RIP Tom Renouf
1925-2016
7 Platoon
A Company
5th Battalion Black Watch
51st Highland Division
Tom Renouf joined the British Army in 1943 after completing his studies. He was assigned to the 5th Battalion, Royal Highland Regiment (The Black Watch), 51st Highland Division, and completed his training in Perth. Enlisted in Normandy on 9 June 1944, he landed at Gold Beach and fought in the Battle of Normandy, from the heights of Bréville to the ruins of Falaise. Promoted to the rank of lieutenant, he was wounded on August 27, 1944, and received treatment in a field hospital in Bayeux.
Tom Renouf returned to his unit in October 1944 in Holland. He was involved in the liberation of the provinces of North Brabant and South Limburg. The division then participated in the Battle of the Bulge during the winter of 1944-1945. On January 7, 1945, Tom and his men fought towards the Belgian crossroads town of Marche-en-Famenne. They passed through several destroyed towns and villages, such as La Roche-en-Ardenne, and liberated Hubermont. In March 1945, Tom Renouf crossed the Rhine and was engaged in the fighting to liberate the German port city of Bremerhaven. His unit participated in the capture of Himmler on May 22, 1945: Tom received his watch.
Tom Renouf was demobilized in June 1946 after spending ten months as an occupation force on German soil. Upon his return to Scotland, he worked for ten years at the Royal Military College of Sciences and obtained a PhD in physics in 1968. At the same time, he maintained ties with his comrades in arms. Tom became the general secretary of the 51st Highland Division Veterans Association, organizing several commemorative battlefield trips.
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