7th Survey Regt. R.A. Oct. 1944

ZON 1 OCT   RHQ location
445275        
579208       53 Bty location
OEDENRODE        
435308       54 Bty location
ZON        
442275       Z tp "E" section location
MIDDELBEERS       4-Pen location
        53 Bty. HQ at 579208
        A tp (FSp) 683353 ; posts at A 712383, B 711361, C 668385, D 655271
        C tp (SRg) 633169 ; SRg base mic 1 563149, mic 5 584141
        AP P 592113 AP Q 582141
        54 Bty, night 30/1
        FSp base : OPs at area 4851, 496491, 496481, 499472
        NTR
        Srg. Base : M1 435305 M2 421299 M3 409291 M4 394284
        AP1 421322 AP2 area 3829
        HQ VERNHOUT 4230
        Main activity during counter account - 301740A - 301830A, also at
        010500A - 010600A. HB L143 bombarded
  2     53 Bty : night 1/2 Oct NTR
        day 2 Oct NTR
        54 Bty : day 2 Oct
        quiet morning slight activity in the afternoon
        Fsp - new posn for "C" post recced at NULANDSVINKEL Ch 429477 ; C post on way
        to man post stopped by infantry and informed that church not now tenable ; two
        alternative posns for C post LOOSBROEK Ch 4544 or w/mill at LOOSBROEK recced.
        B post now at HEESWISK Ch 430417. Intention night 2/3 , A B C D long base
        SRg : day 2 Oct ; activity from SCHIJNDEL area : 9 HBs located
EERSEL 2nd 0930   Z tp - tp comd and 1 pr deployed to fix Radar posn 281202
    1445   Data issued to Radar
  3     53 Bty night 2/3 Oct - NTR
        day 3 Oct
        "A" FSp tp moved to occupy new base
        HQ 711394 OPs at HAPS Ch, RIJKEVOOR Ch, St ANTHONIS Ch and OPLOO Ch
        54 Bty night 2/3 Oct
        FSp "C" post overrun during the night - all stores and vehicles deystroyed - appx A "C" post over run
        one man wounded - remainder of personnel returned to Bty Bn HQ - see appx
        A att for details of incident
        SRg - slight enemy activity chiefly from SCHIJNDEL area - HBs located 10
        54 Bty day 3
        F sp - "D" post now at VEGHEL Ch 480377 - other posts remain the same - NTR
        SRg - HBs, 6
    1700   Z tp 1 pr deployed to fix 133 Fd Bty - fix by sunshots and lateral base
    2000   data ready
Oostelbeers 3 1700   4 - Pen withdrawn - now conc at OOSTLBEERS - move 04 to area EERSEL - intention
        of CMO to move 4 Pen to 160 Bde - proposed sector to face N across R LEK
  4     53 Bty - night 3/4 Oct - NTR
HAPS 7045       day 4 Oct - Bty HQ moved to 7045
OEDENRODE       54 Bty night 3/4
        F sp - enemy arty fairly quiet - HBs located 4, single brgs 18
        S rg - HBs 3 - activity reports 7
        54 Bty day 4 Oct
        Considerably less activity with HBs generally further away and to left flank
        of S rg bases (bearing 280 310 from V)
        F sp - NTR - intention 5 Oct - tp HQ moving to VEGHEL area
        S rg - 1 HBs - 4 activity reports
EERSEL 4 0600   Z tp - F section deployed to fix 81 and 83 Fd Regts
    1400   section deployed to fix 4 pen recorder base - MIDDELBEERS area
         
EERSEL 4 1730   all mics fixed
    2000   data ready for issue to 81 Fd
    2030   data issued to 83 Fd
  5     53 Bty night 4/5 NTR
        day 5 Oct NTR
        54 Bty night 4/5 Oct
        very slight activity during the night
        F sp - HBs nil - 1 shellrep - Intention day 5 - Intelligence role as the
        single Ops
        S rg - HBs 2 - 2 activity reports. L 195 recorded as BANANA tgt and
        bombarded scale 2
        Intentions 6 Oct
        54 Bty with RHQ less D and Y tps will move to harbour area night 6/7 Oct
        between GRAVE and NIJMEGEN
        SP WOLFSWINKEL 4428 061430A - route "Club"
        On arrival at harbouring area Bty Capt will go fwd with one veh to recce
        accn for Bty HQ and conc area and wagon lines for D tp near Bty HQ 48/4 Svy
        Regt and will remain there. BHQ will lay line to Bty HQ 48/4 Svy Regt and
        be prepared to take over all intercomn lines. Fsp take over to be
        completed by 071200A - to include in detail
        1 line routes and exchange of wire
        2 Rear link lines
        3 Existing "B" "C" and "D" posts
        D tp S rg, before moving OC D tp will arrange the following gps :
        "A" base HQ and 1 AP
        "B" base HQ and 1 AP
        Wagon line 9p. (at Bty HQ) ; all adm and line parties and will allot tpt to
        each group as far as possible before moving. Necessary parties will be left
        to complete reeling in of present base. On arrival at conc area, final
        alloting of equipment and tpt will be affected and dets will proceed to
        locations. Guides will be provided. AP/P base can only be approached
        after dark. It may therefore be necessary for this AP party to move
        ahead of main body and take over at dusk on 7 Oct.
        Eqpt
        1 the wiring installed will be taken over. It is understood that 4 Svy
        Regt will not rquire exchange of wire
        2 Mics, plotting boards and time scales will be exchanged
        3 Line route guides will be provided
        (NB : "A" base has more trouble than "B" base - lines consist in part
        of permanent rly telegraph lines)
        Adm
        Bty Capt will contact SCRA 59 AGRA as early as possible
Wolfswinkel 5 1030   Z tp "E" sec att to Y tp moved to SLIJK EWIJK 677 669
  6     53 Bty - night 5/6 Oct NTR
        day 6 Oct - prepare to hand over bases to 10 Svy Regt RA
  6     54 Bty night 5/6
        F sp - very slight enemy activity - HBs 1 - 1 Act report - 7 single brgs
        Intention reel in base
        S rg HBs 1 - 2 act reports - intention - reel in base
SLIJK EWIJK       Z TP "E" sect - issued BP to 72 Med Regt - this BP was fixed by 4 Svy
        Regt
EERSEL   1300   Z tp "F" sec and tp HQ moved with 53 Div to harbour area NEDER ASSELT
317093       615532
    1430   RHQ incl LAD and 4-Pen moved to harbour area between GRAVE and NIJMEGEN
        mr 632 563
    1900   RHQ arrived harbour area
        54 Bty arrived harbour area
Langeboom 7     53 Bty HQ 10468 - handing over to 10 Svy Regt RA completed - less S rg
Langeboom 7     53
        Bty reverted to command of 12 Corps
        54 Bty - night 6/7 Oct
        F sp "B" tp at HQ "B" tp 4 Svy Regt RA
m GRAVE 7     54 Bty - day 7
        F sp took over 4th base. HQ 722 612 - "A" 475 262 559 615 "B" 473 268
        560492 - "D" 472 247 561 200 - OP at 684661 not being occupied - line to
        this OP being out very frequently by enemy shelling
        Later in the day "A" Fsp tp took over the base
        Srg "D" tp main HQ at 635695
Neder Asselt 7 1230   "F" sec and tp HQ (Z tp) moved to SLIJK EWIJK 677669 - rejoined by "E"
        sec
Slijk Ewijk       "Z" tp - svy issued to 81 Fd Regt RA
HERVELD   1100   RHQ, LAD and 4 Pen moved via NIJMEGEN to the bridgehead- new location 632 677
NIJMEGEN 8     53 Bty - night 7/8
        Fsp - no activity observed on sector - single brgs (sound) 43 - comn with
        CBO difficult due to heavy interference - line to CBO strength 1
        day 8
        BHQ estab with A tp HQ 722612
        X Svy tp complete at 672 605
        "C" Srg tp now in action
684660       Tp HQ
        Mic 1 701 648, M6 659 710, AP1 714 680 AP2 684 708
        54 Bty night 7/8
        F sp - NTR
        Srg - slight enemy activity - in action on 6 mics 1 AP HBs located 7
        (average acc - b)
        54 Bty day 8
        Enemy gun activity at no time heavy during the day
661 644       Fsp - Ops at 464799 564 700 (BEUNINGEN Ch) 689641 (chimney)
661 644 8     460 289 567 098 (WINSEN Ch). "B" post 2nd instr forming "I" post of "A"
        Fsp tp base - Tp HQ 661 644
        Srg - "C" Srg tp took over "A" base 1700hrs ; locations on "B" base -
        4 HBs - 2 new APs deployed "B" base - "U" AP 664 725 - "V" AP 605728
        expected on line tonight
Slijk Ewijk 8     Z tp - svy data issued to 81 and 90 Fd Regts
  9     53 Bty night 8/9
        Fsp - NTR
        Srg - NTR
NIJMEGEN       53 Bty -day 9
        Fsp - NTR - "A" post at new location mr 467 542
        Srg - in action on 6 and 2 - considerable trouble experienced on lines
        during day. Mic 3 to be brought in line with general base
        54 Bty - night 8/9
        Fsp - slight enemy activity during the night - HBS 1 - single brg 1
        Srg - enemy active during the night - possible gun area 5679 and west
        half of 5779 - HBs 8. Activity reports 3 - comns good, except line
        54 Bty day 9 Oct
        Enemy activity - morning mostly from woods E of BENNEKOM 5879 - during
        afternoon from ARNHEM area
        Fsp - "C" post deployed as SB in sp D - Srg tp west base in ANDELST
        618694 and BREEDSTRAAT 627701 - results - HBs, nil
        Srg - HBs 6 - activity reports 1 - sound brgs 67
        Z tp - svy data issued to 907 Fd Arty Ben, 4 RHA.
        See "F" deployed to fix 4 Pen base - BEMMEL area : Mic 2 730673
        Resection observed at BP "DOVETAIL" to 3 722679
        fix Radar posn - 625 724 4 715685
        4 Pen deployed in BEMMEL area
  10     53 Bty - night 9/10
        Fsp - enemy guns active up to 100230A - very few flashes seen during
        this period - 8 single brgs reported - 5 shell reps - 8 mortar brgs - 5
        HBs. Enemy gun areas 78 - 88 E 66 - 73 N
        Main areas shelled- NIJMEGEN bridges - B, C, D and "I" posts, also tp
        HQ - no casualties reported. Comns -line to CBO out of action, DRs
        used till 2300hrs - communication then established with CBO via 30 Corps
        and 12 Corps Main
        Srg - considerable activity on the front - shelling the bridge area.
        HBs located 21 and activity reports 6. Bombard carried out on HB K19 -
        result appeared sucessful.
  10     day
        Fsp - NTR
        Srg - fairly quiet day - HBs located 9
        Base in action on 6 mics and 2 APs (Radio) - new coords received for
        M0, M2 and M3. Idications that the new coords for M2 are slightly in error
        as shewn on the plotting board - CO requests M2 is re-surveyed as soon
        as possible and svy tp allocated to re-surveying whole of base to put all
        mics in sympathy.
        54 Bty night 9/10
        Slight but steady activity during the night
        Fsp HBs 1 single bearings 24 comns good
        Srg HBs 1 activity reports 2
        Slewed base in action of 5 mics
        HQ now at 635691
        Day 10
        Quiet with slight increase of activity after midday from left flank
        Fsp - NTR
        Srg - HBs 2
        Intentions - Fsp to deploy long SB to work in conjunction with LB on
        church at DRUTEN 536681 and AFFERDEN 555669
  10     Z tp
    0830   coords of mic 1 (4 Pen base) ready. 737 666
    1030   Bp Radar issued 672 711
    1600   Nijmegen Power Sta, SW chimney fixed 468816.0 5639901.1, revised coords
        for Osterhout Ch ready 468464.6 566134.8 4 Svy Regt RA fix of
        BEMMEL N ch (large spire) checked
        53 Bty night 10/11
        Fsp - generally quiet night except for two bursts between 0400hrs and
        0500 hrs - results - HBs 2, HB single brgs 61, shellreps 4
  11     Srg - night fairly quiet - HBs located 12, and 3 active
        Relief of AP personnel to be carried out slowly to rest each man in turn.
        Field parties being supplemented by odd men
        Day 11
        Fsp intelligence role - all posts looking-in on given suspect areas
        results - 4 HB single brgs, 4 shellreps, 2 int messages
        Srg - less enemy activity during the day - weather conditions unfavourable,
        HB1 base in action on Mics 0,1,2,3,4 and 2 AP
        Mic 2 moved to new posn - new coords received for the whole base - old
        films being plotted on new board
        54 Bty night 10/11
        very little activity
        Fsp - NTR
        Srg - HBs located 9 - both bases in action
        Day 11
        Slight enemy activity from west flank from 1100hrs - practically nil from
        N and NE - west base 40 bgs, north base 13 bgs
        Fsp - "A" post deployed at DRUTEN church 536 680 - remainder of base no
        change - intentions - 5 post long base with zones N and NW
        Srg - HBs located 5
         
  11     Z tp - "F" sec deployed to fix Mic 5 on BREMMEL 4 Pen base. NE chimney
        NIJMEGEN power sta fixed by intersection, SW chimney Nijmegen power sta
        also fixed by intersection
        Svy data - issued to 67 Med Regt RA
  12     53 Bty night 11/12
        Fsp - from midnight to 0430 hrs very quiet - prior to this enemy fairly
        active - HBs 4 ( 1 Z, 1 M, 1 c, 1 area ) - single bgs 20
        Srg - in action on 6 and 2 Aps - night very quiet - a hvy gun reported
        firing at 0530hrs - as yet not recorded, possibly due to adverse wind,
        brg 187o at 21 fs
        Day 12
        Fsp - calibration shoot - poor visibility affected observation of
        shoot, only two posts able to observe either one of two RPs
        Srg - NTR
        54 Bty - night 11/12 - fairly active night - chiefly on both sides of
        rly running SW of KESTEREN 5173
        Fsp - HBs nil, sound brgs 23, intention 12 "B" post to move to
        AFFERDEN church 554 669
        Srg - HBs located 15 (average acc C), HBs, L46, & L57 engaged by
        comparator
        Day 12
        Enemy activity moderate - in the N mainly from BENNEKOM woods area
        Fsp - HBs nil - intention - conc of base on western area as Ops can
        be found or constructed - experiments with chimney Ops in progress
        Srg - HBs 2 - 1 In KESTEREN area, 1 in TIEL 430690 - much firing by
        own guns has interfered with Srg recording. Deployment of sixth
        mic on west base is beginning to be needed
        Z tp - NTR
        4 Pen. Little HB and HM activity during last 24 hours. Some
        Harassing fire by single guns between 112200A and 112400A incl 4 rds
        within 100x of HQ - cas, one Sten. Prevailing wind making guns
        inaudible and Srg difficult
  13     53 Bty night 12/13
        Fsp - enemy guns active between 1900 hrs and 2230 hrs, slight activity
        only from 2230 hrs onwards - enemy gun areas 762 663 793666 760713
        804 717 803 715 - linesmen held up owing to shelling of road - no
        area shelled 733 605 - Linesmen held up by shelling of road - no
        wireless comn - interference very bad. Results - HBs located 5 (2A,
        1B, 2C) - single brgs 33
        Srg - periodic shelling by enemy - met conditions unfavourable - HBs 5
        and 2 active
        Day 13
        Fsp - considerable enemy activity in areas 82067 78/69 and 80/67 - fire
        from 3 AGRA was directed on to tgt areas at 1430 hrs - at 1730 hrs fire
        from 72 Med Regt was directed on to tgt area.
        Intelligence reports 23 - "D" post redeployed at 746 599
        Srg - NTR
HERVEELD       54 Bty, night 12/13
        Fsp - enemy activity slight - HBs 2 - single bgs 29
        Srg - HBs 6 ( all "B") - all in the area between the two rivers - general
        firing restrictions imposed in this area so no comparator work could be
        done
        Day 13
        Enemy activity slight and very scattered - max activity between 1100 and
        1200hrs area 260o - 280o from V AP
        Fsp - 6 "I" reps from A post covering KESTEREN area - infm fired on by
        67 Med Regt
        Srg - HBs 5
        Z tp - sec comd and 1 pair deployed to fix mic 8 on "D" Srg base
  14     53 Bty, night 13/14
Nijmegen       Fsp - very quiet night on this sector - large fire at 795 790 2325hrs,
        origin unknown
"Bridgehead"       Srg - very little enemy activity during the night - high wind affected
        recording - ie, mics failed to record - HBs located, 1
Nijmegen       Day 14
        Fsp - much intelligence reported during the day - shoot on area 824 673
        carried out by 3 Agra at 1245 - 1300hrs
"Bridgehead"       Srg - adverse weather affected recording ay 1640hrs, 88mm shells landed
        almost on T junc 684 659, splinters fwded to CBO - at 1700hrs, further 4
        rounds landed on same posn
        54 Bty night 13/14
        Slight enemy activity during the night
        Fsp - 1 HB, 1 active HB
        Srg - 1 HB, sound bgs 11
        Day 14
        Very slight activity throughout the day - possible new gun area 5573
        and 5673 - gun area 5375 appears to have been strengthened by 3 HB -
        enemy inf active area SE KESTEREN 5172
554 669       Fsp - much int concerning KESTEREN fired on by 67 Med Regt ; "E" and
        "C" posts redeployed windmill 560672
        Srg - HBs 3 - comparator shoot on one HB
        Z tp -NTR
        4- Pen - Srg conditions poor - 2 inf guns located - BEMMEL ch spire
        deystroyed during the night 14/15
  15     53 Bty, night 14/15
Nijmegen       F sp - enemy active between 2300 and 0200hrs - otherwise front quiet -
        HBs active 2 - single bgs 9
"Bridgehead"       Srg - activity practically nil - results nil
        day 15
        Fsp - obsn on tgts for shoots by 3 AGRA - CRA visited OP to engage tgt
        windmill 824 673
        Srg - in action on 6 and 2 - new base surveyed - locations obtained, 3
        and 1 active -
        coords of mics - 1 722 649 wire laid
&n