56th Reconnaissance Corps

Discussion in 'Recce' started by Recce_Mitch, Nov 30, 2008.

  1. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    Hi, BDriver - Only a brief look but in June 42 and Dec 43 your Grandfather was in A Sqn - have a look at these pages of the diaries on this site:

    http://ww2talk.com/forums/gallery/image/6022-resized-p1980879jpg/

    http://ww2talk.com/forums/gallery/image/7286-resized-p2000152/

    Afraid that you have to go through the diaries page by page and 'other ranks' do not get too much of a mention but you will see he did get his typhoid inoculation on the same day as my father who was Cpl Anthony in C Sqn.

    He was promoted between these dates and you may be able to find this mentioned if you look further. Soldiers did transfer between squadrons so he could have moved at some time and you may find further references if you go through more pages.

    Happy hunting
     
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  2. BDriver

    BDriver Junior Member

    HI all, thanks for the the replies. Mitch, thanks for the information on his squadron appointments, that should help tracking down some more of his movements! I remember the certificate, he had it framed along with battleaxe shoulder patch. Sadly, he and my Nan are no longer with us, and the certificate seems to have been misplaced or stored somewhere. Can I ask where you found this info, i'd like to take a look myself if possible?

    Tony: Thanks for the info, I havent had time to read through everything yet, but thank you for pointing me in the right direction!
    If anyone wants to see more of the documents I have, there are pictures of them in my gallery, I dont want to swamp the thread with pictures!
     
  3. Recce_Mitch

    Recce_Mitch Very Senior Member

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  4. sanchez

    sanchez Patron Patron

    excellent work from paul and tony .
     
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  5. BDriver

    BDriver Junior Member

    Thanks Paul! I've been poring over Grandads old documents for months, trying to work out what some of the information means, so it means a lot to be able to see the original documents. I'm going to have a good read through the diaries to see what else I can find. Thanks again for all the help from everybody,

    Bill
     
  6. Recce_Mitch

    Recce_Mitch Very Senior Member

    Bill do you have any photos of your Grandad?

    Cheers
    Paul
     
  7. BDriver

    BDriver Junior Member

    I'll have to check with my Dad, he's got all of the original documents. I think there is a picture of my Grandad with a group of other Sergeants in Cairo. I'll see if I can scan it in.
     
  8. sanchez

    sanchez Patron Patron

    hi all,
    im in need of some help from one of you wise sages . i found a photo on the iwm site of a humber lrc of the 56th recce in argenta on 18/4/45 . the thing is the tpr in the humber in the gun turut looks like it could well be my dad . ive tried to enlarge the image but it goes pixely , is there any way possible i can enlarge it but keep it clear ? ive checked the war diaries and it says rhq and c sqn ended up in argenta on that day and my dad was in c sqn so it may be my dad and not me needing a visit to specsavers .
    cheers
    dave
     
  9. Recce_Mitch

    Recce_Mitch Very Senior Member

    Hi Dave there are not enough pixels in the image to render it bigger. If you want a better image you can purchase it from IWM

    Cheers
    Paul
     
  10. sanchez

    sanchez Patron Patron

    hi paul ,
    ive ordered a copy from iwm and it is at a higher resolution so hopefully fingers crossed it should show if its my dad or not . i will let you know as soon as its sent to me.
    cheers
    dave
     
  11. sanchez

    sanchez Patron Patron

    hi paul,
    ive just got the photo through from iwm and its better quality but unfortunately its not my dad . still its a mighty fine picture of a humber lrc from the 56th recce . on the main vehicle just to the left of the drivers sight door you can see the letters NSERINE and on the following humber in the same place it says ABLE . do you know if the vehicles were named and if so the full names and meanings and also any way of finding out what sqn or trp they are from ? also how many humber lrc did the 56th still have after egypt as they were issued with greyhound m8's.
    cheers
    dave
     
  12. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    The Recce Corps did name their vehicles and I believe that the names began with the letter of the squadron so ABLE would be A squadron, not sure about RHQ.

    If you are correct about the name of the lead vehicle then the only word I can find that could fit is ANSERINE, however looking up the dictionary meaning I am not sure they would have called a vehicle that!

    I have seen some examples of vehicle names but for the life of me I can’t remember where, perhaps it’s on this site somewhere.

    Vehicles also carried another symbol that denoted the squadron:

    HQ = diamond
    A Sqn = triangle
    B Sqn = square
    C Sqn = circle

    I can’t make this out on the Argenta photo, perhaps you can.

    If you have the Osprey book ‘The British reconnaissance Corps in WW2’ have a look at the top picture on plate D – you can see a diamond just under the turret. This is the LRC of Kendal Chavasse, hence the diamond - named 'Faugh a Ballagh'.
     
  13. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

  14. sanchez

    sanchez Patron Patron

    hi tony,
    thanks for the info , i also looked up anserine which means "goose like" as you know . dont think that would be a name unless the lrc was also an amphibious vehicle . unfortunately just under the turret there are tents or something simular attached to the vehicle , also it is absolutely covered in dust . ive had another close look at the 2nd vehicle and it definately says ABLE and there is no letter in front of the letter A or after the letter E so ABLE is the full name on the vehicle . looking at the list of 56th lrc names i see there is one called ALERT so ABLE sort of ties in with that theme . according to the diaries rhq and c sqn entered argenta on the day the photo was taken so i expect it was one or the other. incidently the osprey hlr recce car book came through the door this morning . tony do you know how many hlr's the regt had and how many m8's after the egypt re-fit.
    many thanks
    dave
     
  15. Recce_Mitch

    Recce_Mitch Very Senior Member

    Looking through the lists on the whole the first letter does signify Sqn but there are a lot that start with a letter other than Sqn designation so I wouldn't trust the 1st letter as signifying Sqn.

    On the list I saw a name from 6 Armd Airborne Recce that I wonder how it got past the CO.

    SEMPER IN EXCRETIA Armoured Airbourne Reconnaissance Regiment B Sqn Cruiser A27M, Mk VIII Cromwell

    "We're always in the sh*t"

    Cheers
    Paul
     
  16. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

  17. sanchez

    sanchez Patron Patron

    hi tony,
    cheers for the link , at the time of the photo according to site the regt would have 28 armoured cars 24 lrc's and 63 universal carriers. am i right in assuming that the 28 armoured cars were m8 greyhounds ?
    cheers
    dave
     
  18. sanchez

    sanchez Patron Patron

    thats probably a very apt name paul . as far as i can tell from the diaries only RHQ and C sqn were in argenta on day of photo . A sqn were advancing towards portomaggiore 8km north of argenta with 36 bde on the left flank , and captured 9 pow's inc 2 officers. RHQ had a bad time while establishing in argenta and lost one officer one o/r and 4 or's injured , C sqn were in argenta in reserve as per the diary. could the diaries be wrong or perhaps the vehicles had been taken from A sqn for use by RHQ or C sqn . i would assume the movement of vehicles within
    the regt would have been extensive .
    cheers
    dave
     
  19. Tony56

    Tony56 Member Patron

    Dave, I am no expert on Recce vehicles but the following 56 Recce diary extracts give some information on the introduction of Greyhounds – only a quick look at the diaries so it is not comprehensive by any means. Have also attached some pages regarding the trials.

    5/5/44 – CO watches C Sqn training with Greyhounds.

    7/5/44 – Demonstration by 1 Troop of C Sqn in the tactical use of Greyhound (M8) within a recce squadron (see attachments)

    10/7/44 – Orders received to take 4 x 75mm half trucks with Regiment to Middles East.

    29/7/44 – Lt Thorpe rejoins the Regiment with 2 x 75mm half trucks. The remaining 2 had been transferred out of the Regiment.

    23/8/44 – Lt Hunt MTO and drivers proceed to Alexandria to collect 12 LRCs

    24/8/44 – MTO returns to Regiment from Alexandria with 12 LRCs.

    2/9/44 – MTO and drivers proceed to port of embarkation, Port Said, with 10 LRCs.

    17/9/44 – All heavy armoured cars of the Regiment proceed to Barletta to exchange for Greyhound M8.

    30/9/44 – Demonstration and lecture given to 38 Brigade and gunners on the Greyhound M8 armoured car by Lt Edwards.


    1/10/44 – Demonstration to 36 and 11 Brigade on the performance of the Greyhound armoured car.

    Greyhound demo1.jpg Greyhound demo2.jpg Greyhound demo3.jpg
     
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  20. sanchez

    sanchez Patron Patron

    hi tony,
    thanks for all that , so they replaced the humber mk4 armoured cars and the regt still kept the lrc's . i see it was c sqn 14 troop taking part in the demonstration .
    cheers
    dave
     

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