GERMAN TANKS CRIPPLED

Southland Times, Issue 24765, 9 June 1942, Page 4

GERMAN TANKS CRIPPLED

Gunner R. Wixon’s Exploit

Vivid impressions of incidents of the fighting in and around Bel Hamid, where he showed daring and courage which brought the award of a Military Medal, were given yesterday by Gunner R. Wixon, of Colac Bay, who returned to Invercargill on Saturday night. Gunner Wixon was a member of an anti-tank unit which was striving hard to hold off a German tank offensive on the morning of December 1. “We had had a heavy day of it the day before, but because of the disposition of the enemy immediately in front, we were again called upon to repel an attack,” he said. “It started about halfpast seven in the morning. The Germans held the heights of an escarpment and we were down on the flat giving all we had. Our artillery was on the flank trying to draw the enemy tank fire, but the odds were not even, and we got a bit of a pasting. GUN CREW KNOCKED OUT

“There were six on our gun but after some heavy shelling I found myself left on the truck with only the driver as a companion. The others had been knocked out. In short time the Germans moved forward and they were about 200 yards away when I saw the first of the shells from our two-pounder shake one. I kept blazing away. There were about 30 enemy tanks coming towards us, and just as we made a move up a rise one of their tank shells,

a two-pound shell, exploded a few feet away, and that was the end of it. Up till then the fighting had been furious. The roar of cannon was terrific. Men were going down on all sides and it looked pretty bad for us.” The enemy tanks had advanced to about 100 yards away when he was wounded, said Gunner Wixon. He knows that he got six of them at least—probably two or three more. He saw six of them break into flames and others put out of action. A direct hit on a German tank generally had results. They soon cracked up when the anti-tank shells exploded on their armour. He was impressed by the flashes of the guns on both sides. That and the roar of the guns probably helped him not to think about his own position. CAPTURED AND RESCUED Gunner Wixon was not surprised when he was taken prisoner and dressed in a German field hospital. He said the fighting was so strong by both sides at the time that anything could happen. There was no set battleground. Positions were taken and retaken, and the hospital in which he was treated and subsequently rescued was first Italian, then British and German in turn and finally British. “The Germans attended to me very well,” he said referring to the treatment in a field hospital. “The Italians did not show much consideration. They seemed bent on taking everything we had. It was a well-constructed field hospital, built by the Italians. I was there for eight days when I was rescued and taken to one of our own hospitals.” The food given to him while a prisoner was not very appetizing, he added. Tinned fish of a poor quality was the usual ration. Gunner Wixon was a visitor to Invercargill yesterday for treatment at the hospital. He was entertained at morning tea by the Deputy-Mayor (Mr A. Wachner) and the town clerk (Mr W. F. Sturman). On Friday night he will be the guest at a reception at Qolac Bay.