My Father's War - looking for details

[paultp]

Hi Mark,

Thank you so much for this excellent information. I'll certainly follow up the items at the National Archives and hopefully have a trip to Canada for the others.

Much appreciated.

Paul

[Mark W. Tonner]

Originally Posted by paultp

Does anyone have details of 5 A/Tk Regt and know which part my father served with and where they were? I know generally he must have been part of Totalize and Tractable but I'm looking for a bit of detail about the unit.

Hi Paul;

The following will give you an idea of the roll played by 5th Anti-Tank Regiment, R.C.A. during Operations TOTALIZE and TRACTABLE, it is taken from:

REPORT NO. 169 - HISTORICAL SECTION - CANADIAN MILITARY HEADQUARTERS
CANADIAN PARTICIPATION IN THE OPERATIONS IN NORTH-WEST EUROPE, 1944
PART III: CANADIAN OPERATIONS, 1 - 23 AUGUST - dated: 14 Jan 47
APPENDIX "A"
THE ATTACK FOR FALAISE BY 2 CDN CORPS (OPERATION TOTALIZE)
ORDER OF BATTLE

4 Cdn Armd Div

10 Cdn Inf Bde

With under command:

One Sqn 1 Lothians
Two Btys 17-pr A.Tk (Towed) (from 5 A/Tk Regt RCA)
One Tp 17-pr A.Tk (S.P.) (from 5 A/Tk Regt RCA)

With in support:

15 Cdn Fd Regt
One Sqn less One Tp 87 Sqn A.V.R.E.
One Tp 8 Cdn Fd Sqn

4 Cdn Armd Bde

With under command:

One Sqn 1 Lothians
One Bty A.Tk (S.P.) (from 5 A/Tk Regt RCA)

With in support:

23 Cdn Fd Regt (S.P.)
One Bty 17-pr A.Tk (S.P.) (from 5 A/Tk Regt RCA)
One Tp 8 Cdn Fd Sqn

The Order of Battle for Operation TRACTABLE was substantially the same as the above except for the following changes:

4 Cdn Armd Div

With under command:

8 Cdn Inf Bde (for Phase I only)
1 Lothians (Flail Regt)
'A' Sqn 141 R.A.C. (Crocodiles)
19 Cdn Fd Regt (S.P.)
One Sqn A.V.R.E., 5 Aslt Regt

As you can see, 5th Anti-Tank Regiment, R.C.A. was more or less evenly split between the Infantry Brigade (10 Cdn Inf Bde) and the Armoured Brigade (4 Cdn Armd Bde) of 4th Canadian Armoured Division for both Operations.

Cheers

[paultp]

Just to round this off, I looked at the various war diaries and couldn't find any mention of my father during his time with 28 CAR.

However, I did locate the war diary for 5 A/Tk Regt at the National Archives and found many mentions of him which has given me a much clearer insight into his wartime experiences and actions. He had told my elder brother that the only time he was wounded was when the Americans attacked them by mistake, and there it was in the diary! And on his birthday too!

Those war diaries make for fantastic reading too as they give a day by day report on each unit's activities that isn't influenced by hindsight or any wider view of the war. In the 5 A/T diary it was interesting to get a feel for how their attitudes changed as they went from training in the South of England to the Docks at Tilbury and then arrived in France. From anticipating war to being shot at. One early entry has a complaint about the poor organisation of the landing at France, they seem to have overlooked the fact that they arrive a month after D-Day and paperwork by then wasn't top of the list of priorities!

A big thank you to Mark as well for all his help.

Cheers
Paul

[Dennis Gelean (RIP)]

Thank you Mark
The devil is in the details, I wish you were my next door neighbor.

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