Wednesday, January 17, 2007

"C.O's Orders" on the ninth day

At 1:30pm, on the ninth day of the Crusader Battle, the officers were called to meet for "C.O's Orders". Robert Crisp went with his friend Harry Maegraith. They found out that the battalion medical officer had rejoined the 3rd RTR, after getting lost in the flap surrounding the "Dash to the Wire". Doc MacMillan had been with the battalion at Calais and Greece, so Robert was glad to have him back. Cyril Joly, at the time with the 3rd RTR B-Echelon, was bringing 12 new Stuarts to the battalion. Cyril Joly eventually wrote his own war book, a novel, called Take These Men (Echoes of War). The twelve new tanks would bring the battalion strength to 22 tanks. They would now be organized into a HQ with 3 Stuarts, an A Squadron with 9 Stuarts, with Robert Crisp in charge of C Squadron, with 10 Stuarts. Robert knew that this just a temporary measure, until more senior officers rejoined the battalion. Robert was just a captain at this time. This is based on the account in Robert Crisp's book Brazen Chariots.

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