The mission of the 24th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron

Background

What was the mission of the 24th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron? What was the job of US cavalry in the European Theatre of Operations (ETO) in WW2? How did the role of cavalry differ from infantry and other units?

The 24th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized, was part of the 4th Cavalry Group - one of 13 American mechanized cavalry groups (MCGs) serving in the European campaign. Each MCG consisted of two squadrons. In the case of the 4th Cavalry Regiment these were the 4th and 24th squadrons.

This project is dedicated to the 24th squadron.

Like all mechanized cavalry groups the 4th Cavalry Group was attached to one of the corps that formed the various allied army groups in Europe between June 6 1944 and May 8 1945, when the unconditional surrender of Germany came into effect.

A corps was a large military structure typically comprising infantry, artillery, armour, engineers, medical, logistical and other specialised units.

The 4th Cavalry Group fought for the VII Corps, which arrived in France via Utah Beach, during and after D Day.

The VII Corps was commanded by General 'Lightning' Joe Lawton Collins (so called for his reputation for rapid and decisive tactical manoeuvring) and was part of the US First Army, in turn part of the allied 21st Army Group, led by British General Bernard Montgomery.

As ‘corps cavalry’ they were exclusively dedicated, during the period of hostilities, to working toward VII Corps objectives.

The job of cavalry reconnaissance

Time was when reconnaissance meant stealth and emphasis on information-gathering. But mechanized cavalry in WW2 were fighting units. The MCGs were designed for defensive and offensive combat, specific missions to take new territory from the enemy, protecting friendly forces and forming specialised multi-faceted ‘task forces’ in combination with other units.

The 4th MCG’s job (and so the squadron’s mission) was therefore:

• Reconnaissance. To gain intelligence on enemy deployment, combat strength and movements.

• Security. To protect the flanks, or rear areas, of VII Corps forces during advances so that maximum corps combat strength could be concentrated on forward engagement.

• Offence. To provide an 'economy of force' service. This typically involved drawing out an often stronger enemy force and inflicting as much damage as possible before leaving better-suited friendly units to engage and destroy the enemy.

• Communications. Maintaining contact between friendly units, for example by providing a separate radio network for inter-unit coordination when forces were spread apart.

• Holding territory, typically to protect friendly supply lines.

The job necessarily kept them in harm’s way at almost all times, outside of resting or refitting periods.

Cavalry was highly mobile - 'mounted' on jeeps, armoured cars, half tracks, howitzer vehicles and light tanks. It was also potent as a combat force, equipped with heavy guns as well as smaller arms. But its lightly armoured nature made cavalry vulnerable under sustained assault and more suited to rapid engagements or fluid situations than remaining dug in for extended attritional or 'positional' warfare.

The way the 24th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, Mechanized, operated was a textbook example of the way cavalry can minimise overall friendly force losses and empower a main assault force to prevail more quickly by concentrating all of its strength as a 'spear tip'. But they also inflicted serious losses on the enemy and took many prisoners in their own right.

After intensive training and preparation in southern Britain the 24th Cav Recon Squadron’s job proper began in the early hours of D Day, when elements of the squadron from Reconnaissance Troop B occupied the Île du Large, just off Utah Beach, before the main amphibious assault began; a classic reconnaissance and security operation ensuring that no enemy were there to direct airborne ground attack or call in artillery against the VII Corps northern flank during the initial landings.

Those men came onto mainland France 48 hours later to provide security for the first headquarters of General J Lawton Collins a little way inland at Le Buisson farm, until being re-attached to the main squadron, which arrived in France on June 15 1944.

The squadron would fight through five campaigns and find themselves in the thick of many famous moments over the coming year.

Eventually the 24th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron would close the war in Germany, redesignated as the 24th Constabulary Regiment, helping to stabilise and police the chaos of a defeated country filled with displaced people.

Follow the squadron timeline.