| Instructions regarding War Diaries and Intelligence
Summaries are contained in F.S. Regs., Vol. 1.
and the Staff Manual respectively Title pages
will be prepared in manuscript. |
WAR DIARY or INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY |
Army Form C.2118 |
| Unit: 1 Worcestershire Regiment | ||
| Month and Year: March 1945 | (Erase heading not required). | Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. M.R.J. Thomson MC |
| Place | Date | Hour | Summary | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| S. of ANHOLT | 27 | 0345 | Bn left MARIENBAUM and crossed the RHINE, proceeding to conc. area ESSERDEN (0653) where it arrived at 05.30 hrs. Bde "O" Gp at 09.00 hrs. Bn "O" Gp at 10.15 hrs when C.O. gave orders for Bn attack through 129 Bde to cut and seize stretch of Autobahn at 095590 - 091588. Attack was timed for 14.00 hrs in conjunction with a similar attack by 51 Div on our immediate right. Attack commenced on time with "D" Coy left fwd Coy and "A" Coy right fwd Coy. "A" Coy immediately encountered intense enemy M.G. fire, so heavy in fact that at 14.40 hrs they were still on the start line. "D" Coy meanwhile were steadily pushing forward, also encountering heavy M.G. fire. The autobahn - a raised road proved a difficult objective since it commanded a perfect view of the flat ground over which our Coys were advancing and this was made even more difficult by the fact that each house and copse en route to it contained an M.G. However, after magnificent fighting, our Coys were on the autobahn - "D" Coy left fwd, "A" Coy right fwd, "C" Coy centre and "B" Coy in reserve. Throughout the attack enemy shelling was fairly intense, yet it caused comparatively few casualties, the main casualties being by M.G's. 2 i/c "A" Coy, Capt. F. F. Lawson M.C. killed. It was not until approx 17.00 hrs that it was learned that 51 Div whose attack should have started at the same time as ours, was only just about to begin. |
Source: The Worcestershire Regiment.
Disclaimer: This War Diary is based on its original, but typos might be corrected. Locations are calculated, so might not be in the correct place. For historical research, always check the originals.
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