Journal of the Society for Army Historical Research 99/397

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ARMY HISTORICAL RESEARCH

Divisions being supported by the Armoured Brigades. The 7th Armoured Division watched the southern flank, while the 10th Armoured Division remained in reserve. The work of the Sappers holding these positions is well illustrated by the story of the doings of Kenneth Stansfield from the 44th Division . 7 A number of ‘gates or narrow lanes’ were left open to facilitate the movement of the Allies’ patrols through the protective minefield in front of the boxes. Each gate was manned by a piquet, of a Non-Commissioned Officer and six Privates with one Sapper. Mines were stacked along the sides of the lane and when an alarm was given, the infantry placed the mines in the ready-made holes, after which the Sapper would ‘arm’ them. Such a gate existed on the forward slope in front of the 133rd Infantry Brigade of 44th Division. The piquet on the crest of the bluff was provided by the Royal Sussex Regiment with Sapper Stansfield of 210th Field Company RE. 8 On 31st August, a German tank, one of the force which had broken through to the south and turned northwards, was seen approaching. The men of the piquet rushed forward to close the gap and the tank opened fire on them with its machine-guns. Four were killed and one wounded and the Sergeant and the other survivor tried to get the wounded man back to the position. What followed is narrated by the CRE of the Division, Lieutenant-Colonel J.M. Lambert OBE. 9 Subsequent happenings were seen by a large number of infantrymen from their trenches on the bluff. It was generally agreed that shortly after Sapper Stansfield started his hundred yards walk towards the enemy, the tank’s machine-gun must have jammed. It then started to shoot at him with its main armament using solid shot. Sapper Stansfield continued on his way and reached the place where the twelve mines were dumped. The range was not now much more than 200 yards. He picked up the mines one by one, armed them, and placed them in the holes across the lane, mean-while the tank continued to take pot shot at him, and in failing to hit him, Stansfield closed the gate. It is said by some of the onlookers that as soon as Sapper Stansfield had laid the mines, the tank stopped firing, and that he walked back up the slope in a sudden silence. This may have been due to a number of reasons. Nevertheless, perhaps it was a tribute to a brave man. 10 Panzerarmee Afrika German and Italian commanders were confident that the preparations they had made, despite the administrative and supply difficulties they had encountered, would give Rommel access to the Nile valley and beyond. 11 The Axis forces were 17 Ibid., p. 378. 18 Sapper K. Stansfield DCM. 19 Pakenham-Walsh, p. 378. 10 Lt-Col J.M. Lamb, ‘The Closing of Queen’s Gate’ The Sapper , November 1951. 11 N. Barr, Pendulum of War (London: Jonathan Cape, 2004) pp. 268-269, hereafter cited as Barr.