completely dark by 8 pm. We had to move fast. Wireless atmospherics were very bad and I soon had difficulty in communicating with Squadron HQ. About two miles further on, my troop sergeant, Sgt Davies, who was commanding the leading tank, reported an obstacle across the road just short of the village of Shwedaung. I had a good look at it, but by now it was becoming quite dark. I could see no sign of the enemy, and accordingly we gave the area an intense going over with Browning fire and the Yeomanry brought down a concentration on the area. It appeared to be clear. I ordered Kildare Patteson to move up to the obstacle and have a closer look. He reported that it was all clear and I decided to push on. By now it was dark.
3 Actions fought in the Prome area
I followed Kildare through the block followed by the rest of the troop and the OP. The squadron leader told me to get a move on. We had no sooner passed the first obstacle than all hell broke loose—flares, tracer and heavier hardware came at us from all directions and at this moment the wireless set went dead. I was immediately out of touch with everyone including my troop. I well remember seeing Kildare’s tank in front of me and then suddenly it disappeared.
We were moving quite fast—about 10 mph—when suddenly I saw a large obstacle across the road. It appeared to be a large tree trunk, Tpr Watson, my driver, saw that it was too late to stop and we hit it with an awful bump, and hurdled it in the best Beechers Brook style. We hurtled down the embankment but by a miracle of good driving Watson managed to get back on the road. I hadknocked my head an awful bang on the turret and was only semiconscious. However it was no time for self commiseration; we were now properly in the soup. It was quite obvious that there could be no question of the regiment getting through in the dark but I could not get a report back to them and I appeared to have lost my other tanks. There was only one thing for it, and that was to push on through the block until I could stop and get the radio right.
I could see no sign of Kildare to my front, but shortly afterwards was relieved to see Sgt Davies and Cpl Barr close up behind me. We put on speed to about 25 mph and charged down the road, being shot at all the way and hit several times by quite heavy bits of ironmongery. We were also showered with petrol bombs which helped to light our way. In the next three miles or so we hit at least four more blocks. My tank was hit by an anti-tank shell which brought down a shower of bits and pieces in the turret. I was for a time blinded by blood from a cut on my head, but Watson drove the tank magnificently and somehow managed to keep us on the road. Suddenly things went quiet and we appeared to be through.
But more was to come. We went round a sharp bend onto a narrow viaduct and I was horrified to see a large trunk across the road in the middle of the viaduct. We had no alternative but to charge it and hope for the best. We hurdled it once more and seemed to leap into the air. Our 13 tons hit the bridge and I expected it to collapse but it was obviously an advertisement for British Colonial engineering. My troop stuck to me and followed in similar style. The block did not appear to be covered by the Japanese and soon we seemed to be out of trouble. After a couple of miles I decided to stop and take stock. Kildare was obviously missing and had obviously been knocked out. I tried to get the radio going but found the aerial had been shot away. I tried to contact the squadron on Davis’s radio but by now we were well out of range. We were all in rather a bad way, two of the drivers having head wounds and suffering from blindness and reaction.
All the tanks had been hit and one of my bogies was in a very shaky state. One of my track links was held together by only one bolt. While we were checking up, Joe Greenhill of 2 RTR came up and told me that 17 Division HQ was just up the road at Prome and I
3 Actions fought in the Prome area
I followed Kildare through the block followed by the rest of the troop and the OP. The squadron leader told me to get a move on. We had no sooner passed the first obstacle than all hell broke loose—flares, tracer and heavier hardware came at us from all directions and at this moment the wireless set went dead. I was immediately out of touch with everyone including my troop. I well remember seeing Kildare’s tank in front of me and then suddenly it disappeared.
We were moving quite fast—about 10 mph—when suddenly I saw a large obstacle across the road. It appeared to be a large tree trunk, Tpr Watson, my driver, saw that it was too late to stop and we hit it with an awful bump, and hurdled it in the best Beechers Brook style. We hurtled down the embankment but by a miracle of good driving Watson managed to get back on the road. I hadknocked my head an awful bang on the turret and was only semiconscious. However it was no time for self commiseration; we were now properly in the soup. It was quite obvious that there could be no question of the regiment getting through in the dark but I could not get a report back to them and I appeared to have lost my other tanks. There was only one thing for it, and that was to push on through the block until I could stop and get the radio right.
I could see no sign of Kildare to my front, but shortly afterwards was relieved to see Sgt Davies and Cpl Barr close up behind me. We put on speed to about 25 mph and charged down the road, being shot at all the way and hit several times by quite heavy bits of ironmongery. We were also showered with petrol bombs which helped to light our way. In the next three miles or so we hit at least four more blocks. My tank was hit by an anti-tank shell which brought down a shower of bits and pieces in the turret. I was for a time blinded by blood from a cut on my head, but Watson drove the tank magnificently and somehow managed to keep us on the road. Suddenly things went quiet and we appeared to be through.
But more was to come. We went round a sharp bend onto a narrow viaduct and I was horrified to see a large trunk across the road in the middle of the viaduct. We had no alternative but to charge it and hope for the best. We hurdled it once more and seemed to leap into the air. Our 13 tons hit the bridge and I expected it to collapse but it was obviously an advertisement for British Colonial engineering. My troop stuck to me and followed in similar style. The block did not appear to be covered by the Japanese and soon we seemed to be out of trouble. After a couple of miles I decided to stop and take stock. Kildare was obviously missing and had obviously been knocked out. I tried to get the radio going but found the aerial had been shot away. I tried to contact the squadron on Davis’s radio but by now we were well out of range. We were all in rather a bad way, two of the drivers having head wounds and suffering from blindness and reaction.
All the tanks had been hit and one of my bogies was in a very shaky state. One of my track links was held together by only one bolt. While we were checking up, Joe Greenhill of 2 RTR came up and told me that 17 Division HQ was just up the road at Prome and I
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