An Englishman at War

Home > Other > An Englishman at War > Page 55
An Englishman at War Page 55

by James Holland


  Repulse 229

  Rhade 505

  Rhine, river 2, 448, 450, 489, 493–495

  Rhodesians 92

  Riddle, Jimmy 240

  Riethorst 454

  Rifle Brigade 91, 101, 106, 109

  Ringrose, Basil 32, 37, 38, 39–40, 68, 80, 90, 103, 109, 113, 248, 266, 270, 282, 286–287, 289, 322, 488, 489, 518

  Ritchie, General Neil 230, 259

  Riviere, Michael 71, 114, 118, 174–175, 182, 198, 217

  Robin Force 489

  Robinson, Sergeant 456

  Rodger, Sergeant 20, 190

  Rodwell, Martha 64, 68, 113

  Rogers, Geoffrey 49

  Rogers, Sergeant 27

  Romania 106, 132, 157

  Rome 368

  Rome Radio 78, 142

  Rommel, Field Marshal Erwin

  arrives in Tripoli 134

  captures Bardia 155

  and D-Day 385

  in desert battles 226–262, 304, 360

  and Eighth Army 226–262, 287, 321, 323

  at Medenine 325–326

  at Sollum 158

  in Tunisia 314

  withdrawal from Alamein 286, 294

  Roosevelt, Franklin D. 86, 147, 260, 313

  Rose, Trooper 321

  Rosewell, Martin 256

  Rossond, Colonel 466

  Rotterdam 58

  Roul, Jonnie 249

  Rowe Swann & Co. 2

  Rowell, John 85

  Roxborough (officer) 248

  Royal Air Force 86, 92, 100, 378

  Desert Air Force 260, 280

  Middle East 280

  Royal Artillery (Gunners) 328

  Royal Corps of Signals 88, 247, 250, 427

  Royal Dragoon Guards 370

  Royal Engineers (RE) 249

  Royal Gloucester Hussars 460, 472, 481, 488

  Royal Horse Artillery (RHA) 289, 291, 293, 296, 299, 303

  Royal Marines 134

  Royal Scots Fusiliers 402, 482

  Royal Sussex regiment 62, 66, 67

  Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) 259, 266, 271, 276, 284, 297, 303, 304, 306, 307, 309, 314–316, 316, 317, 330, 333, 334–335, 344, 354, 356, 370, 438, 498

  Rugles 430

  Rugman, Trooper 355

  Ruhr, river 476

  Rush, Lance Corporal (later Sergeant) 239, 298, 390, 400

  Russia 157, 191, 211, 215, 218, 224, 226, 228, 243, 313

  Russian Guard of Honour 509

  Ruth (in Jerusalem) 208

  Ruurlo 497

  Ryder, Bill 102

  Ryes 376, 383

  Sadada 305

  Sadler, Corporal 336–337

  Sage, Sergeant 502

  St Denis de Méré 418, 419

  St Denis le Ferment 432

  St John, Major Stephen 296, 298, 299

  St Pierre 389, 392–396, 399, 436–442

  St Rémy 431, 432

  St Sulpice 388

  Sainte-Honorine-la-Chardonne 421

  Saita 297

  Salerno 368

  Salisbury-Jones, General Guy 116

  Salonika 157

  Sandbostel concentration camp 506

  Sandeman, Captain Arthur 33

  Sanders, Eric 318

  Sanders, Trooper 286

  Sandhurst 13, 498

  Sarafand 31, 32, 75, 78, 87, 88, 90, 95, 96, 102, 113–118, 181

  Saunders, Guy 420

  Saunders, Sergeant 449

  Savignies 432

  Sayers, Sergeant Major 174

  Scarswall, Dick 252

  Schandorf 482

  Scharnhorst (cruiser) 368

  Scheldt estuary 494

  Schimmert 481

  Schinnen 472, 473, 476–477, 481

  Schinveld 479

  Scots Guards 250

  Scott, Mechanist Quarter Master Sergeant 469–470

  Scott, Ray 403

  Scottish Horse Yeomanry 13, 206

  Scudamore, John 460, 468, 472

  Search Lights 45, 48

  2nd Armoured Brigade 321, 323, 383

  2nd Armoured Division (US) 466

  2nd Seaforths 495

  II Corps (US) 321, 322, 342

  II SS Panzer Corps 401

  Sedan, Bill 338

  Seine, river 431

  Seleri, Captain Peter 93, 395–396, 399, 405–406, 414–415, 463, 469

  Sellar, Captain Dr Bill 192, 193–194

  Selling, Kent 33

  Selston 482

  Semken, John

  on Alam Halfa 263

  and Colonel Anderson 383

  on codenames 272

  at court-martial 228–229

  on Keith Douglas 392

  and Ronnie Hill 273

  incidents in action 303, 304, 402, 468

  on Montgomery 265

  and Montgomery 474

  on new officers 16

  on officers’ wives 38

  as signals officer 271

  on Stanley 515–516

  on Stanley and Stephen Mitchell 399, 478

  as technical adjutant 383

  Semlies, Kim 256

  7th Armoured Division 91, 306, 314, 363, 397, 398, 407, 482, 511

  7th Green Howards 399

  7th Hussars 99

  7th Somersets 424, 431, 504

  Sewell, Sergeant 88, 90

  Seymour-Darling, John 13

  Sfax 346, 347

  War Cemetery 332, 336

  Shaftesbury 99

  Sharp, Vera 243

  Sharpshooters 55

  Sherborne School 339

  Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry 1, 3, 4, 5, 13–16, 32, 44

  Annual Summer Camp 3

  Debating Society 28

  disbanded 511, 513

  loses horses 43–44

  mechanized as 8th Armoured Brigade 209

  as mounted police force 32

  role in Second World War 511, 516

  Stanley joins 13

  veterans of 515–516

  Shewell, Trooper 319

  Sicily 310, 367

  Sidgewick, Chris 431, 436, 441, 474, 483, 488, 491–492, 496, 500, 502, 503, 505, 508

  Sidi Barrani 81, 91, 105, 189, 258, 259

  Sidi Ben Ali 348

  Sidi Omar 226

  Sidi Rezegh 225

  Siegfried Line 464, 465–473

  Signals 55

  Simla (Egypt) 259

  Simons, Trooper 357–359

  Sinai 57

  Sind 482

  Singapore 123, 228, 229, 238, 241, 243, 244, 245, 251

  Sirte 299

  Sittard 465

  60th Rifles 370

  6th Armoured Division 318, 360

  61st Recce Regiment 434

  67th American Armoured Battalion 411

  Skinner, Padre Leslie 5, 392, 396–397, 397, 423, 476, 478, 489, 502, 513, 518

  Sleep, Sergeant 420

  Slovakia 106

  Smallwood, Tim 55

  Smith (batman) 28, 31, 73, 92, 107, 134, 193, 200

  Smith, Corporal 199, 343

  Smith, Flight Lieutenant ‘Smudger’ Smith 161

  Smith (officer) 474

  Smith, Trooper 199

  Smith-Dorrien, Peter 514

  Smolensk 216

  Smyrna 219

  Sollum 81, 106, 122, 158, 162, 172, 190, 193, 201, 203, 227

  Somaliland, Italian 119

  Somme, river 433

  Son, bridge 450

  Sousse 329, 346, 347

  South Africa 2–3, 26, 49, 63, 74, 151, 513

  South West Borderers 388

  Southampton 151, 183

  Southampton 377–379

  Soviet Union 191, 212, 368

  see also Russia

  Spain 212

  Sparham, Trooper 319

  Spence, Colonel Ian 383

  Spring Grove, Wye, Kent 513

  Staffordshire Yeomanry (Staffs) 113, 205, 209–210, 214, 218, 221, 240, 246, 248, 258, 261, 266, 272, 275, 277, 284, 295, 303, 304, 330–356, 362, 370, 4
48, 483, 494–495

  Light Squadron 328

  Staggerers Cricket Club 513

  Stalag Luft III 49

  Stalingrad 299, 361

  Stanier, Brigadier Sir Alexander 453–454

  Stanton, Sergeant 446

  Starl 479

  Steele, David 85, 248–249, 252, 253

  Steele, Dick 85, 249

  Stephenson, Colonel 49

  Stobbs, Captain 72

  Stockton, Archie 290

  Stockton, Sergeant 169

  Strachan (servant) 73

  Strutt, Captain Mark 323, 324, 330

  Stuart, Corporal 319

  Suani Ben Adam 308

  Suez 59

  Suez Canal 18, 39, 260

  ‘Sugar Loaf’ hill 340

  Summers, David 266

  Summersall (officer) 65

  Sunningdale 108

  Lindsay Lodge 232

  Surrey and Sussex Yeomanry 293

  Sus-Saint-Léger 433

  Suvla Bay 178

  Sway, Hampshire 375

  Switzerland 498

  Sword Beach 385

  Sydney, Australia 149

  Syria

  British in 185, 208, 214, 217, 220, 222, 225, 288

  French in 38, 41, 42, 78, 116, 189

  Germans in 184, 211

  mounted troops in 32, 96

  skiing in 239–241

  Stanley on 146, 180, 196

  Vichy government and 44, 217

  Takrouna 351, 353–354, 362

  Talbot, John 504

  Tandy, SQM 88

  Tank Corps 232, 242

  Taranto 105, 152

  Tarhuna 305, 306

  Tarmstedt 505

  Taylor, Christopher 112

  Taylor, Robin 336

  Tebaga Gap 328, 339

  Tedder, Air Marshal Arthur 316

  Tehran 215

  Tel Aviv 31, 32, 71, 74, 75–76, 78, 90, 98, 110, 116, 242

  Gat Rayman Hotel 76, 99

  Reading Power Station 72, 85

  Samakan 110

  Soldiers’ Home 76

  Tel el Aqqaqir 273, 275, 277, 280

  Tel-a-dura 243

  10th Armoured Division 221

  10th Hussars 316, 318

  X Corps 343, 359, 360

  Terror, HMS 118, 121–125, 127, 129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 135, 141

  Tessel-Bretteville 402

  Tew (officer) 72

  Thessalonika 106

  3rd Army Corps 88

  3rd British Division 502, 503

  3rd Hussars 268

  13/18th Hussars 411, 431, 432, 463, 479

  XIII Corps 262

  XXX Corps 334, 376, 416, 450, 495

  32nd Lowland Division 504

  Thoma, General Ritter Wilhelm von 279, 280, 412

  Thomas, General Ivo (‘Von Thoma’) 412–413, 418–419, 484, 506, 508

  Thomas, Lieutenant 487

  Thompson, Basil 110

  Thompson, Colin 447, 448

  Thompson, Stuart 108, 115, 117, 118, 148, 150, 192, 206, 217, 230

  Thompson, Sergeant (later Lieutenant) 89, 319–320

  333rd Regiment 466, 470

  334th Regiment 466

  Tilly-sur-Seulles 1, 397, 493

  The Times 136

  TJFF (Trans Jordan Frontier Force) 92

  Tobruk 121–202, 227, 257, 292, 327, 472

  departure for 115, 117, 118, 120

  fall of 260, 290

  importance of 119

  Peter Laycock at 205, 208

  Navy House 137, 153, 159, 160, 162, 163, 182, 183–184, 186, 195, 198, 201

  relief of 228

  retreat from 318

  siege of 155, 156–202

  Stanley on 211

  War Cemetery 161

  Todd, Colonel John 231

  Toft, Tim 297

  Tonbridge 503

  Tournai 435

  Tower Hamlets (regiment) 111

  Towers, Sergeant 382, 393

  Townsend, Major 36

  Transjordan 220

  Tres Serfuy 432

  Tripartite Pact 86, 132, 228

  Tripoli 129, 133, 144, 288, 304, 306, 308, 312, 367

  Café Roma 314

  cathedral 314

  hospital 321

  theatre 314–315

  Tripolitania 257

  Tripsrath 480

  Trotter, Henry 37, 53–54, 54, 56, 59–61, 61, 64, 74, 77, 82, 85–96, 115–117, 131, 140, 148, 167, 169, 171, 174, 179, 205, 214

  Trotter, Rona 37, 53–54, 54, 56, 59–62, 61–64, 68, 74, 76, 77, 80–81, 82, 85, 87, 90, 94–96, 103, 109, 113, 114

  Truman, Corporal 266, 268, 278, 282

  Tuker, General Francis 334, 359

  Tulkarm 212

  Tunis 294, 314, 320, 321, 322, 323, 329, 359, 407

  Tunisia 2, 39, 265, 294, 313, 314, 316, 320, 328–364, 367, 383

  Turin 100

  Turkey 132, 143–144, 165, 190, 211, 212, 219

  Turnabout 250

  Turner, Corporal 489

  12th Army Group (US) 420

  12th SS Panzer Division 402

  21st Panzer Division 360, 449, 493–494

  22nd Armoured Brigade 302, 356

  23rd Hussars 401, 407, 417, 430

  23rd Motor Brigade 275, 323

  24th Lancers 370, 392, 411, 415

  29th Armoured Division 400

  231 Brigade 445, 453–454

  Tyre 185

  Tyrrell, Jack 269, 270, 274–279, 281–287, 289, 292, 293, 296, 305

  Ubbergen 451

  Ukraine 191, 212

  Ulster Prince 120

  United States of America 188, 250, 289, 290, 420, 472

  Randolph Churchill and 239

  Winston Churchill in 239, 260

  Germany declares war on 228

  at Guadalcanal 299

  help to Russia 216, 218

  Hitler and 191

  Japan declares war on (Pearl Harbor) 228

  and Japanese 429–430

  and Lend Lease Bill 146–147

  Montgomery and 342

  and Normandy landings 386

  and Operation COBRA 410

  Stanley on 350

  tanks used by 494

  and Tripartite Pact 86

  Utah Beach 386

  Valence 19

  VE-Day 412, 515

  Vegel 450

  Vendetta 201

  Venres 402

  Verner, Victor 389

  Vernon 430

  Versailles, Treaty of 38

  Vickers, Corporal 190

  Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy 130

  Vienna 32

  Villers-Bocage, Battle of 398, 403

  Ving, Major 47, 48

  Vintelen 479, 480

  Vladivostok 227, 228

  Voorde 443

  Wadi Akarit, Battle of 343

  Wadi Faluk 227

  Wadi Tamet 299, 302–303

  Wadi Zem Zem 299, 302, 304, 357, 448

  Waffen-SS 163

  Wake Islands 237

  Wallace, Dandy 19, 23, 96, 97, 98, 102

  Wallace, Jane 96

  Wallace, RSM 94

  Wallace, Toby 94, 96, 97, 102, 214

  Walpole, Hugh, The Blind Man’s House 246

  Walsh (officer) 453, 483

  Walters, Dorothy 244

  Walters, John

  in Cairo 256

  in Haifa 243

  in Jerusalem with Stanley 251–253

  joins Sherwood Rangers 13, 89

  as machine-gun officer 85

  on mess committee 37, 210

  in North Africa 332–333

  on nurses 78

  in Palestine 46, 52, 53, 69, 90, 110, 222, 225, 233, 248

  and Vera Phillips 258

  and Lord Yarborough 16

  War Office 37, 95, 182

  Warburton, Arthur 444, 483

  Ward, Charles 112

  Ward, Peter 111

  Ward-Jackson, Bill 151

  W
arminster 249

  Warren, Tom 67

  Warwick, Derrick

  in Berlin 511

  at Christmas dinner in Holland 477

  as gas officer 85

  gives lecture on gas 87

  in hospital 291, 292

  joins C Battery 142, 164

  leaves for Tobruk 118

  in Palestine 45, 55, 69, 71, 90, 107, 113, 232

  at Tobruk 125, 133, 153, 160, 165, 166, 198, 228

  wounded at Alamein 277, 475

  Warwickshire Hunt 183

  Warwickshire Yeomanry 93, 143, 217, 221, 223

  Washington, DC 237

  Wavell, General Archibald (Earl Wavell) 33, 34, 63, 91, 116, 119, 133, 181, 185, 189, 197, 215

  Webb, David 223

  Webb, Sergeant 505

  Webster, Pilot Sergeant 161

  Weele 489

  Wenlow, Roger 291

  Western Desert 81, 92, 99, 105, 106, 113, 224, 229–230, 257, 258, 260, 278

  Western Desert Force (later XIII Corps; Eighth Army) 119, 225

  Weygand, General 44

  Weymouth, Bill 248

  Whalen (officer) 474, 487

  Wharton, Bill 403–404, 436–437, 437–439, 441, 462, 483, 502

  Whatley, Trooper 272

  Wheeler, Sergeant 500–501

  White (officer) 303

  Whitfield, Corporal 469

  Whiting, Jack 116, 118, 128, 134, 135, 142, 143, 146, 149, 150, 153, 167, 170–171, 170, 176, 207, 221, 239, 242, 261, 262

  Whitney, Jack 206

  Wilkinson, Bridget (SDC’s cousin) 75, 88, 110, 113, 143, 150, 166, 216, 225, 241, 251, 256, 369

  Wilkinson (tank driver) 268

  Williams, Margot 252

  Wilson, Jim 15

  Wilson, Rae 15, 75

  Wilson, Trooper 67

  Wiltshire Yeomanry (Wiltshires) 48, 125, 142, 150, 182, 188, 248, 486, 497, 504

  Winchester College 6, 13, 29, 62, 76, 100, 102, 108, 122, 165, 220, 323, 356

  Windsor, Edward, Duke of 148

  Windsor, Wallis, Duchess of (formerly Mrs Simpson) 148

  Winlaw, Roger 226

  Winssen 464

  Wiseton, Nottinghamshire 394

  Wittmann, Michael 398

  Wooley, Sergeant 284–285

  Wrangham, John 233

  Wright (tank operator) 267–268

  Wurm 469, 470

  Wye, Kent 513, 514

  Wynn, Colonel 411

  Yamashita, General 245

  Yarborough, Earl of (Colonel) 16, 19, 21, 23, 24, 25, 27, 30, 36, 48, 52, 56–66, 68–69, 80, 82, 83, 94, 95, 96, 98, 225, 505

  Yarborough, Lady 16, 37, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 64, 65, 66, 71, 74, 82, 94, 95, 98

  Yarmouth 372

  Yorkshire Dragoons 20, 23, 48–49, 70, 96

  Yorkshire Hussars 20, 23, 48, 68, 69, 70, 84, 96, 209

  Young, Dr Hylda 300, 429, 441, 487, 502

  Young, Marion 33

  Yugoslavia 157, 158

  Zaila 310

  About the Authors

  Stanley Christopherson was born in 1912 and trained to be a lawyer before joining the Sherwood Rangers in the autumn of 1939. Apart from two weeks in hospital, he experienced the Second World War on the Western Front in its entirety and watched as the very nature of war changed and evolved. In the North African campaign, he engaged in the Battles of Alam Halfa and El Alamein and the fall of Tunis. On D-Day he landed on the Gold Beach, before moving across France and Belgium and on to Holland where his regiment endured the terrible fighting in the aftermath of Operation MARKET GARDEN.

 

‹ Prev