War Diary: 2nd Battalion, Fife and Forfar Yeomanry

Month and year: July 1944

The July 1944 war diary of the 2nd Battalion, Fife and Forfar Yeomanry describes the regiment’s continued involvement in the Normandy campaign. Early in the month, the unit held positions near Norrey and Colleville, enduring heavy shelling and several officer casualties. After resting at Camilly, advanced east of Caen under heavy air cover but suffering severe losses near Cagny, where 37 tanks were destroyed. Despite this, they inflicted significant damage on German armour and advanced five miles. Following reorganization and rest near Ardenne Abbey, the battalion moved west to support operations around Caumont and St Ouen des Besaces, facing mines, anti-tank fire, and difficult terrain. The diary closes with the regiment holding key high ground after a month of intense fighting and heavy casualties.

National Archive Reference: WO 171/853

The "References to Appendices" column for this document was empty so has been omitted.

Please use the contact us page to report any errors or inaccuracies.

Viewing map locations

Many of the location in this diary have been geocoded, these locations are highlighted Screenshot of highlighted location clicking on them will display them on a map. Many location also have historical maps and aerial photographs of the area available.

Found this useful?

If you've found this resource useful please consider supporting us to digitise more war diaries, documents and maps.

All diaries for this unit

WO 171/853 2nd Battalion, Fife and Forfar Yeomanry

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun Jul Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

War Diaries Referenced in this diary

This diary mentions 1 units with war diaries for July 1944.

Browse all referenced war diaries

Page 1 of 7

Place	Date	Summary of Events and Information
Norrey	July 1/2	These two days we remained at Norrey. Rest was made difficult by mortars
		and shells which kept coming over from the Carpicquet Aerodrome, which the enemy was still holding.
Colleville	3	In the afternoon we moved forward again to the area of Colleville into a reserve position under command of 4 Armd Bde. Two Sqns were out at a
		time in a counter attack role, one over the R. Orne South of Tourmauville under command of 44 Inf Bde and the other was in support of 160 Inf Bde.
		in the area of Graimville Sur Odon. The third Sqn. was in reserve just north of the railway at Colleville. Sqns were not called upon to counter
		attack but were able to engage targets from time to time. We remained in this area until 15th, during which time we were continually
		shelled and mortared and from which we suffered a number of casualties.
	4	On the 4th Lieut. W. Black, acting as Tech. Adjt, was wounded by a shell and his driver killed.
	5	On the 5th 2/Lieut. R.J. Bromley A. Sqn. a new Officer who had only joined us the previous day was wounded by mortar.
	7	On the 7th 2nd Lieut. W.J. Thomson also of A. Sqn. was killed. On the 14th 2 O.R's were wounded and on the 15th 1 O.R.
	14	During this time the Recce Tp were equipped with Honeys which had had their turrets removed so that they should be more inconspicuous and the
		A/A Tp was also trained in the recce role as they were so seldom required for their main task.
	15	On the morning of the 15th the Royal Scots Greys relieved the fwd Sqn
		and that night we withdrew and spent a quiet and peaceful night in the area of Camilly close to A. Ech. who for the whole of the month had
		remained at Cully.
Camilly	16	Sunday was spent cleaning up our tanks and ourselves.
		At midnight the Regt. moved again to a concentration area at Gazelle 0275. It was a bad night for moving - dust, mist, and a very dark night, all
		contributing to the difficulties.

Page 2 of 7

Place	Date	Summary of Events and Information
Gazelle	July 17th	The day was spent in total concealment at Gazelle where morale was improved
	18th	by the arrival of the N.A.A.F.I. and the first rations of beer. At 0030 hrs. we started on a march to a further concentration area east of
		the Canal de Caen, crossing the canal and the river at Benouville 0974. The concentration area was in a field north east of Ranville where the
		gliders had landed on D day. The Regt. arrived there at about 0400 hrs. At 0545 hrs. many hundreds of aircraft were seen passing over our heads
		to blast the route in front of us. There was a continual stream for more than an hour. At 0720 hrs. the Regt. moved off behind the 3 R Tks
		through the start line just west of Escoville 1171. The form up at the start line was considerably hampered by a minefield laid by the Highland
		Division which they had been unable to pick up except for four lanes. These lanes provided a further bottleneck and had a serious effect on the
		outcome of the whole operations. The Bde from the start line to the railway Caen to Troarn moved in the following order:- 3 R Tks, 2 FF Yeo.
		23 H. Each Regt. was in three waves, 2 FF Yeo. being with A. Sqn. on the right and B. Sqn. on the left in the leading wave, the second wave
		consisting of the Recce Tp, RHQ. and the carriers of F. Coy. 8 R.B. and the third wave consisting of C. Sqn., the remainder of F. Coy. and I. Bty.
		13 R.H.A. At 0800 hrs. the barrage opened which advanced south to the railway, the Bde moving close up behind. Little opposition was
		encountered during this time, the villages on the flanks having been well attended to by the air force. This railway was only a minor obstacle.
		The barrage stopped on this line for 15 minutes to allow for the crossing of the railway and 2 FF Yeo. to go up on the left of the 3 R Tks. The
		barrage then continued in a S.W. direction towards Le Mesnil Frementel 1065. The Regt. was covering a frontage of about 700 yds. The two
		leading waves encountered little opposition but much enemy equipment was
		seen to to abandoned and many prisoners attempted to give themselves up, as

Page 3 of 7

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
	July 18		there was no time to collect these they were left to be mopped up by
			subsequent infantry. The two leading waves reached the line of the railway Caen - Vimont 1461 without suffering any serious casualties. The
			third wave was strongly engaged by anti-tank guns from the area of Cagny 1164 and the woods to the N.E. of it. The first tank to be hit was that
			of Major C. Nicholls, + almost immediately Capt. J.E.F. Miller's tank was destroyed. The rear Tp of B. Sqn. which was doing flank protection was
			also involved and in all some 12 tanks were destroyed in this area before the situation was in hand. It had previously been stated that the village
			of Cagny would be 'hamburged' by the air force. This, however, had not taken place. Having crossed the railway B. Sqn. continued as leading
			Sqn. in normal battle formation and they reached the outskirts of Soliers 0862 and Four 0962 before they were seriously engaged. Both these
			villages were occupied by German infantry and at the same time Panther tanks were seen in the outskirts of the village of Borguebus and also 1
			mile further south. Further tanks were then seen moving about on the edge of the woods at m.r. 1160. Capt. J.D. Hutchison with two tps of A. Sqn.
			went to protect the S.E. flank from a position just N.E. of Four, from where he was able to destroy at least two Panthers. These Panthers
			prevented us from advancing any further, and in the late afternoon they counter-attacked in force getting into the village of Four from where they
			were able to cause us further casualties. The Regt. was relieved on this flank by the 23rd H. and moved back to re-organise on the left behind
			Capt. J.D. Hutchison's two troops, who had suffered a loss of two tanks whilst in position. During the day we lost 37 tanks and we destroyed
			6 Panthers, 2 Mk. IV's, 5 S.P's and 3 88 m.m's and succeeded in advancing
			a distance of 5 miles. Casualties to personnel were as follows:- Killed - Capt. R.H.M. Trehearne and 15 O.R's. Missing presumed killed -
			Major C. Nicholls and 18 O.R's. Wounded - Lieut. D.A. Reid, Lieut. P.R.

Page 4 of 7

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
	July 18		Noakes, Lieut. S.H. Millar and 28 O.R's. Capt. P. Beamish, R.A.M.C. was
			also taken sick. It was unfortunate that many of our unhorsed personnel who got back to A.1. Ech. were involved in a heavy attack by a bombing
			force during the night and suffered a high proportion of casualties. These were as follows:- Killed - Capt. W.K. Mathewson, Lieut. I.D. Forbes
			and 4 O.R's. Wounded . Lieut. A.G.P. Buchan, Lieut. R.P. Clarke, 2/Lieut. E.J. Spittal and 40 O.R's. That night we leaguered just north of the
			railway m.r. 0865.
	19th		Owing to casualties the Regt. was only able to produce 25 tanks and so it
			was reorganised into two Sqns. A. Sqn. under command Major J.H.C. Powell, and C. Sqn. under command Capt. J.E.F. Miller, Major Sir J.E. Gilmour,
			Bart. having to replace Major G.R. Trotter who had had the misfortune to break a toe the previous day. A. Sqn. had 12 tanks, C. Sqn. 11 tanks,
			and RHQ. 2 tanks. The Regt. was in reserve throughout the morning, during which time we
			were continually shelled, Major J.H.C. Powell being killed and 3 O.R's wounded. At about 1800 hrs. the 3 R Tks had successfully captured the
			village of Bras 0663 and an attack from Bras to capture Hubert Folie 0662 by the 2 N Yeo had been abortive. 2 FF Yeo. were then ordered to attack
			this village. They moved up from just N.E. of Bras where they formed up to attack. A heavy concentration of mediums WAS then was put down on the
			village. C. Sqn. followed up close behind the concentration, and were
			able to enter the village without suffering casualties. A. Sqn. followed on close behind them. A Coy. of 8 R.B. came in fterwards to mop up
			prisoners, of which they captured about 80. The K.S.L.I. came up and took over this village after dark and we went back to leaguer N.E. of the
			railway. There were no tank losses on this day. Capt. Robertson R.A.M.C. joined the Regt. as new R.M.O.

Page 5 of 7

Place	Date	Summary of Events and Information
Demouville	July 20th	The Regt. pulled out of the leaguer a few hundred yards and remained in
	& 21st	that position until noon. They then withdrew over the railway to N.E. of Demouville 1067. They remained there all that day and the following
		day, during which it rained almost continually.
	22nd	At 0700 hrs. we withdrew out of the line through thick mud over the Canal de Caen to Ardenne Abbey south of Cussy 9970
	23rd	We remained here for nearly a week resting and re-organising.
	25th	During this time the Recce tp was reduced to 3 honeys and the A/A Tp to 1 Crusader, personnel being sent into the fighting Sqns. 16 O.R's
		joined us from the R.G.H. and were also distributed among the Sqns. Our new R.M.O. Capt. Robertson, R.A.M.C. left us, and Capt. Luker R.A.M.C.
		took his place.
		The following promotions took place. To the rank of A/U/Major Capt. J.D. Hutchison and Capt. J.E.F. Miller. To the rank of A/U/Capt.
		Lieut. J.M. Adams and Lieut. W.J. Hotblack.
	28th	On the evening of the 28th we were ordered to be ready to move at short notice.
	29th	At 0030 hrs. The Regt. moved out of Ardenne Abbey, on a very
		dark night, to the western flank of the British sector and harboured in Le Ruel 6764, the Regt. finally arriving there at approx. 0830 hrs.
		The day was spent in total concealment; recces, conferences and planning also taking place.
	30th	The Regt. was under command 159 Inf. Bde. who were moving on the right centre line of the Division. The Regt. was supporting the advance of the
		1st Herefords. Their first objective was on the high ground just to the west of Caumont at 6758. The start line was once again in the area
		held by another Division, who had again laid mines which caused confusion. On the advance to our objective the Herefords were held up by M.G. fire.

Page 6 of 7

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
	July 30th		B. Sqn. who were operating on the right were trying to assist them and
			got into severe trouble with mines. They lost no less than 7 tanks on these mines. A. Sqn. on the left were able to push forward a little bit
			more reaching the main road from Caumont to Torigni Sur Vire. During this time there was continual mortar fire but we suffered no casualties
			from it. C. Sqn. then pushed forward across the road and the stream and took some high ground in the area 680850. They met only little opposition.
			C. Sqn. remained behind with the inf. whilst A. Sqn. was pushing on to try and make as much progress as possible. They encountered only slight
			opposition and reached the northern slopes of the high ground .171 m.r. 6552 shortly before dark. We remained in this position for the night
			whilst the K.S.L.I. came up and we harboured just north of the highest point for the night. Casualties were as follows:- Wounded Lieut. C.J.
			Workman and 4 O.R's. Killed 1 O.R.
	31st		During the night the K.S.L.I. had continued the advance and at first
			light we pushed on with them by St Ouen Des Besaces m.r. 6652 to the high ground m.r. 655510. The enemy were strongly resisting the 29 A.B. who
			were on our left at St Martin Des Besaces 6750. A. Sqn. were accordingly ordered to put in an attack from the west supported by a company of the
			Herefords. The main road was covered by anti-tank guns and the country on either side was extremely difficult due to the high banks and awkward
			fences. Progress was necessarily very slow, but we succeeded in knocking
			out the anti-tank guns and managed to get into the village. During this operation A. Sqn. lost two tanks. Enemy tanks which appeared from the
			South withdrew before we came into contact with them. There was some opposition on our right but our attack on this was held up for some time
			as the American forces were advancing in this area and it was not known at the time their exact location. Eventually a limited attack was put in

Page 7 of 7

Place	Date	Hour	Summary of Events and Information
	July 31st		on the road to clear the area in which we were going to consolidate for
			the night. The advance started by carrying the Herefords on the backs of tanks. As, however, we met opposition before we had gone 1/2 mile this
			was not very successful. The enemy were cleared of the area up to the X rds at 645505 and we remained there harboured for the night. Two
			tps under Capt. R.L. Leith of C. Sqn. were sent out to investigate the main road to see if it was possible to push further forward. They did,
			however run on to some mines and anti-tank guns and so returned in to the harbour area, Casualties were as follows:- 1 O.R. killed and 1
			O.R. wounded.

Units Referenced in this war diary

The following units are mention in this war diary and have their own July 1944 war diary

3rd Bn Royal Tank Regiment, July 1944 War Diary