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The Second World War was the first truly global war.  Although the First World War was fought by countries from all five continents, with the exception of some smaller conflicts in Africa and Asia, the majority of the fighting took place in Europe.  The Second World War saw conflict on every continent bar America.  The Regiment’s contribution to this war was five service battalions which fought in North West Europe, North Africa and Italy, although individual Coldstreamers served in the Far East and other theatres of war.

 

 

1^st and 2^nd Battalions - France 1940

On the outbreak of war on 3^rd September, 1939, both the 1^st and 2^nd Battalions deployed to France with the British Expeditionary Force (BEF).  The period up to May 1940 was known as the ‘Phoney War’ where the BEF spent most of their time on patrolling, digging defences and waiting for the expected German assault.  The defence plan relied on the ‘impregnable’ Maginot Line to the south along the French border with Germany.  This line of concrete fortifications ran for  ? miles and ended at the Ardennes Forest to the west which was thought to be impenetrable to armour.  Therefore the French were confident that they could repulse any German assault.

 

However, when on the 10^th May the Germans invaded the Low Counties, the BEF left their prepared defences and moved forward into Belgium. As the allies moved forward, the Germans attacked through the Ardennes with tanks and headed to the Channel Coast.  They were so successful that the BEF was threatened with being cut off and annihilated.

 

After much fighting by both battalions the order was given on the 22nd May to withdraw to Dunkirk.  Most of the distance (approximately 60 miles!) was covered on foot.  On arrival at the beaches of Dunkirk, tens of thousands of troops of the BEF waited their turn to be evacuated from the beaches by hundreds of small boats and pleasure craft which had sailed from Britain to ferry troops from the beaches to larger ships. The 1^st Battalion were evacuated on 1^st June, however, the 2^nd Battalion were tasked to form part of the defensive perimeter and after more fighting were evacuated on the night of 1^st June.  Unlike many other units, each and every Coldstreamer embarked with his rifle and full complement of kit!

 

Between 26^th May and 2^nd June, nearly 350,000 men were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk.  Although this was in no way a victory it saved the British Army.  Despite the fact that it had lost most of its tanks and artillery pieces, and much of its heavy equipment, 350,000 trained men with battle experience was a truly great asset on which to rebuild the army.

 

United Kingdom 1940-41.

The 1^st and 2^nd Battalions re-equipped and reorganised on their return to the UK and were deployed around the country in an anti-invasion role.

 

A Coldstream Guards Training Battalion was formed at Pirbright for continuation of recruit training once the recruits had passed out of the Guards Depot at Caterham.  A Holding Battalion was also formed to hold trained personnel prior to them joining their battalions.  It was from this battalion that Public Duties and The King’s Guard was found.

 

A 4^th, 5^th and 6^th Battalion was also raised.  The 4^th and 5^th Battalions went on to take part in the invasion of Europe in 1944, but after much training for war the 6^th Battalion became a Holding Battalion and was absorbed into the Westminster Garrison Battalion in 1943.

 

The Westminster Garrison Battalion was formed in 1943 by the amalgamation of the Holding Battalions of the Foot Guards Regiments.  It was based in Regents Park Barracks in London, and it became a holding battalion for the Brigade of Guards.  Trained men were held there until posted to battalions and it was predominantly this battalion that provided men for Public Duties in London.

 

3^rd Battalion – North Africa

The 3^rd Battalion went to Egypt in 1937 and was still there at the outbreak of war in 1939.  With the entry of Italy into the war in June 1940, they found themselves with Italians to the west in Libya, and to the south in Eritrea and Abyssinia.

In July the Battalion, now motorised and part of 7^th Armoured Division (later to gain fame as The Desert Rats), moved into the Western Desert and patrolled the Libyan frontier at Sollum and Halfaya Pass.  Their task was to observe and report on the enemy rather than engage them, but when the Italians did advance in September, they came on such a narrow path that the Battalion was able to oppose the entire enemy force for five days in a rear-guard action until ordered to withdraw.  In December the British launched a brilliant counter-attack in which the Battalion played a full part.  It was later estimated that the number of Italian PoW captured was nearly six times the number of British troops that took part.

 

After a period of rest in Egypt the Battalion returned to the Western Desert in April 1941, but this time the Italians had been reinforced by Rommel’s Afrika Korps.  The battle now became very fluid with each side advancing long distances until they outran their supplies, only to withdraw again when counter-attacked.

 

The British launched a major offensive in November 1941 which achieved an advance of over 200 miles, but by 21^st January the Germans counter-attacked and drove them back as far as Gazala forty miles to the west of Tobruk.  Rommel attacked again in May and this time the 3^rd Battalion were in the now famous Knightsbridge Box where they fought on for seventeen days.  However, on 13^th June they were ordered to withdraw into Tobruk.

 

When the Germans had forced the British to withdraw in the spring of 1941 the British garrison in Tobruk held out being a thorn in Rommel’s side until the British relieved it during the November offensive.  The plan was to withdraw into Tobruk and remain there once again until relieved.  However, the defences had been allowed to deteriorate and the garrison was forced to surrender when the Germans attacked again.  It was at this time that Major Sainthill, who was commanding the Battalion, sent a terse signal to Headquarters stating; “Surrender is not an operation that the Battalion has practised in peacetime and we do not intend to start now!”  He then proceeded to lead half of the Battalion and some 200 South Africans out of Tobruk to safety.

 

The Germans were finally held at El Alamein in October and the 3^rd Battalion withdrew to Syria for rest and refitting.  In the meantime the British finally pushed the Germans westwards and out of Libya and towards the British First Army which was advancing from the west to join up with the Eighth Army.  The 3^rd Battalion rejoined the campaign in March 1943, where they were attacked by German tanks at Medenine.  A few days later they were part of the attack on the fortifications on the Mareth Line and at the end of April the Battalion were ordered to advance a join up with the First Army.

2^nd Battalion – North Africa.

After Dunkirk, the 2^nd Battalion remained in the UK until November 1942 when in landed in North Africa as part of the First Army.  The Eighth Army had been fighting in the Western Desert for over two years and was finally beginning the make gains against the Germans.  Therefore the First Army was landed in Algeria with the aim of attacking the Germans from the rear and link up with the Eighth Army.

 

The Battalion’s first major engagement was the Battle of Longstop Hill.  This heavily defended feature was attacked on the night of 22^nd December, 1942, and after a hard-fought engagement it was captured.  The Coldstream were relieved by the Americans and marched back some 13 miles to their billets.  On arrival they heard that the Americans were in trouble and had lost part of the hill, so they immediately marched the 13 miles back to Longstop and assaulted it again on the 24^th.  Christmas Day was spent fighting on the hill but the Germans counter-attacked in force and the Battalion was forced to withdraw.  Losses were very heavy with 10 officers and over 200 men killed or wounded. 

 

Their next major engagement was at the Kasserine Pass in February and March 1943.  Rommel launched two Panzer Divisions towards the Kasserine Pass in order to stop the Allies reaching the Mediterranean. The 1^st Guards Brigade, of which the 2^nd Battalion was part, was sent to block the wide valley.  The Germans now probed the defences in various areas and the Brigade was moved to several different locations to counter them.  Eventually the Germans withdrew.

 

Both the 2^nd and 3^rd Battalions now took part in operations up to the close of the campaign on 12^th May when the Germans and Italians surrendered.

 

 

2^nd & 3^rd Battalions – Italy.

The Allies invaded the island of Sicily in July 1943 although neither Coldstream Battalion took part.  After several months hard fighting, the Italians surrendered on 3^rd Septemeber, but the country was still occupied by the Germans who fought on.

 

The 3^rd Battalion were the first to be engaged in Italy when they landed at Salerno on 9^th September where they were immediately pitched into the battle to secure and enlarge the beach head.  The Germans finally pulled back on the 18^th to avoid being outflanked by the Allied army advancing from the south.  The Battalion pushed inland but the Germans vigorously defended every piece of ground and progress was slow.  On the 25^th September, CSM Peter Wright won the Victoria Cross during the attack on Hill 270 on the Pagliarolli feature.

 

The 2^nd Battalion landed in January 1944.  Both Battalions fought separately but endured similar conditions.  The weather was atrocious with heavy winter rain and snow turning much of the ground into a quagmire. The ground was extremely mountainous and the Germans fought tenaciously for every feature.  Very slowly the Allies drove the Germans northwards gradually liberating Italy from the south.

 

By the autumn of 1944, reinforcements were becoming increasingly difficult to obtain.  In addition to casualties, Operation Python was put into effect whereby any man who had served overseas for more that six years was to be sent home.  As the 3^rd Battalion had been in Egypt since 1937, a great number of it’s men were to be repatriated so in early 1945 the two battalions were reorganised.  The longest serving men were posted from the 2^nd to the 3^rd, while the men with the shortest overseas service in the 3^rd were posted to the 2^nd.  The 3^rd Battalion returned home whilst the ‘new’ 2^nd Battalion remained in Italy.

 

The German surrender in May 1945 found the Battalion in the very north of Italy.

 

 

1^st (Armoured) & 5^th Battalions – Guards Armoured Division in North West Europe.

In 1941 it was decided that there was a requirement for more armoured troops and it was decided to form the Guards Armoured Division.  The first two brigades were the 5^th and 6^th Guards Armoured Brigades which contained the 1^st and 4^th Battalions respectively. However, on a subsequent reorganisation the 6^th Guards Brigade was removed from the Division and became the 6^th (Guards) Independent Tank Brigade and fought separately from the Guards Armoured.  In its place came the 32^nd Guards Brigade which included the 5^th Battalion.

 

All of the Armoured Foot Guards battalions in the Division adopted an armoured organisation and titles.  The 1^st Battalion became the 1^st (Armoured) Battalion, Companies became Squadrons, and Platoons became Troops.  Even warrant officers appointments were not immune with Company Sergeant Majors becoming Squadron Sergeant Majors.  As an infantry battalion, the 5^th retained the normal organisation and appointments.

 

Up to 1943, the Division had a succession of out of date tanks and equipment, but by early 1943 they were equipped with Sherman tanks and its variants, and it is with these that they fought through France and the Low Countries to Germany.

 

The Division did not take part in the actual D-Day Landings on 6^th June, 1944, but they disembarked at Arromanches on 23rd June, (D+17).  Here they became involved in the battles to break out of the beach head in June, July and early August.

 

After the defeat of the Germans in Normandy, the Allies struck out in two directions; the Americans headed for Paris while the British and Canadians headed for the Channel Ports.  Their line of advance also housed the V1 Flying Bomb launch sites which were at that time devastating the south coast of Britain.

 

It was also at the end of August that the return to the Division of the 2^nd (Armoured) Bn Welsh Guards enabled the GOC to form regimental groups; one armoured and one infantry battalion from each regiment fighting together.  From this point until the end of the war, the 1^st (Armoured) and 5^th Battalions mainly fought together as the Coldstream Group.

 

The Division now took part in the dash to Brussels from the River Seine in France, and on 3^rd September they were the lead troops of the liberating forces which, after an advance of 75 miles in one day, entered the City.

 

The advance now slowed considerably with the Germans showing stiff resistance.  The Allied supply lines were now over 300 miles long and it was of vital importance that the port of Antwerp was seized, and the Division played a prominent part in its capture. 

 

Their next major operation was Market Garden.  This was a daring plan to drop an Airborne Division to capture three bridges over the River Rhine.  Had it succeeded it would have shortened the war considerably.  The Division’s part was to lead the land forces that would join up with the airborne forces.  Unfortunately this necessitated an advance up a single road which left the supply tail particularly vulnerable to attack.  The operation began on the 17^th September and started badly when the Airborne Division landed on top of two German SS Armoured Divisions that, unknown to the Allies, were resting in the Arnhem area.  The armoured advance met heavy resistance and had to fight virtually the whole way.  The bridges at Eindhoven and Nijmegen were seized by the Americans and these were reached by the Guards and secured.  The British Paras in Arnhem were now in serious trouble.  Very few of them had actually reached the bridge due to German action, and those that did were now cut off.  By the 21^st September, the Paras were pinned against the north bank of the Rhine, and despite the best efforts of the armour, they were stopped 6 miles short of Arnhem. The 43^rd Wessex Division now pushed on to the river and the remaining Paras were ferried back across to the south bank.  The Guards Armoured was now deployed to fend off counter-attacks and secure the bridgehead at Nijmegen.

 

The Division next took part in the advance into Germany.  Progress was slow as the Germans tenaciously fought for every inch of ground.  It was during this phase that Captain I.O.Liddell won the Victoria Cross for seizing a bridge over the River Ems near Lingen which had been prepared for demolition.  VE Day on 8^th May, 1945, found the Coldstream Group of the Guards Armoured Division in Cuxhaven on the north coast of Germany.

 

The Division was soon disbanded at the close of the war, and on 9^th June,1945, the Division held a Farewell to Armour parade at Rottenburg airfield which was attended by Field Marshal Montgomery, commanding 21^st Army Group.

4^th (Tank) Battalion – North West Europe.

The 4^th Battalion was formed as an infantry battalion in October 1940.  It later became a motor battalion in the Guards Armoured Division, but it was withdrawn with its brigade (6^th Guards Armoured) to become part of an independent tank brigade (6^th (Guards) Independent Tank Brigade).

 

Like the 1^st (Armoured) Battalion, the 4^th (Tank) Battalion took on the organisation of an armoured unit, adopting all the usual armoured titles and appointments.  The Brigade was equipped with slow and heavy Churchill tanks.

 

The Brigade landed in France at the end of July and was almost immediately thrown into battle for the breakout of Caumont.  This battle was fought to assist the American breakout further west and has often been quoted as one of the finest armoured engagements of the campaign.  They then fought alongside the Guards Armoured Division for much of the rest of the Normandy campaign.

 

During the advance into the Low Counties and Germany the Brigade was attached to many different formations at various times, but at all times they were in the thickest of the fighting.  They captured Munster on 2^nd April, 1945, after a 50 mile advance in which they carried paratroopers of the 17^th US Airborne Division on their tanks.  They then moved onto Celle and then to Uelzen which was strongly defended and took several days to overcome.

 

VE Day on 8^th May, found them in Kiel, home of the German Navy.

 

Special Forces.

The new nature of warfare meant that tactics were constantly being refined and developed.  As a result many special forces units were formed, and the Household Division played a leading role in the organisation of most of them.

 

The Army Commandos were formed in 1940, and one of the first units was No8 (Guards) Commando.  The unit consisted of 85% Guardsmen and several of them went on to play a pivotal role in the formation of the Special Air Service.  This Commando was sent to the Middle East and carried out a series of small raids on the North African coast.  However, the Guards Commando was disbanded in late 1941 as due to a lack of equipment and landing craft in the theatre no suitable role could be found for them.

 

Coldstreamers continued to serve in the Commandos elsewhere either as individuals or in Troops composed of Guardsmen.  They took part in raids all over northern Europe.

 

The Long Range Desert Group was formed in 1940 with the aim of penetrating deep into the desert with small, self-sufficient teams to attack the enemy’s lines of communication and carry out reconnaissance.  In December 1940, a Guards Patrol was formed from men of the 3^rd Coldstream and 2^nd Scots Guards who had considerable experience in the desert.

 

The Special Air Service Regiment was formed from members of No8 (Guards) Commando, in particular the ‘Tobruk Four’ - Jim Almonds, Pat Riley, Bob Lilley and James Blakeney – all Coldstreamers. They were part of the original L Detachment which the current SAS trace their roots to.  Currently 22 SAS still has a Guards Squadron as a tribute to its origins.

 

The Special Boat Squadron was originally part of the SAS, but it became independent in May 1943 when the North African campaign ended. Commanded by Major The Earl Jellicoe, a Coldstreamer, it carried out many raids in the Mediterranean, particularly in the Dodecanese and around Crete.

 

When the Airborne Forces were formed in 1940, the Guards once again provided many first class officers, warrant officers and men.  RSM Jim Cowley [1]was the Sergeant Major of the Training Depot, and the GOC of the Airborne Division was a Grenadier, General Boy Browning.  Immediately after the war, the 1^st (Guards) Parachute Battalion was formed for service in Palestine.  In 1948, this was reduced in size and eventually became the Guards Independent Parachute Company which was finally disbanded in 1975.  Currently there is a Guards Parachute Platoon serving with 3 Para.

 

The Special Operations Executive (SOE) was a clandestine organisation that parachuted agents behind enemy lines to organise resistance and sabotage.  Many Coldstreamers served with the organisation at many levels, but the most prominent is Brigadier A.F.C.Nicholls who won the George Cross for his selfless sacrifice in Albania.

 

MI9 was the Military Intelligence department which ran an escape network in occupied Europe for downed aircrew and escaped prisoners of war. The organisation was largely run by Lt Col J.M Langley, MBE, MC.  He had been wounded in France in 1940 whilst serving with the 2^nd Battalion.  He had his arm amputated and was captured in a Field Hospital.  After several attempts, he eventually escaped.  On his return he was summoned to Whitehall where he was told that he was to run MI9.

 

Summary.

The Coldstream ended the war with a fine record.  It had fought as infantry and in tanks.  Many had served with Special Forces units and between 1939 and 1945, nearly 17,500 men had served in the Regiment.

 

Battalions had served with the BEF in France, in North Africa, Italy and North West Europe.  Over 550 gallantry awards had been won, including two Victoria Crosses and one George Cross.  In all 112 officers and 1320 other ranks were killed and over 800 Coldstreamers were taken prisoner.  The Regiment won a further fifty-five battle honours.

 

Related Pictures

RSM Brittain            CSGT Dance

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