31 May 1942 Part 6

May 1942 Island batteries reinforcements communications and hospital ship

Editorial note: Monthly report or annex; placed at the end of the reporting month because no single document date is supplied. Dates within the text retain their original meaning.

On Guernsey, Army Coastal Battery 461 became operational in its new position on 6 May, and Weather Plotting Platoon 517 arrived during the month. One gun of Batterie Mirus was ready for manual operation on 20 May; two naval 7.5 cm guns were used for its local defence. Batterie Strasbourg had three guns operational by the end of May. Heavy Flak Battalion 496 arrived on Alderney. Between 17 and 19 May III Battalion Infantry Regiment 583 relieved III Battalion Infantry Regiment 584 on Alderney, the latter returning to Guernsey. A telephone cable between Alderney and the mainland was completed and speech communication established on 19 May. Two platoons of Engineer Demonstration Battalion 1 moved to Alderney and one to Jersey on 21 May; the headquarters of Naval Artillery Battalion 605 was established on the islands at the end of the month.

Supply was satisfactory. The hospital ship Hüxter, 990 gross registered tons, entered service for evacuation from the Channel Islands. It could carry 120 stretcher patients and had an operating theatre and its own medical staff. Coastal troops of all three services were to hold fifteen hand grenades per man, or thirty at especially important strongpoints, but approximately 185,000 grenades were still lacking. Standard strongpoint stocks were two ammunition issues with the troops and one in divisional depots, ten days of food and drinking water, and ten days of medical supplies.

Corps situation map accompanying the May 1942 activity report. Source PDF page 0274.

T-314 Roll 1603, T314_Roll_1603_English_Translation.docx. Source PDF pages 0208–0214 | Higher Command XXXXIII Army Corps activity report for May 1942; Source PDF pages 0271–0274 | Annexes 3–6 to the May activity report