CHAPTER 1
LIEUTENANT COLONEL 'JUMBO' HOARE
Lieutenant Colonel 'Jumbo' Hoare (who died on December 19 1999, aged 83) won an MC during the Battle of France in 1940 when he leaped from a burning tank and pulled his sergeant from another; he dived off a sinking ship; jumped from a train taking him to a German prison camp; then, suffering from malaria, he was sheltered at an Italian convent in the hills near Rome where he swapped his uniform for a nun's habit to proceed into chapel.
When a search party arrived at the convent, the Mother Superior hid him and a comrade under her bed, refusing point blank to let the Germans search her room. "No man," she informed them, "has ever entered my bedchamber." After the coast was clear, Hoare recalled, she told him that she would have "to do a lot of penances for telling the Germans those lies". Although the local mayor warned there would be shootings if the British soldiers were discovered, the nuns sheltered them until they could join up with the advancing Allies.
The son of an engineer rear-admiral, James Gordon Hoare was born on July 22 1916 and educated at Weymouth College. He was commissioned via the Supplementary Reserve into 4th Royal Tank Regiment, which had small Matilda tanks with a top speed of 8 mph. Large and muscular, he had difficulty climbing in; and, once inside, he had to fire a machine gun and operate a radio.
Posted to France on the outbreak of war in 1939, Hoare's troop was involved in the fierce counter attack around Arras which was thought to have temporarily prevented the Germans entering Dunkirk. After extricating himself and his sergeant from their tanks he walked ninety miles to find his brother Henry in a ditch outside Dunkirk with some Wiltshires, and told him to get up as the Germans were coming; they reported home in Weymouth within an hour of each other.
'Jumbo' was next sent to East Africa, where 4RTR took part in the conquest of Keren and Eritrea, before being posted on to the Western Desert. When Tobruk was besieged in 1941, 4RTR was sent into the port by sea and took part in the battles for the break-out when Hoare was wounded in the leg and head. He was evacuated but his ship was torpedoed and sank rapidly, drowning many. But he leaped over the side and grabbed a piece of floating wreckage to be eventually rescued by a destroyer.
After recovering from his wounds he was posted to Palestine where his unit was re-equipped with Valentine tanks and sent to North Africa where, in the final battle for Tobruk, 4RTR fought until its last tank was on fire. Hoare was captured and sent to Italy.
When Italy sued for peace in 1943, the Germans started to move British POWs to Germany. But Hoare and a friend jumped from their train at night to make for the mountains, where a shepherd showed them to a cave and fed them. Soon he was so stricken with malaria that the shepherd took him to the nearby convent so weak at first that the local undertaker measured him up for a coffin. But gradually he recovered, and, heavily disguised, even took part in feast day processions despite the local mayor demanding he be sent on his way immediately.
As the Allies finally drew nearer Hoare was led through minefields to reach the British lines. He then spent a long time in hospital undergoing surgery on his leg. In 1945 he was posted to the Staff College at Haifa and then Quetta. Subsequent postings took him to Holland and Germany.
'Jumbo' Hoare was an extremely sociable, modest and independent man, who had been a fine rugby player and swimmer, and enjoyed fishing and sailing in his 27ft yacht in later life. After the war he returned to Italy several times to thank those who had helped him, including one of the nuns and the shepherd who had led him to the convent. In 1945, he married Ida Rifaat, an Egyptian who had nursed him in hospital. She predeceased him, and he was survived by a son.
CHAPTER 2
LIEUTENANT COLONEL HENRY HOWARD
Lieutenant Colonel Henry Howard (who died on May 6 2000, aged 85) was awarded an MC in Palestine in 1936, a Bar in the Western Desert and a DSO in north-west Europe, earning the description 'absolutely fearless' from one fellow officer.
His first MC came while serving with the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment) during the Arab uprising in protest against Britain, the mandatory power, allowing too many Jewish immigrants into the country. They expressed their resentment by ambushing and sniping at patrols, then hiding among the villagers, which made them almost impossible to detect.
When the 2nd Battalion were patrolling the roads and clearing the Arabs from strategic points on a hillside near Tarshiha, a small party commanded by Howard, then a second lieutenant, came under fire from a large group of rebels. He was immediately shot through both thighs but picked himself up and managed to lead the platoon to the top of the hill, which he held for four hours until the surviving Arabs dispersed.
Frederick Henry Howard was born on February 25 1915 and educated at Gresham's School, Holt, and Sandhurst before being commissioned into the Buffs in 1935. Later he was seconded to the King's African Rifles, with whom he earned a mention in despatches, serving against the Italians operating mainly behind the lines in Kenya, Somaliland and Abyssinia.
After the Battle of Sidi Rezegh in 1941, in which the Buffs had sustained heavy casualties, Howard rejoined the regiment and was with the 1st Battalion through all the actions in the Western Desert, including Alamein, until the fall of Tunis. It was during this period of intense fighting that he was awarded a Bar to his MC. On the night of January 21 1943 – his fourth running without sleep – Howard led a moonlight attack down the Tarhuna Pass towards Tripoli and drove the enemy back two miles. Four nights later he seized the strongly defended Kidney Hill and held it in spite of heavy enemy counterattacks.
The Buffs were particularly successful in the Mareth battle of March 1943 when, according to the official history 'patrolling was a feature of life with the Buffs and many calls were made on the battalion in the quest for the enemy's intentions'. Howard was particularly prominent, probing right forward into the enemy defences and often being involved in a brisk exchange of fire.
After Staff College at Haifa he was given command of 1st Battalion, Ox and Bucks, with whom he cheerfully strode around the European battlefield, immaculately dressed with his green regimental cap on very straight to hearten many an uneasy soldier. Leading them through heavy floods, he crossed the Ruhr river on the Dutch-German border to secure many prisoners, and earned a DSO. He considered the German resistance the hardest in the Ardennes before going on to the Reichswald forest and the Rhine crossing.
In 1946 Howard commanded 2nd Reconnaissance Regiment in Singapore, where he kept a tame pygmy elephant presented to him by the Sultan of Johore. It was invited to parties in the mess, and would trumpet loudly in appreciation when offered a plate of sandwiches. Howard was then advised by General Sir Miles Dempsey, commanding Second Army in Europe, to join the Royal Armoured Corps as being especially suited to his talents and style. Transferring to 3rd Hussars as second-in-command at Bielefeld he was then appointed commander of the Tactical Wing at Lulworth, Dorset.
Anxious to relieve his boredom in that final posting, he caused surprise by driving to work from his quarters at Lulworth in an old butcher's van and generally failing to treat senior officers with the respect they thought they deserved. But he never did anything which might have impaired the fighting efficiency of the troops under his command. On retiring he moved to the Isle of Ulva to farm cattle and sheep on an estate his wife had inherited.
Henry Howard was a courageous and extremely effective leader whose men knew that he had their interests at heart. He represented the Army with the javelin and was a good golfer who shot, hunted and loved fishing and sailing. In 1952 he married Jean Parnell, second daughter of the 6th Lord Congleton. They had two sons and a daughter.
CHAPTER 3
CAPTAIN EWEN FRAZER
Captain Ewen Frazer (who died on November 11 2000, aged 81) was awarded a DSO for single-handedly clearing enemy machine-gun positions on October 23/24 1942, the first night of the battle of El Alamein.
He was commanding a platoon of A Company, 1st Battalion the Gordon Highlanders, in the first wave of 30 Corps' advance on Rommel's positions. Soon after crossing the start line the leading two units, A and C Companies, were held up by heavy German machine-gun fire. Taking one section to cover him, Frazer moved forward and successfully attacked the position from the flank.
When he returned both the A and C Company commanders had become casualties so he promptly took command and led them forward to dig in on their objectives. When they came under fire from a second position, he went forward on his own to bayonet the occupants of four dug-outs and silence the machine gun with grenades.
At dawn, Frazer's company came under fire from a third position to their front. Armed only with a rifle and bayonet, he crawled his way forward to another position and forced its seven occupants to surrender. For his actions that night he was awarded an immediate DSO.
Ewen Forbes Frazer was born at Perth on February 7 1920. Three years later his family moved to Bournemouth, where he attended prep school before going on to Clifton. In 1939 he started work for a shipping company in London and joined the Territorial Army, obtaining his commission in the London Scottish. Since this had been affiliated to the Gordon Highlanders since 1916, Frazer was posted to that regiment's 1st Battalion when the 51st Highland Division was reformed following its surrender at St-Valery.
Always a proud Gordon Highlander, Frazer nevertheless insisted, throughout his wartime service, on wearing the hodden grey kilt of the London Scottish. After Alamein, he remained with A Company as second-in-command for the remainder of the North African campaign. But in Tunis, just as the battalion was preparing for the invasion of Sicily, he was taken ill.
Treated at first for malaria, he was eventually diagnosed as having polio by doctors who believed he would never walk again. However, as a highly competitive sportsman, he was possessed of enormous willpower, and by 1945, after a period of recuperation at Stoke Mandeville Hospital, was walking unaided.
On demobilisation he was employed by Butlin's, setting up their new holiday camp in Ayr and advising the company on sports and fitness. In 1950 he bought a farm in Ayrshire, converted it for pigs, and later built a factory where he produced his own bacon – a business he ran successfully until his retirement in 1986. Despite gradually increasing infirmity, Frazer maintained his interest in sport, and although in later years he could walk only with the aid of two sticks he continued to play golf.
CHAPTER 4
LIEUTENANT COLONEL KENDAL CHAVASSE
Lieutenant Colonel Kendal Chavasse (who died on March 31 2001, aged 96) was awarded a DSO in Tunisia in 1942 while commanding 56 Reconnaissance Regiment, a new formation which took on the tasks of cavalry which had been converted to tanks. Its flair and panache led to it being nicknamed 'Chavasse's Light Horse'.
The Germans responded to the Allied landings by flying in reinforcements which, operating with air superiority on shorter lines of communication, put up fierce resistance in the mountainous country shielding Tunis to the west.
Between November 25 and December 10, 56 Recce operated from a position east of Oued Medjerda where outnumbered, outgunned and dive-bombed, it dominated the area, thanks largely to Chavasse's "personal example, dash and daring", according to his citation. Throughout this period, German tank and armoured car patrols were prevented from interfering with Allied operations, and much valuable information on enemy movements was obtained.
By the autumn of 1943, 56 Recce was operating west of Termoli, on the east coast of Italy, which had been taken by Commandos the previous day. The same day, Chavasse's B Squadron had captured a German motorcyclist belonging to the 16th Panzer Division, which had until then been believed to be on the other coast.
A few hours later, the Germans launched a strong counter-attack. Leading a mixed force composed of his own squadron, 3 Commando, a troop of the Special Raiding Squadron and an anti-tank battery, Chavasse took up position on high ground to the west of the town.
The Germans attacked with armour and infantry, under cover of heavy shelling and mortar and machine-gun fire. Both flanks of the position were driven in, but he maintained the defence throughout the daylight hours, despite being surrounded on three sides by enemy infantry and tanks.
As night fell, he advised his men that they had 'an all-round shoot' and by the time he was ordered to withdraw they could hear the enemy infantry's voices through the shelling. Despite this, Chavasseextricated his entire command except for a few immobile vehicles. Next morning a counter-attack by the Irish Brigade, supported by Canadian tanks, drove the Germans out of Termoli.
Praising Chavasse's "exceptional leadership, coolness and devotion to duty", the citation for his second DSO stated that his personal example was "the mainspring of a gallant and effective defence which did much to ensure the successful outcome of the operations". Two of Chavasse's brothers, Paul and Evelyn, joined him at Buckingham Palace in July 1945 when King George VI presented them with a total of five DSOs and one DSC.
Kendal George Fleming Chavasse was born on September 28 1904 at Whitfield Court, near Waterford, Ireland, and educated at the Royal Naval College, Osborne, and the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth.
A bout of illness made him too old to join the navy as a cadet. Neverthelesss with a father who had served with 4th Cameronians in the Boer War and his cousin Noel, who had won a Victoria Cross and Bar as a medical officer in the First World War, he obtained a commission into the Royal Irish Fusiliers in 1924, and was soon posted to India.
As a one-time whipper-in of the Britannia Beagles, he devoted much of his spare time in India to shooting, playing polo and pig-sticking. After serving with his battalion in Egypt, Sudan, Malta and Cyprus, he attended staff college in 1939.
In March 1940 Chavasse was appointed brigade major, 150th Infantry Brigade, with whom he took part in the evacuation from Dunkirk. After serving on the staffs of Eastern and South-Eastern Commands he became, in January 1942, second-in-command of the 3 Reconnaissance Regiment before leading and taking over 56th Recce a few months later.
Promoted temporary colonel in 1945, he served briefly as Deputy Chief of Staff at HQ Fifth Army, before returning to England to run the Reconnaissance Training Centre at Catterick. In March 1946 he went to Padua as GSO1 1st Armoured Division, he then took command of 2nd Battalion Royal Irish Fusiliers in December. After commanding the battalion in Egypt and Palestine he retired in 1947.
He proceeded to his new family home in County Waterford – which his wife had bought after having a dream, and which he had not yet seen. There he embarked on a new career as a farmer, becoming one of the first in his district to make silage, use electric fences and obtain a milking machine.
Chavasse was a founder member of the Irish Farmers' Association and secretary of the West Waterford Hunt for nineteen years. He was vice-chairman of the Dungarvan Show. Always a devout man, he became a lay reader and helped with the taking of services, including the annual Armistice Day service, throughout his diocese, which he represented at the World Anglican Conference in Toronto in 1963. He became the longest-serving lay reader in Ireland and a member of the Diocesan Council and the General Synod of the Church of Ireland. In 1930 he married Oonah Perceval-Maxwell, who died in 1994, and was survived by their son and daughter.
CHAPTER 5
STAFF SERGEANT LEONARD PEARSON
Staff Sergeant Leonard Pearson (who died on April 3 2001, aged 80) was awarded a Military Medal as a demolition expert in Burma, where he operated behind enemy lines with the Special Operations Executive's Force 136.
Pearson arrived in January 1945 to train Karens and Burmans in the use of small arms and explosives. His skills were such, however, that he soon became an operative, completing a parachute course in such haste that his final training jump was made operationally.
His group was charged with recruiting while disrupting enemy supply lines and communications as a prelude to General Slim's final assault on the Japanese. They had been operating for nine months when a decision was made at headquarters to take the town of Toungoo before the monsoon, in order to prevent the Japanese reinforcing it to block the way to Rangoon. The intention was to inflict maximum damage on the enemy, destroying their morale by ambushing convoys and blowing up roads and bridges.
