Summary: Heavy rain and an unceasing flow of heavy traffic turn the narrow tracks leading to the Odon Valley into liquid mud during the second day of Operation Epsom.
Description: A 44th Royal Tank Regiment (?) Sherman Firefly, two motorcycle despatch riders and a Humber light reconnaissance car move along a churned-up mud track bordered by white-tape markers between Bretteville l'Orgueilleuse and Norrey-en-Bessin (?). A 31st Tank Brigade Churchill CS tank, armed with a 95mm howitzer and sporting a captured MP40 on the side of the turret, moves up past 15th (Scottish) Division troops. Cromwell tanks from the Northamptonshire Yeomanry's 'C' Squadron and a Crusader AA tank from the Yeomanry's 'HQ' Squadron join the procession and pass Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers personnel and Scottish (?) troops sitting on a stationary 31st Tank Brigade Churchill ARV.
Production Details: Directorate of Public Relations, War Office (Production sponsor)
Army Film and Photographic Unit (Production company)
Watkins, R V (Production individual)
Personalities, Units and Organisations: British Army, Div 15 (regiment/service)
British Army, Bde, Tank, 31 (regiment/service)
British Army, Royal Tank Regiment 44 (?) (regiment/service)
British Army, Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (regiment/service)
British Army, 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry, C Squadron (regiment/service)
British Army, 2nd Northamptonshire Yeomanry, Squadron HQ (regiment/service)
Keywords: armour, United States - funnies: M4 Sherman Firefly & [British] (object name)
armour, British - tank: Crusader AA (object name)
armour, British - armoured car: Humber III light reconnaissance car (object name)
armour, British - tank: Cromwell (object name)
armour, British - tank: Churchill Mark II CS (object name)
armour, British - funnies: Churchill ARV (object name)
weapons, British - gun: 95mm howitzer (object name)
weapons, German - smallarm: Schmeisser MP40 sub-machine gun & [captured] (object name)
operations, British military - movement: armour (object name)
01/5(4-16).232 [ Operation Epsom] (event)
Bretteville l'Orgueilleuse, Calvados, France (geography)
Norrey-en-Bessin, Calvados, France (geography)
mud (concept)
