RCD's M8 Greyhound

[John McGillivray]

Here is a link to a large online Image Archive from Holland.

http://www.beeldbankwo2.nl/index.jsp...locale&lang=en

If you search for Image No. 121811 it shows a M8 Greyhound belonging to the Royal Canadian Dragoons, the Armoured Car Regiment of the 1st Canadian Corps. The RCDs received six Greyhounds in December 1944. They were used by their RHQ.

[marco]

Hello John,

Here is a photo from the Canadian National Archives showing another one (or maybe the same??) taking part in the Liberation parade in Amsterdam on June 28th 1945.
On the original photo the RHQ marking is visible on the turret.

I spoke to a RCD veteran sometime ago and he named these vehicles "Buckshee-vehicles" meaning (I think) that they had them but that they were not officially on the establishment list.

Best regards,

Marco

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by John McGillivray

If you search for Image No. 121811 it shows a M8 Greyhound belonging to the Royal Canadian Dragoons, the Armoured Car Regiment of the 1st Canadian Corps.

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, John and Marco. Never realised the Canadians used the Greyhound in Holland.

For the sake of completeness, here's the pic:

Image number: 121811
Collection: Verzetsmuseum Friesland
Caption: Op 15 april 1945 werd Leeuwarden door de Canadese Strijdkrachten bevrijd. Om even over twaalf uur rolden de gevechtswagens van de 'Royal Canadian Dragoons', zonder dat er een schot gelost werd, langs de Groningerstraatweg de stad binnen. Op deze gevechtswagen heeft een groot aantal burgers een plaatsje gevonden en rijdt triomfantelijk met de bevrijders mee door de stad.
Image Date: 15-04-1945

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally Posted by marco

I spoke to a RCD veteran sometime ago and he named these vehicles "Buckshee-vehicles" meaning (I think) that they had them but that they were not officially on the establishment list.

He probably means they pinched them from the Yanks and repainted them ASAP... as I understand it, some Canadian units were remarkably adept at "adopting" equipment once in the field...

[Steve Guthrie]

Hi there

The story I heard is they wanted 6 Staghounds but all the Ordnance Depot had were the Greyhounds so they were taken 'in lieu'.

Steve

[threadbear]

Interesting to see more information coming to light about the "accquired" M8`s that were used towards the end of the war.

Would these cars have been fitted with No 19 radio sets??

Regards


Grahame

[Darrell Zinck]

Hi

OK, listen up, ya mugs; Once and for all you CANNOT plural-ize "RCD" to RCD's". The "D" is for "Dragoons" and can't have another "s". RCD:singular or plural.

Suggested title for the thread would be "RCD M8 Greyhound".

try these pics on. One in Europe with easily seen markings and one in Korea w/ the Regt.

Source: RCD Archive.

I noted a privately owned M8 at the RCD Pde in Ottawa this past wknd too.

[John McGillivray]

Originally Posted by Darrell Zinck

Hi

OK, listen up, ya mugs; Once and for all you CANNOT plural-ize "RCD" to RCD's". The "D" is for "Dragoons" and can't have another "s". RCD:singular or plural.

Suggested title for the thread would be "RCD M8 Greyhound".

….except……what dose singular or plural have to do with this? Why are you bringing up an unrelated and irrelevant issue?

An apostrophe “s” is used to show the possessive, and not the plural. In other words I was indicating that the Greyhound belonged to RCD. If I was writing their name in full I would have inserted an apostrophe after the “s” in dragoons, like this “Dragoons’”. However, since I was using the abbreviation I inserted the “s” after the apostrophe, which is grammatically correct. Writing “RCD’” would not make any sense. What would a “d” followed by an apostrophe mean? Besides it would also look weird.

[Darrell Zinck]

Hi John



I guess that's why when in school they told me to go to English Class I said "English?? When am I ever going to go to England?? Let's go smoke!!"

You win as far as possesive etc go for RCD but I'm still right about Plural and Singular leaving "RCD" unchanged. One of those Pet Peeves for me as a Dragoon, I guess.

So...................how's by you, john?

regards
Darrell

[maple_leaf_eh]

The privately owned Stag in the RCD parade (oh yeah, there was some other bunch cluttering up the parade route too), was featured in a newspaper story in the Ottawa Citizen (p. F6 Fri 6 Jun 08). No discussion of the ownership, except that Star Motors in Ottawa was donating storage and maintenance space, and some skilled labour. An RCD soldier (Tpr Bradley Osmond) was going to drive in in the parade.

In brief, a Staghound was shipped from "the regiment" in February to Ottawa, where it had been outdoors since 1969. Mr. Jeff Mierins of Star Motors stepped up to donate the company's services and Mr. Nick Tilger's technical leadership to restore the vehicle in time for the parade. His generousity is underplayed in the article, but obviously he felt an obligation to our troops. When stripping down the vehicle they found .30cal casings and a Dutch 1943 coin, strongly suggesting this vehicle had been returned to Canada after serving with the Dutch. The Trooper speculated this might have been used in the liberation of Leeuwarden. A veteran of this period was to have ridden in the turret for the parade last weekend.

I think I need to go visit Star Motors to ask what else can be added to the story.

[Darrell Zinck]

Hi Terry

Pics here including some of the other clutter.

http://www.dragoons.ca/125parademedia.html

It's not all "privately owned" tho'.

regards
Darrell

[Yeo.NT]

Good day
First time I saw the Staghound in Petawawa, was sitting in the back compound on a trailer around September last year after it arrived from Bordon. The staghound sat on the trailer until it was shipped to Ottawa in feburary.
When I volunteered my time to help get the staghound running, I was able to speak to the RCD's RSM. I was told the Staghound is on loan to them from the Borden museum to use in parades and such, as long as they got the vehicle into running order. Either the Regiment didn't have many volunteers or they didn't have the money for a resto I never heard back on the subject.
From what I see in the pictures the Stag hasn't been restored much other then getting it to move, stop, tires and marking. But getting both the engines, transmissions, and transfer case serviceable in a short time, well done.

[Darrell Zinck]

Hi

Yes, the RCD Vehicle Restoration efforts are all Voluntary and Operational Commitments come first.

The NCO that was heading up the Staghound, Frank L., is deploying as a Tank commander to Afghanistan soon. Money isn't a problem as the Guild underwrites many costs.

When I headed up the first version of the RCD Rest Tm, we also sought sponsorship from local shops etc. That's how we got brake lines, upholstery, mirrors and tire balancing done on our Ferret. Unfortunately, our Operational Tempo required the then CO and RSM to close up the Team for a while. At least the Regt has tried to re-start it in some capacity.

Oh, and to re-align this thread with the M-8, I see one here in the background:


http://www.dragoons.ca/125parademedia.html

regards
Darrell

[Alan Duffy]

Did the M8s that the RCD used near the end of the war use 19 sets?

[strat1]

From what I understand, they should have been re fitted with the 19 set after taken into service. One of the photos above shows a commander and it looks like a 19 set type headset and hand mic.

Anthony

(Not a Dragoon)