Description
Object description
Privately published memoir 'Dig or Die: the Memoirs of Guardsman John Elliott, The Second Battalion Coldstream Guards in Tunisia and Italy, 1943-44' (229pp, transcribed by Margaret Robson and with a foreword by Dr Adam Robson) originally written in 1988 and based on his original diaries, with a prologue containing short biographies of officers and men in his Company, Platoon, or Section, Fred Drury, Henry Stelling, Christopher Carlberg, Lieutenant R E Hyde, Captain R C Alderson, Captain R C Windsor-Clive, Lieutenant H W Sarsons, Lieutenant H M Spencer, Butch Marwood, Thomas Jefferson, George Sellars, Anthony Smith, 'Shafto' Turner, 'Stew' Steward, James Newboult, with details of their nicknames, characters, and fates, and continuing with his training at the Guards' Training Depot, Caterham, Surrey (September 1940), rushing to a road block due to invasion fears, enemy bombing at Caterham, suffering vaccination fever, guard duty based at Regent's Park Barracks, London, guarding prisoners of war, various billets in London, meeting his future wife, Harrow on the Hill, guarding Chequers, RAF airfields Kenley and Northolt, joining 6th Battalion Coldstream Guards at Eastcote, details of his officers, young NCO courses, the waste of time being put on ceremonial duties, getting married (November 1942), sailing to Algiers (November – December 1942), moving to Fort de l'Eau, the journey to join 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards (1st (Guards) Brigade, 78th Infantry Division) near Medjez el Bab, Tunisia (January 1943), joining 13 Section, 14 Platoon, 3 Company, as a Corporal in charge of a Bren gun, moving to the front line, volunteering for a night patrol to attempt to capture a German position on Longstop Hill, not finding it, the Battalion moving to Sidi Nasier (N'sir), digging slit trenches, an accident with grenades killing six friends, moving to Djebel Mansour (February 1943), a friend being arrested for being drunk and disorderly in Bone, watching an attack on Mansour, marching to a valley near Robaa, meeting a group of French colonial Goums from Morocco, moving to Aroura Wadi, Sbiba, preparing for German 21st Panzer Division attacks on Sbiba and Kesserine passes, thoughts on Roman battles on the same spot, seeing gunners firing, friendly fire from Americans, seeing tank battles (19 February 1943), volunteering for a patrol with 142nd Regiment, RAC, seeing tanks getting knocked out by German 88mm guns, travelling to Le Kef, then Thala, taking Benzadrine tablets, taking over booby-trapped German positions, the Battle of Steamroller Farm, near El Aroussa, fighting the Hermann Goering Grenadier Regiment, seeing two Churchill Tanks attacking, helping with the wounded, leaving for Beja, then Djebel Abiod (March 1943), Arabs digging up bodies to steal clothing, German ME 109s shooting up his convoy and killing many friends, seeing Generals Patton and Alexander, moving to Medjez el Bab, then Le Kef so 1st Brigade (Guards) could join 6th Armoured Division (March – April 1943), transferring to 13 Platoon, 3 Company, moving to Fondouk Pass (April 1943), the heavy fighting on the way to Kairouan, coming down with a fever, moving to Djebel Bou Kournine, shelling killing more officers and men, being injured but shooting a German, pulling back to a lake, evacuation with bronchitis, recovery in a monastery in Thiba and 159 field ambulance camp at Souk el Arba, suffering from dysentery (June 1943), journey to Philippeville, Algeria, his CO saying he could not join the SAS, re-joining his unit at Bone (August 1943), moving to a camp near Constantine, Algeria (September 1943), hearing of his wife's misconduct at home, entertainment, moving to Fort Djedid, Tunisia, guarding Churchill and Eisenhower, Christmas 1943, moving to Bone, then Constantine (January 1944), sports competitions, promotion to Lance Sergeant (February 1944), sailing to Italy, moving to Naples to Capua, fighting in the Aurunci Mountains, crossing the Garigliano, foul weather, fear and too much time in the front line affecting his platoon, misery on Monte Ornito, the experiences of a 'poor bloody infantryman', moving to cut off Castleforte, fighting at point 711, snipers, firing at attacking Germans with a Thompson machine gun, men expressing regret at killing others, taking over the Bren gun when the crew were casualties, almost hand-to-hand fighting of 9 February, losing four-fifths of his Company, a bayonet charge with a Spandau machine gun, taking a prisoner, being the senior NCO left in his platoon, getting trench foot, being in charge of a mule team, being taken back to Casale, then evacutaion to 2nd General Hospital at Caserta, receiving news that his wife was having an affair (she later asked for a divorce to marry a Canadian), suffering mentally from the constant fighting, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, evacuating the rest camp, being sent to Infantry Reinforcement Training Depot, Retondi (April 1943), re-joining 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards, moving to Monte Cassino, his thought that the bombing of the monastery was worth it, taking over at the foot of the mountain in horrendous and exposed conditions, pulling back to a farm, being evacuated with battle fatigue (post traumatic stress disorder – PTSD) (May 1944), where his account ends, with a post-script saying that he was transferred to the IRTD, and reflections on the terrible experiences, with throughout details of friends, WAAFs, leisure time, bands, dances, Lieutenant D Toler, comradeship, thoughts of bad organisation, belief that Arab spies were pointing out their locations, his dislike of Vera Lynn's maudlin songs, learning to kill or be killed, his distrust of American commanders, nicknames of places, weather conditions, superstitions, and the fact that men were subjected to long periods of constant fighting.
Content description
Privately published memoir 'Dig or Die: the Memoirs of Guardsman John Elliott, The Second Battalion Coldstream Guards in Tunisia and Italy, 1943-44' (229pp, transcribed by Margaret Robson and with a foreword by Dr Adam Robson) originally written in 1988 and based on his original diaries, with a prologue containing short biographies of officers and men in his Company, Platoon, or Section, Fred Drury, Henry Stelling, Christopher Carlberg, Lieutenant R E Hyde, Captain R C Alderson, Captain R C Windsor-Clive, Lieutenant H W Sarsons, Lieutenant H M Spencer, Butch Marwood, Thomas Jefferson, George Sellars, Anthony Smith, 'Shafto' Turner, 'Stew' Steward, James Newboult, with details of their nicknames, characters, and fates, and continuing with his training at the Guards' Training Depot, Caterham, Surrey (September 1940), rushing to a road block due to invasion fears, enemy bombing at Caterham, suffering vaccination fever, guard duty based at Regent's Park Barracks, London, guarding prisoners of war, various billets in London, meeting his future wife, Harrow on the Hill, guarding Chequers, RAF airfields Kenley and Northolt, joining 6th Battalion Coldstream Guards at Eastcote, details of his officers, young NCO courses, the waste of time being put on ceremonial duties, getting married (November 1942), sailing to Algiers (November – December 1942), moving to Fort de l'Eau, the journey to join 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards (1st (Guards) Brigade, 78th Infantry Division) near Medjez el Bab, Tunisia (January 1943), joining 13 Section, 14 Platoon, 3 Company, as a Corporal in charge of a Bren gun, moving to the front line, volunteering for a night patrol to attempt to capture a German position on Longstop Hill, not finding it, the Battalion moving to Sidi Nasier (N'sir), digging slit trenches, an accident with grenades killing six friends, moving to Djebel Mansour (February 1943), a friend being arrested for being drunk and disorderly in Bone, watching an attack on Mansour, marching to a valley near Robaa, meeting a group of French colonial Goums from Morocco, moving to Aroura Wadi, Sbiba, preparing for German 21st Panzer Division attacks on Sbiba and Kesserine passes, thoughts on Roman battles on the same spot, seeing gunners firing, friendly fire from Americans, seeing tank battles (19 February 1943), volunteering for a patrol with 142nd Regiment, RAC, seeing tanks getting knocked out by German 88mm guns, travelling to Le Kef, then Thala, taking Benzadrine tablets, taking over booby-trapped German positions, the Battle of Steamroller Farm, near El Aroussa, fighting the Hermann Goering Grenadier Regiment, seeing two Churchill Tanks attacking, helping with the wounded, leaving for Beja, then Djebel Abiod (March 1943), Arabs digging up bodies to steal clothing, German ME 109s shooting up his convoy and killing many friends, seeing Generals Patton and Alexander, moving to Medjez el Bab, then Le Kef so 1st Brigade (Guards) could join 6th Armoured Division (March – April 1943), transferring to 13 Platoon, 3 Company, moving to Fondouk Pass (April 1943), the heavy fighting on the way to Kairouan, coming down with a fever, moving to Djebel Bou Kournine, shelling killing more officers and men, being injured but shooting a German, pulling back to a lake, evacuation with bronchitis, recovery in a monastery in Thiba and 159 field ambulance camp at Souk el Arba, suffering from dysentery (June 1943), journey to Philippeville, Algeria, his CO saying he could not join the SAS, re-joining his unit at Bone (August 1943), moving to a camp near Constantine, Algeria (September 1943), hearing of his wife's misconduct at home, entertainment, moving to Fort Djedid, Tunisia, guarding Churchill and Eisenhower, Christmas 1943, moving to Bone, then Constantine (January 1944), sports competitions, promotion to Lance Sergeant (February 1944), sailing to Italy, moving to Naples to Capua, fighting in the Aurunci Mountains, crossing the Garigliano, foul weather, fear and too much time in the front line affecting his platoon, misery on Monte Ornito, the experiences of a 'poor bloody infantryman', moving to cut off Castleforte, fighting at point 711, snipers, firing at attacking Germans with a Thompson machine gun, men expressing regret at killing others, taking over the Bren gun when the crew were casualties, almost hand-to-hand fighting of 9 February, losing four-fifths of his Company, a bayonet charge with a Spandau machine gun, taking a prisoner, being the senior NCO left in his platoon, getting trench foot, being in charge of a mule team, being taken back to Casale, then evacutaion to 2nd General Hospital at Caserta, receiving news that his wife was having an affair (she later asked for a divorce to marry a Canadian), suffering mentally from the constant fighting, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, evacuating the rest camp, being sent to Infantry Reinforcement Training Depot, Retondi (April 1943), re-joining 2nd Battalion Coldstream Guards, moving to Monte Cassino, his thought that the bombing of the monastery was worth it, taking over at the foot of the mountain in horrendous and exposed conditions, pulling back to a farm, being evacuated with battle fatigue (post traumatic stress disorder – PTSD) (May 1944), where his account ends, with a post-script saying that he was transferred to the IRTD, and reflections on the terrible experiences, with throughout details of friends, WAAFs, leisure time, bands, dances, Lieutenant D Toler, comradeship, thoughts of bad organisation, belief that Arab spies were pointing out their locations, his dislike of Vera Lynn's maudlin songs, learning to kill or be killed, his distrust of American commanders, nicknames of places, weather conditions, superstitions, and the fact that men were subjected to long periods of constant fighting.
History note
Cataloguer SJO