National Archive Reference: WO 171/1278
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Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
Bemmel. | 1st | We were informed early in the morning that the Bde were being | |
relieved by III Bn 508 R.C.T. and the Bn would be moving back to NIJMEGEN | |||
for a short rest. Bn recce parties left during the morning and we were | |||
visited by the American Bde IO. During the afternoon we were ordered | |||
by Bde to send one Pl to the 2nd Dorsets to thicken up their left hand Coy. | |||
We were also informed that the DORSETS were sending out a strong fighting | |||
patrol that evening with the object of capturing a prisoner and our Mortars | |||
were to assist in the fire plan. In our sector the night passed without | |||
incident. | |||
2nd | The American recce party arrived at mid-day and apart from slight | ||
shelling in 'D' Coy area the relief took place during the afternoon | |||
without incident. Whilst approaching NIJMEGEN an enemy fighter flew | |||
over along the line of the WAAL and dived to roof-top height to avoid the | |||
intense flak. We arrived at our rest area just before dark, Bn HQ and | |||
HQ Coy in a school half occupied by Nuns who showed considerable kindness |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
NIJMEGEN. | 2nd | After- noon | and co-operation during our stay. 'A' 'D' 'B' 'Sp' Coys were billeted |
in Colonial Bks and 'C' Coy in a school in W Nijmegen. | |||
3rd | After a general clean up we spent our days leisurely. | ||
to 6th. | Entertainments and baths were arranged for all Coys. The Bn football | ||
team won the Bde football competition beating 200 Field Ambulance in the | |||
final by 5 goals to 2. The rest period was given a grand finale by a | |||
concert given by members of the Bn which was attended by the Bde Comd. | |||
Beer was provided before the show, and during the interval which provided | |||
the right atmosphere. The Padre brought the house down with his performance | |||
as the 'Bloodthirsty Medical Officer' | |||
7th | To-day the Bn was to move back into the island and the Comd Offr | ||
and IO went forward to the HQ of the 5th East Yorks at 0900 hrs. The | |||
new location was N of Elst. No daylight recce of the two forward | |||
posns was possible owing to enemy observation which made the changeover | |||
extremely difficult. Coy Comds came up later in the morning and viewed |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
NIJMEGEN. | 7th | their posns from the mortar OP. This proved to be the most | |
detestable posn the Bn had ever occupied owing to the deep mud and flooded | |||
slit trenches. 'A' and 'B' Coys occupied the forward areas and were in | |||
position by 2200 hrs. 'C' Coy were in reserve near Bn HQ and 'D' Coy | |||
moved into billets in Elst and carried out training. | |||
N of ELST | 8th | During the night a deserter came into 'B' Coy centre pl and after interrogation at BN HQ | |
it was discovered that his Unit was II Coy 41 Fortress Bn. He gave quite | |||
a lot of useful infm confirming the layout of his Bn. Before day-break | |||
O.C. 'A' Coy came to Bn HQ with bad news. A German patrol had crept in | |||
during the early hours and had taken 1 NCO and 3 men prisoners. | |||
In the afternoon the Bn area was shelled by 88 mm SP guns to which | |||
our gunners promptly replied. The weather was steadily deteriorating | |||
and the 'Jeep' track to 'B' Coy became impassable. The problem arose | |||
regarding the conveyance of hot food to this posn. This was overcome by | |||
using a horse and cart, the former earned the admiration of all ranks for |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
N of ELST. | 8th | his serenity under shellfire. | |
9th | 0200 | At 0200 hrs a 'B' Coy patrol returned with the infm that the blg | |
on their front was occupied by enemy. About mid-day our snipers had | |||
their first kill. They took up posn at first light in 'A' Coy fwd pl posn | |||
but observed NO enemy movement. They then crawled along a dyke to within | |||
12 yards of an enemy slit trench and heard a Boche speaking. They scored | |||
a direct hit on the trench with a 36 grenade and heard crys' of pain. | |||
During the early evening 'B' Coy received another visitor from II Coy | |||
41 Fortress Bn. He spoke perfect English and besides confirming his | |||
comrades' statements said that all the remaining men in his Coy were as | |||
anxious as he to desert but owing to the fear of reprisals on their family's | |||
in Germany by the Gestapo they were afraid to come over. He confirmed that | |||
SS troops were kept behind the lines living in comfortable houses and only | |||
came forward for patrol activities. It was one of these patrols who had | |||
taken our four men. |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
N of ELST | 10th | During the night patrols went out from 'A' and 'B' Coys but had nothing | |
to report. In the afternoon we saw a Mustang shot down by enemy light AA | |||
East of 'A' Coy. Unfortunately it fell in the enemy lines and the pilot did | |||
not 'bale out'. | |||
At dusk enemy fire livened up and spandeaus were very active. Bullets | |||
whistled over Bn.HQ. a few actually hitting the buildings. Our Dorset friends | |||
on the right received a large dose of shells and mortar bombs. | |||
1850 | Exchange of Coys took place to-night 'D' Coy were to relieve 'A' and | ||
'C' Coy to replace 'B'. At 1850 hrs shells fell in BnHQ area and one 150 | |||
mm shell fell at the rd junc a few yds from the Comd Post. A few vehs | |||
were on the rd and 'D' Coy 'Jeep' was hit and burst into flames. The dvr | |||
was badly wounded and died soon after he was carried to the Comd Post. | |||
3 other men were wounded. Sig Offr and several men put the fire out with | |||
mud. The Remainder of the night passed quietly. | |||
11th | During the daylight hours it was very quiet. At 2245 the Pioneer Offt |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
N of Elst. | 11th | reported a German patrol moving N alongside the railway whilst his men | |
were laying booby traps in the forward area. They disappeared into the | |||
darkness and nothing materialised. Hampshires representatives visited | |||
us and looked over Coy posts prior to relieving us tomorrow night. | |||
2300 | At 2300 yet another deserter came in from II Coy 41 Fortress Bn. He was | ||
very young and puny and had only 4 months service in the G A. He had | |||
already been wounded two months previously and could no longer stand our | |||
shelling. | |||
12th | Two patrols were out during the early hours and returned by 0500 hrs. | ||
They confirmed enemy F.D.Ls on line of railway. Except for slight enemy | |||
mortaring in 'B' Coy area at 0730, the morning passed quietly. Advance | |||
elements of the Hampshires arrived at mid-day, and at 1400 hrs we received | |||
the Code word 'Water Wings' which was the 1st phase of Exercise 'Noah'. | |||
This meant that the water was high enough to flood the island if the Boche | |||
decided to blow the dams. |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
N of ELST | 12th | During the afternoon 'A' and 'B' Coys were relieved by the Hampshires | |
and immediately darkness fell 'C' and 'D' were replaced. The exchange took | |||
place without incident and the Comd pass at 1830 hrs | |||
Bn went into Bde reserve in ELST and all troops were in houses except | |||
for 1 Pl of 'B' Coy who had to fill the gap between the Dorsets and 9 DLI. |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
ELST | 13th | The night passed quietly. During the morning the evacuation of | |
civilians from the island commenced. The Bde Comd came to Bn HQ and | |||
visited Coys with the Comd Offr. In the early evening 'S' Coy detained | |||
a doubtful civilian and after interrogation by our interpreter he was | |||
arrested by the Civil Affairs Authorities. | |||
14th | Another quiet night and the day too proved to be uneventful except | ||
when at 1030 hrs a flying bomb passed over, flying N towards enemy held | |||
Arnhem. The engine cut out just before it was over the latter town, and we waited for | |||
the crump but nothing materialised. | |||
15th | During the early morning shells landed in the area of Elst Church | ||
near 'D' Coy but no casualties occurred. The Bn Comd left for 21 Army | |||
Group HQ at BRUSSELS and shortly after his departure we were visited by | |||
the Div Comd. | |||
16th | Up to this stage the Div had been operating with 4 Bdes, the American | ||
508 RCT being under Comd, thus allowing one Bde always to be at rest |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
ELST | 16th | over the bridge in NIJMEGEN. We learned now, however, that 508 were being | |
withdrawn from the Div and we were to extend the areas covered by two Bdes | |||
and bring 61 Recce to hold the centre of the Div front. This still | |||
enabled 1 Bde to rest but only two Bns were to go to NIJMEGEN whilst the | |||
the third was to rest in DIV reserve in RESSEN about two miles S of ELST | |||
This still left a gap between 61 Recce and our 'B' Coy PL and we were | |||
ordered to put one Coy in the area. Recces were carried out during | |||
1630 | the morning and 'A' Coy were in posn by 1630 hrs. During the evening | ||
the Bn area received harrassing fire from enemy S.P. Guns to which our | |||
gunners promptly replied. | |||
17th | Little to report to-day except for a very large shell that dropped | ||
just behind the buildings occupied by Bn HQ. Bde HQ too was shelled | |||
to-day. At dusk we were visited by Bde. L.O. who told us that we were | |||
to provide a guard over the wagons on the ELST railway siding. This was | |||
provided by 'C' Coy. |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
ELST | 18th | During the morning our 4.2 Mortars carried out harrassing tasks and | |
Bofors firing in a ground role shot up houses believed occupied by the enemy. | |||
During the afternoon 'D' Coy took over our forward committment from 'A' Coy. | |||
19th | Comd Offr returned from BRUSSELS and we learned with great regret that | ||
he was going to leave us to take over Comd of 101 Re-inforcement Group. | |||
19th | P/No 50942 Lt-col P.H.W.Brind assumed Comd of the Bn. | ||
An extremely quiet day. The Padre held a service in the barn near | |||
Bn HQ. | |||
20th | The Comd Offr visited all Coys to say Goodby. It was not possible | ||
to see all the men but he spoke to all Offrs and NCOs. | |||
'C' Coy replaced 'D' Coy in the forward posn during the afternoon. | |||
At 2300 hrs a strong fighting patrol, was sent out through the Dorsets | |||
right Coy area but were forced to return owing to unforeseen difficulties. | |||
It was decided that they would go out again the following night. |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
ELST/20th | 20th | To day we were very pleased to hear that the Comd Offr (Lt-col Sir, John, | |
G. Carew-Pole, Bart had been awarded the D.S.O. | |||
21st | The Church area was again shelled in the early hours. Lt-col Sir, John, G. | ||
Carew-Pole Bart DSO left for his new appointment. At 1830 hundreds of RAF | |||
bombers could be heard flying over us towards the RUHR. During this period | |||
the Bn area received slight shelling. Soon after 2100 hrs our fighting patrol | |||
went out again. | |||
22nd | Immediately after breakfast a Bn Recce party left for a secret destination | ||
lead by 'Sp Coy Comd. To-day the Bde were being relieved by 151 Bde. | |||
1 Hamps and 1 Dorsets were going to NIJMEGEN for rest and we were going into | |||
DIV Reserve at RESSEN. 9 DLI recce parties arrived at 0900 hrs and our | |||
party left for RESSEN at 0930 hrs. During the afternoon 'A' 'B' 'D' Coys | |||
moved back and 'C' Coy were relieved just before dusk. The Bn were all in the | |||
RESSEN area by 1915 hrs and the evening passed quietly. |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
RESSEN | 23rd | A very peaceful day spent mainly in cleaning up. The weather was still | |
bad and it rained steadily throughout the hours of daylight. | |||
24th | Another rainy day. Trg was carried out in the morning and during the | ||
afternoon facilities were arranged for baths, entertainment etc in NIJMEGEN | |||
for a percentage of the Bn. | |||
During the evening 'B' and 'D' Coy received a few odd shells - no | |||
casualties. | |||
25th | It became obvious at this time that something big was ahead for the | ||
Div and speculation was rife amongst the troops. The quiet exit of the | |||
advance party to an unknown destination had given rise to all manner of | |||
imaginative rumours, which ranged from making a film in Hollywood to | |||
the invasion of the Channel Isles. In the 0900 hrs B.B.C news it was | |||
announced that our Division put the first Infantry into FRANCE, Belgium, | |||
Holland and Germany. | |||
26th | The Padre held Church parades during the morning. At 1500 hours the |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
RESSEN | 26th | 1500 | Comd Offr left to recce posns in HAALDERON which we were to take over from |
7 GREEN HOWARDS the following day. The WAAL had overflowed its banks and from | |||
the Bund running along side the 7 GREEN HOWARDS Bn HQ the water could be | |||
seen trickling over the furthest embankment about 700 yds away. | |||
Shortly before tea we were treated to a fine effort by the RAF. About | |||
40 rocket firing Typhoons could be seen engaging enemy posns in the ARNHEM | |||
area. The enemy flak was intense but the flyers showed complete disregard | |||
for it. | |||
HAALDERON. | 27th | During the morning Coy recce parties went forward to look over their posns | |
at HAALDERON. During the last 24 hours the water had risen considerably and | |||
was now in as far as our Bund to a depth of approx 3 ft. Our Coys began | |||
to move in during the afternoon and the relief was completed by 1800 hrs | |||
The Bn layout was 'B' Coy right, 'C' Coy centre and 'D' Coy left, 'A' | |||
Coy was in reserve at Colonial Barracks NIJMEGEN. Apart from slight mortaring | |||
in the 'C' Coy area the relief passed without incident. |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
HAALDERON | 28th | A cold dry quiet night without any enemy activity. About mid-day | |
propaganda leaflets were fired into 'D' Coy area by our opponents. They | |||
read that any deserter would be kindly treated and told that German soldiers | |||
were feeding very well. This caused great amusement in our ranks. It | |||
began to rain again and became very heavy as the day wore on. The flooding | |||
situation began to look serious as the water was now seeping through the | |||
Bund and the surrounding fields were almost under water. At 1500 hrs we | |||
were visited by the Comd Offr and IO of the 7th Duke of Wellington Regt who | |||
we discovered were to relieve us the following day. Apart from meduim | |||
sized shells which fell in the rear of Bn HQ about 2300 hrs it was a quiet | |||
and uneventful night. | |||
29th | Still raining. During the night some of the cellars in the BnHQ area | ||
began to flood and had to be evacuated by the men. Shortly before 'Stand-to' | |||
the Bn area received attention with a few 88 mm shells. At 0700 hrs the | |||
B' Coy Pl in the factory were waterlogged and had to be pulled out. |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
HAALDERON | 29th | Bn O Group was called at 0900 hrs and orders issued regarding our relief | |
from the Island. Recce parties arrived shortly afterwards and the exchange | |||
of Coys began to take place during the afternoon and the Command passed over | |||
to the Duke of Wellingtons at 2015 hrs. The Bn were billeted in The | |||
MUISSIEHAUS IN NIJMEGEN for the night. | |||
NIJMEGEN | 30th | Early this morning we prepared maps for a 75 mile journey southwards and at 1000 fill | |
hrs we exchanged some of our men for Dorsets and Hamps personnel also extra Offrs | |||
and men were brought in to make the Bn up to strength. | |||
1200 | At 1200 hrs the Bn paraded for a talk by the Div Comd Maj Gen D.A.H | ||
GRAHAM, CB, CBE, DSO, MC. who at last revealed to us our future. | |||
It was with great surprise and regret that we learned that 50 (N) Div as a | |||
fighting Div was to be disbanded and was going back to England as a training | |||
Div. Two Bn from the Div, 9 DLI and ourselves were leaving 50 Div and joining | |||
131 Lorried Inf Bde in the famous 7th Armd Div. This somewhat eased the blow | |||
of leaving 50 (N) Div as we were still in the most experienced fighting Division |
Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
---|---|---|---|
NIJMEGEN | 30th | of the British Second Army. Bn O Group was called at 1430 hrs and we | |
were told that we were moving back to DILSEN 5972 on the Belgium- Holland | |||
border where we were to re-organise for out future operations as lorried Inf. | |||
At 1500 hrs the Comd Offr addressed the Bn and emphasised the need for greater | |||
secrecy by all rank regarding our new venture. | |||
At 1630 hrs we left Comd of 231 Inf Bde and came under direct command of | |||
Second Army. The remaining hours of daylight were spent in preparing for our move to | |||
Belgium and at 1915 hrs we moved off from NIJMEGEN. | |||
This was literally our farewell to 50 (N) Division. |