大象传媒

After my regiment fought in the Battle of Alamain and went on and helped to take the port of Tripoli in North Africa, an officer and I were asked to form a two-man patrol. On February 20th 1943, we were sent forward to observe enemy position and report back by radio on what we saw.Much to our amazement we reached a road some two or three miles behind enemy lines, without being spotted. Using the element of surprise, we took 23 German prisoners, which included three high-ranking officers and 5 vehicles, and reported back to Regimental Headquarters for assistance.
Unfortunately the back-up did not arrive in time, and we were over-powered with more Germans arriving on the scene. After being taken prisoner, we were forced to strip to our underpants, socks and boots, but we still managed to escape that night.
The officer managed to get back to the regiment but I was re-captured. The officer was awarded the M.C. and I spent two years and two months as a prisoner-of-war.
Some weeks later, the officer was killed.
A few years ago, I received a letter from a fellow soldier who had remembered me and this prompted my memories of my time as a Desert Rat.

This story was submitted to the People's War site by Becky Hill from Oakfield Junior School and has been added to the website on behalf of Brian Taylor with his permission and he fully understand the site's terms and conditions.

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