The Julian (Jules) Dorrian Story On 18th June 1942 Tobruk was surrounded by Rommel’s Afrika Corps and then captured during a one day assault on 21st. Over 35,000 Allied soldiers were captured and at least 400 escaped. Julian Dorrian was one of the escapees and this is his story. View attachment 7 In 1939 I was living in Comber, Co. Down in Northern Ireland. I was employed as a milkman. I had to start work at 7am by milking the cows and then delivering milk by horse and cart. My wages at that time were £1 a week. That Sunday, when war was declared, I decided to join 5 (Newtonards) Battery. I joined because I knew there would be a war. That week a policeman came to the door and asked me to come down to the Police Station for midday on Saturday. He told me that if my name was called out, then I was in if I passed the medical. I joined up on 7th October 1939. After a fortnight in Belfast I was sent over to England. By the 27th November that year, I was standing in Alexandria, Egypt. The Coleraine Battery was supposed to go with the 9th (Londonderry) HAA Regiment but at that time they were not ready to go. 5 (Newtonards) Battery took their place although we belonged to the 8th (Belfast) HAA Regiment. We were there for over a year before the Coleraine Battery came out. We were able to go straight to Egypt via Cherbourg and Marseilles by train, to Malta by ship and then on to Alexandria. We were not allowed ashore at Malta. At Alexandria we went up the Derna line to Sidi Bishr Camp. We were then positioned around Alexander harbour in AA defence. That’s where I finished my Small Arms and Bofors training and even learned to swim in the harbour. The other units at Sidi Bishr were 24 (Londonderry) Battery, 25 (Limavady) Battery and 26 (Ballymena) Battery. After the retreat at Dunkirk, Mussolini decided he would have a slice of the cake. We were due to return home on 16th June 1940 but Mussolini declared war on 10th and ruined that idea. The Allied forces in Egypt were known at that time as Wavells 30,000. For security reasons we had to stop putting our full address on our mail. Instead the unit address became MEF (Middle East Forces). Most of us thought it stood for the Men England Forgot because we had to stay in Egypt for four years. The first Italian air raid took place on Alexander on Friday 17th June 1940. There were two Savoy bombers involved. The Egyptians manned the search lights at that time. As soon as they locked on to an Italian plane they would put the search lights out. They were afraid of the Italians flying down the beam and bombing them. After Alexandria the three different Troops were moved up and down the Western Desert and the coastal road. My gun was posted to Tobruk on three different occasions. 1942 was the year I escaped from Tobruk. That Friday on the 20th June we watched all the heavy guns and tanks going down the coast road in the direction of El Alamein. There we were sitting on the wee Bofors 2 pounder on top of a wadi. I said to Captain J Gibson, “There is something wrong here, leaving us here with all the heavy stuff and tanks heading away”. But it was Rommel and his Afrika Korps coming down from Benghazi. The hospital ship left from Tobruk harbour that Day. My friend McGinn was on board. The next morning at 6am everything was let loose on us. The shells were going over our heads into the harbour. All we had for breakfast were two sling peaches and a cup of tea. Joe Arnott came along and told us about the first deaths at our position. Captain Gibson, Sgt Davidson, Davy McClinton and an English lad attached to us were killed in their gun pit at the NAAFI bulk stores. Lt. Craig from Newry ordered Sgt McFadden to send me over to take charge of Sgt Davidson’s gun. The Sgt disagreed and told Lance Sgt Anderson from S. Ireland to go instead. L/Sgt Anderson jumped into a 3 ton lorry driven by Freddy Steels and drove straight into German captivity. At that stage Lt Craig said it was everybody for them selves. First, we knocked down the sand bags from the top of the gun pit and started firing at the advancing Germans. They broke through in an 8cwt Bug van and waved a black and white flag for us to surrender. At that stage I was suffering with concussion from the bomb blasts. Lt Craig, Sgt McFadden and Joe Arnott left us and it was everyone for themselves. Our position was on the perimeter and only an overhead blast would have caught us because we were in a gully. I told the three gunners with me to stay together and make for the harbour. We reached the jetty next to a landing craft. It was a desperate sight to see. The Navy boys were getting blown out of the water wholesale. After 60 years the sights I witnessed still give me bother. We boarded the landing craft but it only moved 100 yards to the next berth so we disembarked and returned to the jetty again. We tried to board a Greek schooner called the Kasil Din but we were refused because I was wearing a Royal Navy belt given to me by my brother in law a couple of months previously. The Kasil Din was skippered by an English brigand. Eventually the four of us boarded a Motor Torpedo Boat. At one stage we were moving up and down the jetty using hand held smoke canisters to create a smoke screen. This smoke screen covered the escaping boats. The MTB took us along the coast to Mersa Matruh on Sunday. We stayed there a couple of days and were issued with a ground sheet, blanket, shirt, shorts and boots and enough money to get drunk for one night. The four of us then spent 36 hours travelling by train from Mersa Matruh to the BDRA (Base Depot RA) at Al Maza. The Coleraine 6 Battery was based nearby at Heliopolis and their OC Jack Christie claimed us for his Battery. I ended up in Brian Clark’s Mid Ulster C Troop, on Bob Blamer’s gun. Our next move was to Meena Camp, near the Pyramids. At that stage Major Christie discovered he had too many NCO’s in the Battery. I was returned to BDRA and lost my two tapes. I was not happy with this arrangement. I had only 4 days to go before I became a war substantive Bombardier and it would have been impossible for anyone to take my tapes. When the Coleraine Battery was at Meena Camp they were issued with the Mark Two Bofors Gun. The Gunnery Instructor failed to turn up to train the Battery on the new gun and Bob Balmer volunteered me for the job because the 5th Battery was trained on the Mark Two. Before long the officers and SNCO’s started to complain at being trained by a gunner with no rank. Captain Clarke reinstated me as a Lance Bombadier and I trained the Battery until the Captain Instructor turned up. I hid myself away for three days and by then I was a war substantive L/Bombadier. After leaving Meena Camp we were posted to El Alamein to provide protection for the railway and train. My gun provided protection to Monty's HQ for a period. Tobruk fell to the Allied Army on 13th November 1942 and Benghazi one week later. The Battery was then posted to Benghazi to carry out AA Harbour Defence. Willie Maxwell’s gun was positioned on the end of the Juliana Mole, Sam Pinkerton’s was in the middle and Bob Balmer’s gun was at the start. Montgomery of El Alamein visited us on November 29th 1943. View attachment 12 Monty and C troop Left to Rt : RJ Simpson RM Balmer xxx Monty J Dorrian W Patterson W Simpson WE Simpson Front: John Jackson A Couser Blair Mayne also came to the Mole and visited us when he heard that some of his old 5 Battery comrades had survived the battle for Tobruk and were there. One night after the visits, there was a big raid by Axis aircraft on Benghazi. ‘Topper’ Simpson was wounded with shrapnel in his shoulder. I took over his firing position on the gun. Next morning Captain Gage recorded that I had fired 316 rounds that night, a record. After that I had a disagreement with Bob Balmer and I was transferred to Johnny Hunter’s gun. He was a gentleman, a professional golfer from Portrush. After Benghazi we moved east towards Tripoli. We did not enter Tripoli but moved back along the coast road to Alexandria for the boat home. We had to fight hard to get our leave, after being away from home for four years we were entitled to four weeks leave. After our leave we reported to Brook Hall in Ipswich. Our next stop was Clacton on Sea at the Butlin's Camp, staying there for two weeks, training on the Bofor’s Gun. After the training we were posted to Ships Camp in Brentwood to get ready for the liberation of Europe. When we entered France we did not have a full compliment of Bofors. Bonzo McClelland and myself were sent to man tanks fitted with 95mm Howitzers that fired a 25 pounder shell. My stint in Coleraine Battery finished just before the battle of Caen. I was returned to England and within a couple of months I was discharged from the Army. Epilogues The next time I saw Jack McFadden he was the Postmaster of Portrush Post Office. Blair Mayne was the owner of a small Reilly car. Just before he was killed in a traffic accident he decided to call for me and go up to Coleraine to visit Jack Christie. After stopping at every bar on the way we never saw Coleraine. When I escaped from Tobruk a German soldier called Verner Posselt picked up some of my personal kit as war souvenirs. In 1994, fifty two years after my escape, that Afrika Corps veteran from Nuremburg in Germany made contact with me. A TV programme was made about our story when he came over to Newtonards to visit me at home. Verner presented me with my note book and letters. This included letters from my brother Thomas and one from my mother informing me about the birth of my daughter only three months after I left Newtonards in 1939. Verner said that when he picked up my papers in Tobruk the tea kettle was still warm. I replied that if he had arrived five minutes earlier he would have captured me. Verner always believed that I was the rightful owner of the letters and if the opportunity presented itself, he would return the letters to me. He did not have that opportunity for fifty two years until the Berlin Wall came down and he had the freedom to write and travel west. When Verner laid a wreath and stood with me at Newtonards War Memorial he said that he experienced the same feelings as when he stood at a German War Memorial. Verner stated that during the war he was an eighteen year old soldier. As a German he had to be a soldier and had to do his duty. Verner died in 2005. Jules Dorrian 2005
Unfortunately Jules (my wife's grandfather) died suddenly on Thursday evening and was buried in Newtownards today (9th August 2010). Extremely interesting reading his story above. It was noted at the funeral that Verner Posselt passed away on the same date, although 5 years previous.
Sorry to hear of your loss - and what a character and gentleman he was. I have often tried to find out his whereabouts without success. I knew him when I lived in Newtownards in my early teens. He was a member of the local Brethern Church in Mill Street. When I left Newtownards for the British Army he purchased a small Bible for me and signed it. That was some 36 years ago. I am hoping the Newtownards Chronicle do an Obituary for him. If anyone deserves it - he does. We shall remember him. B Bell.
Unfortunately Jules (my wife's grandfather) died suddenly on Thursday evening and was buried in Newtownards today (9th August 2010). Extremely interesting reading his story above. It was noted at the funeral that Verner Posselt passed away on the same date, although 5 years previous. My condolences to you and your wife. Regards, Diane
Sorry to hear of your loss - and what a character and gentleman he was. I have often tried to find out his whereabouts without success. I knew him when I lived in Newtownards in my early teens. He was a member of the local Brethern Church in Mill Street. When I left Newtownards for the British Army he purchased a small Bible for me and signed it. That was some 36 years ago. I am hoping the Newtownards Chronicle do an Obituary for him. If anyone deserves it - he does. We shall remember him. B Bell. Hi B, The Chronicle contained an Obituary in yesterday's edition, which I will scan and upload during the week. I will pass your comments onto my wife's parents and family, as I am sure they will be appreciative of them.
Very interesting story. It has clarified names of places and the acronym BDRA which I was searching for and is written on some of my Dad's war photos. Sounds like the time in the desert was similar by looking at the photographs and place names as that of my Dad's. WGW
