Lt. Ridley's son has contacted this forum in the past and has posted some photos. His name is Casper - you might be able to find him through the Members page, Vitellino
Buongiorno, i find on your album war diary of Recce Rgmt. of june 1944. I'm very happy becouse is important for trisimeno line history. I have a problem to read the diary becouse I don't undestand the mining of number on the text. For example in this image http://ww2talk.com/f...p2190002/large/ "Enimywere first contacted at 462388 and..." What is 462388? Thanks so match Daniele Piselli, Montegabbione (Italy)
Hello Daniele, Firstly, welcome to the forum. 462388 is the grid reference for a location on a map. Here it is (I cannot find a larger scale map on line): Regards, Richard
Hello Daniele. Welcome to the forum. I live in Passignano sul Trasimeno. I see you are from Montegabbione, liberated by 5 Northamptonshire Regiment (11 Brigade, 78 British Infantry Divison) and the tanks of the Royal Wiltshire Yeomanry .on 16 June 1944, in the run-up to the battles on the Trasimene Line. Were you looking for information on 56 Recce Regiment in particular or about the Trasimene Line in general? My book The Trasimene Line June-July 1944, translated into Italian as La Battaglia Dimenticata, is available on line from the publishers www.fondazioneranieri.org Best wishes, Vitellino (Janet Kinrade Dethick)
Hi all , i was browsing through some ww2 books in a bhf charity shop when i found this photo of the 56th recce. Obviously i immediately shelled out the £2.50 . The book is called " last days of the reich " by james lucas . Ive attached said photo with its description. Cheers dave
Hi paul , the photo is the only mention directly of the 56th although there is a lot of text on the 78th division inc a photo of the london irish rifles which i will post on the 78th section and also some quotes from soldiers inc a recce patrol (not 56th) finding the vienna boys choir , some in hitler youth uniform .. cheers dave
Dave, good find. Mauthen is the first town you come to after crossing the Italian/Austrian border at the Plöcken Pass (Monte Croce). As you know it was A Squadron, 56 Recce who crossed here and were the first 8th Army troops into Austria. From their war diary for 7 May 1945:- “By 1900hrs. fwd. tps. of A Sqn. were in Austria, meeting no opposition.” There is a photo around of the 56 Recce Greyhound crossing the border, the caption suggests 6 Troop at 1000hrs on 7th. Cannot find any reference to meeting the Burgermeister in the diaries, but presumably he would have made contact with the first troops he met and Mauthen is only 11km from the pass. My guess is that the photo could well be A Sqn. Sorry Dave but he book can be viewed here: https://www.scribd.com/doc/283323402/Last-Days-of-the-Third-Reich-The-Collapse-of-Nazi-Germany-May-1945 Don’t you just love some people! But I still think it was £2.50 well spent! Regards
Mmmm, it was working yesterday. Looks like it is a subscription site with a free trial period – I guess I must have outstayed my welcome. OK, Dave, good buy!
hi tony , do you happen to know the vehicle on the left of the photo , is that a greyhound ? cheers dave
Dave, pretty sure it is not a Greyhound or Humber, looks more like a turret on the roof rack of a Morris Minor with a gun sticking out the side window, but perhaps not. Did come across this: WWII Armored Car Identification Someone out there must know? Tony
Might change my mind, I think it is a Greyhound. Your picture may be a bit distorted, as it is in the fold of the book, but if you look at the following site there are loads of Greyhound photos (US), the shape of the barrel looks the same, and the ports for the driver can be made out in your picture. M8 Greyhound with crew | World War Photos
Hi tony , yeah i think youre right as its got the machine gun next to the main gun , definately a greyhound . Wonder if these lads were the famous a sqn in a greyhound who were the 1st 8th army troops to cross into austria . cheers dave
hi all , ive been looking at the diaries for details of vehicles used by the regt and so far ive got mentions of ironsides ( jan 41 ) Malcolm campbells , bedfords and beaverettes ( feb 41 ) universal carriers ( may 41 ) humberette mk2 ( dec 41 ) humber lrc mk3 ( jun 42 ) . Then the greyhound m8 ( sep 44 ) which replaced the heavy armoured cars the regt already had , is the heavy armoured car the humber mk2 ? cheers dave
Dave, when 56 Recce carried out the Greyhound demo it was to compare its operation with the Humber Mk IV. Note that whilst the regiment described it as a heavy AC this was only to differentiate it from the LRC. 56th Reconnaissance Corps