Quote:
Originally posted by Hanno Spoelstra
Mark, see the blow-up below: clearly a village.
Note the Priest Kangaroo marked as "SHE.M7"!
I reckon this picture was taken quite a while after the fighting (possibly even after the war?), as during the first few months in Normandy I can't believe there would be time to properly categorise and mark each vehicle.
H.
P.S.: I will have to digest what you just wrote about Audrieu vs. Ryes. Time to call in the local experts - if there are any!
|
Hanno;
Any way of finding out the name of the village, I'm curious.
To clarify what I wrote concerning the location of 'AWD Kangaroo' being possibly at Ryes vs. Audrieu and to help you 'digest' the info, some points to ponder:
- M7 Priests turned into Ryes on 1 Aug
- tasked REME/RCEME arrive afternoon/late afternoon 2 Aug to begin conversions
- most sources seem to imply that the tasked REME/RCEME went to the 'Priests' - not the 'Priests' coming to them
- Ryes location, actually outside of RMA - would not interfere with anything within the RMA - areas that sources mention that the Craftsman ranged to in their various quests for material were all located outside of the RMA, save for the 'Salvage Depot' and the need for welding gases from the 'POL Depot', both within the RMA
- Ryes location in proximity to invasion beaches (armour plate)
- Ryes location in proximity to a Ordnance Depot (No. 17 AOD), has some sources suggest that 'AWD Kangaroo' was next to an 'Ordnance Depot'
- Ryes location - location of the Royal Artillery Reorganization Centre - place to store the dismounted 105mm Howitzers and the accompaning kit and equipment that goes along with them, since, eventually, they were to be re-converted back to M7 Priest 105mm How. SPGs and returned to the Americans
- Ryes location - 'Priests' already marshalled in one area - no real movement of the vehicles after their conversion required - just re-parked, along with this goes the lack of any sources at all mentioning any movement of the completed 'Priest Kangaroos' out of the 'AWD Kangaroo' area, until the 36x 'Priest Kangaroos' that were allotted to the 4th Cdn Inf Bde, were moved to their 'Harbour' at Louvigny (late evening 5 Aug/early morning 6 Aug)
- Ryes location - sources commenting on the problem of no drivers, which was solved, in part, by the re-tasking of their former R.C.A. drivers from the 12th, 13th and 14th Fd Regts - just prior to the 36x 'Priest Kangaroos' being moved to their harbour at Louvigny - meaning that from 1 Aug to approx. 2000 hrs (when the bulk of the conversions were completed) on 5 Aug, the vehicles themselves, were more or less idle and situated in one location
- Ryes location - sequence of events, ie: - turned into location on 1 Aug - conversions begin 2 Aug - conversions completed 5 Aug - moved to harbour late 5 Aug or early 6 Aug - no mention from any sources at all of any movement of these vehicles between 1 Aug and 5 Aug - except for one to Simonds for inspection/approval
Hope this helps you 'digest' the information from my previous post regarding Ryes vs. Audrieu.
Cheers
