An Englishman at War

by James Holland

  Monday, 15 February

  An early start today for Tripoli. The army commander addressed all the generals who have come to see our demonstrations on the campaign from Alamein to Tripoli. General Paget, OC Home Forces, and five other generals have come out from England. Six American generals have come from First Army, and a great many other generals from the ME. The army commander was excellent. General Frisby continued after lunch. I had never seen him before. The first part of his lecture was dull but it improved. Frank Bowler of the Greys was sitting next to me. They were attached to the New Zealanders on all their outflanking sweeps. He didn’t quite agree with all that Frisby said. He made an amusing observation at the end about the army commander’s dress, pointing out that he was wearing New Zealand battledress and a New Zealand sweater. General Monty confirmed this and added that he was even wearing NZ underclothes.

  While Montgomery was regrouping his forces at Tripoli, he decided to hold a conference of Allied commanders at which they could share experience and lessons from the recent fighting. It was not a bad idea and reflective of the way in which the Allies were trying constantly to improve their fighting ability. The turn-out at Tripoli was impressive – among the six American generals mentioned by Stanley were Walter Bedell-Smith, chief of staff to General Eisenhower, the American Allied Supreme Commander in the Mediterranean, and George S. Patton, who would shortly take over command of US II Corps in Tunisia. General Alexander and Air Marshal Tedder, C-in-C of all Allied Mediterranean Air Forces, also attended.

  Tuesday, 16 February

  The Highland Division put on their demonstration during the morning. This was very well done and most interesting. I sat next to Henri Le Grand. Since he left our regiment he has been attached to the 6th RTR and the 10th Hussars and has been right through the battle and has been awarded the DSO and I should think thoroughly deserved. He is a most capable, charming and brave man.

  After lunch the 8th Armoured Brigade put on their demonstration and we used the stage. The CO, three squadron leaders and three troop leaders of the Light Squadron went on the stage sitting in dummy tanks. Pete Pitman, CO of the 3rd RTR, conducted the models on the sand table, giving explanations where necessary. Pitman was quite excellent all the way through, especially in his summing up. The CO also made a very good introductory speech. The army commander told Pete that he had never seen a better demonstration and the Americans were very impressed. There is no doubt at all that ours was quite the best and that opinion was quite universal. During the interval one of the American generals came up to Mike Gold who came to watch and said, ‘Lee,’ and held out his hand, to which Mike replied, ‘Gold,’ and grasped the outstretched hand and a long conversation followed. These American fellas are most charming and only too willing to converse with even captains and lieutenants. Somehow our generals, especially the ones from England, did not seem to make any effort to talk to the Americans, anyhow during the demonstrations.

  After our show they had a period for asking questions. I thought this would be most interesting, but only one question was asked, and that by General Gamble. He pointed out, in a most pompous manner, that he didn’t agree with the Armoured Brigade Group organization at all. Monty soon squashed him by saying that he would deal with that in his final summing up! And that was the only question that Monty allowed. He then spoke of the very close co-operation which existed between the air force and the army and then asked Air Vice Marshal Coningham to address us. I was extremely impressed by him as a man and by what he said. He confirmed that the Air HQ and Army HQ should work together in the field and that during this last campaign they had been beyond mere co-operation, but intimate. The army had cleared advanced landing grounds of mines and had helped in every possible way during the advance, and the RAF, among many other things, had flown back to Cairo over 5000 casualties. He stressed the necessity of the air force and the army being two separate bodies, as they were both so technical now, and told the Americans that he did not agree with their organization, which combined both army and air force. He told us that he had just been home, where unfortunately such a happy state of affairs did not exist, and the reason for this was that since the first day of the war the RAF had been at war, while the army had been merely training. How very true. Likewise with First Army, greater co-operation was needed. He is leaving the ME to command our air force with First Army. I was tremendously impressed with him.

  ‘Mary’ Coningham had been honing his thoughts about tactical, or close, air support since the previous summer when the Desert Air Force had saved Eighth Army during the retreat from Tobruk. ‘The doctrine that we have evolved by trial in war over a period of many months,’ he told his audience at Tripoli, ‘could, I think, be stated in its simplest form as follows: the Soldier commands the land forces, the Airman commands the air forces; both commanders work together and operate their respective forces in accordance with a combined Army-Air plan, the whole operations being directed by the Army Commander.’

  Wednesday, 17 February

  Today the REs gave the final demonstration of Eighth Army before the visiting generals. This was held out of doors and showed them the various skills of mine lifting and clearing of booby traps, etc., both by hand and mechanical, i.e., Scorpions, etc. Very well done and impressive. They held it after lunch.

  Before leaving, Sam Garrett and I had a talk with a brigadier from First Army (I think the 6th Armoured Division). He showed us a picture of a German Mk VI, with the 88mm gun, which one of his regiments had knocked out. We had a most interesting talk with him, about their equipment and tactics. I wish he could have come and lectured to the squadron.

  Eric Sanders and Henri Le Grand came to dinner. They are both at Army HQ. A most interesting conversation with Henri about indirect shooting with AP on the Sherman, by ranging first with HE. He tried it with considerable success while attached to the 10th Hussars during this last battle. Tremendous possibilities.

  The Panzer Mk VI Stanley mentions became better known as the Tiger. At nearly 60 tons, it was huge and had very thick armour and the high-velocity 88mm gun. However, it used vast amounts of fuel, was incredibly over-engineered, and only 1347 were ever built. The continued determination of the Sherwood Rangers and Eighth Army as a whole is impressive and perhaps runs counter to popular perception of Allied, and particularly British, troops in the war.

  Friday, 19 February

  A conference was held under the leadership of Major Player on the formation of the new recce troop. A great deal of discussion ensued as in all probability we shall have to operate in enclosed country. The CO is very keen that Sam Garrett should train and command the new Recce Troop. He himself is very much against this as he fought all the last battle as 2i/c to me, and I can ill afford at the moment to lose him as 2i/c. I hope that Patrick McCraith will get command in the end.

  My syndicate proposed that the Recce Troop should be made up entirely of Jeeps, especially for enclosed country. To my mind their mobility and speed outweighs their extreme vulnerability. I understand, however, that each regiment is being equipped with 10 armoured cars to form the basis of a recce troop, and these to my mind in enclosed country where it is impossible to get off a mined road will be useless.

  Wednesday, 24 February

  The Recce Troop is being formed again under Patrick McCraith, and I am having to give up Sergeant Bartle, Corporal Hindson, Troopers Shewell, Sparham, Bennett and Corporal Stuart, which is making somewhat of a dent in my squadron strength. The squadron has received no reinforcements since the Battle of Alamein and I have made up casualties by using members of the old Recce Troop who for some time past have had no vehicles.

  Sergeant Thompson of C Squadron returned to the Regiment today, having left about a year ago to go to a RAC OCTU in England. He has been posted to B Squadron. Before leaving he called at Michael Laycock’s home and brought out for him a large box of cigars (one of which I smoked after dinner, truly excellent) and a large tin of his favourite mixture of tobacco, which is
very black in colour and to me smells exactly like high-class Royal Mews.

  Thursday, 25 February

  Lieutenant Thompson gave a very excellent lecture to both A and B Squadrons about his trip to England, bombing, rations, clothing and amusements, etc. It was all most interesting and he put it over very well.

  Sergeant Bacon has put in an application for a commission, which I am sending to the commanding officer. A great many of our best NCOs have left the Regiment to get commissions and they will be difficult to replace. However, one can’t stand in the way of promotion.

  The days now are becoming extraordinarily warm and we all hope that the Tunisian battle will be finished before the summer begins because another desert fight in the summer is not a very delectable prospect. It will be most interesting to see whether any of us get home after Tunis has fallen.

  The army issued an order yesterday that the clocks should be put back one hour, but this only reached the Regiment at midnight last night so we all missed the extra hour in bed.

  Being commissioned from the ranks was increasingly common during the war, even though it had been unthinkable in the pre-war Yeomanry. It was recognized that experience was vital, and that this experience often led to the development of authority. The increasingly battle-hardened Sherwood Rangers understood that their officers needed to be the best men they could get, whatever their class and background.

  Friday, 26 February

  Trooper Rose of B Squadron has just returned from hospital in Tripoli, where he had a German prisoner in the next bed, who told him that our air raids on Berlin had been devastating and that he himself had lost his mother, father and two sisters.

  Prepare to move tomorrow.

  Air Marshal Harris, commander-in-chief of RAF Bomber Command, had received a new directive agreed at the Casablanca Conference: ‘Your prime objective will be the progressive destruction and dislocation of the German military, industrial and economic system, and the undermining of the morale of the German people to a point where their capacity for armed resistance is fatally weakened.’ Harris had spent the best part of a year in the job building up his heavy bomber force and improving targeting technology, and now, with the US Eighth Air Force also building strength within the UK, was about to launch his first all-out bombing offensive against Germany at the beginning of March.

  Saturday, 27 February

  The Regiment moved by RASC lorries to Ben Gardane. There is every sign that Rommel is going to attack Eighth Army and it looks as though we are being rushed up to meet such an attack. I understand that we are going to take over the tanks from the 2nd Armoured Brigade.

  We are now stationed in an olive grove quite close to the sea, which is a great contrast to the barren desert country from which we moved.

  The Sherwood Rangers were moving up towards the Mareth Line, a defensive position that protected the southern Tunisian border. First Army had not reached Tunis and, rather, had suffered a number of setbacks. The US II Corps had received a bloody nose by a typically swift and dynamic counter-attack by Rommel, while in the north of the country General von Arnim had arrived with substantial reinforcements – Hitler was determined to fight on in North Africa for as long as possible, fully aware that defeat would most probably hasten Italy’s exit from the war and then expose the Reich’s southern flanks. Now, with First Army subdued, Rommel turned back to face Eighth Army and prepared for a counter-attack at Medenine.

  Recognizing that Tunisia had not been going as well for the Allies as had been hoped, Eisenhower had been made Supreme Allied Commander in the Mediterranean at the Casablanca Conference, while Alexander had relinquished his Middle East post and had been appointed commander of the newly formed 18th Army Group, the first such combination of Allied armies in the war. After touring the front, one of his first decisions was to set up battle schools for the inexperienced US troops, where they could train with live ammunition and learn modern tactics and techniques. General Patton also took over command of US II Corps.

  Monday, 1 March

  Warning order to move came through and this was followed by a squadron leaders’ conference at 10.30 in the morning. At this conference the CO told us he was leaving to become second-in-command to the 8th Armoured Brigade and that Donny Player would succeed him as colonel. Michael will become 2 i/c, and Basil Ringrose would take over B Squadron from Michael Laycock.

  It was a compliment to the Yeomanry that a ‘Regular’ soldier should not come in to command the Regiment. Although it is not really surprising as ever since the Battle of Alamein the Yeomanry tank regiments and ex-cavalry regiments appear to have done so very much better than the RTR.

  We had a mobile cinema in the area, the first we have seen for a very long time.

  The American force approaching Tunis from the south-west have recovered all the ground which they lost and also claimed to have knocked out 87 enemy tanks.

  Tuesday, 2 March

  Today this brigade took over all the tanks from 2nd Armoured Brigade. This is the second time they have had to hand over new tanks to us within a very short time. We have now christened them the Tank Delivery Brigade, who ferry tanks for the Notts Yeomanry.

  We moved off at midday on a track across country to Ben Gardane. We ran into some salt marshes and, after getting some transporters thoroughly stuck, we had to turn about and continue the journey on the main road. Sam Garrett and I went off in a Jeep to discover the regimental area at Ben Gardane. The rest of the party did not arrive until 04.00 the next morning and as a result we had very little sleep. The squadron cooks and technical store got hopelessly bogged, with half the echelon, and are still there now.

  The Germans had been shelling Ben Gardane, especially the aerodrome, where they did a certain amount of damage with a pretty big gun, which it was reckoned was positioned 17 miles away.

  Wednesday, 3 March

  We have some new gunners attached to the brigade, the 111th Field Artillery, who have been attached to the 22nd Armoured Brigade. The battery commander is Captain Mark Strutt, with whom I was at Winchester. When they first came out here history relates that, on being ordered to march for 10 miles on a bearing of 60°, they marched for 60 miles on a bearing of 10°.

  We hear General Montgomery appreciates that Rommel has been told to prevent Eighth Army reaching Tunis at all costs for the summer and so avoid an invasion of the continent from Africa this summer, and that is why he is expecting an attack here at any time.

  Thursday, 4 March

  The Regiment took up battle positions facing north-west towards the mountains. We are being held in mobile reserve to move to certain positions in the event of attacks from different directions. Squadron leaders and the attached battery and infantry commanders recced these positions today.

  At this time of year the country here is covered with most attractive wild flowers, much more spectacular than most parts of Palestine. They include Michaelmas daisies, aubretias, wild stocks, mignonette and many others to which I cannot give a name. RHQ have placed themselves in a small, very old olive grove surrounded by green banks covered with these wild flowers.

  Friday, 5 March

  I was coming back with Stephen riding in my tank when the adjutant rang me up on the air and told me that Stephen Mitchell had been awarded the MC. We were all exceedingly pleased to hear about this, which he has so thoroughly deserved, and we hope to get him equally thoroughly tight tonight.

  From air reports it appears that the Germans are going to attack from the north. There has been a great deal of air activity and German planes have been much in evidence. Yesterday we brought down four but I am afraid we saw a Spitfire shot down very close to us.

  Saturday, 6 March

  This morning early the Germans attacked with infantry and with a hundred tanks towards the town of Medenine. We moved off early to take up battle positions and sent out our new gunner OP with Sergeant McCann and his troop as protection. The OP had a most excellent shoot at some infantry advancing over open country
and had satisfactory results. Mark Strutt also went out and conducted the troop.

  The army commander issued yet another order of the day, which I understand he had written 10 days ago, telling us that the Germans were obliging us by attacking Eighth Army, which is exactly what he wanted.

  Sunday, 7 March

  At dawn we broke leaguer and I sent out Sam Garrett with half the squadron plus the gunner OP to their positions of yesterday. We found that the Germans had withdrawn into the hills and examined the damage we did yesterday. They got one prisoner, who turned out to be a Pole, but in appearance looked to be the usual blond, well-made, thick-necked German. He was brought back to RHQ where Myles Hildyard, our adjutant, interviewed him. He spoke very freely and told us the following: after Poland had been captured he had been forced to fight for the Germans and that was why he gave himself up to us. Moreover, now he was willing to fight for us. He had disliked the idea of fighting against Eighth Army, and finally that, on the day before the German attack, on a battalion parade they had been told by their commanding officer that unless this attack was successful and that they captured the village of Mettamour and the high ground on which we were actually stationed, the North Africa campaign as far as the Germans are concerned was lost. If this was true it was very interesting. He was then taken off to Brigade for further interrogation. He was certainly very bomb happy and whenever anything fell in the vicinity he would go to ground like a rabbit.