M10 17 pdr S237818

[John McGillivray]

“Leilan” is a girl’s name.

L troop of the 5th A/T Regt RCA was destroyed near Quesnay Wood with the lost of all four of its 17pdr M-10s, on the 10th (?) of August, 1944.

From the book South Albertas (p117)

“It is not known why B Squadron was withdrawn from St. Hilaire Farm but in any case Swatty decided to replace them with the troop of M-10 self-propelled 17-pdr. guns from 5th Anti-Tank Regiment assigned to the SAR. This unit's heavy anti-tank weapons were normally allotted, on a troop basis, to the other units in 4th Division for defensive purposes, the self-propelled equipment going to the armoured regiments, the towed pieces to the infantry battalions.

“By this time the Recce Troop had worked out a safer route to the farm and L Troop of the 5th Regiment was sent that way in the early afternoon guided by their troop leader in a jeep. Unfortunately they made a wrong turn and moved too close to Quesnay Wood - within minutes all four guns were brewed up by AP fire and only one crew escaped. The commander of the last vehicle in action, a Sergeant McAlinden, "was last seen firing his gun while his M-10 was burning" and received a posthumous Mention in Dispatches. The troop leader survived and drove back to Langannerie, where he ran into Captain Jay Moreton of B Squadron. Jay had "heard the firing going on and shortly after a guy turned up and ... said his four tanks were gone and he was just a young fellow and he was weeping all over the place." There was nothing that Jay or anyone else could do to comfort the man.”