Europe REVISITED the (1st) East Riding Yeomanry in Liberation of & Defeat Germany

On 6 June 1944, years of preparation culminated in the East Riding Yeomanry's landing on Sword Beach in support of 9th Infantry Brigade of the 3rd British Infantry Division. The regiment entered battle immediately. With Caen still in German hands after D-Day, 3rd Division was ordered to secure the dominating ground north of the city. On 7 June, 1ERY supported the 2nd Battalion Royal Ulster Rifles in an assault on Cambes-en-Plaine, one of the strongest German defensive positions in the sector. Advancing across nearly a thousand yards of exposed terrain under relentless artillery, mortar, and machine-gun fire, the attackers suffered heavily. Supported by AVRE assault vehicles and Sherman Crab flail tanks, the battle group endured severe losses: the infantry sustained more than 200 casualties, 1ERY lost four tanks, and every AVRE was knocked out. Nevertheless, after bitter close fighting, the objective was secured.For the next fifty days, the regiment fought continuously in the Normandy bridgehead, supporting both 3rd Division and later the 59th (Staffordshire) Infantry Division. Attrition forced the dissolution of 27th Armoured Brigade in July, and in August 1ERY transferred to 33rd Armoured Brigade. Re-equipped with Sherman tanks and attached to the 51st (Highland) Infantry Division, the regiment took part in the closing battles of the Falaise Pocket, the advance to the Seine, the capture of St Valery-en-Caux, and subsequently the assault on Le Havre with 49th (West Riding) Division. In the autumn campaign, it supported 53rd (Welsh) Infantry Division in the Netherlands, fighting around 's-Hertogenbosch and during the crossing of the Meuse, before being rushed south to counter the German Ardennes offensive during the Battle of the Bulge.In January 1945, 1ERY rejoined 79th Armoured Division and converted to Buffalo amphibious vehicles for Operation Plunder, the Rhine crossing of 23-24 March. Carrying assault troops of 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division under intense enemy fire, the regiment played a central role in establishing the bridgehead despite confusion, mislandings, and fierce German resistance. Acts of conspicuous gallantry earned Captain Peter Clemence the Military Cross and Acting Lance-Corporal Adams the Military Medal. Remarkably, after four days of continuous operations under fire, the regiment suffered only one wounded man.In the final weeks of the war, the regiment reverted to Sherman tanks and joined First Canadian Army operations clearing the Netherlands, before remaining at Laboe on the Kiel Estuary until being placed in suspended animation on 7 March 1946.