Polish unit that liberated Lokeren, Belgium ?

Discussion in 'Allied Units - Others' started by Sgt. Veldeman, Feb 12, 2013.

  1. Sgt. Veldeman

    Sgt. Veldeman Junior Member

    Hello,

    It's not so clear who liberated us: who was first the British or the Polish ? The monument says the 11th regiment Hussars, led by lieutenant Wild on 09/09/1944. On the 06/09/1944, though, already appeared 2 armoured led by lieutenant Watson. The Polish liberators came to 'confirm' the liberation on the 11th of September 1944. Some of the Poles even stayed in Lokeren (instead of going back to Poland controlled by the Soviets). Question: What were the units of the Polish en lieutenant Watson ?

    Sincere,

    Robrecht Veldeman

    PS: If you have any photos, please post.
     
  2. Earthican

    Earthican Senior Member

    To get things started, here's some bare 'facts'.

    HyperWar: CHRONOLOGY 1941-1945

    8/9/1944
    Pol armor reaches Thielt; elements enter Dixmude.

    11/9/1944
    Pol 1st Armd Div, which has met strong opposition at Ghent Canal, is moving to Ghent to relieve 7th Armd Div of 12 Corps.

    12/9/1944
    Pol 1st Armd Div, after relieving 7th Armd Div of 12 Corps at Ghent, pushes forward to Lokeren and St Nicolas.

    16/9/1944
    Pol 1st Armd Div, on right flank of corps, makes limited progress northward toward Hulst.


    Wiki has a list of the sub units of the Polish 1st Armored Division:

    1st Armoured Division (Poland) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
     
  3. Earthican

    Earthican Senior Member

    Wiki has this on the 11th Hussars (Armoured Car). So this all fits with the information above. Personally Watson sounds more British than Polish so I suspect he was either 11th Hussars or another unit of the 7 Armoured Division.

    Prior to the Normandy campaign, the 11th Hussars were removed from the Division and assigned as a Corps-level unit in accordance with Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery's view that all armoured car regiments would be assigned to Corps, not Divisions. Later in the European campaign, the regiment reverted to the 7th Armoured Division.
     

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