61st Recce Regt RAC
APO
England
Thursday
Chotie Darling,
Just a few brief lines to let you know I can’t make Sunday. It’s the devil, but there’s just nothing I can do about it.
At the moment I’m Squadron Leader, which is no picnic as I haven’t had enough experience of the admin. side to make things easy.
If by any chance I can make it I’ll send a wire.
I’m just about up to my neck in work at the moment and will remain that way for some time yet. The unfortunate part of this job is that I have to censor some fifty to sixty letters every night which takes a surprisingly long time. Normal letters wouldn’t take long, but these people write an astounding amount of pure drivel, especially the married ones.
The fox cub* has just been bathed – he’s almost nude now as his baby fluff is coming off and giving place to real fox hair. He’s still very babyish and finds the greatest difficulty in walking a straight course.
There’s another subaltern censoring letters on this rickety table and every time he sticks the letter down he rocks the whole auction.
No news from this end, nothing I can tell you anyhow.
Brinner’s lost his leave I think, which means he will have to join his unit straight away** – very unpleasant.
The CO’s just arrived looking a bit bleak***. I’m trying to look as though I’m censoring mail just to impress him.
Must close here.
All my love Darling
Dicker
RKWilliams
*see Foxcub letter of 13th April 1944 (insert as link)
**presumably this is the leave Brinner was due at the end of OCTU before joining his new troop as an officer.
***Lieutenant Colonel Sir William Mount, Bart, TD (grandfather of the former Prime Minister, David Cameron).
© Chotie Darling
The Regiment had four squadrons – ‘A’,’B’ and ‘C’ were the fighting squadrons and then there was the HQ squadron for back up, including a mortar section and the anti-tank section.
Each fighting squadron had two troops of armoured cars, two troops in carriers and an assault troop.
The Armoured Car Troops had twelve men each – an officer (Lieutenant or Captain), a sergeant, a Corporal and Lance Corporal and eight troopers. The sergeant for Dick Williams’ troop (No 5 Troop, ‘B’ Squadron according to Sandy Handley) was Wheeler and the Corporal was also a Williams.
They travelled in two heavy cars (one carrying the officer) and two light armoured cars (also known as Light Recce Cars or LRCs), which went in front. Each car had a driver, a commander and a gunner. Sandy Handley was a Bren gunner in one of the light cars.
From Anthony Rampling's account of 61st Recce (pers comm).
Sandy Handley described training in the camp:
“Mainly the next month April to May was spent on reconnaissance routine, vehicle spacing and radio work. All our four vehicles were netted up by radio to other vehicles of the Squadron, which in turn linked up to our Squadron HQ. As well as the radio operations we had a machine gun (Bren) and smoke dischargers to know about. The two heavy Humbers also carried a 37mm cannon. All three men in each car had to know one another’s tasks, so if any of us came a cropper in action, we would know what to do. If, say, the driver got knocked out, one or the other would have to take over the driving job. Heaven forbid it (and I am glad to say it didn’t) ever happened. I hoped not – mainly because I was hopeless at driving, especially in an armoured car with just a small slit visor to look through.”
(From Ex Trooper S Handley’s ‘61 Recce - Memories of Normandy 1944 – 1945’)
(See photos of heavy and light armoured cars 61st Reconnaissance Regiment and The British Reconnaissance Regiment.)
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