3 RTR B Squadron

Out of curiosity, what are those numbers on the left on the menu cover?

 

I think it must have been a card game of some sorts.
I Googled “bevrijding” , it’s “liberation”, I didn’t know that!

 

Probably refering to when Granddad and Charley finally went to the Ardennes, he ate like a horse.

 

I was interested in the Crocodile photos. They are really rare for the 3rd

Here is a shot of Dad (in the middle) with some of his crew. The original 79th Armoured divisional badge has been covered with sacking or something.Dad landed on DDay with 79th in a Sherman Crab (Flail)
I went back to the Gold beaches last year.

I went to the Cobbaton Combat Collection in Devon a few years ago for my son and myself to be photographed in a Croc. The guys there are brilliant.

 

Talk about a coincidence...great photo, by the way... just been talking with Croc on his 3RTR HQ thread precisely about Crocs!

 

I’ve only got one other Croc shot, thanks for the location, in one of your shots you can clearly see the 79th inverted triangular badge.

 

Town is Suchteln

 

For some reason, Croc's 3rd pic didn't quote, so here it is ( I'm sure Croc won't mind!) Note the building in the background, it's the same one as in your pic.

 

Dad said the bottles in the back where horrible to change, compressed air I think. Those trailers are as rare as hens teeth, the one that was outside at Bovington is luckily inside now. I saw it at Tankfest last year, superb exhibit and place.

 

Great pic and yes as Frank says looks like the same building in the background as in my pic

 

And as an encore....

 

BTW, google-translating the blurb on that page with the old photo, it gives this address in Poperinge, 31 Briekedreef. The house no longer exists, it's been rebuilt, but the neighbouring houses are just like the one in the photos..Apparently, Willie's grandparents were the ones who put Granddad & Charlie up, it gives their names as the Emile Six-Leonie Vanlaere family..fingers crossed..

 

Hi, I just had a reply from Belgium, Moniques niece knows the Six family.
Please remind me of John and Charlie’s surnames. Monique lives in Brussels now but still has family in Poperinge.
I’ll report further once I’ve sent the surnames.
Cheers Adam

 

Great news! I've been chasing up via a facebook page asking for info on them (the same one I found the picture on)..it looks like Willy Wicke (the child in the photos) has got the names wrong, he was calling my grandfather Charlie, and Charlie was John! (Unless he was still hiding from REME and going under an alias! - see earlier post about their tank's adventures in Haute Epiné). So my grandfather was Frank Curzon (he's on the right in the photos) and his best mate was Charlie, unfortunately, I've been unable to find out his surname...and I was told he was killed towards the end of the war..my grandfather passed away in 1996.
I appreciate you doing this!

 

I’ll relay that information to Monique, cheers A

 

Suchteln! That town is to the west of Krefeld, close to the Dutch border! I thought the 3rd stayed up in Schleswig-Holstein until they returned to the UK!

 

Well that’s what I thought, I was correcting an earlier miss spelling. I couldn’t find the original location quoted for the Crocodiles.
I’m happy to be corrected as I want to label my album correctly.
Do you know what barracks B would have been in Autumn 1945 - Spring 1946?

 

The location for this Farewell Dinner was Viersen which is close to Suchteln and the timing would coincide with B being re equipped with Crocodiles.

 

According to WD, August '45
20th 1430; Football Match versus 1st R Tks at ITZEHOE – won 1 – 0. Adv party move to ROTHENBURG. Then...
25th 1100; Phone message from 11 Armd Div. 4 KSLI will not take over area FRIEDRICHSTADT. 141 RAC will change over direct with 3 R Tks.
27th Main Party prepares to move to ROTHENBURG.
28th Main Party moves to ROTHENBURG.
then...
29th 3 R Tks Movement Order No. 4 issued.
30th 3 R Tks Movement Order Nos. 5 & 6 issued. Rear Party Instructions issued. First Road
party move to JOHANNISTAL.
31st Tks and ARVs entrain for KREFELD. Second Rd Party move to JOHANNISTAL.

Now if you google Johannistal, you get an area of Berlin, but there is a church in west Süchteln, Johanniskirche, and various establishments with the name Johannistal, which makes me think that originally it was a separate village/town...I need to find one of those old maps of the area to confirm. Viersen is just a stone's throw from there, also. So they were there from Sept 1st until Feb '46, when they went to new barracks at Flensberg (after spending some time in a transit camp in Hannover).
It's funny, you tend to think once the war was over, everyone just went home, when in fact they spent almost a year afterwards in Germany.

Yep, found an old map, dated 1934, of Süchteln, you can make out Johannistal nw of centre.

 

Great input Frank, as you say just post War there was a lot going on, units here and there as BAOR became established. The barracks became known as Hilsea and were part of BAOR for many years. Ide like to know what tanks the 3rd had after those Crocodiles.
My Dad left B in about May-July 1947 and returned to working in the City of London in a shipping insurance brokers office.