1944 - 1949
The definitive research resource for the 1st KOSB from 1944-1949
1st KOSB WAR DIARIES
1st KOSB WAR DIARIES - NORTH WEST EUROPE
Thursday, October 12, 1944
D +
128
NWE
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START LOCATION
ST HUBERT
FINISH LOCATION
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ST ANTONIS
WAR DIARY
SUMMARY OF EVENTS AND INFORMATION
The whole Bn left St Hubert at 0930 hrs, after a pleasant stay of ten days, and moved with 'F' Echelon to an Assembly Area just WEST of ST ANTONIS.
The rifle coys moved by march route. The whole Bn moved by route X rds to the South of HILL - WANROIJ - ST ANTONIS - to area 707383.
Bn dispositions as follows : Bn HQ 707382, 'A' Coy 706380, 'B' ST ANTONIS Coy 709383, 'C' Coy 706383, 'D' Coy 705383, 'S' Coy 709381.
At 1200 hrs the 8th Bde attacked towards OVERLOON, the start line being 743330 to 767340.
By 1700 hrs 1st SUFFOLKS had captured OVERLOON and had taken up position just to the South of the town.
Various recces had been made in unsuitable country in the area 731324, with a view to making a dawn attack with tanks. However this was cancelled and the attack was planned to take place in daylight.
'O' Group Conference at 2230 hrs.
Coys made contact with each other by patrol during the night.
ALTERNATIVE SOURCES
Personal accounts, other War Diaries and excerpts from books
"On the 12th October we marched out of St. Hubert and covered the few miles to our concentration area in the fields and woods west of St. Anthonis. Continually our guns were roaring, and the din of several of them in the adjoining fields kept us awake. With little enthusiasm we eventually rolled out of the shacks and trenches where we had spent the night, and moved off sleepily at four o'clock on a dismal morning, along the muddy roads out of St. Anthonis.
The Divisional attack on Overloon had already opened, and we were still one thousand yards behind the leading elements when we halted for breakfast and dug in. Then we stood and shivered in the biting wind, watching batches of prisoners coming past with hands clasped behind their heads, and looking exactly like the types that Grimes caricatured in the "News Chronicle" — long coats flapping about their heels, dirty old scarves round their necks — a wretched looking crew. It was always an error however to assume that these untidy objects were poor fighters; they may have lacked the fanaticism and confidence of the Normandy S.S. but they were good soldiers and knew their job".
WIG Wilson's - A Short History of The First Battalion The King's Own Scottish Borderers in North-West Europe
Sint Anthonis is a village and former municipality in the southern Netherlands in the Province of North Brabant. The locals refer to the town as Sint Tunnis. An inhabitant is called a "Sintunnisenaar". The former municipality had a population of 11,691 in 2021.Wikipedia
CASUALTIES ON THIS DAY
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DIED ON THIS DAY
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WOUNDED ON THIS DAY
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PHOTO AND MAP CREDITS
Map:
Map courtesy of the Library of Congress
Photo:
*Re-enactor Photo. Courtesy of the Army Film & Photographic Unit Living History Group and Monty's Men.