Title: 4th and 6th Reserve Mechanical Transport Companies

Author: Henderson, Jim

Publication details: Historical Publications Branch, 1954, Wellington

Part of: The Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939–1945

This text is the subject of: ‘Something of Them Is Here Recorded’: Official History in New Zealand

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Saturday, 29 November

The day opens with a mass of 300 vehicles, with tanks, moving towards the Division. Whose? With the Afrika Korps closing in on all sides, the supply column has broken through, led by Colonel Clifton⁶⁸ in a bullet-riddled staff car. Heartening too is the arrival of more ammunition from Tobruk. Shelling continues on both sides, together with heavy bombing by the RAF, as the enemy probes. Enemy tanks masquerading cheerfully as British help enemy infantry win Point 175 from the remnants of 21 Battalion. At dusk Sergeant-Major Gay and six men escort German prisoners along the narrow corridor to Tobruk. Captain Blanch, in charge of D Section, is evacuated with influenza to the 6 Field Ambulance ADS, which is overrun, and he is taken prisoner but later escapes in a truck. Second-Lieutenant Smith takes over D Section.