I have been following some leads re Operation Fortitude (North & South) and came across a reference to an Operation Trolleycar ll - which was supposedly an operation involving British and Canadian troops invading Holland directly from the UK, probably in late 1944. As yet I can find no accessible references or links to it. I was wondering if any of the members have any further details or links etc regarding this operation Thanks TD
I have references to Op Trollycar as per this regt recceing gun positions nr Swartbroek for it on 17th Nov 1944, looks like it was the first part of "Op Mallard", but no detail i'm afraid. Best Rob
Hi Rob, I have spent hours searching to re find the reference for this and have just come across it again: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/II_Corps_(United_Kingdom) it appears under the heading for "Composition of II Corps in the Second World War" The corps was transferred to First U.S. Army Group (FUSAG) in early June 1944 and moved to Lincolnshire; restored to Fourth Army when that formation joined FUSAG for Fortitude South II, headquarters now at Tunbridge Wells in Kent, with under command the British 55th and 58th Divisions and the British 35th Armoured Brigade. It was notionally transferred to France in late September, consisting of the essentially notional 55th Division, the genuine 79th Armoured Division, and the essentially notional 76th Division; also apparently at times the genuine 59th Division, disbanded but notionally kept alive. It was notionally part of Canadian First Army in the deception Operation Trolleycar II (threatening an attack on the Germans in Holland) in November 1944. The above is the only reference that I have been able to find out about it Added to this I note that there are no further references to "Fortitude South ll" either ?? TD
Operations FRETSAW and TROLLEYCAR: anti-shipping sweeps off Norwegian coast Admiralty: Naval Intelligence Division and Operational Intelligence Centre: Intelligence Reports and Papers. Operations FRETSAW and TROLLEYCAR: anti-shipping sweeps off Norwegian coast. Collection: Records of the Admiralty, Naval Forces, Royal Marines, Coastguard, and related bodies Date range: 01 January 1944 - 31 December 1944 Reference:ADM 223/630 Subjects:Armed Forces (General), Navy, Intelligence Does this help; this is from the National Archives site
Hi chrisharley9 I did find the above, which confused me as Trolleycar is a naval operation whereas Trolleycar ll was a deception plan for an Army operation i.e. "It was notionally part of Canadian First Army in the deception Operation Trolleycar II (threatening an attack on the Germans in Holland) in November 1944." My belief was that the deception was to make the Germans think that there was going to be another invasion from the English east coast, possibly East Anglia way, direct to I guess Northern Holland, thereby holding German troops in the north. I may find out more when I have access to the War Diaries of my fathers regiment. Thanks TD
After reading the previous Posts, it does sound like part of the broad deceptions used to make the German intelligence think that there would be a further Invasion across the channel. However, by November, given the strength of the Allies following Normandy, I believe the Germans would not have been taken in by any such deceptions. Regards Tom
The Artillery Refs i have to "Op Trolleycar" ( Dos'nt state 1or 2 ) from the Diaries of the 2nd Canadian AGRA, 1st Canadian Army do suggest that this was a prempt by the Canadians in their sector, as it states that the Front at this time in Holland was being divided into 3 distinct sector areas of operation: SE,NE & N. As it gives no details at all of the action it would seem to have been abandoned or a deception action.Athough from the diary below it does look like a goer. Will look again at the diary appxs to see if i can find more on this. I do know that there was at this time the suprise of a lot of enemy air action with resulting casualties to regts. Rob
Hi Rob, Thanks for posting the above - if you find anymore please post them as well. I did think I was starting to hallucinate about this. Can you say where they were at the time of writing this part of the diary, UK or Europe?? its inconclusive for me from reading the page - thanks again TD
Hi TD On the 18th Nov 44 for the "Trolley Car" operation,the 2 Cdn AGRA (Army Group Royal Artillery) were a Haelen, Holland & the 10th Med Regt at Nunhem, Holland. I,ve looked though the diary appxs of both formations & there are no details for "Trolley Car" as such . The only major action on this date for the "Trolley Car" area was for the british 12 Corps attack on the crossing of the Wessem Canal & the German HQ at Roermond, by the 7th Armd Div & the 53 inf Div. Best Rob
