 |
Harold George Knibbs, my father, joined the army at the outset of World War II. He volunteered for service in the Royal Armoured Corps, Royal Tank Regiment as a Driver/Mechanic, driving mainly Churchill and Matilda Tanks. He enlisted on 27 Jun 1940 at Farnborough, Hampshire, England for the "Duration of the Emergency". This first photograph was taken in June 1940, so it was within days of Harold enlisting and at the age of 26 years. |  |
He undertook his training at Catterick, Yorkshire and qualified as a Driver/|Mechanic on 17 October 1940. On 27 Jun he was transferred into the 7th Royal Tank Regiment (RTR) and was then transported out to join the North Africa Campaign where the 4th and 7th RTR had amalgamated to become the 7th Armoured Brigade. Whilst there he became part of the Reconnaissance Corps which I understand was an elite corps of troops formed in January 1941 to act as a spearhead for the infantry. He spoke very little of his experiences during the war, and I was brought up to understand that I must never discuss the war with him. He sometimes reflected on some of the funnier times, but other than that I have had to resort to his photographs and mementoes from those times to try to picture his wartime experiences.
 |
He travelled to Tobruk via Port Said, where in April 1941, he joined a ship called MS Bamora which belonged to the British India Steam Navigation Company, stationed in the area for the sole purpose of transporting troops. The Bamora took him to Tobruk |  |
I am assuming from the timing of his journey to Tobruk, that Harold took part in Operation Battleaxe.which took place between 14th and 17th June 1941. On 12th May 1941 a convoy codenamed "Tiger" arrived in Alexandria, bringing 135 Matildas, 82 of the new Crusader tanks and 21 light tanks. This was a total of 238 new tanks for the desert war. The plan was to attack and retake the old border posts Sollum, Fort Capuzzo and the Halfaya Pass, using the 4th Indian Division, with 4th Armoured Brigade in close support. Once the enemy line had been breached, 7th Armoured Division would then join 4th Armoured Brigade and break through to Tobruk. Once Tobruk had been relieved the garrison and 7th Armoured Division would push on to secure a line between Derna and Mechili.
Unfortunately, Rommel struck first and while the German 15th Panzer Division counter attacked at Fort Capuzzo, the German 5th Light Division made a hook around the British flank in a effort to reach Halfaya Pass and cut off 7th Armoured Division and 4th Indian Division from supply or escape back down the escarpment. Over 1,000 men were killed, wounded or missing, and with 91 tanks being lost nearly 81% of the British tanks were out of action within three days of the offensive starting.
Harold only ever told me of one story relating to his battle experiences. It was an event that he read about after the war and only then did he realize the purpose of what they had been instructed to do. He remembers at one time his tank and one other were directed to drive from where they were positioned, to another position several miles further into the desert. Once there, they were instructed to turn round and return. They had no idea of why they were told to do it. Many, many years after the war, Harold was reading a book dedicated to the actions in which he was involved. The particular reconnaissance on which he was sent was mentioned and he then realized it's main purpose. The commanders had been told that the route across the desert that they were instructed to take had been mined - and the two tanks were dispatched over the route to check it out! Thankfully, it hadn't been mined and they got back safely.
Harold was captured shortly after 13th June which was the latest date recorded in his Pay Book. He told me that they were in the desert close to Tobruk and ran out of fuel. I am assuming, now that I've read of Operation Battleaxe, Harold and his tank crew were amongst those cut off by Rommel's troops. The only option left to them was to wait with the tank to be either rescued by friendly forces or captured by the enemy. The enemy were the first to arrive so they abandoned the tank and set fire to it.
 |
Harold was first of all transported to Italy where he was held as a Prisoner of War in at least two camps, Campo Concentramento Prigioneri di Guerra N.73 , and Campo Concentramento PG.59 Comando, at Carpi, near Bologna, Italy |  |
The above are two examples of the currency issued at the Italian camps. The notes were only of value at the camp shops.
I can see from the contents of dad's box of photos that he received mail from home whilst a prisoner, including quite a lot of photographs from loved ones, especially his sister Winifred. On the back of each photograph was written his name, rank and service number together with the date it was posted to him and the date he received it. It seems that post took anything from a couple of months to eight months to arrive, and no doubt it was one of the luxuries to look forward to. I'm not sure exactly when Harold was transferred from Italy to Germany, but I know from the dates on some of his photographs and correspondence that he was still in Italy in May 1943, but was at Stalag IVB, Mühlberg, Germany well before Christmas 1944. I presume that the move took place after the Italians capitulated in September 1943.
Harold did tell me of a few his lighter experiences when he was a prisoner of war. He was extremely proud of the fact that when he and his colleagues were captured he was the last amongst them to be de-loused. He managed to avoid it for several days but eventually they got to him and gave him the full treatment which I believe was a good dusting with de-lousing powder and a complete head shave. He never spoke to me about life in the prison camps other than to say that quite often they were very hungry. But during the bad times, he said all they had to do was to look at the conditions that the Russian troops were being kept in and realize how bad things could be, and that life as a British prisoner-of-war wasn't so bad.
He was fascinated when he found the book called Jenny's War written by Jack Stoneley. The novel is based on the true story of Florence Barrington, the English wife of a Luftwaffe pilot who managed to smuggle herself into Stalag IVB where her son (an RAF pilot) was imprisoned after being shot down over Germany. Whilst Harold had no first hand knowledge of this at the time, reading the novel brought back memories of events at the camp which he then realized were probably related to Florence being hidden there amongst the prisoners. He remembered several strange goings on which he could then quite easily relate to the facts contained in the book.
He also told me of several escape attempts.
For one he was partially successful and escaped from the camp. They were traveling by night and on one dark night they could see a patrol coming along the road towards them. So quick as a flash they all took to their heels to hide in the field. Harold dived over a hedge, ran to what he assumed was a haystack and dived in - only to find that the haystack was in fact a manure heap. That was one occasion when he was glad when he was recaptured.
At a second attempt they tried to tunnel out. They had been tunneling for several weeks when they suddenly came across something quite solid. They found it was a brick construction, managed to break through only to find that they were off course and the tunnel led them into the cellar of a nearby building which had been abandoned. The cellar was stocked with bottles of wine and boxes of various household goods. They helped themselves to the wine, got pretty drunk, looted all the goods in the cellar and went back to the camp. Harold came away with a couple of silver knives, forks and spoons and a hand embroidered linen tablecloth - and a hangover no doubt. The cutlery has long since disappeared but Harold's daughter Janet still has the table cloth.
After another escape, he and his colleagues managed to avoid capture by remaining in a pig sty quite some distance from the prison camp. I believe they remained there for 13 weeks, living at the back of the sty and relying on the farmer to deliver food scraps to the pigs which they would managed to steal from the pigs in order to survive.
 |
At the end of the war, Harold returned to the UK and finished his service based at Catterick. It surprises me to understand that he was finally released from the Army in February 1947. His Soldier's Release Book records that he was of Exemplary Conduct - "After 4 years overseas this very good soldier has done excellent work in this unit as a Tank Driver and on trucks. He is exceptionally hard working and capable. He needs no supervision and I can confidently recommend him." |  |
HOME
Introduction|What's
New?|Index
of
Individuals|Surnames|Casualties
of
War
Location
of
Events|Chronology
of
Events|Occupations|Who
are
They?|
