| Instructions regarding War Diaries and Intelligence
Summaries are contained in F.S. Regs., Vol. 1.
and the Staff Manual respectively Title pages
will be prepared in manuscript. |
WAR DIARY or INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY |
Army Form C.2118 |
| Unit: 2nd Fife & Forfar Yeo., R.A.C. | ||
| Month and Year: July 1944 | (Erase heading not required). | Commanding Officer: Lt.Col. A.B.J. Scott, M.C. |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | At 0030 hrs. we started on a march to a futher concentration area east of the Canal de Caen, crossing the canal and the river at Benouville 0974. The concentration area was in a field north east of Ranville where the gliders had landed on D day. The Regt. arrived there at about 0400 hrs.At 0545 hrs. many hundreds of aircraft were seen passing over our heads to blast the route in front of us. There was a continual stream for more than an hour. At 0720 hrs. the Regt. moved off behind the 3 R Tks through the start line just west of Escoville 1171. The form up at the start line was considerably hampered by a minefield laid by the Highland Division which they had been unable to pick up except for four lanes.These lanes provided a further bottleneck and had a serious effect on the outcome of the whole operations. The Bde from the start line to the railway Caen to Troarn moved in the following order: - 3 R Tks, 2 FF Yeo. 23 H. Each Regt. was in three waves, 2 FF Yeo. being with A. Sqn. on the right and B. Sqn. on the left in the left in the leading wave, the second wave consisting of the Recce Tp, RHQ. and the carriers of F. Coy. 8 R.B. the third wave consisting of C. Sqn., the remainder of F. Coy. and I. Bty. 13 R.H.A. At 0800 hrs. the barrage opened which advanced south to the railway, the Bde moving close up behind. Little opposition was encountered duting this time, the villages on the flanks having been well attended to by the air force. This railway was only a minor obstacle.The barrage stopped on this line for 15 minutes to allow for the crossing of the railway and 2 FF Yeo. to go up on the left of the 3 R Tks. The barrage then continued in a S.W. direction towards Le Mesnil Frementel 1065.The Regt. was covering a frontage of about 700 Yds. The two leading waves encountered little opposition but much enemy equipment was seen to be abandoned and many prisoners attempted to give themselves up, as there was no time to collect these they were left to be mopped up by subsequent infantry. The two leading waves reached the line of the railway Caen - Vimont 1461 without suffering any serious casualties.The third wave was strongly engaged by anti-tank guns from the area of Cagny 164 and the woods to the N.E. of it.The first tank to be hit was that of Major C. Nicholls; + almost immediatly Capt. J.E.F. Miller's tank was destroyed. The rear Tp of B. Sqn. which was doing flank protection was also involved and in all some 12 tanks were destroyed in this area before the situation was in hand. It had previously been stated that the village of Cagny would be 'hamburged' by the air force. This, however, had not taken place. Having crossed the railway B. Sqn. continued as leading Sqn. in normal battle formation and they reached the outskirts of Soliers 0862 and Four 0962 before they were seriously engaged. Both these villages were occupied by German infantry and at the same time Panther tanks were seen in the outskirts of the village of Borguebus and also 1 mile further south. Further tanks were then seen moving about on the edge of the woods at m.r. 1160. Capt. J.D. Hutchison with two tps of A. Sqn. went to protect the S.E. flank from a position just N.E. of Four, from where he was able to destroy at least two Panthers. These Panthers prevented us from advancing any further, and in the late afternoon they counter-attacked in force getting into the village of Four from where they were able to cause us further casualties.The Regt. was relieved on this flank by the 23rd H. and moved back to re-organise on the left behind Capt. J.D. Hutchison's two troops, who had suffered a loss of two tanks whilst in position. During the day we lost 37 tanks and we destroyed 6 Panthers, 2 Mk. IV's, 5 S.P's and 3 88 m.m's and succeeded in advancing a distance of 5 miles.Casualties to personnel were as follows: - Killed - Capt. R.H.M. Trehearne and 15 O.R's.Missing presumed killed - Major C. Nicholls and 18 O.R's.Wounded - Lieut. D.A. Reid, Lieut. P.R. Noakes, Lieut. S.H. Millar and 28 O.R's. Capt. P. Beamish, R.A.M.C. was also taken sick. It was unfortunate that many of our unhorsed personnel who got back to A.1. Ech. wer involved in a heavy attack by bombing force during the night and suffered a high proportion of casualties.There were as follows: - Killed - Capt. W.K. Mathewson, Lieut. I.D. Forbes and 4 O.R's.- Wounded - Lieut. A.G.P. Buchan, Lieut. R.P. Clarke, 2/Lieut. E.J. Spittal and 40 O.R's. That night we leaguered just north of the railway m.r. 0865. |
Source: 11th Armoured Division.
Disclaimer: This War Diary is based on its original, but typos might be corrected. Locations are calculated, so might not be in the correct place. For historical research, always check the originals.
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