3 RTR B Squadron

Not that I know of, certainly haven't come across any, which is a shame..but I shall start digging..who knows..
BUT I did come up with this!

Scenes from the Comet maintenance included!

 

The crossing is at Petershagen on the Weser. The maint is taking place in Schwarmstedt, a large village between the Leine and the Aller.

 

I would say that these pics wrap up the location mystery! Definitely Brünen. Now we're left with a) why are they going the wrong way? and b) whatever happened to the statue?
PS the last pic comes from the Wiki page for Brünen, not very sharp, I'm afraid, taken from the west looking back towards the church.

 

Sorry for not replying earlier, what with the euphoria of having finally found the place... thanks for the input, the fact that they are going in the opposite direction to what you would think is confusing. And after a week looking at statues, etc, they all start to look the same! (I don't know if I'll be able to enter a churchyard now without cringing..)
Cheers!

 

Talking of the maintenance, there's a close-up of the guy from The Gloucestershires, and the guy from the RAC...my grandfather is just out of shot. There must be more of this film somewhere around. I know they have it at IWM, but whether it's the same clip, or there's more, I have no idea. Another task for the list.

 

The last pic: Cromwell tanks, scout cars and trucks of 7th Armoured Division pass through Brunen during the advance from the Rhine bridgehead, 29 March 1945.

 

IWM have quite a few pics taken in Brunen at this time by several photographers. Clearly this was a deliberate PR stunt not some opportunistic snaps by a single photographer who just happened to be on the spot.

Given that, have you considered that the pics were staged. By that, l mean the pics of 3RTR are not pics of (the whole of) 3RTR moving through Brunen on the way to the front but just a handful of tanks and armoured cars designated to drive up and down the high street a few times for the pleasure of the attending photographers.

 

No problem.

Going from what you and others have posted in this thread, and the IWM picture collection, my money was immediatly on Brunen as the place.

However, l do not share the same level of enthusiasm as you when it comes to nailing this down so precisely so made no effort to confirm ir deny my suspicion.

 

That sounds entirely plausible and probably explains my point about variation in camouflage and barrels. Many AFPU photos were staged, with the usual giveaway being the positioning of the cameraman in front of the action!

 

Have you noticed the two Comet crewmen in the background in img031? To my eye they look as if they are having a good laugh at the attempts of the lads to do some track adjustment! And the lads themselves look more than a little tentative. Do we know when this photo was taken? Was it taken at the same time as the film clip in Schwarmstedt?

 

Yes, I noticed that! They seem to be enjoying the scene, great big grins on their faces! I've attached 3 screen captures, the first two feature faces from the img031, look to me like taken more or less at the same time, although in img031 they're tensing the track and in the film, giving the barrel a see-to. In the third capture, there aren't any tanks in the background, so probably filmed at a different moment, but probably same day and place.

 

That sounds a likely scenario, although, with everything that was going on, I wonder how the crews would have taken it when told: "Ok, chaps, before you settle down, go and drive up and down the high street for an hour, give the old shutterbug a few nice pics, and remember to smile!" Well, on the other hand, I suppose better a photographer taking shots rather than a sniper...

 

Campbell Crockets Scout Car certainly fits the 'staged' scenario - grim determination on his face and the Charging Bull mascot dangling from the aerial but I'm not sure simply because, in my mind, it doesn't tick any of the macho or stoic aspects normally seen in photos of that type. Must admit my favourite is of the lady serving up a cup of tea while the chap fires off his Bren Gun - haven't currently got time to locate the photo but I think that was in Caen area.

 

This one, perhaps? "Now, you just leave that nasty German alone, and come and have a nice cup of tea."

 

Although, looking at the woman closely, are you sure she isn't the late, great Terry Jones??!!

 

Here's another of those 'posed' pics. In the film posted earlier these's a very brief scene of crew loading shells, may have been taken during the shoot.

 

Classic. You can almost hear them saying, 'For fucks sake take the photo I can't hold this pose for ever'.

 

Yes. That's the photo although the bevvy looks a bit stronger than tea.

 

They both might have had problems with something like a traverse/elevation gearbox or something of that ilk, l’m no Comet expert as l cut my teeth on Chieftain where we had regular problems with our gun kit or GUEs (Generator Unit Engine) and we had to crutch/clamp our gun’s over the back decks!

As an aside l came across this thread last night as l haven’t visited this site for a while, being ex 3RTR 75-92 it is great to see some more photos of my old regt, cheers guys, keep up the good work!

 

It is staged. They did at least 2 takes. From 1m 02s.