History of the Royal Scots Greys in THE SECOND WORLD WAR http://www.btinternet.com/~ian.a.paterson/orgarmour.htm#RSG

Since the First World War, Britain had been left responsible for Palestine. The quarrels between Arabs and Jews grew worse and in October 1938 the Scots Greys were ordered to Palestine, still as a cavalry regiment mounted on their famous grey horses. Operations consisted in the cordon and search of villages, combing the hills for rebels and their hide-outs and assisting the police in the prevention of inter-racial feuds. The outbreak of the Second World War in 1939 made little immediate difference the life of the regiment and the twilight of their days as horsed cavalry cannot have been far different from the long distant period in the 17th Century when the Scots Dragoons roamed the foothills of the Highlands in search of rebellious Covenanters.

By 1941 the war had taken a most unfavourable turn. After Wavell’s brilliant successes against the Italians in Abyssinia and the Western Desert, the German Afrika Korps, under Rommel, had landed in Libya and the pro-Axis Vichy French were encouraging the German occupation of Syria on the northern Palestinian border. Had the Germans been permitted to build up forces there they could, with little difficulty, have advanced through Palestine and captured the Suez Canal and the British bases in Egypt from the east. To counter this extremely serious threat scratch forces were hastily mustered and in the late spring of 1941 the Scots Greys were ordered to provide R.H.Q., the Machine Gun Troop and one squadron as motorised infantry. With the addition of a squadron of Staffordshire Yeomanry, they accompanied the Australians in an invasion of Syria.

When the Vichy French realised how slender the invading forces were, resistance stiffened and the column met heavy fighting round the village of Merjayun, for which action the regiment was awarded its first battle honour of the war. Several casualties were suffered, including some prisoners. However, within two months an armistice was forced and they were repatriated.

Meanwhile, on 19th July 1941, the regiment had officially become part of the Royal Armoured Corps, and by the time the force returned from Syria in August, practically all the horses had been handed in and training had begun on American Stuart tanks.

A young officer of the Scots Greys, Geoffrey Keyes, had been attached to the 11th (Scottish) Commando, and in November 1941, at the age of 24 and with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, he landed in command of a small party from a submarine on the North African coast, some 250 miles behind the enemy lines.

On the night of 18th November he raided the German Headquarters with the main object of killing General Rommel, the commander of the Afrika Korps. By a stroke of misfortune Rommel was away from his headquarters that night and Keyes was mortally wounded. For his outstanding bravery and complete disregard for his own safety he was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross.

Back in Palestine the Scots Greys were undergoing conversion to tanks and in late February of 1942 moved to Egypt as a fully trained armoured regiment; a remarkable achievement considering that only about ten per cent of its members had been able to drive before. After three months in the Delta the Regiment was sent into the Western Desert to assist the rapidly retreating Eighth Army. After reaching Sidi Barrani they received orders to hand over their tanks to another brigade, but they were soon re-equipped and sent forward again to the Alamein Line where the enemy advance had been arrested. After several weeks of tension, Rommel made his last concerted effort to reach the Suez Canal by attempting an armoured thrust across the Alam El Halfa ridge on 31st August 1942. The Scots Greys, with their new Grant tanks, were in reserve but were brought up to the ridge just as the battle had reached its most critical stage and were able to inflict such toll on the enemy armour that the attack foundered.

In September the Scots Greys joined 4th Armoured Brigade (The Black Rats) and remained with them almost continuously until the disbandment of the brigade in March 1948.

The battle of El Alamein opened on the evening of 23rd October 1942, the Scots Greys escorting the Royal Engineers in minefield clearance on the southern end of the line. Through the mines first, they formed a bridgehead and took many prisoners.

But the attack in the south was a feint to draw off the enemy armour before the main attack was launched in the north. After several unpleasant days of fighting, the Regiment was switched north and after the break-through pursued the fleeing enemy at the head of the Eighth Army. The Germans made a short stand at El Agheila, but after a left hook round their main position the Regiment was able to continue the advance to Nofilia, where they ran up against a strong enemy force of tanks and anti-tank guns. After a wholly successful old-fashioned cavalry charge in tanks, the enemy was dislodged and the Greys continued the advance through the desert to Tripoli, which they entered on 23rd January 1943. They remained in Tripoli for the next eight months and were visited by their Colonel-in-Chief, King George VI, during his tour of the Eighth Army.

Attached to the 56th (London) Division, the Scots Greys provided the armoured support for the amphibious assault on 9th September in Salerno Bay, on the Italian mainland. The landings were strongly opposed by the Germans and fierce fighting continued for ten days, mainly in and around the road centre of Battipaglia, during which the Regiment suffered many casualties. They were later informed by their corps commander that had it not been for the Greys the Allied beach head might well have been destroyed. After the breakout from Salerno the Greys led the advance and were the first troops to enter the city of Naples. The Regiment later undertook an assault crossing of the Volturno river and after fighting its way up to the river Garigliano, was sent home to prepare for the Second Front in North-West Europe.

Stationed at Worthing on the south coast for three months, the Scots Greys awaited D-Day - 6th June 1944. Their first tanks landed in Normandy on 7th June and three days later the Regiment was complete. From then on they took part in the fighting in many sectors of the beach head, including the battles for Caen, Carpiquet, Hill 112, and Vire. As a prelude to the final breakout and pursuit, the Greys played a prominent part in the famous action at the Falaise Gap where untold casualties were inflected on the enemy in men, horses and transport of all descriptions.

Under 4th Armoured Brigade, the Greys took part in the pursuit of the retreating enemy across the Seine, the Somme and so to the canals and waterways of the Low Countries which slowed down the advance. They spent the winter in Holland, taking part in the battles at Weert, Venlo, Nijmegen, Arnhem and Tilburg, and in February assisted the Canadian Army in the battle of the Rhineland, meeting heavy opposition in the wooded Hochwald area, inside the German border.

On the 25th March 1945 the Regiment crossed the Rhine, Germany’s natural defensive obstacle. After several days’ fighting, the enemy withdrew and did not stop until the river Aller. Clearing the enemy out of the villages on the east bank of the river, the Greys swung north to Bremen which they captured with 52nd (Lowland) Division on 24th April.

On 1st May the Scots Greys were attached to 6th Airborne Division for the final operation of the war, which was to reach the Baltic and secure Denmark for the Western allies. The advance began on 2nd May and, with troops of the airborne Division riding on the tanks, they drove 80 miles through enemy country to Wismar, a Baltic port which they reached a few hours ahead of the Russians, the first British troops to join up with their allies from the east. The enemy surrendered in the next few days and the war in Europe came to an end.

Home Page    Family History Page    Return to Vaughan Family     Return to Military Page