North Africa 1941-43

The following information and pictures were kindly donated by Ronnie Lamprell (formally Lucas) who has traveled extensively throughout N. Africa, making a annual pilgrimage to the Commonwealth War Graves. Ronnie was a former member of the 1st Battalion during the early 60's and has always been a true Coldstreamer. We are indebted to him for his contributions.

Hover the cursur for script and Click to enlarge pictures

In 1941 the German forces landed at Bizerta, Tunis, Sousse and Sfax. The allied troops landed in Algeria, whilst Montgomery's British Eighth Army moved east from Egypt against Rommel's Africa Corps and the Italian forces. Resistance was stiff as the rolling landscape favoured the defenders. It took bitter fighting to shift the German Panzer divisions defending the Gabe's and Kasserine Pass. Fighting continued throughout the winter, switching from the Libyan border to the slopes of Tell, with the area around Mejez-el-Bab seeing some of the bloodiest fighting In April 1943, after dogged determination and hard fought battles, the east and west allies met up to take on the might of both the German and Italian forces. On the 13th May 1943 they were victorious and secured the surrender of both armies. Those who took part in this conflict paid a heavy price and the victims rest here in a land far from home

There are eight cemeteries in Tunsia that contain the graves of Commonwealth servicemen killed in battle during the 1939-45 conflict

MEDJEZ-EL-BAB This is the largest cemetery containing some 3000 graves and a Memorial inscribed with the names of 1,959 servicemen with no known graves Coldstreamers laid to Rest Lt. J H Charworth- Musters Lt. Breakwell 2655633 CSM. B. Wilmshurst 2651653 Sgt. K. Johnson 2657781 Sgt. H J Sowerby 2651653 Sgt. E. Royle

MASSICAULT This large cemetery in N. Africa lies at the entrance to the village of Borg-El-Amr and contains 1,578 graves SFAX Six kilometers from the town the graves of 1254 servicemen lie within the bounds of the civil cemetery TABARKA This is situated 145 k from Tunis, close to the Algerian Border Coldstreamers at Peace 552132 Gdsn. E M. Nurse 2659531 Gdsn. G H Fairbank 2663704 Gdsn. S C. Copestake 2659709 Gdsn. Z. Elliot 2663370 Gdsn. F A Coldicote. 2664573 Gdsn. G. Griffiths

QUED ZARGA This Cemetery lies on a small strip of land on the edge of a lake 75k from Tunis. There are 239 Officers and men from the UK and eight brave souls from the Indian Army BEJA This cemetery lies north of the town and is the final resting place of 396 Allied warriors, it is now surrounded by dwellings Coldstreamers with honour 2665046 Gdsn. A. McKeon 2662256 Gdsn. T M Prentis 2659319 Gdsn. S Wardle 2660906 Gdsn. A T Newland 2663627 Gdsn. C R Watkins 2664649 Gdsn. W Hindle

THIBAR
This cemetery is the smallest, containing only 94 soldiers, 4 Airmen, and one from the Canadian Army.

ENFIDAHVILLE
This site is close to Sousse and Hammamet and also the port of EL Kantaoui, it is the most visited by tourists to these areas. The cemetery holds the graves of 1,551 servicemen who lost their lives in the final battles in the North African Campaign The make up of the graves are. UK 1315, Canada 38, New Zealand, 172, South Africa 9, Australia 11, India 2, High Commission Territories 4, of the above there are 18 souls known only to God.
The Memorial to the fallen was designed by Sir Hubert Worthington

Hover the cursur for script and Click to enlarge pictures The state of emergency which arose in Malaya, had its root cause in the unstable period after the war in the Far East. After the end of the war there was a large emigrant population in Malaya, many drawn there by the opportunity to work in the rubber plantations. In 1948 there was 2.5 Million Malay's, a similar number of Chinese and some 300,000 Tamils from India. Into this cooking pot was added 3000 communism terrorists, whose aim was to take over the country by killing as many rubber planters as possible, plunging the country into economic disaster and also depriving the western world of its precious rubber. These dissidents called themselves the Malayan Peoples Anti British Army (MPABA). The CT's (communist terrorists) relied on provisions from the villagers at the edges of the jungle, usually obtained by threat. The objects of the British troops were to protect and support the locals, while eliminating the CT's. It was to this scenario that the 2 Bt. Coldstream Guards were ordered to form part of the second Guards Brigade and depart to Malaya, commanded by Lt. Col. Gooch DSO. MC. They duly arrived in Oct.48, to a very wet Singapore, acclimatization took place in the jungle environment, with temperatures in the 90's and extreme humidity. As guardsmen are so famous for, they soon had camps organized and started to make a difference to the local people, as well as taking a toll on the CT's. In early days of 1950 a new phase of the conflict was introduced. The Battalion command was taken by Col. Victor FitzGeorge-Balfour CBE MC, he implemented a plan, in which the whole of the border villagers were relocated into approx. 30 villages, these were protected by wire fence, police, and patrolling troops. This method was a huge success and almost totally denied supplies to the terrorists. In July 1950 the Battalion handed over to 45 Royal Commando, after what was a outstanding tour of duty. On its return to the UK in the Sept. 1950, the members of the Bt. had been awarded a DSO, two MC's, one MBE, five MM's, two BEM's and thirteen members of the Regiment Mentioned in Dispatches. This was a wonderful achievement, but not without loss, it is to the memory of those courageous Coldstreamers that lie in that far off land that we dedicate this memorial   Roll of Honour 2671295 L/Sgt Tate M 2670845 Gdsn Medley H 28/5/50.. Gdsn Palfry T   2660279.. Sgt Lawson J D (BEM) 21007205 Gdsn Brown J D 2659956.. Sgt Dowsen J R 22029247 Parkin JF 22214447 Gdsn Rowe P S Paying respects