Desert Rats: British 8th Army in North Africa 1941-43: No. 28 (Battle Orders)

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The office of the Provost Marshal is the oldest in the British Army. Prior to the formation of the Military Police, the Provost undertook the role of policing the McCreery, Sir Richard Loudon (1898-1967), General". Liddell Hart Centre for Military Archives. Archived from the original on 31 July 2007 . Retrieved 17 March 2019. Desert Rats embark upon final fundraising push for memorial". The Thetford and Brandon Times. 24 June 2021.

Porter, Whitworth (1958). History of the Corps of Royal Engineers. Vol.IX: 1938–1948. Chatham, England: Institution of Royal Engineers. OCLC 4950855.The first official agreement to form a separate Signal Corps, from the Royal Engineers, was made in 1918, before the end of World War One. Due to various policy delays, the formation of the 'Corps' was delayed until 1920. A Royal Warrant was signed by the Secretary of State for War, the Rt. Hon Winston S Churchill, who gave the Sovereign's approval for the formation of a 'Corps of Signals' on 28th June 1920. Six weeks later, His Majesty the King conferred the title 'Royal Corps of Signals'. I am going to write his memories as I heard them, in the first person, as though he is telling the stories for himself. He tells here of when he was taken prisoner in 1941. At the age of 101, during the COVID-19 pandemic and despite his failing eyesight, Sgt McOwan chronicled his experience in the desert – dedicating his memoirs to his great-grandchildren.

El Alamein was approximately 60 miles from Alexandria, the first major city to the east. Although the climate was unpleasant, particularly during the middle of intense summer heat, the Allies had plenty of shelter and infrastructure set up to prepare them for long-term defence. Sergeant John McOwan was a specialist instrument mechanic in the Desert Rats army between 1939 and 1946. After joining the Territorial Army in 1939, he spent his first few months on coastal defence near Edinburgh, but was then transferred to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps (RAOC) – later the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers (REME). Mead, Richard (2007). Churchill's Lions: a biographical guide to the key British generals of World War II. Stroud (UK): Spellmount. ISBN 978-1-86227-431-0. British doctrine initially defined light tanks as reconnaissance vehicles armed only with machine guns. [13] Major General Percy Hobart (latter to command the "Funnies" of the 79th Armoured Division) arrived to take command of what was now called the Mobile Division, on 27th September 1938. He started an intensive and effective training programme to ensure all the different elements could work effectively together.

Desert Rats: first design

https://www.express.co.uk/news/royal/1288849/camilla-news-heartbreak-desert-rats-veteran-death-camilla-parker-bowles-royal-latest Verney 2002, Chapter 1: The First Offensive; Playfair et al. 2004a, p.190; Wahlert 2011, The Italians Stall and the British Plan. Donnison, F. S. V. (1961). Butler, J. R. M. (ed.). North-West Europe 1944–1946. Civil Affairs and Military Government. London: HMSO. OCLC 715877483.

Harding is one of the stars of the British Army… When Montgomery arrives in North Africa in August 1942, his original idea is to create something which is like the German Africa Korps.” - Prof Ball to the German armour. The 15th Panzer Division was on the northern flank to the Ariete Armoured Division In May 1941, after six months training in Aldershot, my father, a Forestry Commission worker, Ernest Glenesk Richards, from Bervie, Abendeenshire, sailed from Glasgow to the Middle East in the Duchess of Bedford. After ten weeks they arrived at Port Suez where as officers they were entitled to use the Port Suez Canal Company House to dine in style.Signalling remained the responsibility of the Telegraph Battalion during the Boer War and until 1908, when the Royal Engineer Signals Service was formed and provided communications during World War One. At this time, the Despatch Rider came into prominence and 'wireless sets' were introduced into service. Wireless communications were provided in France and Flanders and also in the campaigns in The young pair danced the night away, and were soon a local item. With Macintyre a lather in the building trade and Nan a sales clerk in a shoe shop, they planned to marry and settle down like many other sweethearts of the time. Badly wounded in action at the start of 1943, it is likely a sign of his renowned determination that Harding later returned under General Sir Harold Alexander, to take part in the Italian campaign as chief of staff. He played a major role in planning Operation Diadem, also known as the fourth battle of Monte Cassino. He then spent four years in North Africa, serving as a gunner with the Chestnut Troop of the 7th Armoured Division. He arrived in Cairo as part of a 3,000-strong contingent after a six-week voyage from Liverpool, travelling aboard the requisitioned MV Britannic. The ship sailed stealthily via Sierra Leone and Cape Town, avoiding the Mediterranean due to the presence of German submarines. Living among the rats

Liddell Hart, Basil H.. The Tanks: The History of the Royal Tank Regiment and its Predecessors, Heavy Branch, Machine-Gun Corps, Tank Corps, and Royal Tank Corps, 1914–1945, pg. 90 The Gazala Line boxes were held by 13 Corps, while 30 Corps was deployed in the desert to the south, with two armoured divisions the 1st and 7th. The 7th Armoured Division was deployed to cover the open flank, while the 1st Armoured Division was some miles further north lay to support the French at Bir Hacheim. The German tactics, as would have been the British's, was to a frontal assault in the north and then to send the tanks round the southern flank. The Germans advance on the evening of 26th May with a hook east and north towards Sidi Rezegh, was immediately successful. The division was not an assault force in the invasion of Sicily, instead remaining in Homs, Syria for training in amphibious warfare, but did participate in the early stages of the Italian campaign. [50] [51] We all sat round eating this when we noticed a German Panzer division away off up on the hill. We looked round and realised that our lot had just vanished, made off without a word of warning! We decided the best thing to do was to just sit tight. So, there we sat, calmly eating our grub as though it was a Sunday picnic as the panzers circled round to us! As our RSM said to us before we went overseas: “Better a live coward than ten dead heroes!” Carver, R.M.P. (2005) [1988]. Merriam, Ray (ed.). The History of the 4th Armoured Brigade. Military Monograph 303 (5thed.). Bennington, Vermont: Merriam Press. ISBN 978-1-57638-018-5.The Territorial and New (Kitchener's) Army Battalions fought in France, Gallipoli, Sinai, Palestine, Salonika and Mesopotamia.