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| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| ALDERSHOT | 6 | 'D' Day. Assault Forces of 21 Army Group landed on Normandy Beaches. | |
| Regiment played cricket against 58 L.A.A. Regt RA. | |||
| 10 | 119 Bty, under command Major M.G. HARRIS, R.A., left EWSHOTT for Marshalling | ||
| Area (CANNING TOWN) where they received a great reception from the locals. | |||
| Regimental (less 119 Bty) Advance Party under Major Marsh R.A. left EWSHOTT | |||
| same evening for Marshalling Area (WEST END, SOUTHAMPTON). | |||
| 11 | P. M. | 119 Bty and Regimental Advance Party embarked on L.S.Ts at TILBURY and | |
| SOUTHAMPTON respectively. | |||
| 12 | P.M. | Regimental Advance Party reached NORMANDY (JIG BEACH) and after spending a | |
| rather noisy night in Assembly Area moved to Harbour Area (Div Advance Party) | |||
| at LANTHEUIL. | |||
| NORMANDY | 13 | P.M. | 119 Bty reached NORMANDY and spent night in Assembly Area. |
| ALDERSHOT | Remainder of Regiment, less Residues: left EWSHOTT FOR Marshalling Area (GRAYS, ESSEX) |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| TILBURY | 14 | P.M. | Regiment embarked on L.S.Ts. |
| 15 | At anchor off SOUTHEND until 2030 hrs. | ||
| 15/16 | During the night the L.S.T. containing R.H.Q. and 338 Bty, less 'J' & 'K' Tps | ||
| 16 | ran aground near the "GOODWINS". She was refloated on the morning of the | ||
| 16th and returned to SOUTHEND to await the next convoy. | |||
| NORMANDY | 2100 | 117 & 118 Btys and 'J' & 'K' Tps disembarked off coast of NORMANDY. | |
| CULLY | 17 | Arrived in Concentration Area NORTH of CULLY. | |
| NORMANDY | 18 | A.M. | R.H.Q. & 338 Bty, less 'J' & 'K' Tps disembarked and proceeded to Concentration |
| Area NORTH of CULLY. | |||
| CULLY | 18/26 | Regiment remained in Concentration Area NORTH of CULLY. | |
| Positions recced by Btys in event of enemy breakthrough. | |||
| 26 | 'D' Day Operation "EPSOM" 117 Bty moved out under command HQRA 11 Armd Div. | ||
| 119 Bty moved out under command 29 Armd Bde. Remainder of Regiment under | |||
| Command 159 Inf Bde who were at 1/2 hrs notice to move. |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| Near CHEUX | 27 | 119 Bty, first in action, obtained their first 'kill' - 5 Panthers and 1 Tiger | |
| destroyed near CHEUX. They lost 1 gun (Sgt HANCOCK's) with one killed and three | |||
| 1900 | wounded. At 1900 hrs 'G' Tp came under command 23 Hussars. | ||
| East of LE | 117 Bty, who during this time were harbouring near LE MESNIL PATRY suffered | ||
| MESNIL PATRY | casualties from enemy shelling - 2 men seriously wounded, 1 Jeep wrecked. | ||
| Later they advanced to a position 1 1/2 miles South of LE MESNIL PATRY to meet a | |||
| threat from WEST flank. Harboured in Area. | |||
| NORREY EN BESSIN | 159 Inf Bde moved forward at midday, working towards R. ODON. Halted near | ||
| NORREY EN BESSIN where Tps of 118 Bty placed under command of Bns. 'D' Tp | |||
| u/c 4 KSLI, 'E' Tp u/c 1 HEREFORDS, and 'F' Tp u/c 3 MONS. Brigade ordered | |||
| to take bridgehead over R. ODON around BARON. 1 HEREFORDS - Rt. 4 KSLI - Left. | |||
| 3 MONS in reserve, | |||
| R. ODON | 28 | 0500 | Fwd Tps of 118 Bty in position across R. ODON. 'F' Tp SOUTH of MONDRAINVILLE |
| near Bde Tac HQ. |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| R. ODON | 28 | 'K' and 'L' Tps moved to deploy in area MONDRAINVILLE. 'L' Tp in action before | |
| first light but 'K' Tp area could not be occupied owing to enemy inf interference. | |||
| 'J' Tp in reserve area COLLEVILLE. | |||
| 0700 | All available Offrs and men from 338 Bty HQ , 'J' & 'K' Tps | ||
| armed with S/A set out to clear 'K' Tp area. This was not successful due to | |||
| extreme difficulty in locating enemy strongpoints. L/Sgt Sargent and Gnr Moxham | |||
| received injuries, not of a serious nature. | |||
| The area was later cleared by 15(s) Div. 'K' and 'J' Tps remained in MONDRAINVILLE | |||
| overnight. | |||
| BARON | B.H.Qs established by 118 & 338 Btys near BARON. | ||
| R.H.Q. having spent the night of 27/28 in area of COLLEVILLE moved to Bridgehead | |||
| (area BARON) on the morning of the 28th. The C.O. with 2 vehicles established | |||
| Tac HQ there. The remainder of R.H.Q. moved back to LA GAULE at 2330 hrs where | |||
| Main HQ was established. |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHEUX | 28 | 117 Bty, under command 2 N.Y., advanced to CHEUX and deployed due SOUTH of | |
| there to protect Right Flank of Div C.L. D/Mech CUDBY and D/Op CANTWELL | |||
| were slightly wounded by stray bullets. | |||
| 'A' Tp got in some sniping at targets observed by 'C' Sqn 2 N.Y. | |||
| LES VILANS - | 1800 | 119 Bty continued advance with our armour. Came under command 4 Armd Bde at | |
| BARON | LES VILAINS. | ||
| 'G' Tp destroyed 1 Tiger near BARON. | |||
| GAVRUS | 29 | A day of heavy fighting for 119 Bty. The Bty destroyed three Panthers, one | |
| Tiger and one unidentified tank. Capt C.F. GRAHAM was killed and Lieut | |||
| J.D. ELLIOTT missing. Two S.P. guns were lost. | |||
| BRIDGEHEAD | Bridgehead shelled during day and night. | ||
| BARON - | Enemy attacked with infantry but were driven back by our own infantry. | ||
| TOURMAUVILLE) | K' & 'L' Tps were in slight action with S/As. Day spent mostly digging-in. |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| CHEUX | 29 | 117 Bty deployed to meet threats first from SOUTH, then from S.W. Neither | |
| materialised. D/Op Brixey slightly wounded by shell splinters. | |||
| BRIDGEHEAD | 30 | Armour retired behind R. ODON in evening leaving 159 Inf Bde holding Bridgehead, | |
| with a Bde of 43 Divon left of 4 KSLI. | |||
| Enemy shelling during the day became more intensive, particularly in 'K' Tp area. | |||
| Lt. CAWLEY found dead near 'L' Tp positions apparently having been hit in the | |||
| back by shrapnel. Lt CORLESS took over command of 'L' Tp. | |||
| L/Bdr Jones ('E' Tpt and Gnr Payne ('F'Tp) wounded. | |||
| 30/1 | During night Germans launched heavy infantry attack against 'J' Tp Area. | ||
| Own Inf were forced back leaving one gun without protection. Owing to | |||
| confused nature of fighting the detachment could not get away and were pinned | |||
| down by automatic fire. Finally Germans over-ran the gun position but most | |||
| of the detachment escaped by feigning dead. The No. 1. L/Sgt SHELTON received | |||
| a head wound from which he died the next day. The only other casualty was |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary of Events and Information |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30/1 | Night | (continued) the driver of the Quad, Dvr/Mech LAWSON, who received wounds | |
| from a grenade which was thrown inside the Quad. Gun and Quad completely out | |||
| of action. | |||
| 119 Bty deployed in 1 HEREFORD's Area near TOURMAUVILLE. | |||
| 117 Bty withdrawn to concentrate NW of NORREY-EN-BESSIN. Dvr/Mech Brixey | |||
| seriously injured when run over by S.P. |
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