Tunisia / Sidi Nsir "Then & Now"

It looks to me, as if the railway-station would be just outside the edge of the photo. The trees are still visible.... or am I wrong?

 

Here is another Sidi Nsir photo from Ceges Soma showing a carrier lost near Sidi Nsir station where the main highway to Beja crosses the rail line.






This was probably Lt Ashton's carrier, he was returning to Hampshire farm for more ammo. It was reported to the 5th Hampshire CO at 13:15 hours that the carriers had been shot up by ME109's. Lt Ashton was killed along with the driver. Looking at the map I have of the battle and looking at the photo... the location is correct.

 

There is a reasonable account of the action at Sidi Nsir in Bryan Perrett's book "Last Stand" (Arms and Armour Press, 1991) which also has some good photographs of the station building and A company hill, together with Grineau's sketch of the last stand of 155 battery.

The same book has an account of the fight at Outpost Snipe and many other battles.

 

There is a reasonable account of the action at Sidi Nsir in Bryan Perrett's book "Last Stand" (Arms and Armour Press, 1991) which also has some good photographs of the station building and A company hill, together with Grineau's sketch of the last stand of 155 battery.

The hill A company fought on was called the "Camel's Hump" (Pt 327). I also have a copy of both the "Last Stand" and Grineau's sketch.

Last sunday I attended a "Sidi Nsir" memorial service in Southampton. It was a small and simple service but I'm glad I made the effort to attend as I've made contact with someone else who had a relative a Sidi Nsir.

 

Hi
You may right 57 Airborne that it was probably Lt Ashton's carrier - however it bears a striking resemblance to Bren Gun carrier 57 as seen in this photo driven by my late father Corporal Ralph Desty of the 5th Battalion Royal Hampshire Regiment who was taken prisoner at Sidi Nsir.

On the reverse of this photo it says "Our nip and his 4 ton baby girl 1941".

Seems to me much nicer in an upright position.

I have further photos of 5th battalion men and other material from his PoW time at PG82 Laterina in Italy and Stalag IVB at Muhlberg.

Please my other post about "South African names on khaki handkerchief"

Lee

 

I'm new to this site and hope I'm posting in the right place. My grandad, George Dove, was in 155 Battery RA and among his medals and papers is what I now know to be a "Beja Badge". I know there is a connection between this badge and what happened at Sidi Nsir but I would very much like to know more information about the battle and if in fact my Grandad fought there. My mother said he never talked about his experiences in WWII so I really only have his medals (Africa Star included) and his basic war record to go on. This record does put him in that area of North Africa at the time of the battle of Sidi Nsir. Any information would be most gratefully recieved.

David

 

I'm new to this site and hope I'm posting in the right place. My grandad, George Dove, was in 155 Battery RA and among his medals and papers is what I now know to be a "Beja Badge". I know there is a connection between this badge and what happened at Sidi Nsir but I would very much like to know more information about the battle and if in fact my Grandad fought there. My mother said he never talked about his experiences in WWII so I really only have his medals (Africa Star included) and his basic war record to go on. This record does put him in that area of North Africa at the time of the battle of Sidi Nsir. Any information would be most gratefully recieved.

David

David - PM me your email address, I have some info for you.

 

Here's an interesting ebook article about Sidi Nsir that was mentioned in a comment on LoneSentry.com:

Amazon.com: Battle of Sidi Nsir - A Personal Account eBook: John Abramides: Kindle Store
or
Battle of Sidi Nsir - A Personal Account eBook: John Abramides: Amazon.co.uk: Kindle Store

 

Hello gents

after some research and trying to remember as much as possible of what my grandad told me im a pretty sure he was in sidi nsir he was part of 5th battalion hampshire regiment, im not sure if this is where he was captured, as he did spend time as a POW. i was just wondering if any of you may have more information on the battalion or what happened to them during the battle and after any info would be fantastic...

thanks in advance

Carl

 

Hi Carl,

PM me his name and I'll see if his name appears on a list I've made of the 5th Hampshires' who were at Sidi Nsir.

 

Kuno, if you put together an article covering the action that these pics depict, I'm sure After the Battle would be interested, particularly if you have matched any of the British pics of the action.

 

Hi maybe not the right place to post this but looking for information regarding this battle as my father was involved and he never told us much about it.
Pte. H.S.W. Bowring nickname was Joe sorry don't have his service number though

 

Hi maybe not the right place to post this but looking for information regarding this battle as my father was involved and he never told us much about it.
Pte. H.S.W. Bowring nickname was Joe sorry don't have his service number though

Pte H S Bowring, Army Nu: 5498770. POW Nu: 81009. Last registered POW camp - Stalag 8b

 

Thans to Kuno for one of my favourite then/now threads: I've added these original documents for anyone researching this particular battle.

The citation for this source is:
G.S. (War Diary of the 46th Infantry Division). The National Archives (TNA) Kew Gardens, Public Record Office (PRO), WO 175/157.

Am I right in assuming that the lat/long of the modern day station is at 36.89520, 9.44408?

 

These pages are about the 7 Tigers in the graveyard, with photo references and Google Maps:

http://tiger1.info/event/3-Tigers-wrecked-Hunts-Gap

http://tiger1.info/event/4-Tigers-Panzer-graveyard-Hunts-Gap

David

 

Cool! When I had been there looking to take some then/now pics I was sure that I am at the right spot but the road just did not fit. Now I recognize that the routing has been changes... such was not visible standing on the ground, the traces of the old road were just not to be recognized. Many thanks for that.

 

Kuno, if you put together an article covering the action that these pics depict, I'm sure After the Battle would be interested, particularly if you have matched any of the British pics of the action.

...they prefer to take their own photos.

 

The citation for this source is:
G.S. (War Diary of the 46th Infantry Division). The National Archives (TNA) Kew Gardens, Public Record Office (PRO), WO 175/157.


I really appreciate this Phaethon, mentions my Late Grandfather by name. Much better to read it direct from a contempory than second hand in a book.

Anybody know details of a memorial service in the UK to mark the 70th aniversary this year?

 

Having just returned from visiting the Sidi Nsir battlefield I now have a greater understanding of the ground with the highlight of finding the area where my grandfather was during the battle.

It was really quite emotional being there on the day of the 70th Anniversary of the battle.