3rd Super Heavy Regiment RA - war diary

Discussion in 'Royal Artillery' started by phylo_roadking, Oct 29, 2014.

  1. phylo_roadking

    phylo_roadking Very Senior Member

    Hi all - this regt. went to france with the BEF, and in mid may became part of "Usher Force"...its men fighting as infantry on one occasion, and returning home without their guns...

    But several websites including the well respected http://nigelef.tripod.com/regtsumm.htm#shyregt list it as being formed in November 1940!

    Is this a unit that became moribund or was temporarily disbanded after Dunkirk...and was re-formed later in the year?

    Does anyone have their war diary to hand?
     
  2. Rob Dickers

    Rob Dickers 10th MEDIUM REGT RA

    Yes, I have the full NA diary from Nov 40 - Oct 45
    Below is the 1st page that you might find interesting.
    Best
    Rob
    [​IMG]
     
  3. phylo_roadking

    phylo_roadking Very Senior Member

    Hi Rob, thanks for that! "...were formed" - it can't be any clearer than that...

    ...but what happened to the "3rd Super Heavy Regt." that was in France???



    And does it say much about the Canadian-manned "X" Super heavy battery that was subordinated to it after that date?

    I'm particularly interested in where it says that the "X" battery's 9.2in railway guns were when the 3rd took command on that date.
     
  4. Rob Dickers

    Rob Dickers 10th MEDIUM REGT RA

    See the other thread for X & Y RCA
    Are you sure it's BEF 3rd S/H Regt, not 3rd S/H Bty.Just a thought.

    Rob
     
  5. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    Rob has the answer.

    1 Super Heavy Regiment was with the BEF. It contained 3 Super Heavy Battery. I do not see a 3 Super Heavy Regiment listed at this date.

    Mike
     
  6. Andreas

    Andreas Working on two books

  7. Trux

    Trux 21 AG

    Andeas,

    There is a confusion here.

    3 Super Heavy BATTERY went overseas with the BEF. It lost its guns in May/June 1940 as they were too big to move and evacuate. This battery was never reformed.

    3 Super Heavy REGIMENT was formed in November 1940 and had no connection with 3 Super Heavy Battery.

    Mike.
     
  8. Andreas

    Andreas Working on two books

    Thanks Mike!

    All the best

    Andreas
     
  9. phylo_roadking

    phylo_roadking Very Senior Member

    Thanks for the above guys, that clears that one up, and makes a lot more sense.



    Here's something else that has cropped up in the meantime though...

    That's a hell of a lot of "action", particularly on the 24th of September! To go otherwise unremarked-on...

    Does anyone have any war diaries covering any of the units mentioned above, and can check if "in action" on those dates means an actual shoot....or just "operational"?
     
  10. Rob Dickers

    Rob Dickers 10th MEDIUM REGT RA

    You,ve got Btys of the 1st,2nd,3rd S/H regts here & some, (37 & 47 ?)
    Give me a bit of time & i'll go though the diaries for the 24/09/40. may take a while!!
    Rob
     
  11. phylo_roadking

    phylo_roadking Very Senior Member

    Thanks Rob. I'm glad I'm not the only one who appreciates the scale of the "action" supposedly involved...for it to potentially have left no trace. In the meantime I've been through the internet looking for what happened elsewhere on the 24th...and there's no sign at all of anything requiring a major day of heavy artillery "action".

    Some bombs on Swansea, an RN trawler was sunk by air attack, Adolf Galland got the oak leaves to his Knight's Cross, the King broadcast to Britain and the Empire announcing the creation of the George Cross, the Supermarine factory at Woolston was bombed...I've had a look at navalhistory.net, nothing appropriate there at all - it was the middle of Op MENACE, but I don't think they could fire as far as Dakar...and the Vichy French bombed Gibraltar again. They were pissed off. Again...but not the faintest sniff of anything like the above.
     
  12. Rob Dickers

    Rob Dickers 10th MEDIUM REGT RA

    From what i can see Sep 1940 was a period of training, tac exercises & practice shoots out to sea for all the S/Hvy Bty's as in Oct 1940 approx eight new S/Hvy bty's were formed and merged into the 1st,2nd,3rd S/Hvy Regts in the November when these regts were formed/reformed.
    There are only diaries for the 4th,6th,12th S/Hvy Bty's that cover Sep 1940, which i don't have.
    I am sure the [in action] refered to relates to these practice shoots out to sea and at Larkhill.
    Below is a short piece on the S/Hvy Bty's at this time from the RA Commemoration Book.

    Rob

    [​IMG]
     
  13. phylo_roadking

    phylo_roadking Very Senior Member

    Rob, thanks for the above.

    Looking closer at the pages from the 3rd S H Regt war diary you've posted up elsewhere...there's actually a BIG hint there that "in action" did just mean operational. Take a look about what it says about "Y" batttery's gun at Canterbury... ;)
     
  14. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    Tut Tut.... If its BEF related post it in the 1940 section :lol:
     
    Rob Dickers likes this.
  15. Claire Simes

    Claire Simes New Member

     
  16. Claire Simes

    Claire Simes New Member

    Are you able to share this fully. My grandfather served in this regiment and I am interested in finding out more
     
  17. dryan67

    dryan67 Senior Member

    The war diaries for X, Y Super Heavy Batteries, Royal Canadian Artillery can be found at the Heritage Canadiana site located under these reels:

    X Super Heavy Battery RCA

    T-15872 - pp. 376-1237 (6_Sep_40-6_Feb_41)

    Y Super Heavy Battery RCA

    T-15872 - pp. 1239-1443 (4_Sep_40-31_Jan_41)
     

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