62 Anti-Tank Regiment, Royal Artillery

I'm sorry to inform that I've made an error with the first photo. It's not at Sluis where the water tower was.

 

Hi,
We've just updated episode 11, which is now actually episode 12 and the first part of the 'Battle for Woensdrecht'.
It will take most likely 2 episodes more before the Resistance Group will appear.
After that (November 1944) 62.A-T.Rgt.RA will come in to view until March 1945, where the Resistance Group is placed under it's command and they have to face raids from another German specialized unit.
We were able to establish the identity of that German unit without a doubt.
It was the German equivalent of the British Royal Marines Commandos.
Special thanks to P.Wollendorf.

Episode 10 : 'The Paras vs the Polish'
Episode 12 : 'The race for the Beveland isthmus' (updated version)

 

Excellent stuff !

 

I've gone through my copy of the war diary for the 62nd Atk Regt for 1944, and it appears that May is missing. Given that at the end of April 1944 they were at Willingdon near Eastbourne, and at the beginning of June 1944 they were boarding ships at Tilbury in Essex, does anyone know what they were doing during May to get from the Sussex coast to Essex?

Thanks in advance for any help....

 

Good morning all,

I'm trying to establish whether any of the 62nd Anti-Tank Regiment RA were engaged during operations in the Orne Bridgehead around Breville from 10 - 13 June 1944. I think the 245th Battery were assigned to support 51st Highland Division but not sure when they would have moved into the bridgehead. Did they accompany 153 Brigade on 11th June?

Regards

Tom

 

Hi Tom,

I am looking at the war diary for 61st Anti-Tank Regiment and the first mention of 245 Battery being under command is on 13th June. I think that demonstrates the general assignment of the battery to support the division, but they could easily have been under command of a different subunit of the division on the 11th. Sorry that this isn't definitive either way.

I find I do also have the wd for the 62nd, but it doesn't say anything about battery assignments in the daily records. If you'd like a copy let me know, then you can look through the whole thing yourself. It might be on a different page.

 

Hi Chris,

Thanks, especially for offer of war diary. I've seen that 245 Battery has its own war diary at Kew so next time I go I'll dig that one out. I've got a few relevant books that I need to rummage through as well.

I suppose what I'm really pondering is whether there were pre-landing plans made for the assignment of armour and anti-tank units to 6th Airborne Division in order to provide it with the fire power it lacked in order to secure and hold a large bridgehead between the Orne and the Dives. Especially given assumptions about the direction from which German reinforcements would most likely arrive. I don't think the bridgehead area was a particularly great place for armour to operate in except from the south and perhaps that's where all of 6th Airborne's anti-tank resources were placed.

I need to do some more reading!

Regards

Tom

 

Hi Tom,

My filing and memory are terrible. I have that war diary too:

 

Maybe so, but much appreciated none the less!

About 2 years ago, after having spent an hour at Kew copying a diary I already had, I resolved to make the effort of actually recording what I already had. Although painful at the time, I think it was probably worth the effort although I'm not saying that I won't do that again! It also made me realise what a scatter gun attitude to research I was taking - and that certainly hasn't changed!

Anyway, many thanks for the page from 245 Battery's diary. So that seems to indicate that A Troop, 245 Battery were already in the Orne Bridgehead by the10th and that a further troop (C) were ordered into the bridgehead on the 13th June.

That's perfect, thanks.

Regards

Tom

 

Hi Spenceee,

Can I ask where you got your copy from? I've been looking to buy a copy of this book, but cannot find it (beyond the IWM Collections).

Best,
Jon

 

I'd also love to know that, but... if it was privately published in the 1980s, I expect there aren't many copies to go around

I have found a worldcat entry for the book. I can maybe view a copy by inter-library loan - not sure if you could do the same?

A soldier of the second world war : the memoirs of a junior officer who fought in the front line from 'D' Day in Normandy to V.E. day with many individual infantry and armoured regiments of the British, Canadian and Polish armies | WorldCat.org

 

Hi Chris,
I believe my grandfather was in 245 battery of the 62nd and was hoping you may have the war diary or any information would be much appreciated. I've applied for his service record but it's taking some time.

Many thanks,

Nathan

 

Nathan,

Chris C. is regularly here, but has posted many times. It might be best to send him a Private mEssage to alert. You have access after x5 posts.

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Hi Nathan,

I will be happy to share what I have with you. However we should wait until you can PM to exchange email addresses so that I can properly send you the files - they will get reduced in size if I post them here. Does that cover some of the time period during which your grandfather was serving? Any idea?

If you have to make 5 posts before you can PM, why not tell us anything you know about him?

 

I note that I still haven't been able to get a copy of A soldier of the second world war. It might be that when I'm next going to visit the UK I should ask (in advance) if it's possible to read or photograph a copy in a university library.

 

Thanks Chris,

I believe he was originally in the Lincolnshires but was transferred to 101st then 62nd anti tank regt royal artillery in 1943. It gets a bit confusing from this point on as family lore says he was "in tanks" but I believe 245 battery were in M10 tank destroyers.

 

Further to the above, I believe he landed in Normandy D-day+2, fought in France , Holland and a brief stint in Germany as a part of the occupying forces. Whilst in Holland he was MIA for a few days but managed to return to his unit.

 

Phew, he was one of the lucky ones to survive practically the whole campaign. Thank you for sharing!

I can definitely understand "in tanks" actually being "in tank destroyers". "What is a tank?" in the public's eye is a bit fuzzy.

 

Picking it up again, if someone can help me out with the 20-30 October War Diary pages. Thnks in advance

 

Philip,
Here are the pages you requested. I have the full diary so if you need anything from the appendices let me know.
Derek