53RD Medium Regiment June 1944

Hi,
Map with Grid References 946809 and 958817 marked on it.

Regards

Danny

 

Cheers Danny,
That's helped enormously.

Graham.

 

Hi Graham,
Sorry not to have responded sooner; iv'e been absent without leave and not visited the site recently.

I will look at your War Diary for 319 and be in touch on return from holiday in a few weeks time.

Cheers,
John

 

Graham,
Would you have the War Diary for 319 for the previous 2 weeks ie between 6th June and 16th ?

John

 

John,
Have a busy day today,will upload it for you later today.

Graham.

 

Hi John,
June 14th might be of interest to you.
If you need any more pages give me a shout.
Graham.

 

Hi John, ( bring some sunshine back with you.)
Had a further look at 319 rasc diary and 53 med regt gets a mention on July 19th- 1944, they moved to a new location.

cheers......Graham.

 

Graham and Danny,

Thanks so much for the information supplied. Sorry not to have responded sooner but had an unplanned operation a few weeks ago and have just (today) returned from a planned holiday that turned out to be good convalescence.
I feel from a quick read through your posts that there is some very useful information within that relates to the 65th Medium Regiment that can help me.

I will read in more depth over the next few days and, if i may, be back with some further questions.
Cheers,
John

 

Danny,
Reading through your posting on 30th April and the reference to 1571 Platoon.

Would you have the location of the Map Reference 7/E/2/093783 where 6

 

(sorry, caught reply key)

7/E/2/093783 where 65th Med Regt were located.

also on the 11th June Ammunition delivered to 65th and ''reload at B.M.A.'' .....what does BMA mean?

as the map ref is for the 65 RHQ I assume that the batteries (222 and 223) were close by and that the ammunition delivery is straight to the batteries. The WD for the Regiment does not specify battery locations. Is there any further information on 1571 Platoons activities that may give a clue to 65ths gun location on these dates. My dad's time in Normandy finished on the 13th June when he was wounded. I am trying to locate where his Battery (222) was located on that date so that i can perhaps visit the site.

Graham, i don't know if you can add anything out of 319s records

Cheers,
John

 

Hi,
Sorry to say there are no other map references in the War Diary for the unit for the period that you are interested in or any indication to battery locations.

In fact the only other map reference is when they moved to map reference 7E/5 956816 on the 17th June.

B.M.A. is Beach Maintenance Area. Mike covers Sword Beach here Sword Beach.

Map with the grid reference below.

Regards

Danny

 

Hi John,

65 medium regt, RA. (for the benefit of other members who may be following this thread)

6th and 7th June 1944.
Unit arrived at M&N Beaches on the coast of France off Courselles Sur Mer.

8th June 1944.
Disembarked and proceded to Knife Frankie assembly area. (approx. 0300 hrs)
Place, Coleville Sur Orne.
Unit in action at Coleville in sp of 6 Airborne Div. Major S.W.O. Seligman RA, commanding 222 BTY landed on D-Day and gave fire support to 1 SS Bde (special service) as F.O.O. (Forward Observation Officer)

10th June 1944.
Place, Coleville Sur Orne.
Unit in sp. 51(H) Div, and 6 Airborne Div.

11th June 1944.
Place, Colville Sur Orne.
Fire plan fired in sp of attack by 5 Black Watch on Breville 1374. (1374 map reference)

12th June 1944.
Place, Coleville Sur Orne.
922643 Gnr Paton E. 222 Med Bty RA killed by accidental discharge of his Sten Gun.

13th June 1944.
Place Colville.
Fire posn fired in sp of 51 (H) Div.
Light residues reported to unit. Disembarkation had been delayed by bad weather.

20th June 1944.
Place, Colville.
Unit now under command of 51 Div. until further orders.

That's all I have on 65 med regt RA.

Regards........Graham.

 

Graham.

If anyone is interested in the thread i do have the full War Diaries for the 65th Medium Regt. and would be happy to assist.

Thanks for your help on my most recent inquiry.
Cheers...John

 

If anyone is still after a look at the war diary for 53rd Medium Regiment, I can post up some extracts here that I copied for April - June, and September 1944 (WO171/1055):

1 May 1944 [no entry]

2 May 1944 OXTED
Assault Scale of Regt returned from exercise FABIUS.

3 May 1944 [no entry]

4 – 21 May 1944
Regt engaged in individual training and maintenance.

21 May 1944
Orders received for Regt to move to final concentration area.
Assault Scale of Regt moved to Camp A15. Remainder of Regt remained at OXTED.

22 May 1944
[no entry]

23 – 26 May 1944 Camp A15 (Wickham)
Complete new set of vehicles drawn for Assault Party. This period spent in waterproofing vehs and equipment. We now all believe that the big mission is about to start.

25 May 1944 Camp A15 (Wickham)
Marshalling is about to start. All camps are sealed and everyone is behind barbed wire except for a few left outside the camp to guard vehicles.

26 May 1944 Camp A15 (Wickham)
Officers and a certain number of NCOs briefed on the operation by the CO. Briefing was carried out by means of Bogus Maps. We can now see that the “Invasion” is about to take place. The organisation is “terrific”.

27 – 28 May 1944 Camp A15 (Wickham)
All men and NCOs ‘briefed’ by their respective BC’s, TL’s, etc and an air of tension has appeared.

29 May 1944 Camp A15 (Wickham)
Orders received that Marshalling would commence on 30 May. The Regt is marshalling as follows:
LST 383 RHQ & 209 Recce Parties under the CO.
LST 384 1 line jeep of Sigs under Cpl. Potts.
LST 385 210 Recce Party under Major J.E. Marnham [??]
LST 625 BHQ 210 & C Tp 210 Bty under Capt. Appleton.
LST 626 209 Bty under Capt. Barnett.
LST 627 RHQ & D Tp 210 Bty under Capt. Davey.
1700 The CO spoke to all ranks and wished us all good luck in the forthcoming operations, all [sic: and?] expressed his confidence in us.

30 May 1944
0800 Craft loads moved to their respective Marshalling Camps.
LST 383, 384, 385 to Camp A14.
LST 625, 626, 627 to Camp A1.
The rest of the day spent in settling in at our “new abodes” wondering how long we would be there.

31 May 1944
Craft Loads drawing 2 x 24 hr packs for feeding the first two days of the operation. Orders given that Craft Loads would leave the camp to proceed to Embarkation Hards on 1 June 44.
LST 625 at 0700 hrs.
LST 626 at 0800 hrs.
LST 627 at 1150 hrs.
Who knows what June will reveal.

I think I probably copied it in the hope that the assault party might have been issued with Austin K5 3-tonners. Anyone have photos that might help with that hunch?

Regards

Tom

 

Searching for more information, I came across this great website and interesting photo - can anyone identify the vehicle from the WD number?

53rd (London) Medium Regiment RA TA



Regards

Tom

 

This is a great site for anyone interested in medium regiments in NW Europe...excellent set of photos, very scarce pictures.

 

In answer to the first post on this thread, here is war diary of 53rd Medium Regt for the first two weeks in June 1944 (again WO171/1055) (the war diary is in manuscript but relatively well-written so should be pretty accurate):

1 June 1944 Camp A1/Camp A14
The Regt was Marshalled as follows:
1. Recce Parties & RHQ incl CO, 2 i/c, RSO, Ass/Adj & Sigs. Offr riding in CO’s M9 (1/2 track), Z2 (Humber 4x4) & Sur 1 (Svy 15 cwt 4x4) with drivers, surveyors, LM gunners & signal personnel. 209 Bty party consisting of BC & CPO in BC’s M9 & Comd Post truck accompanied by their teams. This party travelled in LST 383. 210 Bty party similarly composed travelling in LST 385. A further Royal Signals line jeep travelled in LST 384 in charge of Cpl. E. POTTS. Col. Fernyhough & Maj. J.E. Marnham [??] acted as OC Tps on their respective craft.

2. Main Party. RHQ & “D” Tp embarked on LST 627, 209 Bty on LST 626 & 210 BHQ & “C” Tp on LST 625 with Capts DAVEY, BARNETT & APPLETON as OsC Tps.

Recce Parties left camp in reverse order of craft loads between 0600 & 0900 hrs arriving in “boxes” in GOSPORT by 1130, where they remained until approx 1800 hrs, subsisting on the “bag ration” of biscuits & chocolate & the tea brought round at intervals by the area authorities. Loading was completed in daylight & the ships moved out into SPITHEAD by nightfall. The main body spent the day in final preparations for embarkation.

2 June 1944
The situation for all parties remained the same for 24 hrs. Those afloat watched the spectacle of the steady assembly of the invasion fleet.

3 June 1944
Craft Loads 625 & 626 left Camp A1 at 0700 & 0800 hrs respectively but the third party was turned back at the gate & spent a further night in camp. Recce parties remained afloat remaining short of tobacco but getting mail ashore.

4 June 1944
Craft Loads 625 & 626, having spent the night at the roadside, moved down the hards & commenced loading late in the day. Serial 627 moved to the “boxes” at 1400 hrs & followed 625 & 626 down to the hards, where they were able to begin loading at 2330 hrs, on the termination of loading by 625 & 626, which two serials had been more than 24 hrs in the “boxes”.

5 June 1944
Craft load 627 was aboard by 0600 hrs – having been warned that the ship would sail at that hour whether loaded or not. It became known to OsC Craft that day would habe been “D-Day” but for the weather, & that the party was “on” tomorrow. The recce party sailed at nightfall: messages of encouragement from Gen’s EISENHOWER & MONTGOMERY were communicated to the tps. A service was held on the deck of LST 383. Genuine maps were issued by OsC tps & for the first time all officers & senior NCOs knew their destination. It was, for landsmen, a rough crossing.

6 June 1944
Recce Parties had their first view of the FRENCH coast shortly after dawn. Streams of LCsA & LCsI went past in the early hours. The coast soon became recognisable from our table of landmarks & large-scale maps. Lines of splashes indicated shelling of the beach & beached LCT’s, beach-signs & beach-group personnel at work became identifiable. The sea remained choppy & the wind combined to interfere with the performance of rhino ferries. Maj. J.E. Marnham went ashore with one rhino-load from his craft in the afternoon & found everything proceeding apace except the rhinos. The line of seaside dwellings appeared intact from afar but was later seen to be only a façade amid ruins. Sniping & MG fire from several houses was dealt with by small fighting ships of the Corvette or Frigate type.
Continuous sp was provided by larger naval units incl at least one battleship.
The tank-deck of LST 383 having been cleared (the DUKWS swimming & the vehicles forming a rhino-load) a bomb dropped about 50 yards from the ship damaged the elevator mechanism, & the 3 tnr lorries remaining on the Main Deck were off-loaded across an improvised gangway onto the Main Deck of LST 385. The vehs of this Regt had already been lowered to the tk deck. It became evident that we should not be able to unlad our vehicles that day due to rhino troubles, & after watching the glider borne tps pass over & cut loose above the Orne br-head we retired for the night. Most of the ships pulled away from the coast & made smoke. W’less contact was est with other parties who had all arrived offshore during the day, and with CRA 3 Div HQ ashore.

7 June 1944 COLLEVILLE
During the small hours the first batches of enemy prisoners began to come aboard – men of local def units, soaked [??], sorry & assorted. A party of 35 was brought on to LST 325 [sic] & guarded by RA elements aboard until first light when the Navy agreed to take over on the Army’s departure. RHQ & 209 Bty partiews were first shore, followed by 210 recce party and landing on QUEEN beach between OUISTREHAM & LUC-SUR-MER. Contact was soon est with 3 Div (all veh waded successfully) & a gun posn was found a few miles inland near COLLEVILLE. The main body began to arrive between 1500 & 2000 hours with very few veh casualties, those which occurred (incl one gun & one ½ track) being due to premature unloading of rhino ferries in deep water. The Regt deployed in sp 3 Br Inf Div operating NORTH of CAEN in the LEBISEY area & 6 A/B Div in the ORNE Br-head. The first M Tgt was fired at approx 2100 hrs. There was some hostile air action particularly after dark culminating in bombing of A Tp posn at 0200 hrs. A RASC amn lorry went up & 2 guns were put out of action & casualties were caused incl Sgt. GREEN & L/Sgt. HICKMAN. CAPT. STEVENSON & his team rejoined us at midday but continued to have dealings with the SS fmn for several days.

8 June 1944 COLLEVILLE
Brisk sp was provided under control of Bty Ops, Air OP & CsRA 3 Br Inf & 6 A/B Divs. Shelreps began to come in & were collated by ACBO at 3 Div.
CRA 6 Airborne Div congratulated the regt on its shooting which was largely instrumental in staving off German counter-attacks.

9 June 1944 COLLEVILLE
C Tp OP with KSLI opposite LEBISEY WOOD was knocked out during the night – Lt. MORRISON & his telephonist were wounded & evac. L/Bdr WARE (who came through the Cdo landing) was killed. We produced 2 guns from the 2 bombed & one drowned eqpts. A replacement for the third was obtained. The chimneys in the COLOMBELLES factory area are giving trouble as they overlook the plain. We are getting a number of bombards on HB’s now.

10 June 1944 COLLEVILLE
A destructive shoot on an enemy OP was carried out by 76 Fd using one gun of 209 at 1115 hrs. We remain u/c 3 Br Inf Div & 65 Med u/c 6 A/B Div. 150 Fd & 4 RHA now u/c 51 (H) Div who are moving into the ORNE br-head. The front is stabilising & sp leass hectic. An attack was however made by Inf Bde on CAMBES – RUR fwd & KOSB following up with the intention of passing through towards GALMANCHES. A fire plan was arranged by the CRA & CO & an OP deployed in conjunction with 7 Fd. The attack met with hy opposition but succeeded in advancing into CAMBES, & both Bns consolidated there. The fire plan commenced at 1500 hrs & further sp was given by obs shoots from “A” Tp Comd in OP SW of GAZELLE. We are still also firing gp concs ordered on rear link & the “VERMOUTH” feature (LEBISEY ridge & wood) is receiving considerable attention.

11 June 1944 COLLEVILLE
The Regt was grouped under 150 Fd & 65 Med Regts at 1315 hrs to sp 153 Bde 51 (H) Div. We are on 3 Br Inf, 51 (H) & 6 A/B Div RA comd nets. HQ 4 AGRA assumed comd at midday. Sp chiefly bombards & obs shooting from our Ops. A bomb landed in “A” Tp tractor lines & Capt. BARNES was hit & evac to UK.

12 June 1944 COLLEVILLE
Several “U” Tgts were engaged during darkness. An Air OP shot 209 on the “Z” [??] net & further Div Tgts were received from 76 Fd OP. Several bombards were directed on hostile mortars. We are giving more sp on the rt front of 3 Div – GALMANCHE & LA BIJUDE being frequent Tgts fro 8 or 9 Inf Bdes. 209 Bty provides reps with the fwd HQ on that side, 210 at 185 Bde on the left. Shortly before midnight HQ 3 Br Inf Div was bombed & lines to 4 AGRA & 3 Div were cut. Gnr. BENN of 210 Bty was killed by a splinter – possibly from exploding amn as a result of bombing near D Tp posn. DF tasks were engaged during the small hours. Line comn to 3 Div was re-est by 0200 hrs.

13 June 1944
LOOKS LIKE I MISSED A PAGE HERE (doh!)

14 June 1944 COLLEVILLE
A fire plan was engaged in sp 51 (H) Div attack on ST HONORINE. This attack was initially successful but a counter-attack developed at 1100 hrs, phase II did not develop & in spite of heavy engagement of DF tasks most obj had to be evacuated. HB work was done by 209 Bty with Air OP obs & a number of “M” Tgts was engaged before midnight.

 

This is also a great source of information for us non army types who cannot decipher the army jargon! Being a naval person, I'm finding it hard to understand all the different army structures and attachments to different units. My father served with the 53rd and I would dearly love to know more about his time in the regiment, I don't know whether he was 209 or 210 and have no idea how to find out! The information you have posted above is so valuable, Thanks.

 

Hi Sheldrake have you any more of this regimental history? Where can I get a copy of this? is it in print?

 

Teaclipper

If you not already then you need to obtain his service records - forms are here - Requests for personal data and service records: a detailed guide

If you aready have his service records I would suggest you upload them so members can help to decipher them

TD