Battle of El Alamein Begins

Heroes Remember

Battle of El Alamein Begins

Transcript

I, I can still remember the night that the Battle of El Alamein started. We had been told there was going to be the biggest artillery barrage the world had ever seen, and so we were all sitting outside of our tent that, we were fifty miles from the, from the front lines. But all of a sudden, the sky lit up with flashes and it went on, and on, and on, the barrage that the British laid down against the Germans. It was, it was something unbelievable, the flashing and banging and you could hear everything and desert, the sound carried well on the desert, and we, we were just tickled pink. The next morning, we were sent out to, on a reconnaissance and there was burning tanks all over the place, some British I expect and German, and there was just a, the battlefield we were flying over was just a shambles; burning tanks, upset guns and quite a, quite a sight. Interviewer: Did it appear to you that the German army was retreating? Oh yeah, well at that particular time it looked like they might, and we hoped they would, but the battle went on for several days before the Germans decided to get the hell out of there. They were, the Africa Corps was a pretty good army. I don’t think there was ever an army any better than the, the Desert Rats, the British 8th Army. I think they were just a fabulous outfit. They were very, Commonwealth too, you know. They had Australian divisions, New Zealand, South African, and probably fifty percent British regiments. But they were just a fantastic bunch. They lived under the worst possible conditions, yet they’re in there fighting and never gave up. They were just tremendous guys.

Description

Mr. Chisholm recalls the first night of the battle of El Alamein.

William Lawrence (Red) Chisholm

Mr. Chisholm’s father was a station agent in Berwick, Nova Scotia with the Dominion Atlantic Railway. He moved his family to the station in Windsor, Nova Scotia and then later left the railroad and bought a store in Kentville, Nova Scotia. Mr. Chisholm completed his education in the Kentville school system. He worked briefly with his father after graduation from high school then went to work as a brakeman for the Dominion Atlantic Railway. After enlisting in the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1940, he took his initial training in Toronto. He was then one of about 500 sent to the first class at British Air Training Program Training School in Regina for a period of two months. After completing his training he moved to a Flying School in London, Ontario. Mr. Chisholm went on to become an ace pilot and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC), with bar.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 02:23
Person Interviewed:: William Lawrence (Red) Chisholm
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Africa
Battle/Campaign:: El Alamein
Branch:: Air Force
Units/Ship:: 92nd Operational Squadron
Rank:: Sergeant
Occupation:: Pilot

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Battle of El Alamein Begins

Heroes Remember