When the 61st Reconnaissance Regiment advanced from the Seine to cover the left flank of XXX Corps Major Harding’s ‘B’ squadron (including Dick's No 5 Troop) led the regiment for the greater part of the way. (From the citation for Major Frank Harding in 61st Recce battle honours.)
61st Recce Humber Armoured Car - Beauvais © IWM
Anthony Rampling remembers ‘the great swan’:
“As we continued past the Falaise Gap and approached the Low Countries the Germans were in full retreat and my Regiment, the 61st Reconnaissance Regiment were some 65 miles ahead of the main army.” From Anthony Rampling’s account of 61st Recce (pers comm).
Sandy Handley recalls a less than glorious incident:
“Later the Regiment had the job of protecting 30 Corps, left of tank. We really got going then. At one time our Armoured cars were 70 miles in front of Division HQ. We were moving now towards Belgium. Once we had drove 40 miles before breakfast.
We had scarcely any sleep. One evening, after a long day’s motoring, we came to our harbour for the night. We was all dog tired.
Before we rested we had to have everything ready for the next day. Our guns and ammunition - that was my job. The driver had to make sure he had petrol, oil and water topped up and the NCOs and Officers had a conflab what was to happen the following day.
Then we thought we was all set for a little shut eye but the Troop Sergeant, Bert Wheeler, came over to us and said “I know you’re tired but I’ve got a detail and vehicle guard tonight.”
So we took our turn, two hours each but it was pitch black. Me and another trooper kept stumbling over our sleeping mates – they had just dropped down where they were and gone to sleep. At the end of our two hours we found the next two to go on vehicle guard and woke them and we wandered off and flopped down where we stood.
Of course, whether the two troopers we woke up went back to sleep and if they did their stint (guard) we don’t know. The orders were 5 o’clock reverie to be on the road by 6 am but the inevitable happened. Everyone was so flaked out that nobody woke the Guard Commander. The Sergeant had to get the troops up so there was a big row. All the Guards were put on a charge pending Court Martial for being asleep on duty in the field. What a shambles we all looked when it got light! Fortunately it was summer time and at least no rain so we had laid in the open, although this wasn’t usual.
Later as we approached Belgium, the Sergeant who had been Guard Commander that night had to see the Commanding officer who said “This is a very serious charge. Remember we are leading the 50th Division but I realise the troops have been going on non-stop for days and are obviously weary. We will forget the charge.”
That is a brief account but maybe someone was due to lose a stripe or two. Of course, myself just a trooper, I had no stripes to lose.” (From Ex Trooper S Handley’s ‘61 Recce - Memories of Normandy 1944 – 1945’, unpublished)
31st August 1944 – the Soviet Army takes Bucharest, capital of Romania.
Nice and Verdun are liberated by the US third Army.
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