9 RTR: LOGISTICS AND REPAIRS

The first manuscript of Tank Tracks submitted to our publishers, Sutton, contained

150,000 words. They agreed to publish, but said that its length should be cut back to

100,000. This created the problem of what to cut. The solution was to remove some of

the original appendices (which are now on the website) and to take out various sections

of the main text. Two of the sections were those on logistics and repairs to our vehicles.

They are reprinted below (identified with their original paragraph numbers).

4.2 An army marches on its stomach: where supplies came from

Doug David was the Squadron Quarter Master Sergeant of C Squadron from mid 1943 to 10 July 1944. On that day, as recounted earlier, SSM Monty Bradley of A Squadron was wounded. Doug was promoted to SSM and transferred to A Squadron, where he remained until the end of the war. The SSM and SQMS are both very much concerned with squadron administration, and thus Doug had particularly wide experience of bringing up supplies. This is how he remembers it:

"The supply echelon comprised many 'pack-up' items such as ammunition, petrol, water, rations, mail when available, spare crews, G1098 stores of all kinds. There were people from the ACC (Army Catering Corps), REME LAD (Light Aid Detachment of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers) and the Signals. In C Squadron the SQMS was normally in charge and in A Squadron the SSM.

When a battle was being fought a supply package called F1 echelon was put together. This comprised half-tracks, 3 -tonners, and the 15-cwt water wagon, and would take ammunition, petrol, compo rations and mail forward to the tanks of F echelon. We would also bring up spare crews if needed and anything special requested by the Squadron Leader. The SQMS or SSM would re-stock from RASC Direct Issue Depots, or take what they needed from RASC dumps, literally on a help-yourself basis".

Doug also remembers a particular need of the Squadron Leader when he was SQMS of C Squadron: "Coming out of action I always had to provide Ronnie Holden with a couple of those tinned fruit puddings from the compo packs – he loved them".

When a tank battalion was in action it divided itself into three echelons, F (Fighting), A and B(Both of them Supply); under some circumstances, as Doug has described, another echelon, F1, was interposed between F and A. The diagram of Figure 4.1 shows a typical arrangement for three or four echelons. When in action the echelons remained separate, and F1 or A would come up to the tanks whenever possible or necessary. The aim all the time was to have as many tanks as possible fit to fight. This meant that the tanks should be completely stocked with ammunition, full of petrol, mechanically sound, have full crews, and the crews be fed and watered.

Figure 4.1: Echelons of A Sabre Squadron

There were many and varied circumstances under which replenishment had to take place, and some of these are illustrated in Figures 4.2 and 4.3. When going into action a sabre squadron moved from a rear area to a forward assembly area (FAA). Depending on the type of move it might be desirable to re-stock, especially with petrol, food, and water, before going into action. Re-stocking could be done at the FAA or possibly at the FUP (forming up point).

Figure 4.2: Replenishment Before Action

Figure 4.3: Replenishment During or After Action

Depending on the severity and length of action it might be necessary to replenish the tanks during the action. This would often be done by bringing the tanks back from contact with the enemy – possibly one or two troops at a time – to a "forward rally". After replenishment the tanks might return to action or might adopt a counter-attack role in the forward rally area.

At the end of the day the tanks generally – but not always – returned to a rear rally or laager where they could be replenished and the crews could get some sleep. In such a laager guards would be posted and vigilance strictly maintained. The supporting vehicles of A or F1 echelon could also be included in the laager.

For all formations of all armies petrol was a particularly important item of supply in World War II – although the German army made substantial use of horse-drawn transport. In the early part of the war the British army used non-returnable cans, the ones that leaked considerably and, as Cyril Rees says: "Many may remember the eeriness of the silent tank park in the dead of night as the petrol cans on the fuel dump popped and banged with startling effect as they reacted to the changes in ambient temperature".

These were replaced by the well-loved re-sealable and re-usable jerrican. Well-loved is about right, because apparently of 17½ million issued only 2½ million found their way back into the supply system. The major bulk source of petrol was a supply piped under the English Channel, as Berry Veale found out some years after the war. He describes it as "The dog Pluto".

"A few years ago we spent a week or two in the Isle of Wight. The island bears its place in the history of England and today, is a restful haven because there are no 'M' roads and motor vehicles follow a slower pace. A great place for walkers; never more than a couple of miles from some delightful pub.

On one of our walks along the cliffs we came across a chine, this one an unusually deep slash in the cliff face and overgrown with trees and scrub. Its on the South East coast and called Shanklin Chine.

I just casually mentioned this chine to the bar person at our lunch halt and that set him off on an interesting story.

This chine was chosen for the site of P.L.U.T.O (The Pipe Line Under the Ocean) just before the invasion of Europe June 1944. Its depth and location plus the natural growth, were all features looked for by the planners. It was the pipeline which transported most of the P.O.L over to France as soon as the break out of the beachhead had been accomplished.

The natural camouflage in the chine kept this end of this valuable transport asset hidden from aerial reconnaissance when the Germans were keenly searching for clues as to where the invasion armada was likely to strike. I did not learn where the Tank Farm or Pump House were hidden. Could have been in the old railway line tunnel between Shanklin - Ventnor".

Pluto left England at the place described by Berry and came ashore in France just to the west of Cherbourg near the village of Querqueville. Just south of Cherbourg the pipe-line split into two, one line going more or less due east via Bayeux, Caen and Lisieux, and the other going south-east via St. Lô, Vire, Domfront, and Alençon. As far as is known none of this pipe-line was damaged by enemy action, and proved a most effective supply method throughout the campaign.

4.3 Keeping the tanks on the road

Replenishment was one thing. But what if anything happened to the tank? Whenever possible tank crews fixed problems themselves. In particular, tank crews became very skilled at dealing with damage to or malfunction of the tracks. Here it was very desirable to have a "strong man" in the crew, such as Ginger Kirk of 13 Troop or Joe Booth of 11 Troop. But under all sorts of circumstances outside help was needed, and these could be put into three main classes:

tank becoming bogged or in some other way unable to extricate itself

damage by enemy action (or sometimes, regrettably, damage by action from supposedly friendly troops, such as the RAF bombing north of Falaise)

mechanical failure

Several systems had been set up to help deal with these problems.

If a tank – or any other vehicle, for that matter – was bogged, down a crater, in an anti-tank ditch or in a stream, there were at least three ways it could be got out. The first was by another tank, and every tank carried a tow-rope and shackles. The second was the squadron Armoured Recovery vehicle (ARV), a remarkably powerful vehicle for this purpose. It was essentially a Churchill tank without a turret, and was thus not ideal for shelter in a mortar stonk. The third method was to use the LAD's Scammell, a very heavy 4-wheel drive truck. Its cross-country performance was not quite that of an ARV, but its recovery powers were quite as great.

Damage by enemy action could be terminal, as when the tank was completely burnt out; in extreme cases the turret could be blown off if much of the ammunition exploded simultaneously. "The Story of 34 Armoured Brigade" states that the brigade tank losses for the campaign (including for 7 RTR and 9 RTR when they were in 31 Tank Brigade) were 272. Of these 85 were brewed, but undoubtedly a high proportion of the remaining 187 were patched up and returned to action. The "patching" process could be literally that. If a tank was hit by armour-piercing shot it quite often gouged a chunk of metal out of the armour, leaving a cavity of varying depth. This could be – and was, many times – filled in by welding armour plate into the hole. Doug David remembers Ronnie Holden's tank. "His tank Incredible had more patches added by LAD than a patchwork quilt. Every time it was hit he insisted on immediate repair and would not command an alternative tank unless absolutely necessary".

The Churchill had by now become quite a reliable tank mechanically. The Story of 34 Brigade gives some figures for three Churchills up to mid-February 1945.

	Mileage on landing	Since	Total	Remarks
"Ramillies" 147 RAC	268	1263	1531	Did about another 150 miles after this
"Lion" 107 RAC	290	1165	1455	Completed 1900 miles before leaving the regiment
"Imperator" 9 RTR	451	1111	1562	Knocked out in the Reichswald battle

The Story comments: "From the beaches of Normandy to the German border and beyond is a long way for 40-ton Churchills very few of which were new, or anything like it, on

D-Day. The figures above show what can be done, if it survives battle long enough, with a tank whose estimated total life in June 1944 was reckoned at 800 miles maximum without complete overhaul".

But of course the tanks did suffer mechanical or electrical breakdown and had to be repaired from time to time. The various ways in which repair could take place are shown in Figure 4-4. As stated earlier, the crew would mend it if they could. The next step was the squadron fitters, the next the Light Aid Detachment (LAD) and the next the Brigade workshops, which were also staffed by REME soldiers. After a tank had been repaired it could either go straight back to its unit, or could go to the Brigade's Forward Delivery Squadron (FDS). The FDS was the channel for new or re-worked tanks, and for replacement crews. The 34 Brigade Story records that the FDS processed 300 or so tanks during the campaign, but this did not include tanks supplied to 7 and 9 RTR while in 31 Tank Brigade. The FDS also processed 129 officers and 1870 other ranks in replacement of casualties, temporary or permanent; this figure includes unhorsed crews awaiting fresh tanks, but once again does not include figures for 7 and 9 RTR while in 31 Brigade.

Figure 4.4: Process for Tank Repair

The LAD was a very important part of the battalion, and consisted of 26 people, all members of the REME. The 9th's LAD was commanded by Capt. Laurie Branson and its senior Warrant officer was Armourer Quarter-Master Sergeant (AQMS) Granville Wilding. Two members of the LAD were Gordon Horsewood and Ivan Pope, and they describe some of their activities: "We serviced all the 9th's vehicles liaising with your Battalion Technical Adjutant Capt Brook. Our activities included front line repairs, changing engines and gearboxes, maintaining electrical equipment, and recovering vehicles under all kinds of conditions. We carried a large range of spares and also we had electric welding equipment. AQMS Wilding had specialist knowledge of all kinds of armament, and was well respected by the CO and the Squadron Commanders. In one short period after Le Havre we changed ten engines before we moved up to Holland".