I've arrived in Tunisia I'd have been told to meet an historian at mergers,
about close to the market place pretty good with directions so at the moment
I'm just following the signs to Majer
his elbow operated again
this is Majel but I thought it'd just be a little town that's quite big I'm gonna
find a market place they speak French ooh that they do a little nosh a mouth
shake my French is useless in West Main with its looks market like
excuse my google mache ha ha now see
that means left
I feel strange that I'm in the same place actually my granddad walked
seventy years ago also
user grosses assistance he probably would have found all this quite
fascinating it's a bit different from Becca LED market North Africa was
fiercely fought over in the Second World War but by April 1943 the Allies had
cornered the Germans in Tunisia fresh from training Norman arrived a month
before a planned offensive to try to take the capital Tunis and finally force
the Germans out of Africa I was looking through some of my granddad's letters
back home and I found this one this is the first one it's obviously a
pre-written letter which you delete to make out to be a letter because they
can't give any information away to the enemy what it's basically said is I'm
quite well I've received no letter from you lately now my granddad would have
been here less than a month he's scared about what's gonna happen
and right into his new wife Amy my now I think he wants one answer right he's
really worried blessed and he was here
Paul is meeting professor Lloyd Clark you must be full hello Lloyd you must be
Lord I think fantastic to meet you now I know my grandma came to to this year can
you fill any gaps in more strategically why did they come here in the first
place throughout your grandfather's training he would had a sense they do
he's being prepared for a great offensive action and when he came here
he would have had a good sense again that he was going to be put in the front
line to do something important Hitler and Mussolini have made it absolutely
clear that they will continue to hold on to North Africa and Tunis Syria itself
and when backed into a corner with no thoughts of surrendering the one thing
that the Germans are going to do is fight extremely hard they're fighting
for their survival from the moment your grandfather gets here through to the
moment that he attacks in middle late April he would have been
extremely anxious just waiting for the off we are in the in this bowl outside
of Tunis at the moment you know roughly where where he was he would have known
this town but actually the actions that he took parted the push towards Tunis
just to the east so I think a good idea we'll get in the car we're gonna have a
look go buddy lead the way
we're really going off-road they make where we what do you take you all right
this is banana rig the normal route been I'm a wreck yeah and every bit of high
ground was given a name because this is banana sh t the troops really use their
imagination and call it banana Rick didn't they
so just here nuts that's perfect
so the the Germans are in front of us here in this piece of flatter ground so
we have Magette over there just to our left with that that line of mountain
going across our now from that was german-held territory yeah about 25
miles beyond that is the prized Tunis I've got a map here that can just give
you a little bit more detail so we're just standing here by the our of Ridge
mmm but your grandfather was actually positioned just behind it he was being
protected by the ridge and he had a very important job of also protecting the
first British division and so his area can be seen today and it's exactly as it
was back in 1943 can we go up there let's go I'd love to see that speak in
the actual place for example in his actual position
a few days before the push on Tunis Norman moved in his position behind
banana Ridge to prepare for his first major battle so here we are
your grandfather was in this area that we're standing in now you're looking at
what he would have looked at you're standing on ground that he would have
stood on he was in the 90th light anti-aircraft regiment so he would have
set up here specifically looking for German aircraft yeah I've always had a
fascination look at this guy's and when I got to the mountains and he's looking
up looking at the skies love or what fascination of planes wonder where I got
that from he had an absolutely critical role in
the division and he fought on a Bofors gun a 40-millimeter Bofors gun that's a
big one as a lance sergeant Norman was second in command on the Bofors gun in a
close-knit team of five a formidable weapon firing a hundred and
twenty rounds a minute up to a height of 23,000 feet the Bofors posed a huge
threat to enemy aircraft and this make Norman a key target
but Norman's gun provided cover for the infantry and his orders were to stay by
it at all costs taking cover was not an option
Stuka dive-bomber screaming at you 300 miles an hour dropping their bombs 500
feet on your grandfather and he's mates that was their target that's their job
and to sit there and keep firing that gun and not move from it we can take you
to the night of the 20th 21st of April 1943 so it's just a day before the major
offensive and that night they get a message that some German divisions look
as though they're going to pretty an account or attack on this position a
spoiling attack to upset the preparations to get inside the heads of
those that might be doing the attacking and in this isolated area you can see
that potentially quite vulnerable the Germans aren't going to come across over
the top of the ridge but what they can do because we can't see them if they can
come around the sides we know that there were the parts of two German divisions
that were involved in the attack against your grandfather's position here and
then people you're looking at we're looking at hundreds the thing is though
is in the middle of the night and it's very difficult to gauge exactly how many
troops are involved how many tanks we think perhaps 80 tanks geez come around
coming around here this whole position around banana rich they are
battle-hardened troops if we think about your grandfather's division they're
relatively new to this and they are attacked in the middle of the night
in this incredibly intense and frightening episode and your grandfather
was right in the middle of it
you
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