70th Infantry Brigade War Diary April 1944.
1st April 1944
The Brigade Commander, Brigade Major and Staff Captain returned from Exercise CONQUEROR.
The weekly Field Returns as at 1st April 1944 were completed and a copy attached to the War Diary as Appendix A. The Officers remained at one under-strength against establishment. The Brigade Defence Platoon remained six men under-strength, while the HQ Other Ranks remained at four under-strength. The Light Aid Detachment was holding one man surplus against their establishment of 14.
2nd April 1944
Troops moved out to take part in Exercise SEEK – details of which were set out on Appendices B and B1 attached to the War Diary. 70th Infantry Brigade was acting as a retreating enemy in opposition to 49 Recce Regiment. Night withdrawal was practiced as part of the exercise.
3rd April 1944
The Staff Captain proceeded on 6 days’ privilege leave.
5th April 1944
Exercise SEEK ended. The privilege leave period ended for the Brigade.
8th April 1944
70th Infantry Brigade Intelligence Instruction No 1 Part II was issued and a copy attached to the War Diary as Appendix C.
The Movement and Concentration Orders for Exercise BUMP were issued and a copy attached to the War Diary as Appendix D.
The Field Returns as at 8th April 1944 were completed and a copy attached to the War Diary as Appendix E. The Officer strength had finally been made up to 15, its establishment level, as Lt Wood had been confirmed in post as G.S.O. III. There was no change to the Brigade Defence Platoon, while the deficit in HQ Other Ranks had reduced to 2, while at the same time the strength of the Provost detachment had increased from 11 to 14.
11th April 1944
The Brigade Group moved to Concentration Area 87/74871.
11th – 17th April 1944
Divisional Exercise BUMP took place. 70th Infantry Brigade Group, supported by four Field Regiments and one Medium Regiment of Artillery, completed a seven-day exercise on the Dunwich BATTLE AREA. Live enemy and live ammunition were used – the live enemy being withdrawn prior to an attack going in, to make the conditions under which the exercise was carried out as realistic as practicable. The Army and Corps Commanders visited the Brigade while the exercise was in progress and it was considered highly successful. Details are found on Appendices F, G, H and J attached to the War Diary.
15th April 1944
The weekly Field Returns as at 15th April 1944 were completed and a copy attached to the War Diary as Appendix I. There was, again, no change to the Officer strength, Brigade Defence Platoon, or the HQ Other Ranks. The Light Aid Detachment had fallen to 13 against the establishment of 14.
19th April 1944
A Ground Reconnaissance Exercise, KELLY’S EYE II, took place, in which 217 Anti-Tank Battery, the Battalion Anti-Tank Platoons, 10th DLI, 11th DLI and 1st Tyneside Scottish made up the enemy opposing 33 Armoured Brigade. The Divisional Commander visited 33 Armoured Brigade and gave a Warning Order of the impending visit of His Majesty The King on 27th April 1944.
20th April 1944
The Brigade Commander visited 10th DLI and 11th DLI during the morning and later completed a preliminary ground reconnaissance for an Infantry – Tank Co-operation Exercise to be held on 24th, 25th and 26th April 1944.
1st Tyneside Scottish and 144 RAC, 10th DLI and 148 RAC, and 11th DLI and 1 N. Yeomanry would undertake the exercise on successive days.
The Brigade Commander and Brigade Major of 147 Brigade stayed the night at 70th Brigade HQ.
21st April 1944
The Brigade Commander and Intelligence Officer, and the Brigade Commander and Brigade Major of 147 Brigade visited Exercise KELLY’S EYE II as spectators.
22nd April 1944
The weekly Field Returns as at 22nd April 1944 were completed and submitted and a copy attached to the War Diary as Appendix K. The Officers, Brigade Defence Platoon, and the HQ Other Ranks continued as before. The Light Aid Detachment had seen their number return to the establishment level of 14.
The Brigade Commander visited the Brigade Commander of 33 Armoured Brigade to discuss the Infantry-Tank Co-operation Exercises. It was agreed that they would take the form of a two-hour exercise on a Company-Squadron basis in the area of BURROWS CORNER 76/282961.
24th April 1944
The Brigade Commander visited the Co-operation Exercise involving 1st Tyneside Scottish and 144 RAC.
25th April 1944
The Brigade Commander visited Exercise WASH. This was a Divisional Waterproofing Trial in which the Brigade received a 98% result.
26th April 1944
The Brigade Commander visited the Co-operation Exercise involving 11th DLI and 1 N. Yeomanry in the morning. The afternoon saw a Brigade rehearsal for His Majesty’s visit.
27th April 1944
His Majesty The King visited 70th Infantry Brigade and the attached troops, arriving at THETFORD Station at 14:30 hours and leaving the area at 16:00 hours. Details are set out on Appendices L and M attached to the War Diary.
The Imperial War Museum holds, within its Film Collection, a record of this visit by His Majesty to 49th Division, which includes footage of men of all three Infantry Battalions in the 70th Infantry Brigade. There is a link to the IWM Website on which the 4-minute silent film can be viewed - please click here.
28th April 1944
The Brigade Commander, Brigade Major, Staff Captain and Intelligence Officer attended a Divisional Top Secret Exercise BIFF daily up until 1st May 1944.
29th April 1944
The weekly Field Returns as at 29th April 1944 were completed, submitted, and a copy attached to the War Diary as Appendix N. The Brigade Defence Platoon remained at a strength of 27 men against an establishment of 33, while the HQ Other Ranks remained at 53, against the establishment of 55, although the attached Provost detachment had fallen from 14 to 12. The Light Aid Detachment remained at full strength, as did the Officers of Brigade HQ.
Appendix B – Exercise SEEK – Operation Order No 2.
This document set out the intention of the exercise, which was to delay the enemy and cover the concentration of the rest of the Division, including denying access to a river crossing and also denying access to THETFORD to allow time for demolitions to be carried out which would make the town useless to the enemy.
Details of the positions to be taken up, lines to be covered and demolitions to be completed were set out. Details of planned withdrawals and covering positions were included in the next phase.
Appendix B1 – Exercise SEEK – Move to the Concentration Area.
Details of the positions to be taken up were set out. Information was also included on the uniform and clothing to be worn, and vehicle markings to be adopted, to distinguish friendly from enemy forces.
Appendix C – 70th Brigade Intelligence Instruction No 1 Part II.
This document described in detail the arrangements for disarming, searching and interrogating Prisoners of War. Men were identified specifically as reserve personnel for the Brigade Intelligence Section and details were given of the arrangements for securing reserves for the Battalion Intelligence Sections.
Prisoners were to be segregated, kept silent, searched for documents and weapons and escorted back down the line of supply. Recovered documents were to be kept separately for Officers, Warrant Officers and SS personnel, while paybooks would be returned to Other Ranks on the understanding that they were not damaged or defaced en route to the Divisional Cage.
A priority order was set out for the various recovered documents – the most important being marked maps. Early unit identification was key – for which paybooks were a vital source of information. Uniform insignia and shoulder straps were to be ignored for this purpose.
The instructions went on to specify the information to be supplied on enemy casualties and hostile shelling reports.
Patrol policy was set out and it was explained that Brigade would specify the type and nature of patrols to be sent out, and their objectives and routes. Specimen Patrol Reports were given and the arrangements for interrogating the Patrol were described.
Proformas to be completed when minefields were laid were described.
Passwords – their nature and security strength – were covered, based on weekly Code Words.
A supplement to the Instructions set out details of German unit Orders of Battle, with key SS units identified by name and number. ”Family trees” of organisations were provided. The example of an SS Panzer Grenadier Regiment was set out down to a detailed level of weaponry – based on a document from the SS Panzer Grenadier School at PROSETSCHNITZ. Similar documents, though not quite as detailed, were provided for other German formations likely to be encountered post-invasion.
Appendix D – Exercise BUMP – Movement and Concentration Orders.
The document referred to the papers already issued for this exercise. Vehicle loading and scales was to be as close as possible to that required for operations – this included loading as many motorcycles as possible on to transport – other than those needed for Traffic Control. A total of 69 three-ton lorries were to be organised for troop-carrying purposes.
A March Table and map trace was provided to assist planning.
Appendix F – Exercise BUMP.
This document confirmed the verbal instructions already given about the arrangements for the Advance Guard – commanded by Lt Col De Winton of 1st Tyneside Scottish – and the order of march of the remainder of the Brigade Group. Traffic Control and timings of individual serials were specified.
Appendix G – Exercise BUMP.
This document represented Brigade Operational Order No 2 and was again in confirmation of the verbal orders given by the Brigade Commander. These were orders to attack ASH WOOD and GOOSE HILL. The troops to be used in each phase of the attack were identified, map references given for forming-up points, timings of the phases described and Code Words listed to notify success. The registration of artillery and MMG targets were spelt out and the timings confirmed.
Appendix H – Exercise BUMP.
This document represented Brigade Operational Order No 3 and identified the enemy posts to be attacked by their map references. Engineer tasks, patrolling and diversionary operations were all included. Artillery support during the hours of darkness was set out in detail for each of the forms of fire support.
Appendix J – Exercise BUMP.
This single sheet covered the patrol programme for 14th/15th April.
Appendix L – Royal Visit.
This Appendix described the timetable for the Royal Visit, starting with inspecting the Guard of Honour at THETFORD Station at 14:30 hours, inspecting 33 Armoured Brigade at KILVERSTONE and then moving to SHADWELL COURT where His Majesty would inspect all the units in the Brigade Group. At the close The Royal Party was expected to leave, via MUNFORD for SANDRINGHAM.
Some of the inspection would be carried out from the Royal Car – especially those units with a large vehicle component. Where troops were armed, the King would be received with the ROYAL SALUTE, PRESENT ARMS, followed by SLOPE ARMS and ORDER ARMS. Units would cheer as he moved on to the next body of men. Side arms would be worn by Brigade HQ, 187 Field Ambulance, 482 Brigade Company RASC and 70 Brigade Workshops REME.
Appendix M – Royal Visit.
This Appendix refined and further detailed the information set out in Appendix L. The Guard of Honour was to be provided by 1st Tyneside Scottish – three Officers and 100 Other Ranks under the command of Captain J.R. Alexander. The inspections would be a mixture of troops and vehicles drawn up formally, while other elements would include visiting units under training on the Training Areas.
Unit Commanders were to each arrange for around six of their men to be introduced to His Majesty as he proceeded with the inspection. A map of the route was attached to the Appendix.
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