Our First Casualties

Heroes Remember

Our First Casualties

Transcript

Well, the very first combat I... Before we actually met the Germans we got so far they were hoping that we would get to Tunis itself and even stop the Germans from landing. The Germans were already in North Africa fighting Montgomery, but there was only some headquarters and whatever in Tunis. They brought more troops over from Italy and wherever, to Tunis to stop us and they got them over before we got to them, otherwise it would have been over very quickly. So we run into the Stuka dive bombers before we even got to the Germans. And then the one morning we went out and we run into the Germans coming our way and that was our first casualty. Three men: an officer, a driver and a gunner were taken prisoner. That was our first what you might call casualty. Then there was this little village, Arab village, that the Germans were after and which we were holding with the artillery, and we had some battles there. The artillery had 25 pounders. This is not a gun that shoots straight at a tank. This is one that goes up in the air, you know, it's a 25 pounder. They were shooting those 25 pounders straight at tanks. We didn't have any tanks over there then, just armoured cars. That was... I was scared, no doubt about it, I was scared. These boys, the artillery boys were wonderful. They stopped that tank attack and then we went through them to the other, the edge of the village and looked up the road and there's a tank right in the middle of the road. And with our glasses we could look, we could see a German in the turret. We wondered what the heck was going on, so my officer said to me, "Take your car and go up and see what is happening up there." "Take your car," you know down the road. I said to my driver, "Look," I said, "don't go slow." I said, "To hell with mines or anything like that." I said, "Go as fast as it will go and go from side of the road to the other please. That guy's going to... sitting up there, going to shoot us... a shell at us." I said, "He might miss." And by the time we got there we could see he was a very blond German just like you would see in the movies. From here up out of the turret. When we got up close, there is nothing below him here. One of these 25 pounders had gone right through and of course he was dead.

Description

Mr. Tee talks about experiencing the first casualties.

Ronald Tee

Mr. Tee was born in Portsmouth, England, on December 1, 1919. His father served with the navy in the First World War and after retiring from the service moved his family to a small village called Pinner in Northern London. At the age of 20, Mr. Tee found himself being "called up" to the British Army. In February 1940 he joined the Queen's Royal Regiment and was posted to Newcastle. He later volunteered and joined the Reconnaissance Corp. Regiment (later part of the Royal Armoured Corps.) and became a member of the 56th Reconnaissance Battalion. He remained with this unit until the end of the war and held rank as Troop Sergeant. Mr. Tee received an honourable discharge from the service on September 11, 1946. In 1953, Mr. Tee and his family moved to Canada to start a new life. They now reside in Kingston, Ontario. Throughout his lifetime Mr. Tee has been known for his determination, courage, enterprise and his enduring motto of "Keep your chin up mate!" He has written a book sharing many stories and experiences he had as a British soldier during the Second World War.

Meta Data

Medium:: Video
Owner:: Veterans Affairs Canada
Duration:: 3:19
Person Interviewed:: Ronald Tee
War, Conflict or Mission:: Second World War
Location/Theatre:: Europe
Branch:: Army
Units/Ship:: 56 Recee Unit (Armoured)
Rank:: Troop Sergeant
Occupation:: Armoured Car Commander

Language selection

Our First Casualties

Heroes Remember