WO 171/1397 - 2 East Yorkshire Regiment - September 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: 2nd Bn E. Yorks Regt
Month and Year: September 1944	(Erase heading not required).	Commanding Officer: Lt. Col. N.J. Dickson

Place	Date	Hour	Summary	Reference
LA MINIERE nr. FLERS	1		Preparation for move. New location for 8 Bde Gp to be East of LES ANDELYS, on the SEINE, about 25 miles SE of ROUEN necessitating a long MT journey.	? 12
	2		Preparation continued. Bn to proceed to ST. JEAN DE FRENELLES 4696. By evening all wheels and tracks conc, and tps ready to move.	Ref Map Sht France 1/50,000 9F/2 GSGS 4250
	3	0045	Bn left LA MINIERE in Bde convoy.
	3	1530	Arrived ST JEAN DE FRENELLE.
ST JEAN DE FRENELLES	4		Admin.
	5		Admin and trg.
	6-11		Trg and preparation for Div Comd’s visit. Competitions started between pls, etc., on varied aspects of trg.	? 31; ? 31/1
	12		Div Comd’s visit.
	13		Quebec Day. Under arrangements made by Bde, the Bn was allowed full use for the day of the Div Club in LES ANDELYS. As many personnel as possible were ferried down to the town by MT, and at 1030 hrs the bn carried out a ceremonial march past the Bde Comd, in the AV. DE LA REPUBLIQUE, led by the corps of drums.	? 13/9/44
	13		A Cinema Show (3 performances) & two performances of an ENSA show were provided. Also there was a football match during the afternoon between the bn and LES ANDELYS club, with the Div dance-band in attendance.
	13		At 1830 hrs the Drums beat Retreat in the RUE GDE.
	14		Warning order from Bde. 8 Br Inf Bde to proceed, probably on 16th, to an area East of LOUVAIN, BELGIUM. Adv parties left.
	15		Preparation for move.
	16	1300	Bn left ST. JEAN DE FRENELLE for SOIGNIES, BELGIUM – 1st stage.
	17	0800	Arrived SOIGNIES, BELGIUM.
	17	1730	Bn left SOIGNIES.
	18	0730	Bn arrived new location near CAULILLE, BELGIUM, 4490, about 3 miles from the EASCAUT CANAL, and 5 miles from the Dutch frontier. The Bde conc in this area prior to taking part in 3 Br Inf Div’s assault crossing of the ESCAUT CANAL. Assault to be made by 9 Inf Bde, 8 Inf Bde following up and exlpoiting bridgehead.	Ref Map Sht France and Belgium 1/50,000 ? 26 and 36, GSGS ? 4040
	18		Information received during the afternoon that small parties of enemy occasionally cross canal and move into factory 460917, also patrol adjacent woods.
	18	1300	Coys sent patrols fwd to the woods, and to the area of VOORSTEN HOSTIE 440914, where bn was to take up posn before the assault. No enemy contacted, and coys moved up during the afternoon.
	18	1600	Bn HQ moved to 438919.
	18	2100	CO’s orders. Bn to be ready to move 0600 hrs, to cross ESCAUT CANAL after 9 Bde had secured brhead. Cl 9 br to be erected soon as possible after 9 Bde’s crossing at 433946. 8 Bde to clear to incl ACHEL 4297 if latter not captured by 9 Bde, otherwise to take HAMONT 4796. 2 E Yorks leading, 1 Suffolk, 1 S Lan R following up.
	19	0600	Bn ready to move. 9 Bde across canal, after meeting MG fire from fixed lines whilst assaulting. Determined opposition coming from small parties of enemy.
	19	0830	CO’s recce crossed canal by Cl 9 br.
	19	0900	Bn HQ moved to 437928 and coys conc in adjacent woods.
	19	1300	Information from Bde: KOSB held up about one mile from br. One regt 11 Armd Div to carry out sweep into ACHEL and move South to join 9 Bde (from brhead previously est to West on 30 corps front). If successful 2 E Yorks to cross after 1600 hrs and mop up as far as HAMONT.
	19	1500	Bn to move at 1600 hrs. No action yet taken by armour, but rest of prgramme to be carried out.
	19	1630	A Coy crossed canal by assault boats owing to br being damaged by shellfire. Br repaired, and B Coy crossed.
	19	1830	Remainder of bn cross. A Coy nearing A objective (444952). During crossing persistent MG fire on to br whenever several men attempted to cross br together, but no cas.
	19		On continuing to A objective A Coy came under hy MG fire from 5/6 MG on canal bank, and were pinned down in the open. When B Coy arrived an attack was carried out with A Coy on the left and B Coy on the right, and all MG’s silenced. Further opposition came at this time from small parties of enemy dug in along B Coy’s line of advance. Rifle fire and grenades. OC ‘B’ Coy, Major Riall was wounded in this action. B Coy remained on objective, A Coy pushed fwd with intention progressing as far as possible towards HAMONT. C & D Coys held up by above action were unable to move for some hours, and conc neighbourhood of br. In darkness, in the very close country, control and direction difficult to maintain. The searchlights in use for the br building were kept on all night by request of the Commanding Officer, and without these the op would scarcely have been possible. For some time A & B Coys were out of touch, wireless not functioning in the close country, and patrols sent out to contact these coys took a long time to do so. When situation finally ascertained remainder of bn moved along canal bank and formed a tight layer in B Coy’s area. A Coy, who had reached WINTER 4595 remained there. Riall
	20	0330	Bn est in posn, with Bn HQ 446947.
	20		Active patrolling and searches for snipers and isolated pockets continued throughout remainder of night and all day. The country was low-lying, intersected by lines of tall trees, and in parts thickly wooded. Drives through these woods yielded 32 PW, mostly from AA bty of 1055. These pockets of enemy offered resistance, and the bn suffered a few cas. Major Bamford, OC ‘D’ Coy was killed whilst well forward on one of these patrols. Cas: 19th 20 OR’s wounded; 20th 5 OR’s wounded. Bamford, Herman Reeve
	21		Orders from Bde: 8 Bde objective WEERT 5896, 1 Suffolk leading, 1 S Lan R to follow, 2 E Yorks in reserve. Axis of adv, HAMONT 4796, MIDBUUL 4998, rd and rail crossing 5597. Bn to conc near HAMONT until 1200 hrs.
	21	0800	Bn left for HAMONT by march route.
INKENS-VEN	21	0920	Bn conc INKENS-VEN 4695, warned to be ready to move at 1200 hrs.
	21	1200	1 Suffolk crossed SL.
	21	1430	Bn proceeded along Bde axis: Order of march C, D, B, Bn HQ, A. C Coy reached area of woods 5398 without incident. 1 Suffolk held up by pockets of resistance before WEERT.
	21	1700	Bn HQ est in triangular wood 512982. Bn ordered to halt for the night. C Coy took up posn fwd on edge of woods, protecting gun lines of 454 Bty RA, D Coy dug in to right of Bn HQ, B Coy left, A Coy rear.
	21		1 Suffolk cleared up area before WEERT and entered town during the night.
512982	22		A quiet day. Extensive patrolling of woods between bn locality and WEERT carried out by carrier pl. No enemy located. Rain most of the day and during the night.	Ref Map Sht Belgium and France (NE) 1/100,000 ? 4, GSGS ? 4336
	22		Standing patrol maintained between WEERT and NEDERWEERT by pls from A and D Coys.
	23		Another day of rain. Bn ready to move from 0800 hrs.
	23	1400	Bn proceeded by march route to area MAARHEZER HUTTEN 5400, (less D Coy, who took over canal locality NEDERWEERT 6100 to 617993).
	23	1545	Bn HQ est 546003. Bde task to hold canal WEERT – NEDERWEERT.
MAARHEZER HUTTEN	24		A quiet day. Some mortaring of NEDERWEERT, no cas. Small parties enemy seen on East side of canal.
	25		Bn to be ready to move NEDERWEERT by 1400 hrs.
	25	1000	Orders from Bde. Above move not to take place, as 2 E Yorks to be detached […] from 8 Bde, and to move north on 11 Armd Div axis over bridgehead at ASTEN 6113, in order to co-operate with armour in the enlargement of bridgehead. At 1 hrs notice to move. This modified frequently throughout the day, until 1800 hrs, when notifiction received from Bde that bn would not move before 0600 hrs 26 Sep 44.
	26	0600	Bn ready to move. Warning order from Bde: 2 E Yorks to proceed to GEMEERT 5780 (to take up defensive role) at 0830 hrs.	Ref Map Sht HOLLAND 1/100,000 ? 5, GSGS ? 2541
	26	0830	Bn embussed. A1 and A2 echelons also to move. No indicents during journey.
GEMERT	26	1200	Bn HQ est school 574806. Enemy had only vacated the town the previous afternoon, and the civilians gave the tps a good welcome.
	26		Bn took up def posn around GEMERT, with active patrolling during hours of darkness.
	27-29		Bn remained GEMERT.
	30		Bn ordered to send CO’s recce party to recce conc area South of MALDEN 7054, on North bank of R. MAAS, East of GRAVE. Bn to move on morning of 1 Oct 44.

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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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