Account: 3rd Tank Bn Scots Guards, Jul 1944 - May 1945

Hello 6thgtb and thank you for your mails. I have recently had a dvd of the 6th Guards and 3 S.G compiled by the I.W.M annex dept as a Christmas present for my Father. This dvd contains other units, but the 6th Guards feature heavily.

On one film that I viewed and had downloaded onto the disc, had MONTROSE tank stuck in a canal (in Holland) whilst it tried to cross it, this was on route to MEIJEL(?).

Dad remembers this vividly, even before viewing the disc,he clearly remembers the local Dutch civilians digging with spades and their hands to try and infill around the tracks with soil etc to give the tank purchase to try and excavate itself.....to no avail.

All who can get to the I.W.M annex, book an appointment with the film or photographic departments, you will not be dissapointed.

 

I checked back and I got the version posted here in post 9

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/nw-europe/5915-3rd-scots-guards-caumont.html#post44387


Ahh, yes, I remember, now... Cheers for that

 

.303, what bridge layer tank of the 6th Guards was this and do you know it's location?

 

.303

A very interesting photo. That number as far as I know was not issued to Churchill Tanks.

It looks like 37932 H

37932 falls in batch T37231 - T39230 S/M 1014 General Stuart Tanks
if it were 137932 then:-
R137001 - R138915 TM.12173 Tecalenit Rota-Trailers
if it were 237932 then:-
237908 - 238457 numbers not taken up
if it were 337932 then:-
T337901 - T338400 M.14730 Sentinel Carriers, T. Towing.

Or am I missing something?

Cheers
Kevin

 

Hi

Have a photo of a Churchill tank with the number T 172846 B on it. Can't see any other numbers or a name on the tank. What unit would that one be?

.303

Intially I don't have anything on that number. Any chance of posting the photo. There may be other clues.

Cheers
Kevin

 

Badge is 6th Guards Tank
151 I believe is Grenadier guards markings.






Intially I don't have anything on that number. Any chance of posting the photo. There may be other clues.

Cheers
Kevin

 

Hi

Location is crossing the Molenbeek near Loobeek on the 16th of October.

.303

 

Hello all,
In addition to the names I added to Kevin's Scots Guards spreadsheet, here are some names of the Coldstreamers and Grenadiers.

4GG
Glossop: George Hockley (gunner)
Shrewsbury: Dennis Talbot, Sgt White (KIA Miejel 4/11/44), Guardsman Greenwood (KIA Mijel 4/11/44)
4 CG
Eagle: William Trevor Jones
Falcon: Philip Fisher (driver), Guardsman Cowen, Guardsman Fielding, Guardsman Johnson
Jackal: Sgt L Garner (Cmdr), Lance Sgt J Lambert (co-driver), Guardsman Dare (driver), Guardsman Bob Silman (turett man), Guardsman Gorden Wright (turret man)
Jaguar: Capt Colin Rowsell, Sgt Smith, Guardsman Griffiths, Guardsman Greenhough
Dettingen (replaced Marne): Robert Keenan (gunner)
Cheetah: John Collier (wireless operator)
Cuckoo: Sgt Roberts

I hope they are of interest.
Dave
PS I've also been to the IWM to watch the footage and have a DVD. I went with four of my uncles and we all absolutely loved it.

 

Hi

Thought 151 was Brigade HQ.

.303

 

Hi

Location is crossing the Molenbeek near Loobeek on the 16th of October.

.303

That would be the Overloon battle - attack on Venray by 3rd British Division.

 

These additions are not showing when I look at the spreadsheet on page 7 of this thread.

I don't have a problem with any additions of any sort being added to the spreadsheet as long as they are genuine.

Hopefully at some point in the not too distant future there will be an on-line PDF file of tank and vehicle names used by the British Army during WWII.

Cheers
Kevin

 

Hi Kevin,

I made additions to the 3rd Scots spreadsheet and posted this on page 18. The names of crews serving in particular tanks have been mainly obtained from family members of men serving in the brigade. I'm also in contact with John Collier who was a wireless operator in "Cheetah" of 4CG.

Cheers
Dave

 

Hello Dave,

Thanks for that. I have added the names to my database accordingly.
But I have a question about the 2 tank names at the bottom.
Where do DUMFRIES and TAY fit in and are they Churchill tanks or recce vehicles?

Cheers
Kevin

 

I found the info re TAY from this thread (page 7)
http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/407576-post81.html

The info re DUMFRIES came from Sgt Hyslop's grandson and it looks like a Churchill to me! There's a picture of Sgt Hyslop (and other tanks/crews) here if you have access to Facebook:

6th Guards Tank Brigade | Facebook

Cheers
Dave

 

Hello Dave,

Sorry what I meant was where do they sit within the layout of the regiment. This is as per the formation on their site.
Right Flank has troops 1 - 4 each with 3 tanks
S Squadron has troops 7 - 10 each with 3 tanks
Left Flank has troops 11- 14 each with 3 tanks

Troops 5 -6 are not listed?

I do not have access to facebook. Do the photo (s) show any squadron markings?

Cheers
Kevin

 

Hello Dave

I saw your post about DETTINGEN replacing MARNE ( 4th Coldstream ) and the name not appearing in official lists etc. An interesting point to say the least. I wonder how often that happened.
I also saw the photo of HALIFAX ( 4th Grenadiers ) I have a WD census for the replacement Mk VII T251825 ( 2nd Sqn 9 troop ).

Cheers
Kevin

 

This is from the son of Robert Keenan who was a gunner in Dettingen:

"Dave, I am glad someone asked that question, official histories dont tell you the true facts, you will not find it in the official lists, the tank Marne was knocked out, my father joined the replacement tank which was named Dettingen, at the end of the war they were ordered to rename the tanks as they were at the start, so Dettingen was reverted back to Marne, this upset my father as he went through the war in Dettingen not Marne, Marne was destoyed, there were at least 4 other tanks the same, my father has them listed in his book."

 

Hi Kevin,

Sgt Hyslop was in Right Flank (see Sergeant's Mess photo) but I do not know which troop. The caption for the other photo I have attached is from Sgt Hyslop's grandson "My grandfather in the middle of picture (Sgt Tom Hyslop 3rd (tank) battalion) embarking his tank (Dumfries) at Gosport (July 44)". You can see the 154 of 3SG on the tank.

Sgt James Birss (TAY) does not appear in the Sgt Mess of RF so he must have been in either Left Flank or S Squadron.

I had not previously noticed that number five and number six troops were missing. Number 13 is also missing, I assume for superstitious reasons.

I hope that's useful.

Cheers
Dave