Hi, I'm new here and was wondering if anyone has any information regarding the reconnaissance corps. My grandfather served in the corps until he left the Army in 1946 as a CSM I believe he served in 47th recce and was tied to the Gloucestershire regiment until 1944 before transferring to 80 recce. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Cheers
Canadakid Welcome aboard ! Just sit tight and wait for our resident RECCE experts to come to your aid, Best regards Ron
Hi Canadakid Welcome to the forum, great to have another Recce on board. What is your Grandfathers name? Have you applied for his military records? Do you have any photos of him that you might like to share? 47th Reconnaissance Regiment 3rd December 1941: 47th Independent Reconnaissance Company 6th June 1942: 47th Independent Reconnaissance Squadron (06.06.1942 - 27.10.1943) http://ww2talk.com/f...-sqn-war-diary/ 80th (Holding and Training) Reconnaissance Regiment [1943-1944] The Regiment was formed in January, 1943, as a Holding and Training regiment from the 48th, 76th, and 77th Independent Reconnaissance Squadrons. The 80th was renamed the 38th Reconnaissance Regiment in October, 1944, but did the same work and remained stationed at Morecambe. Commanding Officers Lt-Col. J. S. Nisbet, Lt-Col. G. P. Fawcett. You should get hold of the following books: Only the Enemy in front by Richard Docherty The British Reconnaissance Corps in World War II also by Richard Docherty This Band of Brothers By Jeremy Taylor The last book (This Band of Brothers) is very hard to come by but I can assist with a digital copy if you PM me your eMail address Service Records https://www.gov.uk/government/organi...to-information It does take around 12 months unfortunately. When you apply, make sure you ask for the FULL records. If you don't have the service number then put the date of birth on the form. Also the date when he died would be useful. Cost is 30 Quid. Cheers Paul
Hi canada, welcome to the forum , nice to have another recce member on here. There is lots of recce info on this site and people to help with any info you need.enjoy cheers dave
Hello Canadakid, Hello and welcome to the Forum. A great answer from Paul. Can I just add that the 80th (Holding and Training) Reconnaissance Regiment [1943-1944], was stationed at Middleton Army Camp just outside Morecambe, Lancashire. This location was also used for Overseas Training with live munitions being used, prior to being Postings. It was at this Location that my late Father was injured with a misthrown Phosphorus Grenade and was lucky enough to be tranferred quickly to the RAF Burns Hospital that had been set up at the Midland Railway Hotel in Morecambe. Regards Tom
You probably need to see the service records to get everything sorted out in the right order. There was a 47th Independent Reconnaissance Squadron, as mentioned above, which merged with two other independent squadrons to form the 38th Reconnaissance Regiment in October 1943. 38 Recce never saw service and was disbanded in October 1944 and 80 Recce, the holding and training regiment, took over the name. As far as I am aware (which isn't very far), CSM wouldn't be a rank in the Recce Corps, it would be SSM, but I will stand corrected by the more knowledgeable. So if CSM is correct that might suggest a transfer to an infantry unit when the Corps disbanded in 1946. Graham
Graham, The Recce Regiments were all integrated into the RAC in 1944, but continued to wear the Recce Badge. I stand to be corrected, but as far as I can remember the RAC had the rank of CSM. Regards Tom
CSM or SSM was not a RANK in any outfit. Such a guy would have the RANK of WO2 and the appointment of CSM or SSM (the title being according to whether they had companies or squadrons). There would be several other WO2s within the regiment who were not CSMs or SSMs. Chri
Forgot to add this 38th (Welsh) Reconnaissance Regiment [1942-1945] The Reconnaissance Regiment for the 38th (Welsh) Infantry Division from its formation in October 1943 from 38th, 47th & 55th Independent Recce Squadrons. Never seeing action, 38th Recce Regt was disbanded in October 1944, 80th (Holding) Regiment at Morecambe adopted the title of 38th Recce Regt the same month. 2nd January 1942: 38th Independent Reconnaissance Company 6th June 1942: Renamed 38th Independent Reconnaissance Squadron October 1943: Formed from the 47th, 38th and 55th Independent Reconnaissance Squadrons. 13th November 1943: Renamed 38th Reconnaissance Regiment 1st January 1944 – Renamed 38th Reconnaissance Regiment RAC (01.01.1944 - 14.08.1944 & 02.10.1944 - 06.11.1944) 1945: Disbanded Commanding Officer Lt-Col. Sir W. R. Starkey, Bt. Lt-Col. G. P. Fawcett Cheers Paul
The War Diary link has a typo in it. It should link to http://ww2talk.com/forums/topic/31666-47-recce-sqn-war-diary/ of course.
Fair point. However it also supports my thought that after being absorbed into the RAC and adopting cavalry nomenclature, the Recce Corps would have had SSM appointments rather than CSM, suggesting that the OP's grandfather may have been in another unit between the Recce Corps disbanding and leaving the army.
In June 1942, cavalry nomenclature was adopted for the Reconnaissance Corps so the original Battalions became Regiments, Companies became Squadrons, and Platoons became Troops. Merging Recce in to the RAC, took place on 1 January 1944. Cheers Paul