51st HD Pilgrimage to Holland

Funny, as I see a lot of vehicles in the course of the year, and suspect some of these old dears are familiar. But it's somehow special to see them in the context of town streets - particularly ones they may well have travelled before.
(And a fully restored Autocar! - very nice.)

Great stuff.

~A

Adam,

I haven't seen the name Autocar in over 20 years. They used to make some heavy duty trucks here in N. America and have a long history with military vehicles:

http://www.wlu.ca/lcmsds/cmh/back%20issues/CMH/volume%2010/issue%201/Pulsifer%20-%20Canada's%20First%20Armoured%20Unit%20-%20Raymond%20Brutinel%20and%20the%20Canadian%20Motor%20Machine%20Gun%20Brigades%20of%20the%20First%20World%20War.pdf

 

Hi, first post here.

My Grandad is CSM James Petrie and the photos and videos are absolutely amazing.

I am still searching for more if there are any.

Thank you to all that made his day so special.

 

Here are then. Your Grandad 1949 and October 2009 Vught with Reg Leadbeater MM (in wheelchair) & One of his Anti Tank boys Richard Massey. James Petrie at Huize Bergen, Vught.

 

Thank you very much 51Highland, very much appreciated.

 

Thought I would post this, to me it sums up the word "emotion". A old soldier alone with his thoughts. He was by no means the only one over that particular weekend.!!!

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to CSM James Petrie, 89 today! x

 

66 years this year. Are there any trips planned again?

 

Happy Birthday to CSM James Petrie, 90 years young yesterday.

A fantastic lunch for 4 generations of his family was had yesterday. Photo (or 2) to arrive here shortly.

 

Thought you might find this of interest. The following is copy of a newspaper cutting which is too flimsy to handle and scan; It relates to the attack at Schijndel Holland, (somewhere my father had a particularly bad time) and the action that would earn Reg Leadbeater his MM.

Camerons charged and Nazis fled
By a Military observer

Firing Brens and sten-guns as they charged, a company of Cameron Highlanders routed German Paratroopers from their dug in positions. Germans leaped from their slit trenches and fled.
The Nazi paratroop headquarters attempted to make a stand in a group of farm buildings further on. Firing from the windows of the houses, they drove back the first wave of assaulting Highlanders.
Corporal Reginald Leadbeater of Bridge Street, Pembridge, Herefordshire, crawled forward with a 77 grenade and threw it on the thatched roof of the German strong point, and set the thatch on fire. The Germans were then driven from the positions.

“It was quite an exciting battle”, the company commander told me, “When we got about a hundred yards from the enemy trenches, the whole company charged, firing everything they’d got. We burst right through, although there were still Spandau’s firing from our flanks. The Germans in front of us must have taken to their heels. I stepped on one German in a douvre, but he was the only live Nazi in the position.
The charge must have put the wind up the Nazis, for we smashed right through their line into the heart of their positions”.

Sergeant James Petrie, of Lilac Cottage, Birkhill, Dundee, told me; “We carried on for about three-quarters of a mile, into the enemy lines and then we hit some resistance in a group of farm buildings”.
“My Officer had been wounded early on, and I was in charge of the platoon. This farmhouse was apparently the headquarters of the Nazi paratroopers, and they defended it desperately”.
“The first section was fired at from the windows and the Germans also threw grenades. I thought that there was only one thing to do; make the house too uncomfortable to hold”.
“I asked for volunteers to go forward and put a grenade on the thatch roof. Corporal Reginald Leadbeater volunteered; crawled forward with a 77 grenade and lobbed it onto the roof. Soon the thatch was blazing and the firing from the house stopped”.
“When the flames died down, he went forward with another grenade and set it going again. That cleared the Germans out of the house”.
“Actually we weren’t in too comfortable a position, for we were well forward of the rest of the battalion, and the rest of the companies coming after us had struck a lot of opposition. I believed we were cut off. However, the Germans didn’t know that, and they began to come out and give themselves up. They had bags of grenades and ammunition. We held the position until morning, and by that time the Germans behind us had been mopped up. It was quite a party while it lasted”.

 

The National Archives | DocumentsOnline | Image Details

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=45460&d=1297606816

 

To all.

CSM James Petrie (Jock) passed away today, aged 90, after a short illness.

RIP Grandad

Lee x

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachments/ww2-museums-events-places-see/22326d1257700348t-51st-hd-pilgrimage-holland-jp1949enh-jpg

http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachments/ww2-museums-events-places-see/22327d1257700348t-51st-hd-pilgrimage-holland-jimrichardreg-jpg


http://www.ww2talk.com/forum/attachments/ww2-museums-events-places-see/22328d1257700348t-51st-hd-pilgrimage-holland-james-petrie-huize-bergen-jpg

CSM James Petrie

1921 - 2011

 

Me and my Son were in Schijndel, October 23rd for their 75th Liberation anniversary celebrations. We had the honour to be asked to lay a wreath on behalf of the 51st HD and 5th Camerons in particular. We were accompanied by one of the local school children. It was a brilliant day.