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The Second World War was
the ultimate conflict
of the machine age.
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00:00:15,560 --> 00:00:18,920
And this machine
was its iconic symbol,
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00:00:18,920 --> 00:00:22,240
the decisive
weapon of the war on land.
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00:00:22,240 --> 00:00:27,440
From north Africa to the Russian
front, tanks ruled the battlefield.
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And if you didn't master armoured
warfare, you faced annihilation.
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It's quite terrifying, really,
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because you could see these
flashes of the enemy's guns
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in the distance, and you think,
"Any minute, one of them is
going to hit me."
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Tanks were there
at the beginning of the war,
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00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:52,400
and tanks were there at the end.
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00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:54,240
The men who fought inside them
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00:00:54,240 --> 00:00:56,960
had an exceptional
view of the entire conflict...
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00:00:58,280 --> 00:01:01,760
..from the fall of France,
to the deserts of Africa.
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00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:05,200
From D-Day to the final
victory in Germany.
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As a young officer training
in the Royal Tank Regiment,
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I was indoctrinated
in their exploits.
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And who could fail to have been
awe-inspired by the way those men
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faced death time and time again,
in these iron-clad monsters?
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When I first went in, I thought it
was going to be great fun,
and all that.
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But I realised it wasn't.
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There was a tank near me, I saw just
blown to bits.
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A couple of my mates
were in that. It was terrible.
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The bond you established in Tank,
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was not a normal
relationships of friends.
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You were a partnership,
it was closer than friendship.
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That crew were friends for life.
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This is the story of six remarkable
men from one armoured unit,
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The 5th Royal Tank Regiment,
5 RTR.
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Or to those who really knew them,
the Filthy 5th.
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Their war is brought to life not
only by the few surviving veterans,
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but also by previously unseen
letters and diaries
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that give us a real insight
of the visceral reality
of tank warfare.
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Each of these men has his own story.
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00:02:30,480 --> 00:02:35,000
Some were wounded, some captured
and some were killed.
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A few, the lucky few,
went all the way through.
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Together their accounts form
a unique picture of the war.
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00:02:42,920 --> 00:02:45,960
And they weren't called
the Filthy 5th for nothing.
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00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:01,080
The Filthy 5th's odyssey began
at the very beginning of the war.
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Not with a bang...but a whimper.
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00:03:05,280 --> 00:03:11,040
In June 1940, men from
the 5th Tanks are stuck at
Cherbourg, waiting for a ship home.
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00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,600
Having been bloodied
in the disastrous battle for France,
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the unit was scattered.
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Its men bitter and disillusioned.
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It had, after all,
only arrived a few weeks earlier.
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Their mission had been
straightforward enough...
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to reinforce the British
expeditionary force in France,
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00:03:36,560 --> 00:03:39,560
and halt the German onslaught across
northern Europe.
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00:03:42,760 --> 00:03:46,520
But as they approached the River
Somme, in tanks that were fast
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but poorly armoured and already
obsolete, the 5th Tanks
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00:03:52,000 --> 00:03:56,320
were given the sledgehammer
treatment by superior German
Panzers.
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00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:07,240
By 1940, the tank was the essential
component of warfare on the ground.
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00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,680
Yet Britain simply didn't
have what was needed.
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00:04:10,680 --> 00:04:14,320
In the years before the war,
they'd left it too late
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to start their rearmament and there
was nobody for whom that failure
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00:04:18,560 --> 00:04:21,200
was more galling than
the Royal Tank Regiment.
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00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:29,800
Pursued by the German Panzer
divisions, the 5th Tanks
went to pieces,
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00:04:29,800 --> 00:04:34,760
claiming they never got any orders,
let alone food.
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As they retreated along with
their French allies,
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they left most of their
equipment behind.
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00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,200
It was a shambles on a grand scale.
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During those few weeks in France,
they'd lost most of their tanks.
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They could only claim a single,
knocked out German one,
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and many of the soldiers confessed
they'd spent much of the time drunk.
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00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:06,920
The 5th Tanks' first
experience of the war had been
an exercise in humiliation.
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00:05:11,280 --> 00:05:14,440
Corporal Harry Finlayson, 25,
a regular,
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had already seen service in India.
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00:05:17,600 --> 00:05:21,920
But commanding a tank in France
was bewildering.
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00:05:21,920 --> 00:05:24,360
Couldn't believe we'd be pushed back.
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00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:28,200
It never entered my head. I thought
we'd go straight into Germany,
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00:05:28,200 --> 00:05:30,840
was so sure about it.
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When we started getting pushed
back, I couldn't believe it.
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When you think of the tanks
the Germans had and the tanks we
had, they were all over us.
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We didn't have a chance.
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There were Germans everywhere, like.
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00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:02,360
Harry wasn't the only one dismayed
by the 5th's French farce.
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A canny 25-year-old Glaswegian,
Trooper Jake Wardrop,
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provided one of the most perceptive
accounts, written in a pocket diary.
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00:06:15,280 --> 00:06:18,640
"It was all as inadequate
as would have been an effort
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"to tie down a mad bull with
white cotton.
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00:06:22,080 --> 00:06:25,320
"We had a ridiculously small
amount of material,
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00:06:25,320 --> 00:06:29,000
"and an even smaller
amount of organisation.
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00:06:29,000 --> 00:06:31,760
"My own opinion of the Somme episode
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00:06:31,760 --> 00:06:34,520
"was that it was a very
silly place to be."
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00:06:36,120 --> 00:06:39,760
Jake Waldrop was a great treasure
to the 5th Tanks.
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00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:44,400
He was no fool, he was able to
assess the situation very...
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00:06:46,640 --> 00:06:49,240
..adequately for his
own satisfaction.
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Hence the diaries he wrote.
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00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,400
Which, of course,
he shouldn't have been writing.
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Because if the tank was captured
and the diary was in it,
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positions and the details
of the unit would be available.
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00:07:01,880 --> 00:07:07,200
But 5th Tanks had regard to
those rules which...
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00:07:07,200 --> 00:07:11,440
they liked to abide by,
and not those they didn't.
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Back in England, the 5th Tanks
regrouped at an army base in Surrey.
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Here, the old regulars were
joined by new recruits,
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citizen soldiers,
like 24-year-old Gerry Solomon.
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00:07:27,640 --> 00:07:33,800
When I arrived, I felt like a fish
out of water, because there were we,
more or less rookies,
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00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:38,080
as they called them,
and all these other people
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had just come back from France and
they were more hardened soldiers.
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00:07:44,200 --> 00:07:47,360
They didn't sort of include
you in their conversations.
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"He's a new boy,
so he wouldn't understand it."
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But, eventually, I was accepted.
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And just as Trooper Solomon was
settling in,
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5th Tanks was told to make
ready for active service abroad.
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00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:05,880
CROWDS CHEER
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In June 1940, the Italian dictator,
Benito Mussolini,
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declared war on Britain.
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HE SPEAKS ITALIAN
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CROWDS CHEER
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His ambition was to conquer
British-occupied Egypt
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and the strategically vital
Suez Canal.
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00:08:36,640 --> 00:08:41,840
Libya, an Italian colony, provided
the launching pad for this invasion.
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00:08:45,720 --> 00:08:49,600
By the autumn of 1940, the men
of 5th Tanks were on their way
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to the Middle East to the Allied
garrison, protecting Egypt.
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00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,480
For some, it all seemed like
an adventure.
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00:09:00,520 --> 00:09:04,160
Well, I was excited about going
abroad and seeing the Middle East.
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00:09:05,440 --> 00:09:09,520
I was regarding it as a sort of
sightseeing tour,
more than anything.
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00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:20,800
On the morning of Christmas Eve,
1940, after almost two months
at sea,
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the 5th Tanks gathered
in the Egyptian port of Alexandria.
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00:09:29,160 --> 00:09:32,880
Far from home, each man
thought of those they'd left behind.
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00:09:37,040 --> 00:09:40,280
My mother, she was very upset
because I was going.
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She said to me, "Promise me,
Harry, that you'll come back."
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I said, "Yeah, I promise you,
I'll come back." And she was crying.
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I told her, "No, don't worry,
nobody there is going to kill me,
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"I'll come back."
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00:10:05,080 --> 00:10:08,760
At the front, a small force
of Allied troops was giving
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00:10:08,760 --> 00:10:11,120
the Italian invaders a beating.
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00:10:18,240 --> 00:10:25,040
For the loss of only 500,
British forces had turned the tide
and advanced into Libya.
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00:10:25,040 --> 00:10:28,240
News that cheered the newly landed
5th Tanks.
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When we arrived we'd heard they had
taken no end of Italian prisoners.
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00:10:36,160 --> 00:10:40,120
Everybody was very, sort of,
jubilant about it all,
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because I think it was possible
we weren't going to be needed.
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But if Gerry Solomon thought they
might be spared the unpleasantness
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of actual fighting, they were about
to think again.
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00:10:56,720 --> 00:11:00,960
In February 1941,
a battle-hardened German force
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00:11:00,960 --> 00:11:04,880
arrived in North Africa to
rescue their Italian allies.
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The Afrika Korps.
137
00:11:08,880 --> 00:11:12,120
Armed with better tanks than
the British, the Afrika Korps
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was led by a man who would change
the dynamic of desert warfare...
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..Erwin Rommel.
140
00:11:21,840 --> 00:11:25,960
Jake Wardrop described him
as the bold, bad policeman.
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00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:29,880
But he was more commonly
known as the Desert Fox.
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00:11:31,560 --> 00:11:36,240
The 5th Tanks had already
encountered Rommel in France.
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00:11:36,240 --> 00:11:42,440
But it was out here that the German
general's talents found
a perfect arena.
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It was, he wrote, "The only
theatre where the principles
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of motorised and tank warfare
could be applied to the full."
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And he had big plans for
the Afrika Korps -
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to conquer British Egypt and drive
onwards to the Arabian oil fields.
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On 24th March, 1941,
Rommel launched an offensive.
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British headquarters had believed
he wouldn't be ready for months.
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So when, on April Fools' Day,
the 5th Tanks were attacked,
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they had been told by their
commanders it could only be
the hapless Italians.
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We'd got in this ditch
and we saw some tanks coming,
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huge great tanks with big, black
crosses on them.
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I said, "Bloody Germans!"
We didn't have any Germans there.
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And then we see lorries coming
with Germans in them.
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So I went back and reported
and they wouldn't believe me.
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Company commander wouldn't believe
me. "There's no Germans there."
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I said, "Well, they are." The next
morning, we knew they were there.
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The tanks we had against theirs
was impossible.
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00:12:56,640 --> 00:12:59,160
They knew from bitter experience
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that British tanks such as the A-13,
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which had performed so poorly
in the battle for France,
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were simply no match
for the German Panzers.
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So, here it is - the A-13,
a tank that embodies everything
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that was worst about British
inter-war armoured vehicle design.
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It was overly ambitious
in its technology
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and shoddily executed
in the way it was manufactured.
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But the A-13 was also a death-trap
to the men of the 5th.
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Get inside one of these and you'll
see how hard that was to do.
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Or, more to the point, how hard it
was to get out of them in a hurry.
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And that, combined with
the thin armour,
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deprived the crew inside
of the sense of security
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that you might have
expected them to have.
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00:13:59,120 --> 00:14:03,880
The 5th were now facing an enemy
they simply weren't prepared for.
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00:14:05,840 --> 00:14:09,680
Their poorer tanks were
struck down by German shot.
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00:14:09,680 --> 00:14:12,920
They were assailed from the skies
by Stukas and Dorniers.
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00:14:14,120 --> 00:14:17,440
The British command structure
went to pieces.
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And, for some in the 5th,
it was their first taste of action.
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Once you get into battle, you think,
"Well, this is it. It's me or them."
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00:14:29,640 --> 00:14:33,640
Everybody was scared. Everybody was
sort of jittery and jumpy.
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When you're in a tank
and you're being fired at,
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it's quite frightening.
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Because you're sure that he's going
to hit you before you hit him.
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00:14:50,280 --> 00:14:52,960
I don't think
I ever prayed in the desert.
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00:14:55,000 --> 00:14:59,120
I often wondered afterwards
why I didn't.
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00:15:06,760 --> 00:15:11,080
What Gerry Solomon and the others in
5th Tank were up against again was
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00:15:11,080 --> 00:15:16,280
the superiority of the German mark
three, the Panzerkampfwagen III.
188
00:15:16,280 --> 00:15:19,440
It had several advantages
over British tanks.
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It weighed nearly twice as much
and most of that was armour.
190
00:15:23,560 --> 00:15:25,240
And it was more reliable.
191
00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:35,160
The mark three is very well
designed from the human perspective.
192
00:15:35,160 --> 00:15:40,280
The commander,
who sat in this position,
had fantastic all-round visibility -
193
00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:45,560
better, in fact, than I did in the
same slot on a Chieftain back on
Cold War exercises in the 1980s.
194
00:15:45,560 --> 00:15:48,520
He could also talk to other members
of the crew very easily.
195
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The gunner, for example, who sits
where I am. They've got very easy
eye contact and all the rest of it.
196
00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:58,360
And, if it does all go horribly
wrong, they've got escape hatches
there, behind me and in the hull.
197
00:15:58,360 --> 00:16:01,400
They can get out much faster
than the British crew could.
198
00:16:05,720 --> 00:16:08,520
As the German Panzers
overran the British lines,
199
00:16:08,520 --> 00:16:11,960
chaos and confusion
spread like wildfire.
200
00:16:13,880 --> 00:16:17,840
The funny thing was
I don't think I felt scared.
201
00:16:17,840 --> 00:16:22,720
I think I was more
worried about my crew.
202
00:16:22,720 --> 00:16:26,800
And I was telling
the driver where to go.
203
00:16:26,800 --> 00:16:30,840
And I felt disappointed
because we didn't have the power
204
00:16:30,840 --> 00:16:32,880
to knock Jerry tanks out.
205
00:16:36,720 --> 00:16:38,560
In the midst of this
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00:16:38,560 --> 00:16:42,840
was a veteran officer aged just 26.
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00:16:42,840 --> 00:16:44,720
Lieutenant Arthur Crickmay.
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00:16:46,240 --> 00:16:50,400
Arthur Crickmay understood
this landscape better than most.
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00:16:50,400 --> 00:16:56,000
Before the war, he'd been out here
with his best friend, Ted,
as students exploring.
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00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:59,560
Then he'd been posted ahead of
5th Tanks to another battalion
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00:16:59,560 --> 00:17:04,160
that was already "up the blue",
as the army called this wilderness.
212
00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:10,320
But he was dismayed at the failure
of those in charge,
213
00:17:10,320 --> 00:17:13,480
as his letters home show
so eloquently.
214
00:17:15,960 --> 00:17:20,520
"There was no information about what
was happening. Rumour was rife.
215
00:17:20,520 --> 00:17:23,280
"It was April 1 and no mistake.
216
00:17:23,280 --> 00:17:28,200
"As the Daily Mail would say,
'Let us draw a merciful feel
217
00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:31,560
" 'over the next six days
of muddle and confusion,
218
00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:33,560
" 'order and counter-order.'
219
00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:42,120
"My most vivid memory
is one of our tanks exploding.
220
00:17:42,120 --> 00:17:45,800
"All the ammo inside
must have gone up at once.
221
00:17:45,800 --> 00:17:48,440
"I've seen many tanks on fire,
222
00:17:48,440 --> 00:17:52,040
"but have never seen one go off
like that before or since.
223
00:17:52,040 --> 00:17:56,240
"The next few days were among
some of the most unpleasant
I can remember."
224
00:18:00,800 --> 00:18:04,440
Lieutenant Arthur Crickmay
understood only too well
225
00:18:04,440 --> 00:18:07,240
what happened when
a shell struck a tank.
226
00:18:07,240 --> 00:18:11,440
It was the fate that befell
so many of the men here.
227
00:18:11,440 --> 00:18:14,440
The projectile penetrating one side
228
00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:18,320
would lack the energy
to exit through the other,
229
00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,360
ricocheting about inside,
tearing people to pieces.
230
00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:27,240
If it struck ammunition or fuel,
a fire could soon take hold.
231
00:18:27,240 --> 00:18:32,080
Smoke and flames would billow from
the turret and, within 30 seconds,
232
00:18:32,080 --> 00:18:35,760
the temperature inside
could match that of a furnace.
233
00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,800
The crew would be incinerated.
234
00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:48,760
Rommel's blue-eyed boys, as Wardrop
called them, had in just over a week
235
00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:50,600
reversed British fortunes
236
00:18:50,600 --> 00:18:54,240
and regained all the territory
the Italians had lost.
237
00:18:55,880 --> 00:18:58,120
Rommel was good, of course he was,
238
00:18:58,120 --> 00:19:02,760
but in this attack he hardly
had to be brilliant. And here's why.
239
00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:09,080
Of 5 RTR's 52 tanks, nine had
been destroyed by the Germans,
240
00:19:09,080 --> 00:19:11,400
two had limped into Tobruk,
241
00:19:11,400 --> 00:19:16,800
and the rest - 41 of them -
had broken down in the desert.
242
00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:19,440
How good did the Afrika Korps
have to be
243
00:19:19,440 --> 00:19:22,080
when the British had tanks
like that?
244
00:19:25,160 --> 00:19:29,240
We were quite aware of the
specifications of the German tanks.
245
00:19:29,240 --> 00:19:32,000
All their tanks had longer barrels
246
00:19:32,000 --> 00:19:35,280
which meant higher velocity
for AP rounds.
247
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,760
And we never really caught up
until late in the war.
248
00:19:43,600 --> 00:19:46,840
Outgunned and outmanoeuvred,
the 5th retreated
249
00:19:46,840 --> 00:19:51,280
to the only town in eastern Libya
that Rommel hadn't taken.
250
00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:53,160
Tobruk.
251
00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:58,440
Bereft of their tanks,
Corporal Finlayson and his crew
252
00:19:58,440 --> 00:20:01,480
were packed off to the trenches
as infantry.
253
00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:06,720
We were surrounded at Tobruk
at the time.
254
00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:11,640
And I was writing a letter
to my wife.
255
00:20:11,640 --> 00:20:17,120
And a mate of mine was writing -
one of the chaps was writing -
256
00:20:17,120 --> 00:20:19,160
a letter to his mother.
257
00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:23,280
And he said to me,
"If I don't come out of this,
will you post this letter for me?"
258
00:20:23,280 --> 00:20:27,280
I said, "Yeah. If I don't come out,
post this letter." He said yes.
259
00:20:27,280 --> 00:20:31,040
So we wrote these letters.
260
00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:33,240
And we were in a trench.
261
00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:35,400
We sat down there in the trench
writing,
262
00:20:35,400 --> 00:20:38,840
and when I had finished
I turned around and looked at him.
263
00:20:38,840 --> 00:20:41,680
He was lying there dead
with a bullet through his head.
264
00:20:43,840 --> 00:20:47,840
He was lying there, blood coming
out of his head there, he was dead.
265
00:20:47,840 --> 00:20:50,440
Oh, it was terrible.
266
00:20:52,040 --> 00:20:54,280
And he'd only half done this letter.
267
00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:57,240
I didn't know what the devil to do,
whether to send it or not.
268
00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:01,120
I thought, "No, I'd better not.
It wouldn't be nice." Horrible thing.
269
00:21:01,120 --> 00:21:04,480
He was writing that and died,
so I thought I'd better not.
270
00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:06,280
So I didn't send it.
271
00:21:06,280 --> 00:21:08,320
I did get in touch with the mother
272
00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:10,520
and told them I was with him
when he died.
273
00:21:12,600 --> 00:21:16,200
I said he didn't suffer,
he was killed outright.
274
00:21:21,920 --> 00:21:24,760
After weeks of being trapped
in Tobruk,
275
00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:29,200
the 5th Tanks were delivered
from that hell by the Royal Navy,
276
00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:31,880
taking their chances
with the dive bombers
277
00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:35,920
and leaving the port to be defended
by the Australians.
278
00:21:37,040 --> 00:21:40,400
By the time they returned
to the comparative sanity
279
00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:44,880
of their base outside Alexandria,
it was the end of spring.
280
00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,080
Having arrived at Christmas,
281
00:21:47,080 --> 00:21:52,000
they'd yet to experience the
roasting heat of an Egyptian summer.
282
00:21:52,000 --> 00:21:54,400
Water was always an issue.
283
00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:57,880
Water was rationed in the desert.
284
00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:02,160
Each man got about this much
to last 24 hours.
285
00:22:02,160 --> 00:22:06,120
That's if supplies got through -
that was often a big if -
286
00:22:06,120 --> 00:22:09,440
and if they didn't have a leaking
radiator on their tank
287
00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:11,280
that they had to pour some in.
288
00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:14,120
On their first march
through the desert,
289
00:22:14,120 --> 00:22:18,160
some of the men in 5th Tanks
became so desperately thirsty
290
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:21,440
that they tore the seat cushions
from their vehicles,
291
00:22:21,440 --> 00:22:24,880
left them in the desert overnight
to collect dew
292
00:22:24,880 --> 00:22:28,240
and wrung them out into their mouths
in the morning.
293
00:22:28,240 --> 00:22:32,600
It tasted disgusting,
but what choice did they have?
294
00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:38,680
Some reprieve from the hardships
of the desert
295
00:22:38,680 --> 00:22:42,240
came when the 5th
were given leave in Alexandria.
296
00:22:42,240 --> 00:22:47,440
This allowed them to indulge
in a little of what they fancied.
297
00:22:47,440 --> 00:22:52,560
Jake Wardrop headed to one of his
favourite haunts, The Golden Bar.
298
00:22:52,560 --> 00:22:55,960
"At 9am, we hit the place.
299
00:22:55,960 --> 00:23:01,040
"And at 5am the following morning,
we decided to call it a day.
300
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:04,800
"What a time. A notable session."
301
00:23:08,680 --> 00:23:12,000
Well, Jake Wardrop survived
that particular visit
302
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,440
to The Golden Bar without a scrap.
303
00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:18,080
In his diary, he's rather coy
about how many beatings
304
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,560
he did in fact hand out.
305
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,640
But we know from others
there were quite a few.
306
00:23:23,640 --> 00:23:28,840
Wardrop himself said
he couldn't resist tweaking
the noses of those in authority.
307
00:23:28,840 --> 00:23:31,120
And soon after he'd got to Egypt,
308
00:23:31,120 --> 00:23:35,560
he was court martialled for a
noisy drinking session in his tent.
309
00:23:35,560 --> 00:23:37,680
Officers came to the view that
310
00:23:37,680 --> 00:23:41,240
Wardrop was one of those men
best kept in the field.
311
00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,800
Jake Wardrop was a very nice fellow.
312
00:23:46,800 --> 00:23:51,200
But he was a bit rough,
if you know what I mean.
313
00:23:51,200 --> 00:23:54,760
And, according to what I'd heard,
314
00:23:54,760 --> 00:23:57,720
he was nothing but
a source of trouble.
315
00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,360
You know, he would be
lance corporal one day
316
00:24:01,360 --> 00:24:06,440
and a week or two later,
he'd go out and get drunk
317
00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:10,480
and sort of smash places up
and he'd be back to a trooper.
318
00:24:11,720 --> 00:24:14,440
But, of course,
he was quite fearless.
319
00:24:18,080 --> 00:24:22,400
But while Jake and the boys enjoyed
the drinking dives of Alexandria,
320
00:24:22,400 --> 00:24:26,160
everyone understood that
in order to beat the Afrika Korps,
321
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,800
the 5th and the rest
of the British forces
322
00:24:28,800 --> 00:24:31,120
were going to need
some new hardware.
323
00:24:33,240 --> 00:24:39,000
On 22 July, the 5th Tanks received
some new American-made armour.
324
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:42,480
The M3 Stuart -
or, more commonly, the Honey.
325
00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:49,520
The old sweats cast a hard eye over
this new American import, the Honey.
326
00:24:49,520 --> 00:24:52,360
And in some ways it was quite
similar to the British tanks
327
00:24:52,360 --> 00:24:55,760
they were used to. Same
sort of weight, about 12 tonnes,
328
00:24:55,760 --> 00:24:58,040
37mm gun also similar.
329
00:24:58,040 --> 00:25:00,080
But the really key difference
330
00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:03,440
was that the Americans used
off-the-shelf technology
331
00:25:03,440 --> 00:25:05,760
and that made it much more reliable.
332
00:25:05,760 --> 00:25:07,560
The suspension - look at this -
333
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:11,680
came from a tractor that had been
built in America in the '30s.
334
00:25:11,680 --> 00:25:15,840
And the engine was from a fighter
plane. It was a radial piston.
335
00:25:15,840 --> 00:25:17,480
Now, what all of that meant was
336
00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:20,560
it would keep going for far longer
and far less trouble.
337
00:25:20,560 --> 00:25:24,120
And a nice side effect
of the air-cooled engine,
338
00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:27,240
you didn't need water -
very precious in the desert -
339
00:25:27,240 --> 00:25:32,560
and it sucked its air through the
crew compartment - air conditioning.
340
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:39,920
For the men of the 5th Tanks, the
Honey was to be tested to the limit
341
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:43,320
in one of the most visceral battles
of their war so far.
342
00:25:43,320 --> 00:25:45,960
Operation Crusader.
343
00:25:49,640 --> 00:25:55,200
On 18 November 1941, after
four long months of preparation,
344
00:25:55,200 --> 00:25:58,920
the 5th Tanks crossed
the border into Libya.
345
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:01,000
As part of
the 7th Armoured Division,
346
00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,640
they were in a 750-tank army,
347
00:26:03,640 --> 00:26:07,320
twice that of the Axis Forces
put together.
348
00:26:07,320 --> 00:26:09,760
They also had generous air support.
349
00:26:12,360 --> 00:26:15,000
Their mission was ambitious -
350
00:26:15,000 --> 00:26:17,120
to retake eastern Libya,
351
00:26:17,120 --> 00:26:20,320
relieve Tobruk,
and destroy the Afrika Korps.
352
00:26:21,520 --> 00:26:26,440
To do this, they hoped to envelop
the Axis Forces along the frontier
353
00:26:26,440 --> 00:26:28,960
with a great left armoured hook.
354
00:26:28,960 --> 00:26:32,160
This would bring them up close to
the Tobruk garrison
355
00:26:32,160 --> 00:26:34,120
which would then break out
to meet them.
356
00:26:34,120 --> 00:26:36,960
The Afrika Korps would be trapped
357
00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:40,200
between Tobruk
and the Egyptian border.
358
00:26:41,840 --> 00:26:45,080
Churchill signalled the importance
of the battle to come.
359
00:26:45,080 --> 00:26:47,520
He said, "For the first time,
360
00:26:47,520 --> 00:26:52,320
"British and Empire troops will meet
the Germans with modern weapons.
361
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:56,280
"The battle will affect
the whole course of the war.
362
00:26:56,280 --> 00:27:00,320
"The desert army may be able to
write a page in history
363
00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:03,760
"that will rank with Blenheim
and Waterloo.
364
00:27:03,760 --> 00:27:06,600
"All of our hearts go with you."
365
00:27:12,120 --> 00:27:15,520
Within two days of crossing
the border, the 5th Tanks had
366
00:27:15,520 --> 00:27:20,760
bypassed their enemy's frontline and
advanced an extraordinary 150 miles.
367
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,920
When we got the Honeys,
368
00:27:24,920 --> 00:27:29,240
that was when we really started
to get involved in the fighting.
369
00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:32,200
The Honey was a very
manoeuvrable tank,
370
00:27:32,200 --> 00:27:34,960
it could get in places where
others could not get.
371
00:27:37,880 --> 00:27:41,480
The Honey's speed and reliability
helped the 5th rush ahead
372
00:27:41,480 --> 00:27:44,760
to the airfield of Sidi Rezegh
near Tobruk.
373
00:27:44,760 --> 00:27:48,280
The British seized it with
a surprise attack,
374
00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:52,160
but soon that success turned
sour as British commanders
375
00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:55,120
decided that the tactic
of rushing the Germans,
376
00:27:55,120 --> 00:27:59,200
rather like the charge of the Light
Brigade, might keep working.
377
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:07,360
Balaclava charges, rushing towards
the enemy, were a tactic
378
00:28:07,360 --> 00:28:10,560
frequently used by British
tank regiments in the desert.
379
00:28:12,040 --> 00:28:16,120
To Jake Wardrop and his mates,
that was absolute madness.
380
00:28:16,120 --> 00:28:21,240
A - because it did not work,
and B - because it cost lives.
381
00:28:24,320 --> 00:28:28,240
"It was decided to give them
the good old charge again.
382
00:28:28,240 --> 00:28:31,720
"Quite frankly, I was not so strong
for this charging business,
383
00:28:31,720 --> 00:28:34,200
"although we continued to do it.
384
00:28:34,200 --> 00:28:39,440
"Off we went. We went storming
right into these tanks,
firing as we went."
385
00:28:43,840 --> 00:28:48,600
Rommel had to break out of the
British encirclement or face defeat.
386
00:28:48,600 --> 00:28:52,640
Sidi Rezegh became the focus
of his efforts.
387
00:28:52,640 --> 00:28:55,160
Anti-tank guns
and tanks slugged it out.
388
00:29:02,320 --> 00:29:05,000
It was like a scene from
the Apocalypse.
389
00:29:07,040 --> 00:29:09,000
My tank was hit.
390
00:29:09,000 --> 00:29:12,160
It immediately went up into flames.
391
00:29:13,960 --> 00:29:18,880
One of the crew scrambled
out of the tank, and he was...
392
00:29:18,880 --> 00:29:24,320
What little bit of clothing
he had left was still flaming.
393
00:29:24,320 --> 00:29:27,680
And, er...
394
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:32,560
he, when we managed to
get to him and tend to him,
395
00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:39,040
his skin had all rolled off,
curled up and rolled off.
396
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:46,400
We thought we'd go and look in the
burnt-out tank, and we looked down
397
00:29:46,400 --> 00:29:52,400
and there was a bleached skeleton,
right across the floor of the tank.
398
00:29:52,400 --> 00:30:00,080
There was just these steel-rimmed
glasses on the skull.
399
00:30:00,080 --> 00:30:01,080
There.
400
00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:07,840
Gerry Solomon had received
a salutary lesson
401
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:11,680
in the limitations
of the popgun, as he and the others
402
00:30:11,680 --> 00:30:16,520
started calling the 37mm cannon
mounted on their Honey tanks.
403
00:30:16,520 --> 00:30:17,760
It fired one of these,
404
00:30:17,760 --> 00:30:21,200
and in order to have a decent chance
of knocking out a German
405
00:30:21,200 --> 00:30:25,400
armoured vehicle, you had to get to
within about 800 yards of it.
406
00:30:25,400 --> 00:30:28,560
All the time you were trying to do
that, you could be under
407
00:30:28,560 --> 00:30:33,680
fire from an 88mm German gun
with a range of two miles.
408
00:30:34,840 --> 00:30:37,640
It fired one of these.
409
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:48,600
Desperate to avoid defeat, the Axis
troops attacked again and again.
410
00:30:48,600 --> 00:30:53,080
It became a grim slugging match,
a battle of attrition in which
411
00:30:53,080 --> 00:30:57,600
superior German guns and armour
began to tell.
412
00:30:57,600 --> 00:31:02,480
As regards firepower, the Honey was
inadequate against the German
armour,
413
00:31:02,480 --> 00:31:07,320
which was three
or four inches thick.
414
00:31:07,320 --> 00:31:09,120
The shells would just bounce off.
415
00:31:13,440 --> 00:31:17,280
By the evening of the 21st November,
5th Tanks had been
416
00:31:17,280 --> 00:31:21,400
sucked into the desperate fighting
on Sidi Rezegh airfield.
417
00:31:21,400 --> 00:31:24,360
One of the commanders there,
Brigadier Jock Campbell,
418
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,600
took matters into his own hands.
419
00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:39,000
At the height of the battle,
Brigadier Jock Campbell
420
00:31:39,000 --> 00:31:44,080
appeared through a hail of shot
and shell in an open-top staff car
421
00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:47,720
and urged the 5th Tanks' Honeys
to follow him forward.
422
00:31:47,720 --> 00:31:52,000
It was an act of courage bordering
on madness, for which he won the VC.
423
00:31:53,320 --> 00:31:56,880
But an officer from the 5th Tanks
tried to stop him,
424
00:31:56,880 --> 00:31:59,280
and Brigadier Campbell
drew his revolver,
425
00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:02,360
telling the officer that the tank
men had been sent there
426
00:32:02,360 --> 00:32:06,000
to die anyway, and if he got in
the way he would shoot him.
427
00:32:12,920 --> 00:32:15,600
The price of this attack was heavy.
428
00:32:15,600 --> 00:32:18,600
When Harry Finlayson's tank was
knocked out that night,
429
00:32:18,600 --> 00:32:22,360
he joined the list of those
missing in action.
430
00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:29,640
They just put a shell on my engine
and blew it up.
431
00:32:29,640 --> 00:32:32,400
That was it, we were right
in the middle of the German lines,
432
00:32:32,400 --> 00:32:33,680
we couldn't do anything else.
433
00:32:34,840 --> 00:32:37,400
I stood on the top of the tank,
put my hands out,
434
00:32:37,400 --> 00:32:41,640
when they came round surrounding us,
I got my crew out
435
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:47,080
and the German officer said,
for you, the war is over.
436
00:32:51,800 --> 00:32:55,000
After weeks of fighting,
Rommel battered his way
437
00:32:55,000 --> 00:32:59,640
out of the Allied trap, saving
the Afrika Korps from destruction.
438
00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:02,480
In early December,
the British relieved Tobruk
439
00:33:02,480 --> 00:33:06,320
and completed the reconquest
of eastern Libya.
440
00:33:06,320 --> 00:33:10,160
The 8th Army had
succeeded in two out of three aims,
441
00:33:10,160 --> 00:33:13,680
but Rommel's escape
and the scale of the slaughter
442
00:33:13,680 --> 00:33:18,560
meant its soldiers were hardly
in a mood to celebrate.
443
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,160
Arthur Crickmay had lost
his best friend.
444
00:33:22,800 --> 00:33:27,840
The operation as a whole can only be
described as a gigantic cock-up.
445
00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:33,160
We won in the end, but at what cost?
446
00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,920
Returning from the front,
the men of 5 RTR lost themselves
447
00:33:39,920 --> 00:33:44,320
in the bars and brothels
of Alexandria and Cairo.
448
00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:49,440
Having garrisoned
the country for 60 years,
449
00:33:49,440 --> 00:33:53,680
the British Army knew
plenty about Egypt's brothels.
450
00:33:53,680 --> 00:33:55,320
They gave the men condoms
451
00:33:55,320 --> 00:33:58,960
and brought doctors to inspect
the prostitutes for VD.
452
00:33:58,960 --> 00:34:03,680
In the 1930s, a certain lieutenant
colonel, Bernard Montgomery,
453
00:34:03,680 --> 00:34:05,480
who we will meet again soon,
454
00:34:05,480 --> 00:34:10,120
had insisted on medical inspections
of this kind, because he said
455
00:34:10,120 --> 00:34:14,400
his men absolutely required
their horizontal refreshment.
456
00:34:17,480 --> 00:34:23,920
Horizontal R&R and heavy drinking
provided short-lived catharsis
457
00:34:23,920 --> 00:34:26,320
for those in 5 RTR,
458
00:34:26,320 --> 00:34:29,440
who'd come through the meat grinder
of Operation Crusader.
459
00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:31,800
For many in the 5th Tanks,
460
00:34:31,800 --> 00:34:37,000
Sidi Rezegh marked their first real
taste of the bitter reality of war.
461
00:34:37,000 --> 00:34:41,840
For anyone still with the Battalion
who thought the war was
462
00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:45,560
a bit of a lark,
illusions had been shattered.
463
00:34:45,560 --> 00:34:47,720
They now wanted vengeance.
464
00:34:52,320 --> 00:34:57,440
Vengeance for the 5th came
in early 1942 in the form
465
00:34:57,440 --> 00:34:59,000
of new tanks from Uncle Sam.
466
00:35:07,000 --> 00:35:10,040
There's nothing quite like a bit
of American overkill,
467
00:35:10,040 --> 00:35:12,280
and this is a monster.
468
00:35:12,280 --> 00:35:16,360
It weighs in at 26 tonnes,
and look at the height of it.
469
00:35:16,360 --> 00:35:20,400
But the most important feature
was the arsenal of weapons.
470
00:35:20,400 --> 00:35:22,720
It's got the same
37mm popgun up there
471
00:35:22,720 --> 00:35:24,960
in the turret that the Honey had,
472
00:35:24,960 --> 00:35:29,560
but the key thing is that it mounts
this 75mm cannon here.
473
00:35:29,560 --> 00:35:32,960
This, for the first time, allowed
the British tank crews to knock
474
00:35:32,960 --> 00:35:38,240
out not just Panzers, but anti-tank
guns using high explosive shells.
475
00:35:38,240 --> 00:35:42,160
It also has machine guns in the hull
and on the turret.
476
00:35:42,160 --> 00:35:45,960
One British commander
described its arrival in the desert
477
00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:48,840
as being like the shift
from sail to steel.
478
00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:57,920
Men were moving on, too -
Arthur Crickmay was sent to Burma
479
00:35:57,920 --> 00:36:01,640
and Gerry Solomon, the former grocer
and one-time rookie,
480
00:36:01,640 --> 00:36:04,080
was now a corporal
commanding a tank.
481
00:36:07,720 --> 00:36:12,600
Jake Wardrop, despite his longer
service, was still just a driver.
482
00:36:14,960 --> 00:36:18,320
The Allied front was settled on the
Gazala line.
483
00:36:19,560 --> 00:36:23,360
It stretched from Gazala
on the coast to the old
484
00:36:23,360 --> 00:36:27,000
Turkish fortress of Bir Hacheim,
40-odd miles to the south.
485
00:36:27,920 --> 00:36:30,320
But this was a risky position.
486
00:36:30,320 --> 00:36:36,760
The Gazala line didn't extend all
the way to the impassable
sands of the Sahara.
487
00:36:36,760 --> 00:36:38,720
This open flank had been left
488
00:36:38,720 --> 00:36:40,840
to allow the British to resume
489
00:36:40,840 --> 00:36:46,120
their advance, unless the Germans
went inland and used it first.
490
00:36:49,880 --> 00:36:56,160
On the afternoon of 26 May, 1942,
Rommel attacked the Gazala line.
491
00:36:56,160 --> 00:37:00,600
His artillery pinned the Allied
troops close to the sea, while his
492
00:37:00,600 --> 00:37:04,680
armoured divisions were sent south
of the Gazala line to attack their
flank.
493
00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:16,400
On the morning of 27 May, 5 RTR
were told to pack up and get ready.
494
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:23,680
"The Bosch were not far away now,
and we had to keep an eye on them.
495
00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:28,360
"I got up, had a wash,
shave, cleaned my teeth
and slicked my hair up.
496
00:37:28,360 --> 00:37:32,240
"In fact, it used to be quite a
ritual with us to get queened up,
497
00:37:32,240 --> 00:37:36,160
"as though we were going to the Plaza
when we had a date with Erwin."
498
00:37:41,160 --> 00:37:45,280
Throughout the small hours,
reports had been flying around that
499
00:37:45,280 --> 00:37:49,640
something very sizeable was going
on to the south of the Gazala line.
500
00:37:51,120 --> 00:37:55,360
At 7.30pm, the order came through
to move to battle positions.
501
00:37:57,800 --> 00:38:01,680
Five minutes later, the Honeys
and the new Grants lurched forward.
502
00:38:15,080 --> 00:38:18,720
In the confusion of a desert battle,
your enemy could be two miles away,
503
00:38:18,720 --> 00:38:23,000
and you have to scan the horizon
with the utmost attention.
504
00:38:23,000 --> 00:38:25,840
A kick of dust was a gun firing.
505
00:38:26,880 --> 00:38:30,840
A second or two later,
a sound like ripping paper announced
506
00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:34,160
a high-velocity round
flashing past you or overhead.
507
00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:40,840
If the light burning in its tail
was red, it was British fire.
508
00:38:40,840 --> 00:38:44,120
If it was green or yellow,
it was enemy.
509
00:38:44,120 --> 00:38:46,320
Registering those fleeting sights
510
00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:50,240
and sounds could make all the
difference between life and death.
511
00:39:03,680 --> 00:39:07,240
The hot, dry wind, which was
so unpleasant that the Arabs
512
00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:11,400
claimed it was enough to excuse
murder, started to blow as well.
513
00:39:14,400 --> 00:39:17,920
British commanders had been
caught by surprise.
514
00:39:17,920 --> 00:39:22,880
In the unfolding mayhem of confused
close-range fights, the generals'
515
00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:27,400
habit of keeping ordinary tank crews
in the dark cost them dear.
516
00:39:32,080 --> 00:39:35,960
It was very confusing, you could not
get any definite information.
517
00:39:35,960 --> 00:39:38,760
They didn't want you to have
information, in case
518
00:39:38,760 --> 00:39:42,240
you got captured
and you gave it away.
519
00:39:42,240 --> 00:39:44,400
They kept information from you.
520
00:39:45,520 --> 00:39:48,120
They only told you what
they wanted you to know.
521
00:39:54,240 --> 00:39:58,080
On the 2nd June, the 5th Tanks
suffered their worst day of the war.
522
00:39:58,080 --> 00:40:02,680
Only eight Honeys
and one Grant returned from battle.
523
00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:07,200
Some 51 officers and men of tank
crews were dead or missing.
524
00:40:10,800 --> 00:40:15,520
The surviving officers decided to
fortify their men by a method
525
00:40:15,520 --> 00:40:18,400
used since antiquity, a rum ration.
526
00:40:22,880 --> 00:40:25,680
Alcohol might have numbed them
temporarily,
527
00:40:25,680 --> 00:40:28,960
but the grim reality
got clearer by the day.
528
00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:32,200
The Gazala line had collapsed.
529
00:40:35,800 --> 00:40:42,560
On 21 June, 1942, Tobruk's garrison
of 30,000 surrendered.
530
00:40:42,560 --> 00:40:48,240
After trying to take the city for
two years, Rommel was triumphant.
531
00:40:53,400 --> 00:40:56,120
The British Army
was now in full retreat,
532
00:40:56,120 --> 00:40:59,600
having been out-gunned,
out-manoeuvred, and out-generalled.
533
00:41:00,680 --> 00:41:04,680
Those in charge called it
a strategic withdrawal,
534
00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:07,680
but this was a disaster
by any other name.
535
00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:12,240
Just a few weeks before,
the British had built up a huge
536
00:41:12,240 --> 00:41:15,880
superiority in weapons,
and were poised to mount their own
537
00:41:15,880 --> 00:41:19,640
offensive, yet now
they were in headlong retreat.
538
00:41:19,640 --> 00:41:25,880
How had it happened? Many soldiers
had a one-word explanation, Rommel.
539
00:41:25,880 --> 00:41:29,960
It's true the conduct
of his campaign had been brilliant.
540
00:41:29,960 --> 00:41:33,160
In my view,
the only one in the desert war where
541
00:41:33,160 --> 00:41:36,440
he really deserved
his stellar reputation.
542
00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:40,120
But the real failure was that
of British military leadership.
543
00:41:43,920 --> 00:41:47,640
While Rommel basked in glory,
Churchill was desperate.
544
00:41:49,160 --> 00:41:53,440
He wrote, "Defeat is one thing,
disgrace is another."
545
00:41:57,440 --> 00:42:00,760
5 RTR had to be rebuilt -
and quickly.
546
00:42:00,760 --> 00:42:04,600
Dozens of new recruits arrived,
like Bill Chorley
547
00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:09,200
and fellow conscript Bob Lay,
both in their early 20s.
548
00:42:10,480 --> 00:42:13,000
Bill and I were in the same tank.
549
00:42:13,000 --> 00:42:16,600
I was the operator
and Bill was a gunner
550
00:42:16,600 --> 00:42:20,800
and because of the loneliness
551
00:42:20,800 --> 00:42:23,720
of the desert, your social life was
552
00:42:23,720 --> 00:42:27,360
limited to your crew every day.
553
00:42:27,360 --> 00:42:28,800
You knew everything,
554
00:42:28,800 --> 00:42:31,840
everything there was
to know about each other.
555
00:42:33,760 --> 00:42:37,720
And you had a very,
very good bond with them.
556
00:42:41,200 --> 00:42:44,040
"Bob Lay has been with me
since I joined up.
557
00:42:44,040 --> 00:42:45,760
"We spent six weeks at base.
558
00:42:45,760 --> 00:42:48,080
"Most of the time was taken up
559
00:42:48,080 --> 00:42:50,560
"on wireless and driving courses.
560
00:42:50,560 --> 00:42:55,000
"This was our introduction to the
desert. It was a rough do, there."
561
00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:06,280
By 30th June 1942,
the British had fallen back to
562
00:43:06,280 --> 00:43:11,240
the only defensible line between
the frontier and the Nile Delta,
563
00:43:11,240 --> 00:43:14,760
a railway halt just 60 miles
from Alexandria,
564
00:43:14,760 --> 00:43:16,320
El Alamein.
565
00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:22,840
The geography of the North African
coast offers very few places
566
00:43:22,840 --> 00:43:25,240
where you can make a stand.
567
00:43:25,240 --> 00:43:28,920
If you put in a blocking position
on the coastal strip,
568
00:43:28,920 --> 00:43:33,400
people can simply go round
on the inland side and bypass it
569
00:43:33,400 --> 00:43:35,800
and that's what Rommel did
time and again.
570
00:43:35,800 --> 00:43:39,880
This is one of the few places
that's different, Alamein.
571
00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:41,320
Inland, there's the
572
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:43,760
Qattara Depression, an impassable
573
00:43:43,760 --> 00:43:45,880
area of sand dunes that Rommel
574
00:43:45,880 --> 00:43:48,120
simply couldn't get through.
575
00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:50,880
This is where the British
chose to fight.
576
00:43:54,720 --> 00:43:58,760
And Churchill decided that for
this battle the Desert Army needed
577
00:43:58,760 --> 00:44:01,200
a clean sweep at the top.
578
00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:05,560
His senior generals had presided
over woeful failure.
579
00:44:05,560 --> 00:44:08,480
They hadn't delivered
the victory he so craved
580
00:44:08,480 --> 00:44:10,040
and that Britain so needed.
581
00:44:11,280 --> 00:44:14,680
On 20th August, he made
a personal appearance in the desert.
582
00:44:16,600 --> 00:44:19,280
'We felt very proud and honoured
when Churchill came
583
00:44:19,280 --> 00:44:22,040
'and he was all praise for us.'
584
00:44:22,040 --> 00:44:25,800
We knew very well
the job wasn't done.
585
00:44:25,800 --> 00:44:28,400
We had to go and make sure
586
00:44:28,400 --> 00:44:30,080
the enemy was out of the desert.
587
00:44:32,480 --> 00:44:34,160
Churchill was joined by
588
00:44:34,160 --> 00:44:37,400
Lieutenant General
Bernard Montgomery.
589
00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:39,800
The Times newspaper reported that,
590
00:44:39,800 --> 00:44:42,320
"It may well be that historians will
591
00:44:42,320 --> 00:44:46,400
"point to this date as decisive in
determining the course of the war."
592
00:44:52,160 --> 00:44:54,760
The one great thing
that Montgomery did
593
00:44:54,760 --> 00:44:57,080
was to ensure that
594
00:44:57,080 --> 00:45:01,320
everybody knew what
the opposition was,
595
00:45:01,320 --> 00:45:04,000
what the objectives were,
596
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:08,040
so we had a concept of what
was expected of us.
597
00:45:08,040 --> 00:45:11,880
He was the type of man who would
say, "You want me to beat the
598
00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:14,560
"Germans in the desert,
599
00:45:14,560 --> 00:45:19,440
"you must give me enough tanks
and men to do it.
600
00:45:19,440 --> 00:45:22,040
"And they are not going to
do it until you do."
601
00:45:22,040 --> 00:45:23,560
That was his attitude.
602
00:45:23,560 --> 00:45:25,720
And so it was.
603
00:45:25,720 --> 00:45:28,640
We couldn't believe the amount
of stuff that was coming up there.
604
00:45:33,560 --> 00:45:36,680
Monty also had a real
flair for publicity.
605
00:45:36,680 --> 00:45:41,080
He took to wearing a black RTR beret
with the regimental tank badge
606
00:45:41,080 --> 00:45:43,280
next to his general's one,
607
00:45:43,280 --> 00:45:48,920
as a sort of sign of respect for men
like Gerry Solomon and Bob Lay.
608
00:45:48,920 --> 00:45:53,600
As to what they made of him,
that was a more complex issue.
609
00:45:53,600 --> 00:45:57,200
Many relished the change in
atmosphere that his arrival brought,
610
00:45:57,200 --> 00:46:00,880
but equally, they couldn't forget
that he might send them
611
00:46:00,880 --> 00:46:04,600
to their deaths and he didn't
really understand tank warfare.
612
00:46:08,360 --> 00:46:11,520
But what Montgomery did understand
was that Rommel could be
613
00:46:11,520 --> 00:46:13,880
relied upon to try the tactics
614
00:46:13,880 --> 00:46:16,560
he'd used so effectively before.
615
00:46:16,560 --> 00:46:18,520
And Monty had a plan.
616
00:46:18,520 --> 00:46:23,000
He would secure his inland flank
south of Alamein at a ridge
617
00:46:23,000 --> 00:46:24,600
called Alam Halfa.
618
00:46:30,320 --> 00:46:33,160
During the early hours of
31st August,
619
00:46:33,160 --> 00:46:35,760
the Germans were sighted
moving north.
620
00:46:35,760 --> 00:46:38,840
British intelligence
had pinpointed the time
621
00:46:38,840 --> 00:46:41,320
and place of this thrust
with precision.
622
00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:45,040
Alam Halfa arose
623
00:46:45,040 --> 00:46:49,800
because Rommel liked to make
surprise attacks in force
624
00:46:49,800 --> 00:46:53,440
and at speed.
625
00:46:53,440 --> 00:46:56,200
We had Enigma then
626
00:46:56,200 --> 00:46:58,920
and we prepared for it.
627
00:47:02,480 --> 00:47:05,560
Rommel assumed that he had
a clear desert ahead
628
00:47:05,560 --> 00:47:08,600
and that he could repeat
his Gazala success,
629
00:47:08,600 --> 00:47:13,560
hardly imagining that it was now
his turn to waltz into an ambush.
630
00:47:20,800 --> 00:47:24,880
Waiting for him were,
among others, 5 RTR.
631
00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:30,040
And we waited
632
00:47:30,040 --> 00:47:32,880
and he appeared.
633
00:47:32,880 --> 00:47:37,120
We let him come on and when he was
634
00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:38,960
in range, we let him have it.
635
00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:47,320
It was at Alam Halfa that the
636
00:47:47,320 --> 00:47:50,960
desert war reached
its real turning point.
637
00:47:50,960 --> 00:47:54,400
The British brigade had been
deployed along this ridge,
638
00:47:54,400 --> 00:47:57,360
slap bang in the path of
a German Panzer division,
639
00:47:57,360 --> 00:47:59,280
advancing from the south.
640
00:48:06,400 --> 00:48:09,920
In a couple of hours, its integrated
defence of artillery,
641
00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:12,480
anti-tank guns and
the Grants of 5th Tanks,
642
00:48:12,480 --> 00:48:14,400
took apart the Panzer division.
643
00:48:18,360 --> 00:48:21,000
Rommel had tried his old trick,
644
00:48:21,000 --> 00:48:24,440
out-flanking from
the inland side, and failed.
645
00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:26,320
He'd been beaten at his own game.
646
00:48:28,960 --> 00:48:33,000
One endeavoured to get as close
to the enemy as possible,
647
00:48:33,000 --> 00:48:35,200
so that your gun was in range
648
00:48:35,200 --> 00:48:38,480
and could knock him out.
649
00:48:46,000 --> 00:48:49,440
The Battle Of Alam Halfa
lasted just over a week.
650
00:48:50,880 --> 00:48:54,120
Alam Halfa was a significant battle
651
00:48:54,120 --> 00:48:57,400
for the 5th RTR, because we'd
652
00:48:57,400 --> 00:48:59,920
adopted new tactics
653
00:48:59,920 --> 00:49:04,280
and we'd given the Panzer division
a good hiding.
654
00:49:09,040 --> 00:49:11,880
With his supply situation precarious
655
00:49:11,880 --> 00:49:14,320
and superior Allied firepower,
656
00:49:14,320 --> 00:49:16,480
Rommel fell back to regroup.
657
00:49:26,960 --> 00:49:29,600
While the Afrika Korps
licked its wounds,
658
00:49:29,600 --> 00:49:33,960
British forces rehearsed every
detail for the battle ahead.
659
00:49:33,960 --> 00:49:38,360
5th Tanks, exhausted after
two years of fighting,
660
00:49:38,360 --> 00:49:40,840
were asked whether
they were still up for it.
661
00:49:42,040 --> 00:49:43,320
"A parade was called
662
00:49:43,320 --> 00:49:45,960
"and we were given the choice
of going to Cairo
663
00:49:45,960 --> 00:49:47,600
"and missing the push,
664
00:49:47,600 --> 00:49:50,160
"or staying on the blue
and taking part in it.
665
00:49:51,560 --> 00:49:54,840
"At the end of his speech,
we were asked to step forward
666
00:49:54,840 --> 00:49:56,080
"if we wanted to stay...
667
00:49:57,520 --> 00:49:59,920
"..and the whole battalion
took a pace forward."
668
00:50:03,760 --> 00:50:06,640
Having rededicated
themselves to the fight,
669
00:50:06,640 --> 00:50:10,520
the 5th Tanks came back out
to the Alamein position.
670
00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:14,200
Montgomery had received vital
strategic intelligence from
671
00:50:14,200 --> 00:50:17,600
intercepted German communications -
Ultra.
672
00:50:17,600 --> 00:50:20,480
He also had hundreds of new tanks,
673
00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:22,000
ample supplies
674
00:50:22,000 --> 00:50:24,760
and substantial RAF support.
675
00:50:24,760 --> 00:50:28,760
It was time for the 8th Army
to take the offensive.
676
00:50:34,280 --> 00:50:38,720
At 1900 hours, on 23 October 1942,
677
00:50:38,720 --> 00:50:45,120
220,000 men and over 1,000 Allied
tanks lined up along the front.
678
00:50:48,560 --> 00:50:52,600
The long-awaited British assault
to smash Axis forces
679
00:50:52,600 --> 00:50:57,600
and then drive them out of Africa
altogether was about to start.
680
00:51:01,880 --> 00:51:04,920
To achieve this, the enemy needed
681
00:51:04,920 --> 00:51:06,600
a bit of softening up.
682
00:51:10,560 --> 00:51:13,280
EXPLOSIONS
683
00:51:18,760 --> 00:51:22,800
The sky was illuminated by
continuous flashes of light.
684
00:51:22,800 --> 00:51:26,040
The whole horizon was covered.
685
00:51:28,080 --> 00:51:30,920
Not good for your ears. Hearing aids.
686
00:51:35,000 --> 00:51:37,640
The barrage lasted for six hours.
687
00:51:37,640 --> 00:51:41,920
It could be heard all the way
to Alexandria, over 60 miles away.
688
00:51:50,400 --> 00:51:53,880
Once guns had been fired,
German morale pummelled
689
00:51:53,880 --> 00:51:56,360
and minefields breached,
690
00:51:56,360 --> 00:51:59,360
it was time for Monty
to let the armour loose.
691
00:52:02,080 --> 00:52:05,240
British tanks,
including the 5th Tank Regiment,
692
00:52:05,240 --> 00:52:06,880
cut through the enemy lines.
693
00:52:08,560 --> 00:52:12,760
The biggest tank battle of the
Desert Campaign had begun.
694
00:52:19,240 --> 00:52:22,920
We knew that this was going
to be a God Almighty fight.
695
00:52:25,360 --> 00:52:29,440
I think after about a week
we did start to get through.
696
00:52:30,640 --> 00:52:34,920
And I could see this monumental task
that lay ahead of us.
697
00:52:38,960 --> 00:52:40,480
Losses were heavy.
698
00:52:40,480 --> 00:52:45,000
200 British tanks
in the first 48 hours,
699
00:52:45,000 --> 00:52:48,320
as many as the Germans had
started the battle with.
700
00:52:52,480 --> 00:52:55,600
But the 8th Army
pressed on regardless.
701
00:52:55,600 --> 00:52:58,760
They had overall superiority
and they knew it.
702
00:53:04,560 --> 00:53:06,600
GUNS FIRE
703
00:53:14,120 --> 00:53:17,760
It became quite apparent,
very quickly,
704
00:53:17,760 --> 00:53:21,040
that they were making a run for it.
705
00:53:21,040 --> 00:53:23,480
There were tanks burning
all over the place.
706
00:53:25,920 --> 00:53:29,480
And we were collecting prisoners,
particularly the Italians, of course,
707
00:53:29,480 --> 00:53:31,040
cos they were left behind.
708
00:53:34,000 --> 00:53:35,640
"There were thousands
709
00:53:35,640 --> 00:53:37,680
"and thousands of prisoners.
710
00:53:37,680 --> 00:53:39,920
"If we happened to stop beside any,
711
00:53:39,920 --> 00:53:42,360
"we nipped out, pinched
their watches,
712
00:53:42,360 --> 00:53:44,040
"binoculars, or anything else
713
00:53:44,040 --> 00:53:46,000
"they had and carried on."
714
00:53:54,680 --> 00:53:56,480
By the end of October,
715
00:53:56,480 --> 00:53:59,360
the situation was critical
for Rommel.
716
00:53:59,360 --> 00:54:02,520
Having lost a vast quantity
of his armour,
717
00:54:02,520 --> 00:54:05,080
his position was hopeless.
718
00:54:09,920 --> 00:54:12,640
On 4th November, the Afrika Korps
719
00:54:12,640 --> 00:54:14,440
began a full retreat.
720
00:54:17,280 --> 00:54:19,520
BELLS RING
721
00:54:19,520 --> 00:54:21,960
In Britain,
as the news came through,
722
00:54:21,960 --> 00:54:25,120
Churchill ordered
the church bells to be rung.
723
00:54:25,120 --> 00:54:29,000
It was the first time that this
had been allowed since Dunkirk.
724
00:54:32,720 --> 00:54:36,520
On November 13th,
Tobruk was retaken.
725
00:54:39,640 --> 00:54:42,960
In mid January 1943, Tripoli fell.
726
00:54:46,280 --> 00:54:48,640
Four months later, the Axis forces
727
00:54:48,640 --> 00:54:51,360
had been overwhelmed in North Africa
728
00:54:51,360 --> 00:54:54,600
and more than a quarter of
a million prisoners taken.
729
00:54:56,080 --> 00:54:59,120
Churchill sensed
a turning point in the war.
730
00:55:02,560 --> 00:55:05,000
CHURCHILL: 'Ah, this is not the end.
731
00:55:05,000 --> 00:55:08,680
'This is not even the beginning
of the end.
732
00:55:08,680 --> 00:55:10,920
'But it is, perhaps,
733
00:55:10,920 --> 00:55:12,360
'the end of the beginning.'
734
00:55:15,320 --> 00:55:19,720
Churchill added, "When any man
is asked what he did in the war,
735
00:55:19,720 --> 00:55:24,520
it will be sufficient for him
to say, 'I fought
in the Desert Army.' "
736
00:55:24,520 --> 00:55:28,800
Well, many in 5th Tanks took that
as a hint that, in future,
737
00:55:28,800 --> 00:55:30,400
others would be called upon.
738
00:55:33,680 --> 00:55:35,400
No such luck.
739
00:55:35,400 --> 00:55:38,560
As the 5th shared the
Desert Army's triumph, they were
740
00:55:38,560 --> 00:55:42,400
greeted by the news that they were
now to be engaged in the fight
741
00:55:42,400 --> 00:55:45,640
for Italy, piercing
what Churchill called,
742
00:55:45,640 --> 00:55:47,880
"Europe's soft underbelly."
743
00:55:50,120 --> 00:55:51,400
GUN FIRES
744
00:55:51,400 --> 00:55:52,760
After the desert,
745
00:55:52,760 --> 00:55:55,400
the close-range fighting
in southern Italy
746
00:55:55,400 --> 00:55:57,320
came as a strain for everyone.
747
00:56:02,120 --> 00:56:03,600
We thought we'd had enough.
748
00:56:03,600 --> 00:56:05,440
Let somebody else have a go.
749
00:56:06,560 --> 00:56:09,880
But, you see, they wanted
seasoned troops
750
00:56:09,880 --> 00:56:12,200
and there weren't
many seasoned troops.
751
00:56:15,280 --> 00:56:18,560
On 7th January 1944,
752
00:56:18,560 --> 00:56:20,960
the 5th returned home at last.
753
00:56:20,960 --> 00:56:24,840
They'd been away for
three years and 69 days.
754
00:56:26,280 --> 00:56:28,680
Most couldn't wait to get home,
755
00:56:28,680 --> 00:56:31,920
but leave, like much else,
was being rationed.
756
00:56:33,560 --> 00:56:35,840
Men who'd been fighting overseas
757
00:56:35,840 --> 00:56:37,960
for more than three years were
758
00:56:37,960 --> 00:56:41,200
then given barely two weeks' leave.
759
00:56:41,200 --> 00:56:44,680
That felt like an insult, because
they knew that soldiers who'd
760
00:56:44,680 --> 00:56:47,400
been sitting back in Britain
throughout that period
761
00:56:47,400 --> 00:56:50,120
got two weeks' leave
every three months.
762
00:56:51,640 --> 00:56:55,880
The 5th's new home was
a secret military camp in Norfolk,
763
00:56:55,880 --> 00:56:57,520
known as Shakers Wood.
764
00:56:57,520 --> 00:57:00,560
Damp, grotty, and bitterly cold,
765
00:57:00,560 --> 00:57:03,440
many of the 5th's veterans felt
766
00:57:03,440 --> 00:57:07,480
they'd been dumped by an ungrateful
government in the middle of nowhere.
767
00:57:09,720 --> 00:57:12,800
But they'd been recalled
for a reason.
768
00:57:12,800 --> 00:57:16,360
Experienced, trusted and
battle-hardened, they were part of
769
00:57:16,360 --> 00:57:20,920
the famous Desert Rats, too valuable
to sit out the rest of the war.
770
00:57:22,280 --> 00:57:24,160
The fighting far from over,
771
00:57:24,160 --> 00:57:28,400
who better than the 5th
to spearhead a second front?
772
00:57:31,880 --> 00:57:33,920
That's the way it was.
773
00:57:33,920 --> 00:57:36,960
If you've ever witnessed
a green regiment...
774
00:57:38,240 --> 00:57:41,040
..going in for the first time,
775
00:57:41,040 --> 00:57:46,360
you would understand how
completely unprepared they are.
776
00:57:46,360 --> 00:57:48,360
The experience of going into battle
777
00:57:48,360 --> 00:57:52,400
is absolutely necessary
to become competent.
778
00:57:55,040 --> 00:57:57,600
And so, our heroes
would fight again,
779
00:57:57,600 --> 00:58:01,640
in some of the biggest battles
of the Second World War.
780
00:58:06,240 --> 00:58:10,040
Next episode, the 5th
face D-Day...
781
00:58:11,280 --> 00:58:15,720
..the battle for Normandy and
the eventual defeat of the Nazis.
782
00:58:24,480 --> 00:58:27,760
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
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