North African Odyssey: Blood On The Sand (Part 2)

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1:38as i heard the deep roar of a tank on the hill below us i primed my anti-tank grenade with feverish fingers, sudden very much afraid. In another moment, a squat turret appeared over the crest and opened fire blindly with this machine gun, but the tracer flew harmlessly yards above our heads as we were on the reverse slope well below the crown. A second later, we heard our gamma bombs in a shower. The tank disappeared behind a thick cloud of black smoke and blinding thunderclabs. The machine gun stopped suddenly, and the monster halted as though bewildered. Come on, yelled John Ross. Give him another dose.

2:16Close in and finish him off. A groping hand came out of the target of the tank and clutched around wildly for the anti-aircraft machine gun mounted on top, having nothing more effect to throw. I pulled a hand grenade out of my smoke pocket and yanked the pin. I must have let the lever go in my excitement for, to my horror, I saw it being fizzing in my hand, eating up a four-second fuse. I flung it from me wildly and ducked back for cover. By the greatest of luck, we went in the right direction and burst directly over the open turret. Hands sank out of sight like a wilting flower. Oh, good shot, shouted Ross, feeling the tank in his power.

2:51That, of course, was Lieutenant Peter Stainful, R.E., in his book, Wings of the Wind. Bad title, great book.

2:59Al Murray: Yes, indeed. Thanks for that, Jim. Welcome, everyone, to We Have Ways of Making You Talk with me, Al Murray and James Holland for our second episode of what 2PARA did next, Disaster at Oudna. Yes. In our last episode, we explained the sort of peculiar dilemma of airborne forces at this stage of the war, where they aren't big enough, haven't got enough planes, haven't done anything before, and are absolutely desperate to go. Haven't trained enough. Haven't trained enough, and are absolutely desperate to go. So we left 2PARA and accompanying elements jumping out of their shiny new Dakotas at Depienne in Tunisia on the 29th of November 1942.

3:36Al Murray: And Lieutenant Colonel John Frost, MC, hero of Brunavale, he's led the drop himself. He's picked the drop zone himself, indeed, from the door of the Dakota, as there'd been no chance for proper reconnaissance. This'll do. Follow me, boys. Oh, God. I mean, it literally is follow me, isn't it? Do you think he blows his hunting corner? Don't you worry. Not yet. Don't you worry, not yet. so the hero of brunewald he's been dead keen to get his men into action because of the interminable weight that's preceded this mission it just hasn't sat well with the men fighting booze and friction not just with the locals but the american powers and french soldiers have taken the battalion to the edge but it's straightforward this they're going to land at depian deal with whatever's at depian then march onto the airfield at udna and they're going to be relieved by First Army.

4:28Al Murray: You know, it's like the eternal tale for airborne forces, basically. And the core of this is any misgivings Frost may have had have been overridden by the chance to get into action. And he's literally first to land. He pulls out his hunting horn that he's been given in Iraq as a memento of his time with the Iraq levies, and he blows it. Hunting horn or squeaky fart? I think we'll go with squeaky fart. He's puzzled by how slow the battalion seems to be in forming up. Right. He's thinking, what's what's the hold up here? And then he realizes that the men are probably confused because they've been briefed on the previous far more complex version of the mission that they were going to be doing.

5:11Al Murray: And there wasn't time to tell them because they've all landed thinking it's going to be Pont du Faux. And so they're looking for the landmarks that they've the officers are looking for the landmarks they've studied on their maps. and there aren't any. It's not Bon de Faris, Depien. Exactly, but no one knows this. So there's an awful lot of head scratching going on because they're not at the original proposed drop zone. So Frost decides the simplest thing to do is radio the company commanders saying, you come to me and order your men to form up on the edges of the drop zone. Come to me and we'll figure out what to do.

5:44Al Murray: And the enemy are completely absent. No one presents themselves to fight. There's no firing, right? Although they have actually been watched by, observed by a passing German patrol who decide the best thing to do is simply report what they've seen rather than get engaged, rather than get stuck in. I can see why you would make that decision if you're a German patrol. Entirely sensible, isn't it? Right. Although, you know, it would have caused a hold up. And hold up so the real thing airborne forces can't endure. Anyway, his immediate problem isn't the Germans. It's the battalion's parachutes. because as we saw at bone with pine coffins landing you know the parachutes are the thing they're very valuable 35 pounds a pop two and a half thousand pounds in today's money frost has orders from brigade to to recover all of the battalion shoots and to guard them because they're expensive and rare is that also because they might be needing needing them again in north africa and it's you know they're a long way from home yeah you know the the parachute warehouse isn't just down the road anymore and like i think yeah it's all that it's all that but it's also like i mean how sensible is this really and one of the dakotas leaving at maison rouge has got stuck in the mud because it rained so heavily the night before and so a stick from c company have not made it so he decides to leave the rest of that platoon from c company behind to guard the parachutes under a lieutenant buchanan and they were ordered to shoot the locals if the locals try to steal them if need be really so they just got to stay at fpn yeah with with their parachutes yeah make a brew have a fag and take pot shots at anyone trying to steal the parachutes this is you know the airborne problem which is that there is no rear as such means that people will get cut off left behind and essentially handed over to the enemy one way or another you'd fought in the circumstances you'd hide them under a rock and you'd just kind of strict orders to guard i know that's orders but but you know he's he's a man in charge and you know and you need every single man don't you yeah yeah you'd think and he makes this decision with a heavy heart and all this sort of stuff and there's lots there's an awful lot of heavy heart um in what in what happens in this in the udna saga so frost finds himself rationalizing this ongoing delay you know the the men are really exhausted after a long day mustering because you know to load muster load up fly in and parachute you know you're getting up at three o 'clock in the morning it's a really really long day and of course the night before no one slept because you're going on and off and of course they've had a fortnight of restless aggro right fist fights getting drunk yeah exactly it doesn't they haven't been well prepared well let's face it sort of get getting legless and having fist fights it's not the best prep for a kind of operation is it no the men are fried basically and also it's the old airborne problem that yesterday you were in barracks today you're 50 miles behind enemy lines with the enemy coming to get you you're not wound up to battle like an infantry battalion going into the line you know approach come forward be echelon forward you go there's none of that you're just plonk here we are distant sound of guns getting louder all that kind of stuff exactly and last night you were fighting arabs in the bar and tonight you're ah you know you're you're you're on ops and how far is epien to udna do we have any sense of that well by road it's about 10 to 12 miles but they don't as we'll see they decide not to take the road no because it's too obvious isn't it so he reasons that because the men are fried the best thing to do is take a delay so the battalion can shake itself down and it'll serve to confuse the germans as to what their intentions might be you know if they stay and appear to stay at depia and they're obviously not going anywhere else so maybe it means something else and they'll move after dark they'll move on to it after dark yep and at about 1600 hours that afternoon british armored cars appear, armoured cars from 56 Recce Regiment, and they've been told to make contact with two para.

9:36Al Murray: Because this is the thing about the front lining. Can they pick up the para gym? They haven't got orders to do that. I mean, it's... And they say, don't worry, we'll be back soon, chum. Don't worry, sir. Good to see you. And they set off up the road in the direction Frost is intending to march. And he takes that as an encouraging to sign, you know, that things are working out the way it's been planned and they're not on their own. However, needless to say, Frost never sees them again, never sees 56th Reckie Regiment again. And their regimental history mentions the return journey. There's a Sergeant Whatley who's been sent out again to make contact with two para.

10:16Al Murray: Whatley comes back through Depienne once they've moved off, so he misses them. And he makes contact with the wounded left behind and the blokes have been left behind with the parachutes. and then he gets into a scrape with the Germans. And basically their battle diary for that day notes that the Padre has been killed by a mine. It doesn't talk about contact with two para. So the idea that First Army is itching to come and rescue Second Parachute Battalion is for the birds. There's a complete failure to join things up at army level, which means division level, which means da-da-da-da. So there's no sense that 56th Wrecking Regiment, whatever you do, link up with 2-Para and, you know, let's...

11:02Al Murray: No, there's a bimble out, go see where they are. Two armoured cars. There's no effort, right? And Whatley gets a military medal for his actions, successfully returning to British lines. But they don't link up with 2-Para and they don't make an effort to do it. And them having not found them, except for the... Doesn't then turn into, well, we better figure out where they are. Doesn't translate into that. So the battalion has acquired mules. They've turned up with their money and bought the mules off the locals, or rather, I think, exchanged money for mules. You know, I think the locals are probably pretty pissed off about this.

11:34Al Murray: But the men are still carrying about 50 kilos each. They're still carrying a lot of kit. And Frost decides not to use the road to make his advance onto Udnit, because he thinks there'll probably be a roadblock and they run into that. And they can't afford an encounter before they do the attack they've been said to do. So there's a track on the 1 ,000 to 50 ,000 scale maps they've got, French maps. And there's a track that's going to go up into the hills. And Peter Stainforth, when he looks at that, at the O group, thinks that's about 18 miles cross country. It's quite a long way, right? When you're carrying a heavy load and you don't know where you're going.

12:11With 50 Ks, yeah.

12:12Al Murray: Yeah, exactly. And they're going to leave before midnight. They'll get to Udina and attack at dawn is the idea. so frost orders his men as night falls to get their heads down and get some sleep and here's one of the quirks of circumstance the men have not worn their battle dress blouses under their smocks because it's warm it's hot the morning when they're loading the aircraft on the 29th right that morning we're in north africa and then they're in north africa so come the night They're only, they're wearing smocks over shirts or vests, and it is bitterly, bitterly cold. Some of the men, some of the descriptions of it's too cold to sleep.

12:53Al Murray: You can't sleep. It's so bitterly cold. And this is a simple thing. Stainforth talks about they wrap themselves in the parachute silk that they've got, because they haven't had to leave the parachutes yet, to try and get some sleep. And this is also the last proper sleep anyone gets in the next five days. wow because things are about to unravel but what a simple thing they've left their battle dress blouses behind because they think well we're not going to need those it's the it's north africa it's hot and come the night it's really it causes them real proper proper problems dealing with the environment so they set off before midnight with the mules and the carts they've they find they're going very very tough on the track as it winds uphill under the moonlight the men pick their way forward and the carts get stuck and have to be manhandled there's also an ongoing problem with the radio sets of course there is of course there is because there always is and because on an airborne ops you don't have the luxury of the time of uh coming to the line and having everything set up and ready it's got to work as soon as you arrive no so and frost experienced Experienced problems with the radios at Bruneval.

14:06Al Murray: Yeah, I remember that. Yeah, exactly. And they leave them behind and he gets in trouble for that. He finds the endless net checks completely exasperated. He goes to headquarters. They're running net checks all night as they're carrying through the night. And he's a man of action. He wants things to run properly. And, you know, Frost's signature thing when he's stressed and thinking about things is he rubs his moustache, strokes his moustache in frustration. And you can picture him. So you're seeing a lot of moustache stroking at this point. His moustache is getting a proper workout. Yeah, exactly.

14:37Al Murray: And so they make very slow progress. Frost calls a halt before dawn, and they've not got to Udna. And there's not going to be a dawn attack. So they lay down and sleep where they are. It's going to be another day, really, basically, isn't it? Exactly. And Frost has been too cold to sleep. So they're going to have to make another move in the morning. Right? And not long after dawn, the Luftwaffe put in an appearance. and a pair of Messerschmitt 109s appear and have a look because there's been a landing at Depien. So they know there's guys about and they appear not to see them and they don't attack.

15:14Al Murray: So they think, well, we got away with that. So moving forward, though, also comes with an unexpected problem because the other difference between Tunisia and the North African desert that's been on the newsreel is there are locals, there are people living there, there are villages, farmsteads, everywhere. It's populated. And the locals, rather than simply watch passively, what they do is light fires, beacons to let each other know that there's troops moving about. And they're calling forward the news, shouting it across the hilltops from farm to farm, announcing the arrival of what the men call a Frost's Travelling Circus.

15:53Al Murray: and there are dogs barking everywhere. And all the descriptions are the dogs start barking when you're a mile away and stop barking when you are a mile away. So as you tab forward, the dogs bark and the next set of dogs bark and the next, yeah, shut up. So there's no surprise attack to be had in these circumstances. Even if you got there at dawn, you know, it's been broadcast far and wide that there's a battalion of parachutists in town. So, but by 11 that morning, they're within striking distance of the objective. There's a place called Pris-Dos where they settle, but there's a well at the bottom of a sort of bowl of land with hills around it.

16:34Al Murray: And so they've come up to Pris-Dos and they're on a hilltop on the edge of Pris-Dos and they can see the airfield. So Frost orders his attack. This is the big moment. They're going to kick the Luftwaffe out of Udner airfield, Jim. So he orders, he issues orders for Major Frank Cleaver's B Company to hold the high ground on the battalion's left flank. And keep watch for the return of First Army's recce vehicles. And then he organises the battalion attack on Udna. And the airfield sat in a valley. So a company led by Major Dickie Ashford, who's a man who's risen from the ranks. He's come up through the ranks.

17:08Al Murray: And he's another socialist firebrand who has little time for regular army officers, which Frost is very suspicious of. But this is the sort of people you get in a parachute battalion. You know, super mobilised people, anti-fascists, you know, all that stuff. they're going to proceed down the valley and they see company yeah led by major john frost who'd been frost's two ic at bruneval have been the man that got to the beach first at bruneval and he's the guy with stain for that we mentioned at the beginning yeah yeah yeah which which happens a little later in this story ross ross is going to go around the the ridge line to cover the attack into the valley and they'll proceed along the ridge line above the airfield to see companies left, followed by battalion headquarters.

17:50Al Murray: And then they'll come down around the flank. So C Company, though, is depleted because of the stick that's gone missing. And the men with Lieutenant Buchanan left behind to guard the parachute. So they're under strength. Now, Tupara has a large Scottish contingent, large Scots contingent. C Company is Choc Company after all. So Piper Ewing pipes the men on down to meet the enemy. So picture this. The pipes scurling in the Tunisian autumn winter air. You know, as they finally come to battle, stirring stuff. So the Germans do the right thing and they wait until the two companies are well within range.

18:30Al Murray: The Germans are there and they open up with machine guns and mortars. So men start to drop and Frost gets a proper look at the airfield and he can see that it's abandoned. Oh, no. Yeah. There's no Lefuffer there. There's one wrecked airframe. right there are germans there to fight a rear guard but the but the love buffer have given the place up there's nothing there and you know poor intelligence marring an airborne operation say it ain't so jim and this is the yeah this is and this is this is it's all a bit it's a bit it's a bit cack isn't it it's cack and you know they haven't gone to pontoufar because it's been noticed that's not an airfield anymore.

19:14Al Murray: Depian they've landed on and they know it's not an airfield anymore and they've gone to another airfield they now discover it's not an airfield anymore. The truth is the Germans don't need them this far out. No. They've gone around Berserta and Tunis. Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's a massive dried up lake just outside Tunis. Yeah, exactly. And this is your problem, the true problem of rapid reaction parachute insertion without real-time intelligence is right there. By the time Brigade HQ might have found this out, the operation would have been cancelled. So, so Frost thinks, well, we need to call this off.

19:48Al Murray: So he tries to stop A and C companies and C company have got in among the buildings by the airfield and there's a little railway station there as well. There's no point fighting and taking casualties from an abandoned airfield. And when he gets through to the C company signaler, the scalyback replies, there's nobody here but me, sir. So the signaler has been left behind because everyone's run off to do some fighting. Oh, see. Yeah. Because they want to get stuck in. And he starts to worry that he needs to get a grip on this pointless battle. So Frost sends a runner up to C Company and then makes his way into the valley to A Company on the edge of the airfield.

20:23Al Murray: And rather dryly, he says, of C Company, they had a few casualties and nearly captured some of the enemy. They could not tell me much about them as we were all so new to battle and each man's story was different. So he's basically saying it's total chaos, no cohesion. even the people who are involved in what's going on don't know what's going on yeah and also anderson has lost one of his platoons which is commanded by lieutenant dennis rendall which has raced ahead of sea company and is now out on its own and they all say well they're well on their way to tunis because one of the things is from the ridgeline they can see tunis in the distance can they yeah yes they can can't they exactly so basically they're seizing an airfield that isn't an airfield they're taking casualties for no for no good reason and the thing is is as frost is moving in to check up on the leading elements of sea company that the thing he's dreaded most appears so it's german armor and there's a viaduct in the valley yeah and there are german enemy afvs are lurking in the viaduct and as ever in these accounts no one's really clear on to what sort of panzers they are or if they're panzers or if they're half tracks or whatever but it doesn't matter it's the thing airborne soldiers don't really have a reply to well no they can't possibly yeah of course not and you know the boys entertain gun gammon bombs you know the gammon bomb requires you being 10 yards from the thing 30 feet from the thing and preferably even closer so you can just run up and stick it on yeah exactly and so peter stainforth who's with first paris corps in re he's dismayed to find himself facing arm and that's the quote we had at the start Well, you can understand why.

21:57Al Murray: Yeah, yeah. And the afternoon drags on, and the battalion really starts to take casualties as they're trying to force this armor off. And Lieutenant Ken Morrison is killed going forward, trying to gammon bomb the armor. And he takes a bunch of lads with him, and they're all killed. And then... Oh, my God. The Luftwaffe turns up. You've got Messerschmitt 109s and Stukas, dive bombers. And fortunately, the enemy pilots seem unable to spot the powers on the ground, although there's about 200 of them out in the open and no one's hurt. And this is a moment, another light bulb moment for Frost, right?

22:33Al Murray: Because he's forbidden his men to shoot at the planes because they need the ammunition for sure targets. And he says in his memoir, the question of ammunition and how best not to fritter it was something no one had given much thought to back in England when they were training. Because the expectation is you'll be relieved and it'll all be all right. And suddenly the stark importance of conserving ammunition is becoming clear. you know not even 24 hours into things and every man carries about 150 rounds but actually that's not very many if you know if things go pear-shaped well you can in theory right you know on a rifle you can fire 30 rounds a minute if you need to precisely and on a bren gun that's just nothing at all it's nothing at all i'm sorry i'm starting to see the rub of all this i know so as the evening draws in the germans slacken off and frost decides it's tough we can take the opportunity to get out of Udner.

23:24Al Murray: So he moves back up to the high ground at Prisloe, that position we've talked about before, where they'd stopped in the morning to regroup and attack the airfield. And there's a well there, so it's suited to defence. And they take stock. And C Company are shorthanded. They've had guys killed. One of the platoons has disappeared. Lieutenant Rendell's platoon has disappeared. And they've left the men behind with the chutes at Depienne. And they're under strength now. and the wounded there's a there's a there's a shack just beside his new perimeter and the wounded to put there so their mission has been to destroy to go to an airfield and destroy any aircraft there there aren't any so they've succeeded one way or another but not quite in the way they managed they'd imagined exactly so frost decides okay what he'll do is they'll march up to the rendezvous the other way of looking at it is they've been set on a wild goose chase for no point whatsoever yep but a wild goose chase they readily accepted because they wanted to go you know they've got there's some buyer's remorse going on i think is the best way of best way of summer yeah okay right because they were dead keen right so they're going to march north to the proposed rendezvous at saint cyprian but the only problem with this is they're 50 miles behind enemy lines yikes and as night falls it gets colder and colder and colder and the signalers are trying to raise first army yeah yeah they're all huddled together yeah frost tries to sleep back to back with his two ic philip teichman and they see flak pouring up out of tunis 10 miles in the distance as the air raids go in you know in the in the distance blares going out searchlights yeah exactly and they're all woken you know adorn that they're all sort of thawing in the dawn sunshine frost orders his men to dig in properly and no one's really had any sleep because obviously there's guys on stag and then and then it's too cold and they set an ambush at the bottom of the hill and also there's a well where they're sending guys down to um uh watering parties down to refill and at 10 hundred hours german vehicles appear gradually driving across the airfield and up towards prislo and two power have been issued with yellow recognition triangles for the men to wear um and the idea is that first army are going to have these as well so you won't get a mistaken identity problem everyone's got the yellow triangles men will wear them the vehicles will have no blue on blues no blue on blue so the vehicles come up quickly and they're bounced by frosh's ambush party but they mistime it and rather than putting the germans off the germans then withdraw and beginning shelling shelling and mortars mortaring the paris from a safe distance because they don't have to engage them if they don't want to.

26:08Al Murray: And two power as mortars reply in kind and strike some people, kill a bunch of Germans clearly having an O group in their circle of vehicles. So, you know, things are testy. News then filters back from C Company that there's another column of armoured vehicles, two tanks and armoured car, and they're approaching from the direction that relief is expected. Is it clear that they're coming after them? I mean, they're not just sort of doing patrols or are they out to get these guys that have been spotted? Yeah, but these vehicles have got yellow triangles on them, Jim. Oh, I see. This second group of vehicles have yellow triangles.

26:43Al Murray: So everyone's brilliant. Relief is at hand, ammunition, rescue. Yeah. And a man goes forward to the vehicles, waving his yellow triangle and is promptly captured because the Germans have taken the yellow triangles from the party left behind at Depienne. and obviously have got a couple of guys in the bag who've told them what they are. It's obvious what they are. Germans are up to their tricks. And C Company's commanding officer, O.C., Major John Ross, comes to see Frost. And he says to Frost, and Jim, you're John Ross on this occasion. I thought I'd better come personally, Ross said. The tanks behind us are, in fact, German.

27:24They must have picked up the yellow triangles from the D 'Empion party. they have taken my three chaps prisoner and i've got them covered all the time they've sent one in to say that they have completely surrounded and there's no point in our continuing to fight they're waiting now to hear what we have to say right so in other words surrender yeah we've got you covered we've got you covered and for you tommy zavoy is over exactly this is a full-on

27:48Al Murray: tommy's voice oh you know you know hand a hog people familiar with the bridge too far the movie Well, no, there's the scene that's all arse-bat-faced and all wrong. You know, we haven't the facilities to take you prisoner. The bit where the German comes forward under the white flag of truce and says, you know, give it up. This is basically the same situation. Yeah. Because actually what happened at Arnhem was Lance Sergeant Halliwell, who's a sapper, is captured and sent back under a flag of truce and shot at by his own side and everything to say surrender. And Frost says, well, go tell him to get knotted.

28:23Al Murray: And Halliwell says, well, if I stay here, that's the same message, right? So it's essentially the same situation. And while this is happening, Frost's headquarters signal gets through to First Army, finally gets through to First Army. And this is the one and only time they make contact with First Army in this whole fiasco. And the message from Anderson's headquarters is that the armoured thrust planned is off. They're not coming to get them. Wow. That seems to be the perfect cliffhanger to have a break. I think it does. We'll take a break.

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30:50Al Murray: Welcome back to We Have Ways To Make You Talk. frost has been dumped by text here that's the situation yes yes he's been dumped by text i just don't want booby anymore bye yeah exactly i mean that is a literal dear john isn't it as our producer jr has just chipped in with it's a literal dear john we should say that from time to time we do get these little these little witticisms from jr come come through on our screens and yeah much appreciated they're much appreciated they're on the money on on many occasions every time so what's he gonna do jim so he thinks well

31:30i'll tell you what he's gonna do he's gonna try and make the best of a bad situation

31:33Al Murray: yeah yeah exactly and and he's gonna do um probably the only thing he can do which is wait until dark and then move and use the confusion of darkness to throw the enemy off his scent particularly knowing the germans don't like fighting at night or doing stuff at night so everyone knows that Everyone knows that. So knowing that they need to travel light, right, they're going to ditch the heavier kit. So the mortars are smashed up. They've run out of ammunition anyway. And the radios with their flat batteries are smashed up and destroyed as well. Well, at the end of the day, I mean, you know, they haven't exactly had brilliant contact with their radios, have they?

32:11No. It hasn't helped much.

32:12Al Murray: So sod it, right? Why bother? And so the wounded, they're going to be left behind with a party under Lieutenant McGavin who will guard the wounded. and the worry is actually is what will happen to the wounded if they fall into the hands of the local Arab population rather than the Germans, right? And there's a sort of semi-official history of the airborne medical effort that says rather ominously it was out of the question to consider abandoning the wounded to the mercies of the local Arab population who at that time not only pro-German but openly hostile to the British and they have been known to mutilate and kill any who fell into their hands.

32:46Al Murray: So there's a fair slab of... You won't want to chance it, put it that way. But there's also a fair slab of plain straight racism about the Arab population that the British are carrying around with them. Well, that says maybe, but equally you don't want to chance it, do you? No, of course you don't. Of course you don't. And it's this terrible business with airborne operations. You've got to leave the wounded behind. Eventually, at some point you will have to. So two para, right, have been in country for two days now and they're already down to a rump strength of something like 300 blokes. And this is the thing about airborne operations.

33:19Al Murray: They feel the effects of attrition far more sharply than a normal line battalion who will filter in replacements as and when it needs them. Right. And you've got the desperate worry of leaving the wounded behind. Right. And so off they go when night falls and it's chaotic, the move. They're stumbling on through the night and the enemy keep on shelling and mortaring where they think two para were, increasing the weight of fire. Yep. frost at one point sees a man holding his face on with his hands because it's been sliced clean off by a mortar fragment so there's a bloke staggering along like this in the night it's yeah because you've got this thing of the mortars shattering uh uh the rock and slices of rock flying around a piece of mortar ricocheting off rock so yeah come the morning the dwindling numbers of men are beginning to really feel the effects of being so lightly equipped behind enemy lines.

34:16Al Murray: So everyone's got a raging thirst. Running out of ammo, running out of food, running out of water. Yeah. And there's no prospect of relief now. So Frost just thinks there's no point stopping. Just keep the march going. Keep the rhythm of the march going. And also the thing he's really feeling, he's noticing among the men, is that wrench that comes with deploying by parachute. One minute you're in your billets, the next minute, you're behind enemy lines under constant strain without any sleep, constant pressure. And in the, the enemy are desperate to hunt you down and kill you. And he says that even when they're on the run, the men are still overloaded with kit and stuff because they've got to carry the means to survive.

34:55Al Murray: So it's very, very hard going. Peter Stainforth talks about the hard plow in the fields, that the fields are cut into these giant chunks of earth that have all set hard. Right. so you're stumbling through yeah this plowed land where you fall into sort of a foot deep rut furrow or trip over like a hard slice of earth that's been kicked up by the plowing yeah and so it's a really really you know these these aren't these i can just picture that completely yeah it's not open meadow no so frost calls a halt at a place marked on the map called sidibu hadjaba and there's a well there you know it's probably why it's marked on the map is that there's a well there that there's something for the something some landmark and the enemy um makes the most of the pause because they're watching them they're trailing them they're watching them you know frost gets organized as a head count and they see enemy guns and afes gathering in the distance and all they can really all frost can really do is ponder where the attack will come from and make sure his men are as ready as they can be and the enemy attack comes in and they're forced up to the top of the hillside um what time of day is this now this is like early morning the following day it's coming it's coming up to up to you know midday on day three we're on now yeah of day three they're forced off the top of the hillside so they're forced off the high ground and then they hang on on the reverse slope as best they can the padre is is wounded frank cleaver is the commanding officer b company yeah he's hit as he goes and takes out a group of men to try and counter-attack and the shelling is relentless and deadly just as the german machine gun fire which is uninhibited by concerns about ammunition you know they can't reply to these machine guns because they're counting every round no and peter stainforth um remarks on this he says that well jim you're uh lieutenant stainforth well he he says that the enemy has an apparently limitless supply of ammunition and and he then describes the onslaught he says owing to the incessant hail bullets, it was impossible to look around and see how the struggle was progressing.

37:06We could only gauge its ferocity by the hurricane which had above our heads churning up the ground, and either side in scouring the rocks with wheels of white. We were taking severe punishment. Four men out of about a dozen near me were either killed or wounded. Sap and Malum got machine gun bullets through both legs and smiled ruefully as if apologising for being hit. While his wounds were still numb jones and gregory on their stomachs grabbed him by the arms and hauled him down the hill the fear of death fell like a shadow over the soul dulling every emotion except an overwhelming desire to live goodness yeah they're sitting ducks aren't they they could be as gung-ho and as well trained as they'd like but but but you can't fight a sword with a wooden spoon can you well exactly

37:52Al Murray: and it is this thing with these these guys may be as motivated as you want fit as fleas but they're still made of flesh and blood like you and me and and they're as vulnerable as anybody else to um enemy action and they do what they can to repel the the german armor that's coming on and what it even is of course is sort of lost in the accounts and frost in his in account he's sanguine about the claims and counter claims about who knocked out what he's like you know everyone's having a go anyway but the enemy is tightening the noose two power will soon be out of business There is no hope of relief from First Army.

38:26Al Murray: So what could possibly tip the balance? Well, in the distance, Jim, the sound of approaching aircraft. Right? Wow. That's exciting. That's right. It's the Luftwaffe. It can't be the Royal Air Force or the Tactical Air Force because they can't be calling in an airstrike. Anyway, no one's got that worked out yet. No. So what do the Luftwaffe do with this situation on a knife edge? Well, what the Dufufa do is they attack the Germans on the hillside at Sidi Behejaba. They identify the wrong people and put an attack on the headquarters, the forming up areas, and strafe it and bomb it. Well, that's good.

39:05Al Murray: Yeah, it's a complete disaster for the enemy, because they had the boot on Tupara's throat. And this moment where they've absolutely got Tupara where they want them. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. You have this picture, don't you, of Tupara sort of scrambling across these hills in these valleys, through the grasses, through the outcrops of these jebbles and whatnot, with the Germans just sort of getting closer and closer and closer with an ever-heavier weight of fire. And they've got them. They're stuffed. You know, you can run, but you can't hide. I mean, this is no escape, is it? Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

39:43Well, there is, because the Luftwaffe turn up. The Luftwaffe turn up. Hurrah for the Luftwaffe.

39:46Al Murray: Hurrah for the Luftwaffe on this occasion. Yeah. always over promising, always under delivering. And so Frost thinks, right, great. Well, we're not going to try and get to Saint-Cyprien. That's ridiculous. We'll head west back towards First Army, towards a place called Massico. He reasons his best bet isn't to try and move en masse anymore. It's just not going to work. No. So the men will move in company groups and he gives orders for the wounded. There's 150 of them to be collected together. Yikes. Leaves a platoon to guard them. And these men, at best, with any luck, will go into the bag. So he sounds his hunting horn to mark the retreat.

40:19Al Murray: And what's left of C Company, they don't get the message and they're left behind. So his old company, Brunival Company, shot company left behind. So they march on. Frost's deputy Teichmann, he's missing. The adjutant's missing. Oh my God. Everywhere they go, they're observed by the locals. Fires are lit. Dogs bark. Where they said they're missing? Is this because of, how have they gone missing? Just in the darkness, in the kind of heat of battle? I think they're both killed. But basically, he just doesn't know. They're not present in the headcount. They're gone. And everywhere they go, you know, dogs are barking, fires are lit.

40:53Al Murray: They march for 50 minutes with a 10-minute break. Exactly. You can just picture it. I mean, I mean. Everywhere. Yeah. Yeah. And they're marching across this very challenging countryside in the dark. They do 50 minutes on, 10 minutes off. And the men are parched with thirst. They're completely exhausted. Yes. And when they stop for a break, starting again means the officers and NCOs We have to go around kicking the men, kicking and cursing them to get them back up on their feet. And some blokes, they can't get them to get up. So they leave them behind. And there's a Sergeant Johnston of a company.

41:29Al Murray: And he recalls, and he's from Aberdeen. So good luck, everybody. With this, I look forward to the complaints below the line. We found the going down the side of the precipitous gully very tough. When we got down on the plane, it was no better. I do not exaggerate when I talk of the agony of stumbling in a vineyard. It was like marching over coal heap. It became a supreme effort to climb over a low wall or slight bank such as divided the fields. I was so exhausted. I was staggering and I remember the major, Major Ashford's voice behind me just piercing the fog of exhaustion, urging me on with, keep it up lad, keep going.

42:04Al Murray: I must pay tribute to that gallant man for the way in which he encouraged and cajoled his utterly exhausted and almost demoralised remnant of a company. That night was the testing point of us all. i think it taught us that while you're conscious you can keep going and things never seemed so bad again wow it's obviously pretty bad it's pretty bad but they do find a river don't they yeah they do find a river yeah yeah uh and that's good news and that means they could slake their thirst so peter stainforth writes about this and he says this was good news for even with a rigid water discipline our water bottles have been empty since midday owing to the excessive strain of battle and our general exhaustion.

42:43That river saved us all. The men waded in silently up to their thighs and let the waters twist around their legs, cool and invigorating, while they rolled up their sleeves and washed away the clinging sweat and dust. When they emerged on the other side, they were like men reborn. There's a few better feelings, aren't there? When you're really, really thirsty and you have a cool glug of water, it's just nectar, isn't it?

43:06Al Murray: Yeah, yeah. You can feel it going down your throat and just percolating through your body. Setting you back up again. Yeah. I mean, God knows what this was like. Yes. Really. And B Company, the 2IC is leading Lieutenant Crawley, who's been blinded with his hand on his guide's shoulder, leading a blind man through this countryside. I mean, it's just. Yeah, it's unbelievable. Yeah. So the following morning, the 2nd of December, Frost gathers the men around him in a farmhouse called El Fedger. And the farm is well set for defense. They call it Cactus Farm because it's surrounded by thick cactus bushes.

43:41I see.

43:42Al Murray: And it's not far from a hilltop, offering a clear view of the surrounding countryside approaches. And there's sort of layers of cactus bush that means they can canalize the enemy. And the owner did everything he could to help Frost and his men. And they buy eggs from him and they cook a meal. And they're able to wash their clothes and dry them in the sunshine. But of course, relief. Now, a news arrives at the farm from an Arab boy who, you know, because basically there's kids running around spreading the news of what's going on, passing it on, of other British soldiers 10 miles away. So Lieutenant Ewan Chartres, who's one of the heroes of the Brunival raid, who's the fellow who lands in the wrong place.

44:18Al Murray: Percy Picard drops him in the wrong place. And then he advances to battle with his fellows back up to Brunaval and saves the day. Anyway, there's another group out there because they're in separate groups. It's what Frost had them do. They're the remnants of A Company with Dickie Ashford, and they join up with Frost's Ben. And the colonel is reassured that they'll be able to defend this position. And then the farmer says, well, actually, I've heard that First Army are 10 miles away at Ferna. So Charteris, again, volunteers to set out and find these troops. And he takes two other men with him and they're caught, surrounded and killed not long after as they refuse to surrender.

44:56So that's you and Charteris gone.

44:58Al Murray: During the morning, a motorcycle and sci-car drive right up to Cactus Farm. And they're men from 3rd Falschenbieger, no less. And Sergeant Alan Johnston, who we met earlier, his Bren team is watching. They're keeping silent. So what to do? And the farmer's daughter goes out to speak with the Germans and she's chatting with them. And the third Falschermjäger, who's been riding pillion on a motorcycle, hops off and goes for a slash. And as he walks past the shed, his eyes meet Johnston's. And this young German called Hans Teske, and in later years, they all get to know Hans Teske. No, that's amazing.

45:36Al Murray: Yeah. They nod an acknowledgement and goes back, gets to the motorcycle and off he goes. And when he gets back to the base, to his Falschimieger base, he doesn't tell anyone because he believes the powers have spared him. And anyway, these leads have got enough on their plate as it is. Isn't that amazing? A good German. Yeah, but he's right because the Germans, the Falschimieger make their move on Elf Edgster anyway. They're going to anyway. And there's some irony in the fact that two power up against Falschimieger. You know, if imitation is the greatest form of flattery, then British airborne forces are the greatest flatterers of all time.

46:11Al Murray: They've completely taken the… Same helmet, same smogs. Yeah. Yeah. It's only weapons and containers and all that. It's only… It's also… What's really interesting is it's two powers. Good fortune they face German airborne soldiers because they have no time for the commando by fail that the Führer has issued. Their fellow paratroopers are to be treated properly and not simply bumped off. Right. so they're gonna have a bit of mercy yeah exactly and they also know from the men taken prisoner along the way and a lot a lot of the guys taken prisoner are really bitter that in the debriefs a lot of them are really bitter that they've joined a parachute regiment they've or they've become paratroopers and they're being squandered on something where there's no aircraft at an airfield and the whole thing's a waste and there's some very very angry guys in the bag anyway frost has given strict instructions that no one should fire until the germans are within the point within point blank range.

47:05Al Murray: They hold the Germans off because the Germans don't start until 1500 hours. They run out of light quick enough. It's winter. It's November. Yeah. As the hay bales around the farmhouse catch fire and light up the night sky, frost's hunting horn sounds once more and two para are on the move again. Wow. They're out of the frying pan. And if you want to find out what happens, there's only one way. And that's to join our patron, and become a member of the independent company. Exactly. Is there any way? It's the only way. So we will see you on our next episode and you'll find out, well, how much of Second Parachute Patel make it back if they make it back.

47:45Al Murray: Thanks for listening, everybody. And cheerio. Cheerio. More turbot, Jim.

48:00Hello, Goalhanger History listeners. This is Marina Hyde and Richard Osman from The Rest is Entertainment. Hello, everybody. Every Thursday and Friday, we are reacting to the pop culture phenomenon that is the celebrity traitors. We'll be on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. And Marina and I are digging into all the castles, twists and turns, giving our expert opinion on what should happen next. Now, which historical figure do we think would be the greatest traitor? It's tempting to think of an actual traitor. Yeah. A Guy Fawkes or a Kim Philby. But then all of those are traitors who got caught.

48:30Philby had a great run though he did have a great run I think he could probably see off you know Joanne yes maybe and probably sort of where he ended up in Moscow is probably roughly like where the contestants have to spend every night as well so maybe there's some sort of equivalence so if you're watching Celebrity Traitors don't forget to tune in to our reaction episodes every Thursday and Friday night at 10pm find us on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts