Out of curiosity has anyone got anything on the Search Light unit that was defending the village with 5 RHA? Doesn't seem fair to ignore them. Cheers A
Out of curiosity has anyone got anything on the Search Light unit that was defending the village with 5 RHA? Doesn't seem fair to ignore them. Cheers A I'll certainly be looking forward to that, I've been to Hondegham and taken the photo's and then lost them following a computer crash! Phil
Hey up, I'm still searching for any information on the 2nd Searchlight Regiment's part in this battle and any detail on the bayonet charge at St Sylvestre? Cheers Andy
In the last paragraph of that article idler linked to it says... this photo is from the Battleground Europe book DUNKIRK by Patrick Wilson. I think this may be the photo referred to, as it a Quad with an 18 pdr supposedly at Cassel. If so I'm sure some of those men I listed in post #3 are in that photo. I think this may be K or L sub-section, F Troop, K Battery, 5 RHA. The reason I don't think it's at Cassel is because D Troops four guns were giving fire support to F Troop in Hondeghem when three of them were destroyed by counter battery fire from the Germans and the guns were dug in on Mont Cassel. The gun above appears to be Limbered to the Quad which leads me to think it is one of the two surviving guns that was taken through St. Sylvestre and destroyed while engaged in a fighting retreat through the town.
According to The New Contemptibles by Douglas Williams if the above picture was taken in Saint Sylvestre then you are looking at K Sub Section's Gun and Quad. Cheers Andy
Out of curiosity has anyone got anything on the Search Light unit that was defending the village with 5 RHA? Doesn't seem fair to ignore them. Cheers A From doing some reading, I can only assume that it was some element of the 1st or 2nd Searchlight Batteries. Around May 20th, they were being moved from Arras to defend Calais.
Cheers, I found out today it was the 2nd Searchlight Regiment. Just a mention that there was around 80 of them there with one officer and thats it. A
Cheers, I found out today it was the 2nd Searchlight Regiment. Just a mention that there was around 80 of them there with one officer and thats it. A I wonder how many Searchlights a Regiment had?
I wonder how many Searchlights a Regiment had? By the end of 1941 the number of Searchlight Regiments in the Royal Artillery had risen to 71. A regiment had a strength of 52 Officers and 1622 OR s and was one of the largest regimental level units in the Army, over twice the size of a field regiment. A regiment was commanded by a lieutenant colonel and consisted of four batteries, each commanded by a major, with a strength of 11 officers and 365 OR s, although there were a number of three battery regiments. A battery consisted of four troops each with six searchlights and was usually commanded by a captain. Both the 90 and 150 cm searchlights had ten-man detachments on static sites. This gave a regiment a total equipment strength of 96 searchlights. To give you some idea of the size of a searchlight regiment the photo here (Fig 10) is of 342 (M) SL Bty, 93 SL Regt, about which more later. Just multiply this by 4 and you can see just how big a searchlight regiment really was. Searchlights of the Royal Artillery Cheers, I found out today it was the 2nd Searchlight Regiment. Just a mention that there was around 80 of them there with one officer and thats it. A Searchlights of the Royal Artillery Another group from 2 SL Regt – one officer and 80 men – found themselves attached to K Battery, Royal Horse Artillery with orders to help hold the small village of Hondeghem which was on the Germans main axis of advance. The troops fought a valiant action then, running short of ammunition, they charged the German positions and broke through, giving them a route out towards Dunkirk. For this action K Battery was awarded the honor title of Hondeghem, one of only five awarded during the Second World War. Unlike the other searchlight regiments, 2 SL Regt were more widely spread which resulted in its batteries having mixed fortunes. By the 25 May 1940, 5 Bty was completely missing, 6 Bty had over 50 per cent missing and 8 Bty was missing just under a quarter. By the end of May the Regiment had lost over 50 men killed and approximately half the Regiment captured.
Hi Simon, Just to let you know i am the current BSM of K (Hondeghem) Battery Royal Artillery. I think you will be interested to know that the Bty returned last night from a 3 day tour of Hondeghem to pay our respects at the 70th anniversary of the battle. We retraced the route taken from Vimy Ridge, then to Hondeghem, St Sylvestre, Cassel and then back to Dunkirk. We had a memorial service at both Hondeghem and St Sylvestre and then finally at the Menim Gate. On the trip we also took Jack Johnson one of the surivors of K bty still alive. He would of known you Grandfather with him being the BSM. I will get in touch with him and mention the fact you are on here. Cheers Pat
Hi Simon, Just to let you know i am the current BSM of K (Hondeghem) Battery Royal Artillery. I think you will be interested to know that the Bty returned last night from a 3 day tour of Hondeghem to pay our respects at the 70th anniversary of the battle. We retraced the route taken from Vimy Ridge, then to Hondeghem, St Sylvestre, Cassel and then back to Dunkirk. We had a memorial service at both Hondeghem and St Sylvestre and then finally at the Menim Gate. On the trip we also took Jack Johnson one of the surivors of K bty still alive. He would of known you Grandfather with him being the BSM. I will get in touch with him and mention the fact you are on here. Cheers Pat Welcome Pat I should imagine your trip was very emotional. Do you have any photographs you can post of your trip there. You can see from this thread, that we are interested in this particular subject. One of our members is looking at this and would probably appreciate any extra information you can provide. Kind regards - Rob
We have just returned from our family visit to both Hondeghem and St. Sylvestre. We met the present K (Hondeghem) Battery who graciously invited us to take part in thier memorial services. They are all pure gentlemen and we will be writing to them to thank them. It was a very emotional day, however Mum was glad to meet Jack Johnson, who actually remembered my Grand Dad.
Welcome Pat I should imagine your trip was very emotional. Do you have any photographs you can post of your trip there. You can see from this thread, that we are interested in this particular subject. One of our members is looking at this and would probably appreciate any extra information you can provide. Kind regards - Rob Yes we will have photos, i just need to get them off of the Bty photographer next week and then i can post them. Pat
We have just returned from our family visit to both Hondeghem and St. Sylvestre. We met the present K (Hondeghem) Battery who graciously invited us to take part in thier memorial services. They are all pure gentlemen and we will be writing to them to thank them. It was a very emotional day, however Mum was glad to meet Jack Johnson, who actually remembered my Grand Dad. I,m gald we made you feel apart of the Bty. Its important that we did and i hope to meet you all again another year. Perhaps we can arrange for you up to come to the Regiment so you can see the Bty history room and meet the Bty again. I agree though it was a emotional experience. Pat (The one with the stick!)
Pat, Yes we know exactly who you are as Mum took a shine to you!!!!!! You were her favourite young man!!! Thanks for all that you did for us and we will most definately be coming to see all of you again when you invite us. Thank you again, Jane (pink hair), Joan (Mum), Joanne (not pink hair) and Nasser.
I think I managed around 200/250 pictures (I've taken a record close to 2,500 on this trip) related to the battle from the crossroads where 5 RHA were stopped and told to send a battery to Hondeghem and the woods where the Germans grouped before the attack right through to the retreat from St. Sylvestre where the Fife & Forfar Yeomanry mined the road. I met a chap in the town who was rather helpful and pointed out to me where the cookhouse was but he said you was still in bed somewhere so I missed you. Pat, Welcome to the forum-Can I ask does the Battery still have the German machine gun mentioned in this thread? I would love a picture to add to the account I'm going to type up. Regards Andy
Hi Andy, Yeh, the chap you met was Brian. We spent a lot of time with him and we will be keeping in touch. Sadly, my fibromyalgia caught up with me the day you were in Hondeghem so I was much the worse for wear. I am really looking forward to your account it sounds like you have put a lot of work into it. Take care, Jane.
