WO 171/846 - 15-19 The King Royal Hussars - October 1944

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
	WAR DIARY or INTELLIGENCE SUMMARY	Unit: 15th/19th Hussars
Month and Year: October 1944	(Erase heading not required).	Commanding Officer: Lt Col A.D. Taylor, DSO., MC.

Place	Date	Hour	Summary	Reference
	20		At first light 'C' Sqn moved out and took uo posn running South West from the farm 758213 towards the road 747207 watching South East,South and South West. During the morning it was decided to have a further operation to discover if the area St. Helena Hoeve was still held by the enemy and also to endeavour to recover the tks which had been abandoned the previous day and the bodies of those who had been killed in them which it had been impossible to recover. This operation started about 1400hrs and the plan was for 'C' Sqn from their present posns, or if necessary, slightly further fwd to cover the right flank of 'B' Sqn who were to adv towards the objective from the North West. 'B' Sqn first of all sent 1st Tp - Lt. S.R.M. Fraser - to the area St. Petrus Hoeve to cover their left flank. This Tp succesfully reached and took up its posn at this place. 4th Tp - Sgt Sampson - was then ordered to adv towards the objective. On reaching the area just to the West of this, the Tp found considerable numbers of enemy Inf still in the area and were fired on by small arms fire and Bazookas at close range. Whilst passing fairly close to one of the vehs knocked out the previous day, one tk of this Tp hit a mine and was disabled. As this showed that the enemy had laid mines in this area and it had also been discovered that he was still in occupation of the area, it was decided to abandon the operation and avoid further losses. Under cover of smoke, 4th Tp 'B' Sqn were therefore withdrawn followed by 1st Tp. The one tk of 4th Tp which had hit a mine had to be abandoned but no casualties were suffered except No. 558378 Tpr Overton F., the driver, who was slightly wounded. Sgt Sampson commanded his Tp with great courage and distinction in a somewhat difficult situation. 'B' Sqn then returned to their posns of the previous night. 'C' Sqn remained in the posn they had taken up that morning until last light when they rejoined remainder of Regt.

Source: Jeroen Koppes, TracesOfWar.com, transcribing: Mia Litjens.

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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