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| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| ODON Bridgehead | 1 | Violent enemy inf attack reached its peak about 0200 hrs. A terrific barrage | |
| by our own artillery inflicted heavy casualties on enemy and was largely | |||
| instrumental in breaking up the attack. During the attack one gun of "E" | |||
| Tp was over run. A Bdr and 2 Gnrs were killed, 2 Gnrs evacuated with shock | |||
| and one wounded. There were three other casualties during the night of 118 | |||
| Bty and one of RHQ. | |||
| At 1030hrs a Sqn of Churchills came up and cleared ridge in front of position. | |||
| At about 1800hrs enemy appeared to have withdrawn. | |||
| Lieut CAWLEY buried at MONDRAINVILLE. | |||
| 2/3 | Quiet days in Bridgehead, except for intermitant shelling | ||
| One gun of "L" Tp put out of action by almost direct hit from shell. | |||
| Detachment escaped without injuries. | |||
| 3 | Lieut Crago took over command of "L"Tp and Lieut CORLESS posted to 119 Bty. | ||
| R.H.Q. came under rather heavy shell fire and 1 Gnr was wounded. | |||
| 4 | Another comparatively quiet day with intermittent shelling of bridgehead. |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Odon bridgehead | 4 | "B" Tp of 117 Bty deployed South of river in BARON area having taken over | |
| duty of protecting RA. O.Ps from Tp of 119 Bty. | |||
| Early in the morning - at first light - Lieut J.M.THOMSON was killed by a | |||
| sentry of KSLI whilst on patrol. | |||
| 119 Bty Echelon shelled on return from fwd area. 4 ORs wounded. S/Sgt BARNEY | |||
| died of wounds. | |||
| 5/6 | Night | 159 Bde relieved by Bde of 43 Div - without any interference from enemy. | |
| COULOMBS, | 6 | Regiment in concentration area to rest and refit. RHQ 118 and 338 Btys at | |
| BRONAY & LE MESNIL PATRY | COULOMBS. 119 at BRONAY and 117 Bty in area of LE MESNIL-PATRY. "B" Tp | ||
| rejoined 117 Bty in harbour. The area was shelled during the day and Lieut | |||
| L. W.MARTEN was killed. | |||
| 7/16 | Regiment in areas as above resting and refitting. | ||
| During this time 117 Bty continued to provide a Tp for protection of the | |||
| RA OPs in the BARON- TOURMAUVILLE area. The Tp was changed daily. | |||
| 8 | The remainder of 117 Bty came under command 2 NY for counter attack role |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | the event of enemy penetration of the RAURAY-HAUT de BOSQ feature. | ||
| COULOMBS-BRONAY | 7 | Lieut K.C.W.ROSS joined 119 Bty and took over "I"Tp. Lieut EKEBLAD joined | |
| 119 Bty as R.O. from RHQ. | |||
| 119 Bty moved to area NORTH of ROURAY in a counter attack role in support of | |||
| 23 Hussars. | |||
| 10 | Major Marsh left the Regiment. | ||
| Capt A.Scoggins appointed Adjutant. | |||
| Major A.G.Durnford joined RHQ pending the posting to the Regiment of a new | |||
| 2 i/c. | |||
| Capt. Sanders took over command of 118 Bty. | |||
| Capt Beloe posted to 118 Bty as Capt "Q". | |||
| 11 | Bread issued for first time since landing in Normandy. | ||
| CULLY | 15 | 119 Bty moved to CULLY under command 29 Armd Bde. | |
| NEUF-MER | 117 Bty under command HQRA moved with 2 N.Yeo to harbour area at NEUF-MER. | ||
| "A" Tp rejoined the Bty from ODON Bridgehead at 2100 hrs. |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| EAST of R.ORNE | 16/17 | 159 Bde Gp moved during the night across the R.ORNE to concentrate in the | |
| Airborne country. "F" Tp under command 3 MONS, "D" Tp - 4 KSLI and "E" Tp | |||
| 1 Her. RHQ and 338 Bty concentrated in area on RANVILLE. | |||
| 119 Bty concentrated with 29 Armd Bde Gp in area of PLUMETOT arriving there | |||
| at about 0600 hrs on the seventeenth. | |||
| 17 | 117 Bty left NEUF-MER at 2130hrs to cross the R.ORNE and concentrate at | ||
| AMFREVILLE. | |||
| The operations about to start have had a most promitious prelude, a thick | |||
| mist commencing before dawn and lasting until about noon enabled the whole | |||
| Division to cross the R.ORNE and concentrate without being observed by the | |||
| enemy. By the time the mist cleared, camouflage had been completed. | |||
| 17/18 | Night | 119 Bty left PLUMETOT at 0200hrs and crossed the R.ORNE, harbouring for four | |
| hours at RANVILLE preparatory to going fwd with the 29 Armd Bde. | |||
| 18 | 0630 | Very heavy RAF bombardment followed by artillery barrage preceeding the attack. | |
| 0745 | Leading tps crossed the start line. Axis of advance was COUVERVILLE and |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| DEMOUVILLE - CAEN with the armour of the 11th, 7th and Gds Armd Divs fanning | |||
| out from there. 3 British Div. was to protect the left flank with the | |||
| Canadians advancing from CAEN through the factory area and along the EAST | |||
| bank of the R.ORNE | |||
| 119 Bty with the Armour, 117 Bty as Div Reserve under command CRA???. 118 Bty | |||
| with tps att to Bns of 159 Bde. 338 Bty under command C.O. as 159 Bde | |||
| reserve. For this operation Tac HQ consisted of the C.O. and 2 i/c in the | |||
| S.P. the I.O. in a Jeep and the Recce car. | |||
| By the afternoon 119 Bty were in action at GRENTHVILLE where "G" Tp destroyed | |||
| 2 Panthers and 1 Sherman - the latter was being used as a decoy. Prisoners | |||
| were taken by the Bty who suffered a few casualties to personnel. | |||
| COUVERVILLE and DEMOUVILLE which had been left to 159 Bde to deal with | |||
| were taken by noon. 118 Bty Tps deployed in Bn areas. "F" Tp sustained 3 | |||
| casualties - wounded - from shelling. 338 Bty deployed about 1200 hrs in | |||
| area immediately NORTH of COUVERVILLE. |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 | 1400 | 117 Bty deployed with 2. N.Yeo SOUTH of DEMOUVILLE. Later they moved to just | |
| NORTH of LE MESNIL FREMENTAL where they largered for the night. | |||
| In the late afternoon 338 Bty moved to and deployed S.E. of DEMOUVILLE and at | |||
| about 1900 hrs again moved to area LE MESNIL FREMENTAL where tps were deployed | |||
| to protect Div concentration. | |||
| 2200 | 118 Tps in positions in Bde area SOUTH of DEMOUVILLE. Throughout the day | ||
| enemy shelling and mortaring had been heavy though not accurate. | |||
| 19 | p.m. | 159 Bde attacked HUBERT-FOLIE and BRAS. Tps of 118 Bty deployed to | |
| consolidate in Bn areas by 2200hrs. "K" Tp sent up to lend additional support | |||
| to the MONS at BRAS. Remainder of 338 Bty deployed round Bde HQ NORTH of | |||
| HUBERT-FOLIE for protection against possible counter attack from area SOUTH | |||
| of CAEN. | |||
| 119 Bty in area GRENTHVILLE heavily shelled at approx 1300 hrs. B.C's veh | |||
| hit and three men wounded. "F" Tp had one man wounded during the day. | |||
| 20 | p.m. | 159 Bde relieved by Bde of 3. Can Div. During the morning fwd tps had been |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| heavily shelled. 'E" Tp suffered four casualties - one man killed, three | |||
| wounded. | |||
| 1700 | Concentrations of 159 Bde veh machine gunned by enemy aircraft "en passant". | ||
| A rare sight! No casualties. | |||
| 1100 | 119 Bty back at COVERVILLE for refitting. 117 Bty moved back to ST HONORUE | ||
| LA CHARDONNETTE where their guns were deployed fwd of the village. | |||
| 338 Bty returned to LE-MESNIL-FREMENTEL. | |||
| 21 | RHQ shelled in conc area NORTH of COVERVILLE. RSM Hudson and 1 NCO wounded. | ||
| CUSSY AREA | 22-28 | Resting and refitting. | |
| 23 | Major R.L. Crouch joined Regiment as 2 i/c. | ||
| 29 | 11 Armd Div sent to the CAUMONT SECTOR on the left of the 2 U.S. Div. | ||
| 0430 | Regt left CUSSY area for the CAUMONT Sector. RHQ, 118 and 338 Btys | ||
| concentrating in area CORMOLAIN around the village of PONT DE HERBERT. | |||
| 117 Bty in area MONT BRIAUME and 119 Bty in area BALLEROY. | |||
| 30 | 1200 | Advance commenced. 119 Bty has a Tp u/c of each of the Armd Regts. 338 Bty has |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| "J" Tp u/c 1 Herefords "K" & "L" u/с 8 R.B. (29 Armd Bde) 118 Bty in reserve | |||
| with 159 Bde. 117 Bty u/с C.R.A. | |||
| 2359 | 119 Bty reached area SOUTH of SEPT VENTS where they harboured for night. | ||
| 117 Bty reached LA CHAUETIERE area at 2130 hrs. | |||
| No guns in action yet. | |||
| 31 | 119, 118 and 338 Btys reached area ST MARTIN DES BESACES. Very little | ||
| opposition so far. | |||
| 117 Bty moved down to protect right flank of gun area. Guns deployed area | |||
| DAMPIERELA FOUGUERIE - LA BERTHERIE |
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