Hi to all - Am undertaking some research into a good mate's father and his war-time story... 107517 - Lt Peter Thomas Ian MACDIARMID - DWR & 15 RECCE Regt. Can anyone confirm that he served in 1 DWR with the BEF ? The family story is that he 'got left behind'. I suspect this means that he was not taken off the beaches at Dunkirk but much futher west... If I can confirm he served with 1 DWR, I can then procure a copy of the relevent war diary pages. Thanks in anticipation Roddy
He's not listed in the Regiments history by Barclay and he's not on the Officers Field Return for April or May in the battalions war diary. Whilst the writing isn't brilliantly clear, it looks like he wasn't with 2/6th or 2/7th Battalions either.
Drew - Many thanks as always - the reason I thought he was with DWR was because that was the regiment he was commissoned into...so - if he did go to France in 1940 - he was either with a staff HQ on with another regiment...interesting ! Roddy
Am undertaking some research into a good mate's father Get your mate to send of for his Dad's Service Records, that's the best way to get answers & a hundred more questions.
Drew & Owen - Thanks guys...London Gazette has him as DWR but as you rightly say, send for the papers. Thought I could do it more quickly...just occured to me...he went on to 15 Scottish Recce Sqn. Their WD might note from whence he came ! Roddy
Major P T I MACDIARMID mentioned several times in The Scottish Lion on Patrol. See this link MC Citation for Capt (T/Maj) P T I MACDIARMID http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/recce/24160-decorations-awards-members-reconnaissance-corps-17.html London Gazette 37434 18 January 1946 REGULAR ARMY. ROYAL ARMOURED CORPS. The undermentioned 2nd Lts. from Emerg. Commns., Recce Corps, to be Lts., 19th Jan. 1946, with seniority as shown : — (War Subs. Capt.) Peter Thomas Ian MACDIARMID (107517), 19th Mar. 1941. Cheers Paul
Drew & Paul - I have no definitive proof he went to France but his son is pretty sure he did. He went on to serve in the 10th Hussars after the war. I will see what his Retirement Article says in the Regimental Journal... Roddy
These are all the mentions of Major P. T. I. MacDiarmid that I found in The Scottish Lion on Patrol by Captain W. Kemsley and Captain M. R. Riesco which has been republished by Casemate Publishers and Book Distributors, L.L.C. ISB 184884569-3 In March, 1942, Major P. T. I. MacDiarmid took over command, with Captain O. W. Butler as second-in-command. The unit was stationed at Black Hill, County Durham, Throckley, Northumberland, and Brunton Hall, Northumberland, before going to Felton Hall. Major Peter MacDiarmid became the regiment's second-in-command, and his first successor in the command of A Squadron was Major Brian Crowder. As R.S.M. the regiment had Mr W. H. Eardley, a Grenadier Guardsman by trade, who had been squadron sergeant major of the 54th Independent Squadron. The training of the three hundred, known at first as "the intake," was the regiment's first big job, tackled by the best instructors from squadrons under the direction of Major MacDiarmid. One end of the camp became a "sausage machine" into which went three hundred recruits and out of which (after an almost incredibly short time) came three hundred men shaped to be gunners, drivers, mechanics, wireless operators and assault troopers. They had entered their intensive training with an enthusiasm that was a pleasure to see, and they were to become the backbone of the regiment. To the intake and its early instructors the regiment owed a great debt. Exercises took the regiment through miles of smoky streets to the fresh, sharp air, the mud and the ice of the moors and wolds, and Captain Lane and his battery travelled the width of England with their six-pounders to fire them on the Harlech ranges. It was from Pontefract that the regiment went on its first really large-scale manoeuvres-the great wolds exercises, Black-cock and Eagle, on which tactics for the Normandy bridgehead were tried. On Blackcock the unit moved, lightless, on a September night, through Wetwang and Fridaythorpe to a forward area, broke out of the bridgehead, seized and held crossings of the Derwent and led the advance towards York. When Eagle spread its wings over miles of February mud the regiment practised being traffic policeman on a mine-field (a role which it was to undertake a year later before the Siegfried Line near Cleve). The 46th Highland Brigade secured the bridgehead on the far side of the Eagle minefield, and while A and B Squadrons, under Major MacDiarmid, exploited this advance the rest of the regiment made sure that the clattering, roaring columns of the 11th Armoured Division and the Guards Armoured Division passed safely and without congestion through the lanes which had been cleared of mines. This was a vast and complicated process involving march tables and serials, R.E.M.E. recovery parties, R.A.M.C. ambulances, the Provost and Royal Signals line parties. Each end of each lane was controlled by an officer of the regiment, in communication with the colonel at gap control headquarters by wireless from an armoured car, and, when the tanks' rough tracks chanced to spare the patient work of the signallers, by field telephone. One of the minor crises of this operation arose over the lavatory at gap control headquarters. The regiment took a modest pride in its field hygiene,and portable lavatory seats were part of its battle equipment. In consequence, the news that the general himself intended to make use of gap control headquarters was received without alarm-until it was discovered that on this occasion of all occasions the lavatory seat had been forgotten. Hasty improvisation with an upturned ration box solved the problem and saved the good name of the unit! There had been changes since the regiment left its first home. Captain Sole, posted to H.Q., 15th Scottish Division as a staff captain, Lieut McCathie, Capt Chalmers, R.A.M.C., and Lieut Todd, R.E.M.E., had gone; Captain Boynton was appointed to command first line reinforcements; and Captain Bryson joined first line reinforcements. Capt Liddell became adjutant; Lieut J. A. Isaac succeeded him as intelligence officer; Capt Lane assumed command of the anti-tank battery; Capt G. E. Pearce became technical adjutant, and Lieut A. R. Rencher M.T.O. Lieut J. M. B. Pooley, R.A.M.C., came to the regiment as medical officer, and Lieut F. Sharman, R.E.M.E., assumed command of the L.A.D. In February, 1944, Major K. C. C. Smith (12 Lancers) was posted from GSO I, VIII Corps, to be second-in-command of the regiment, and as a result of this appointment Major MacDiarmid became officer commanding Headquarter Squadron, and Major Kemp second-in-command of that squadron. Capt Ford succeeded Capt Boynton as second-in-command of C Squadron. Planning proceeded in secret. The regiment learned with regret that because of the demands on shipping it could not go abroad as one body, but must leave one squadron to sail later with parts left by other units. These were called the divisional residue, and Major Smith was appointed to command them, Major MacDiarmid becoming acting second-in-command of the regiment. A toss of the coin, lost by Major Gordon, ordained that B Squadron would be the one left. On the evening of June 29th the regiment received orders to move from St Gabriel to Putot en Bessin on the following day to become divisional reserve, and long before light on June 30th the harbour parties, with Major MacDiarmid in charge, were groping their way forward by torchlight and the flashes of the guns astride the main Caen-Bayeux road. There was much traffic in the darkness. There was much when the main body of the regiment moved soon after dawn. So many vehicles and guns had been poured into the bridgehead that the roads were nearly always crowded. The distance to Putot en Bessin, through Coulombs, Le Parc and along the Bayeux-Caen road, was only about seven miles, but the journey took several hours. As soon as the regiment had reached its place among the barking guns in the fields just west of Putot en Bessin C Squadron was given a warning order to move forward and take up a position under the command of 44 Brigade. Major Mills left for brigade headquarters, and troop commanders for an RV at Cheux. B Squadron, the residue, arrived on July 19th, full of enthusiasm, eager to hear what the regiment had done and learned, and remarkably forbearing in the face of "old soldier" airs and tall stories. Rain fell heavily on the dusty fields for several days. Umbrellas appeared-whence, nobody knew-and Capt Kemp, the P.R.I., produced the first liquor ration with the air of one consciously performing a great public service. On July 21st, the three assault troops, commanded by Lieut R. W. Parker (A Squadron), Lieut G. J. Harvey (B Sqn) and Lieut K. B. M. Shirley (C Sqn), were combined to form Macforce and sent under Major MacDiarmid's command to help the 7th Seaforth, who were holding positions in the area of Le Baltru. On July 23rd the 15th Scottish Division moved secretly to the extreme right of the Second Army front, relieving the 5th United States Division south of Balleroy in the Caumont sector. It was like going from the bustle of Oxford Street into the tranquility of Hyde Park, this journey which began in the dust and smell and clatter of the country around Caen and ended in an unscarred land of little fields. C Squadron went straight into the line some miles from Balleroy. The rest of the regiment drove down Balleroy's wide street (between houses that might have been part of a Utrillo painting), turned right and right again, climbed a steep lane and found a home in green meadows. Here Major MacDiarmid took command of A Squadron. Major G. A. Gaddum joined the regiment to command Headquarter Squadron. For ten days the regiment rested, first at Amaye sur Orne, then at Fresney Ie Vieux, eight miles farther forward, while almost everything movable in the Second Army, including field bakeries, overtook it, and prisoners of many nationalities in German uniform streamed back from the" pocket". Amaye was one of those French villages whose natural air is one of elegant, shuttered decline. It suffered less destruction than many, but the passage of war had knocked the elegance awry, leaving bared rafters, a smell of death and muddled furniture which showed its coating of dust where probing fingers of sunlight found their way through the shutters into dark rooms. The regiment shared the village with the sun and a plague of insects. Parties wandered down through dusty fields to the Orne and bathed while tanks clattered by, or went to Hill 112, Evrecy and Esquay to study the positions in which the Germans had fought so stubbornly. A mobile canteen appeared, and an excellent E.N.S.A. show. There was a race meeting. The horses were wooden, fashioned by Cpl Maher, the carpenter, and their progress over taped squares was determined by the throw of large dice. The chief bookies were the Colonel, Major MacDiarmid and the R.S.M., who was the most strident and the least fortunate. On August 16th, Major General Barber came to Amaye and said that because senior commanders normally visited only the infantry brigades after the division had done well in battle he felt that perhaps the regiment was not always given credit for the work it did. C Squadron found that Star route was impassable west of St Foy de Montgomery, and a diversion on to Sun route had to be made. That night the regiment occupied scattered harbours on the line Orbec-LeSap, but the armoured cars of 11 Troop, under Lieut Gray, had entered Bernay, about 40 miles from Falaise. It had been hard going all day over narrow, muddy roads strewn with German tanks and trucks and waggons and guns, some the reddened victims of Typhoons, some just abandoned. The stench from the bodies of dead German soldiers and horses was so great in places that rags were soaked in petrol and held to the nose. From time to time debris had to be pushed aside. Some of the bad roads on Moon route collapsed under the heavy equipment with A Squadron, and the bulldozers had to be taken off their transporters and used to extricate the transporters. This difficulty and the presence of much Canadian transport in the early stages of the move made progress so slow that Major MacDiarmid decided to go ahead with the squadron's armoured cars, leaving the carriers to escort the other equipment. In spite of the dead horses, which had to be dragged out of the way, and mined bridges, which the R.E. officer defused, the car force got well in front, and in the evening was out of wireless touch with R.H.Q. In an attempt to get into contact with R.H.Q., Major MacDiarmid set out with L/Cpl Kay and Tpr Murray in a reconnaissance car after dark, but came into collision with a Canadian tank. Major MacDiarmid escaped injury, but both his crew received cuts. This is Kay's story of the incident: We had arrived at the arbitrary line - Euston - at which we were to stop for the night. For us this turned out to be an attractive little village between high hedges, and for Squadron H.Q. a complete manor house with beautiful lawns and an abundance of chickens and the like. The welcome, being the first was over-whelming: wild roses for everyone, and, of course, the Commander (Major MacDiarmid) would sleep in the house. Well no, he would not, but perhaps his second-in-command (Capt Davies) would. As it turned out, neither of them slept until nearly next morning. We were by now well out in the blue, in the region of Ommai, and quite out of radio touch; so in the middle of a belated supper, at about eleven o'clock, Major MacDiarmid decided to take the sergeant-major's reconnaissance car, with Murray as driver and myself as operator, to look for the regiment. We set off in the dark, finding an assault section with about 20 prisoners en route, and stopped from time to time to try to establish radio contact. At last we made Strength One on key. Major MacDiarmid decided to go on until we could be understood. There was no moon, and we had no lights. I heard Major MacDiarmid say "Hard right", and received a mighty wallop on the left of my face as the side of the turret drove my civvy glasses up into my forehead. I was lifted down in a stupor. Canadian voices came from nowhere: "Gees, but I'm pleased you're all alive." Bill Murray was lying on the grass with a bleeding forehead, but his main complaint was that he had personally tuned this engine till it was the best in the squadron" and now look at it ". He and I spent the night with a Canadian repair" outfit". In the morning, we were treated to breakfast with Canadian hospitality, mixed with a dissertation on "those Jews" by the lieutenant in charge, and one on " those Germans" by the farmer in whose yard we were. We were collected by one of the regiment's medical trucks. Bill Murray had two stitches and four days' rest. I had a trip back to the starting point near Falaise, to enter the hospital" sausage machine". While Major MacDiarmid and his crew were trying to establish contact with R.H.Q. a party from R.H.Q.- Capt Kemsley, Cpl Stevenson and Tpr Yount-was out in a reconnaissance car trying to establish contact with A Squadron. These three also came to grief, the car going into a ditch in the darkness-fortunately near B Squadron's harbour. The regiment crossed the new Seine bridges early on August 29th, and A and B Squadrons continued to reconnoitre in front of the division. It was in these advances from the banks of the Seine that Major MacDiarmid won the Military Cross and a bottle of whisky. The Military Cross was the reward for leadership which achieved the destruction of the enemy at Fretteville and Le Thuit and the early liberation of Les Andelys. The squadron fought a successful action at Fretteville and Le Thuit on the 29th, and beyond Le Thuit learned from the driver of a French Red Cross ambulance that the enemy was withdrawing from Les Andelys. Lieut Blount was sent there, and Major MacDiarmid was promised the whisky if his squadron raced the infantry, who were advancing along the riverside road, to the town. When Lieut Blount's cars drove into the town it was deserted; the F.F.I. had made the inhabitants take refuge in the chalk cliffs along the Seine until liberation was accomplished. This was typical of the excellent organisation of the F.F.I., whose members helped the regiment many times between Falaise and the Belgian border and often volunteered to ride with the leading patrols. On the high ground beyond Les Andelys A Squadron met a patrol of the 43rd Reconnaissance Regiment and exchanged information. A patrol under Lieut Dalton was given a task which took it outside the division's boundary, and there was an exchange of fire - fortunately without casualties - when the cars crossed the line of advance of the 11th Armoured Division. To prevent further misunderstandings, the patrol was given an escort for its return. In the reorganisation which resulted from the colonel's posting Major Smith became commanding officer, Major MacDiarmid second-in-command, Lieut Blount captain and adjutant, Capt Liddell second-in-command of C Squadron, Capt Ford officer commanding Headquarter Squadron and Major Gaddum officer commanding A Squadron. For his courage in leading patrols in the Avelghem area and on the Junction Canal Sgt S. Kirrage, of C Squadron, was awarded the Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm. The entertainments officer had done us proud. The party was in a Helmond cafe which looked more like a church inside, with its gallery and organ. It was so large that the whole squadron was able to sit together while officers and sergeants rushed hither and thither as waiters. Everything went off with a bang, , including the electric organ, which was most popular. We started it with the help of the proprietor. Then he disappeared, and we could not get it stopped. Brigadier Cumming-Bruce, who had come along from 44 Brigade, did his best to compete with it for a while, but we had to fetch the proprietor and ask him " for Pete's sake " to turn it off. Major MacDiarmid, representing the colonel, also spoke a few words in his own inimitable way. Then the squadron got down to the serious business of the day. On New Year's Day the Luftwaffe made its last really great gesture; it was with surprise at first that members of the regiment saw black crosses on the wings above Lierop's roofs. But these fighters were not interested in Lierop. There was more activity in other parts of the division's area, and several of the attacking aircraft were shot down. Major MacDiarmid, on a journey back to R.H.Q., had to dive for a ditch. Cheers Paul
Drew & Paul Many thanks again... Looking through various London Gazette hits, I can confirm he was badged DWR... Quote: 15th Dec. 1939: The undermentioned to be 2nd Lts.: — D.W.R. Peter Thomas Ian MacDiarmid (107517). 11th July 1941 RECONNAISSANCE CORPS The undermentioned War Subs. Lts. to be War Subs. Lts., retaining their present seniority: — From D.W.R.: P. T. I .MacDiarmid (107517). His son is currently in E Africa but as soon as he returns, I will most definitely suggest he sends off for his father's papers... Roddy
A long shot...He may be listed in the Officer Field Returns within the Recce war diary when he first joined the Regt and where he came from. It is a long shot mind. I'll check the other Bde and AT Coy files that the other DWR Bns were in when I get a chance.
Here is a note from Lt. Col. P.T.I. MacDiarmid on the disbanding of 49 Recce and the setting up of 49 Recce's officers' reunion dinners, Roddy. Robin
