Description
Object description
Word-processed memoir (59pp, written October 2008) illustrated with scanned photographs and maps, describing his enlistment (May 1940), joining 10th (Home Defence) Battalion Middlesex Regiment, his basic training, joining 70th (Young Soldier) Battalion, guarding the General HQ for Home Force UK at Kneller Hall, promotion to Corporal, training at a Machine Gun Officer Cadet Training Unit (March – September 1941), passing out as a 2nd Lieutenant, joining 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment, his transfer to the Royal Artillery (RA), training in 2 pounder anti-tank guns, joining 57th Anti-Tank Regiment RA (January 1942), sailing to Egypt via South Africa on American Troopship J W McANDREW (May - July 1942), based in Katatbah, Egypt, reconnaissance missions on the flanks of the Alamein line, transfer to hospital with dysentery (August 1942), driving to Eighth Army HQ near Tripoli, posting to 198 Battery, 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment, XXX Corps (January 1943), learning to use 6 pounder anti-tank guns, supporting a Maori Battalion of the 2nd New Zealand Division, defending an airfield at Medenine, Tunisia (March 1943), linking up with a Free French column, preparation for the Sicily landings and practicing with new 17 pounder guns, landing in Sicily (July 1943), firing across the Straits of Messina to support the landings at Reggio di Calabria, Italy, and subsequent movement to Algiers, Algeria (September 1943), his return to England on RMS FRANCONIA (November – December 1943), based in Felixstowe, practicing with new M10 Tank Destroyers, preparations for Operation Overlord, crossing the channel on a LST towing a Rhino ferry, landing with the second wave on Gold Beach on D-Day (6 June 1944), supporting 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment in the attack on a wood near Tilly-sur-Seulles, supporting the 49th Division at the battle of Rauray (26 June – 1 July 1944), destroying a Panther tank (for which he was later awarded the Military Cross), his M10 being destroyed with him being blown out of the turret (16 July 1944), his treatment at a Canadian Field Hospital, return to the UK with horrific burns, treatment at various hospitals including Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (August 1944 – February 1945) with details of nursing staff, visitors and fellow patients, transfer to Ashridge House EMS Hospital, Hertfordshire (February – July 1945) with details of operations, opting to stay in the services as a category 'C' Officer, joining 3rd RA Holding Unit, his transfer to the Royal Engineers Postal Service (REPS), Nottingham (November 1945 – January 1946) as officer-in-charge of Sorting and Despatching, posting to REPS in Dusseldorf, Germany (February – May 1946), his return to the UK for further plastic surgery at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead (May – August 1946) under the care of Archibald McIndoe, of Guinea Pig Club fame, and his demob.
Content description
Word-processed memoir (59pp, written October 2008) illustrated with scanned photographs and maps, describing his enlistment (May 1940), joining 10th (Home Defence) Battalion Middlesex Regiment, his basic training, joining 70th (Young Soldier) Battalion, guarding the General HQ for Home Force UK at Kneller Hall, promotion to Corporal, training at a Machine Gun Officer Cadet Training Unit (March – September 1941), passing out as a 2nd Lieutenant, joining 2nd Battalion Middlesex Regiment, his transfer to the Royal Artillery (RA), training in 2 pounder anti-tank guns, joining 57th Anti-Tank Regiment RA (January 1942), sailing to Egypt via South Africa on American Troopship J W McANDREW (May - July 1942), based in Katatbah, Egypt, reconnaissance missions on the flanks of the Alamein line, transfer to hospital with dysentery (August 1942), driving to Eighth Army HQ near Tripoli, posting to 198 Battery, 73rd Anti-Tank Regiment, XXX Corps (January 1943), learning to use 6 pounder anti-tank guns, supporting a Maori Battalion of the 2nd New Zealand Division, defending an airfield at Medenine, Tunisia (March 1943), linking up with a Free French column, preparation for the Sicily landings and practicing with new 17 pounder guns, landing in Sicily (July 1943), firing across the Straits of Messina to support the landings at Reggio di Calabria, Italy, and subsequent movement to Algiers, Algeria (September 1943), his return to England on RMS FRANCONIA (November – December 1943), based in Felixstowe, practicing with new M10 Tank Destroyers, preparations for Operation Overlord, crossing the channel on a LST towing a Rhino ferry, landing with the second wave on Gold Beach on D-Day (6 June 1944), supporting 2nd Battalion Essex Regiment in the attack on a wood near Tilly-sur-Seulles, supporting the 49th Division at the battle of Rauray (26 June – 1 July 1944), destroying a Panther tank (for which he was later awarded the Military Cross), his M10 being destroyed with him being blown out of the turret (16 July 1944), his treatment at a Canadian Field Hospital, return to the UK with horrific burns, treatment at various hospitals including Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle-upon-Tyne (August 1944 – February 1945) with details of nursing staff, visitors and fellow patients, transfer to Ashridge House EMS Hospital, Hertfordshire (February – July 1945) with details of operations, opting to stay in the services as a category 'C' Officer, joining 3rd RA Holding Unit, his transfer to the Royal Engineers Postal Service (REPS), Nottingham (November 1945 – January 1946) as officer-in-charge of Sorting and Despatching, posting to REPS in Dusseldorf, Germany (February – May 1946), his return to the UK for further plastic surgery at Queen Victoria Hospital, East Grinstead (May – August 1946) under the care of Archibald McIndoe, of Guinea Pig Club fame, and his demob.
History note
Cataloguer SJO