大象传媒

A Shock to the System.

There were six men in each tent and it was here on the first night a terrible event occurred. One of the men, who was very quiet and kept himself to himself, was holding his Smith and Wesson revolver in the corner of the tent. No-one was paying much attention to what he was doing when he started to point the gun at each man in turn and pull the trigger. Fred was next to him and he did the same. Then he calmly put the gun to his own head and pulled the trigger. A shot rang out and the man fell dead to the floor. It was probably suicide but Fred could never be absolutely sure.

After a couple of days the force was moved to Suez to collect armaments and vehicles and then headed off into Libya, a friendly country. Temperatures were very hot during the day and very cold at night. At night the troops slept by their vehicles. Water was very scarce but petrol was plentiful. Fred tried his best to get used to the intense sunlight gradually but as someone who burns after a couple of hours on an English summers day he came to realise he would just have to cover up as much as possible.

On the first day after entering Libya the convoy was being led by young officer who was sitting on the bonnet of his jeep as it was being driven along. There was an explosion as the jeep ran over a mine that had been missed from the clearance operation. The young officer lost both his legs but was trying to stand up. He was losing lots of blood and subsequently died. Fortunately the driver of the jeep escaped with cuts and scratches.

The desert was a flat strip of land 30 to 60 miles wide between the sea to the north and the mountains to the south and over 1000 miles from end to end. There were no roads; you had to follow the officer who you hoped could navigate. It has been subsequently described as 鈥榓 place fit only for war鈥�. Tobruk was a key port vital to controlling the desert and sea. At this time it was being held by allied forces but was surrounded by German forces led by General Rommel. In mid November 1941 Operation Crusader was begun to attack these forces and allow Tobruk to be relieved. 22nd Armoured Brigade overran the Italians at Bir-El-Gubi, just below Tobruk. Fred remembers the bizarre sight of one or two British soldiers guarding and moving columns of two or three hundred Italian prisoners. The brigade then was switched to help the two other armoured brigades take on the Germans at Sidi Rezegh. They were a completely different prospect. Two Panzer divisions attacked and drove the British back in what was the fastest moving, farthest ranging and complex battle of the whole desert war. Despite inferior equipment and a high attrition rate it took a heavy toll on the Afrika Korps and won an unsurpassed three Victoria Crosses (two posthumously) for outstanding bravery. 22nd Armoured Brigade was reduced to a third of its original strength.

During this period something happened that made Fred believe in fate even more strongly than he had before. He was always a fast runner who on regiment sports days was awarded extra leave as prizes for winning 100 yard sprint races. There was a particular rivalry between Fred and a sergeant who regularly was runner up. 鈥淪mithy, one day I am going to beat you,鈥� he told Fred after one of the races. 鈥淣ot if I have anything to do with it,鈥� replied Fred. One morning in the desert Fred, his pal Charlie Parker and the sergeant were driving a lorry in the desert when they saw they were about to be attacked by two Stuka dive bombers. Standard practice was to put as much distance as you could between yourselves and the vehicles. All three men spotted a small one man slit trench 60 or 70 yards away in the desert and made for it. The sergeant got there first by 10 yards which meant there was no room for the other two men so they dropped to the floor and put their hands over their heads. Dad remembers Charlie Parker saying 鈥減lease God don鈥檛 let me die,鈥� which he thought was a bit rich because Charlie was a bit of a rascal to say the least. Within seconds one of the bombs made a direct hit on the trench. They never found one piece of the sergeant, not a scrap of clothing, absolutely nothing. Shortly after the brigade was then pulled out back to refit and regroup and have a short, well earned rest.

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