Recently I got this photo (and many others) from Musee Percee du Bocage in Saint Martin des Besaces, to use for my website on the 8th Rifle Brigade. Do the markings on the side of this half track tell me to which company (G?) and maybe even to which platoon (12?) it belongs? At some point I made a copy of a brilliant resource by Trux (see text below picture), which I can't find any more. I am now wondering what the equivalent for A, B and C company would be in 8RB (which had F, G, H and E Coy's) and where D Company has gone in Trux's text (possibly I have missed a bit when copying his text). {see attached picture, which somehow I can't get in here in full...} "As the fourth unit if the brigade the motor battalion also had Green tactical signs marked on the side. Headquarters Green Diamond A Company Green Triangle B Company Green Square C Company Green Circle"
Great photo! Yes, the Green Circle means the third company in the motor battalion, and 12 is the platoon number, thus 12 Pl G Coy if the M5 belongs to 8 RB. The fourth company had a Green (vertical) Rectangle. For 8 RB the markings would thus be: HQ Coy – Green Diamond E (sp) Coy – Green Triangle F (mot) Coy – Green Square - see B7537 showing a M5 half track of 6 Pl F Coy G (mot) Coy – Green Circle H (mot) Coy – Green Rectangle Michel [Edit:] I am not so certain anymore of the Tactical Symbol for E & H Coys. The above is the standard for Motor Battalions in 1944, but looking at the cover of the story of E Coy (from 8RB's post), we see a long horizontal (probably green) rectangle below the 'E': This could be the tac symbol for this Company, derived from the earlier (white) horizontal rectangle allotted to the Support Company of the lorried infantry battalion in an armoured division. This might be what we see on the front of the Loyd Carrier of E Coy 8 RB spotted by Michael, between the AoS Serial '54' and the Br Class roundel and above the white rectangle whose meaning escapes me (possibly a UK Convoy number as it seems to be made up of the letters 'SE' followed by numerals). The small number '17' (possibly '19'?) would match the numbering of the A tk Platoons: Michel
Thanks, great photo, but... how do you/we know it is an F Coy (8RB) vehicle? I am hoping it is, but it could also be 1RB...
As I said in the linked post about B7537, the 11 Armd Div emblem and AoS serial 54 can be made out on the second half-track (when zooming on the pic on the IWM website). On the half track in the foreground, the typical horizontal white rectangle of 11 Armd Div emblem can also be guessed (under the bag on the left), and the '5' in AoS 54 is partially visible on the right too. And yes, the Green Circle is definitely G Coy, as is the green square F Coy (since 6 Pl was part of F Coy). H Coy should be the vertical rectangle, but so far no photo to confirm it, unless you found some? As for E Coy, I'm still in doubt for the reasons exposed above (triangle or horizontal rectangle?)... Excellent photos of the Mortar Carrier in G Coy. There should be one such Mortar Carrier in each Mot Coy then (as opposed to them being grouped in a Mortar Pl in the Sp Coy as per the standard WE).
From Mike Hicks' book "Difficult Days" (H Coy's Mortar Sergeant), I understand each Motor Coy (F, G and H) had two 3" mortars and (two) carriers ("with 70 10 pound bombs each"), attached to Coy HQ, which seems to be confirmed by Trux's excellent Motor Battalion resource document: "Mortar detachment 15cwt truck GS lance corporal, driver IC Carrier Universal serjeant, 3 X mortarman, driver mechanic Carries Wireless set No38 Carrier Universal corporal, 3 X mortarman, driver mechanic Carries Wireless set No38"
Yes, I stand corrected, there should have been two Carriers Mortars in each Motor Company, because when regrouped in the Mortar Platoon of the Support Company there were six of them. In Infantry Battalions they are usually marked M1, M2 etc., but the ones on your photos only have 'M' inside the Company Tactical Symbol, possibly just meaning Mortar Detachment, without an individual vehicule number, much like the Platoon Number for the half tracks. This might mean that Mortar Carriers did not wear any individual vehicle number...
Two more F Coy vehicles? Given source, they are certainly 8RB . Given shiny paint (especially of Humber), I suppose these photos were taken a little after 8 May 1945. Sadly no platoon numbers.
And confirmation of Diamond, for HQ Coy (front row 2nd from left is Adjutant Captain Nat Fiennes, and 3rd from right 8RB C.O. Lt.-Col. Tony Hunter)!
