WO 171/1304 - Hallamshire Battalion - November 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: The Hallamshire Bn. The York & Lancaster Regiment
Month and Year: November 1944	(Erase heading not required).	Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. T. Hart Dyke

Place	Date	Hour	Summary	Reference
	4		In the meantime, "A" Coy were having difficulty in carrying out their task. At 2030 the coy moved out through FIJNAART, following the plan outlined above. 9 pl reached the outskirts of OUDE MOLEN before being discovered by a Boche sentry gp. They tried to rush it, but were held up by two deep dykes. They tried working round to the left, but encountered fixed line fire covering the open ground. Bren gps crawled fwd to engage the enemy posns and were standing up to their necks in water in fire posns in the ditches. Maj Nicholson gave orders for them to withdraw 200 yds, so that the village could be shelled, but Sjt. Pickavance, who was commanding the pl, reported that it would take a long time to get them out as they were heavily engaged. 7 pl was therefore sent round the NE to try to enter the village from the main rd. Moving very quietly they managed to get into the first few houses and deal with two Spandau teams. 9 pl were moved round to reinforce them, but they could not get in owing to two Spandau teams which had been by-passed by 7 pl. 7 pl then reported that it was possible to get in by by-passing the two Spandau teams. Accordingly the whole coy was moved round into the houses at the East end of the village and clearing started with one pl on each side of the rd.

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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