大象传媒 - WW2 People's War - Journey into the unknown - Part 07 : Traffic Accident with 172 Field Regiment in Algeria

Journey into the unknown - Part 07 : Traffic Accident with 172 Field Regiment in Algeria

by wneled (William Ledbury)

You are browsing in:

Archive List > Books > Journey into the Unknown -William Ledbury's Army Memoirs

Contributed by听: wneled (William Ledbury)
People in story:听: wneled ( W.N.E. Ledbury )
Location of story:听: U.K., Algeria, Tunisia and Central Europe.
Background to story:听: Army
Article ID:听: A2460296
Contributed on:听: 24 March 2004

Immediately the accident happened,I banged upon the back of our truck immediately behind our driver, but to no avail.The only alternative was to climb from the rear and over the roof, hanging on like grim death to those metal roof supports, shouting
asloud as I could "the water- wagon has overturned"
Now and again throughout the night we could hear the sound of approaching vehicles, but when we requested each one to stop and load the body they were reluctant to do so, until a medical vehicle arrived. The two of us were very relieved to be taken on to where our R.H.Q. was being deployed at Beja. We were able to get a couple of hours sleep prior to going on to what was to be our battle ground. The dead man was given an official burial with rifle shots being fired over his grave at Beja.

漏 Copyright of content contributed to this Archive rests with the author. Find out how you can use this.

Forum Archive

This forum is now closed

These messages were added to this story by site members between June 2003 and January 2006. It is no longer possible to leave messages here. Find out more about the site contributors.

Message 1 - Beja

Posted on: 20 April 2004 by Medowden

My late Father in Law, James Patterson was with the 155th Field Battery of the Royal Artillery at
Sidi Nsir/Beja in Feb 1943. A report in the Telegraph dated 8 th June 1943 states that the "155th Battery R.A. fought one of the finest battles in the long glorious history of the Royal Regiment ... the Germans did not reach Beja. Tunisia was not lost."
As a result of this action he was awarded a 'Beja Badge' - a tin medal with a red felt background embellished with a Tiger tank and a sword. It was never an official award and not recognised at such. I understand that the C.O. paid for them personally in recognition of the success of the action! I can't remember the reason for its proposal as an 'official' being turned down. The family has one of these in its possession - we often wonder if any other of these unofficial awards survives today.

听

Message 2 - Beja

Posted on: 08 June 2004 by wneled (William Ledbury)

Message regarding your late Father-in-Law 155th Battery,R.A.very interesting indeed. Please see my very next instalment concerning the battle at Sidi N'Sir on 26th February, 1943

William Ledbury

This story has been placed in the following categories.

Recommended story
What's this?

Story with photo

Most of the content on this site is created by our users, who are members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated are not those of the 大象传媒. The 大象传媒 is not responsible for the content of any external sites referenced. In the event that you consider anything on this page to be in breach of the site's House Rules, please click here. For any other comments, please Contact Us.

	大象传媒 Homepage 大象传媒 History
WW2 People's War Homepage Archive List Timeline About This Site

	Contact Us