British involvement in the Bulge

Discussion in 'NW Europe' started by stolpi, Dec 28, 2010.

  1. 17thDYRCH

    17thDYRCH Senior Member

    Stolpi,
    The story by Bill is truly amazing.
    It was a pleasure to have met the man last Sunday during the Veterans reunion in Arnhem.

    Cheers
     
  2. Wills

    Wills Very Senior Member

  3. Dave55

    Dave55 Atlanta, USA

    Shots of British tanks of 33rd Armoured Brigade in the Ardennes; these Shermans carry extra steel plates to the front, never seen that before:

    WINTER GRIPS WESTERN FRONT - YouTube


    Can anyone identify the tractor at 1:27?
    I think the USAAF had some crawler tractors with front driver controls that they used as heavy bomber tugs but I can’t find mention of them on the net.

    It looks like the man on the left at 2:31 didn’t realize he fired the last shot in his clip. Looks like he kept his sight picture and tried to fire another round.

    Thanks,

    Dave
     
  4. Wills

    Wills Very Senior Member

    The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge

    The British at Bure during the Battle of the Ardennes

    At one point in the battle, Sergeant Scott R.A.M.C. [Royal Army Medical Corps], went forward in an ambulance to pick up casualties. A German Tiger, which had been fighting us all day, rolled forward alongside him, and the commander seeing him unafraid said, "Take the casualties away this time, but don't come forward again, it is not safe". Even Sergeant Scott knew when to take a good hint!
     
    brithm likes this.
  5. Jon Black

    Jon Black Junior Member

    Can anybody shed some light on these memories, 6th Airborne 12th Devons? Dad remembered walking through an icy river. Also,possibly somewhere else, replacing the americans in a defensive position. He would take occasional "potshot at jerry", When it was time to move on the americans replaced them, a few days later the fighting became intense again! Much to dads bewilderment and shock as he he had told an american that it had been quiet, than shortly after the position was under heavy fire again.
     
    brithm likes this.
  6. Pachamama

    Pachamama Junior Member

    Hello there - I am Trooper Aubrey Harvey's Granddaughter. I have been searching for the circumstances behind his death and have not been able to find out much at all, my Dad was born after Aubrey died and was adopted, all papers relating to Aubrey's death have since been destroyed. Do you have any further evidence or paperwork on his death or does anyone else have any further details? I would be extremely grateful to find out more.
    Many thanks
    Victoria
     
  7. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Victoria - Some of the story of the 29th Armoured Bde can be found over here: http://www.ww2f.com/topic/39225-brits-in-the-ardennes-4445/?p=541743

    The Armoured Bde was hastily committed in the Ardennes battle. It's first assignement was to protect the Meuse bridges. This it did by occupying the towns of Namur, Dinant and Givet. By December 27th, the German counteroffensive had run out of steam and came to a standstill in front of Dinant. From that time on the Germans went over to the defensive. They never reached the Meuse nor came anywhere near Givet.

    At the start of January 45 the Armoured Bde moved to the east of the Meuse to support the 6th Airborne Division in it's attack against the enemy salient in the Ardennes. The offensive of the 6th Airborne Division started on January 3rd, 45. The fighting concentrated in the area of Wavreille and Bure, small farming villages just to the SW of Rochefort.

    The problem with Givet, which is given as the location where your granddad fell, is that it was far behind the lines. I do not have any reports of German paratroopers being active in the area, so the story of him being shot by advancing paratroopers imo is not very credible. By Jan 4th, 45, the Germans weren't advancing anymore in that area. My best guess at the moment is that he was a victum of a German air-raid on Givet (during those days single enemy planes frequently dropped AP-bombs behind the lines in nightly air-attacks) or was wounded somewhere near the lines and unfortunately succumbed his injuries at a military hospital in Givet. A document that might give some clue to what happened is the War Diary of the 29th Armoured Bde HQ, which I unfortunaly do not have.
     
    Pachamama and Tricky Dicky like this.
  8. Pachamama

    Pachamama Junior Member

    Thank you for this information - It does give credance to my original story - will have to dig a bit deeper!! Regards
     
  9. Pachamama

    Pachamama Junior Member

    Further to the above thread, I have now discovered that Trooper Aubrey Harvey was indeed injured days before his died, so must have sustained injuries nearer the front and then taken back to Givet where he died. If anyone does find or have a copy of the War Diaries of 29th Armoured brigade or know of the events of Dec/Jan 44/45 I would be really grateful to hear.
    Victoria
     
  10. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    another snippet that may help:

    BASED ON EXTRACTS FROM THE REGIMENTAL WAR CHRONICLES OF THE OXFORDSHIRE & BUCKINGHAMSHIRE LIGHT INFANTRY VOL4 1944-1945 1
    Just when the Regiment was preparing for Christmas dinners orders were received to reinforce the front in Europe against the German offensive in the Ardennes which came to be known as the Rundstedt Rush (The Battle of the Bulge). The advanced party left Tilbury on the 22nd December, to be followed on the 23rd by the main body, which landed at Calais the same day, the first troops to use the port since its liberation.

    The following day the Regiment travelled by road through Waerejem to Olsene and moved on Christmas Day through Ath, Mons and Charleroi to Givet, reached at 0400 hrs. By noon the 52nd had taken over the Givet bridgehead and defence of the town. At this time Givet was an American replacement depot and American troops were available to help in the defence, as were French troops to man posts along the river towards Dinant, where the rest of the brigade was posted.
    On Boxing Day Henry Howard, commanding the 43rd, visited the 52nd not since the disbandment of the Light Division after Toulouse had the two regiments met on the battlefield.

    At this time the 52nd had the 507th American Parachute Infantry on its right and the 29th Armoured Brigade screened the front ten miles forward. The Regiment’s reconnaissance platoon made daily contacts with troops of this brigade.

    1944/45 ARDENNES
     
    brithm likes this.
  11. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    Hmmm, I'm not really sure, but I could imagine that your ancestor came into contact with Kampfgruppe Böhm.
    That was an advance party of the 2. SS. Panzerdivision "Das Reich" (which gained dubious fame with Oradour-sur-Galne) which advanced to Foy-Notre-Dame (about 15km north-east of Givet).
    Celles 1944
     
  12. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    It was the KG Bohm of the 2nd Panzer Division (Heer), part of Fifth Panzer Army (Manteuffel), that almost reached the Meuse, but then ran out of gasoline.;)
     
    Last edited: Mar 25, 2021
    ltdan likes this.
  13. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

    Once again it becomes clear to me why one should simply not believe secondary sources.
    I would like to use lack of time as an excuse, but that doesn't apply...never....:blush:
     
    Tricky Dicky, SDP and stolpi like this.
  14. ltdan

    ltdan Nietenzähler

  15. Quarterfinal

    Quarterfinal Well-Known Member

    Prior to their Ardennes counter-offensive, a significant number of German agents were infiltrated into Allied areas, largely to report on troop movements and fuel storage resources. In addition to 11 Field Security Section (#9), a number of other sections were rapidly redeployed further to US urgent operational requests. These included 19 FSS and 273 FSS, specifically tasked to screen refugees for infiltrators and to detect enemy agents,

    Clayton in ‘Forearmed’ reflects: “According to German records captured in 1945, 105 enemy agents were parachuted, or attempted to penetrate into liberated territory in the last Winter of the war. Of these, 85 were definitely identified as agents and all the remainder, with one exception, held on suspicion. Most were badly trained.”

    One of the 19 FSS operators was Reginald Weaver, who in later years lived near Hull. He had been with the Section (in support of 50th Northumbrian Division) since joining them from Alexandria in June 1943 and thence Sicily. A year later, 19 FSS was the only FSS to come ashore on D-Day (still with 50th Northumbrian) and now, with the Division withdrawn after Market Garden, the Section were “readily available” in Brussels. Redeployed initially to Dinant and then to Givet, they and US CIC colleagues (“G-men in uniform”), “handled security problems” through till February.

    In another thread (Cool Pix! # 25) I noted 28 year old Colonel James (Joe) Ewart of Montgomery’s forward Tactical HQ. I have since come across his CBE citation:
    This officer was responsible for the tactical intelligence throughout the German offensive in the Ardennes. His task was to keep the C-in-C apprised of the enemy situation and give very personal guidance to the Armies put under command in a very difficult situation. By regular visits to the battle and close personal touch with the situation in addition to the usual intelligence sources, he was able to produce a volume and accuracy of information which kept the Armies fully informed of the situation and enabled the C-in-C to make such dispositions as he deemed fit in relation to the tricky problems created by the enemy’s earlier successes. He was tireless, accurate, often brilliant in his work at this critical juncture, and without his presence both in close touch with the C-in-C and with the battle it would have been impossible to have produced a coherent view at a time when accuracy and calmness were more than ever demanded. Colonel Ewart made a very substantial personal contribution to the defeat of the enemy’s last gamble in the West.’
     
  16. Archaepon

    Archaepon Member

    My Dad was part of the BAOR and in 59 FSS. His records show little of his activities though I gather they were to mop up deserters from the German army and other undesirables.He was in 251 and 278 FSS in Italy and Africa. I am actively researching his part in the war but keep meeting barriers.
     
  17. ecalpald

    ecalpald Chick LaPlace

    Attached Files:

  18. 8RB

    8RB Well-Known Member

    Hi Victoria, Part of the story you can find in D-Day to VE-Day - 8th Rifle Brigade . It's told from an 8th Rifle Brigade perspective, but the 8RB Companies were attached to the three armoured Battalions in 29th Armoured Brigade. I suppose your grandfather was with the 23rd Hussars? I have attached the pages of their War Diary for late December and early January. Thought this would be of better use than the 29AB War Diary...

    upload_2021-3-25_22-0-29.png
     
  19. stolpi

    stolpi Well-Known Member

    Map of the situation in the Ardennes on 21 Dec 1944; by that time the British, 30 Corps under Horrocks, were in a back-up position to the west of the Meuse (30 Corps: German attack in the Ardennes: Operation by 30 Corps). Initially, the river itself was only screened by Recce detachments. At Namur, Dinant and Givet (France) a regiment of the 29th Arm Bde, each reinforced by a company of the 8 RB, guarded the Meuse bridges. The 30 Corps plan was to hit the enemy spearheads in the flank once they ventured across the Meuse. While the 53rd Welsh occupied a stop-line along the Dyle, the rest of the 30 Corps stood by as a mobile counter-attack force. The 30 Corps operation plan aptly was called: Operation SMASH.

    Meuse defense BOB.jpg
     
    Last edited: Dec 20, 2021
    CL1, ecalpald and SDP like this.
  20. Bayonet Productions

    Bayonet Productions Lead Researcher

    Great thread thank you all for sharing the information posted here.

    I am looking for additional information on the actions of 7RWF from 4-5 January. Any accounts, opposing force etc. Any help would be most appreciated.

    V/R
    Chris
     

Share This Page