Field Companies 52nd [Lowland] Infantry Divn 1944.

I understand that there were three infantry brigades to a division and that each brigade would work with a nominated field company. In November 1944 during the battle of the Scheldt the 52nd's three brigades were 155, 156 and 157. Their three field companies were 202, 241 and 554.
Can anyone tell me which field company worked alongside which of those brigades please?

 

Hi,

The 241st Fld Coy RE appear to have been supporting the 155th Inf in early Jan 45 as it was about 30 Sappers from the 241st and 17 from the 4th KOSBs that were killed when moving mines (2400 off Type 75 anti-tank grenades) for laying near Tripsrath before Operation Blackcock.

cheers
Scott

 

Thank you Scott - that helps a lot.Since my original request I discovered (by reading “Walcheren” by Andrew Rawson) a mention of 202 Field Company working with 156 Bde. Which means 554 Field Company would have been associated with 157 Bde. So that now completes the picture.
Cheers.
Paul.

 

Just read your post again Scott. Can you clarify whether it's 214 or 241 that were with 155 Bde? I suspect that 214 may be a typo. My reason being that 52nd Divn had 202, 241 and 554 with them on their arrival at Ostend in Sept/Oct.

Typos? I od them two

 

Hi

52 (Lowland) Infantry Division

From an old RE OOB document I found online many years ago.

202nd

202nd (East Lancashire) Field Coy RE 1st line TA; 3 Sep 1939: Manchester; embodied with 42nd (East Lancashire) Infantry Division; relieved 11 Apr 1940. Assigned 52nd Infantry Division 7 Jun 1940. Transferred Aug 1946 to 30th Army Troops Engineers.

241st

241st (Lowland) Field Coy RE 1st line TA; 3 Sep 1939: Motherwell; embodied with 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division. Transferred Aug 1946 to 30th Army Troops Engineers.

Not much info found on 554th I am afraid. It is mentioned below.

52nd Inf Div

52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division RE 1st Line TA division 1939. The division served briefly in France in Jun 1940, then trained for mountain warfare (to Jun 1944), then for airlanding operations. In Oct 1944 it joined 21st Army Group as a conventional infantry division and ended the war in Europe. The division was disbanded ca. Aug 1946 in Germany; its RE were combined that month with XXX CTRE to form 30th Army Troops Engineers. Embodied with 240th, 241st and 242nd Field Coys RE and 243rd Field Park Coy RE. 240th Field Coy RE left 20 Sep 1939 and 242nd Field Coy RE left 19 Oct 1939. 554th Field Coy RE assigned 7 Dec 1939 and 202nd Field Coy RE assigned 7 Jun 1940 as replacements. 17th Bridging Pln RE assigned 1 Oct 1943. Embodied as a motor division, it did not add 'infantry' to its title until Jun 1940 when it was reorganized as an infantry division. It is possible that the TA companies were attached to Arkforce 9 Jun 1940 and evacuated from France.

Hope this helps

Gus

 

hi Paul, yes 241st the 214 was a typo.
Cheers

 

Hi Gus, that’s great! Thanks for your trouble.
Hi Scott - no problem. Thanks again

 

Some good info there Gus, Thanks.

 

I know it's a bit late posting, but I felt I should add the following.

My dad landed at Vlissingen just behind No4 Commando, he was a Sgt sniper in the 4th batt KOSB, he was in charge of 8 snipers. The 241st was present at Vlissingen, my dad spoke to a Sgt from the 241st, who was about to lift a mine just outside Vlissingen. Just after, when my dad was about 30 yards away, there was an explosion, he ran back but unfortunately, the sapper was dead, it seems the mine was booby trapped. I believe his name is, Sgt William Pretswell.

I see mentioned here, the incident where 47 men were killed moving mines to the front line. My dad had been sent back from the front suffering from pneumonia. He lost all his snipers in the incident, he said had it not been for the pneumonia, he would have been with them. He had a few narrow escapes. He died in 2016 aged 95. I have some video of him telling other wartime stories.

 

Hi Ian
Some interesting stuff.

Have you seen the 4th Battalion KOSB War Diaries that are available online?

https://www.royalscotskosbwardiaries.co.uk/war-diaries-kosb

Cheers

 

Hi Scott,

thanks for your comments, glad you found it was of interest.

I haven't seen the war diaries you mention, I did nearly buy a secondhand hard copy of them several years ago, I will be having a look shortly.

Regards,
Ian.

 

Hi Scott,

just had a brief look at the war diaries, I'm sure I've seen some of the text before. I should have said earlier that the snipers were part of HQ Coy and would be assigned to different Coys according to their needs, there were around 50 snipers in the Regiment.

I forgot to mention, my dad said he was the first of the 4th Batt to land on Uncle beach. He also said that a 12 year old boy appeared when he was off the beach pointing out German positions. Dad and his corporal captured the gun crew of a large gun emplacement, they put 10 to 12 rounds through the air vent slits from 300 yards range and the Germans surrendered. When they took the gun crew prisoner, a German shepherd (dog) wouldn't let him into the emplacement, he had to shoot it to gain access, he was quite upset when he told me.

When they were advancing on Middelburg, he and his snipers were on the narrow bank of the canal and C Coy were on the other side with the railway track and a bit further back. As they advanced, dad spotted a machine gunner up ahead on the other side. He only saw his head but killed him, he was again quite upset about it, but said he had to shoot as a lot of C Coy would have been killed. He often said that he liked the German people, not the Nazi element of course.

It couldn't have been very nice to see the guys you were shooting, he said it took him 2 years to get over it.

Regards,
Ian.

 

Hi Ian,

The 241st Fd Coy RE. War Diary for 1944 states:

Nov 1, 05:25, "Exercise INFATUATE" (Assault on Walcheren) begins. O.C. and Recce Pty (Major SD Williams) and 2 Pl (Lt RHO Northcote) embark with 4 KOSB

I believe this would be with B and C companies of the 4th KOSB and the No4 Commandos. I would assume that your Dad was attached to B or C company as A and D Companies with Bn HQ of 4th KOSB followed on, in the second flight.

Cheers

Scott

 

Hi Scott,

I don't know the Coy he was attached to but I'm sure you are right. He did say that 4th KOSB were attached to No 4 Commando and they were close behind No4 Commando when they landed on Uncle beach, he said his landing was quite Quiet, I think he put that down to No4 Commando. I talked to one of the commandos when I was at the 70th or was it the 75th Anniversary celebrations. He said it was tougher on Uncle beach than landing on D Day! He's not with us now.

Regards,
Ian.