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Reconnaissance Corps, 1940-1945
5th Recce Regt | 15th Recce Regt | 43rd Recce Regt | 49th Recce Regt | 50th Recce Regt | 51st Recce Regt | 52nd Recce Regt | 53rd Recce Regt | 56th Recce Regt | 61st Recce Regt
 

Formed on 14 January 1941. Became part of the Royal Armoured Corps on 1 January 1944. Disbanded 1 August 1946.
 
 
 
 
 

Literature
Jeremy L. Taylor This band of brothers : a history of the Reconnaissance Corps of the British Army Bristol : White Swan Press, 1947 271 p.
Richard Doherty Only the enemy in front (every other beggar behind...) : the Recce Corps at war 1940-1946 London : Tom Donovan Publishing, 1994 286 p.

Weblinks
 
Military tables of organisation
Giving the tables of organization for the Reconnaissance units as it developed over the years.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

5th Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC

Literature
A.R. Prince (ed.) Wheeled odyssey : the story of the Fifth Reconnaissance Regiment, Royal Armoured Corps - 68 p.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

15th (Scottish) Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC

Formed as the 15th (Scottish) [Divisional] Battalion Reconnaissance Corps on 2 January 1941, it was reduced to 15th (Scottish) Independent Reconnaissance Company on 4 December 1941, redesignated 15th (Scottish) Independent Reconnaissance Squadron on 6 June 1942, and finally upgraded to 15th (Scottish) [Divisional] Regiment Reconnaissance Corps on 15 February 1943. From 1 January 1944 onwards it was part of the Royal Armoured Corps as: 15th (Scottish) Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC.

Commanding Officer
08.01.1941 Lt.Col. R.J. Sandeman
27.05.1941 Lt.Col. N.C. Hendriks
04.12.1941 Maj. J.I. Faircloth
00.03.1942 Maj. P.T.I. MacDiarmid
15.02.1943 Lt.Col. J.A. Grant-Peterkin
23.09.1944 Lt.Col. K.C.C. Smith

Served under
15th (Scottish) Infantry Division 02.01.1941-31.08.1945

Literature
Walter Kemsley & Michael R. Riesco The Scottish Lion on patrol : being the history of the 15th Scottish Reconnaissance Regiment, 1943-1946 Bristol : White Swan Press, 1950 232 p.

Weblinks
15th Reconnaissance Regiment
Giving the complete text of Kemsley & Riesco's book "The Scottish lion on patrol", with some additional info on equipment and living history.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

43rd (Wessex) Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC

Commanding Officer
00.00.194X Lt.Col. F. Lane Fox
30.09.1944 Lt.Col. C.H. Kinnersley

Literature
[A. Scott, Cole Packer and J. Groves (chief authors), Jeremy Taylor (ed.)] Record of a reconnaissance regiment : a history of the 43rd Reconnaissance Regiment (The Gloucestershire Regiment), 1939-1945 Bristol : White Swan Press, 1950 252 p.

Weblinks

The Old Comrades Association pages for the 43rd (2/5th Bn Gloucestershire Regt) Regt., Reconnaissance Corps, RAC

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

49th (West Riding) Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC

Literature
- 49 (West Riding) Reconnaissance Regiment Royal Armoured Corps : summary of operations, June 1944 to May 1945 Neuenkirchen, 1945 24 p.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

50th (Northumbrian) Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC

Formed from the 4th Battalion, The Royal Northumberland Fusiliers as the 50th [Divisional] Battalion Reconnaissance Corps on 30 April 1941, it was redesignated 50th (Northumbrian) [Divisional] Regiment Reconnaissance Corps on 6 June 1942. Annihilated in battles in the Gazala Line in the Middle East in June 1942.

Commanding Officer
30.04.1941(?) - 06.06.1942 Lt.Col. E.P.A. des Graz (killed in action)

Served under
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division 30.04.1941-06.1942

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

51st (Highland) Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC

Literature
Leslie Meek A brief history of the 51st (H) Reconnaissance Regiment (1941-1943) London : [s.n.], 1991 ? p. [at least 30]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

52nd (Lowland) Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC

Formed as the 52nd (Lowland) [Divisional] Battalion Reconnaissance Corps on 8 January 1941, it was redesignated 52nd (Lowland) [Divisional] Regiment Reconnaissance Corps on 6 June 1942. From 1 January 1944 onwards it was part of the Royal Armoured Corps as: 52nd (Lowland) Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC.

Commanding Officer
08.01.1941-30.09.1945 Lt.Col. J.B.A. Hankey
01.10.1945-31.03.1946 Lt.Col. J.C. Stormonth Darling

Served under
52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division 08.01.1941-11.08.1944
157th Infantry Brigade 12.08.1944-31.10.1944
52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division 01.11.1944-16.07.1945

Literature
T.D.W. Whitfield Time spent, or The history of the 52nd (Lowland) Divisional Reconnaissance Regiment R.A.C., January, 1941-October, 1945 [S.l. : 52nd Recce Regt, 1945] (Hamilton : The Hamilton Advertiser) 79 p.
Carl Shilleto The fighting Fifty-Second Recce : the 52nd (Lowland) Divisional Reconnaissance Regiment in north-west Europe, September 1944 to March 1946 York : Eskdale Publishing, 2000 192 p.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

53rd (Welsh) Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC

Literature
Philip M. Cowburn Welsh Spearhead : a history of the 53rd Reconnaissance Regiment 1941-1946 [Solingen-Ohligs : 53rd Recce Regt], 1946 ? p. [at least 113]

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

56th Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC

Formed 8 January 1941 as 56th (London) [Divisional] Battalion Reconnaissance Corps, being redesignated 56th (London) [Divisional] Regiment Reconnaissance Corps on 6 June 1942. From 1 January 1944 onwards it was part of the Royal Armoured Corps as: 56th (London) Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC.

Commanding Officer
08.01.1941 Lt.Col. N.F.V. Hamilton
03.06.1941 Lt.Col. K.G.F. Chavasse
07.03.1945 Lt.Col. R.W.M.R. Hartland-Mahon

Served under
56th (London) Infantry Division 08.01.1941-15.08.1942
78th Infantry Division 01.09.1942-31.08.1945

Literature
W. Croucher & E.T. Newton The regimental history of the 56th Reconnaissance Regiment 1941-1945 London : 56th Recce Comrades Association, 1988 ? p. [at least 33]
Ronald Arthur Tee A British soldier remembers : the World War II reminiscences of Ronald Arthur Tee Belleville, Ont. : Epic Press, 2001 198 p.

Weblinks
A British soldier remembers
This page is intended to honor the wartime experiences of Robyn Dowsett's dad, Ronald Arthur Tee, and to offer information on his division and regiment. He served in the 56th Reconnaissance Regiment, 78th "Battleaxe" Division of the British 1st, (later the 8th), Army from 1941 to 1946.

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

61st Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC

Formed as the 61st [Divisional] Battalion Reconnaissance Corps on 14 September 1941, it was redesignated 61st [Divisional] Regiment Reconnaissance Corps on 6 June 1942. From 1 January 1944 onwards it was part of the Royal Armoured Corps as: 61st Reconnaissance Regiment, RAC.

Commanding Officer
00.00.1944-00.00.194X Lt.Col. P.H.A. Brownrigg

Served under
61st Infantry Division 14.09.1941-23.01.1944
50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division 24.01.1944-30.11.1944