David Lee - Up Close and Personal: The Reality of Close-Quarter Fighting in World War II

UP CLOSE

AND

PERSONAL

UP CLOSE

AND

PERSONAL

The Reality of Close-Quarter Fighting in World War II

David Lee

Frontline Books

Up Close and Personal

First published in 2006 by Greenhill Books

published in this format in 2015 by

Frontline Books

an imprint of

Pen & Sword Books Ltd

47 Church Street, Barnsley, S70 2AS

www.frontline-books.com

Copyright David Lee 2006

The right of David Lee to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

British Library Cataloguing-in Publication Data

Lee, David

Up close and personal: the reality of close-quarter fighting in World War II

World War, 19391945 Campaigns

Infantry drill and tactics

Combat Psychological aspects

I. Title

940.541

Greenhill edition

ISBN-13: 978-1-85367-668-0

ISBN-10: 1-85367-668-3

NIP edition

ISBN 1-59114-907-X

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 2006922376

Printed and bound in Great Britain by Creative Print and Design (Wales), Ebbw Vale

For those who fought

Contents

Fairbairn Sykes Commando knives

Sykes and Fairbairn in Shanghai Municipal Police Armoury

Major W. E. Fairbairn demonstrating knife fighting

Canadian Commandos practise close combat

A Canadian Commando disarms a knife-wielding opponent

Unarmed combat training at Ardentinny

Commandos returning from the Dieppe raid

The Lee Enfield Mark 3 rifle

Oberstleutnant Willi Teege

A sniper in the town of Cupa

British Tommies in an Italian town

Corporal E. H. Pruner with PIAT and tommy gun

German Nebelwerfer

Demonstration of the Sten gun

A 6-pounder anti-tank gun in action

A Canadian Army chaplain gives absolution to a dying soldier

A 2-inch mortar crew in action

One of the last stand defenders of German-held Cherbourg

American infantrymen seek shelter behind a tank

A platoon surrounds a farmhouse in a town in France

Monument to a dead American soldier

A US Marine killed on Iwo Jima

The M25, Londons orbital motorway, is a bad place in the rush hour. I had figured on two hours to drive forty miles but the section past Heathrow Airport caught me out and I was twenty minutes late arriving at Joe Swanns house. He was standing outside waiting for me and, knowing he had been a very good regimental sergeant-major, I hoped my late arrival would not create a bad impression.

He looked me up and down, shook my hand with a strength which made me wonder if he wasnt approaching ninety, and then said, Im Joe. His house was a haven of peace after the madness of the M25 and he poured me a huge mug of very sweet tea and told me his story.

Joe Swanns act of incredible bravery is described later in this book but he saved a crucial position (Snipe) at a crucial point in a crucial battle (El Alamein). After he had told me his story we both fell silent for a bit. Then I ventured my opinion that he should have been awarded the Victoria Cross rather than the Distinguished Conduct Medal. A gleam came into his eye, Have you ever seen a Distinguished Conduct Medal? he asked.

I had to confess I had not.

After a couple of hours I took my leave, packed up my tape recorder and notebook and said goodbye to him. He came out of his house and waved me off and the picture I have in my mind is of him standing there, still every inch the sergeant-major, waving me off.

I had just written the chapter on Snipe when I found out he had died.

My grateful thanks go to Joe Swann and to all the veterans who helped me with this book. Many of their personal accounts appear in this book as written or told to me. Other accounts have come from the Imperial War Museum whose staff work wonders in dealing with persistent requests from people like me not only to provide copies of documents and tapes but also in tracking down copyright holders.

Two veterans, Henry Hall and James Dunning, deserve a special mention and their help and insights have been invaluable. I am also grateful to the following for their help and assistance: Kate Thaxton, who looks after the Royal Norfolks Museum in Norwich; Emyr Jones for his help with Dieppe and No. 4 Commando; Geoff Pain, the secretary of the Rifle Brigade Association; and Alex Bowlby (who has also sadly since died), Nick O Connor and Peter White. Unfortunately many veterans whose accounts appear in this book are no longer with us. In those cases I am very grateful to their families for letting me use their accounts. During the writing of this book every effort was made to track down copyright holders or their representatives; in the event of any inadvertent omissions any further information would be welcome.

As we leave the twentieth century further behind, more and more veterans of World War II, like Joe Swann, are leaving us. I am privileged to have known some of them and I hope that this book will, if nothing else, show something of what they were up against.

David Lee

by General Carl von Clausewitz

Let us accompany the novice soldier on to the battlefield. As we come closer the thunder of the guns becomes more clearly defined and finally transforms into the shrieking of cannon fire, and this draws the attention of the inexperienced. Cannon balls begin to fall to the front and rear of us. We hurry to the hill where the general and his numerous staff officers are positioned. Here the frequency of the cannon balls landing close by and of shells exploding is such that the serious side of life forces its way into our youthful imagination. Suddenly someone we know is down. A shell hits the crowd and forces it to shift. One starts to feel that one is no longer completely calm and collected and even the bravest is at least a little distracted. Now to step into the battle which is raging before our eyes like a play in a theatre, so as to get as far as the nearest general of a division. Here the cannon balls are chasing each other and the noise from our own guns increases the confusion. From the divisional general we proceed to the brigadier general. He is a man whose bravery is already well respected and he keeps prudently behind a hill, a house or trees, a sure sign that it is becoming more dangerous. Grape shot clatters on roofs and fields, cannon balls roar in all directions at us, over us, and away. At the same time musket balls have begun to whistle. Now to step further along, to the infantry soldiers who have held out for hours in the battle with commendable steadfastness. Here the cannon balls whizz through the air and announce their arrival with a sharp crack as they fly past, only a hairs breadth from ones ear, head or chest. On top of all this ones heart is touched by pity at the sight of the wounded and fallen.