Farewell to a General

‘The rest of the journey was uneventful. It was with great glee that we proclaimed our prize to various of our troops who were with Brigade. We handed over the wounded German to the R.A.P. and we disposed of the unwounded German driver to the Field Security Section. Incidentally, he had been very worried about the possible effect of a signet ring emblazoned with the Nazi emblem and had made motions indicating his willingness to chuck it away. We reassured him, however, for which he was grateful. I shall never forget the Teutonic click of heels with which he farewelled his general or the icy-cold acknowledgment of von Ravenstein. The latter, after I had convinced an astonished Brigade liaison officer of his importance, was handed over. His speedy evacuation to Divisional Headquarters and his hazardous journey from there to Cairo are none of my story.

‘Our part was completed. We went back to our own unit to find the battle on in earnest. That same evening, having successfully withstood an attack from motorised infantry all day long, we were ignominiously rounded up by tanks and our own lives as prisoners of war had begun.’

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