Capturing a British Soldier, by Rommel's Aide

I started reading through "Desert Victory" by Julian Thompson. Its a collection of firsthand accounts of the war in North Africa. I came across this good story in it:

This alone was worth the price of the book.

 

That must have been a British conscript, if he did not recognize the German car, helmets, uniforms or anything. Very intersting, I would like to read the rest of it. Thanks for sharing.

 

Eh? Conscript? Why a conscript?

 

Think about it, he didn't recognize that any of the men, or equipment was German, although he didn't panic, hmmm... There's a lot more to this story, and a lot of potential speculation here, which I'm doing right now.

 

If they were wearing soft caps and wearing similar khaki uniforms covered in dust, it would be pretty easy to make the mistake. Both sides used captured vehicles.

 

My thought exactly. If the British soldier was out in the heat for a while trying to fix his motorcycle, he could have also been suffering from heatstroke or something along those lines.

There was a lot of confusion in the desert at this time as well -- Generals Dick O'Connor and Philip Neame were captured when their staff car turned down the wrong road!

 

Blimey....quite a few Yanks didn't recognise Japanese aircraft until they hit the ships at Pearl...No sorry I don't buy the Conscript bit...He may very well have been one...since most of the army were...they actually won the war not the professionals.

But a conscript soldier was no better or worse and certainly was not indoctrinated or trained any differently unless belonging to an elite unit such as commandos or paras...

I'd have a look at some of the career officers in desert that fell into enemy hands and ask who they thought was over there...and what the heck they were doing there when captured...not conscript officers..generals.

 

I wish I'd read George Pattons post first...Didn't want to name them but bingo...Cheers George.

 

Thanks GP for the laugh out loud...You are growing up strong like tractor... Some entertaining bits brother.

 

Thanks. I got a kick out of it as well

I won't even ask what that is supposed to mean.

I think there were a few other senior officers captured in North Africa, but their names escape me now. O'Connor, Neame and Adiran Carton de Wiart were kept in the same POW camp (Castello di Vincigliata) with most of the other captured officers. As I said, there was lots of confusion in the desert at this point in the war.

 

You are strong....like tractor....You prolly don't have a tractor...Strong- like Toronto bus. With many passengers... All of them voting socialists, nyet?

 

I could never stand living in any big city for a number of reasons -- I'm about 45 minutes west of Toronto.

And lets just leave it at that.

 

Speaking of generals and conscripts, Frank Messervy was captured at Gazala when his divisional HQ was overrun. He ditched his insignia and identified himself as a private to his captors, hoping to avoid any special attention. When a German officer asked if he wasn't a bit old to be a private, he replied indignantly "Too bloody right, it's a disgrace drafting a man at my age!" It worked, and he was able to slip away shortly thereafter.