234816 Trpr. Thomas Robert Harding British Army B Squadron Royal Tank Regiment from:London My grandfather, Tommy Harding, was a trooper (tank driver), member of the RTR. He served first with the Experimental Wing of the RTR and was stationed at Bovington before moving off to North Africa. He was captured at El Alamein on 4th September 1942 and passed into Italian hands. Details of this can be found in the 50th Royal Tank Regiment, The Complete History by Stephen D Hamilton.
the operation did not go as planned and due to loss of radio contact, a mistake by NZ troops in reading a signal, and an unmarked mine field a catastrophic event occurred leading to loss of life in the tanks and capture by the Germans, who handed their prisoners over to the Italians.
After being held by the Italians and then shipped back to various prison camps and transit areas Tom arrived at POW Camp Stalag IVC in October 1943 and was promptly put to work in the coal mines.
At the end of the war he was returned home to a military hospital, Preston Hall at Maidstone, weighing just five and a half stone and suffering from TB and malnutrition. He was discharged in December 1946 with a 100% disability having had a tubercular lung removed and with extensive damage to the other. Despite this Tom worked as a driver before he and his wife, Ada, bought a pet shop at Clapham before retiring to Cambridgeshire where he died in 1969 from the lasting effects of the tuberculosis.
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