30th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop (Mech) Timeline

Thanks, Earthican.

The thick black line is the approximate limit of the area the 30 Recon was patrolling. It is labeled "1"

The thin red line shows about the area the patrol may have traversed to get the outpost, marked by a red box and labeled "2."

The thin red the continues to the west, where I am speculating the the moved to get a good look at St. Giles.

Judging from previous entries, they were drawing a good bit of fire when the 2nd Platoon patrols tried to cross into German territory further to the west (post 15 & 16) of the apparent departure line of this patrol.

The road going roughly east out of La Meaufe is D54, mention by me in post 15 above.

The map does not show it, but the entire area is a patchwork of fields, bordered by hedgerows. I am left wonder how much work it was going over or around them.

 

I use what Owen suggested above, Doc. You have to use the correct map and the correct prefix letters in front of the grid coordinates.

In this case, when looking for latitude and longitude for the part of Normandy the 30th Recon was in during June, 1944, I use the French Lambert Zone 1 map and the vT prefix in front of the six-digit coordinates found in the AAR.

 

28 June 1944

From the AAR:

"2nd and 3rd Platoons coninued with same mission. 3rd Platoon had some trouble with the Germans at night as the 1st Platoon had, that is, spraying of the platoon zone by German automatic fire."

Edited:

I found the 30th Division's General Orders sometime back and finally got the opportunity to read them closely and look for 30th Recon men who are mentioned in the orders. From the orders,I have made a list of all of 30th Recon men, usually recieving medals such as Silver Star, Bronze Star and Purple Heart. I will use this to try to identify casualties that are mentioned in the 30th Recon AAR. The only issue is that a large number of the GOs from early 1945 are missing, specifically around 60 or so spanning early January to late March.

I wished that I had found the order prior to completing and publishing the book manuscipt, as they would have helped clear few inconsistencies with Mr. Sanford's recollections dates, events and locations.

Regardless, although it is not mentioned in the AAR, the General Orders for the 30th ID indicate that 1st Lt. Neil Currey was awarded a Purple Heart for wounds received on this date, making him the first member of the 30th Recon to be wounded. Marion Sanford states that Lt Currey lost an eye and had other serious injuries after tripping a mine.

While reading AARs, I notice the sparseness of the information recored in those generated by the 30th Recon, when compared to other units, especially early in the war.

 

29 June 1944

From the AAR:

"2nd and 3rd Platoon continued with same mission."

 

30 June 1944

From the AAR:

"1st Platoon given mission of patrolling roads between 477792 and 504790. They established listening posts at night. All was quiet. 2nd Platoon continued with same mission as previously. 3rd Platoon was given new mission of patrolling roads between 480845 and 495805. There was no activity directed against platoon."

 

1 July 1944

From the AAR:

"1st Platoon had established listening posts at night along line 477792 and 504790. Road between these points were patrolled during the day. The 2nd Platoon was patrolling roads between 492808 and 518783. The 3rd Platoon was patrolling roads between 480845 and 495805. No attempt was made by the enemy to penetrate our lines at these points."

1st and 2nd Platoon were patrolling a rough arc 1 mile north of St Jean de Daye easterly to about a mile east of the village. 1st Platoon was to the west and 2nd was to the east. 3rd Platoon was patrolling in line north of 1st Platoon to about the area that is now Highway N13, east of the Vire River. I am guessing that the HQ Platoon had moved from its previous locations as it is a good distance to the SE from the current patrol areas, but no mention is made in the AAR that it had. Marion Sanford is still with the 1st Platoon.

On the attached map, St. Lo is about 1 mile south of the lower border of the map.

View attachment 21011

 

2 July 1944

From the AAR:

"Platoons continued with same missions."

 

3 July 1944

From the AAR:

"No Change in missions."

 

4 July 1944

From the AAR:

"The entire troop assembled in vicinity 529708 having been relieved by the 125th Cavalry."

This location is west of Saint Claire-sur-l'Elle and not too far from their original bivouac the first night in Normandy.

For those of you who have read the book, this was the time of the infamous boot incident involving T4 Sanford and Sgt Mortimer Gaines.

Sanford also moved back to the HQ Platoon at this time.

**See edited post above (#27) for 28 June 1944.**

 

5 July 1944

From the AAR:

"Troop remained in bivouac."

 

6 July 1944

From the AAR:

"Troop remained in bivouac."

In the 30th ID General Orders #85, 24 Oct 1944, I found PFC Everette E. Weems was awarded a Purple Heart for injuries received on this date. Someone has hand-written "30 Recon" beside his name. I believe this is an error, as I have never found this name on any 30 Recon lists. I suspect he was in one of the armored battalions (743rd TB or 823rd TD), as I have found other men from the Cavalry branch in those units.

 

7 July 1944

From the AAR:

"Troop received the mission of patrolling the railroad between points 517745 and 497713. The 1st Platoon was given the zone 717745 and 509737, the 2nd Platoon the zone 509737 to 503723, and the 3rd Platoon the zone 503723 and 497713. They undertook the missions at 1800. No attempt was made by the enemy to penetrate our lines in the troop zone."

The patrol area was along a north/south railroad track east of the Vire River, from rougly east of the line Saint-Fromond to Cavigny. The line is east of St Jean de Daye, and I am guessing that the troop was arrayed looking west, more or less guarding the river to prevent crossings.

For those of you who have read the book, this is where Mr. Sanford drove under the railroad trestle while under fire and caught the machine gun on it, bending the barrel back. They troop patrolled the area for three days, so I do not know which day the incident occured.

View attachment 21029

 

8 July 1944

From the AAR:

"Troop continued with same mission."

 

9 July 1944

From the AAR:

"Troop continued with same mission."

 

10 July 1944

From the AAR:

"1st Platoon given new mission of holding roadblock at 457727. The 2nd Platoon established a road block at 452732. The 3rd Platoon was in reserve."

These two road blocks were on the west side of the VIre River in and around the village of Le Dezert.