76th Independent Reconnaissance Squadron

The 15th Scottish Reconnaissance Regiment was a World War II unit of the British Army's Reconnaissance Corps, itself part of the Royal Armoured Corps. Formed from a variety of infantry units, it served with 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division in the North West Europe campaign in 1944–45.

Origin

I5th (Scottish) Division was a Second Line Territorial Army (TA) formation, created as a duplicate of 52nd (Lowland) Division when the TA was rapidly doubled in size just before the outbreak of World War II. It was not ready for active service in time to join the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in the Battle of France, but it took a frontline role in home defence after the BEF was evacuated from Dunkirk in May–June 1940.Joslen, pp. 58–9.

15th Reconnaissance Battalion

The BEF's operational experience showed that infantry divisions required a motorised component for battlefield reconnaissance. 15th (S) Division formed its reconnaissance group in 1940 with men drawn from the brigade anti-tank (A/T) companies and every infantry regiment in the division contributed some personnel. At first they were mounted on a variety of civilian motorcycles and heavy motor vans, but later these were exchanged for Universal Carriers ('Bren Carriers').Kemsley, Riesco & Chamberlin, pp. 1–4.Reconnaissance Corps at regiments.org.
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The Reconnaissance Corps ('Recce Corps') was formed on 8 January 1941 and took over the brigade reconnaissance groups to form battalions. 15th (S) Division's groups and 44, 45 and 46 Brigade A/T Companies combined to become 15th Battalion, Reconnaissance Corps at Kirkee Barracks, Colchester, on 13 January under Lieutenant-Colonel R.J. Sandeman as commanding officer (CO), with Major N.C. Hendricks as second-in-command (2iC).Frederick, pp. 11–12.

At the time 15th (S) Division was stationed in Essex, moving to Suffolk in February 1941, still in a coast defence role but increasingly undertaking division-level training exercises. However,
in November 1941 the division was moved to North East England and reduced to a lower establishment, acknowledging that it was unlikely to be deployed overseas for the foreseeable future. Under this establishment it only required a recce company, and 15th Bn Recce Corps (now commanded by Lt-Col Hendricks with Maj J.I. Faircloth as 2iC) was broken up at Consett, County Durham, on 1 January 1942. It formed three independent recce companies for three lower-establishment divisions:
* 15th Independent Recce Company – remained with 15th (S) Division
* 48th Independent Recce Company – assigned to 48th (South Midland) Division; 48th Recce Battalion (formerly 5th Battalion, Gloucestershire Regiment) had been transferred to 43rd (Wessex) Division
* 77th Independent Recce Company – assigned to 77th Division being formed from the Devon and Cornwall County Division.

15th Independent Recce Company, commanded by Maj P.T.I. MacDiarmid, became 15th Independent Recce Squadron on 6 June 1942 when the Recce Corps adopted cavalry nomenclature (regiments, squadrons and troops rather than battalions, companies and platoons; privates became troopers).Martin, Appendix C.

21st Battalion, Royal Fusiliers

21st Battalion, Royal Fusiliers was one of a large number of new infantry battalions raised for home defence in the aftermath of Dunkirk. It was authorised on 4 July 1940 and formed on 5 September at Marbury Hall, Northwich, in Cheshire, under the command of Lt-Col E.L. Ricketts. On 11 October 1940 No 14 Infantry Training Group was reorganised as 214 Independent Infantry Brigade (Home), incorporating the 19th, 20th and 21st Battalions, Royal Fusiliers, and the 6th Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. The battalion moved to Newbury, Berkshire, and then in November the brigade took over the defences of the Isle of Wight as part of the Hampshire County Division. 21st Battalion was stationed at The Needles Batteries, Ryde, and later Sandown.Frederick, pp. 12, 289.Joslen p. 377.Parkinson, pp. 16, 31.

On 15 July 1941 21st Royal Fusiliers was withdrawn to the mainland and sent to Faringdon, Berkshire, where on 17 July it was converted into 54th Battalion, Reconnaissance Corps in 54th (East Anglian) Infantry Division. Lieutenant-Col Ricketts retained command of the battalion, which absorbed 15 other officers and 421 other ranks (ORs) from 21st Royal Fusiliers, together with 162, 163 and 198 Infantry Brigade A/T Companies. The remainder of the personnel of 21st Royal Fusiliers were posted to the 14th, 15th, 19th and 20th Battalions, Royal Fusiliers.Joslen, pp. 89, 350–1, 362.

54th (EA) Division was also reduced to the lower establishment and on 1 January 1942 54th Recce Battalion was broken up as follows:
* 54th Independent Recce Company – remained with 54th (EA) Division, stationed at Orford, Suffolk
* 45th Independent Recce Company – assigned to 45th Division, stationed at Danbury, Essex; 45th Recce Battalion had been transferred to 70th Division being formed in Egypt
* 76th Independent Recce Company – assigned to 76th Division being formed from the Norfolk County Division.

(48th, 76th and 77th Independent Recce Companies were later combined to form 80th (Holding and Training) Recce Regiment within 80th (Reserve) Division.)

15th Scottish Reconnaissance Regiment

On 7 December 1942 15th (S) Division was informed that it was to be raised to a higher establishment once more, as part of Second Army for the planned Allied invasion of Normandy (Operation Overlord). This time it was a 'Mixed' division of two infantry brigades and one tank brigade. A new 15th Scottish Reconnaissance Regiment was formed on 15 February 1943 at Felton Hall, Northumberland, with the following organisation:
* Regimental Headquarters (RHQ)
* HQ Squadron, including Signals and Mortar Trps and A/T Battery
* A Sqn – previously 15th Independent Sqn
* B Sqn – previously 45th Independent Sqn
* C Sqn – previously 54th Independent Sqn
* Light Aid Detachment, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers

The regiment thus had a dual heritage, one-third from Scottish Lowland units, two-thirds Londoners from the Royal Fusiliers and men from East Anglian units. Two days after formation, 300 additional recruits arrived from Infantry Training Centres and Primary Training Wings. These men had little training, but later trained reinforcements were drawn from 162nd Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps, which had been converted from 9th Battalion, Royal West Kent Regiment, and was disbanded in July 1943. Lieutenant-Col James Grant Peterkin, previously commanding the Reconnaissance Training Centre at Scarborough, North Yorkshire, was posted to the regiment as its first CO.Martin, Appendix B.Houterman, ''Cameron Highlanders officer''.
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Regimental and squadron training exercises were held across Northumberland in the summer of 1943, and the squadrons developed relationships with their affiliated brigades:
* A Sqn – 46 Highland Bde
* B Sqn – 227 Highland Bde (replacing 6 Guards Tank Bde)
* C Sqn – 44 Lowland Bde

In September 1943 the regiment moved to a training area in West Yorkshire, where 15th (S) Division was to join VIII Corps. 15th Recce Rgt was based at Pontefract, with B and C Sqns on the Racecourse, A Sqn at nearby Castleford, and the A/T and Mortar Troops of HQ Sqn in the village of Darrington, though the units were rotated in January. Training for the invasion included waterproofing vehicles and driving them on and off landing craft. A detachment took part in wading trials off Weymouth, Dorset, where all the Humber Armoured Cars ended up 'drowned' in a few feet of water. The A/T Troop carried out firing practice on the range at Harlech. The regiment participated in a series of divisional exercises with particular emphasis on crossing rivers and minefields, culminating in VIII Corps' 12-day Exercise Eagle on the Yorkshire Wolds in February 1944.

The Reconnaissance Corps officially became part of the Royal Armoured Corps (RAC) from 1 January 1944. Major K.C.C. Smith (12th Lancers) was appointed 2iC of the regiment, with Maj MacDiarmid in command of HQ Sqn.

In mid-April 1944 15th (S) Division was ordered to move to its invasion concentration area in Sussex; 15th Recce Rgt went to Angmering. The men trained on foot while the vehicles were waterproofed. 15th (S) Division was not due to land in the first wave on D Day, which occurred on 6 June. It was not until 17 June that the regiment (less B Sqn, which would follow later) drove down to Denmead outside Portsmouth and was organised into five shiploads (two Landing Ship, Tank, and three Landing Craft, Tank) for transport to Normandy. However, sailings were delayed by a storm, and it was only on 26 June that the regiment drove into Gosport and loaded its vehicles onto the ships, which set sail that night.

Normandy

15th Scottish Recce Rgt's landing craft touched down on Nan Sector of Juno Beach on the evening of 27 June and began unloading, but after the signals office M3 half-track was drowned in an underwater crater the beachmaster halted landing until the following morning. The convoy then moved off to its concentration area at St Gabriel. When the regiment arrived the rest of 15th (S) Division had already been in action since 26 June in Operation Epsom (the 'Battle of Scottish Corridor'). On the evening of 29 June the regiment was ordered up to become divisional reserve next day. There was little scope for reconnaissance units in the close fighting in Normandy, so the regiment was used piecemeal for 'odd jobs'. Its first assignment was for C Sqn to act as infantry to fill a gap on the boundary between VIII Corps and XXX Corps. Coming under mortar fire, the squadron suffered the regiment's first battle casualties. RHQ at Putot-en-Bessin also came under shellfire. Next day A Sqn was sent forward to fill the wide gap between C Sqn and XXX Corps. At first the dismounted squadrons had no A/T guns, because they only landed that morning. Formally, the regimental A/T battery was part of HQ Sqn, but once the regiment was in Normandy Grant Peterkin divided it among the recce squadrons, each squadron being joined by a troop of two 6-pounders towed by Loyd Carriers with another Loyd ammunition carrier.Forty, p. 167.

Operation Epsom ended on 2 July and 15th (S) Division was relieved from the front line. The recce regiment went into camp at Secqueville-en-Bessin until 9 July when A Sqn joined 46 (H) Bde west of Caen. Next day the squadron was ordered to reconnoitre towards Éterville and Maltot, with the intention of reaching the River Orne beyond, cooperating with an advance by 43rd (Wessex) Division ( Operation Jupiter). Approaching Éterville the squadron was attacked by enemy fighter aircraft, shooting one down in flames. The battalion from 43rd (W) Division tasked with taking Éterville was unable to do so. 9th Cameronians from 46 (H) Bde had to take over the attack, while A Sqn found a way round the blocked village and shot up German infantry in the cornfields beyond but could go no further. 3 Troop, moving towards Maltot, was fired on by Germans tanks, losing two armoured cars. After the failed attack, A Sqn held a low ridge while 46 (H) Bde consolidated. That night the squadron was loaned to 214 Bde of 43rd (W) Division, which was trying to hold Hill 112; A Sqn dug in to cover its exposed flank. The squadron returned to Secqueville-en-Bessin on 11 July, having lost 20 casualties.

15th (S) Division's next action was Operation Greenline on 15/16 July, for which the final approach and initial assault were carried out at night under 'Movement Light' or 'Monty's Moonlight', employing searchlights reflected off the clouds. The recce regiment's main role in this operation was traffic control, using RHQ, part of HQ Sqn and part of A Sqn, with telephone lines laid by 11th Armoured Division's signallers. C Squadron was to have supported 227 (H) Bde, but was not called upon. A Squadron's carriers were used for casualty evacuation. The following night the regiment handed over traffic control to 53rd Recce Regiment. That night German aircraft bombed 15th Recce Rgt's 'harbour', now at Fontenay-le-Pesnel, killing two men and setting seven vehicles on fire, including two ammunition trucks. On 19 July B Sqn arrived from England. On 21 July the assault troops (each consisting of four infantry sections mounted in 15-hundredweight trucks) of the three recce squadrons were combined as 'Macforce' under Maj MacDiarmid and sent to reinforce 7th Seaforth Highlanders, who were holding Le Baltru but had suffered heavy casualties. The recce troopers manned forward posts and carried out patrols while the Seaforths rested.

On 23 July 15th (S) Division secretly moved to the extreme right of Second Army's front and relieved US troops at Caumont. It was then in position for VIII Corps' planned breakout attack (Operation Bluecoat). 15th Recce Rgt was at Balleroy, with C Sqn in the line a few miles ahead, linking 15th (S) Division with the neighbouring US division. 'Bluecoat' was launched at 06.55 on 30 July with a massive air attack. 227 (H) Brigade attacked on the left of 15th (S) Division, supported by Churchill tanks from 6 Guards Tank Bde and B and C Sqns of 15th Recce Rgt (one with each follow-up battalion). The brigade group enveloped Lutain Wood and moved on to la Récussonnière and Les Loges, the recce squadrons following the tanks and mopping up enemy pockets. The rest of the regiment came behind, awaiting an opportunity to seize the high ground round Le Bény-Bocage and 2nd Household Cavalry Regiment (the recce units of I Corps and VIII Corps) probed forward but were again held up at St Martin until 11th Armoured Division cleared it after 11.00. C Squadron went over Quarry Hill at dawn but was similarly held up at La Mancellière-sur-Vire

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