Kathy here. I live on Salt Spring Island on the west coast of Canada, near Vancouver, but am originally from London, England. I'm a writer, and one of my current projects is in honour of my father, who served in the 58th Field Regiment (Artillery) in North Africa, firing near Enfidaville right up until the last moment. I have his war letters, and am working to dramatize a couple of key incidents in short story form. I've joined the forum mainly to help me find detail and better understanding of exactly went on in the field. Which "hills" did he fire at? Which guns did he use? How did the firing go, who did what, what was the word for.. etcetera. But doubtless I'll get diverted into other things.
Hi Kathy Welcome, I have no knowledge of which you speak but I am sure some very knowledgable folks will soon visit you. How is life? I hear the goat cheese is pretty good. KTK
I'm a writer, and one of my current projects is in honour of my father, who served in the 58th Field Regiment (Artillery) in North Africa, firing near Enfidaville right up until the last moment. It's a challenge because I am starting from a point of great ignorance about military matters, and live thousands of miles away from resources like the war museums in London. I have his war letters (quote below), and am working to dramatize a couple of key incidents in short story form. One story will deal with 13 May 1943, the last day of fighting in that sector. He was in a command post giving orders to fire. I've joined the forum mainly to help me find detail and better understanding of how the field artillery was organized and exactly what went on in the field. For example, the word "firing" gives a pretty general impression to a layperson like me. How many guns would he have been in charge of? How many other units (I mean sets of guns) would have been there? Which guns did he (probably) use? What kind of ammunition? What did each man in the team (wrong word, I'm sure) do to get the gun to fire? Which "hills" did he fire at? How far away? How far was the command post from the guns? Who gave him his information /orders and how? Any suggestions/leads/in welcome!formation/pictures very welcome/ The site British Artillery in World in War 2 is packed with useful information and I am studying it but it won't help me with the specifics of the time and place. Here's what I am starting from: "For the last few days our guns have only paused in their firing for very short periods. We heard of the fall of Tunis and Bizerta & of people surrendering here and there & predictions of the collapse but still we went of firing. Eventually with my voice gone through shouting I had to use telephones to each gun from my Command Post. This morning we were told that it was unlikely we would fire up to 12.30 because a temporary Armistice had been called on part of the front in order that terms might be discussed. Our O.P. was reporting scores of white flags & hordes of xxxxx coming in. We could see these ourselves in all sorts of transport and on foot coming down the road, the Italian sometimes pleased sometimes dejected, the Germans prevalently cocky. But nevertheless all fighting hadn’t ceased & Jerry had a last fling with a minerwerfer – a rocket gun which fires half a dozen shells at a time. These things are pretty lethal and kept us in our holes when we were not firing back. About an hour from the end one of them landed slap in a slit trench and killed two. This is about a record for bad luck. And then at last about lunch time I had the pleasure of shouting “Cease Firing.” We moved out of action about 4 in the afternoon. We went back through Enfidaville which seemed a pleasant little village that had been knocked about instead of the dreaded hot spot to be avoided. So here we are now just south of Enfidaville.
If someone has not already suggested this, you may want to also post your inquiries over at our sister forum WW2Talk.com which is more UK-centric. Many WW2T members are also members here, so keep a watch here as well.
Welcome Kathy. Have you seen this? It provides a first hand look at what the 58th did. http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/74/a2319374.shtml
