Markings and Insignia for Armour in the BEF

"Hal O' the Wind" is the name ascribed to a Sherman Mark V of the 1st Lothian and Borders Yeomanry in 1944. (http://mmpbooks.biz/mmp/tables/Vehicle_Names_V3.pdf)

Would it be too much of a stretch to suggest that this was a predecessor? The regiment were part of 51st Highland Division and surrendered at St.Valery, but I think they'd lost all their tanks by then - some in the Maginot Line actions but more in early June in the fighting around Abbeville/Quesnoy.

 

Deleted

 

Thanks for posting those.

Some more 9th Lancers
T5148
T5169 KESTREL
T5177
T5178
T5794
T5795
T5797 EAGLE
T5798 MALLARD

I would love to know the name of the tank on the right BLACK??? BLACKBIRD??? BLACKSWAN????
Anyone any thoughts?

Cheers

Kevin

 

Hi

I'm pretty sure that it's BLACKCOCK T5787.

Also re the 1LBH MkVIb. Another photo shows that the Vehicle in front of it is named ROB ROY.

hope this helps

regards

Jamie

 

Other 1LBH "BLACK" names BLACK DOUGLAS, BLACK AGNES, BLACK PRINCE, BLACK DWARF, BLACK KNIGHT, BLACK ABBOT.
I don't have BLACKCOCK listed anywhere but that is not to say that It wasn't used as a 1LBH name.

 

BLACKCOCK was with reference to the 9th Lancers MkVIc, not LBH.

 

Sorry Jamie,

I mis-read the initial post.
In that case BLACKCOCK fits in with EAGLE, KESTREL and MALLARD bird theme.

Cheers

Kevin

 

This Matilda MkI looks to be named 'Glenorchy' which was a name used by 7 RTR.



The location is captioned in an album as "Loretto - Höhe" which would be the Lorretto Heights battlefield of WW1 close to Vimy. It would seem likely to be a 7 RTR casualty of the Arras counter-attack.

 

Deleted

 

Nick, unfortunately, the photographer was more interested in the girls than the armour !



He's captioned it 'Small acquaintance' or somesuch.

 

Captured British tank with German tank men looking at it, looks to be on a training area. is it a Ex BEF tank .
Keith

 

The AoS '4' (on red) indicates Queen's Bays of 1st Armoured Division and this is backed up by their embarkation code '0132' also displayed. They left Poole on 19th May with 117 vehicles and 12 motorcycles.

 

Here is a link i found on the Queen's Bays of 1st Armoured Division .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/82/a2862182.shtml
One other tank photo from epay.

 

There's some detail about the Queen's Bays in the Regimental History of the 9th Lancers 1936-1945 by Bright i.e.

http://www.9th12thlancersmuseum.org/archive/journals/regimental-histories/regimental-histories-1936-1945-bright/37947

Including some recounting of some of their battles (and some of their tank losses) etc. whilst in the BEF (and later). Which are interesting to browse through (perhaps ?) in there.

I was following them (the Bays) for a bit as my granddad had some friends in the Bays in the BEF he was writing about, I think some of whom may have been pictured (in earlier days) here:
[sharedmedia=gallery:images:29452]
...but he (Gd) seems to have lost touch with them whilst in the BEF (as since/though I've not yet seen him make any further reference to them again)

By the looks of it (in agreement with some comments in the posts above) according to:
http://www.9th12thlancersmuseum.org/archive/journals/regimental-histories/regimental-histories-1936-1945-bright/37804

As regards the 9th Lancers remaining tanks around the time of their return to the UK, these were apparently moved down to the railway station at Le Nous, loaded on to a train of flat trucks destined for Cherbourg, but intercepted by the Germans. (They say, and "not heard of again")

Some of which 9th Lancer tanks I guess (i.e. post #583) are posted above

Gd was in RHQ section of the 9th Lancers, so perhaps one of those pictured there was one of his?!
...shows 9th Lancers Mk.VIc sitting in an unknown German barracks. Seems they didn't go directly to the blast furnaces.
(Not sure quite what he'd think of that :wink: )

There's also a very detailed map of the 9th Lancers movements during their period in France 1940 in this History (of the Rouen-Amiens area) : http://www.9th12thlancersmuseum.org/archive/journals/regimental-histories/regimental-histories-1936-1945-bright/37664

All the best,

Rm.

Ps. There is a book written by Jack Merewood about the Bays. Called "To War with the Bays" :

http://www.amazon.co.uk/To-War-Bays-Remembers-1939-1945/dp/0952214113


He's also quoted in some detail on the BBC website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/62/a2468162.shtml

And has a lot of info (about him and his WW2 letters) posted here: http://www.openwriting.com/archives/to_war_with_the_bays/
Much/in fact most of which is from later WW2 with the Bays but there is an all to brief bit about the Bays in 1940's France i.e.
http://www.openwriting.com/archives/2007/06/7_france_1.php#more

Though he was part of a replacement crew and therefore mostly followed them there in May/June in the trucks. At one point he says that because they were rushing forwards so quickly he actually thought that they "were advancing even winning maybe, but were in for a rude awakening..."

Gd mentions passing a chap called "Buck" whom he knew in the Bays, whilst in France, and Jack Merewood talks a bit about a fellow he knew in the Bays called "Bob (Robert?) Buckland" from Swindon, also called "Buck". Which is how through a "googled coincidence" that I found out all of the stuff above - about Jack.

Rm.

 

New stuff pops up all the time on eBay.de

 

Hi all,

Cany Barville 1940









Is there a list of crews by tanks?

Mathieu

 

Can't find a list as such but I'm sure someone on here will have one. On this site: http://www.1stlothiansandborderyeomanry.co.uk/campaign_in_france.html I found 1st Lothian and Borders, cavalry regiment of 51st Highland Division (the '2' insignia is Divisional cavalry as far as I know) in Cany on 10th June:
"At Cany B Squadron troop went forward to test a crossing, but the enemy were in considerable force and two tanks were lost. The Squadron was ordered to hold the enemy on this line." Under the paragraph detailing action that day it has "LOSSES: L/Sgt Foley, Tpr Billy Bainbridge, Tpr Buchanan, Tpr Johnson, Tpr Keir. As Vickers VIB had a crew of three, that looks like two tanks but one tank commander survived? Not sure if that helps?

 

Deleted

 

I'm presuming the info on the web site was culled from the War Diary - but I admit, I don't know. And of course, 'losses' could mean missing, POW, or wounded as well as killed.

 

The episode with the two 1LBH tanks at Cany-Barville is recorded in some detail in Saul David's "Churchill's sacrifice of the Highland Division". They were from B Squadron and were, according to David, named Blue Bonnet (the one that crashed into the building) and Bannockburn (though as LondonNik says the other one in the photo appears to be called Blake).

Of the crews Blue Bonnet had B Sqn's 2 IC Captain Pat Turcan as commander while Bannockburn/Blake had Sgt Foley as commander. Both tanks were hit by Gernan AT guns at close range and knocked out. Capt Turcan got away from the tanks but was wounded and captured while trying to escape from the village. His acting gunner, TSM Hogarth was wounded but escaped (he was captured at St Valery) while the driver Tpr Bainbridge was killed. Sgt Foley was also killed when his tank was hit. Foley's gunner, Tpr Wright escaped but his driver Cpl Stevenson was badly wounded and was captured.

Hope that helps