how often did British and American soldiers leg it?

Discussion in 'General' started by drgslyr, Jun 6, 2009.

  1. Owen

    Owen -- --- -.. MOD

  2. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    British infantrymen marching single file along muddy road in the rain and smoke from their own barrage toward Wessen Canal which they will cross under heavy German mortar fire during attack in Holland. November 1944.
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  3. Drew5233

    Drew5233 #FuturePilot 1940 Obsessive

    On the move somewhere in the UK just before Normandy, 1944.
    [​IMG]
     
  4. dbf

    dbf Moderatrix MOD

    One of my Dad's photos, from NWE, armoured bn on left, infantry on the right. By the looks of the camera angle he wasn't for slogging it that day.

    [​IMG]


    He recalled moving up a lot in trucks, getting straffed in trucks, one man exiting getting killed by a weapon dropped in a truck, avoiding a WG in a truck who'd fallen into a German latrine, seeing Taff's trucks get blown up by a captured 88mm... trucks figured a good bit in his accounts. There are plenty of Movement tables in the appendices of GAD diaries.
    And he also recalled marching to objectives, practically asleep on his feet, through mud, flooded fields, in rain etc ... stopping at dusk, and then having to dig in.
     
    Drew5233 likes this.
  5. Joe Brown

    Joe Brown WW2 Veteran WW2 Veteran

    I went into my last battle, a night attack: to capture the German town of Heinsberg. It necessitated an approach-march of some 13 miles, carrying all our equipment, and after a brief halt for a quick meal we divided into two columns and then proceeded to encircle and complete the capture of Heinsberg.

    My last battle because I was wounded after we had captured Heinsberg and was with my C.O checking the siting of our forward rifle companies as we prepared to meet a counter-attack.

    An excerpt from my War Memoirs.

    Joe brown
     
    Drew5233 and dbf like this.
  6. Shiny 9th

    Shiny 9th Member

    In Burma the 9th Battalion Royal Sussex often had to march on foot,for many long miles.Thats if there were any roads, Sgt Cyril Grimes describes some of these marches in his diaries.To be fair though,the 9th did have carriers at one point, up to the Arakan,but many exhausting miles in tropical heat was the norm.They were later flown into Northern Burma,then it was back to footslogging.Early starts before the sun got too hot were essential.
     
  7. zahonado

    zahonado Well-Known Member

    Yes in Burma it was nearly all marching...up and down mountains and through jungle and after the monsoon, mud and rivers.
     

Share This Page