Hello, I am trying to locate the 1/2 Gurkha Rifles war diary about the capture of General Arnim in Tunisia, May 1943. Can't seem to find the link at the National Archive, anybody know the reference or even have a copy? Thanks!
It's this one. Indian Infantry: 1/2 Gurkha Rifles | The National Archives I don't have a copy, but I would like one. WO 169-18850 7 Indian Infantry Brigade HQ 1944 Jan-Dec is the Brigade HQ diary, but I'm not at home to check the contents for you. Have you looked at the published history? I can also check that later if you haven't.
That's brilliant Dryan. Excellent stuff. What the book does not say is the Map grid reference of Arnim's HQ and I also get the impression from their narrative that Royal Sussex regiment got there first - maybe their War Diary gives a grid reference? The Nat Archive reference says the file WO169/15008 is 'closed for 29 years' not sure if I understood that correctly. What do you think? I'm going to Tunisia, hopefully, later this year and want to find the exact spot. I have attached a couple of photos taken on a previous visit - I was told by a local that this building and the olive grove in the village were Arnim's HQ in 1943.
Well done dryan67, you beat me to it. It's a mere footnote, but I do have a slight curiosity about the purported reluctance of the Germans to surrender to the French here. Was it that they expected 'better' treatment from the British or perhaps indicative of a lack of respect for French military prowess?
Charley, Both factors could have been present. Plus the fact that the British were the 'commanding' element encountered. I too would be interested in members views. Note in another place, Bali, the Japanese refused to surrender to the Dutch and insisted on surrendering to the British-led SEAC. On some, smaller islands the Japs were happy to surrender to the Australians.
Extracted from: WO 169-14735 4 Indian Division General Staff Jan-Dec 1943 Edit: image is being resized!
For centuries, Germans and French had been intimately bound together in mutual antipathy. Between 1870 and 1945, this degenerated into a veritable vendetta. Surrendering to the hereditary enemy, of all things, was tantamount to a double defeat.
The reason the Germans did not want to surrender to the French is because the FR Unit included black soldiers from Senegal.
Former German general's car displayed in Eastbourne for 30 years is restored as a '˜living exhibit' | Eastbourne Herald (20) VON ARNIM & HIS STAFF CAR - The Orange Lilies - The Royal Sussex Regiment (jimdo.com)
Might be worth one or more of us writing to the IWM to request this be uploaded: Surrender of General Von Arnim Every interview I've asked for that was made by the museum itself, they've uploaded for me, but all of the commercially produced ones were refused. This is a BBC production, so there might be a hope.