Sorry, thats not my area. I'd ask the same question in the NW Europe section of the forum. Someone like Owen maybe able to find the picture on the IWM website http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachments/nw-europe/69965d1323687905-alpen-alpon-germany-op-%84blockbuster%93-%84veritable%93-feb-march-1945-b_015535-jpg
Not sure what I put up in Posts 17 and 18. Heres an extract from History of the 13th/18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) 1922 to 1947 by Maj Gen C H Miller dated 14th May: By 1.30 pm the regiment was west of the Dyle, and three hours later the bridges at both Weert St. George and Corbeek-Dyle were blown. During this withdrawal six enemy bombers attacked these bridges. They were greeted with intense light machine gun fire from the infantry and one was disabled but not brought down. Another was engaged by a Spitfire and shot down. Lieutenant Selwyn found the crew dead but collected the log and maps, one of which was reported to reveal the enemy minefields in the North Sea. Lieutenant Stewart's troop had not reported when C Squadron crossed the Dyle. It transpired that he had waited to collect the crew of a carrier which had broken down. On his way back he had found himself cut off by the enemy. He charged through them and made his way across country, but his carrier subsequently overturned. Of the seven non-commissioned officers and men with him five were missing, but Lieutenant Stewart and Trooper Fox, although wounded, managed to get away on foot and swim the river.
Another sequence of photos of the Hamme-Mille Scout Carrier has turned up. Some images are identical but there are a couple of new views, one of which shows a little more clearly how the carrier has run off the sandy berm into a ditch, beside a 'Pavé' road. The photographs are captioned as 'Tirlemont' (Tienen) and have clearly been removed from an album and these are quite often a little 'out' in terms of captioned locations. Perhaps most interestingly, there is also an image of an abandoned Bren Carrier, also captioned 'Tirlemont' so presumably close by. It occurs to me that this could be the carrier abandoned by the first crew. There were not that many carriers abandoned to the east of the River Dyle. Unfortunately there are no markings visible...and a Divisional Cavalry regiment ought to have been fully equipped with Scout Carriers.
Hello, I strongly believe the photo showing the Scout Carrier of the 13/18 RH was taken along the Chaussée de Namur in Hamme-Mille. To proof this I attached a 1947 aerial of Hamme-Mille. 1. In the photo posted by Keith (reply 3) one can see a white u-shaped farm in the distance (underneath the tree). I marked the farm in the 1947 aerial. 2. The trees along the main road are marked with white horizontal stripes. This is to mark there is a tramway crossing ahead. I marked the tramway crossing in the 1947 aerial. 3. In the photo posted by Rich (reply 25) there is a dust road behind and to the left of the carrier. I marked this dust road in the aerial. The white u-shaped farm in the distance, the white horizontal stripes indicating a tramway crossing and the nearby dust road suggest the carrier was lying along the Chaussée de Namur in Hamme-Mille at the spot I marked on the aerial. Dirk
Thanks Dirk, That all makes a lot of sense - sadly an area that has seen a lot of change with post-war 'ribbon-development'. It does look though as if the diagonal track was still there when the Streetview car passed in 2009, the apparently more recent Google Earth view shows that there has been a new housing development in this field ('Streetview' has the notice with the planning application). The location of the carrier would appear to be under a new parking space - I wonder if they found anything ? https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@50.7759465,4.7205014,3a,75y,298.65h,71.87t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1srJZ6oH4PiJR-CwX51sx6RA!2e0!7i13312!8i6656
Hi Andy, In the War Diary of 1 Bn The King's Shropshire Light Infantry the following is mentioned about an officer of the 13/18 Royal Hussars crossing the river Dijle and getting into the lines of 1 KSLI: "13 May [...] The 13/18 Hussars have been out acting as covering troops withdrew this afternoon. One of their officers who had been badly wounded in the leg succeeded in crossing the DYLE and getting into our lines. He was brought up to Battalion Headquarters. I recognised him as one of the officers who had lectured us before the battle started." The officer mentioned must be Lt. Stewart of the 13/18 Royal Hussars (see replies 7 and 22). 1 KSLI's frontline was at Sint-Agatha-Rode at the time (opposite Pécrot), so Lt. Stewart (together with Trooper Fox) must have crossed the Dijle at that particular Flemish village. Obviously the date mentioned in the war diary (13 May) is incorrect. Dirk
Here is a close up of the carrier and the original photos, as the ones i put up have gone . original photos from my collection. Keith
I posted this in the “images of POWs 1940” thread and Rich has suggested that it might be related to this incident. The photo was apparently taken near Jordoigne.
