大象传媒

23rd. October 1942: Commencing with the battle of El Alamein.
I think zero hour was actually about eleven P.M. the night before. You could hear a pin drop one minute, and the next minute all hell was let loose. The initial Artillery Barrage with hundreds of guns of all sizes lasted a couple of days and nights. The sky was light up all night long, and the noise was deafening. Our guns got so hot and worn that we had to slow down to let them cool, and change the 鈥榩ieces鈥� (barrels). I wouldn鈥檛 like to have been at the other end where our shells were landing. The Germans withdrew what they could and left the Italians to hold the line. The prisoners that came in were mainly Italians and not fit to do any fighting. It took us a long time to remove the thousands of mines, burnt-out vehicles, tanks and guns from the battlefield to Alexandria, for scrap. I had no driving licence, but I still drove ten-ton Italian armoured cars, back to Alexandria. There was one good thing about the desert war, there were no civilians involved, and we by-passed the built-up areas. This was the biggest Artillery Barrage of the war to date, with the most guns, firing faster and for the longest time. The enemy used mainly Artillery and Dive bombers. The only method of defence against them was to attack.

After El Alamein we became more mobile. Batteries tended to leapfrog each other when advancing, and were continually moving to different positions for tactical reasons. Sometimes we would get map references and other data from the infantry. But they occasionally gave us inaccurate information, leading to our own troops being caught in our fire. Later we would send a 鈥楩OO鈥� (forward observation officer) with the infantry to pass us the necessary information. We had to be very accurate with creeping barrages particularly. Other targets would be enemy guns, ammunition dumps, transport, roads, bridges, troop concentrations and communications. Then we鈥檇 give harassing fire, usually at night to keep them awake and on their toes, and to prevent them from re-deploying at night. The Germans usually hit back with artillery and dive bombers. By about February we had recaptured Daba, Fuka, Mesa Matruh, Tobruk, Sidi Barani, Buq Buq, Saloom Pass, Hell Fire Pass, Bardia, El Adem, Barce, Benghazi, Sirte, Homs and Tripoli. Although these battles were all individual battles, as far as we in the Artillery were concerned it was one continuous battle. Infantry and armoured divisions tended to relieve each other. They came and went. The Artillery stayed within range of the enemy throughout the African campaign. With Benghazi, Tobruk and Tripoli taken, the German supply line was cut.

Our artillery units often took the brunt of the heavy stuff. It was difficult to camouflage our guns and vehicles in the desert. Shadows were a real giveaway, and we were easily spotted from the air, making us sitting ducks for the enemy artillery and dive bomber attacks. We had numerous near misses and some direct hits. We rarely saw friendly aircraft in those days. We saw many German Dive-bombers. We did some stupid things in the first couple of months in battle. I used to dive under the big gun for cover until I realized that if the tyres were hit I would have been squashed under the gun.

We鈥檝e often heard the saying 鈥淟ightning never strikes in the same place twice鈥�. In theory the same rule applies to artillery shells. One hundred shells aimed at the same target might land in an area of one hundred square meters. It may be true and I鈥檝e seen men dive into the crater made by the first shell. I would never try that. Flat on the ground was my position when no cover was available.

After one particular artillery and dive bomber attack when we couldn鈥檛 reply for fear of giving our position away, one of our gun-team (Bill Hill) had dived in a crater hoping to escape further shells. As soon as the attack ended Bill was seen to be running round in a circle holding his bottom and shouting 鈥淭hey鈥檝e got me鈥�. After calming him down we found his trousers had been almost ripped off by a piece of shrapnel but it had just scratched his skin. He didn鈥檛 even need first aid.

Kim (a war time friend) and I soon became key members of our team. Kim claimed the No.2 job. He had the responsibility of actually firing the gun and maintaining the firing mechanism. I became the regular No.3 who calculated the angles, distances and allowances for wind temperature and etc. and actually layed the gun. Kim and I would change places occasionally just to keep our hand in. Apart from the No. 1 who was in charge, the remainder of the team were concerned with the supply of, and loading ammunition. Our No.1 at that time was not really up to the job. Kim and I were in charge 鈥渄efacto鈥�. We more or less carried the No.1. He was eventually given a job somewhere behind the lines.
Conditions during the desert campaign were miserable. Hence the name 鈥渄esert rats鈥�. Water shortage was one of our biggest problems. The Battery water cart managed to find us occasionally. I鈥檝e no idea where they got the water from. I never even thought about it. We filled as many water cans as possible and really rationed it out. The greatest offence you could commit was to pinch water. I don鈥檛 think anyone ever tried it. When we did have a drink it was usually hot. We used to bury some in pitchers in the sand to keep it cool, but that only applied when we were static, which was not often. We used very little for washing. A few of us would share one bowl with a little drop of water to wash. Once we found a mobile shower run by the Royal Engineers. We threw our clothes off and left them, jumped into the showers and were supplied with fresh clothes when finished. Heaven!

We were seldom near the cook-house, but when we were the Germans seemed to know when our meal was ready, and would dive-bomb or shell us, making it difficult, if not impossible to enjoy a hot meal. We were normally on the move, and would make sub-section arrangements for eating. That meant grabbing a slice of corned beef or a tin of stew between a couple of us, to go with the hard biscuits which were plentiful. At first the biscuits made our mouths sore, but as we got used to them they were all right. I always had my pockets full of biscuits. We used petrol and sand in a tin for heating and cooking. When I got the opportunity, I would crush the biscuits, add jam and water, and boil. Our sub-section (gun team) loved it. At least it filled our stomachs for a while. The lads called it 鈥淧addy鈥檚 Bergue鈥�, and I was the 鈥淏ergue King鈥�. Brewing tea was also done on petrol and sand. Very often when we were in the process of making a brew we鈥檇 be attacked, have to attack, or move. Our brew would be lost. We鈥檇 have to smother the fire, take cover, man the guns, or mount the vehicles. You can imagine our comments, 鈥淥h dash, we must go鈥�, or words to that effect!

Going to the toilet meant the 鈥榯hunder box鈥� or the 鈥榙esert rose鈥�. Or if we hadn鈥檛 had time to organise these facilities a spade would do. We always did mark the 鈥渇oul ground鈥� before leaving the site. Sleeping was snatched when possible, usually in a hole with the scorpions. We didn鈥檛 have many casualties from the scorpions and the M.O. could treat them if caught in time. If we were a bit static, we arranged shifts to let people get a couple of hours sleep, but we were more likely to be called out anyhow.

In the desert in a quiet period at night, I often sat staring at the moon, trying to work out if it could be seen from home at the same time. I never did work it out. It was just a thought, a way of trying to communicate with home, a terrible feeling of loneliness. These primitive conditions didn鈥檛 seem funny at the time, but when we met at a reunion years afterwards they were the topic of conversation and jokes. We really laughed about 鈥淭he Good/Bad Old Days鈥�.

Then to the final battles in North Africa, from Tripoli to Tunis where it was less of a desert - a bit more green. During these battles a lot of Italians gave themselves up. The prisoners came six to ten deep for as far as the horizon. They were a sad looking bunch. The Germans, on the other hand, fought to the end before giving themselves up as prisoners, or being evacuated from Cape Bon, Tunisia, across the Mediterranean to Italy. The German soldiers still acted like soldiers when taken prisoner. They marched with their heads held high.

March 1943: Battle of Marreth Line, Under command of 5th. AGRA and in support of 51st. Highland Division and 50th. Northumbria Division.
Moved to point 270 Edinburgh Castle on Medinine road. This road runs along the Mediterranean coast of Tunisia. I remember one night in this area I was trying to get a sleep in a dug-out on the side of a hill. We had very heavy rain and I was lying in a few inches of water, too tired to bother moving. Suddenly we were bombed, and we had to carry ammunition to Jock Grants gun. His had been hit. I was in such a temper that I found the strength to carry two 100 lb. shells, where one was the norm, and threw them onto the ground instead of putting them down gently. It was a stupid thing to do. But some would say that we did a lot of stupid things during the campaign. Anyhow, it turned out to be lost American bombers again, dumping their bombs.

April 1943: Our troop (B) formed a flying column supporting 7th. armoured Division of 30 Corps. This was a bit hair-raising, using our type of guns at point blank range against tanks. Our guns were too big to be able to reload and fire that quickly. So we had to wait till we saw the whites of their eyes, and then we had only one chance. It was us or them with the first and only shot at each tank. We made sure that it was US.

Moved up to El Melah in front of the Wadi Akarit Line.
Battle of Wadi Akarit in support of 4th. Indian Division and 51st. Highland Division. The Ghurkhas were noted for their silent attacks, we usually only heard the odd scream, and they rarely called for Artillery Fire. On one occasion at Wadi Akarit they were surrounded on a little hill and asked us for a barrage of smoke and H.E. (high explosive) We were able to put the barrage down swiftly and accurately, enabling them to get out of trouble. Each time we encountered them afterwards they gave us the thumbs up. Moved to Sfax, collected replacement guns from 7th. Medium Regiment. Ours were badly worn and had become inaccurate.
Took Bourdgine and Sidi Bou Ali.

17th. April to 13th. May 1943: Battles of Enfidaville (Last stand in Africa).
In support of New Zealand Division attack on Tekruna.
4th. Indian Division attack on Garce.
4th. Light armoured Division and Fighting French at Fadaloum.
56th. London Division in Enfidaville woods. At one stage here in the woods, one of the infantry divisions, which shall be unnamed, withdrew through our positions, causing mayhem. We were running short of ammunition and asked them to help us carry it up to the guns. They hated being near our guns as we were prime targets for enemy aircraft and artillery. So they were unable to assist us.

This was a very dangerous period for us. The German Army was facing defeat in Africa and decided to fire off any remaining ammunition in all directions, causing maximum damage and casualties. There was some muck flying, including multiple rockets which we had never encountered before. I remember digging out some unexploded French 75 shells for research. It was established that the French workers in the factories had sabotaged the fuses. At least they did something right! Some Germans were taken prisoner. They were still organised and marched everywhere unlike the Italians who were a sad looking bunch, making signs for food, cigarettes etc. The Germans were mainly evacuated across the Mediterranean to Italy.

13th. May 1943: Cease Fire in Africa 鈥淭he end of the beginning of the end鈥�.
Moved back towards Tripoli where we retrained for European Warfare until about September. After getting used to the desert conditions, we now had to prepare for the conditions in Southern Europe. This would mean mud and rain in the Italian hills during the Winter. Although we expected more roads in Italy than there were in Libya, we didn鈥檛 use roads very much and had to be prepared for lots of winching when our vehicles got bogged down. In the desert war there were very few civilians to worry about, whereas in Italy the civilian population would be right in the middle of the fighting, making things very difficult. We had temperatures up to 120 F in the Tripoli area that Summer. I was a member of the Guard Of Honour for King George VI when he visited us at Tripoli. 鈥淢onty鈥� accompanied him so the troops were more interested in seeing Monty than seeing the King. Many of the troops who lined the approach roads to Tripoli Passed out in the heat.

We did have some time to relax while we were in the area of Tripoli as we didn鈥檛 feel we were amongst the enemy there. But we had to be on the look out for loose guns. We made contact with both Arabs and Italians in Tripoli to an equal degree. They seemed friendly enough to us, but they didn鈥檛 like each other very much. I don鈥檛 think there鈥檒l be many Italians there now. Whilst in Tripoli I made a start on studying languages. At first in a small way by just communicating with gestures while speaking. I could count in Arabic. It was essential to understand them when bargaining. The Italian language seemed to come naturally to me.

I learned to swim with the Porpoises in the Mediterranean near Tripoli, when my friends tipped me out of my rubber dingy and forced me to have a go. I think they would have saved me if I鈥檇 failed to stay afloat. June and July in that area were amongst the highest temperatures I鈥檇 ever experienced. It was very difficult to eat out of a mess tin in the open sun in a temperature of 120 F. I think we could have fried an egg in the mess tin without any fire. We had one man bivouacs but it was just as hot in there. So there was no escape from the heat.

End of a long, tough and successful campaign in the hot climate of Africa. Preparing for the next battles, the liberation of Europe.

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