 4A (Concrete Buster Tank). These were angled over the flail 4H and in exploding they killed the CO 5 ARRE (Commanding Officer Royal Engineers) and his signal Serjeant.
The bobbin 4C (Carpet Laying Tank) jettisoned its Boase torpedoes. 4A attempted to bypass 4H and then attempted to tow it out of the way. In the process 4A was also penetrated twice by anti-tank rounds.
There was no option but for the LCT to return to the UK with its load. All the Bobbins disabled or damaged. The Flails and Ploughs were available to clear mines from the beach but there were very few mines on this beach.
Whichever Troop he was with, this was Dennis’s first taste of combat, straight from training, off a landing ship, and onto a hotly contested beach in the face of a ferocious defence from German artillery and machine guns in reinforced concrete defensive positions. It must have been staggeringly frightening for a raw 22 year old.
The Home Front
Lilian continued to lived in Hindmans Road whilst Dennis was away in the Army, and in 1944 their first child Michael Dennis Hagens was born. This was just a week before D-Day, while Dennis was in training camp and Dennis wasn’t allowed to receive the telegram announcing his son’s arrival, in case it was a coded message from an enemy. Lilian lived with her mother Florence in Hindmans Road throughout the blitz, looking after young Michael Dennis. Rationing was happening, and it must have been very hard raising a baby with the worry of minimal food.
The constant fear of German V1 and V2 Rocket attacks was a very real threat, and there was a close shave when half the street at the top of the road was demolished in the Blitz that killed four people (see map below; black = destroyed, blue = badlydamaged, mauve lighter damage). Long nights in the Hindmans Road air raid shelter with her mother and baby son must have been a time of fear, listening for the engines of the bombers, the ‘cut-out’ of the droning engines of V1 Rockets before that fell and hit London, and the worry of the silent V2 rockets that travelled at supersonic speeds which obliterated homes without any warning.
Alongside the fear of death raining down from the sky during the day from German ‘Terror Weapons’ the V1 and V2 Rockets, at night waves of German Bombers constantly raided London. The need to huddle in the Air raid Shelter in Hindmans Rd, while the Bombers engines could be heard rumbling overhead, and the ground shaking as bombs rained down, with children crying, and nobody having the chance to sleep, the terror only alleviated on quieter nights by the odd drunk stumbling into the shelter and being shouted at by the old men and women who were sheltering there. The trepidation of the following morning when Lilian and her Mother and baby would go out into the daylight to see if their home was still standing, and the sorrow for the people further up Hindmans Road whose houses hand been demolished by the bombing and some of whom had died. Alongside this was the fear for Dennis, at the front in a Tank, and not just any tank, as we shall see, Dennis’ unit was the first into the fray without always having the ability to fight back. Lilian must have had a constant anxiety tugging at her mind.
After D Day
Dennis’s Regiment then took part in attacks at Odon, Caen and Falaise, before moving on to Le Havre and the other French channel towns, then into Belgium at the end of September 1944. In Belgium they were given a rest whilst refitting near the town of Vurste. The Belgians welcomed them with open arms as the Liberators they were, that must have been a welcome relief for Dennis after what he and his mates had gone through at the front of all those attacks driving the Germans out of the channel ports.
Dennis and the Dinky-Doos then moved up into The Netherlands taking part in the breakout through the Lower Maas and the Venlo Pocket, before being ‘harboured’ around Oerle for major refitting and training. Here the winter of 1944/45 was so cold that the tanks were literally frozen to the ground this would mark the start of the Ardennes offensive, otherwise known as ‘The Battle of the Bulge’.
By the start of February 1945 the Tank squadrons spread over quite a large area during the Reichswald offensive, still clearing minefields. As minefields reduced in number a decision was made to de-flail a number of troops, so they took up a more normal tank role supporting the infantry. It was noted that when fierce opposition was encountered troops of 22nd Dragoons acted heroically by deliberately putting themselves at risk, when they ran out of ammunition, by remaining in the front line raising the morale of the Infantry, drawing enemy fire away from the Infantry, and providing physical cover for them.
Towards the end of the war the 22nd Dragoons were spread out around the areas of Selsingen, Bremervorde and Enschede. The Regiment was then billeted at Delmenhorst where they had to hand in their tanks and become infantry until disbandment. 22nd Dragoons were involved in the beginnings of what eventually became known as the Iron Curtain of the Cold War period 1945-1989 when they had to prepare and initially man the new frontier under the codename Operation Hammer on 1st July 1945 whilst at Bad Lauterberg.
Some clever political negotiation allowed the regiment to continue to exist until 30th November 1945. After the end of the War the regiment returned for friendly football matches with the people of Vurste in Belgium.
War’s End
In 1945 Lilian was registered for polling as living in a flat at Melbourne Grove East Dulwich, a second flat in the house was occupied by the Blows family. Dennis was also registered at that address as his home address but was noted as a Serviceman away at war.
Dennis was back in England and de-Mobilised (Demobbed) in 1945/1946, Lilian’s relief must have been enormous, it’s not clear how much she knew about what was happening whilst he was away, but she would have known that he was in immediate danger every time his Tank took the lead to clear the mines in a battle.
Dennis re-entered civvie street working as a Postman, he had a second child, a daughter and settled down to raise his family with Lillian in East Dulwich South East London.
The irony is that if Dennis’s Grandfather hadn’t jumped ship in London married an Essex Girl, and ran a pub in “Jack the Ripper Country” (to quote from DNA Journey) in Westminster, the Hagens would probably have been in the German Army fighting to keep the allies out of Europe. Decisions made 100 years previously had shaped Dennis’s present in a life or death way.
There is no doubt that without heroes like Dennis Hagens fighting on the Normandy beaches, and the stoic will to survive of his wife and family at home, the war could have taken a very different course, they must be remembered and their stories retold. If we don’t study history, and understand the price that previous generations paid to give us our freedom, we may be forced to relive it.
I would like to say a special “Thank You!” to Dennis and Lilian Hagens’ Family, especially Mo, Danni, and Vickie, for filling in the blanks of this story with the parts that are not recorded in paper records, and allowing me to tell Dennis and Lilian’s story here; without them the story could not have been written.
Travelling Through Time to Trace Your Ancestors 