Home of the Infantry Regiments of Berkshire and Wiltshire
War Diary
Detail
1945-05-01
| Regiment | 2nd Wiltshire |
|---|---|
| Location | Kolkhagen, Germany |
| Entry | Ref Map CENTRAL EUROPE 1:100,000 Sht M5 SALZWEDEL 1100: The Bn left the conc area at KOLKHAGEN (7710) to move into the bridgehead across the ELBE. The battalion was now complete except for the supporting squadron of tanks, which were already across the ELBE, and 466 Bty of the 91 Fd Regt R.A., which would join the column on this side of the ELBE. 1600: The move up to the ELBE was uneventful, and the column crossed the river by means of the Class 9 bridge at LAUENBURG. There were no bombing attacks on the bridge whilst the battalion crossed, although dive bombing attacks had been frequent during the morning, and there were also further attacks just before dark. 1800: The Bn moved up through the bridgehead and concentrated around the village of WITZEEZE (9143) just in the rear of 15 Bde. At this time there was heavy fighting around the village of POTRAU (9145) 3 miles NORTH of WITZEEZE. 1 K.O.Y.L.I. had put in an attack at about 1600 hrs against the village and the rly station. The village was taken, but the attack on the station which was strongly held, was unsuccessful. It was imperative that the resistance around the station was crushed before the Bn moved fwd at first light on the following morning. The 1G.H. put in a battalion attack on PORTRAU station at last light supported by extremely heavy artillery fire and the station was taken, but our troops were unable to prevent the blowing of the bridge at 920455. This meant that unless the gap was bridged during the night the battalion would not be able to advance up the main road in the morning. The engineers estimated that the job could not be finished until 0800 hrs. However a suitable diversion was found. 2230: C.O's 'O' Group. This was to co-ordinate all the final details for the advance. To ensure that the vanguard coy would get away to a flying start, the C.O. ordered A Coy to move fwd before first light and seize the village of SIEBENNEICHEN (9150) and to ensure that the area astride the axis as far as there was clear. This was accomplished by A Coy without interference. |
