Hi there, I am translating the war diaries of HQ 10 CDN INF BDE of September 01 and 02, 1944 concerning the liberation of Airaines. I have some difficulty with some terms and sentence meanings (words in italics highlighted) Thank you for your help. Cordially, Franck 1 Sep 44 18CAR 1130 SA fire CL up to Airaines L & W Taken up posn at RL ELX. Est HQ at 860583 4 Bde 1816 … LSR one coy with each Armd regt 2 Sep 44 Bde 0027 … Shelldrake will be contacting you re op Bde 0724 …L & W Regt moving on LICE.
Hello Owen, thanks for the information. The Lake Superior Regiment (motor) belonging to the 4th Canadian Armored Brigade, hence the term Bde on this line.
Bde 0027 … Shelldrake will be contacting you re op Shelldrake is an Artillery term, I think refers to the artillery commander of the Division. re op, I would think is short for 'regards operation'.
[QUOTE="PICARFOU, post: 984243, member: 34741" 1 Sep 44 18CAR 1130 SA fire CL up to Airaines SA fire means SMALL ARMS FIRE L & W Taken up posn at RL ELX. Est HQ at 860583 RL ELX is actually RL ELK……ELK is most likely another code word for a position on the map 4 Bde 1816 … LSR one coy with each Armd regt 2 Sep 44 Bde 0027 … Shelldrake will be contacting you re op SHELLDRAKE is the code word for the “Commander of Artillery UNIT”. Re op I suggests mean “regarding operation” (an upcoming operation) Bde 0724 …L & W Regt moving on LICE. [/QUOTE] I’ve put means above in the quote from your post
I would suggest “LICE” is probably a radio code word for a specific position in the operation…..may be a bridge, or river, or town etc.
SA fire CL is probably reporting small arms fire on the centre line up to Airaisne. RL ELX is report line ELK - just a line on a map codenamed ELK used to report progress. re op is better translated as regarding [the] operation
SHELDRAKE is an appointment title. This list probably includes some postwar ones: Appointment Titles - ARRSEpedia