| 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: 2 Warwick | ||
| Month and Year: June 1944 | (Erase heading not required). | Commanding Officer: Lt-Col H.O.S. Herdon |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 7 | Start Line - Line of the stream North of LEBISEY WOOD. The leading Companies set off to the start line at 0800 hours, but 'A' Coy got held up on the way by German LMG Snipers, and the attack was postponed for half-an-hour. Unfortunately 'B' and 'C' Coys, owing to a breakdown in wireless communications, did not get news of this postponement, and attacked at the original time without artillery support. They gained a foothold on the North edge of the wood and were pinned down there by very heavy German MG fire from inside the wood from very well prepared positions, receiving heavy casualties, particularly to one Platoon of 'B' Coy led by Lt A Dockerty, who penetrated into the wood. All his Platoon is missing and it is not known what happened to them. ln the meantime, ‘A’ Coy and Bn HQ moved up on the left of ‘B’ Coy. They also came under very heavy fire and received heavy casualties. Lt-Col HOS Herdon and Lt AG Wilson – Assault Pioneer Platoon Commander – were killed, and Capt HC Illing and Lt KStB Adams wounded. Maj RG Kreyer then took over command of the Battalion and the three Companies held on to the edge of the wood from 1200 hours until 1500 hours under continuous MG and Mortar Fire. 'D’ Coy came up from the bridge at 1500 hours and was put into an attack round the left flank. Owing to some magnificent work by Maj TG Bundock and Sjt Pittaway, they wiped out the German positions which had been holding up ‘A’ Coy. At this stage the Battalion was counter-attacked by tanks and forced to withdraw into a tank-proof locality in a thick part of the wood. The Battalion continued to hold the near edge of the wood until 2230 hours under continuous fire, when they were ordered by the Bde Comd to withdraw. They withdrew in good order and took up a position at BEUVILLE. During the afternoon, Bn HQ transport and the Carrier, Mortar and A tk Platoons, in attempting to join the rest of the Battalion up the main road, were allowed by the Germans to get right into the position and were then ambushed by MGs and Tanks. Most of the vehicles were set on fire and the Officers and Men in them escaped into the cornfields on each side of the road, where a very large number of them were able to lie up until dark and then made their way, through enemy lines back to rejoin the Battalion. However, Capt W Pike (Adjt), Capt AJM Bannerman (A Tk Pl Comd), Capt PB Waterworth (Carrier Pl Comd) and Lt PM Healey (Mortar Pl Comd) and about forty men are still missing and are preeumed to be Prisoners of War. |
Source: Jeroen Koppes, TracesOfWar.com, transcribing: Hans Houterman.
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.
Looking for reliable information or news facts about WW2? Do you want to create your own battlefield tour to sights of wars from the past? Or are you interested in war medals and their recipients? TracesOfWar.com tells you more!
More information
© STIWOT, 1999-2024. All rights reserved. Privacy statement, cookies, disclaimer and copyright