A great vignette from a British Army Journal article I've had on a drive for ages. 22 Armd Bde, 9 DLI, 141 RAC (Buffs) and others versus Para Regt Hubner (later 24 Regt of 8 FJD).
My Father was with G Battery (Mercers Troop) 5 RHA He was seriously wounded at Ecth on around 18th Jan 45 . Echt is 4 K from St Joost . Note from his journal about incident with Crocodiles. not sure if this was during attack on Echt. The push again, we got to Gwent (a great welcome) and then to Echt a village just taken by our chaps. The memory of the three KRR's (Kings Royal Rifles), being burned by our own Cromwell tanks flamethrower. Snipers were still holding out in the village, we had been firing very short range and a lot of cordite charges were around the side of our SP and they exploded I don't remember much more.
Thank you very much! Regiment Huebner consisted of two battalions and is one of those extremely poorly documented paratrooper units of the last days, which were quickly formed in the Netherlands and immediately thrown into battle. One is grateful for every detail, no matter how small.
`Mac` was `B` Company 9 DLI Commander MAJOR STANISLAUS ODO De BURGH SNAPE MACARTNEY Service Number: 52286 Although transferred to 9th DLI days before his death on 21st January 1945 his old parent regient of 2nd Royal Irish Fusiliers is shown by the CWGC despite documentation to the contrary the official designation was still `attached` The DLI account differs a little believing the Crocodiles were reluctant in their initial support (possibly because they were refuelling as per the document?) but certainly the Durham`s were far from happy . It was only when `D` Company 9th DLI pushed on that the support resumed . The initial company attempting to progress beyond the cross roads was `C` Company 9 DLI with 35 men posted as `missing` as well as those killed or wounded . `B` Company moving through to reach `C` Company stalled and `D` Company were ordered through them . Despite ferocious resistance `D` Company emerged through the village to the bridge beyond. The bridge having been one of `C` Companys original objectives some nights before. Kyle
Churchill Mark VII Crocodiles. I think the `Cromwell` reference was questioned here:- Analysis: Operational use of Churchill Crocodile flame throwers, NW Europe, June-October 1944 #37 Kyle
Yes sorry I forgot to mention I had posted elsewhere that it was a mistaken identification by my father.quote is unedited from my fathers journals
Thanks for sharing. Crocodile fratricide was quite common, as was mixing up Churchills and Cromwells. The Canadian post-op report on Op Veritable does it. The 2A&SH history calls all German tanks Tigers. I found quite a lot of Tiger IVs but I think I dreamt finding reference to a Tiger III. So don't feel bad for your Dad, he was in good company!
They were still on the go in Veritable but (if I recall correctly) the man himself had been wounded or promoted by then. Lexikon der Wehrmacht site gives some details and is updated quite often.
Cheers Kyle. There's always more to find with these battalion group battles. I've had similar trouble tracking offr cas in the CWGC site but I'm not complaining - count myself lucky I'm not tracking German casualties, or Brits 20yrs ago.
