WAR DIARY of 52nd (Lowland) Recce Regt RAC February 1945
– Lt Col J.B.A. Hankey OBE
Date 17th Place HEYEN (Heijen, between Gennep and Afferden)7640:
Strength - 934 men, 188 tanks/armoured cars/guns Weather – Fine
‘After crater filled ‘C’ Squadron moved into AFFERDEN having cleared the GENNEP – AFFERDEN road 8038. ‘C’ Squadron secured road running EAST out of AFFERDEN but held up at 808384 by bridges blown. Royal Engineers unable to get up to repair as under heavy fire. ‘A’ Squadron passed through ‘C’ Squadron on the AFFERDEN-REMPELD ROAD but held up by craters.’ 52 Recce O.O. No: 12 attached. 155 Brigade O.O. No:17 attached.
“Finally we reached Afferden and were confronted by a great anti-tank ditch…at right angles to the Maas and our line of advance. The flooding of the river had turned this into a formidable water obstacle. The main Nijmegen-Venlo road which hugged the right bank of the Maas stood out like a great causeway through the water …it was very badly cratered and under constant observation from enemy positions about two hundred yards south of the town.”
The flooded Anti-tank ditch was a western arm of the Siegfried line, Germany’s famous ‘Westwall’ defences. It was guarded at the east end by Kasteel Blijenbeek, a Dutch castle manned by determined German paratroops. The village of Afferden afforded little cover from their relentless shelling since most of the cellars were flooded. Front-line troops of the Regiment lived in enemy built bunkers near Rempeld or Afferden Wood (Broedersbosch Plantation). The wood provided concealment and its sandy soil quickly absorbed rain but also lent silence to enemy patrols and ‘made the task of digging and maintaining dug-outs exasperatingly difficult’. The trees, exploded by shells or mortars, added flying shards of wood to the missile projectiles.
Casualties accumulated under the relentless bombardment of the German defences while assaults on the Kasteel cost more lives and many tanks. Eventually, towards the end of February the strongpoint was eliminated by heavy bombing, courtesy of the RAF.
Dick’s 1945 diary for February:
17 Sat - Wrote Ronnie
WAR DIARY of 52nd (Lowland) Recce Regt RAC February 1945
– Lt Col J.B.A. Hankey OBE
Date 18th Place HEYEN: Weather – Wet
‘’C’ Squadron still held up and unable to get round because of flooding. Whole Regimental area under water. Attack laid on for ‘B’ Squadron plus 1 Company 1G.H. (Green Howards?) to pass through ‘A’ Squadron, hook left and clear area 834383 and 810384 but cancelled by Division. New Orders for Regiment make Regiment responsible for AFFERDEN and eastwards to 824388 and to pin point as many enemy troop, mortar and gun positions as far as possible. ‘C’ Squadron responsible for AFFERDEN to road and track junction 812388. A lot of mortaring, shelling and sniping in whole Regimental area. ‘B’ Squadron responsible for 812388 to 824388.’
(From the War Diary of the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment held by the Archive and Reference Library, the Tank Museum, Bovington, Dorset; ‘Time Spent or The History of the 52nd-Lowland-Divisional Reconnaissance Regiment January 1941-October 1945’ by Trevor D.W.Whitfield, published by Mountain 1946 and ‘Mountain and Flood : The History of 52nd (Lowland) Division’ by George Blake; Jackson, Son & Company 1950.)
Dick’s 1945 diary for February :
18 Sun – Time spent in Boxmeer
Recent Comments