Place |
Date |
Hour |
Summary of Events and Information |
Headley, Hants |
1/11/41 |
Regular Saturday morning routine - a weekly clean-up of quarters and
equipment. |
|
1600 |
Lieutenant-Colonel GR Bradbrooke MC psc, Officer Commanding, returned from a one week course that he has been attending at Bovington AFV School. This course was a short course covering all phases of tank training - ie. gunnery, wireless and D&M, |
||
2115 |
An air-raid warning was sounded in the immediate vicinity of the battalion area but no warning was received by the unit. Considerable air activity was observed, but a detailed account of this was not obtained because of the darkness. The ‘all clear’ was heard at 2130 hrs. |
||
Headley, Hants |
2/11/41 |
Regular Sunday routine of no parades with the exception of voluntary church parades. |
|
1400 |
A brigade board presided over by the Officer Commanding the 12th Army Tank Battalion [Three Rivers Regiment] was held in the 12th Battalion lines for the purpose of testing all the 2/Lieutenents of the Brigade. The following officers of this battalion were examined by the board: 2/Lieuts Payne, Wallace, Richardson, Allison, Lord, McIndoe, Cross and Watkin. The first two officers, 2/Lieuts Payne and Wallace, were brought back from a course that they were attending at the Bovington AFV School for this board. |
||
1400 |
A party of 32 other ranks (8 from each squadron) left to attend an 8-week course at … [off the page] |
||
Headley, Hants |
3/11/41 |
0900 |
The infantry-tank co-operation exercises that this regiment has been
carrying out with battalions of the 7th Inf Brigade continued. The unit
with which this regiment is now working is the Canadian Scottish Regiment
from Victoria, British Columbia. In the morning a demonstration of the
organisation and equipment of an Army Tank Squadron was put on for them.
In addition they were also shown the tanks moving in the various tank
formations used when acting with the infantry. After this demonstration,
Officers and NCOs of the Infantry Battalion were given the opportunity
to ride in a tank so that they might better understand the problems of
vision and keeping direction with which the tank commander is confronted. |
2000 |
The regular Monday evening officers meeting was held in the officers mess at Headley Mount. Colonel Bradbrooke brought up many points for discussion regarding training and administration of the battalion. |
||
Headley, Hants |
4/11/41 |
0745 |
Colonel Bradbrooke and the OCs of A, B and C squadrons (Major Begg, Major
Page and Capt Glenn) reconnoitred the ground over which the practice attack
was to be made (ie. Ludshott Common next to ‘C’ Squadron Area). Colonel
Bradbrooke then gave his orders for the attack. |
0930 |
Lieut DF Cameron left for a three-day attachment to #2 Cdn Air Liaison Section (attached to #400 Army Co-operation Squadron RCAF) at Odiham. |
||
1000 |
One tank commanded by Lieut Douglas was detailed to proceed to Grayshott (two miles west of the battalion area) to have various pictures taken for the War Office. This tank obligingly threw a track in the middle of the proceedings much to the delight of the photographers. |
||
Headley, Hants |
5/11/41 |
A regular day of training. training is now concentrated more on gunnery, wireless and tactics than actually on the Mark IIA tanks, since it is now known that they are to be replaced by the Mark IV (Churchill) Tank. |
|
1245 |
Brigadier FF Worthington issued orders for a tank-infantry co-operation scheme. This regiment’s part of the scheme is to take place on Friday the seventh. Colonel Bradbrooke and Captain JPC Atwood (Liaison Officer) then made a reconnaissance of the area. This area is shown on the attached enlargement. |
||
2000 |
A dance was held in Headley Village Hall for the men of ‘B’ Squadron. |
||
Headley, Hants |
6/11/41 |
The day was spent in maintenance of equipment and in preparation for the exercise to take place starting at 0300 hours tomorrow morning. The battalion will be co-operating with the Canadian Scottish (Infantry) Regiment. The enemy during the scheme will be one A/T Regiment and theoretical infantry. |
|
Headley, Hants |
7/11/41 |
0100 |
Reveille. Tank-infantry co-operation exercise details on attached appendix. |
0300 |
Then leading squadron (‘B’) crossed the start line and proceeded to the
rear assembly area - MC 348616 (Ref map ‘Aldershot Command’). The move
was made during a very dark night. The sky was cloudy and no moon was
visible until 0600 hours. The regiment was complete in the rear assembly
by 0445 hours. |
||
1200 |
Lunch was prepared in the portable cookers under squadron arrangements. |
||
1500 |
All squadrons were reported back in their squadron areas. |
||
Headley, Hants |
8/11/41 |
Regular Saturday routine. A second educational tour to Portsmouth under the direction of H/Capt WEL Smith (Regimental Padre) left the unit lines to visit the docks, etc, at Portsmouth. The main feature of the trip was a visit to the HMS Victory, Nelson’s flagship. This ship was damaged some time ago by German bombs, but is still largely complete, and is still open to public inspection. |
|
Headley, Hants |
9/11/41 |
Clear, cold. Today, being the last Sunday before Armistice Day (1918),
was marked by special church parades. Sixty all-ranks of the regiment,
under the command of Major J Begg, attended a service at Winchester Cathedral
in Winchester. This party left the unit lines at 0830 hours and were
transported to Winchester. |
|
1900 |
At a church hall in Hindhead, Sir Harry Brittain spoke to a group of men of the unit on the subject ‘Pre-War Europe.’ This was arranged through courtesy of the Hindhead Women’s Auxiliary. |
||
Headley, Hants |
10/11/41 |
Rain. The regular Monday ‘Vehicle Holiday’ was observed and the day was spent in maintenance. |
|
2000 |
An officers meeting was held in the Headquarters Officers Mess. The scheme of last week was discussed and points to be corrected in future exercises were brought out. It was understood that Brigadier Worthington was pleased with the exercise and that the tank-infantry co-operation had worked out very well. |
||
Headley, Hants |
11/11/41 |
Armistice Day (1918) was observed by the wearing of a red poppy by all
ranks. No silence was observed at 1100 hours as had been the practice
in former years. |
|
Headley, Hants |
12/11/41 |
A regular day of training. |
|
1100 |
At the regular Squadron Leaders conference held in the office of the Officer Commanding, Major JA Macdonald (Acting OC) issued orders for an exercise to be held on Thursday, Nov 13 1941. This is a preliminary exercise for a Brigade scheme (to be known as ‘Tucker’) to be held on the 17-18th November. Both the ‘Tucker’ exercise and its preliminary exercises are to involve wheeled vehicles only (that is, ‘A’ and ‘B’ echelons only). |
||
Headley, Hants |
13/11/41 |
The morning was spent in preparation for the scheme to start in the afternoon. |
|
1500 |
In a regular downpour of rain the leading squadron passed the start line.
The order of march was A Sqn, B Sqn, HQ Sqn and C Sqn. Just at the start
line the ‘A’ Sqn was split up when the third vehicle made the wrong turn.
This latter portion of the squadron managed to join in with another squadron
and thus finally arrived intact. |
||
1715 |
The regimental column arrived at the regulating point on Hankley Common where guides directed the vehicles to the squadron harbours. (See attached enlargement of the area.) |
||
2130 |
The vehicles had all been settled in harbour and supper had been served.
The large percentage of the unit were in bed and asleep when orders were
issued that the unit would move at 2200 hours. |
||
Headley, Hants |
14/11/41 |
0930 |
Major Macdonald issued orders that the A and B echelons of the battalion were to be ready to move at one hour’s notice after 1230 hours today. (Tucker – Preliminary #2) |
1100 |
At the regular squadron leaders conference, Major Macdonald issued orders that the unit would move at 1400 hours on the route given out at that time. (See appendix) |
||
1330 |
Recce party left with TCP personnel to precede the main party over the route. |
||
1400 |
The A and B echelons of all squadrons formed up and ‘B’ Sqn passed the start line. |
||
1550 |
The column arrived at the meeting point and guides led the squadrons
to their harbour (the same areas were used as on the preceding night-
however, the squadrons occupied different areas.) |
||
1830 |
A heavy fog had rolled over Hankley Common and visibility was nil when the convoy moved out of the harbour area. The same route home was taken as on the previous night. |
||
Headley, Hants |
15/11/41 |
The ‘Tucker’ exercise is now known to take place on Monday and Tuesday
next so that most squadrons spent the day in maintenance of wheeled vehicles.
Monday is the regular maintenance holiday, but since vehicles will be
on the move then, today was used for maintenance. |
|
Headley, Hants |
16/11/00 |
0930 |
Major JA Macdonald MC (Acting Officer Commanding), Capt FT Jenner (Adjutant) and Lieut DF Cameron (IO) went to Brigade HQ for Operation orders for the exercise Tucker to start on Monday 17th November 1941. |
1430 |
Battalion orders issued to Squadron Leaders and Recce Officers. |
||
Headley, Hants |
17/11/41 |
Exercise ‘Tucker’. The narrative of the situation on which this exercise
was based is given in the attached appendix. |
|
0900 |
‘A’ and ‘B’ echelon vehicles of the battalion crossed the regimental start line (the Wheatsheaf Inn) in Headley and proceeded through Bordon Camp toward the regimental start-line at Selborne (Ref OS Sheet 123 MC 1822). The order of march was ‘A’ Echelon leading in the order ‘A’ Sqn, ‘HQ’ Sqn, ‘C’ Sqn and ‘B’ Sqn followed by ‘B’ Echelon vehicles in the same order. |
||
0950 |
The head of the battalion column arrived at the Brigade start-line to find that the 11th Battalion (The Ontario Regiment) had not yet crossed the start line. It was therefore necessary to send our column on a short detour to give the 11th Battalion time to pass. |
||
1040 |
The battalion crossed the Brigade start-line and proceeded on the route shown in the attached appendices. |
||
1500 |
The ‘A’ and ‘B’ Echelons of the battalion were in harbour at ‘No Man’s
Land’ by 1500 hours. (Ref OS Sheet 131 in the area bounded by 696382
– 690375). The harbour area itself was good. Large well-spaced trees
over excellent cover, while between these trees, holly bushes gave concealment
from ground observation. |
||
2200 |
Orders were received that the ‘second phase’ of the exercise would not start before 1200 hours on the 18-11-41. |
||
In Harbour, Sheet 131 MC 697375 |
18/11/41 |
0700 |
Reveille. Weather: cloudy, cool. Occasional showers in the afternoon. |
0830 |
Inspection of all unit harbour areas by the Brigade commander and all officers commanding. |
||
0900 |
Orders were received that the ‘A’ Echelon of the battalion would move to a forward assembly area in the area about Newton (Ref Sheet 131 – 6772) at 1330 hours. |
||
1230 |
Harbour parties and harbour officers left for the Newton area. |
||
1330 |
The ‘A’ Echelon of all squadrons proceeded to a harbour in the area 685720 (Ref OS Sheet 131). This harbour was in an area covered by deciduous trees, which at this season were bare of leaves. The ground among the trees was very soft and muddy and although some difficulty was experienced, all the vehicles were harboured safely. |
||
1430 |
Brigade Operation Order #2 (‘Tucker’) was received from ‘B’ Echelon. This ordered the Battalion to move to a new harbour area in the vicinity of Bramdean (Ref Sheet 123 MC 0547) which was about 25 miles away. The battalion was to cross a start line seven miles away at 1600 hours. Orders were given by Major JA Macdonald (Acting OC) that the unit would pass a regimental start line at 1525 where ‘A’ Echelon would be joined by ‘B’ Echelon moving from the ‘No Man’s Land’ harbour. |
||
1600 |
The battalion passed the brigade start line and proceeded by the road south of Winchester to Bramdean (See attached appendices). |
||
1800 |
The last vehicles of the column were harboured before dark in the area on the south side of the main road in the area about 056473 (Ref Sheet 123). |
||
1930 |
Orders were received from Brigade that the Battalion would proceed to its billet area in Headley. |
||
2015 |
The head of the column left the harbour area for the night move back to the unit lines. The night was cloudy which made it very dark. The darkness and the slight fog in the lower areas caused the convoy to travel at a slow speed. |
||
2130 |
The battalion column arrived at Headley without incident, and the squadrons
dispersed to their squadron areas. |
||
Headley, Hants |
19/11/41 |
Today the battalion took over its first Mark IV Tanks (Churchills).
The Mark IIA Tanks (Matildas) with which the battalion is now equipped
are being turned in as Mark IVs become available. Present indications
are that the changes will be made quite quickly for more and more Churchills
are being made available for issue to regiments. |
|
Headley, Hants |
20/11/41 |
A regular day of training. Emphasis is being placed on the repair of
Mark IIA tanks so that they will all be in running condition when they
are turned in for new tanks. Instruction on the Churchill tank is being
carried out by the 11th Army Tank Battalion, with the object of qualifying
drivers before they are put in charge of a tank. It is planned to run
a regimental school on the Churchill when a certain number of instructors
have qualified in the school at the Ontario Regiment. |
|
2000 |
At the regular biweekly meeting of the Officers held in the HQ Officers Mess, Lieu-Col GR Bradbrooke announced that the Regiment must be prepared to move into its new area within ten days. Although no announcement regarding the exact location of this area has been made, it is known that the Battalion will be somewhere in the vicinity of Brighton. The Officers meeting then continued with a discussion of the Tucker scheme. |
||
Headley, Hants |
21/11/41 |
1500 |
The German propaganda film “Baptism of Fire” relating to the German invasion of Poland was shown to 300 all ranks of the battalion at the Wallington Theatre in Aldershot. |
Headley, Hants |
22/11/41 |
Regular Saturday morning routine of ‘interior economy’. |
|
Headley, Hants |
23/11/41 |
0900 |
Voluntary Roman Catholic and Protestant Church services were held in the churches at Headley. The Protestant service was conducted by H/Capt WEL Smith. |
Headley, Hants |
24/11/41 |
0900 |
Lieut J McKinlay-Key left to attend a unit camouflage officers course at the South Eastern Command Camouflage Training Centre. |
1700 |
Lieut Wallace, B Sqn, returned from a driving and maintenance course at the Bovington AFV School. |
||
1800 |
Capt AJ Miller returned from an anti-gas school that he had been attending at the Canadian Training School at Camp Borden. |
||
Headley, Hants |
25/11/41 |
0900 |
Major JA Macdonald MC (Second in Command) left to attend a regimental
officers school in Army cooking at the Army School of Cookery in Aldershot.
This is a two day course. |
Headley, Hants |
26/11/41 |
Capt A Woodhouse of HQ Sqn, Brigade Headquarters, 1st Cdn Army Tank Brigade,
was attached to the battalion for regimental training. Capt Woodhouse
was assigned to ‘B’ Sqn. |
|
Headley, Hants |
27/11/41 |
0900 |
Ministry of Information Films were shown to men of all squadrons in Headley Village Hall. These films are shown each week and are sponsored by the YMCA Auxiliary Services attached to the Brigade. |
2000 |
The regular biweekly meeting of officers was held in HQ Officers Mess. Lieut Col Bradbrooke lectured on tactics of an Army Tank Battalion, with particular emphasis on roles other than the tank-infantry role. |
||
Headley, Hants |
28/11/41 |
A regular day of training. |
|
1730 |
Lieut Col Bradbrooke MC, the Officer Commanding, received word that he
was on ‘twenty-four hour’ notice to leave the battalion. Col Bradbrooke
will proceed to one of the theatres-of-war as a military observer. It
is possible that the Colonel may return to the battalion in several months,
but this is not likely. |
||
Headley, Hants |
29/11/41 |
Regular Sunday morning routing. |
|
Headley, Hants |
30/11/41 |
Voluntary church parades were held in the Village of Headley. |
Calgary Regiment War Diary index
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