6 Commando - S.A.S
We settled in an army camp near Aldershot, and after a few days complete rest, were visited by some high ranking British officers. After inspection, we were addressed in glowing terms - we had passed our test in fighting with flying colours, and our conduct had been exemplary. We therefore were given the opportunity to volunteer for a commando unit with special tasks, first in the Middle East, and later in Europe. Together with many others, I volunteered.
We underwent a very tough and strenuous training of combat tactics, specialised for commando units. After several months we had to pass a fitness test and about 350 of our men, more than half, were passed as fit, including myself. Colonel Caytor, our previous commanding officer, was to stay with us. After a few more days of rest, we boarded a ship bound for Egypt. We went in a convoy of about 50 ships sailing for about six weeks. Our route was along the coast of Africa, southward around the Cape.
We stopped in Cape Town for 4 days. The Jewish community, who heard about our arrival, came to the port in full force in order to greet us. They fought amongst themselves to host us! I, together with another friend, was hosted by one of the richest families in the town. Their hospitality was overwhelming, even to the extent of offering to adopt us, and give us a permanent home. This we politely refused, and after 4 days we reluctantly bade good bye to these wonderful people and returned to our ship in order to continue our journey to Egypt.
After our arrival there, we were again checked for fitness, and only those fit enough to undergo more commando training were accepted for this mission. Before being sent into action for the first time, we were addressed by the then Foreign Secretary, Sir Anthony Eden. He again praised our achievements in managing to slip through German lines and gathering arms, despite being bombed, and despite our inexperience in fighting. He impressed us with the greatness of the British Army and wished us G-d speed. Two days later we went into action for the first time.
After some raids on enemy points in North Africa, we were transported to Sudan. From here we were to launch an attack into Eritrea, where the Italians were entrenched. We were joined by Indian soldiers, some of whom were from the famous Ghurka regiments. This particular action turned out to be a rather drawn out affair, as the Eritrean terrain is a very difficult one, and we constantly ran the risk of falling into an Italian ambush.
During this period we had some losses with soldiers being killed and wounded. However these losses became really heavy the day we went into action at the famous battle of “Keren”. This was a hill that was of strategic importance, as its possession opened the gates to Abyssinia. It was heavily defended by the Italians, who were equally aware of its importance. We fought side by side with the Ghurka and South African units. I had just recently been promoted to Corporal, and led a section of machine gunners in this heavy battle. We were shelled constantly but finally managed to take this important hill, albeit with very heavy losses.
My second-in-command was killed, and most likely the shrapnel of the shell that killed him injured me. I was not immediately aware that he had died. I tried to pull him out of the firing line, but obviously must have lost consciousness. The next thing I knew, my officer was leaning over me, telling me what had happened, and that I was found with my comrade over my shoulder.
Owing to my wounds, I was transferred to a hospital, where I spent two weeks recovering. My unit, considerably weakened, meanwhile moved to some hills overlooking Gondar, the capital of north Abyssinia. Here I rejoined my unit. We remained there for many weeks. Our task was to patrol the area and be on the lookout for any small Italian pockets of resistance that might still be left, whilst negotiations were proceeding for the surrender of Gondar.
During one of our patrols we came upon a village, and to our surprise found a large clan of Ethiopian Jews living there. The villagers must have heard us speaking Hebrew and Arabic. Some of our people spoke Arabic, so they managed to converse with these people. They lived under the most primitive conditions, working for Ethiopian landowners, as they had been doing for generations. Hearing that we came from Palestine, they assumed we were the soldiers of the Mashiach, come to liberate them! There was not much we could do for them then. We sent a memorandum to the Jewish Agency in Palestine, describing the terrible conditions under which they lived, but unfortunately not much was done for them (because of the war) until many years later, when it was almost too late!
In October 1941 the last remaining Italian garrison surrendered, and shortly afterwards we received orders to return to our base in Egypt. During our stay in this area, many of our people fell ill, including myself. I contracted dysentery and had to be transported to a hospital base, tied to a camel for eight hours, since I was too weak to sit on it.
We also had a number of prominent visitors, including Rabbi Louis Rabinowicz, who was Chaplain in the Army and later Chief Rabbi of South Africa; Chief Chaplain Brodie, later Chief Rabbi of Britain; General Orde Wingate; and, last but not least, Emperor Haile Selassie, Emperor of Abyssinia, who had returned from Jerusalem, where he had been during the years his country was occupied.
Once back in Egypt, although reduced in numbers, we soon received orders to make an attack on Tobruk, in Libya, which was also occupied by Italian and German soldiers. We boarded a destroyer and sailed on a very choppy sea, in December 1941, to the coast of Tobruk, where we landed during the night.
Despite suffering heavy bombardment, we managed to inflict heavy damage to army installations, before returning to our ship and heading back to Egypt. Our unit had been drastically reduced by casualties, in fact to about a third of its original strength. While the authorities considered what to do with us, (in fact the unit was eventually disbanded, owing to insufficient numbers), I was
approached by a Captain Buck, a British Intelligence officer who spoke about eight or nine languages fluently. He had the idea of gathering information about German army activities. With this information he thought it possible to go as German soldiers into their camps and installations and carry out sabotage. He had the blessing of British headquarters and was told to approach as many of us who spoke German as fluently as he. There were about 20 of us with whom he discussed this idea, and who were willing to join him.
Here at last was the opportunity I had been waiting for, namely, to play a direct role in fighting the Germans. This was, after all, the reason for my volunteering for the British Army. Our group was named SIG (Special Interrogation Group), and we were given a camp in the Suez area, where we could carry out our training. Later we were joined by another officer and some people from the Free Czech and Free French units. Our first duty was to visit a POW (Prisoner of War) camp where German soldiers were held, and observe their movements and behaviour.
Here we were introduced to two German soldiers, who were POW's but who offered to serve in the British Army, as they were anti-Nazis. They offered to act as instructors to our group, as they knew best how to be “German soldiers”. Within a few days, they joined us at our camp and the real German training began, including German songs. We learnt German commands, how to handle their weapons and how, and to whom, to salute. When it came to going into action, we were told that the two Germans were to accompany us. We were not happy, and objected to this order; however British headquarters in Cairo assured us that they had been fully cleared, and were now as loyal to our cause as any British soldier. We were not convinced, but soldiers are soldiers, and have to obey orders.
Our target in this action was to destroy all aeroplanes on two German airfields positioned near Benghazi in Libya. In order to get to these airfields, we had to cross German lines via the Libyan desert, past various German command posts. We had of course, been given the latest passwords, which changed about every month.
Our plan was as follows. Our group, this time consisting of 12 people, posed as German guards properly dressed in German uniforms. We were joined by about 30 Free French soldiers posing as British prisoners of war. These we "escorted", taking them to a POW camp within the German lines. We were provided with the necessary documents, with plenty of official stamps and seals. We travelled in two lorries, with half of the "British prisoners" in each, guarded by four "German guards". The remainder of our group occupied a German command car. Everything went well. We passed two German posts, exchanged our passwords to the satisfaction of the real German officers, until we came to a point near the airfields we were to reach.
Here we divided into three groups. One lorry with one German and three of our group and about half the Free French were to go to one airfield, Benghazi. The other lorry with one German, three of our group and the other half of the Free French went to the second airfield, Mantuba. I was in charge of the third group, staying with the command car, acting as liaison between the two groups, and keeping everything ready for the escape, after the actions had been completed. I was in contact with both groups.
After some time I heard from the second group, that all went well. Shortly after that I heard loud explosions, which meant that they had succeeded in exploding some planes. Nothing was heard from the first group, and, as time wore on, I became very tense. Suddenly, I heard some shouts, and, thinking at first that some real Germans had detected us, I took up my machine gun to be ready. But it wasn't a German. It was one of the Free French officers together with three or four of his comrades.
They were completely exhausted and quite incoherent. After helping them into my car and reviving them with some water, I gradually got them to tell me what happened. They had gone with their party, with one German as their driver. Suddenly their lorry came to a stop, and the driver told them that something was wrong with the motor. He started to fiddle with the engine but after a few minutes he maintained that he could not fix it. There was a German post nearby and he said he would get some help. What he in effect did, was to tell the Germans that a lorry was here with some British soldiers and that he was just posing all the time, so as to get these people into German hands.
The Germans came out, fully armed and started shooting into the lorry. Whilst our people put up a heroic fight, they were outnumbered. Some were killed and wounded, and they finally surrendered. During this battle, the French officer and some of his comrades managed to hide and later ran back to our meeting place. This was their story, and whilst they were still telling it, the other group returned, having successfully completed their mission. They had destroyed more than twenty planes. We discussed the situation and came to the conclusion that we should get out as quickly as possible, before it was too late.
We left the command car behind, and all got into the one lorry and started on our way back. We had to go through very difficult terrain, in order to avoid German patrols. At one stage, we were bombed by German planes, until we laid out a Swastika flag on the ground. The plane then flew away, and we left the spot in a hurry. We hid for some time, until we felt it safe to proceed towards our own lines. Fortunately, we had enough food and water with us, as we had to travel far south in order to avoid the Germans.
All this time I took it upon myself to have my gun directed towards the one German with us, just in case he should try any "funny business". I felt ill with shame and anger that we had been tricked by the German, whom none of us had trusted in the first place, and through whom we had lost some of our best comrades. I made myself stay alert all the time, in order to be ready to kill the remaining German, should he make a wrong move. Luckily we succeeded in reaching the British lines, and after a couple of days rest, we returned to our camp. There we handed over the German to the military police, to be taken back to the prisoners' camp. Within a few minutes of leaving the camp, we heard some shots; the prisoner had tried to escape and was shot in his attempt. We later received information that two of my friends, who had surrendered during the raid, had been killed, the Free French were prisoners of war, and the German was awarded a Hero's medal by the German Army.
We were now only a small group of fifteen, and therefore carried out smaller missions, mainly gathering information on German Army movements in the Libyan desert. One other important action was a surprise attack on General Rommel's (the German commander's) headquarters. There we joined another commando unit. We had a lot of arms and machine guns, and so succeeded in destroying large parts of this camp killing approximately 50 German officers. We missed our main target, General Rommel himself, who happened to be attending the birthday party of another general elsewhere, but we returned to base without any losses.
However, shortly after this, our unit was disbanded. Five of us joined the SAS (Special Air Service). This was a special unit operating under Colonel David Sterling who was famous for his intimate knowledge of the North African desert, and its inhabitants, the Bedouins. He was also known for his courage and willingness to take risks in battle. He commanded about 100 men - officers and NCOs (non-commissioned officers) - specially selected for their fitness and courage. The missions were similar to what we had been doing previously - sabotage and destruction in well thought-out actions, deep into enemy territory.
I personally was attached to the deputy commander Major Oldfield, for my knowledge of fluent German. This was especially important when we captured some Germans and needed to obtain certain information from them. After some smaller strikes, we were preparing for a large-scale action which was to include all our men. Our aim was to cross the whole length of the Libyan Desert, starting from Egypt, and eventually join up with the American Army, who had by then landed in Tunisia. On the way, we intended to destroy as many German and Italian positions as possible. We went out with a convoy of about 50 vehicles, some lorries for our supplies of food and petrol, but mainly jeeps.
The order was to travel fast, and, whenever there was a breakdown in any one vehicle, the one behind it had to stop, take on the passengers of the broken down one, which was abandoned, and carry on to catch up with the convoy, distributing the extra load at the next stop. Unfortunately, my driver, a fellow from Lancashire, and I were the last in the convoy, so when we had a breakdown, there was nobody to pick us up. We tried to get the vehicle going, but alas - no luck! After taking as many of the most necessary items as we could carry, we abandoned the vehicle, and started walking, in the hope that, when the others realised we were missing, they would send back a vehicle to pick us up.
Unfortunately, when we broke down, we were spotted from an Italian outpost in the Benghazi area, and they sent an armoured car to find out who we were. Evidently, they had seen the whole convoy passing, but of course had no idea what its purpose was. At the time, we were dressed in British overalls, and had time to destroy all evidence of any connections with the special mission. When the Italians found us, they took us to their post and questioned us, and, discovering that we were British servicemen, they took us prisoner.
We settled in an army camp near Aldershot, and after a few days complete rest, were visited by some high ranking British officers. After inspection, we were addressed in glowing terms - we had passed our test in fighting with flying colours, and our conduct had been exemplary. We therefore were given the opportunity to volunteer for a commando unit with special tasks, first in the Middle East, and later in Europe. Together with many others, I volunteered.
We underwent a very tough and strenuous training of combat tactics, specialised for commando units. After several months we had to pass a fitness test and about 350 of our men, more than half, were passed as fit, including myself. Colonel Caytor, our previous commanding officer, was to stay with us. After a few more days of rest, we boarded a ship bound for Egypt. We went in a convoy of about 50 ships sailing for about six weeks. Our route was along the coast of Africa, southward around the Cape.
We stopped in Cape Town for 4 days. The Jewish community, who heard about our arrival, came to the port in full force in order to greet us. They fought amongst themselves to host us! I, together with another friend, was hosted by one of the richest families in the town. Their hospitality was overwhelming, even to the extent of offering to adopt us, and give us a permanent home. This we politely refused, and after 4 days we reluctantly bade good bye to these wonderful people and returned to our ship in order to continue our journey to Egypt.
After our arrival there, we were again checked for fitness, and only those fit enough to undergo more commando training were accepted for this mission. Before being sent into action for the first time, we were addressed by the then Foreign Secretary, Sir Anthony Eden. He again praised our achievements in managing to slip through German lines and gathering arms, despite being bombed, and despite our inexperience in fighting. He impressed us with the greatness of the British Army and wished us G-d speed. Two days later we went into action for the first time.
After some raids on enemy points in North Africa, we were transported to Sudan. From here we were to launch an attack into Eritrea, where the Italians were entrenched. We were joined by Indian soldiers, some of whom were from the famous Ghurka regiments. This particular action turned out to be a rather drawn out affair, as the Eritrean terrain is a very difficult one, and we constantly ran the risk of falling into an Italian ambush.
During this period we had some losses with soldiers being killed and wounded. However these losses became really heavy the day we went into action at the famous battle of “Keren”. This was a hill that was of strategic importance, as its possession opened the gates to Abyssinia. It was heavily defended by the Italians, who were equally aware of its importance. We fought side by side with the Ghurka and South African units. I had just recently been promoted to Corporal, and led a section of machine gunners in this heavy battle. We were shelled constantly but finally managed to take this important hill, albeit with very heavy losses.
My second-in-command was killed, and most likely the shrapnel of the shell that killed him injured me. I was not immediately aware that he had died. I tried to pull him out of the firing line, but obviously must have lost consciousness. The next thing I knew, my officer was leaning over me, telling me what had happened, and that I was found with my comrade over my shoulder.
Owing to my wounds, I was transferred to a hospital, where I spent two weeks recovering. My unit, considerably weakened, meanwhile moved to some hills overlooking Gondar, the capital of north Abyssinia. Here I rejoined my unit. We remained there for many weeks. Our task was to patrol the area and be on the lookout for any small Italian pockets of resistance that might still be left, whilst negotiations were proceeding for the surrender of Gondar.
During one of our patrols we came upon a village, and to our surprise found a large clan of Ethiopian Jews living there. The villagers must have heard us speaking Hebrew and Arabic. Some of our people spoke Arabic, so they managed to converse with these people. They lived under the most primitive conditions, working for Ethiopian landowners, as they had been doing for generations. Hearing that we came from Palestine, they assumed we were the soldiers of the Mashiach, come to liberate them! There was not much we could do for them then. We sent a memorandum to the Jewish Agency in Palestine, describing the terrible conditions under which they lived, but unfortunately not much was done for them (because of the war) until many years later, when it was almost too late!
In October 1941 the last remaining Italian garrison surrendered, and shortly afterwards we received orders to return to our base in Egypt. During our stay in this area, many of our people fell ill, including myself. I contracted dysentery and had to be transported to a hospital base, tied to a camel for eight hours, since I was too weak to sit on it.
We also had a number of prominent visitors, including Rabbi Louis Rabinowicz, who was Chaplain in the Army and later Chief Rabbi of South Africa; Chief Chaplain Brodie, later Chief Rabbi of Britain; General Orde Wingate; and, last but not least, Emperor Haile Selassie, Emperor of Abyssinia, who had returned from Jerusalem, where he had been during the years his country was occupied.
Once back in Egypt, although reduced in numbers, we soon received orders to make an attack on Tobruk, in Libya, which was also occupied by Italian and German soldiers. We boarded a destroyer and sailed on a very choppy sea, in December 1941, to the coast of Tobruk, where we landed during the night.
Despite suffering heavy bombardment, we managed to inflict heavy damage to army installations, before returning to our ship and heading back to Egypt. Our unit had been drastically reduced by casualties, in fact to about a third of its original strength. While the authorities considered what to do with us, (in fact the unit was eventually disbanded, owing to insufficient numbers), I was
approached by a Captain Buck, a British Intelligence officer who spoke about eight or nine languages fluently. He had the idea of gathering information about German army activities. With this information he thought it possible to go as German soldiers into their camps and installations and carry out sabotage. He had the blessing of British headquarters and was told to approach as many of us who spoke German as fluently as he. There were about 20 of us with whom he discussed this idea, and who were willing to join him.
Here at last was the opportunity I had been waiting for, namely, to play a direct role in fighting the Germans. This was, after all, the reason for my volunteering for the British Army. Our group was named SIG (Special Interrogation Group), and we were given a camp in the Suez area, where we could carry out our training. Later we were joined by another officer and some people from the Free Czech and Free French units. Our first duty was to visit a POW (Prisoner of War) camp where German soldiers were held, and observe their movements and behaviour.
Here we were introduced to two German soldiers, who were POW's but who offered to serve in the British Army, as they were anti-Nazis. They offered to act as instructors to our group, as they knew best how to be “German soldiers”. Within a few days, they joined us at our camp and the real German training began, including German songs. We learnt German commands, how to handle their weapons and how, and to whom, to salute. When it came to going into action, we were told that the two Germans were to accompany us. We were not happy, and objected to this order; however British headquarters in Cairo assured us that they had been fully cleared, and were now as loyal to our cause as any British soldier. We were not convinced, but soldiers are soldiers, and have to obey orders.
Our target in this action was to destroy all aeroplanes on two German airfields positioned near Benghazi in Libya. In order to get to these airfields, we had to cross German lines via the Libyan desert, past various German command posts. We had of course, been given the latest passwords, which changed about every month.
Our plan was as follows. Our group, this time consisting of 12 people, posed as German guards properly dressed in German uniforms. We were joined by about 30 Free French soldiers posing as British prisoners of war. These we "escorted", taking them to a POW camp within the German lines. We were provided with the necessary documents, with plenty of official stamps and seals. We travelled in two lorries, with half of the "British prisoners" in each, guarded by four "German guards". The remainder of our group occupied a German command car. Everything went well. We passed two German posts, exchanged our passwords to the satisfaction of the real German officers, until we came to a point near the airfields we were to reach.
Here we divided into three groups. One lorry with one German and three of our group and about half the Free French were to go to one airfield, Benghazi. The other lorry with one German, three of our group and the other half of the Free French went to the second airfield, Mantuba. I was in charge of the third group, staying with the command car, acting as liaison between the two groups, and keeping everything ready for the escape, after the actions had been completed. I was in contact with both groups.
After some time I heard from the second group, that all went well. Shortly after that I heard loud explosions, which meant that they had succeeded in exploding some planes. Nothing was heard from the first group, and, as time wore on, I became very tense. Suddenly, I heard some shouts, and, thinking at first that some real Germans had detected us, I took up my machine gun to be ready. But it wasn't a German. It was one of the Free French officers together with three or four of his comrades.
They were completely exhausted and quite incoherent. After helping them into my car and reviving them with some water, I gradually got them to tell me what happened. They had gone with their party, with one German as their driver. Suddenly their lorry came to a stop, and the driver told them that something was wrong with the motor. He started to fiddle with the engine but after a few minutes he maintained that he could not fix it. There was a German post nearby and he said he would get some help. What he in effect did, was to tell the Germans that a lorry was here with some British soldiers and that he was just posing all the time, so as to get these people into German hands.
The Germans came out, fully armed and started shooting into the lorry. Whilst our people put up a heroic fight, they were outnumbered. Some were killed and wounded, and they finally surrendered. During this battle, the French officer and some of his comrades managed to hide and later ran back to our meeting place. This was their story, and whilst they were still telling it, the other group returned, having successfully completed their mission. They had destroyed more than twenty planes. We discussed the situation and came to the conclusion that we should get out as quickly as possible, before it was too late.
We left the command car behind, and all got into the one lorry and started on our way back. We had to go through very difficult terrain, in order to avoid German patrols. At one stage, we were bombed by German planes, until we laid out a Swastika flag on the ground. The plane then flew away, and we left the spot in a hurry. We hid for some time, until we felt it safe to proceed towards our own lines. Fortunately, we had enough food and water with us, as we had to travel far south in order to avoid the Germans.
All this time I took it upon myself to have my gun directed towards the one German with us, just in case he should try any "funny business". I felt ill with shame and anger that we had been tricked by the German, whom none of us had trusted in the first place, and through whom we had lost some of our best comrades. I made myself stay alert all the time, in order to be ready to kill the remaining German, should he make a wrong move. Luckily we succeeded in reaching the British lines, and after a couple of days rest, we returned to our camp. There we handed over the German to the military police, to be taken back to the prisoners' camp. Within a few minutes of leaving the camp, we heard some shots; the prisoner had tried to escape and was shot in his attempt. We later received information that two of my friends, who had surrendered during the raid, had been killed, the Free French were prisoners of war, and the German was awarded a Hero's medal by the German Army.
We were now only a small group of fifteen, and therefore carried out smaller missions, mainly gathering information on German Army movements in the Libyan desert. One other important action was a surprise attack on General Rommel's (the German commander's) headquarters. There we joined another commando unit. We had a lot of arms and machine guns, and so succeeded in destroying large parts of this camp killing approximately 50 German officers. We missed our main target, General Rommel himself, who happened to be attending the birthday party of another general elsewhere, but we returned to base without any losses.
However, shortly after this, our unit was disbanded. Five of us joined the SAS (Special Air Service). This was a special unit operating under Colonel David Sterling who was famous for his intimate knowledge of the North African desert, and its inhabitants, the Bedouins. He was also known for his courage and willingness to take risks in battle. He commanded about 100 men - officers and NCOs (non-commissioned officers) - specially selected for their fitness and courage. The missions were similar to what we had been doing previously - sabotage and destruction in well thought-out actions, deep into enemy territory.
I personally was attached to the deputy commander Major Oldfield, for my knowledge of fluent German. This was especially important when we captured some Germans and needed to obtain certain information from them. After some smaller strikes, we were preparing for a large-scale action which was to include all our men. Our aim was to cross the whole length of the Libyan Desert, starting from Egypt, and eventually join up with the American Army, who had by then landed in Tunisia. On the way, we intended to destroy as many German and Italian positions as possible. We went out with a convoy of about 50 vehicles, some lorries for our supplies of food and petrol, but mainly jeeps.
The order was to travel fast, and, whenever there was a breakdown in any one vehicle, the one behind it had to stop, take on the passengers of the broken down one, which was abandoned, and carry on to catch up with the convoy, distributing the extra load at the next stop. Unfortunately, my driver, a fellow from Lancashire, and I were the last in the convoy, so when we had a breakdown, there was nobody to pick us up. We tried to get the vehicle going, but alas - no luck! After taking as many of the most necessary items as we could carry, we abandoned the vehicle, and started walking, in the hope that, when the others realised we were missing, they would send back a vehicle to pick us up.
Unfortunately, when we broke down, we were spotted from an Italian outpost in the Benghazi area, and they sent an armoured car to find out who we were. Evidently, they had seen the whole convoy passing, but of course had no idea what its purpose was. At the time, we were dressed in British overalls, and had time to destroy all evidence of any connections with the special mission. When the Italians found us, they took us to their post and questioned us, and, discovering that we were British servicemen, they took us prisoner.
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