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15 October 2014
WW2 - People's War

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Journey into the unknown - Part 13

by wneled (William Ledbury)

Contributed by听
wneled (William Ledbury)
People in story:听
Lieut.-Colonel W.D.McN. Graham, Major John S Raworth, Lieut. Taylor, Sgt. Henderson.
Location of story:听
U.K., Algeria, Tunisia and Central Europe.
Background to story:听
Army
Article ID:听
A5973979
Contributed on:听
30 September 2005

Three tanks were hit and the road was blocked just at a passage through a minefield. No.1 gun remained in action in spite of mortar and machine gun fire.(the enemy had planned an infantry attack, assisted with tanks in one of three positions over a 60 mile front, from the North Coast down South. They subsequently decided to strike through Sidi N'Sir, where they first struck at the 5th Hants, who had but 2-pounder guns and machine guns to deal with them. Apart from that the 5th Hants were repeatedly attacked by mortars and Messerschmidts.)

At 9.40 hours Pt.609 O.P. was heavily attacked by infantry: communications were broken i.e, W/T smashed by mortars and line cut. From this moment on the Battery had but secondary eyes overlooking the Mateur road, which must have been packed with enemy tanks and vehicles.

At 10.15 hours Lieut.-Colonel Graham visited Major Raworth on the gun position. "F" Troop was under observation at a range of about eight hundred yards. The track leading down to the Command Post was under very heavy and accurate mortar fire, rounds falling every three seconds or so. He visited all eight guns in turn and was full of admiration for the cheerful and determined courage of all ranks. He noted particularly Lieut.Taylor and Sgt. Henderson (both of "F" Troop), whose offensive spirit was completely undaunted and whose example was an inspiration to all ranks.

Sgt. Henderson was the No.1 of No.1 gun specially placed on the top of the slope to deal with the enemy tanks trying to use the road Mateur-Sidi N'Sir. Lieut.Taylor was the only officer on "F" Troop position. He noticed also particularly the grand spirit of the Nos.1 at each gun.

Whilst on the position, Lieut.-Colonel Graham experienced one of the several cannon fighter attacks by eight Messerschmidts. They attacked from a height of about two hundred feet and raked the gun positions with machine gun and and cannon fire. A number of men were hit and ammunition vehicles, bivouac shelters and dumps were set on fire. A number of vehicles were burning along the road Sidi N'Sir-Hunts Gap-some of these were filled with ammunition and amonal, and were on fire, but the risks were ignored by all ranks who cheerfully salvaged and carried the ammunition throughout the action. The wounded acted stoically, none grumbled or complained. They were attacked again and again by Me.s

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