Markings and Insignia for Armour in the BEF

...and a triangle left under. 1st Division's divisional cavalry ? 13/18 Royal Hussars. Which forest did they abandon in ?

 

Vickers with the diamonds and aos 2-

I thought it might be 4th/7th Dragoon Guards.
There is a name on the rear of the turret but I cannot quite make it out.
If anyone can it may help.

Cheers
Kevin

 

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Kevin - the scan is too blurry for a definitive answer - although at first sight it looks like BLENHEIM, but that is just a guess. I think I have seen a MkVI with the name BLENHEIM before though can't think what regiment if there was anything to identify it.....

Best, Nick

Hi Nick,

I know of a BLENHEIM Light belonging to B Sqn 10th Hussars. Of the other 8 BLENHEIMS I have listed none are Mk VI Lights.

Cheers
Kevin

 

Good shot Bob,

Does anyone have a better shot of the rear turret of GOOD LUCK as the Germans have made a bit of a mess of the tactical sign here. I'm hoping it is a B Coy square but just can't tell from this one!

Nick
Just found another picture of "Good Luck" on eBay:



Jan
Here's another nice picture of Good Luck:



Jan

 

Hi Nick,

I know of a BLENHEIM Light belonging to B Sqn 10th Hussars. Of the other 8 BLENHEIMS I have listed none are Mk VI Lights.

Cheers
Kevin

There is quite a well-known IWM picture of a 2 Bn Lincolns Bren carrier of 3 Division with the name Blenheim on the front.

Andrew

 

...and a triangle left under. 1st Division's divisional cavalry ? 13/18 Royal Hussars. Which forest did they abandon in ?

Last mention of 13/18 Hussars in Ellis is counter attacking on the evening of 27th May in the Warneton area - battle of the Ypres-Comines canal. Funnily enough not too far from where my grandad lost his leg in WW1. I know they lost all their tanks but if you look at a map - albeit a modern one, there's not too many Bois or Bos I should say, between there and Dunkirk. Ploegseert? The old Plugstreet wood of WW1 fame? Or Calmeynbos, actually in de Panne? There is a country park and now a golf course at Palingbeek, which would appear to be on the line of their advance if the tank in the picture was knocked out in action. They did take heavy casualties on 27th May?

 

Last mention of 13/18 Hussars in Ellis is counter attacking on the evening of 27th May in the Warneton area - battle of the Ypres-Comines canal. Funnily enough not too far from where my grandad lost his leg in WW1. I know they lost all their tanks but if you look at a map - albeit a modern one, there's not too many Bois or Bos I should say, between there and Dunkirk. Ploegseert? The old Plugstreet wood of WW1 fame? Or Calmeynbos, actually in de Panne? There is a country park and now a golf course at Palingbeek, which would appear to be on the line of their advance if the tank in the picture was knocked out in action. They did take heavy casualties on 27th May?

It seems that they spent quite a bit of time laying up in woods as they moved out of Belgium. Apparently, they had lost 16 tanks already by 20th May and there were a number of woods in which they might have left these.

Andrew

 

Hopefully not on before, interesting line up of dozens of Matildas at Nantes from ebay . Captured I assume .

 

Interesting photos, but not Matildas. These are light tanks Mk VIc.

 

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One more photo that came in the post today.
2 names on the tank. 1. Champace ? the other hard to see Biffild ?. on the back of the photo says St Malo.
Keith

 

I'd guess 'Champagne' and 'Buffalo' but it is only a guess.

 

I'd guess 'Champagne' and 'Buffalo' but it is only a guess.

Agreed.

Andrew

 

One more photo that came in the post today.
2 names on the tank. 1. Champace ? the other hard to see Biffild ?. on the back of the photo says St Malo.
Keith

The 28 on Champagne indicates 5th Royal Inniskilling Dragoon Guards, who left a lot of their tanks at Malo-les-Bains. I think you have another winner there Keith. How do you find them?

Andrew

 

Thanks guys, just spend toooooooo much time on ebay. Thought it was Champagne and i forgot to put 28 on the info. You get so much info from the photos and you lot out there.
Keith

 

Nice photos Keith and top ident, Andrew ! It is a shame that there are few veterans of the 1940 campaign still around to share these images with. We're seeing identifiable views of their abandoned equipment and scenes that have remained unseen by British eyes for more than seventy years.

 

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Could we assume that CHAMPAGNE is from 3/C troop? and BUFFALO from 2/B troop? We have names like ALPINE HUT, COMMANDER, HENGIST, HORSA etc. Has anyone put forward an organisation for 5 Inks with the known names in it?



- no, wait a minute, I've just seen the Tac sign on Champagne and it's 'C' Squadron, which fits with the name, or could it be the 3rd troop of C Squadron?

Nick

I have been collecting bits and pieces with a view to writing up a summary of their markings. Have you a view on the colours of their TAC signs? For example the circle on Champagne?

Andrew

 

One more, you can just see the British sign O and /\ near the German tank recovery unit marking.
Keith