Local History A Jeep Called ‘Vixen Tor’
And a Dog Called ‘D-Day’ By Roderick Martin
Vixen Tor is one of the most significant landmarks on the western edge of Dartmoor. According to legend it was from the top of this high granite mass that the evil witch, Vixana, gazed down on travellers and maliciously conjured up a mist, causing them to lose their way and perish in the marshes below.
Seventy years ago an American soldier, Major General Charles H. Gerhard, commander of the 29th Infantry Division of the US Army, used this same high point to look down on soldiers training for the largest military invasion of all time, many of whom were to perish in the assault on Omaha Beach. These frequent visits to the tor led to his control vehicle, a Willys Overland jeep, being named ‘Vixen Tor’ after the location. It was one of approximately 660,000 military jeeps, generally used as light reconnaissance vehicles, manufactured between 1941 and 1945 by the Willys, and later Ford companies.
Major General Charles Hunter Gerhardt, former cavalry officer, West Pointer and career soldier, was a controversial wartime figure. In July 1943 he took command of the 29th Infantry Division, ‘the Blues and Greys’, whose headquarters were based in Tavistock. It was the first American military division to arrive in the UK and one of the eleven military divisions here in the build-up to D-Day. Gerhardt proved a tough no-nonsense commander who wanted his men to ‘look like soldiers, act like soldiers and know the business of soldiers’. He was a colourful character, somewhat prone to becoming upset about minor irritations, but ideally suited for the task of training a division of largely enlisted men who had no previous battle experience and about to face a determined enemy. The 29ers led the assault on Omaha Beach in June 1944 and fought their way through France into Germany where in May 1945 they linked up on the River Elbe
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with the Russian forces. During this campaign the 29th Infantry Division sustained a much higher proportion of casualties than other American division.
factor being that the initial landing force had been trained for well over a year but their replacements had only a very basic training before being sent into action, and as a result quickly added to the growing number of casualties. It was said that Gerhardt had three Divisions ‘the first a fighting unit, the second in hospital, and the third in the cemetery’. Throughout the war Gerhardt rode in the front passenger seat of ‘Vixen Tor’ which proudly displayed two silver stars for his major general status. On its arrival in Normandy the jeep gained another passenger, a
A crucial
two-month old black-and-white spaniel with droopy ears. Gerhardt called the dog ‘D-Day’. It went everywhere with him and was no doubt a big comfort at a difficult time. He always made a great fuss of the dog; leading some people to conclude that he was kinder to the dog than to his officers. However the dog was not always well behaved and would jump out when the jeep stopped. Once it was seriously injured when it escaped and started to chase some military lorries. A military surgeon was able to patch-up the spaniel’s injuries which was fortunate for the unlucky lorry driver on whom the wrath of the general had descended. In November 1944 when General Eisenhower, the Supreme Allied Commander,
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