Hi Guys, I'm looking at the War Diary for 1st Bn 'The Rangers' for January 1941 when they were in Egypt but just been given notice to prepare to go to Greece. They took delivery of "6 Scout cars" and a number of "m/c"s. Could anyone tell me what vehicles these would have been at that stage of the war? Any thoughts most welcome. Kevin Trott
A scout car in 1941 was probably a Daimler Dingo 9th Battalion:September 1939: This unit was 1st Rangers, The King's Royal Rifle Corps stationed in London as part of 3rd London Infantry Brigade, 1st London Division. March 1941: It was renamed 9th Bn. (The Rangers) KRRC it fought a desperate rearguard action in Greece, as part of 1st Armoured Brigade attached to 6th Australian Division. It caused heavy casualties on the Germans, before the battalion was evacuated to Crete. There it served in the Suda Bay area south of Canea attached to 1st Battalion, The Welch Regiment. What was left of the poorly equipped battalion was overwhelmed during the German invasion of the island with only 14 members escaping to Egypt. 1942: It briefly served with 7th Armoured Division during the Gazala battles with 7th Motor Brigade, where as part of the Garrison of the Retma Box it was overrun. August 1942: They briefly served with 2nd Armoured Brigade, 1st Armoured Division, before being taken out of the line. Later that month it was decided to disband the Battalion in order to reinforce the other KRRC Battalion in North Africa. December 1942: The Battalion had been put into suspended animation and its personnel assigned to 1st Bn. and 2nd Bn. KRRC to make up for loses in them. December 1947: The battalion was finally disbanded
The motorcycles delivered to a front line unit in the middle east are likely to have been either a Norton 16H as shown above or a BSA M20. Both companies had produced contracts of around 20000 machines to replace the Dunkirk losses. There generally seems to have been an attempt to supply just one make to individual battalions. If you're in a position to check, the diaries for divisional RAOC or REME workshops sometimes list serial numbers of vehicles sent in for repair and from whom.
