The Notts Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry 1939-1946

04/06/2026

Remembering Today 🌺

SSM Leonard Fountain aged 37 from Essex who died on 2nd June 1941 of wounds received the previous day when his group was strafed by a German plane whilst under guard as a PoW during the invasion of Crete.
Corporal Evan Walters and two German soldiers were also killed.
The two Sherwood Rangers lie in Souda Bay War Cemetery.

Loyal unto Death

04/06/2026

Remembering Today 🌺

Corporal Evan Walters aged 30 from Glamorgan who lost his life when strafed by a German plane whilst under guard as a PoW on 1st June 1941 during the invasion of Crete.
SSM Leonard Fountain and two German soldiers were also killed.
He lies in Souda Bay War Cemetery.

Loyal unto Death

04/06/2026

James Holland stands atop LILY MARLENE in Berjou on 3rd June 2026 telling how it was on that exact spot on 16th August in 1944.
Louis Bon of the great Blackwater Museum 39/45 in Berjou sits to his right.
Massive kudos to Lilys crew!

Loyal unto Death

Photography by Vivie Proutt, with thanks.

03/06/2026

Berjou 3rd June 2026
🦊
996
@ Blackwater Museum 39/45 @ James Holland
Check out more great videos of the occasion in the comments!!
Great Stuff Chaps!

Loyal unto Death

28/05/2026

Celebrating Today💐

Sgt.Ben Symes, who was born in Chickerell, Weymouth on 28th May 1908.

Ben Symes' father had unfortunately been killed during the Somme offensive in 1916, so he was brought up in South Wales by his fathers cousin.
Upon leaving school he worked in the local mines and joined the Army in 1928 serving 6 years in the 1st, 3rd and 4th Royal Tank Regiments. He was then in the Army Reserves.
At the outbreak of war he joined the 9th Lancers and went with them as part of the BEF to France in 1940 He was evacuated several months later via Brest.
After significant tank training in the UK Sgt.Symes landed on DDay with 1st Troop C Squadron 24th Lancers and fought his way throughout the Normandy campaign with them until his regiment was disbanded on 31st July.
He was then one of 28 men (two troops) of the 24th Lancers who joined the Sherwood Rangers at this time.
Ben Symes fought with HQ Squadron until the end of the war.
He was Mentioned in Despatches.
He then served with the BAOR till demobbed in 1946.
Ben Symes was a prolific letter writer and wrote home almost daily detailing his experiences in NW Europe.
After the war he worked in the car trade and lived a peaceful life fishing and gardening in Oxford.
Ben Symes passed away just two weeks shy of his 68th birthday in May 1976.

Loyal unto Death

27/05/2026

From Thursday.....

From one daring band of brothers, to another... Join us on Thursday this week for a new series on 'The British Band Of Brothers'! All about the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry, this is a look at some of the toughest fights Allied soldiers had to endure after D-Day and all the way to Germany, using their own accounts.
Members get the whole series in one drop, ad-free at patreon.com/wehaveways

25/05/2026

Staffs...
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17YvJDAc2M/

25/05/2026

🇮🇪https://www.facebook.com/share/1E6owrpA4o/

Three Irish soldiers just won America's biggest military tank competition, and Ireland doesn't even have tanks.

The Sullivan Cup is held every two years in Georgia, USA. It's basically the world championship for military armoured vehicle crews, testing everything from shooting and driving to fitness and medical skills.

Ireland entered for the first time this year and won, beating six American teams.

The catch is that the vehicle used in the competition isn't something the Irish Army owns or trains on. The lads had never even sat in one before preparing for this. They got two weeks to learn it once they landed in the US.

They won by just five points, and no non-American team had ever won it before in the competition's history.

"It was embarrassing for them," said one of the Irish soldiers afterwards, "but they came up and shook our hands."

Fair play to the lads! 🇮🇪

25/05/2026

Whitewashed C Squadron Sherwood Rangers tanks on film in Sittard, NL as infantry of the Cameronians pass by on the opening day of Operation Blackcock in January 1945.

Loyal unto Death