Ibbotson, Michael R. From Normandy to Germany in a Tank

The Memoirs of an Armoured Guardsman

The memoirs of a British tank soldier, in which he details his perilous journey during the Second World War, fierce battles, experiences on the front line and the liberation of Europe. What was tank warfare like for an ordinary British conscript in the Second World War? Arthur Ibbotson was a grenadier, and his training and battles from Normandy to northern Germany (1943-45) help to answer that question. He was trained on the 30-tonne M4 Sherman tank, but after being transferred to Normandy, he joined the crew of a 15-tonne M5 Honey reconnaissance tank instead. Despite its small size and small gun, he drove into enemy territory every day and came close to death five times. His first combat mission involved the capture of over 100 German soldiers, which is described in detail here for the first time. This was immediately followed by Operation Market Garden, during which his tank regularly led the 50,000 men of the XXX Corps. He defended the supply route against repeated German attacks and had to contend with fire from his own 101st Airborne Division - both topics that are rarely covered in the historiography of this battle. Contrary to the common portrayal of Market Garden as a disaster, Arthur considered it a victory, a view that is discussed at length. Later, the Battle of the Bulge required a redeployment to Belgium, an often-overlooked British action. Before arriving in Germany, he was assigned a state-of-the-art M24 reconnaissance tank. While familiarising himself with the vagaries of this technological marvel, he once again found himself in life-threatening situations, including being hit by a Panzerfaust and the death of a close friend who was killed by a mine that Arthur had just driven over. He explained why he had been through so much: he liberated a concentration camp a few days before the end of the war and spent his last days of service restoring peace to the country.