7th Reconanassiance Regiment 3rd Cdn. Infantry Div. WE
 

17th Duke of York Royal Canadian Hussars
7th Reconanassiance Regiment 3rd Cdn. Infantry Div.

Would like to know if anyone has info on the WE (War Establishment) of a 1944 Recee Regt. for Infantry Divisions?
WE =TOE in current parlance.

From my reading they had Humber MkIV's as there gun AC and then switched to Diamler's around time of Falaise operations.


I have some rough ideas taken from Bouchery's vol 2 and from some web resources but would like to get the official skivvy for equipment/vehicles/arms and manpower.

Any insight appreciated.

17th Hussars
 

Here is a link to a site which shows the organization of a recce regt in 1941.

http://www.britishsoldier.com/logistic.htm

The organization did not change very much by 1944.The size of the recce regt was increase to 41 officers and 755 other ranks, and the AA platoon was dropped. The biggest change was in the made up of the Scout troops. By 1944 these were made up of a headquarters section of one armoured car, one carrier and two motorcycles; a reconnaissance section of two armoured cars and two light reconnaissance cars; and two carrier sections, each with three carriers.

I am in the process of reading “An Historical Account of the 7th Canadian Reconnaissance Regiment (17th Duke of York’s Royal Canadian Hussars) in the World War 1939 – 1945” by Capt. Walter Pavey (Montreal 1948). When they landed in Normandy they were equipped with Humber Armoured Cars Mk IV, Humberettes (Humber Mk. III LRC) and carriers. The change over from Humber Armoured Cars to Daimler Mk. I Armoured Cars occurred in late Sept (between the 23rd and the 28th).

http://tanxheaven.com/fedcol/humber/humber.htm

From the end of Jan. 1944, the 17th Hussars also had a flame-thrower carrier (Ronson and later Wasps) added to each scout troop, probably as part of the headquarters section.

Additional info
 

When 7th Recce landed in Normandy they had one Station Wagon and twenty-two Jeeps over establishment. These extra Jeeps were for the use of the Contact Detachments which were attached to the Battallion, Brigade and Divisional Headquarters. They consisted of an Officer, a Corporal and two operators.Each Jeep mounted a No. 22 wireless set, a No. 68R set, batteries and a chore-horse. The Contract Detachments were to provide an extra wireless link between the various HQ's so that the Div. Commander could keep up to date with the situation of the forward units.

Here is a photo of a 7th Recce Scout Troop in Holland near wars end.

Maj. D.G. Mackenzie
 

Looking for any info on this 17th Hussar Officer Maj D G MacKenzie....I know he served with 56th Recce of Brit 78th Inf Div in North Africa and landed at Normandy as a Sqn CO....Any leads would be appreciated....Cheers,Mike.

Maj. D.G. Mackenzie
 

I found only one reference to Maj. D.G. Mackanzie in the 17th Hussars history as followers:

“The troops in the Recce Squadrons, were not, however the only ones who were working and becoming tired. During the static period of fighting, ‘B’ Echelon of the Regiment, under command of Major D.G. Mackenzie, were in the divisional area and moved from place to place by the Divisional ‘B’ Echelon Area Commander. It became apparent, however, that during a breakout it would be impossible to operate the fighting Squadrons with ‘B’ Echelon so many miles behind, so it was decided to form an ‘A’ Echelon consisting of the vehicles, equipment and personnel necessary to maintain the Regiment on a rapid advance. They would do this either by drawing supplies from forward supply depots or from the ‘B’ Echelon. Both these Echelons came under the direct control of the 2 I/C, Major Baerman. It was the job of this ‘A’ Echelon, commanded by the Quarter Master, Capt. J.M. Thom to stick on the tails of the squadrons and run petrol, ammunition, food, mail, etc., to them whenever they stopped for a minute. This nearly always happened at night, so, having trailed them all day long, they were forced to keep working most of the night, first finding the ‘run-away’ squadrons, then making sure that they would be ready to ‘run-away’ again the following day. This work was not only tiring, but, in many cases, hazardous”.

Thanks for the info John, it does flesh out what I was looking for.

Thanks for that John!..Is that a ref from the 17th History?

Cheers,Mike.

Re: 7th Reconanassiance Regiment 3rd Cdn. Infantry Div. WE
 

Hello Waycool :)

Only one small BTW not related to the vehicles but to the Regiment. In the Falaise operations there is also joint episode of the 17th and three Polish units. All of them fought in the region of hellish Quesnay wood. From the Polish side they were 24th Ulans Regiment, 2nd SP Artillery Regiment and 8th Rifle Battalion.

Best regards

C. :)