For ten days the regiment rested, first at Amaye sur Orne, then at Fresney Ie Vieux, eight miles farther forward, while almost everything movable in the Second Army, including field bakeries, overtook it, and prisoners of many nationalities in German uniform streamed back from the" pocket". Amaye was one of those French villages whose natural air is one of elegant, shuttered decline. It suffered less destruction than many, but the passage of war had knocked the elegance awry, leaving bared rafters, a smell of death and muddled furniture which showed its coating of dust where probing fingers of sunlight found their way through the shutters into dark rooms. The regiment shared the village with the sun and a plague of insects. Parties wandered down through dusty fields to the Orne and bathed while tanks clattered by, or went to Hill 112, Evrecy and Esquay to study the positions in which the Germans had fought so stubbornly. A mobile canteen appeared, and an excellent E.N.S.A. show. There was a race meeting. The horses were wooden, fashioned by Cpl Maher, the carpenter, and their progress over taped squares was determined by the throw of large dice. The chief bookies were the Colonel, Major MacDiarmid and the R.S.M., who was the most strident and the least fortunate. On August 16th, Major General Barber came to Amaye and said that because senior commanders normally visited only the infantry brigades after the division had done well in battle he felt that perhaps the regiment was not always given credit for the work it did.

The move to the flat fields and industrious mos-quitoes of Fresney Ie Vieux was on August 18th. Three days later A Squadron was placed under the command of the 1st Royal Dragoons and sent to Teprel, six miles west of Falaise, to be ready for a flying start in Operation Gallop-the name for the advance to the Seine. The squadron reverted to the regiment's com-mand, but remained at Teprel. This is the War Diary record of the only "action" in these days of waiting:

21 Aug. A report was received via various channels by A Squadron this afternoon that there were 40 enemy south-west of Falaise. This was investigated by O.C., A Sqn, and it turned out that the location given was Tac H.Q., Second Army, the first enemy to be seen being the Army Commander driving his jeep.

On August 23rd the regiment drove through the shell of Falaise to La Hougette, and after a night in the rain broke camp at dawn on August 24th and began its unforgettable dash to the Seine through the stinking wreckage which littered the wake of a fleeing army. It was the first time in the campaign that the regiment had really been given its head. On August 26th, its patrols were reconnoitring the Seine.

The chief task on the littered miles between the Falaise area and the river was route reconnaissance for the following brigades. C Squadron, in the north, was given Star route-Falaise, St Pierre sur Dives, St Foy de Montgomery, Vimoutiers, Orbec, Bernay, Beaumont Ie Roger, Le Neubourg and Louviers. In the centre B Squadron travelled on Sun route- Trun, Vimoutiers, Le Sap, Monnai, Broglie, Beaumont Ie Roger and Emanville. 'A' Squadron, in the south, was allotted Moon route- Vignats, Coulances, Trun, north of Chambois, Neuville sur Touque, Heugon, Mesnil-Rousset, La Barre en Ouche, La Ferriers sur Risle and Emanville. The squadrons were accompanied by Royal Engineers, bulldozers, bridging equipment and recovery vehicles.

C Squadron found that Star route was impassable west of St Foy de Montgomery, and a diversion on to Sun route had to be made. That night the regiment occupied scattered harbours on the line Orbec-LeSap, but the armoured cars of 11 Troop, under Lieut Gray, had entered Bernay, about 40 miles from Falaise. It had been hard going all day over narrow, muddy roads strewn with German tanks and trucks and waggons and guns, some the reddened victims of Typhoons, some just abandoned. The stench from the bodies of dead German soldiers and horses was so great in places that rags were soaked in petrol and held to the nose. From time to time debris had to be pushed aside. Some of the bad roads on Moon route collapsed under the heavy equipment with A Squadron, and the bulldozers had to be taken off their transporters and used to extricate the transporters. This difficulty and the presence of much Canadian transport in the early stages of the move made progress so slow that Major MacDiarmid decided to go ahead with the squadron's armoured cars, leaving the carriers to escort the other equipment. In spite of the dead horses, which had to be dragged out of the way, and mined bridges, which the R.E. officer defused, the car force got well in front, and in the evening was out of wireless touch with R.H.Q. In an attempt to get into contact with R.H.Q., Major MacDiarmid set out with L/Cpl Kay and Tpr Murray in a reconnaissance car after dark, but came into collision with a Canadian tank. Major MacDiarmid escaped injury, but both his crew received cuts. This is Kay's story of the incident:

We had arrived at the arbitrary line - Euston - at which we were to stop for the night. For us this turned out to be an attractive little village between high hedges, and for Squadron H.Q. a complete manor house with beautiful lawns and an abundance of chickens and the like. The welcome, being the first was over-whelming: wild roses for everyone, and, of course, the Commander (Major MacDiarmid) would sleep in the house. Well no, he would not, but perhaps his second-in-command  (Capt Davies) would. As it turned out, neither of them slept until nearly next morning.

We were by now well out in the blue, in the region of Ommai, and quite out of radio touch; so in the middle of a belated supper, at about eleven o'clock, Major MacDiarmid decided to take the sergeant-major's reconnaissance car, with Murray as driver and myself as operator, to look for the regiment. We set off in the dark, finding an assault section with about 20 prisoners en route, and stopped from time to time to try to establish radio contact. At last we made Strength One on key. Major MacDiarmid decided to go on until we could be understood. There was no moon, and we had no lights. I heard Major MacDiarmid say "Hard right", and received a mighty wallop on the left of my face as the side of the turret drove my civvy glasses up into my forehead. I was lifted down in a stupor. Canadian voices came from nowhere: "Gees, but I'm pleased you're all alive." Bill Murray was lying on the grass with a bleeding forehead, but his main complaint was that he had personally tuned this engine till it was the best in the squadron" and now look at it ". He and I spent the night with a Canadian repair" outfit".

In the morning, we were treated to breakfast with Canadian hospitality, mixed with a dissertation on "those Jews" by the lieutenant in charge, and one on " those Germans" by the farmer in whose yard we were. We were collected by one of the regiment's medical trucks. Bill Murray had two stitches and four days' rest. I had a trip back to the starting point near Falaise, to enter the hospital" sausage machine".

While Major MacDiarmid and his crew were trying to establish contact with R.H.Q. a party from R.H.Q.- Capt Kemsley, Cpl Stevenson and Tpr Yount-was out in a reconnaissance car trying to establish contact with A Squadron. These three also came to grief, the car going into a ditch in the darkness-fortunately near B Squadron's harbour.

The advance was continued at dawn, and Band C Squadrons reached Beaumont Ie Roger by the early afternoon. Here the Risle bridges were destroyed, but a wooden bridge on the outskirts of the town was still standing and was strong enough to bear most of the vehicles. On Moon route A Squadron's cars, still ahead of the rest of the squadron, were also confronted with blown bridges at the Risle. Going to inspect a ford, I Troop met some Royal Dragoons, who crossed the ford first. Their last vehicle was blown up, and six mines were lifted while another patrol report was awaited. This report was that a good bridge was still intact, and this bridge the squadron used.

That evening the regiment harboured on the line Le Neubourg-Barquet, not far from the Seine. The day's drive had been free of many of the encumbrances of the previous day. The debris had thinned out, but the joy of the French people was evidence of the recent passage of the fleeing enemy. Whenever the regiment stopped near houses there were flowers, and calvados and wine.

Reconnaissance of the banks of the Seine was begun on August 26th by C Squadron, which went forward through Louviers and reached the high ground west of the river without incident. Patrols were sent to Tournedos sur Seine and Portejoie in the north, to St Pierre du Vauvray in the centre and to Heudebouville and Venables in the south. The country to the north was flat and wooded on the west bank, but steep hills rose from the river's edge on the German side. In the centre and south there were steep hills on the west side and rolling country across the river. Extensive patrolling did not draw any organised fire from across the Seine. That night reports giving details of the approaches to the river and the OPs were sent to divisional headquarters.

Next day the regiment harboured just west of Louviers, where the division was concentrating before the assault on the river line. C Squadron continued its reconnaissance, and extended it to the opposite bank and to the island opposite Muids. Lieut John Wheeler and his small patrol became the first men in the division to cross the Seine when they rowed to Herqueville after finding a boat at Portjoie, as Lieut Wheeler has related:

After my patrol of four carriers had moved up and down the west bank without drawing fire, I got together a small patrol, and, taking one of the F.F.I. with us, we rowed straight across the river in a boat which we had found on the bank. On reaching the other side I left the Bren gunner in the boat and the rest of us went off to explore. I saw a group of French women and children outside a farm. I managed to attract their attention, and they immediately put their fingers to their lips and pointed up the road. We took cover and I sent the French guide round the back of the farm to get information. When he came back he told us that three Germans had just left the farm and were only round the corner when we got there. One of them had just gone back to bring up reinforcements. I decided that we had all the information we needed and that it would be unwise to get involved in a fight, so we returned to our boat. Before we reached our side of the river again the Germans started firing single shots at us with a machine gun. As soon as we landed we made for what little cover there was, but Corporal Dove was wounded in the chest.

Lieut Shirley and some of his troop crossed in an assault boat to the island opposite Muids, where it was proposed to build a bridge. From the island they kept the village under observation, and obtained valuable information. That evening another long report was given to divisional headquarters. On the information which the regiment supplied it was decided that the river could be crossed without all the prepara-tions originally intended, and soon after seven o'clock that evening 227 Brigade began the operation, the loth Highland Light Infantry and the 2nd Gordon High-landers crossing just south of St Pierre du Vauvray against stiff opposition, the enemy sinking the first three boats and inflicting heavy casualties on the Gordons. By midnight a bridgehead was well established, and 44 Brigade crossed in the Portjoie area. At 9.15 on the following morning, August 28th, 46 Brigade went across in the Muids area, encountering little opposition.

Armoured car patrols of A and B Squadrons were ferried across the river on rafts early in the morning. 'A' Squadron's patrols were given the task of enlarging the 46 Brigade bridgehead, 2 Troop (Lieut Dalton) taking the road running parallel with the Seine in the direction of Les Andelys, 1 Troop (Lieut Blount) going through the woods towards Fretteville, and 3 Troop (Lieut Kerridge) following 1 Troop, then branching towards Le Thuit. On the outskirts of Fretteville 1 Troop's leading car, commanded by Cpl F. Whiting, came under heavy fire from machine guns and mortars. The fire from Cpl Whiting's car silenced some of the machine guns, and with his Bren he killed several attacking Germans while the patrol altered its course to the left flank. Here also the opposition was strong, and Cpl Whiting's car was blown up. It landed in a small quarry. Machine gun bullets hit it repeatedly, and the corporal was given permission to abandon it, but, working for forty-five minutes under fire, he directed its recovery, and patrolled and fought in it for the remainder of the day, although the steering was damaged, the turret jammed and the gun mounting useless. Afterwards the car, almost shot to pieces, was written off as a complete loss. Cpl Whiting was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal. Lieut Blount, who received the Military Cross, went forward to help Cpl Whiting's car when it was disabled and, leading patrols in vehicle and on foot under steady fire, commanded the road between Fretteville and Le Thuit, frustrated several German attempts to reinforce Le Thuit, and so subdued an enemy company that it was unable to hinder the infantry who passed close to its positions. At least twenty Germans were killed by the 1 Troop cars.

Lieut Kerridge, too, was awarded the Military Cross. His patrol of three cars found the enemy strongly dug in at Le Thuit, and fought them for eight hours, attacking them in their slit trenches at close range. Thirty Germans were taken prisoner by the patrol and many were killed. Manoeuvring so that the enemy should not realise that there were only three cars, the patrol formed a screen behind which infantry of the division were able to reach their positions without deploying and dig in without interference. During the day British guns bombarded the woods between the river and 1 and 3 Troops, although that area had been reported clear.

Lieut Dalton's troop found that the riverside road to Les Andelys was dominated by the enemy positions on the cliffs above it and defended by anti-tank weapons. The Germans could fire down into the cars, and Tpr N. P. Ellis was mortally wounded at his post in the turret of one of them. It was on this road that Sgt T. Craig won the Military Medal by coolly taking his patrol, under fire from above, from the flank and from ahead, into what he knew must be almost an ambush. He obtained important information, destroyed enemy machine gun posts, and got out of his own vehicle under fire to evacuate the wounded crew of the leading car after it had been knocked out by an anti-tank gun.

This road by the Seine was also the scene of The Charge of the Litton Brigade. The Litton Brigade consisted of two cars from B Squadron under the command of Sgt Litton. How they came to charge to within sight of Les Andelys, while Germans to the left of them, Germans above them and Germans in front of them volleyed and thundered, has been des-cribed by Lieut P. D. Peterson:

B Squadron patrols had crossed the river to the left of A Squadron, and I was ordered to reconnoitre to the right with cars from 5 Troop and 7 Troop. It was believed at this time that A Squadron had not yet been able to cross, so I was told to investigate the road to Les Andelys. The two cars from 5 Troop, under Sgt Litton, were to lead as far as the forward infantry on the far side of the bridgehead on the right. The plan was to halt there and glean information from the infantry before going on towards Les Andelys.

Arriving at the forward infantry positions, I saw a Humber halted on a bend in the road ahead, and assumed that it was Sgt Litton's and that the other car was round the bend. The infantry told me that A Squadron patrols had already made determined efforts to explore the road to Les Andelys, but had been forced back by the heavy opposition. Then I discovered that the stationary car was from A Squadron. The crew reported that the 5 Troop cars had gone by at a speed fast enough to have taken them to Paris by that time. Wireless messages to the two cars were un-answered, and we could not help fearing the worst, for A Squadron told us that the road ahead was covered at many points by machine guns and anti-tank guns from the high ground on the left.

B Squadron headquarters now knew that A Squad-ron patrols had crossed the river, and we were ordered to go back to be a wireless link between the other B Squadron patrols and squadron headquarters, still delayed on the other side of the river. Permission to make a search for the missing cars was refused. In most minds they were" written off", but more than an hour later, when we were perched on high ground as the wireless link, we heard a faint message-" . . . Report my signals." Then came the good news-" Returned to brother Able's house."

Owing to a slight error in map reading and the unexpected appearance of the A Squadron cars, Sgt Litton's party had failed to recognise the forward infantry positions, and, driving on, had realised too late that its support was no longer close behind. Soon the cars came under machine gun and anti-tank fire, but their speed carried them through it. The road was too narrow for them to reverse out of danger or to turn round. There was only one way open-forward. Both cars increased speed.

Going round a bend in the road, the light recon-naissance car, leading, was confronted by a large anti-tank gun. One gunner was resting against the gun shield, the others were gathered round a stationary truck on the other side of the road. The Bren in the light reconnaissance car was fired at the truck and the gun crew, and a quick shot from the heavy car's 37 mm hit the German gun. The crew dived underneath the truck, which, however, was driven off at high speed. In this chaos the two B Squadron cars were able to turn round and race for home, after looking down into Les Andelys and seeing that the town was full of enemy.

The way back was under the heavy fire of Germans who were by now very much on the alert. The light car, with one of its front wheels shot off, wobbled the last hundred yards to A Squadron on three flat tyres and a brake drum, and the heavy lurched in with three flat tyres, all riddled. The crews were safe.

B Squadron's other car patrols that day - from 5 and 6 Troops - were commanded by Lieut M. H. Leppard and by Lieut A. E. Gillings, who was awarded the Croix de Guerre for his leadership in the advance from the Seine. The Germans had strong positions in the area of Connelles, and Lieut Leppard, going left from the bridgehead, soon met opposition. His cars fired so much ammunition that pistols, and even Verey pistols, had to be used.

Lieut Gillings went straight ahead after crossing the river, and about three miles from Heudebouville his car was hit by shots from a small anti-aircraft gun, which was being used as an anti-tank gun. Reversing, the vehicle went off the road, toppled down a bank and landed upside down. Lieut Gillings opened the door and tentatively put out a leg. This drew a hail of fire, and the leg was swiftly withdrawn.

Back at squadron headquarters Capt Boynton, the second-in-command, had chosen this moment to send a wireless message urging the patrol to greater speed.

 " My car is stuck," Gillings replied, after groping for the microphone.

 " Then get another car," said the second-in-command.

This brought the full, desperate explanation, delivered from among a jumble of upset kit while bullets beat a tattoo on the armour plate: "I am upside down in my car in a ditch. There is a machine gun firing at us. I am trapped."

Sgt F. Short organised the rescue. A smoke screen was laid, and he took his car forward under heavy fire and engaged the enemy while a light car drew up beside the overturned vehicle. Under cover of the smoke Tpr J. Connor dashed from the light car and helped the trapped crew to scramble to safety. Thanks largely to Sgt Short's efforts, the enemy post was destroyed, and a German captured. Sgt Short was awarded the Military Medal.

By the evening of August 28th the division's bridge-head across the Seine stretched from Le Thuit to Connelles.

The regiment crossed the new Seine bridges early on August 29th, and A and B Squadrons continued to reconnoitre in front of the division. It was in these advances from the banks of the Seine that Major MacDiarmid won the Military Cross and a bottle of whisky. The Military Cross was the reward for leadership which achieved the destruction of the enemy at Fretteville and Le Thuit and the early liberation of Les Andelys. The squadron fought a successful action at Fretteville and Le Thuit on the 29th, and beyond Le Thuit learned from the driver of a French Red Cross ambulance that the enemy was withdrawing from Les
Andelys. Lieut Blount was sent there, and Major MacDiarmid was promised the whisky if his squadron raced the infantry, who were advancing along the riverside road, to the town. When Lieut Blount's cars drove into the town it was deserted; the F.F.I. had made the inhabitants take refuge in the chalk cliffs along the Seine until liberation was accomplished. This was typical of the excellent organisation of the F.F.I., whose members helped the regiment many times between Falaise and the Belgian border and often volunteered to ride with the leading patrols. On the high ground beyond Les Andelys A Squadron met a patrol of the 43rd Reconnaissance Regiment and exchanged information. A patrol under Lieut Dalton was given a task which took it outside the division's boundary, and there was an exchange of fire - fortunately without casualties - when the cars crossed the line of advance of the 11th Armoured Division. To prevent further misunderstandings, the patrol was given an escort for its return.

On the left B Squadron reached Houville and Bacqueville during the morning, and soon after noon entered Ecouis, where stragglers were captured and where the squadron was later to be given a formal reception by the townspeople in honour of liberation. C Squadron, driving forward in convoy from the Seine ahead of R.H.Q., caught two German officers who were sufficiently" out of the picture" to be going to inspect German positions which no longer existed. Later in the day C Squadron was ordered to pass through B Squadron and reconnoitre beyond Ecouis. About five miles east of Ecouis Lieut Gray's troop, leading, was halted by a strong rearguard with guns. At the first contact one car was knocked out, and Sgt W. C. Young, who had long served the squadron with quiet efficiency, was killed. Attempts to by-pass the German rearguard were unsuccessful, and that night the regi-ment concentrated in the area of Ecouis and Jean de Frenelle, where it waited while the 7th Armoured Division and the Welsh Division passed through the Scottish. Division to carry the chase into Northern France.

 In the fighting which followed the Seine crossing Tpr J. D. Roebuck was killed.

 On August 30th the following Special Order of the Day was issued by Lieut-Col Grant Peterkin:

Since 27 Aug, when the Regiment for the first time was able to get on its proper role, IS (S) Division has advanced over 50 miles, crossed the major obstacle in France, the River Seine, and driven the enemy back much faster than he wished. It is an established fact that the speed of our advance has surprised him very much.  A great deal of the credit for this rapid advance is due to the excellent information obtained by the patrols of the Regiment. Their initiative, and eagerness to get at the enemy and to get information back have been of the greatest  value to our higher Commanders.

The Commanding Officer has received the following letter from Major General C. M. Barber D.S.O., G.O.C. 15 (S) Inf Div :-

    "I should like to congratulate you very much on the excellent work done by your Regiment during the past few days and on
     the excellent and valuable reports sent in. They have been highly commended to me verbally by the Corps Commander. Will
     you please convey to all ranks my appreciation of all their very good work done in foul roads for very long hours in pretty
    wet weather."

The congratulations of the whole Regiment are due to the Patrol Commanders and their crews, particularly those whose reports hastened very materially the crossing of the River Seine, and the subsequent rapid advance of the British Second Army.

I congratulate all ranks on their excellent work which has raised even higher the good name of the Regiment, and through this Order would like to. express my appreciation and thanks.

(Sgd) J. A. GRANT PETERKIN,
 Lieut Colonel
Comd 15th Scottish Reconnaissance
 Regt

On September 1st the regiment, placed under command of the Welsh Division to protect its flank, drove more than 50 miles northeast to Marlers by way of Fry, where the girls at the large farm sang "Ma Normandie" so prettily and the P.M.C. dutifully and successfully negotiated for eggs. So swift had been the British advance since the crossing of the Seine that the only Germans encountered were a party that had somehow got left behind between Fry and Marlers. The armoured cars of 11  Troop dealt with them, as Cpl D. C. Waters describes:

We were stopped by some F.F.I. who told us that Germans were holding out in a farmhouse. Lieut Gray decided that this was just our meat, and under the guidance of the Frenchmen we were taken to within 300 yards of the house. Sgt Bradley's car was leading, and I was at the guns. We all studied the house carefully without seeing any sign of life inside, but the Frenchmen assured us that the Germans were there, so we let fly with a belt of Besa and six high explosive shells from the 37 mm. There was straw in the loft, and a glow showed us that the house was burning. Smoke began to pour from the windows.

But still no sign of life. Only when the roof was ablaze from end to end did a white flag appear at the doorway. We stopped firing, and out came 20 Germans -a mixture of SS, paratroopers and infantry, with a couple of medical orderlies. One of them told us that two were dead in the house. We handed the prisoners over to an infantry company.

The drive from Fry to Marlers showed that the left flank of the Welsh Division was already firmly held by Canadian echelon transport, and in the fields and orchards of Marlers the regiment spent three pleasant days - resting; working on its vehicles, which had had little rest since leaving Falaise; looking for useful things among the enemy equipment which littered the area; and going in armoured cars to answer the urgent pleas of the Maquis: "Il y a quarante bosches bien armees dans un bois par plus que deux kilo metres d'ici." The results of these excursions proved so disappointing that a roster was kept to show who should turn out next. Other squadrons looked on with amazement and awe when the sedentary Headquarter Squadron puffed along behind the long stride of Major Gaddum on a cross-country run. On Sunday, September 3rd, the fifth anniversary of the outbreak of war, the padre held a church parade in a field. At Marlers, Trooper Parker, who had been wounded while on traffic control an the Odon, rejoined A Squadron; he was the first casualty to come back.

When dawn broke on September 5th the regiment was on the road again, with many miles to go. The few days' rest had been enough to leave it far in the rear of the pursuit; the 7th Armoured Division was advancing on Ghent. That day the regiment crossed the Somme a few miles west of Amiens, went north through Doullens and reached Houvin, five miles south of St Pol and more than 60 miles by road from Marlers. The news was that German resistance between the Escaut and the Lys threatened the main axis of the 7th Armoured Division, and the regiment became part of a battle group formed from units of the Scottish Division and the 1st Royal Dragoons to clear the enemy from east and south of the Lys and advance north to the corps boundary at Ypres and Roulers. Most of the Scottish Division was still being ferried from the Seine in the limited number of troop carrying vehicles that could be spared.

Leaving Houvin before light on September 6th with provisional orders concerning an area 70 miles away, the regiment drove by cheering, waving people in industrial towns of Northern France-Arras, Lens, Carvin, Seclin and the southern outskirts of Lille and Roubaix. Whenever the vehicles halted girls and children chalked on them-the names of their towns, their own names, slogans. There were kisses and V signs, flowers and fruit, and "Cigarette pour papa" (how many of the cigarettes ever found their way to papa's lips ?).

Soon after 10 o'clock the regiment, passing the southern outskirts of Roubaix, came across the charac-teristic square white building bearing the word "DOUANE" in large block letters. Outside it the frontier barrier pointed skyward, and French and Belgian gendarmes cheered side by side while hundreds cheered around them. The regiment, having come about 300 miles through France in fourteen days, drove on beneath the red, yellow and black of many Belgian flags, through more cheering crowds, receiving more garlands. But marked on the talc of the map-boards were the blue circles which showed that not far ahead the enemy waited. R.H.Q. and B Squadron went to Belleghen, A Squadron to Kirkhove and C Squadron to Avelghem.