Just noting that the 78th Division paraded together for the last time in Spittal, Austria on the morning of 6th July 1945. A few notes taken from that event are attached here which includes various photographs of that day..(thanks Tony and Lesley). http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/25400-78th-british-infantry-division-the-battleaxe-div/page-2 best
Bexley84 Thanks for posting those PDFs. My whole wartime experiences were linked up with 78 Div, stariting with my joining the 49th LAA Rgt in North Africa in May 1943. In December 1944 the unit was disbanded, I found myself in the Armoured Corps bu was still very much involved with the Div in the closing stages of the war in Italy. I went back to the 4th QOH Rgtl Diary to see where we were on the 6th of July and found this item: 6/7/1945 Four SS ORs arrested. So, we were in Austria and very much involved in picking up SS war criminals I also see that we were officially still attached to the 78 Div but not, as Owen would say, "part of it" Note that we left the Div two days later, see the summary. Summary:- On the Regt ceasing to be under command 78 Div on July 8th all guard duties ceased. Immediately on coming under command 6th Armd Div the Regt was extremely busy refitting with ACs instead of Kangaroos, all of which were handed in before leaving 78 Div. Apart from refitting, all Tank and AC crews were busy learning to drive and master the maintenance problems of the new equipment. This was completed by July 22nd.On arriving in Styria, the Regt was immediately busy providing check posts on the northern border of Styria, sending out patrols to locate dumps of Wehrmacht equipment and to check civilian identities. [From this point on routine patrols without incident will not be reported. All names and unit movements are reported in full] Ron