British WW2 sign — TANK TRACK / [?]ASH TO CHEUX — identification help

Dear Communoty,
I am trying to identify the codename and signposting convention of a "tank track" used by VIII Corps in the area south-west of Caen during and immediately after Operation Epsom (26 June–early July 1944). The track ran towards the village of Cheux (Calvados, France).

The reason for the enquiry is a wartime wooden direction sign in my possession reading "TANK TRACK / [?]ASH TO CHEUX". I would like to confirm whether the partially obliterated word reads "DASH" or "ASH", and whether either appears as a recognised route codename in unit records from that period.
Any information (photo, story...) are more than welcome.
Thanks in advance
Anthony

 

The direction sign...

 

Welcome aboard.

I tried an online search with: "cheux" + "tank" + "track" site:ww2talk.com that might contain the answer. There are many threads here which include Cheux.

Do you have a map of the area, that could help - even if only placing Cheux?

Normandy is not my focus, so good luck hopefully others can help.

 

Thank you for your message.
As it happens, I know Cheux and the surrounding area quite well, as it is the cradle of my family.
During D-Day, my grandmother took shelter in the lime kilns of this village and I recently purchased this military road sign at auction. Given my family's connection to Cheux, it holds particular personal significance

 

IMHO ASH = 2nd Battalion The Argyll & Sunderland Highlanders, an infantry battalion of 227th Highland Infantry Brigade / 15th Scottish Division

The Plan was that A Squadron/2nd Northhamptonshire Yeomanry (Cromwell tanks) and 2 A&SH would attack from Cheux to the Odon bridges.

 

Many thanks for this contribution, this is by far the most compelling lead I have received so far and the link to the 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders is genuinely tempting given the regiment's central role in opening the Scottish Corridor on 27 June.
A clarifying point: the 2nd Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders was a pure infantry battalion, not equipped with tanks. The armour that crossed the Tourmauville bridge belonged to the 23rd Hussars and other regiments of the 29th Armoured Brigade. If the sign reads 'TANK TRACK / ASH TO CHEUX', would British signposting practice really name a tank route after the infantry battalion that opened it, rather than after the armoured units that actually used it, or after a neutral code? Is there a precedent for this?

 

2nd Northhamptonshire Yeomanry was a tank unit. It was the Recce Regiment of the 11th Armoured Division. At that phase of the war the Recce unit of an armoured div in NW Europe was in practice its fourth armoured regiment, but equipped with Cromwell tanks. The plan was that its A Squadron moved to Cheux with the 2 A&SH (and the rest of 227 Highland Brigade) following closely behind 46 Highland Brigade, which job was to capture Cheux, and then take over the lead and made the dash to the Odon bridges. Plans were plans what actually happened depended on many factors, not least the enemy's actions.

 

Thanks, the operational context is helpful. One thing puzzles me though: the sign reads "TANK TRACK", yet 2 A&SH was a pure infantry battalion. Would a tank route really be named after the infantry unit that opened it rather than the armoured regiments that used it? Any other example of this?

 

You are right I believe. Additionally, the official abbreviation for the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders was AS & H, not ASH, although the latter might have been used.

ASH is more likely to be the name of the Track, whic usually came in both Tank and Wheel versions, hence the complete name Tank Track ASH rather than just ASH. I do not have access to my books on EPSOM, but for GOODWOOD there was a Track named FIR, also a tree name (plus various others not of a tree).

A Track would be used by a number of different units, and naming it from just one of them would not be logical, nor would it fit the obsession for secrecy and misguiding the enemy these operations entailed.

 

Very helpful, thank you.
If you can share the specific source for FIR when you have access to your books, that would be invaluable. Any pointers on where a list of named tracks for VIII Corps might survive (war diaries, traffic circulars, brigade orders) would also be hugely appreciated.

 

FIR is relevant to your query in that it shows that tree names were used as code names for Routes/Tracks. In the same vein (and general location) were MAPLE, BRIAR, HOLLY and PALM Tracks.
They can be found in WO 205/1171 = 1 Corps Engineer Report, Normandy 6 June 1944 - 31 July 1944, Drawing 'E' - Overlay Trace showing new roads, tk. tracks, brs a& A.L.G's constructed up to D+56 31 July (part only below to keep size down):



Note: the equivalent of the upper left part of this Drawing, with its complement of farm animal names, can be found in the War Diary of 8 GHQ Troops Engineers kindly posted by forum member MSGrover1 here:
P3120452.jpg | WW2Talk

The June War Diary of 8 Corps Chief Engineer (WO 171/296 might possibly include the equivalent trace for ASH in its hopefully still present Operation Order (as Appx "A")? The text itself does mention those tracks:

18 0900 CE attended conference at Second Army; visited captured Radar station at DOUVRES. Details of tk tracks in 1 Corps Area obtained - recce and marking of tracks in 8 Corps Area to link up with these ordered.

21 2130 "Q" conference to determine routes for "Epsom".

24 8 Corps RE Operation Order for Operation "Epsom" issued see Appx "A"
​

Another source might be the Operation Orders or Instructions of the various other units involved. For Op BLUECOAT the code name of the some of the Routes (IRON, TIN, STEEL & FLINT) is mentioned in the Movement Instructions attached to 46 (H) Inf Bde Op Instr No. 3 as posted by dbf.

 

Found a mention of "Ash Track" in the August 1944 War Diary of 6 Airborne Div Pro Coy:

6th August 1944
Fir, Palm and Ash Tracks checked and resigned as necessary throughout Div Area. Patrols and T.P.'s in Div Area, Coastal Towns, Swimming Beach, and Div Cinema.

7th August 1944
Ash Track signed, Patrols and T.P.'s in Div Area.​

It sounds as if ASH was indeed in the same area as FIR and PALM, therefore not quite in the Cheux area, although it might have extended thus far...

 

This is exceptional, thank you. WO 205/1171 with Drawing E settles the convention beyond doubt, and the lead toward WO 171/296 (8 Corps Chief Engineer) is exactly the kind of pointer I needed: ASH being a VIII Corps track in the Cheux sector makes perfect sense given that 1 Corps had its own ASH east of the Orne (6 Airborne Provost war diary, WO 171/436).

Two questions if I may:

Do you have access to the full Drawing E from WO 205/1171, or only the cropped portion shown? A complete view would help me locate where the I Corps tree-named tracks ended and where the VIII Corps network would have linked up.

And do you happen to have anything from WO 171/296, particularly the Appendix "A" to the Epsom Operation Order of 24 June, or know whether the trace overlay is still attached to the file? If not I will look into commissioning a researcher at Kew, but I'd rather not duplicate work if you or another forum member already has it.