James Holland

Roray, the village of Roray, about a mile and a half away.

And then on the left-hand side, as you're looking towards the Roray Ridge, as you're looking south, so on the eastern side is the farm.

And what Soleri decides is that he's going to get him around the back of the farm and come through the orchard at the back of the farm and then come in that way.

And they do.

And Stuart Hill's tank bursts through the hedgerows surrounding the orchard and farm.

And Arthur Reddish, who's the co-driver at the front with the machine gun,

He's firing his Browning.

There's no enemy tanks to be seen.

And they roll towards the farmhouse with two other Shermans beside them, machine guns blazing.

The noise is absolutely immense because suddenly they're in the farmyard and it's all very close.

So you can just sort of picture it, can't you?

And then they clear the farmhouse, cross the road and roll into a new field.

And, you know, Roray is up ahead, and there's this hedge line that runs across at 90 degrees to the direction of the road.

So, you know, parallel to the ridgeline.

And that's where they fall behind.

And at that point, they spot a Panzer IV emerging from a wood.

Enemy Hornet, 11 o'clock, 1,500 yards.

Yeah, and then Hills responds, Gunner, traverse left, steady on, enemy tank, AP, 1,500 yards, fire when ready.

They see this first shot hits the tank and they can see the Panzer jolt into reverse and then it stalls.

And that makes them all laugh.