hi,does anyone know of any good dvd footage of the liberation of brussels on 3rd sept 44 or any books with good photos,the reason my grandfather was in the 5th bt coldstream guards,armoured division and was on the 2nd tank to enter the city but all the footage i've watched on the internet seems all over the place so any help would be great,thanks hutty
Hutty I take it you've checked through Pathe News. Just in case you are not aware, 5CG vehicles were marked with a "61" (white on green square). See my current avatar. 1st Armoured CG tanks had "52" on red square. So, look out for that. Some footage I found in Pathe that showed GAD going through Brussels was the IG Group - 53 & 62.
Our leapfrog drive took us right through Brussels, To a pine wood, clear of the suburbs, where the Company harboured. I had one day and one night in the City. I shall never forget it. The sight of normal people, doing normal things was great. A brief respite from the horrors of war. Trouble was, the next night we took on the suicidal assault crossing of the Escaut Canal, of evil memory. Sapper
Brussels was liberated twice on the same day! The first vehicles to arrive were the scout cars and armoured cars of the 2nd Regiment of the Household Cavalry on the morning of the 3rd Sept. There is no film footage of the actual liberation but there are a few photo's of the armoured cars arriving before the populace had realised they were allied troops. See pages 5, 6 & & of: http://daimler-fighting-vehicles.co.uk/DFV-File%20Part%20D001a-Houshold%20Cavalry%201939-1945.pdf These Recce Corps troops would have been fairly closely followed by heavy armour of the Guards and with supporting mounted infantry. A little of which was recorded by members of the Army film unit. In the afternoon after the city was proven to be ‘secure’,a second formal liberation parade was held, with tanks and light armour plus assorted soft skin vehicles including those of the Belgium Piron Brigade (for obvious reasons). This second parade was more fully recorded. I have as good as possible copies of the IWM films that I would be pleased to share. Have a look at my web site, http://www.daimler-fighting-vehicles.co.uk/help.html Get my email address and drop me a line, will be very happy to help. Regards Singe
Hello, I just found the attached picture with this caption: German civilians in Brussels crouch in a doorway with revolvers at the ready as they prepare to resist the British who are recapturing the city. 7th September 1944. (Photo by PNA Rota) The picture is obviously posed, but was there really any civilian resistance?
