141 Royal Armoured Corps (The Buffs) Churchill Crocodiles

I will probably got back and photograph the later months. Not sure why I hadn't copied them to be honest. Bear with me, and I will add them over the next few months.

 

Paul,
A question about the War diaries of the 141st RAC. Throughout the diaries places are mentioned followed by usually 6, some time 4, figures what I assume to be map references. Is there any way of relating these map references to a modern map, say Google maps. I would love to locate each place referred to in the diaries.

 

Steve - I will respond to your email shortly.

 

Steve, this site Notes on the "Modified British System" used on the European Theatre of Operations during the WWII will give you a step-by-step proceedure for transfering the 6-digit WWII map coordinates into degrees latitude and langitude. Then C&P those into Google Earth and it will take you to the coordinate spot, or a very close approx. When you C&P the Lat & lang into Google Earth, backspace over the degree symbols as Google Earth will not recognise these. Also I think there cannot be a space between numbers. Play with it, you will get the gist. This is a Godsend for finding modern locales of WWII map coordinates.

Greg C.

 

Greg, I knew there was a site out there but had lost the URL. Well done!

 

Thanks Paul

Greg C. [returns the salute]

 

I hope someone can help with what I suspect is a silly question. I understand the 141st RAC consisted of 3 squadrons of Crocodiles, A, B, and C sqdns. Each squadron had 5 troops of 3 Crocs per troop. I have been reading through the War Diaries and it occured to me is it right or even a safe assumption that A sqdn was made up of Troops 1-5, B sqdn 6-10 and C sqdn 11-15. Sometimes there are references to troops without saying what squadron. Can anyone enlighten me?

 

Thanks for the WDs Paul! Good idea.

John Sliz

 

Glad they were of interest.

 

Greg,
Forgot to thank you for the tip, works brilliantly
Steve

 

Eduard,
Have a look at the war diaries message posted by Paul. The June war diary has details of this unit and its actions.
Steve

 

Steve, glad I could be of help.

Greg C.

 

Hi Grahame 555

I have been looking for some one with a family member that served with the 141st R.A.C The Buffs for a long time.
My father also served with this regement, he landed on juno beach on Dday with the canadians. He drove the churchill flame tank he was also in Bsq The Name on his tank was Skipper. If you could help me with any photos of same I would gladly pay any cost for same.


Thank You L C Smith QLD Australia

 

Paul, just wondering, will you be photographing the 141 RAC the Buffs War Diaries for September-December 1944 anytime soon? Thanks,

Greg C.

 

My father served as a Croc driver with the 141st RAC during WW2 in Normandy and Europe.

I have a scanned copy of a handwritten list of the tank crews in B squadron. I don't know the date it was written or the date the crew list is for. I believe it was written much after the war by an ex-member of B sqdn from memory.

Unfortunately the last line listing one of the tanks is missing and I can't see any tank called skipper, although it may be the missing line. Furthermore I can't see any driver called Smith although there is a turret gunner with the surname Smith and what appears to be the forename Chile (or something like that, handwriting not easy to read) in inverted commas suggesting its a nickname. BUT if you are interested in seeing it I would be more than happy to email it to you. You will need to give me a valid email address.

My father, still alive, was in B sqdn for a while but by the time of the Normandy campaign he had been transferred to another squadron. His comrades in the B squadron tank he originally drove were killed in action during the Normandy, a lucky escape for my father and therefore me!! See my earlier posts.

Hope this may help.

 

Paul,
I would also be very interested in seeing those "missing" months if you get around to it.

 

I will get round to this at some point. More anon.

 

Hello,

Captain Harry Bailey was my Great Uncle - I would dearly love to know more about his military background. Would it be possible to see the extracts of his private memento of the time the regiment spent in France/Germany, 1944-45, please?

Many thanks.

 

Hello I recently found out from my 87 year old Mother that her cousin was killed in Normandy. After having a shop and house in Ste Mere Eglise for 5 years it was a shock to say the least that it was not mentioned before! He was Trooper Sidney Williams and was with 141 R.A.C. and is buried at Banneville-la-Campagne outside Caen. He was killed on the 18th July. IF anyone has anymore infor on the battle or even him I would really like to relay it to my Mum. Also as a note the 7th Bn Buffs wore a Silver plated Buffs badge. Many thanks for any info in advance. Andrew

 

Attached is a U.S. Army Signal Corps photograph of a Churchill
tank, which I found and scanned at the U.S. NARA, College Park,
on 18 Sept. 2010.

If anyone would like a high-res copy of the image, just let me know.

III-SC 203155, Credit NARA.


Dave