WO 171/1251 - 4 Coldstream Guards - November 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: 4th Tk Bn Coldm Gds.
Month and Year: November 1944	(Erase heading not required).	Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. A.W.A. Smith

Place	Date	Hour	Summary	Reference
	30	2200	The final assault was timed for this hour. An artillery barrage was timed for H-20 to H-5, with No 2 Sqn again at MARSHEES firing on targets across the river at AAIEN 827334 and KAMP 835315 as a diversion. This actually drew heavy fire on area MARSHEES as intended. Two tanks with Maj. M.V. Milbank moved south along road towards KASTEEL as far as 824308 and then returned. This entailed fording water up to 1 ft deep. Unfortunately the infantry meanwhile had their 6 assault boats shelled, leaving 1 only serviceable. No casualties to personnel. A delay took place while further boats were brought up and they finally got into the KASTEEL in the early hours of Dec 1st to find no enemy there. As the KASTEEL was a heap of rubble and the cellars were inaccessible, there may have been dead Germans underneath. A lot of blood was to be seen.

Source: Jeroen Koppes, TracesOfWar.com, transcribing: Hans Houterman.

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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