大象传媒

The Battle of Steamroller Farm was a small, but significant battle which took place near a farm house named by the troops Steamroller Farm, in the area of El Aroussa, Tunisia. During my investigations into my Grandad's war history I discovered that he'd actually taken part, and was badly injured, in this battle. I also believe this was the action that earned by Grandad a mention indispatches and his CO (Captain Holland) the MC.
The battle began on the 27th February 1943 and continued into the evening of the 28th February. It involved amongst other units A squadron 51st RTR and specifically mentioned is 1st Troop commanded by Captain Holland. 1st Troop consisted of 3 tank crews with one of them commanded by my Grandad.
The pictures following this story represent some of the evidence I have collected to suggest that Grandad was involved in this battle.
Prior to finding this story, I remember my Grandad mentioning that he'd only been in Tunisia for 3 weeks before his Tank was hit in a battle. He spent some time badly injured in a crater awaiting rescue. His arms/hands and body were badly burned and he had shrapnel embedded in his groin. Grandad spent 3 months in hospital covered in what he called 'tar' to help treat his burns. This was the extent of the families knowledge of this episode before I discovered an account of the battle in a book written by author Ron Addyman (see below).
Although a small battle it was an important victory and contributed to stopping Rommel's forces trap the British first army. Its not my intention to recount the full story, Ron does this much better than I in his book. However, the knowledge that Grandad took part, in some small way, in this battle is one that has thrilled my family. We knew little of his exploits and locating this story has been a fantastic piece of luck. It will be a cherished part of my family history that I hope to pass down the generations.

The full story of Steamroller farm is recounted in Ron Addymans book the 51st Royal Tank Regiment Morley Tunisia and Italy, 1939-1945 available on Amazon.co.uk.

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