WO 171/1326 - 4 King's Shropshire Light Infantry - October 1944

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
	WAR DIARY or INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY	Unit: 4 KSLI
Month and Year: October 1944	(Erase heading not required).	Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. M.R. Robinson

Place	Date	Hour	Summary	Reference
	15	1030	H was fixed for 1030 hrs. The attack to commence on time. Unfortunately some guns (about 1 Battery) fired short, dropping in the area of the S.L. causing some casualties. The barrage eventually moved on but the momentum of the attack was halted until the offending guns ceased. The attack proceeded & the barrage was called off, concentrations being fired instead. The ground over which the Bn moved was a large sandy waste, scarred with dunes – impassable for all vehicles except tanks and carriers (with difficulty). The C.O. Scout Car was towed by the F & F Regtl Comdrs Tank all the way in order to maintain communications with our rear radio link. C Coy on the left met some opposition but dealt with it speedily – well supported by tanks & MGs – collecting a number of PWs. The Coy then pushed on to the limit of exploitation without further incident. A Coy on the right met opposition further on & dealt with some of it. B Coy were then moved to the right of A Coy to deal with this. The Bn consolidated with C & A forward, B Coy on the right & D Coy left rear. Bn HQ was sited in D Coy area. D Coy had experienced some difficulty from mines on the main road which ran down the Bn left boundary. A PW fortunately demonstrated the pressure of the Schu Mines by immediately stepping on one. The RE Tp in support proceeded to clear the road area in order that it might be used as the CL. As soon as the enemy had appreciated the changed situation he commenced to shell and mortar the area; the right hand Coys – A & B – particularly being subjected to heavy ‘stonking’ from 105 mms, 88 mms, mortars and Nebelwerfer. There was quite an amount of airburst fired. In general the enemy seemed very sensitive to our presence in the area. The action cost the Bn 1 man killed, 29 wounded and resulted in [50?] P.Ws.

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.

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