| Regiment | 5th Royal Berkshire |
|---|---|
| Location | Waterscheide, Belgium |
| Entry | [25-28th] Special training continued. Meteorological Notes. The weather throughout the month was generally unsettled, with some unusually mild weather for the time of the year towards the end of the month. But on the main it was overcast which limited the activities of TAF over the battle area. General Notes. In view of the limited facilities for recreation at both locations special attention was paid to the "off duty" time at the disposal of the men. Recreational periods, such as Brains Trusts, Inter Ranks Quiz Competitions, Debates, provided not only entertainment, but were also of positive instructional value. The men attended such features entirely voluntarily and showed keen interest. The Battalion continued to publish a daily news sheets, as it had done since D day. It was found the men were also keen for up to date information of news from the battle fronts. It addition it enabled men to keep in touch with Home Affairs through the reporting of House of Commons debates. Operational Notes The Battalion was formed into a Bank Group for the purpose of future operations. The duty was the control of troops and supplies on both banks of the river in event of crossing. For this purpose a minimum Beach Group Cadre of Battalion men had been retained since No 8 Beach Group had been dissolved. It was found that the retention of these key men in the new work greatly facilitated in the speedy and more efficient work of the Group. It is worth noting for future reference that such work is highly specialised, and that usually such operations have to be planned with the utmost speed. It is essential , therefore, that key men should be retained, not only on the "labour" side i.e. the actual work of unloading, setting up sites and dumping supplies, but also on the administrative and executive side. The preparation for such operations, which owing to urgency, cannot be carried out by trail and error. In the Battalion the Key men were available, and all of them had a through working knowledge of the operational role. It could thus readily be passed on to other men not familiar with such operations |
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