Service Record

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"When I returned to the regiment from the aid station they asked for volunteers for the Reconnaissance Regiment, because the war had become more mobile after the static fighting in Normandy, as I was a trained scout troop member I volunteered. Reconnaissance is the eyes of the army, we send back information to the Division, where the enemy are, in what strength, and where their strong points are etc. Our operations included reconnaissance, contact patrolling, flank patrolling, seize and hold operations - such as - Division may want a bridge seized over a river and we would rush and try and seize that bridge and hold it until the main force arrives. We were always ahead of the main force, we were the outer screen of the army because otherwise the infantry battalions were fighting blind if they didn't know what was in front of them they couldn't make any plans of combating the opponents so it was our job to give them information of where they were entrenched."

"So after my wounds healed I joined this reconnaissance troop, we were equipped with light tanks or Daimler Armoured Cars. The Daimler Heavy Armoured Car had a crew of three and two machine guns and a two pounder gun. We operated in a troop - that had three Armoured cars and the idea was that you went on ahead and leap frogged one another. One went ahead observing, and then when he had decided it was OK to proceed, the chap behind him would leapfrog him and go forward."

"After the breakout from a Normandy we moved up into northern France and crossed the Seine we went past the first World War battlefields and up towards Belgium. We pushed into Belgium and then headed across the Dutch border racing for Antwerp. We needed another port because the long supply route from the beaches of Normandy meant they couldn't bring enough supplies ashore to supply all the armies and Antwerp seemed to be the best port available. Trouble was the Germans held the islands, North and South Beveland, which covered the approaches and so our first job was to help the Canadians to eliminate the Germans on the Beveland islands. We had a seaborne landing on Walchgeren, mostly Canadians and there were British commandos and some British armour eventually we cleared at the approaches of the Germans and moved into Antwerp. We had to hold up after Antwerp as we just hadn't got enough fuel to move on. There were quite a few good skirmishes, not as bad as Normandy but it is always the drip, drip, drip, of casualties and before you know, after a month you look round and you think 'where's everybody gone?'. Eventually we we came back for a rest and clean-up and got new equipment ready for Arnhem."

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