15th (S) Division's groups and 44, 45 and 46 Brigade A/T Companies combined to become 15th Battalion, Reconnaissance Corps at Kirkee Barracks, Colchester, on 13 January under Lieutenant-Colonel R.J. Sandeman as commanding officer (CO), with Major N.C. Hendricks as second-in-command (2iC).

[1][4][6][7][8] At the time 15th (S) Division was stationed in Essex, moving to Suffolk in February 1941, still in a coast defence role but increasingly undertaking division-level training exercises.

However, in November 1941 the division was moved to North East England and reduced to a lower establishment, acknowledging that it was unlikely to be deployed overseas for the foreseeable future.

Next day the squadron was ordered to reconnoitre towards Éterville and Maltot, with the intention of reaching the River Orne beyond, cooperating with an advance by 43rd (Wessex) Division (Operation Jupiter).

[40][41] 15th (S) Division's next action was Operation Greenline on 15/16 July, for which the final approach and initial assault were carried out at night under 'Movement Light' or 'Monty's Moonlight', employing searchlights reflected off the clouds.

That night German aircraft bombed 15th Recce Rgt's 'harbour', now at Fontenay-le-Pesnel, killing two men and setting seven vehicles on fire, including two ammunition trucks.

On 21 July the assault troops (each consisting of four infantry sections mounted in 15-hundredweight trucks[39]) of the three recce squadrons were combined as 'Macforce' under Maj MacDiarmid and sent to reinforce 7th Seaforth Highlanders, who were holding Le Baltru but had suffered heavy casualties.

The brigade group enveloped Lutain Wood and moved on to la Récussonnière and Les Loges, the recce squadrons following the tanks and mopping up enemy pockets.

The rest of the regiment came behind, awaiting an opportunity to seize the high ground round Le Bény-Bocage ahead (C Sqn had been told it was to lead Second Army's breakout).

C Squadron went over Quarry Hill at dawn but was similarly held up at La Mancellière-sur-Vire; it had to make yellow smoke signals to indicate its identity when RAF Typhoon fighters attacked the village.

There was still fighting round Quarry Hill on 1 August; in the evening B Sqn assisted 46 (H) Bde in clearing La Mancellière and 6 Trp suffered casualties in an engagement with enemy A/T guns.

On 21 August A Sqn was sent to Teprel under command of 1st Royal Dragoons (XII Corps' recce regiment) to be ready for Operation Gallop, the pursuit to the River Seine.

Major MacDiarmid decided to push on with just the armoured cars, leading the carriers to escort the equipment; an RE officer accompanied him to defuse mined bridges.

On the night of 27/28 August 227 (H) Bde began crossing in stormboats against considerable opposition, but all three brigades were across by the morning, and the RE ferried armoured car patrols of A and B Sqns across on rafts.

The regiment's patrols then fanned out into the country beyond the river, skirmishing with enemy parties, covering the deployment of the infantry, and liaising with the Resistance units of the French Forces of the Interior and the neighbouring II Canadian Corps.

Next day this group drove a further 70 miles (110 km) into Belgium to clear a remaining pocket of German resistance threatening the flank of Second Army's advance.

On the night of 15 September a party from 15th Recce Rgt guided 2nd Gordon Highlanders to the lock gates 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the destroyed bridge at Donck, where they attempted to create a second bridgehead, but were pinned down by machine gun fire.

On 15 October B Sqn's patrols confirmed that the Germans had abandoned the canal line, and 11th Armoured Division's REs built a bridge that the regiment guarded.

After patrols confirmed the enemy withdrawal, the regiment remounted its vehicles and advanced towards Boxtel and Tilburg, dealing with felled trees, mines and other roadblocks.

On the preceding two nights B Sqn and the Glasgow Highlanders carried out a diversion north of the town, including playing gramophone records of tank movements.

From 22 December this section was held by a stronger infantry unit and the regiment's Maas squadron moved upriver to Hout-Blerick and was reinforced by elements of HQ Sqn.

[75][76][77][78] 15th Recce Rgt rested at Tilburg, then on 5 March moved to Bourg Leopold in Belgium where 15th (S) Division went into training for the assault crossing of the Rhine (Operation Plunder).

Although the regiment was to play no part in the assault crossing, each squadron provided six half tracks to move storm boats and bridging materials up to the river, and carriers transported Military Government detachments and wireless links.15th (S) Division carried out its part of the crossing (Operation Torchlight) during the night of 23/24 March and by the afternoon had made contact with 6th Airborne Division, which had landed that morning.

Next day the troop was joined by 1 Trp; they called down artillery fire to deal with German self-propelled guns that were shelling them, and set up an observation post in a windmill at Hamminkeln.

The recce vehicles were fired at by anti-aircraft guns as they skirted Wunstorf airfield and then reached the bridge over the Leine at Bordenau, where the airborne troops quickly established another bridgehead.

Once the river was bridged, 15th Recce Rgt spread over a wide area ahead of the advance to Uelzen on 13 April, finding routes around numerous demolitions.

At midnight the position was attacked by Panzer Division Clausewitz, largely composed of veteran troops from reserve units and instructors from training schools, with heavy armour.

However, the regiment was still in action as late as 10 May, the reformed B Sqn forming stop lines as the German Army rounded up armed Waffen-SS parties in the Forest of Segeberg.

The regimental roll of honour includes the names of 7 officers and 66 other ranks who were killed in action, died of wounds or accidents on active service.

[94] The 15th Scottish Recce Regiment Old Comrade's Association planted a Scots Pine tree at the National Memorial Arboretum, Alrewas, Staffordshire, in September 2000.