High quality color photographs. British side

[Kenny Andrew]

Nearly 350 Canadian soldiers served with forward units in the British First Army in Tunisia for three months in order to give them combat experience. At the end of November 1942, British and American forces landed in northwest Africa. With forces ashore in Morocco and Algeria, German and Italian troops were penned into Tunisia. Following these landings, a number of Canadian officers and non-commissioned officers were offered three-month tours of duty attached to the newly arrived forces in Algeria which was designated the 1st British Army. The objective of these postings was to allow a number of small unit leaders the opportunity of seeing combat and taking that battle experience back to the Canadian Army in the U.K. before it was employed in action en masse. The British War Office arranged for 78 officers and 63 other ranks to travel to Algiers, arriving on 3 January 1943. Four other parties were dispatched subsequently, and 201 officers and 147 other ranks were eventually employed in North Africa. The men came from “practically every type of unit – armored regiments, infantry, artillery, supply and communications services and some medical officers

[Steve S.]

Thanks Kenny, very interesting. It makes sense that the Canadian troops needed on-the-job experience prior to their involvement in the Italian Campaign, and elsewhere. They had of course been very much involved in the Dieppe Raid (large beach assault) in August 1942, but many of the Canadians who landed and survived there ended up as PoWs, and thus unable to pass along the lessons learned.

Interesting helmets on those despatch riders. Did British motorcyclists have similar helmets? Apparently one of my father's uncles served in that role. It's a shame we never thought to ask our seniors questions about the war back when we still could. In my case I guess it was out of respect for their privacy. If they wanted to share their experiences, I expected that they would have. I was young at the time, so I probably didn't give it much thought. Certainly not what I would now. My grandfathers probably had tales to tell, but seem to have kept them for sharing with their fellow veterans, not us kids. Bit by bit I am piecing together their likely wartime experience. Overall though, I'm mostly glad that they both managed to return home safely and raise their families. Far too many never got that chance.

[Steve S.]

On 19/10/2018 at 10:58, Brodie said:

Just the image to be posted here

Like this one. Now it is your turn folks

I wish I had some to share. Thank you for sharing yours. Those are very good colour photos, for ANY time period. My parents' photos from the 70s and 80s absolutely stink by comparison.  

[Fritz]

Recently discoverd near Leningrad

[Fritz]

BEF soldiers from the Royal Army Ordnance Corps sharing a packet of cigarettes after being evacuated from France.

[Fritz]

Polish troops standing in an assembly point in Ancenis, before their evacuation. The evacuation of that particular unit began on 16 June 1940 in Ancenis till 19 June 1940 when they reached La Rochelle to be evacuated on the British steam merchant ship SS Alderpool. Note their uniforms of the French mountain infantry, the Chasseurs Alpins.

[Fritz]

A Bren gunner of 13/18th Royal Hussars camouflaged in a beet field during an exercise near Arras, 16 October 1939. If you look at the war diary pages for October 1939, also posted, they would suggest this photograph was taken later than the 16th during one of the exercises the regiment took part in.

[Fritz]

Heaps and heaps of .303 Lee Enfield rifles handed in by soldiers back from Dunkirk at the quayside, Dover

[Fritz]

"Imprint" nach dem Angriff des japanischen Kamikaze-Piloten Mitsubishi KI-51 "Sonia" auf das Schiff HMS Sussex - Pacific, Juli 1945

[Fritz]

Polish soldier, ca. 1930
Sent by Karol Paskiewicz of his grandfather

[Fritz]

Hostellerie du Centre, St.  Briac, 15.8.1944. I stayed in this hotel with my parents in August 1964

[Fritz]

Moskau, 17.7.1944

[Fritz]

Employees of the Moskau Tourist Authority, 1936

[Fritz]

Very little is known about the early life of Lucas Majozi. He was born to a Zulu family in Zastron, Orange Free State in 1916. It was more than likely that Majozi carried an ancestry of warriors, from the conquests of Shaka Zulu to the victorious battle at Isandlwana. He too sought to prove his worth as a warrior. At the outbreak of the Second World War, Majozi enlisted in the South African UDF’s Native Military Corps (NMC).

Their role would be a far cry from the better known “fighting men” of the Empire’s African units. Unlike the famed King’s African Rifles and Rhodesian African Rifles, the South African NMC intentionally relegated their troops to menial tasks and non-combat duties. The pay was extremely poor, and significantly lower than that given to white soldiers. Additionally, there was little room for any potential advancement as NMC troops could only be promoted up to the rank of Sergeant.

To add insult to injury, the “fighting Zulus” who joined the NMC were provided with antiquated knobkerries and assegai spears for training. The weapons of their grandfathers were by now completely useless in the mechanized war, and seemed to make a mockery of their heritage. The early ANC (but adamantly anti-Communist) activist Alfred Xuma remarked: "They expect us to fight aeroplanes, tanks and army artillery with knobkerries and assegais. What mockery!"

Regardless of their official status and training as non-combatants, NMC often found themselves under fire, and in the thick of the fighting. During the war, some 1700 NMC troops were captured, hopeless unable to resist their German and Italian captors. Most reported being treated under better conditions by the Axis in POW camps.

Regardless of the unit’s many failings, Majozi still sought to prove his worth. He had been made a Lance Corporal and given command of a stretcher bearer section to evacuate the wounded. As the Battle of El-Alamein commenced on 23 October 1942, Majozi followed the 1 / 2 Field Force Battalion into the combat as they attacked Axis forces with the 8th Army. They were tasked to clear and push through a position later estimated to have some 500,000 mines sown into the ground. The attack went badly for the South Africans. As they took heavy casualties, and the blood curdling shouts for “stretcher-bearer!” came from every corner of the battlefield.

Within 100 meters of the enemy lines, Majozi and his section rushed into the fray. They came upon the horrific sight of dozens of men, mangled by the hidden landmines or cut down by enemy fire. Majozi and his men worked incessantly throughout the night, dragging each South African soldier out, one by one. Early in the attack while dragging out the wounded, he was shot and hit by shrapnel. Perhaps it was the adrenaline, or some deep warrior drive within him, but he kept working.

A passing medical corporal ordered Majozi to immediately return to a regimental aid post and have his wounds dressed. Despite being covered in his own blood, and the blood of the wounded, Majozi smiled, and responded that there were more men to save. He grabbed some more stretchers and immediately rushed back into the minefield.

He continued to drag back men with his co-bearer one at a time, until the co-bearer was hit by enemy fire. Despite the intense pain and blood loss he had suffered until this point, he managed to throw his wounded comrade over his back and walk him to safety. He was ordered once again, this time by his company commander to immediately report to the aid station. Again, Majozi smiled and disregarded the order. He worked until the early morning of the 13th, dragging the remaining wounded out over his back until he collapsed from blood loss and exhaustion.

For his exceptional conduct on the first day of El-Alamein, he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, second only to the Victoria Cross. As his award ceremony in Egypt, South African General Dan Pienaar remarked “With a number of bullets in his body he returned time after time into a veritable hell of machine gun fire to pull out wounded men. He is a man whom South Africa can well be proud. He is a credit to this country”.

General Pienaar attempted to have the award upgraded shortly afterwards to the Victoria Cross, but was killed in a plane crash later that year. The thought of a black Victoria Cross recipient for the remainder of the South African high command was a ludicrous idea, and despite his deserving heroics Majozi would remain forever in relative obscurity.

We know as little about what this great “man among men” did in his early years, as we do his later years. We know he was given a stipend of 2 pounds, a bicycle, a civilian suit, and discharged in the same day from the NMC. In 1948, he joined the South African Police where he would achieve the rank of Sergeant and serve for a time. Sometime in 1969, Majozi died in Gauteng, South Africa, aged 52-53.

Despite the humiliating experience of how the NMC was organized and treated, for 17525 Lance Corporal Majozi DCM, there was no black, or white. At El-Alamein, there was only South African. Majozi remains a credit to his country, and should never be forgotten.

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