On 27th December 1944 61st Recce were in the Celles area between Dinant and Rochefort.
Sergeant William Henry Hollingworth of 61st Reconnaissance Regiment earned the Military Medal for his role in the Ardennes. On 27th December he took his troop to recce the blown bridge at Villers-sur-Lesse, west of Rochefort. Going forward on foot alone at the bridge he discovered several Germans and narrowly escaped an enemy patrol. Re-positioning his armoured car he then attacked the next patrol, killing or wounding all the enemy.
On 28th December 1944 ‘C’ Squadron’s Lieutenant Patrick Laing removed a road block of 10 trees while under mortar fire and, encountering another road block, went forward on foot under fire to locate the enemy outpost (a house being used as the HQ for a garrison) and estimate their strength. Lieutenant Laing returned to Val de Poix (south of Rochefort and east of St Hubert) later in the Ardennes conflict and, finding the village still occupied by Germans, put the information to good use.
(From Sergeant Hollingworth and Lieutenant Laing’s citations – see 61st Recce Battle Honours.)
On 28th December the American 1st Army divisions successfully defending the Elsenborn-Monschau area launch a counter-attack against the Germans gaining valuable ground.
Recent Comments