War Diary: 2nd Battalion The Cheshire Regiment

Month and year: September 1944

The 2nd Battalion Cheshire Regiments September 1944 war diary covers the units advance from Saint-Sauflieu France, through Belgium into Holland

National Archive Reference: WO 171/1276

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Page 1 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
			Original War Diary for the Month of September 1944
			of 2nd Bn the Cheshire Regt
			During the whole of this period the Bn was
			commanded by Lt Col S.V. Keeling D.S.O
			and under operatical command of
			50th (Northumbrian) Division

Page 2 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
St.Sauflieu	1st.	0900	Left for new location passing through Beauvais and Auteil on the way.
		1330	Arrived at St. Sauflieu location in a farmyard and the surrounding orchards
			Stayed in this, location remainder of the day and night. Moving off again
			tomorrow morning. Weather showery.
			Coy locns: "A" Coy.M/R 056555. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 113 Amiens.
			"B" Coy.M/R 474428. " 1/50000 " 9/F/4 Mantes Gassicourt.
			"C" Coy.M/R 158602. " " " 98 Picquigny.
			"D" Coy.M/R 067497. " " " 113 Amiens.
			Bn HQ. " 054467. " " " " "
Pas en Artois	2nd	0830	Left St. Sauflieu and moved off to new location passing through Amiens on
			the way. Received a grand welcome from the civilian population.
		1215	Arrived at Pas-en-Artois Bn HQ located in a chateau previously used as a
			girls school. Bn HQ personnel combed a wood suspected of holding German
			stragglers - nil result. Moving off again tomorrow.
			Coy loans: - (cont).

Page 3 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
Pas en Artois	2nd.	(cont).	Coy locns:- "A" Coy no change.
			"B" Coy M/R 223526. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 114 Rosieres.
			"C" Coy no change.
			"D" Coy. M/R 259861 Ref 1/50000 Sheet 85 Beaumetz.
			Bn HQ. 258862 " " " " "
Allemes-les-Marias.	3rd	1100	Move off to new locn passing through Arras and Carvin through last war
			battle fields. Passed famous Vimy War Memorial. Battle raging in
			Lille this evening. Three trucks belonging to the Northumberland Hussars
			the Divisional A/TK Bn, were brewed up by a German Anti-Tank gun after
			taking the wrong turning 200 yds in front of us. Locn in open fields
			approx 2000 yds away from Haute Deule Canal behind which enemy is deeply
			entrenched with MGs Mortars and A/TK guns. Pln of "D" Coy is detailed
			to patrol the bank of the Canal in the area of Don M/R 590278 Ref above map sheet.
			Enemy activity throughout the night, spandaus, mortaring and shelling.
			Weather showery and blustering.

Page 4 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
Allemes-les-Marias.	3rd cont.		Coy locns:- "A" Coy. M/R 162852. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 84 Doullens.
			"B" Coy. no change.
			"C" Coy. " "
			"D" Coy M/R 618262. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 63 Lille.
			Bn HQ. " " " " " " "
Marquain.	4th	0930	Moved off to new locn. 15 minutes before Bn HQ was due to move off
			shells began to fall into the village causing casualties on Divisional HQ,
			who were treated in our R.A.P. by the Medical Officer Capt. T.G. Owens.
			Moved through Seclin - Lesquain and Baisieux to Marquain which is just
			outside Tournai, Welcome by the population is truly amazing showers of
			fruit, wine etc. The Belgian border was crossed at 1215 hrs this morning.
		1230	Arrived at new locn in a school room. Weather fine.
			Coy locns:- "A" Coy. no change.
			"B" Coy " "
			"C" Coy " "

Page 5 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
Marquain.	5th.		Remained in the same location most of the day. Moving off again tomorrow morning.
			Day spent in cleaning, reorganising and vehicle maintenance.
			Weather wet.
			Coy locns:- "A" Coy. no change.
			"B" Coy. M/R 406655.
			"C" "D" and Bn HQ. no change.
Ninove.	6th	0930	Move off to new locn. Just before we were due to move off in column. -
			Field Marshal Sir Bernard Montgomery stopped to talk with the Commanding Officer
			and presented the Bn with a package of 5,000 cigarettes. Passed through
			Tournai - Renaix - Nederbrakel to the accompaniment of an amazing welcome
			from the civilian population - who hailed us as "The Liberators of the World"
			etc.
		1430	Arrived at Ninove to find that the civilians could do enough for us - the
			majority of the officers and men had a soft bed to sleep in - the first in
			6 months. Bn HQ located in a paint factory and the surrounding orchards.

Page 6 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
Ninove.	6th cont.		Weather wet. Coy locns:- no change. "A" Coy.
			"B" Coy. M/R 421719. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 44 Termonde.
			"C" Coy. no change.
			"D" Coy, M/R 378553. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 54 Grammont.
			Bn HQ. " 382554 " " " " "
Beersel.	7th	0830	Move off to new locn. Passed through Malines. Here again an amazing welcome
			was awaiting us. Beer - ice cream - fruit - wine etc.
		1245	Arrived at new locn in a large hotel.
			Moving off again tomorrow.
			Weather fine but cold.
			Coy locns:- "A" and "B" Coys - no change.
			"C" Coy. with 231 Bde in area of ANTWERP.
			"D" COY. M/R 872788. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 45 Malines.
			Bn HQ. M/R 856783. " " " " "

Page 7 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
Averbode.	8th.	1000	Move off to new locn passing through Westmeerbeek and Hersselt.
		1130	Locn in the Abbey at Averbode. Handed a blue print received from the
			Belgian White Army, it was found in one of our crashed Wellingtons.
			The crew of five were buried in the Abbey cemetery by the monks.
			Blue print showed the complete wiring of the Fortress bomber.
			Crew were buried in 1943.
			Bn HQ. dispersed in the Abbey grounds and surrounding woods.
			Weather fine. Coy locns:- "A" Coy. no change.
			"B" Coy. M/R 025820. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 35 Gheel.
			"C" Coy. no change
			"D" Coy M/R 093727. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 46 Diest.
			Bn HQ. " 068741. " " " " "
Averbode.	9th		Same locn all day. "C" Coy have now caught up with us having been
			withdrawn from Antwerp this evening.
			Weather wet.

Page 8 of 16

Place	Date	Summary of Events and Information
Averbode.	9th (cont)	Coy locns:- "A" Coy no change.
		"B" Coy " "
		"C" Coy. M/R987764. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 45 Malines.
		"D" and Bn HQ. no change.
Averbode.	10th.	Day spent in the same location. Monks were only too eager to show us round the
		Abbey and grounds which amongst other things had its own Printing Works.
		An order has been issued by Higher Authority that buildings will not be used
		for cover, but why are the men not issued with bivouacs to counteract this.
		Hardly a day passes without the men getting wet through and the heavy dew
		at night doesn't help a great deal. Weather wet and windy.
		Coy locns : unchanged.
Averbode.	11th	Remained in this location all day. Weather fine but cold.
		Nothing of interest to report.
		Coy locns: "A" Coy. M/R 043854. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 35 Gheel.
		Other coys no change.

Page 9 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
Averbode.	12th		Still in the same location at the Abbey.
			Weather still very cold - rained most of the day. Moving off again
			tomorrow.
		0930	C.O. visits A and B Coy Posns and also Brigade HQs.
		1340	Returns to Main HQ.
			Coy locns:- "A" Coy. M/R 045797 Ref 1/50000 Sheet 46 Diest.
			"B" Coy. no change.
			"C" Coy. M/R 2074 " " " "
			"D" and Bn Hq. no change.
Klitsberg.	13th	1000	Left for new location. Passed through Deurne - Blankelaer and arrived
			at Klitsberg, where the Bn was dispersed in 3 or 4 open fields at 1200hrs.
			Evening was quite interesting, Jerry dropped a large number of flares
			over the Beeringen bridgehead also one or two bombs. Bn HQ was a little
			disturbed at the amount of shrapnel falling into the area. Several trucks
			were hit but fortunately no damage was caused.

Page 10 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
Bourg Leopold	14th	0900	Left Klitsberg and proceeded to Bourg Leopold. Bn HQ. located near
			remains of Belgian Barracks - reduced to a rubble by our bombers.
			Bn HQ. is now forward of all coys.
			Weather fine but cold.
			Coy locns :- "A" "B" and "C" Coys no change.
			"D" Coy. M/R 268824. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 25 and 35 Turnhout and Gheel.
			Bn HQ. " 272824. " " " 25 & 35 Turnhout and Gheel.
Bourg Leopold	15th	0930	C.O. to Divisional HQ to attend a conference.
		1130	Returns to Main HQ.
			"A" and "C" Coys move up and take up posns South of the Escaut Canal.
			Weather fine.
			Coy locns:- "A" Coy. M/R 318918. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 26 & 36 Valkenswaard & Bree.
			"B" Coy. no change.
			"C" Coy. M/R 336936 " " " " " " "
			"D" and Bn HQ. no change.

Page 11 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
Bourg Leopold	16th		Still in the same location. With "A" and "C" Coys forward on the
			Escaut Canal and "B" Coy in reserve.
			Weather fine but cols.
			Coy locns: unchanged.
" "	17th		Force of bombers over this morning plastering the A/A sites preparatory to
			the launching of the Airborne attack.
			Airborne attack launched this afternoon Paratroops dropped at six points
			along the main rd between Valkenswaard and Arnhem - no details yet.
			Air activity all day. Numerous allied fighter sweeps. Moving off tomorrow
			over the Escaut Canal. Raining in the evening.
			Coy locns:- No change except "C" Coy M/R 391039.
S of Eindhoven	18th	0900	Moved from Bourg Leopold locn in some pine woods just off the rd to Eindhoven.
		2000	Enemy aircraft over dropping A.P. bombs on the rd and bridges and surrounding
			woods. Some A.P. bombs falling within 100 yds of this HQ. "B" Coy suffered
			11 casualties during this attack.

Page 12 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
S of Eindhoven	18th	cont.	Coy locns:- "A" Coy. no change.
M/R 353898.			"B" Coy. M/R 346908. Ref 1/50000 Sheet 26 & 36 Valkenswaard & Bree.
			"C" Coy. no change.
			"D" Coy. M/R 339893. " " " " " " "
			Bn HQ. M/R 353898 " " " " " " "
" "	19th		Remained in same location all day.
			Enemy aircraft again bombing bridge over the Escaut Canal. Dropping bombs
			very near Bn HQ area. Dakotas going over this afternoon to supply Paratroops
			at Arnhem, who are having a tough time of it.
			Weather fine but cold.
			Coy locns:- "A" Coy "C" "D" and Bn HQ no change. "B" Coy no change.
" "	20th		Same location all day. Airborne supplies over again this afternoon.
			Enemy bombing during the early hours of the evening - no damage caused.
			Weather fine but cold.
			Coy locns : unchanged. except for "A" Coy M/R 357976.

Page 13 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
" "	21st		Same location all, day. Airborne supplies going over all day.
			Quiet night N.T.R. Coy locns: unchanged except for "A" Coy M/R 446260.
" "	22nd		Same location all day. Moving off tomorrow to just North of Eindhoven.
			Raining most of the day. Some bombing during the early hours of this
			evening. Coy locns:- unchanged.
M/R 442227	23rd	1000	Moved off to new location through Valkenswaard and Eindhoven to locn just off
			the main rd about 2 Kilos outside Eindhoven. locn in orchards moving off
			almost immediately.
		1230	Formed up to move off only to learn move cancelled at the last moment.
			Airborne supplies and gliders over this evening. Weather fine. Moving
			tomorrow.
			Coy locns :- "A" Coy no change.
			"B" Coy. M/R 694678. Ref 1/100000 Sheet 5.
			"C" Coy. " 451261. " " " "

Page 14 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
	23rd cont.		"D" Coy M/R 440228. Ref 1/100000 Sheet 5.
			Bn HQ. " 442227 " " " "
M/R 463308	24th	1100	Moving off to just North of Zon over the Canal. Some confusion on the roads
			this morning due partly to conjection over the bridge at Zon. Arrived at
			new locn in pinewoods. Enemy doing some shelling of area during the
			afternoon. Towards evening and throughout night enemy continually
			shelled area with 210's 105' s and 88's. Very little sleep. Bn HQ had also
			to man defence posts as some enemy tanks and infantry were swanning about
			on our side of the road approx 3000 yds away. Weather fine.
			Enemy pocket has broken rd about 2 miles north of our present locn.
			Coy locns: "A" Coy M/R 562405. Ref 1/100000 Sheet 5.
			"B" Coy. no change.
			"C" Coy. M/R 522363. " " " "
			"D" Coy. M/R 463312. " " " "
			Bn HQ. M/R 463308. " " " "

Page 15 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
Same locn.	25th		Some enemy shelling during the early hours of this morning. Arnhem force
			has been reached by elts of 43 Div. Enemy pocket across rd South of Veghel
			is still not cleared up. Quiet day. Raining.
			Coy locns:- unchanged.
" "	26th	1400	C.O. to 231 Bde and "C" Coy using road through Donck - Erp.
		1600	C.O. returns to Main HQ.
		1615	Main rd Eindhoven - St. Oedenrode - Nijmegen now. clear. Enemy lost 100 Inf
			and 2 SP guns.
			Some shelling throughout the day. Effectively stonked by our Artillery.
			Weather fine. Moving forward tomorrow.
			Coy locns:- unchanged except "C" Coy M/R 558415. Between Uden and Voekel.
" "	27th	1130	Moved off to new location through Donck - Beek - Gemert and Boekel to
			area in open fields. Raining during evening. Everyone busy digging
			defence posts. Force at Arnhem is being evacuated.
			Coy locns:- "A" Coy no change.

Page 16 of 16

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
" "	27th cont		Coy locns:- "B" and "C" Coys no change.
			"D" M/R 546360. Ref 1/100000 Sheet 5.
			Bn HQ M/R 552358. " " " "
" "	28th		Day spent in this location.
		1630	C.O. and L.O. visit "A" and "O" Coys 231 Inf Bde and 151 Inf Bde.
		1830	Returns to Main HQ,
			Some ack ack and aircraft over Nijmegen Bridge this evening. Day showery
			and cold. Enemy air-craft caused no damage.
			Coy locns:- unchanged except for "A" Coy M/R 694658.
" "	29th		Bridge over River Waal at Nijmegen has been breached by a parachute bomb.
			All traffic restricted. "B" Coy is with 69 Bde on the North side of the bridge.
			Coy locns unchanged. Weather wet and cold.
" "	30th		Still in the same location possibility of move tomorrow to just South of Nijmegen
			Day quiet - weather wet. Routine restricted to visits to "A" and "C" Coys by the
			C.O. Coy locns: unchanged.

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War Diary: 2nd Battalion The Cheshire Regiment

Month and year: September 1944

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