Commanding officer of Troop B, Capt. Harry Ruble Haverstick (20918263) at the 24th Cav Recon command post, known as ‘Jiggy’. Date and location currently unknown.
80 years on from May 8 1945 Victory in Europe day is marked by commemorations. But, for the 24th Cav Recon, that day was just business as usual. Nowhere in the original documents that we have, chronicling the squadron's day-to-day work, do we see Germany's surrender mentioned. There seem to have been no parties. Just the daily grind of restoring order in a defeated and shattered country.
Here's the squadron's disposition on VE Day:
HQ - Gernrode.
Troop A - Ballenstedt
Troop B - Hartzgerode
Troop C - Suderode
Troop E - Rieder
Troop F - Horla
Dispositions of each element of the squadron on May 8 1945. You can view this map interactively here.
Fighting was over and duties for the early part of May were described in the After Action reports thus:
“Troops maintained law and order in the occupied towns and districts, patrolled roads, and controlled the activities of the local Burgermeisters. Prisoners of war kept on coming in daily, consisting of stragglers or other soldiers dressed in civilian clothes who hoped to avoid the cages by posing as civilians.”
On VE Day itself the After Action report simply records:
SUMMARY OF MAY 8th
No Change. Cas: None. PSW: 2. TOTAL PSW TAKEN TO DATE: 8074
The fighting was over, but the work wasn't. And casualties would continue to be sustained over the coming weeks and months, often due to landmines or road accidents.
Here is the report for VE Day at 4th Cavalry Group level.
