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?
Yes, I have the full NA diary from Nov 40 - Oct 45 Below is the 1st page that you might find interesting. Best Rob
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.
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
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
3 Super Heavy Battery WD to 30 June 1940 http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C163043 3 Super Heavy Regiment WD from 1 November http://discovery.nationalarchives.gov.uk/details/r/C787957 Nothing inbetween. Does anyone know what happened to the guns of the battery? All the best Andreas
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.
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"?
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
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.
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
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...
Are you able to share this fully. My grandfather served in this regiment and I am interested in finding out more
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)