Just a reminder (if required) that 75 years ago today, men of the 1st Army continued to be embattled in northern Tunisia. My Dad and his mates and comrades from the 2nd Bn London Irish Rifles were stuck on a god forsaken patch of ground to the east of the Goubellat to Bou Arada roman road.. on 19th January 1943, the battalion were ordered to take and hold a bare patch of rock "Hill 286", for no really definable purpose (presumably to show aggressive intent).. but true to form the Herman Goering Division, armoured cars and Panzers counterattacked the hill on the night of 20th/21st January.. this was later described by Brigadier Nelson Russell as "a classic cavalry action worthy of Prince Rupert himself." Over a 24 hour period, the London Irish Rifles suffered over 250 casualties most of whom were pre war TA or 1939/40 conscripts - 48 Riflemen were killed that day, men from London Liverpool, Belfast and Dublin and a host of other towns and cities right across England, Wales Scotland and Ireland. This morning, I spoke with Charles Ward who was a platoon sergeant in G Coy during January 1943 and he reflected movingly on the memory of some of his friends buried in Tunisia - Ted Gant and David Connery amongst their number. Men that Charles and my father had got to know so well over the previous 3 1/4 years. My father, CQMS Edmund O'Sullivan, remembered some of the details of that grim day: “Our normal convoy was prepared and we made our way to where the battalion was situated. I discovered what remained of my company on Point 279. There was no company commander and the second in command, Captain Joseph Carrigan aged 31, had been killed. Lieutenant Rawlings and Billie Allen, a sergeant and two lance-sergeants had been wounded and evacuated. An officer had refused to advance and was under arrest as was a senior NCO. It was a shambles. There seemed to be no order or discipline. I was called upon to identify the body of Rifleman Trotter of intelligence, an old Barker’s friend. The colour sergeants were called to the commanding officer where we received a dressing down for not bringing prepared food instead of cold rations. This was complete nonsense as we had been unaware of the situation. We left immediately for the supply base to rouse the cooks and make a stew. This was put in large dixies which were packed in insulated containers. The supply convoy reassembled and proceeded to Bou Arada and back to the scene of the battle.” “A very muddy and breathless Colour Sergeant Flood halted us at the El-Aroussa crossroads in Bou Arada where he poured out a story of yet another setback. The Germans had counter-attacked using tanks and half tracks and had driven off the demoralised and officer-less remnants of our companies who had broken and fled. Once again, we had received no information. But for Flood, we would have motored innocently into captivity or worse. Flood later was to receive a DCM and promotion to CSM. He guided us to where the battalion had been gathered in a wadi.” “We fed the survivors. Including drivers, E company comprised 27 men compared with a starting strength of about 120. We had no officers but shared a subaltern from HQ Company with F Company which itself had been reduced to a total of 17 under Colour Sergeant Jones. Apart from myself, the only surviving E Company NCOs were Sergeant Leo McRory and Corporal Hammersley.” “The next morning, Colonel Jeffreys summoned all colour sergeants whom he rebuked twice: first, for not promoting NCOs from the survivors and, second, for not requisitioning weapons from the quartermaster for those that had been lost. I dealt with the weapons first. But how could I replace a sergeant major, two full sergeants, two lance sergeants, six corporals and 10 lance-corporals? That was a total of 21 NCOs from the original 24 in E Company, many of whom who had dropped their weapons and ran.” Lt-Colonel Jeffreys would also later provide an account of the events: Hill 286 Quis Separabit.. Richard Photos attached include a current view from the top of Hill 286 towards Jebel Rihane taken by me in 2012 - I shall hope to return there in March to do some filming.
A reminder that it is exactly 80 years since the fighting period for the 6th Armoured Division north of Bou Arada. I was chatting just before Christmas to one of the lads, Charles Ward, who was involved in the fighting with the London Irish Rifles in Tunisia in January 1943. Charles was 104 years of age in December. A couple of photos taken during my most recent visit to the area (way back in 2018) and one of the aftermath... © IWM NA 551 THE BRITISH ARMY IN THE TUNISIA CAMPAIGN, NOVEMBER 1942-MAY 1943 Battle of Bou Arada. The graves of soldiers from British 5 Corps units who were killed in the bitter fighting on the Bou Arada front, 22 January 1943.
