Description
Object description
Ts account (with illustrations and index, 90pp, written in 2000) recording the service (13pp) of his brother, Flight Lieutenant A E R Fry DFC, who flew Blenheims with No 235 Squadron, Coastal Command and was shot down and killed attacking a convoy at the age of 24 in April 1941, and his own service (77pp) with the South African Army, March 1943 - February 1946, including joining the Tank Corps and Recruit Training in the Base Camp at Cullinan; the brutal suppression of a riot by Coloured Troops, and training with his regiment [the Duke of Edinburgh Own Rifles (The Dukes)] in Potchefstroom and escorting 200 Italian POWs to Cape Town on the Cape train (March 1943 - May 1944); the journey overseas from Durban to Mombasa (Kenya), Aden, Egypt, and then to Italy (May 1944 - July 1944); active service as a gunner in a tank of 'C' Squadron, the Special Service Battalion (SSB) as part of the 11th Brigade, 6th South African Armoured Division in Italy (July 1944 - February 1946), notably during the fall of Florence and crossing the Arno (August 1944), the assault on the Gothic Line when he was wounded and evacuated (September 1944); the Spring Offensive in the Apennines, the liberation of Bologna, and the advance across the Po (April 1945 - May 1945), participating in the Victory Parade at Monza (May 1945); and occupying Italy (May 1945 - February 1946); commenting on the low morale of the SSB; the inferiority of Allied tanks; the comradeship; his off-duty entertainment; relations with the Italian population; sight seeing in Italy, France and Germany; acting as infantry in the Apennine Mountains to ease the manpower shortages (December 1944); patrolling; the replacement of his tank commander who lost his nerve during an attack; American troops; and his war experiences, notably his feelings of guilt about a friend who was badly burnt when some ammunition exploded; and mentioning Lieutenant Colonel 'Papa' Brits and Major General W H E Poole.
Content description
Ts account (with illustrations and index, 90pp, written in 2000) recording the service (13pp) of his brother, Flight Lieutenant A E R Fry DFC, who flew Blenheims with No 235 Squadron, Coastal Command and was shot down and killed attacking a convoy at the age of 24 in April 1941, and his own service (77pp) with the South African Army, March 1943 - February 1946, including joining the Tank Corps and Recruit Training in the Base Camp at Cullinan; the brutal suppression of a riot by Coloured Troops, and training with his regiment [the Duke of Edinburgh Own Rifles (The Dukes)] in Potchefstroom and escorting 200 Italian POWs to Cape Town on the Cape train (March 1943 - May 1944); the journey overseas from Durban to Mombasa (Kenya), Aden, Egypt, and then to Italy (May 1944 - July 1944); active service as a gunner in a tank of 'C' Squadron, the Special Service Battalion (SSB) as part of the 11th Brigade, 6th South African Armoured Division in Italy (July 1944 - February 1946), notably during the fall of Florence and crossing the Arno (August 1944), the assault on the Gothic Line when he was wounded and evacuated (September 1944); the Spring Offensive in the Apennines, the liberation of Bologna, and the advance across the Po (April 1945 - May 1945), participating in the Victory Parade at Monza (May 1945); and occupying Italy (May 1945 - February 1946); commenting on the low morale of the SSB; the inferiority of Allied tanks; the comradeship; his off-duty entertainment; relations with the Italian population; sight seeing in Italy, France and Germany; acting as infantry in the Apennine Mountains to ease the manpower shortages (December 1944); patrolling; the replacement of his tank commander who lost his nerve during an attack; American troops; and his war experiences, notably his feelings of guilt about a friend who was badly burnt when some ammunition exploded; and mentioning Lieutenant Colonel 'Papa' Brits and Major General W H E Poole.
History note
Cataloguer SNR
History note
Catalogue date 2002-09-12