Nr. Bayeux or Tilly Sur Seulles - could anyone help further identify where these Sherman tanks are?

Fantastic work - thanks.

Now, my obvious next question would be - do we think the Austin K5 belongs to the 4/7 Dragoon Guards, the delivery squadron or the Royal Marines!!

Regards

Tom

 

REME cap badge? So tank in the hands of a LAD belonging to the receiving Regiment?

 

Photo B5454 is the RMASG waiting to get on to the D6 at Cachy and travel north to Bayeux.

 

Superb spotting Michael! I have been looking for this spot in vain for a looong time. Now we have it all loud and clear

 

Could have been, because all the tanks in the series do seem to come from 4/7 DGNS, but the sign at the entrance of the field says otherwise:

Hodges & Taylor do not have this specific AoS Serial 1060 listed, but close (page 57):
1054 over REME Aos with 79 Armd Div Formation sign = 828 Armd Tps Wksp
1057 over REME Aos with 79 Armd Div Formation sign = 827 Armd Tps Wksp
1059 over REME Aos with 79 Armd Div Formation sign = 825 Armd Tps Wksp
1072 over REME Aos with 2 ArmyFormation sign & white bar below = ?
1074 over REME Aos with 79 Armd Div Formation sign = 4 Recovery Coy
1076 over REME Aos with 79 Armd Div Formation sign = 829 Armd Tps Wksp

Plus we have the Jeep with the censored AoS marking but the still visible "CORPS RECOVERY" inscription and the 2 Army Formation sign, which could be part of the same outfit (although the little that remains visible of the AoS Serial does not look like '1060', and the AoS sign is not quite clear):

or just a companion to the Tank Transporter, which itself has no Serial on its REME AoS sign, only what ends with a '2' on its cab's nearside (just the vehicle number? - Edit: yes, it's T2 as visible at the rear offside on the first photo above):


So, possibly a 2 Army Armd Tps Wksp (Serial 1060 over REME AoS sign with/without white bar below) fed by a REME Recovery Coy?

Michel

 

I thought that these details from 30 Corps DDME War Diary might help with REME identification options (WO171/361):

11 June 1944
DDME held a conference at Rear HQ 30 Corps. CsREME 50 (N) Div, 30 Corps Tps, OsC 7 Armd Tps Wksps, 30 Corps Tps Wksps, 6 Rec Coy, BEME 8 Armd Bde and 22 Armd Bde attended. Proposed wksp sites and Corps Recovery programme were discussed. DDME Second Army and CREME Second Army Tps called during the conference. DDME considered 30 Corps REME state to be good. All available recy facilities were concentrated on JIG Beach at pm low tide to clear heavy casualties. These were all recovered with the exception of three which had to be left for the next tide. 22 Armd Bde Wksps arrived.

Perhaps this could have been 30 Corps Tps Wksps being fed by 6 Recovery Company?

Regards
Tom

 

The RMASG were also filmed the same day in the Glider Fields east of Caen. From 1:30s.
M4 'Warspite' at 2:04.

ACTIVITIES IN THE ORNE BRIDGEHEAD, JUNE 1944 (PART 4) [Allocated Title]

 

Nice screengrab of 'WARSPITE' T-147635!

Although the loading code on the top left corner of the glacis is not fully readable, we can infer what it might be because we know that 'V' & 'W' Troops of 5th (Indep) R.M. Armd Sp Bty were to land on the right (West) side of QUEEN Sector, loaded on four LCT(A) LTINs 532-535. Thus the first part must read 'LCT/A/' followed by the LTIN between 532 and 535.

Since surviving Centaur 'VIDETTE' T182102 at Pegasus Bridge still wears its original LTIN 533, we know that 'V' Troop was in LTIN 532 & 533, and thus that 'W' Troop was LTINs 534 & 535. The Landing Table tells us that the Sherman was on 534, hence the complete loading code marking on 'WARSPITE': LCT/A/534 - or perhaps LCT/5/A/534?

'WARSPITE' was the mount of 'W' Troop Commander Captain Leonard Harry GARNIER, R.A. (271397), who landed with the two Centaurs of his Left Section in the morning of 7th June, after his LCT had broken down during the crossing. I still have not found out the Hull number for this LCT(A) LTIN 534, so any help would be welcome! It should be among LCT(A) 2012, 2042, 2123, 2432 or 2433 of 100th LCT(A) Flotilla.

Michel
Edited 26 Mar 18: LTIN corrected - the Sherman was not in 535 as I originally (and erroneously) wrote but in 534!

 

Some excellent work gents , i am back in Normandy next week and will be travelling the D6 on Thursday to Tilly and Lingevres and was going to try and spot the house but you've already done it !

 

Wish I was there as well! :-( Any chance of a photo of the 24th Lancers Memorial which is located in the grounds of the Tilly Museum?.....and please remember me (Steve Pannell) to Stephane Jacquet while you're there?

 

I'll pass your regards onto Stephane Steve , i'm Guiding a group of 40 next week and as long as the days timings are going okay i should have time to get a photo

 

Thanks. Not essential so please don't go out of your way.

What's your rough itinerary cover? Division? Beach then inland? General Normandy Interest?.......you never know but we might be able to add some local snippets you are not already aware of!

 

I Guide a mumber of different Normandy Tours including a 5 Day Tour inc British and Canadian D Day plusAirborne , Amercan D Day plus Airborne then an inland day around Tilly / Lingevres , Martlet / Epsom , Hill 112 and Falaise . I also do a Panzers / Tanks in Normandy and a Walking Normandy .

 

Gosh! I'm impressed!
Take them to see Ernie Wiles graffiti around the back of Tessel Church.........but keep away from the old trenches in Tessel Wood......

 

I'd love to take them to Tessel Steve but only have time for Fontenay , the Polar Bear Memorial and then Rauray before heading into the Epsom area !

 

Ah...pity...but at least you are driving past the house which had the Tiger standing outside, knocked out, in a rather famous set of photos.


Ernie (RIP) sends his regards anyway...


Ernie pointing out 'his bullet mark' on Tessel Church wall, a near miss, which prompted his graffiti.

 

I uploaded 16 more photos in the Tank Recovery series in the corresponding album here:
Tank Recovery | WW2Talk

Total count is now 32 photos.

Michel

 

Tom,

I think you're right, because of the evidence you provide that 6 Rec Coy was the Corps Recovery Company, as marked on the Jeep. I further believe that the AoS Serial partially visible on that Jeep (and extremely faintly, if at all present, on the Scammell) is 1075, which would fit nicely with the two contiguous Serials 1074 & 1076 as given by Hodges & Taylor (see Post #25)


On the right mudguard of the Scammel, with a much squinted eye of the faith I also see this Serial 1075. Painting the AoS Serial in White over Yellow was not an extremely brilliant idea though...


Michel

 

Tom,

The repair unit with AoS 1060 & 2 Army sign is probably not 30 Corps Tps Wksp, whose AoS Serial, according to Hodges & Taylor, is supposed to be 71 over REME colours. Nor is it 8 Armd Bde Wksp (AoS 993).

From the adjacent numbers in Hodges & Taylor (see Post #25), it might be an Armd Tps Wksp, maybe 7 Armd Tps Wksp or another as listed in your thread REME OOB and Locations 2nd Army - 30 Sep 44, if it was there at the time the photos were shot (around July 1944).

Michel

 

As Michael found out in Post #3, Sgt Laing was standing just a couple of paces behind of the cameraman when he shot this recently digitised photo of the first Sherman in A70 43-2:


Source: IWM B 5455

The still corresponding to the exact same instant, showing the slightly different angle:

Source: IWM A70 43-2 around 01:08

Michel