Alan Booth 1953-55 - 3rdcarabiniers.org.uk

Antagonist

Lee & Alford, Bazooka plate stuck in tree.The two pictures showing the bazooka plate stuck in the tree. Dad recounts that it took most of the day to chop the plate free. Then the Centurion wouldn’t start so REME had to be called out. By now night had fallen on Luneburg Heath. They tried to find their way back in the pitch black, with Cpl Lee sitting outside next to the driver’s hatch, shouting instructions. The turret was traversed to the rear and Dad was sitting in the signaller/loader’s seat. He was wanting to look out of the loader’s hatch so he could see where he was going. However the commander’s hatch was open and the cupola was spinning round. As the tank bounced across the ground, the open commander’s hatch would spin over the open loaders hatch preventing Dad from sticking his head out. He decided to try and catch it. He waited his chance and after the hatch had spun past again he reached out and grabbed the ring. Just as he did this the commander’s hatch decided to slam shut, trapping the fingers of his right hand. He somehow got the crew to stop over the din of the engines and they inspected the damage in the headlamps. He’d crushed three fingers. They carried on before blundering across a near deserted camp where they were directed to an aid post. The response from the medical staff there was ‘bloody hell, we can’t deal with that’! he was given an injection of penicillin in his backside and sent to a larger aid post where the reaction of staff was again ‘bloody hell, we can’t deal with that’! and he was given another injection of penicillin in his backside. He eventually ended up at a military hospital in Hamburg. To this day he can’t straighten the index, middle and ring fingers of his right hand.