The Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers A Collection of RCEME Individual Unit Histories In North-West Europe In World War II Edited By Doug Knight The RCEME Heritage Archives A Collection of RCEME Individual Unit Histories In North-West Europe In World War II Version 3.1 © 2010 The Guild of the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Branch Charitable Trust A Collection of RCEME Individual Unit Histories in North-West Europe in World War II Editor’s Note This is a reproduction of a document that was produced at the end of the Second World War. Each unit in First Canadian Army was required to write a short history of the unit before it was disbanded or returned to Canada. The accounts of the Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers‟ (RCEME) units were compiled into this record. The photocopy from which this transcript has been produced is in very poor condition and is badly faded in many areas, but every effort has been made to ensure accuracy. Illegible words have been replaced by [?]. This is a reproduction, and style of the individual unit accounts was not changed, nor was the accuracy of their statements verified. Some minor editing has been carried out, particularly in eliminating contemporary official and unofficial abbreviations that might not be familiar to a modern audience [The AWD ws loc nr BARNEVELD becomes The AWD was located near Barneveld]. The date format was standardised, and some punctuation added (one LAD had never heard of the comma, and was quite vague on the use of the period). [Editorial or explanatory comments have been placed in square brackets]. A glossary has been added to define the abbreviations that remain – the original had no glossary, nor did the writers need one. Although the formal unit designation usually includes the Corps (RCEME, RCA, etc.), “RCEME” has been omitted from RCEME unit designations except in the headings. Apart from this, these are the unit‟s stories, in their words. The organisation of the units is from the original document, and represents the affiliation of the units to their parent formations when the history was written. It should not be taken to represent the organisation of First Canadian Army during the campaign in North-West Europe. The histories were written in June and July 1945, and some units recorded what they were doing at the time, resulting in the use of the present tense in some of the accounts. The editor thanks LCol (ret‟d) Bob Vincent and LCol (ret‟d) Lucas Hellemans for their assistance in transcribing the original. A very special vote of thanks goes to Maryanne Lang for work “above and beyond” in deciphering and typing large quantities of very faint and muddled text. A note to version 2. The original issue did not include a number of 5th Canadian Armoured Division‟s units because of missing pages in the source document. Copies of these pages have been found, and the unit histories have been added to this version. I have also added the affiliation of some LADs from other sources. Because some LADs supported several units at different times, the listed affiliation is that which was in effect during the campaign in North-west Europe. Version 3 updated the copyright and corrected errors. Version 3.1 corrects additional errors that have been discovered. Doug Knight November 2010 © 2010 The Guild of the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Branch Charitable Trust Page ii A Collection of RCEME Individual Unit Histories in North-West Europe in World War II Table of Contents Editor‟s Note ............................................................................................................................................ ii A note to version 2. .............................................................................................................................. ii Table of Contents .................................................................................................................................... iii Glossary .................................................................................................................................................. vii Ranks .................................................................................................................................................. vii Terms .................................................................................................................................................. vii DDME Branch, Administrative Headquarters, First Canadian Army .................................... 1 A Narrative of RCEME, First Canadian Army Troops, in North-West Europe ...................... 3 Headquarters, Commander RCEME, First Canadian Army Troops ........................................................ 3 First Canadian Army Troops Workshop, RCEME ................................................................................... 5 st 1 Canadian General Troops Workshop, RCEME ................................................................................... 7 nd 2 Canadian Infantry Troops Workshop, RCEME .................................................................................. 9 rd 3 Canadian Infantry Troops Workshop, RCEME ................................................................................ 10 nd 2 Canadian Tank Troops Workshop, RCEME ..................................................................................... 13 th 4 Canadian Armoured Troops Workshop, RCEME ............................................................................. 14 th 12 Canadian Infantry Brigade Workshop, RCEME ............................................................................. 17 st 1 Canadian Engineer Equipment Workshop, RCEME ......................................................................... 17 nd 2 Canadian Engineer Equipment Workshop, RCEME ........................................................................ 19 rd 3 Canadian Recovery Company, RCEME ........................................................................................... 19 st 1 Canadian Servicing Unit, RCEME .................................................................................................... 21 st 1 Canadian Radar Battery Workshop, RCEME .................................................................................... 22 th 25 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME attached to 11 Canadian Field Park Company, RCE .................. 23 nd 29 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME attached to 2 Canadian Battalion, RCE ..................................... 25 th 43 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME attached to 25 Canadian Armoured Delivery Regiment ............. 26 rd 92 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME attached to 3 Battalion RCE ....................................................... 26 th 93 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME attached to 10 Canadian Field Park Company, RCE .................. 27 st 123 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME attached to 1 Canadian Armoured Carrier Regiment ................ 28 126 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME attached to First Canadian Army Signals ................................... 29 st 131 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME attached to 1 Rocket Battery, RCA .......................................... 30 British Units Under Command ............................................................................................................... 31 824 Armoured Troops Workshop (British) ........................................................................................ 31 231 Infantry Brigade Workshop (British) .......................................................................................... 31 st A Narrative of RCEME, 1 Canadian Corps Troops, in North-West Europe ........................32 st Headquarters RCEME, 1 Canadian Corps Troops ............................................................................... 32 st 1 Canadian Infantry Troops Workshop, RCEME ................................................................................. 32 st 1 Canadian Corps Troops Workshop, RCEME .................................................................................... 33 st 1 Canadian Recovery Company, RCEME ............................................................................................ 34 st 51 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME, attached to 1 Canadian Corps Field Park Company .................. 35 © 2010 The Guild of the Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Branch Charitable Trust Page iii A Collection of RCEME Individual Unit Histories in North-West Europe in World War II th 67 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME, attached to 7 Anti-tank Regiment, RCA ................................... 36 74 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME, attached to the Royal Canadian Dragoons ................................... 37 th 132 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME, attached to 25 Cdn Armoured Delivery Regiment ................... 38 nd A Narrative of RCEME, 2 Canadian Corps Troops, in North-West Europe .......................40 nd 2 Canadian Corps Troops Workshop, RCEME ................................................................................... 40 nd 2 Canadian Corps Troops Workshop, RCEME, Advanced Workshop Detachment ........................... 43 No. 4 Heavy Recovery Section, RCEME ............................................................................................... 44 th 6 Light Anti-aircraft Workshop, RCEME, attached to 6 LAA Regiment, RCA .................................. 46 nd 40 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME attached to HQ 2 Canadian Corps .............................................. 48 52 Light Aid Detachment, RCEME attached