Captain John Macdonald Courthrope Wilson, service number 95635, of The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire). Born 14th June 1920 and killed in action near Medjez-el-Bab in Tunisia on 21st April 1943 aged 22. he was the son of Lt.-Col. Macdonald Wilson and Dorothy Wilson and he was married to Janet Maude Dru Wilson, of Corfe Castle, Dorset. Buried in MEDJEZ-EL-BAB War Cemetery in Tunisia.

The Tunisia Campaign
The Tunisia Campaign (also known as the Battle of Tunisia) was a series of World War II battles that took place in Tunisia in the North African Campaign of World War II, between Axis and Allied forces. The Allies consisted primarily of British Imperial Forces along with American and the French Army. The battle opened with initial success by the German and Italian forces, but the massive supply and numerical superiority of the Allies led to the Axis' complete defeat. Over 230,000 German and Italian troops were taken as prisoners of war, including most of the Afrika Korps.

Northern sector February to April 1943 On 26 February von Arnim, in the mistaken belief that the Kasserine battles had forced the Allies to weaken their northern Tunisia line to reinforce the south, launched (with Kesselring's approval but without consulting Rommel) Operation Ochsenkopf, an attack against V Corps across a wide front and commanded by General Weber. The main attacks were by Weber Corps (named after its commanding general) which included 334th Infantry Division, newly arrived elements of the Hermann Göring Division and the elements of 10th Panzer Division which had not been involved in Operation Frűhlingswind. Weber's force was to advance in three groups: one moving west towards Medjez el Bab; a second, to the north of the first group, advancing south west on the route from Mateur to Béja (which was some 25 miles (40 km) west of Medjez); and the third group pushing west some 25 miles south of Medjez. The northern flank of Weber's corps was to be protected by the von Manteuffel Division advancing west and forcing the Allies out of their advanced positions opposite 'Green Hill' and the Axis-held Jefna Station. In fierce fighting the attack on Medjez was defeated by 78th Division but further south some tactical gains were made before the advance was halted. In the north progress was made towards Béja but, in fighting which lasted until 5 March and in terrible weather conditions, the attack was blunted at Hunt's Gap (about 15 miles (24 km) northeast of Béja) by 46th (North Midland) Division's 128th Infantry Brigade with substantial artillery and two squadrons of tanks from the North Irish Horse under command. over several days intense fighting.

Von Arnim's attack in the north by the Manteuffel Division made good progress across the French-held, lightly defended hills between Cap Serrat and the railway town of Sedjenane. Costly counter-attacks on February 27 and 2 March by elements of 46th Division's 139th Infantry Brigade and attached units (No 1 Commando and supporting artillery) delayed the Axis advance. However, Sedjenane was captured on 4 March and the 139th Brigade was pushed slowly back over the next three weeks some 15 miles (24 km) towards Djebel Abiod. Von Arnim abandoned his attacks in the centre and south of the front, but withdrawals of French battalions in the Medjez area to join XIX Corps had allowed him to occupy, with little opposition, the high ground dominating the town, which was left in a dangerous salient. On 25 March Alexander gave orders to regain the initiative on V Corps's front. On 28 March Anderson launched 46th Division, composed at this time of 138th Infantry Brigade with 128th Infantry Brigade in reserve and reinforced by the attachment of 36th Infantry Brigade, 1st Parachute Brigade and French units including a tabor of specialist mountain Goumiers, supported by the artillery of two divisions plus more from army resources. In four days it succeeded in recapturing all ground previously lost to the Manteuffel Division and took 850 German and Italian prisoners in the process.

On 7 April Anderson tasked 78th Infantry Division with clearing the Béja-Medjez road. Supported by artillery and close air support they methodically advanced 10 miles (16 km) through difficult mountain terrain over the next ten days clearing a front 10 miles (16 km) wide. 4th Infantry Division were introduced for the first into the fighting taking position on 78th Division's left and pushing towards Sidi Nisr.

The salient at Medjez had been relieved and lateral roads in the V Corps area cleared so that Anderson was able to turn his full attention to the orders he had received on 12 April from Alexander to prepare the large-scale attack, scheduled for 22 April, to gain Tunis. By this stage, Allied aircraft had been moved forward to airfields in Tunisia, and large numbers of German transport aircraft were shot down between Sicily and Tunis. British destroyers operating from Malta prevented reinforcement or evacuation of Tunisia by sea. Admiral Cunningham, Eisenhower's Naval Task Force commander, issued Nelsonian orders to his ships: "Sink, burn, capture, destroy. Let nothing pass". By 18 April, after attacks by Eighth Army from the south and flanking attacks by IX Corps and French XIX Corps the German-Italian forces had been pushed into a defensive line on the north-east coast of Tunis, attempting to protect their supply lines, but with little hope of continuing the battle for long.

Plans for the final offensive Further information: British First Army order of battle, 20 April 1943 Alexander planned that while U.S. II Corps would attack on the north towards Bizerte, First Army would attack towards Tunis while Eighth Army attacked north from Enfidaville. Anderson would co-ordinate the actions of First Army and U.S. II Corps, issuing the appropriate orders to achieve this. Anderson's plan was for the main attack to be in the centre of the V Corps front at Medjez, confronting main Axis defences. However, IX Corps on the right would first attack north-east with, by speed of movement, the intention of getting in behind the Medjez defenses and disrupting their armoured reserves. U.S. II Corps would make a double thrust: one to capture the high ground on V Corps left flank and a second towards Bizerte. French XIX Corps would be held back until IX Corps and Eighth Army had drawn in the opposition and then advance towards Pont du Fahs. Battle The Allied forces had reorganised. The northward advance of Eighth Army had "pinched out" U.S. II Corps eastward facing front line, allowing the whole corps to be withdrawn and switched to the northern end of the Allied front. von Arnim knew that an Allied offensive was imminent and launched a spoiling attack on the night of 20 April-21 April between Medjez and Goubellat and also on the IX Corps front. The Hermann Goering Division supported by tanks from 10th Panzer Division penetrated up to five miles (8 km) at some points but they could not force a general withdrawal, and eventually returned to their lines. No serious disruption was caused to Allied plans although the first attack of the offensive, by IX Corps, had to be delayed by four hours from 0400 on 22 April.

On the morning of 22 April 46th Division attacked on the IX Corps front creating a sufficient gap for 6th Armoured Division to pass through by nightfall. They were followed by 1st Armoured Division, striking east for the next two days. However, progress was not quick enough to forestall the creation of a strong anti-tank screen which halted their progress. Nevertheless, their action had drawn the Axis reserves of armour south, away from the central front. Seeing that no further progress was likely Anderson withdrew 6th Armoured and most of 46th Infantry Divisions into Army Reserve. The V Corps attack went in on the evening of 22 April and U.S. II Corps launched their offensive in the early hours of 23 April. In grim hand-to hand fighting against the Hermann Goering, 334th Infantry and 15th Panzer Divisions, it took V Corp's 1st, 4th and 78th Infantry Divisions, supported by Army tanks and heavy artillery concentrations, eight days to penetrate 6 miles (9.7 km) and capture most of the Axis defensive positions. Casualties were heavy on both sides but Anderson felt a breakthrough was imminent. On 30 April it had become clear to Montgomery and Alexander that Eighth Army's attack north from Enfidaville into well-held and difficult terrain would not succeed. Alexander therefore gave Montgomery a holding task and transferred British 7th Armoured Division, Indian 4th Infantry Division and 201st Guards Brigade from Eighth Army to First Army, (joining 1st Armoured Division which had transferred before the main offensive).

The necessary movements were completed by the night of 5 May. Anderson had arranged for a dummy concentration of tanks near Bou Arada on the IX Corps front to deflect attention from the arrival of 7th Armoured in the Medjez sector. In the event, he achieved a considerable measure of surprise as to the size of his armoured force when the attack went in. The final assault was launched at 0330 on 6 May by British IX Corps, now commanded by Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks who had taken over from the wounded John Crocker, V Corps having made a preliminary attack on 5 May to capture high ground and secure IX Corps' left flank. The British 4th and Indian 4th Infantry Divisions, concentrated on a narrow front and supported by heavy artillery concentrations, broke a hole in the defences for 6th and 7th Armoured Divisions to pass through. On 7 May British armour entered Tunis, and American infantry from II Corps which had continued its advance in the north, entered Bizerte. Six days later the last Axis resistance in Africa ended with the surrender of over 230,000 prisoners of war, many of them newly arrived from Sicily and more needed there.

In his dispatch pertaining to the battle of Enfidaville, General Alexander noted: "It was noticed that the Italians fought particularly well, outdoing the Germans in line with them." Aftermath According to historian Williamson A. Murray "The decision to reinforce North Africa was one of the worst of Hitler's blunders: admittedly, it kept the Mediterranean closed for six more months, with a negative impact on the Allied shipping situation, but it placed some of Germany's best troops in an indefensible position from which, like Stalingrad, there would be no escape. Moreover Hitler committed the Luftwaffe to fight a battle of attrition under unfavourable conditions, and it suffered losses that it could not afford." The Axis's desperate gamble had only slowed the inevitable, and the US loss at Kasserine may, paradoxically, have been the best thing that could have happened to them. With North Africa now in Allied hands, plans quickly turned to the invasion of Sicily, and Italy after it.

Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) In The Second World War
The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) (until 1921 known as The Loyal North Lancashire Regiment) was an infantry regiment of the line in the British Army from 1881 to 1970. The regiment's lineage is continued by The Duke of Lancaster's Regiment. The regiment was formed as part of the Childers reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 47th (Lancashire) Regiment of Foot, 81st (Loyal Lincoln Volunteers) Regiment of Foot, 3rd Duke of Lancaster's Own Royal Lancashire Militia and the 11th and 14th Lancashire Rifle Volunteer Corps. The Loyals were one of seven county regiments recruiting in Lancashire. The depot was at Preston, and the regimental district also included the towns of Bolton, Chorley, Farnworth, Hindley. The regiment also recruited in the Isle of Man.

Regular Army Battalions At the outbreak of the Second World War, the 1st Loyals were part of the 2nd Infantry Brigade, attached to the 1st Infantry Division. The 1st Loyals would remain with the 2nd Brigade throughout the war, participating in fighting in France in 1940, including acting as part of the rearguard for the Dunkirk evacuation. Eventually, the Loyals would see action in Tunisiain 1943, and Italy. Upon the commencement of hostilities in 1939, the 2nd Loyals found themselves stationed in the Far East as part of the Singapore Fortress's Malaya Brigade. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour, the 2nd Loyals fought in Malaya as part of the delaying action during the Battle of Malaya. Eventually, the 2nd Loyals surrendered along with the rest of the Singapore garrison on 15 February 1942. The survivors spent the rest of the war as POWs Japan. Following the destruction of the 2nd Loyals with its surrender at Singapore, the battalion was reformed in Britain. The 10th Loyals was re-designated as 2nd Loyals on 28 May 1942. Eventually the battalion was deployed as part of 20th Indian Infantry Brigade of the 10th Indian Division in Italy during the closing phases of the Italian campaign.

Territorial Battalions In addition to the two regular battalions, the Loyal Regiment also had three Territorial Army battalions (4th, 5th, and 6th Battalions) at the start of the war. The 5th Battalion was converted at in 1941 into a Reconnaissance Corps unit for the 18th (East Anglian) Infantry Division and re-designated as the 18th Battalion Reconnaissance Corps. The 18th Recce (5th Loyals) was transferred with the rest of the 18th (East Anglian) Division as reinforcements for Singapore. They arrived at Singapore late in the campaign without much of their equipment and were used as regular infantry until the surrender on 15 February 1942. Like the men of the 2nd Loyals captured in Singapore, the men spent the rest of the war as prisoners of the Japanese.

The 6th Loyals were also converted in 1941 from their infantry role. Like the 5th Loyals, they were converted and re-designated as 2nd Reconnaissance Regiment, joining the 2nd Infantry Division on 30 April 1941. With the rest of the division, it was transferred to Indian where it would be engaged against the Japanese Army, notably in India at Kohima and then as part of Slim's offensive to re-capture Burma.

Second World War Service Battalions The 7th Battalion of The Loyal Regiment (North Lancashire) was a wartime infantry unit raised at the regimental headquarters, Fulwood Barracks, Preston, on July 4, 1940. The bulk of the regiment's recruits were men from Merseyside, Cheshire and Lancashire, who had been called up for military service. The regiment was initially based in Caernarvon, North Wales. It was later on anti-invasion duties in Liverpool, the Scarborough coast, Darlington and Redcar. On November 13, 1941, the battalion was converted to the 92nd (Loyals) Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment, Royal Artillery. 92 LAA Regt RA landed in Normandy as part of 3rd British Infantry Division on D-Day, June 6, 1944, and performed notable service during Operation Tonga in defence of Pegasus Bridge and Horsa Bridge. 92 LAA was disbanded in 1946.