Hello I found this photo which was shot in or near De Panne/Adinkerke. According to people at the AxisHistoryForum these should be British soldiers (possibly 3 Super Heavy Regiment RA). On the shell is written "VE day 8th..." - Most possibly this is 8th of may 45 (=VE day), the day that Dunkirk finally surrendered. (Dunkirk remained in German hands up to the last day of the war. The region around Dunkirk was liberated at the beginning of septembre 44, since that day allied troops had to stay in the villages surrounding Dunkirk to fight the remaining Germans and prevent them from breaking-out... which they tried and succeeded serveral times up to may 45.) Although this date is the most likely, it seems a bit strange to me... as I didn't know that British soldier were still active in the region. (To my knowledge De Panne was liberated by the Canadians which advanced afterwards to liberate other parts of Belgium, the siege of Dunkirk was left in hands of the Chechz Panzerbrigade which were stationed (amongst others) in De Panne). - Another possibily is that this photo was taken on 8th of september 44, which was "VE-day" for De Panne, the day it was liberated (seems less likely as I think the name 'VE-day' only applies to 8 may 45) Anyhow... can anybody inform me on this unit and their whereabouts on one of the dates mentioned above? Thanks Ahead. Jean
Hi Jean I think you have the wrong Regt. I have the diary of the 3rd Super Heavy Regt RA from Jan 44 till Mar 45. On the 8th Sept 44 the Regt was still at Larkhill in England and did not land at Dieppe untill 13.00hrs on 23rd Sept. They first went into action on 4th Oct at the Leopold Canal with 9AGRA in support of 2nd Cdn Division. According to the 9AGRA Diaries Location Statement, The 3rd S/Hvy Regt on the 8th May 1945 were at Bocholt and later, on the 24th at Borken (Munster) I think your looking at a section of 17AGRA's, 61st Super Heavy Regt RA, who's 443 Bty were established at Le Panne in May 45 and were part of "Dunkirk Force" March-June 1945 Nice pic by the way Best Rob
Hi Rob Thanks for this great information. I wasn't aware that the British were also active in De Panne/Adinkerke during those days... according to local history it were mainly the Chech panzer brigade and possibly some canadian forces which were active in De Panne. The British are seldomly mentioned, and if so in the margin. The British soldiers do pop-up on many photo's of the liberation of De Panne (sept 44). The above photo came from one of these collections, so now I'm wondering if possibly this entire collection dates back to may 45 rather then septembre 44 to which these photos are assumed to belong too. Anyway great to have finally found something on this often forgotten history of the siege of Dunkirk. I've been looking for some time now for information regarding this period... up till now I haven't found a lot. So if anyone can provide me with more information/photos on the 17AGRA's section, 61st Super Heavy Regt RA, please do! Also all other information regarding this siege of Dunkirk is welcome! thanks ahead Jean (btw this is the male variant of 'Jean', pronounced 'Genre' minus 're', it's the French name for 'Ian'... just in case you British were wondering :p) So
Jean (btw this is the male variant of 'Jean', pronounced 'Genre' minus 're', it's the French name for 'Ian'... just in case you British were wondering :p) So ...as you know, we British are wonderful at speaking 'foreign' languages....not
...as you know, we British are wonderful at speaking 'foreign' languages....not haha, that's why I wanted to point out the difference... I wouldn't want you British people talking about me and my topics in terms of "Norma JEAN Baker" this and that... :p rainy greetz from the other side... (... of the Channel that is ) Jean
Jean Here is the 17AGRA (Army Group Royal Artillery), Artillery Orbat for "Dunkirk Force" Mar-June 1945 Rob 17 Army Group RADunkirk Force March 1945-June1945 HQ and Signals 17AGRA Field Regiments No’s 61, 8Cdn (A), 1Czech Langforce Arty 2 Btys? 69th Medium Regiment RA 32 Heavy Regiment RA 61 Super Heavy Regt RA, 242,443Btys 118 HAA Regt RA 73 LAA Regt RA 3 LAA S/L Regt RA 600,608 Regts RA 1520 Artillery Platoon RASC 661/652 Air-Op Sqn
