Recovery in The Field - 1944
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Before we attempt to deal with some of the technical problems involved in various types of recovery operations, we propose to illustrate how L.A.D.s frequently have to work under battle conditions to retrieve valuable equipment from the fighting area.
Recovery under Fire
When the next series of photographs were taken the battle had gone forward, leaving isolated enemy outposts still holding out in certain places.
One such party is situated in a building, covering a knocked out Covenanter tank which, for certain reasons, must be recovered at all costs. The motorcyclist from the L.A.D detailed for this task approaches and finds an isolated outpost established in a disused power house which has been wrecked inside ... no floors or stairways remaining (see Fig. 6).
He also discovers that mines block the only possible approach to the tank and reports the situation back to the L.A.D.
To clear the strong point, the approach is planned, making the best use of available cover and deploying a Bren gunner to keep up fire from the opposite direction to which the attack is coming.
Having successfully crossed a barbed wire obstacle at the entrance the men scale a wall to attack the snipers and finally clear the strong point by means of hand grenades.
Clearing the Minefield
The party now deal with the minefield to enable the recovery vehicle to be brought into position. It must be stressed here, that R.E.M.E. personnel clear only those portions of minefields covered by the operations of the job they have in hand. The Sappers have the primary responsibility of clearing the paths through the mine- fields to enable troops to advance, and of immobilising all mined areas.
The extent to which the lavish use of mines by the enemy has impeded vital recovery work has created the necessity of R.E.M.E. personnel being trained in minefield clearance (this is dealt with in the Regimental and Corps Training section).
This activity by R.E.M.E. has materially lessened the very heavy burden on the hard working Sappers who, incidentally, use a mine detector invented by a R.E.M.E. officer.
To return to the scene of action.
A shell hits a scout car slightly to the rear of the damaged tank (the shell is seen exploding in Fig. 6) and the car is soon burning fiercely as depicted in Fig. 7.
As the men continue to advance at the double across the open ground between the building and the casualty, a further shell hits the car, completely demolishing it (Fig. 8) and the scattered remains continue to burn themselves out.
