Friday, January 26, 2007

After running upon some 50mm PAK38's on the tenth day

On the tenth day of the Crusader Battle, Robert Crisp had run upon some German 50mm PAK38's. Initially, they had only put a hole in his water tins. He looked around and saw some knocked out Stuarts, with their crews taking cover behind the knocked out tanks. There were dead, among the crews, as well. There was another shot, which penetrated the turret of Robert's tank and wounded his gunner. He started firing his machine gun at the anti-tank gun crew. Robert's Stuart was hit twice more, with more water spilled. When the machine gun stopped firing, Robert told his driver to head over the edge of the escarpment. The tank hesitated and then moved, as his driver Whaley, gunned the engine. Robert realized that they had escaped and had descended the slope safely. They had shot by the German motorcyclists, just missing them. Robert shouted to Whaley to turn right into a ravine that offered a safe escape. The turret had been turned to the rear. As the radio operator offered aid to the wounded gunner, Robert told him to traverse the turret to the front. This is based on the account in Robert Crisp's book Brazen Chariots.

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