In addition to the three sabre squadrons (A, B and C), the regimental history (Courage, Maj G, History of 15th/19th Hussars 1939–1945 (Aldershot: Gale & Polden, 1949)) mentions a fourth squadron entitled 'Recce Squadron'. Does anyone know anything about this squadron and what vehicles it had. Best John
Recce Squadron is the term used by some Regiments for the Recce Troop. It doesn't imply an organisational change as I understand it, but recognises that the Recce Troop with a book strength of 1 officer and 43 ORs was a sizeable command, so Squadron was a more appropriate term. Re vehicles, the Recce Troop was based on 11 Stuart light tanks. However there were a number of changes made by units serving as Armd Recce Regts, including those of 11th Armd Div. 2NYarrived in Normandy with its Recce Tp equipped with Daimler scout cars and not Stuarts. As to why, I don't know. When looking at AFV strength returns beginning mid January 1945, there's a constant gap of 11 Stuarts between the figure authorised for units and the number that the WEs add up to. As I recall a friend with a far better library than me was able to confirm that when 15/19H took over the recce role from 2NY they continued with scout cars rather than light tanks, presumably still on the basis of 11 vehicles. Gary
Many thanks Gary, and that all makes much sense. Apologies for this slow reply but I had rather given up on getting an answer! The few photo-copied pages I have from the regimental history have just one reference to vehicles in the Recce Sqn, and that is for a scout car. I will be seeing the history again in due course and will dig further. Thanks again. Best John
