Page Two

After battle reports suggested that any attack by tanks on Djebel Rhar would be impossible. The Germans, having reached the same conclusion, placed just one or two poorly sited A/T guns on the hill. The comments of two captured officers, including the one responsible for the defence of Djebel Rhar, confirm this German Army evaluation.

For specific details of the five-day battle see NIH Battle Report Extract and in an extract from the 78th Infantry (Battleaxe) Division Report. Suffice it to say, on April 26 1943 British troops stood victorious atop Djebel Rhar. Final victory in North Africa was now in sight.

This picture shows how steep was the approach facing the Churchills. In the foreground are Major Russell's tank Ballyrashane and the one in which this author served , Bangor. Notice the rear-mounted auxiliary fuel containers on both tanks - quickly dumped later when coming under shellfire. In the middle distance can be seen tanks of 4 Troop that Major Russell had ordered to make an attempt to reach the summit of Djebel Rhar. On the left can just be seen 4 Troop's third tank, as it followed Lieutenant Michael Pope's tank, working its the way up the western edge. To the right is Sgt Edward O'Hare's Churchill on its way to a successful climb to the very top.

Here is General Sir William Jackson's handsome tribute in his book The Battle for North Africa 1940-3 "...the veteran 78th Division struck on 23 April along the crest of the Djebel Ang and at "Long Stop" (sic). In five days' fighting, they secured the main Axis strong points and, at last, tore "Long Stop" from German hands. The final seizure of "Long Stop" was notable for the surprise feat of the North Irish Horse who managed to drive their Churchill tanks up on to the djebel to help the infantry take the last and most difficult peak, Djebel Rhaa (sic)."

The Victoria Cross was awarded to Major JTM Anderson, of the Argyll & Sutherland Highlanders, for his courageous action on the first day of the assault. For links to his Regiment's History and those of the other British Units doing battle on "Longstop Hill" go to Regimental Web Sites. Major G.P.Russell, Lieutenant M.B.Pope ('B' Sqn), Captain W.M.MacKean ('A' Sqn) were awarded the Military Cross and Sgt E.O'Hare ('B' Sqn) the Military Medal for their parts in the action.

It may well be asked, while all this is very interesting, what does it have to do with any future battles? The following is offered by way of an explanation. Early in 1943, for various reasons, the decision was made to stop any further production of Churchill tanks, the deciding factor being its "poor performance" in battle. A questionable finding as in no way could the Canadians be faulted for the tank's "ineffectiveness" during the raid on Dieppe in 1942 - that fifteen of the Churchills demonstrated their extraordinary climbing ability by ascending to the promenade was ignored, fortunately by the enemy also! Furthermore, it was unreasonable to negatively assess the performanance of the tanks in the next action in which they took part, the second battle of El Alamein, October 1942. The six tanks deployed, commanded by Major Norris King known as KingForce, were only in action for a few days but long enough to prove that the Churchill's armour-plate could withstand a tremendous amount of punishment.

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