Close Bill - Tank Commander: From the Fall of France to the Defeat of Germany - The Memoirs of Bill Close
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- Book:Tank Commander: From the Fall of France to the Defeat of Germany - The Memoirs of Bill Close
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- Year:2013
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Tank Commander: From the Fall of France to the Defeat of Germany - The Memoirs of Bill Close: summary, description and annotation
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Abstract: Bill Close had a remarkable war. In campaign after campaign, from the defense of Calais in 1940 to the defeat of Germany in 1945, he served as a tank commander in the Royal Tank Regiment - and he survived. His tanks were hit eleven times by enemy shellfire and he bailed out. He was wounded three times. He finished the war as one of the most experienced and resourceful of British tank commanders, and in later life, he set down his wartime experiences in graphic detail. His book is not only an extraordinary memoir - it is also a compelling account of the exploits of the Royal Tank Regiment throughout the conflict. As a record of the day-to-day experience of the tank crew of seventy years ago - of the conditions they faced and the battles they fought - it has rarely been equaled
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Among the many people who have helped me in writing this story, I would particularly like to thank my wife, Pamela, for her encouragement and general forbearance during these past few months.
I am indebted to my daughter Joanna for all her hard work in translating my appalling handwriting, for correcting my bad spelling and for compiling the manuscript in a readable form. Without her assistance the book would never have been completed.
I owe a debt of gratitude to John Westover for providing facsimile facilities.
I am thankful to two old comrades-in-arms, Johnny Langdon and John Pearson, for their help in providing background information for some of the action mentioned in the book. Their memories are far better than mine.
Not least, I would like to thank all those tank crew members who served with me throughout the war, without whose bravery, help and loyalty I would certainly not be here to tell the tale.
The publishers would like to thank Brigadier Christopher Dunphie for his help in producing this new edition of Bill Closes book.
3RTR had now moved into barracks in Flensberg, engaged in more or less peacetime duties. In October 1945 I joined a military government detachment in Kiel, where, still in my temporary rank of major, I was appointed president of summary courts, sitting in Kiel and Flensberg.
After almost a year I was posted to 930K detachment, stationed at Husum on the west coast of Schleswig-Holstein. I was second-in-command of the detachment and my duties included helping to reorganise the German transport system, both road and rail. It was a very interesting time but I was becoming more and more disillusioned with military government.
Whilst on a few days leave in Hamburg, I met an old army friend, Lieutenant Colonel Freddie Spencer-Chapman. He was now headmaster of the British school in Plon and he said, Im looking for a bursar. Do you want the job? I leapt at the chance and within a couple of weeks I had managed to obtain the transfer. At the same time I also applied for my discharge from the regular army but applied for a commission in the Territorial Army. This eventually came through and I was commissioned as a captain in the TA.
I had a few days leave in England whilst these events were being finalised, before returning to Germany as a civilian to take up my duties as bursar at the King Alfred School in Plon.
After some two and a half very pleasant years in Plon my duties at the school were terminated and I returned to the UK. I applied for several bursarships without success, so, once again, I applied for a regular commission this time with the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers. I was eventually accepted in the rank of second lieutenant and joined the Depot REME at Arborfiela on 28 May 1951. In all I completed twelve years with REME, retiring in April 1962 in the rank of major, and on a pension instead of a gratuity.
My association with the Royal Tank Regiment is still maintained through the various branches of the Old Comrades Association. 3RTR, sadly, is no more, having been amalgamated with 2RTR, and the regiment is now down to two battalions only. Having visited 2RTR stationed in Fallingbostel, Germany recently, I find the spirit of 3RTR lives on: the tank crews are in good heart and I am quite sure that, should the need arise, they will uphold the traditions of the war-time Royal Tank Regiment.
Oh, Paddy Hehir did you hear the griff thats in the air,
That the Yo Yo boys have won the war and the 3rd Tanks were not there,
Oh, the Staffs were first in Mersa and the Notts they took Matruh,
When both led to Bhengazi oh, then where the hell were you?
Miles and miles ahead of them a probin Jerrys screen,
A Tank Corps crew far up the blue, a wearing of the green.
You remember in September when we battered Jerrys flanks,
The Notts ran out of petrol and the Staffs ran out of tanks,
For the Grants they shot the Cruisers up and Jerry shot the Grants,
But the best of what was left did with Crisp column get its chance,
As they swarmed around Himamel learned to see and not be seen,
With the Tank Corps crew far up the blue, a wearing of the green.
When Rommel came to Alamein and Monty rolled him back,
Two famous Gee-Gee regiments were first in the attack,
Oh, the press was full of praises and the flicks were full of shots,
Of the story of the Staffords and the glory of the Notts,
But miles and miles ahead of them a probin Jerrys screen,
A Tank Corps crew far up the blue, a wearing of the green.
Now when we came to Tripoli and toured around the town,
They went and told the story of the 8th Brigades renown,
Oh, they named the Greys, they named the Notts, the Staffords they did name,
And how they formed the spearhead all the way from Alamein,
But they never named the boys who first upon the scene,
A Tank Corps crew far up the blue, a wearing of the green.
Oh, the 8th Hussars they sailed back home for the Victory Parade,
And the Gloucesters and the CLY with their medals well displayed,
Oh, the 10th Hussars were shining and the Lancers spruce and spare,
And the boys were all bull-shitting, but the 3rd Tanks they were where?
Miles and miles behind them digging a latrine,
A Tank Corps crew still up the blue, a wearing of the green.
Oh, now we wear a Foxs mask but once instead of that,
We did display so bright and gay a crimson desert rat,
And when the show is over and friends ask about the war,
Our proudest claim we have to fame and the proudest badge we bore,
Is the little tank upon our sleeve and the flashes that are to be seen,
On any 3rd Tank crew from the desert blue, a wearing of the green.
This was penned after the North African Campaign. 3RTR left the Desert Rats of 7th Armoured Division and joined 8th Armoured Brigade. The author is anonymous but obviously aggrieved at the lack of recognition for the 3rds efforts. Paddy Hehir, MBE was the 3RTR regimental sergeant major in 1941 and quartermaster from 1942 to 1951.
Somehow Will, I dont think youre cut out to be either a chemist or a dentist, said Mr Bayley who performed both functions in the little market town of Uppingham where we lived. He was looking at the wreckage of the chair. He didnt seem to mind about the glazed ceiling I had fallen through (his dental room ceiling); it was the chair that bothered him. It was brand new, his pride and joy adjustable head rest, touch here for up, press there for down, swivel with ease.
You wouldnt think it would break so easily.
I dont suppose you would, Will.
He was a nice man. He paid me fourteen shillings a week and gave me a day off to study maths private tuition for which he also paid. Mr Bayley had been understanding about the new delivery bicycle too but that was more easily mended. When I told him some time after the chair incident that I had signed on for the army, he said that it was probably a good thing.
No vacancies in the 11th Hussars, my lad, the sergeant said at the recruiting office in Stamford.
What about the 9th Lancers?
Fully subscribed... He thought for a minute. Tell you what. Why not join the Royal Tank Corps? They need bright lads.
I hadnt much idea about the Tank Corps but I agreed all the same. The recruiters gave me a short test in English and maths and I signed on the dotted line, received the kings shilling, and left with instructions to report to Bovington Camp in Dorset. When I told my parents what I had done, only my mother seemed to have doubts. My father, who was struggling to make a living out of a pub in which he had a part share, agreed with Mr Bayley probably a good idea. The Depression was at its height and steady jobs were hard to find.
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