Quote:
Originally posted by Crewman
Mark,
Have you ever seen an info how many RCASC troops belonging to the Canadian 4th Armoured Division were KIA, WIA and MIA in the Falaise Pocket and Gap?
Best reagrds
C.
|
Hi Gregory;
Haven't found any reference on the casualties suffered by the R.C.A.S.C. of 4th Cdn Armd Div during the Falaise and Falaise Gap battles, but I did come across this, which is in regards to a question you had asked earlier concerning re-supply by air of the Polish Armd Bde during the Falaise Gap battles. The source is the book "WAIT FOR THE WAGGON, The Story of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps", by Arnold Warren, published in 1961.
This is the passage from pages 304-305:
"During Operation 'Tractable', the Armoured Brigade of the 1st Polish Armoured Division advanced so deeply into enemy territory that it was cut off by enemy forces retreating to the east, and ran out of petrol. Attempts to deliver POL, Supplies and Ammunition to them in armoured vehicles failed and had to be abandoned in favour of the one remaining method, supply by air.
Late in the afternoon of August 20, the 2nd Canadian Corps made arrangements through 1st Canadian Army who, in turn, worked through 21 Army Group to set the wheels in motion back in England, and the Polish Armoured Brigade was requested by radio to establish a Dropping Zone and mark it with flares. Before the next dawn, planes carrying the commodities were arriving over the Dropping Zone and jettisoning their cargos. Owing to the many fires burning in the surrounding country, some of the containers were not aimed at the right area, but enough reached the Poles to enable them to continue fighting until the Armoured Brigade of the 4th Canadian Armoured Division could reach them."
Cheers