Foolishly three of us decided that we would take our chances in the minefield and we set off in single file with about ten yards between each other. Each fifty yards the front man changed places with the second man and so on. We had made about 400 yards by this method when we suddenly saw two German armoured cars coming towards us together with a number of infantrymen. They obviously knew the track through the minefield and our front man ran towards them. There was a loud explosion and his body was thrown high into the air. We – the remaining two – stayed in our places but managed to get rid of our rifle bolts as a last gesture of defiance. A German soldier approached to within twenty yards. “Hands up” he shouted in English. “For you the war is over.” A sense of relief overcame us as we raised our hands in the air. We almost forgot that we were standing in the middle of a minefield being menaced by German troops who would certainly have preferred not to be encumbered by prisoners.
Erwin Rommel 1891-1944 – still seen by many in Britain as ‘the good German’ as he wasn’t a Nazi. and seemed fundamentally decent.
We were quickly escorted to an area beyond the minefield, where I was relieved to see about twenty other men from our unit. Our numbers kept increasing as more prisoners were brought in, and eventually there must have been fifty men seated on the ground with two heavily armed guards watching us. Soon a small vehicle arrived. In it were two German officers – one in a black leather coat and obviously of very high rank. His companion got down from the vehicle and approached us. He spoke good English and to our astonishment proceeded to tell us that if they could not get us out of the area within the next twenty-four hours we would be released and a message sent to our own side as to our whereabouts. The reason was that there was no water available for prisoners, and the heat was such as to cause dehydration and death in a comparatively short time. The German officer finished his speech by saying, “The General salutes you and wishes you well.” As he said this the leather–clad officer in the truck raised his stick to his cap in a salute. We were certain that we had seen Rommel, although none of us knew much about him at this stage of the war. As night fell, our thirst and discomfort intensified, and by dawn we were in a miserable condition. In addition, someone had stolen my half-full water-bottle whilst I had dozed off in the night.