Desert Rats of the 51st Highland Division

I can see why it has taken me so long to get down to writing about my Dad and his life in the 51st Highland Division in World War 2. There is in fact very little written about the contribution they made to the wining of the war and like many soldiers he didn't talk about it much as if by his feelings of having a mixture of shame and pride at being involved in some of the carnage of war that is a necessary part of it. However I should not let that stand in the way of thinking about how and what he did in the six years he was part of the 8th Army under the command of General Montgommery.
He got all the medals from six of the campaigns that were pertinent to the Division except the last one, the landing of the French campaign of Dunkirk because by then he was invalided out of action by shrapnel in his neck and also by contracting tuberculousis. He was sad, not to have been around for the victory that was there's in France and the final march of liberation into Berlin in 1945.

He spoke very fondly of his time in North Africa, as if it was the Desert Campaign that was the greatest challenge of his life. Often in rare moments of rememberance he would go back to the Battle of El Alamein and Torbruk commenting on many aspects of the battle tactics or the bitter memories of the deaths that occurred on both sides. He found the worse deaths to witness were those of the Panther Division tank men, who would often emerge from tanks on fire and very quickly die screaming, from the intense burning.
He was in the armoured Division so it was his job to load the shells into the modern day cannons called 25 pounders. He reached the rank of Corporal after joining the territorial army as a private in 1938, signing up for the whole six years before the announcement that war had been declared on Germany. This decision meant he was to be assigned to the professional force and training of the Desert Rats because they were signed into the army for the entire war expected to contribute fight time on all six campaigns over the period of the war. He had joined early for ideological reasons, like many he was fearful that the rise of fascism would engulf Europe, making the elitism within Nazism an unstoppable force. Once he had signed up, he seemed to enjoy the discipline and commradary of his unit.

Much was foreign to him because he had to learn how to look after the 25 pounder gun and drag it around with him for six years. He learned how to load the shells with out making them misfire, which though rare could happen with devastating results maiming those, who had placed them into the gun shaft. He became a well sought after gunner when it was realised his marksmanship in aligning his 25 pounder could successfully inflict a direct hit onto the enemy and he was quickly promoted to the rank of Corporal in charge of a small unit of 25 pounders.
He remarked on his worst moment on the 25 pounder lines was when the British RAF bombed the lines of the 8th Army by a mistake and it seemed because he was in the middle of the line he could not get out of the gun position. He was the only gunner on that portion of the Division to remain at his post during the faulty RAF bombing raid. He fondly told the story of the Major of the Armoured Division who shouted to him in fear 'Sutherland Bloody 'Well', Get Out of There Now'. I'm sure the commander did not always use this language but he perhaps seemed to know that Sutherland would NOT have abandoned his post, unless he was ordered to do so. My Dad was amused that his commander knew him by name and was able to pick him out from the crowd and thought he might have been worth saving that day.

He told other stories of the immense difficulty of the bombardment he helped to conduct on the enemy at the battle of El Alamien. It is interesting to know that none of the soldiers on the ground of the Desert Rats enjoyed, nor were they proud of the deaths they had to inflict on their enemy and he often spoke of the need to kill in the war, with great deep regret. (I mean proper deep regret)

He seemed to understand that the Highland Division was not always up to the mark, because when exhausted in Italy after 4 other campaigns some of the Divison succumbed to looting the enemy and at one point ill discipline had made the command consider the threat of decimation on the ranks. He knew about how blood lust was not to be encouraged and must be stamped out quickly in a band of soldiers and that the role of discipline must be establised in gunner crews to get things done no matter what happened to them.

He also spoke of the cruelties he saw at Tobruk meated out by both sides, when the lie of the land meant that the Armoured Divsion had to abandon the use of the 25 Pounders in favour of hand to hand combat during the seige. He was trained not only to work in the gun team but also got assigned to learning the art of stalking his enemy, by literally creeping up very close to them without their knowing he was there. One can only imagine what this skill was used for in combat.

I dont know much about the actual campaigns or the details of the war battle tactics but what I do know is that war takes its toll on the human being emotionally and it is certainly not the natural state for a human being to be in at any time in their life. For those who had to endure it, rather than glory in it, many became advocates against war. In the case of my Father he joined CND and the Ban the Bomb campaign of the 1950's and 60's. He also became a Liberal and SNP politician believing that actively contributing to the community could stave off the elements of corruption that had entered Europe in the form of fascism. His years as a soldier made him realise that change is not an impossible part of the human condition, but that it must be strived for on a daily basis. He said of Politicians that they are only one thing above all else 'Public Servants' not in fact advocates of their own power, like Little Hitler's.

I learned at lot  from him and when Libya was ravaged by its recent war, I was sad that the soil where he faught was yet to find the seeds of Democracy. It seems for any human endeavour towards, freedom and self detemination, it is hard won.

Im sure I could write more about his memories, but that is enough for today. He was very special and would never submit to tyranny of any kind and was often a defender of those who experienced it.

As way of postscript it is interesting that there is to be a film made again of the Battle of Tobrok and that the opportunity might arise for me to get the opportunity of a peak at the script from the independent commissioners who have asked our production outfit to cast an eye over it. I hope the script will not disappoint and at the very least will have the smell of authenticity about it.