Brig. William Douglas Mcneill GRAHAM D.S.O., O.B.E., RA

  General Notes:

Brigadier General, Royal Artillery D.S.O., O.B.E.

OBITUARY: BRIGADIER GRAHAM, D.S.O. (1943), O.B.E. (1940)
William Douglas McNeill Graham was born on 19th January 1905 in Taunggy, Shaa States, Upper Burma, son of Colonel Robert Graham, the Argyle & Sutherland Regiment, and Margaret Grace Rathborne.
He was educated at St.Ronan's, then at Wellington College before going on to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. He was commissioned in the Royal Artillery in 1925.
In 1931 he married Patricia Thomas, daughter of General Henry Melville Thomas, C.M.G., D.S.O., and they had four children.
After a year at Staff College, he served in France, Tunisia, Italy, Greece, and was a veteran of Dunkirk, during the years 1939 to 1945. On Feb. 28th, 1943 at Sidi Nsir in Tunisia he and his gunners of the "Glorious 155th" Field Battery (nicknamed the V.C. Battery) wiped out 22 of the 40 brand new German Mark IV tanks, turning the tide of the war in favour of the Allies, for which he was awarded a D.S.O. He retired from the Army in 1957.
Brigadier Graham's next career was as a banker, with Kleinwort Bensons, from 1957 to 1964.
In 1960 the family started coming to Monchique for their annual holidays and, appreciating the good climate, abundant fresh water and peace and quiet, they decided to settle there, in 1964 building themselves a house not far from Foia, where Patricia made a most beautiful garden.
At this point "Cherub" Graham decided he was not cut out for a life of idleness and so started building houses in the district first for friends and later for a number of people who had been recommended to him. In this way he started his wonderful help to the local (at that time poverty-stricken) Monchiquenses by giving them much-needed work and by providing jobs and income which had hitherto been unavailable in the area.
Brigadier Graham died on 20th July, and at his funeral the next day the villagers of Monchique and the surrounding countryside showed their love and respect for him, in their hundreds, by vying with each other for the privilege of carrying the coffin for a few yards through the town to the cemetery.
His rumbustious humour and positive personality will long be remembered by his friends of all nationalities and, particularly, by the local people who have lost a champion and a great benefactor.
Much sympathy is extended to his wife, Patricia, and to their children John, Michael, Douglas and Ana.

The Glorious 155th Battery Fought to the End
The War Illustrated , Volume 7 , No. 158 , Page 77, July 9, 1943.
Long and glorious is the history of the Royal Regiment of Artillery, but it may be doubted whether it contains any finer story than that of the stand of the 155th Field Battery on Feb. 26, 1943, in Northern Tunisia. Here is the official account, with photographs of one of the nine survivors and five others of the heroic band reported to be prisoners-of-war in Italy.
Lord Milne, veteran general of the last war, was filled with indignation. Rising from his seat in the House of Lords he criticized in severe terms the propaganda department of the War Office, and pointed out one or two notable omissions – the Rifle Brigade, the Royal Corps of Signals, and the cavalry regiments – from Lord Croft's recent statement giving the names of the regiments which had been fighting in Tunisia. Why were we told so little about our units and their leaders, he asked. Today wonderful deeds were being done about which people were told nothing. He would give on example. A battery of artillery was told to cooperate with an infantry regiment. At the end of the battle, when morning broke, every officer and 95 per cent of the men were lying round their smashed guns. The Germans knew what had happened; the Army knew what had happened; but when the report came to the colonel of the regiment it was marked "secret". Secret from whom? It was one of the things that ought to have been read by every unit of the British Army.
That was on June 3. Two days later the Ministry of Information issued an official account of a field battery's most gallant action in Tunisian fighting. There could be no doubt that this was the incident to which Lord Milne had referred. The date was February 26, 1943. The place was Sidi Nsir, in the hills twelve miles east of Hunts Gap, near Beja. The battery was the 155th who, with a battalion of the Hampshires, had been ordered to hold the place. If Sidi Nsir fell Beja, the key to the northern Allied line, already threatened by a strong German force, would fall too. With Beja in their hands the enemy would soon have made the Medjez el Bab salient untenable, and transport to and from the Algerian ports extremely difficult. They did not get Beja, because the time won by the 155th Field Battery and the Hampshires at Sidi Nsir sufficed to put Beja into a state of effective defence. But the artillerymen paid the price.
On the evening of February 25 no signs were visible of enemy movement. The Divisional Commander, his Commander Royal Artillery, and the C.O. of the Field Regiment to which 155 Battery belonged spent two hours examining the countryside from a dominating observation post and could detect nothing ominous. But during the night Verey light signals began to go up in the hills around Sidi Nsir, and at 6.30 next morning heavy mortar fire opened on the British guns. After 45 minutes shelling came a direct assault. German tanks drove down the road from Mateur. Four 25-pounders leapt into action, No. 1, specially placed at the top of a slope to cover the Mateur approach, firing over open sights. Three tanks were hit as they attempted to pass through a minefield and the road was blocked. Checked in their initial thrust, the enemy sent in lorried infantry who turned the battery's southern flank under cover of a hill.
Things began to look serious. The highest observation post, from which the whole countryside could be surveyed, was heavily attacked, its wireless transmitter was smashed, and its telephone lines were cut. Eight Messerschmitts swooped down on the guns and raked each in turn with machine-gun and cannon fire, inflicting heavy casualties. This manoeuvre was repeated many times. Several vehicles on the road back to Hunts Gap were wrecked and left burning, and the precious ammunition they carried had to be salvaged at imminent risk by the gunners. Bivouac shelters and dumps were in flames. Many men were wounded or killed. But the C.O. of the Regiment, visiting the battery, found all ranks cheerful and determined. Their offensive spirit was completely undaunted. None of the wounded complained.
By midday 30 German tanks, with self-propelled guns and infantry in support, had worked round both flanks and were within 600 yards. A little later the enemy opened small arms fire at close range. At 3 o'clock strong detachments of infantry were across the road to the rear and no more ammunition could pass. For several hours every round had been manhandled forward under heavy fire.

The battery might have saved itself many losses had it concentrated throughout the fire of all its eight guns at a range of 1,300 to 2,000 yards on the German tanks and artillery whose columns were cluttering the way up from Mateur. But its first duty was to protect the Hampshire companies by all means in its power, and it put first things first, by concentrating in support of the infantry.
About 3.30, on every ground of military probability, the battle was almost over. So at least the German Command reasoned. What was meant to be the death blow was struck by a column of tanks which raced along the road into the heart of the battery position. Thirteen other tanks gave covering fire with guns and machine-guns from hull down positions. A Mark VI led the attack. This was holed three times in the turret by shells from No. 1 gun of F Troop. A Mark IV tried to pass round the wreckage, but it also was knocked out by No. 1 gun. The same gun set on fire another tank. Then the surviving tanks drew back and shelled and machine-gunned both F and E Troops, whose positions were easily spotted, for they were now engaging the enemy over open sights. Hull down, the enemy tanks had a great advantage. Concentrating on one gun at a time they killed the detachments, smashed the guns and set the remaining ammunition on fire. When all seemed finished the Germans advanced again. But a surprise awaited them. At its dying gasp, the 155th Field Battery could still hit back. No. 1 gun of F Troop, whose crew had showed themselves heroes among heroes, destroyed the leading tank. A moment later a direct hit killed all the survivors; without a man left, No. 1 was silenced. Nos. 2, 3 and 4 fought on. One officer, batmen, cooks, all who could stand, ran from gun to gun, serving each in turn. Although the issue was decided they fought out the day to the last man and the last round at ranges which shrank from 50 yards to 10 yards.
At 5.30 the Germans, heavily mailed, moved on to crush E Troop as they had crushed F. At nightfall one 25-pounder and several Bren guns were still engaging at ranges of from 10 to 20 yards German tanks which were lumbering through the position, smothering the last resistance, swivelling round on their tracks and crushing in slit trenches. A few minutes earlier the last message had come over the wireless "Tanks are on us", followed by the single V tapped out in Morse.
When the battle began there were at the guns in the command posts and observation posts nine officers and 121 other ranks. But only nine survivors managed to make their way back to the British lines, and of these two were wounded. One of the nine was Gunner J. G. Bryce, who described in a letter to his wife, published in the News Chronicle, the closing scene:
We withstood the brunt of a powerful German attack – all on our own, with no support whatever, under continuous dive-bombing, mortar fire and eventually tanks (the last German Mark VI). We knocked out seven of them.
Everyone showed perfect calm and coolness, even when it was obvious the end was in sight. One gun crew were actually singing that song "Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition" when their gun was hit. But we held them all until all our guns were knocked out, and we were finally overrun by the enemy.
Then in the pitch darkness, through heavy rain and bitter cold, he managed to get past the German tanks and infantry on to the mountains. After four days in the open, sustained only by his water-bottle and a bar of chocolate, he struggled back to his base.
Of the men who did not come back some were taken prisoner. Their wives then learned at last the meaning of a sentence in a letter received from an enemy prison camp: "I was taken by the Germans on Feb. 26. See if the papers have any account of the battle on that day". They had to wait for three months. But for Lord Milne they – and we, and the world – might have had to wait perhaps for years before this was added to the immortal stories of British valour.

172nd FIELD REGIMENT ROYAL ARTILLERY, BEJA BATTLE BADGE
http://www.britishbadgeforum.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1791
Among the many hundreds of badges and devices worn by the various regiments of the British Army throughout the different periods of their respective histories, there are very few badges, official or unofficial, which were created and worn to commemorate a particular regiment's achievements in one specific battle, although of course many badges proudly bear battle honours so heroically won in the past. One such unofficial badge which was so created and which is not widely known to exist by many collectors of militaria or which has often been wrongly identified, is the Beja Battle Badge of 172nd Field Regiment R.A. Behind the creation of this badge is a story of courage, heroism self-sacrifice and devotion to duty which compares with anything in the history of the Royal Regiment or indeed I venture to suggest with anything in the history of the British Army.
This is a summary of that story.
The story really starts in January 1942 when a new Territorial Regiment, 172nd Field Regiment R.A., was formed at Hastings with personnel largely taken from the 3rd and 5th Coast Defence Regiments R.A. The new Regiment was soon to join the Territorial 46th (North Midland) Division and be affiliated to 128th Infantry Brigade consisting of 3 Battalions of the Hampshire Regiment. The 172nd Field Regiment R.A., was made up of three batteries - 153, 154, and 155, each armed with eight 25 pr Field Guns.
A year later the Regiment was posted to North Africa with 46th Division to join the 1st Army in its final push for Tunis. After a 'swim' in the Mediterranean when their troopship was sunk by a German submarine and all their equipment was lost, but mercifully few men, they were re-equipped and ready to take up their position north of the town of Beja, at a place called Hunts Gap. 153 and 154 Batteries were deployed astride the main road to Mateur covering Beja, in support of the main force of 128th Infantry Brigade whilst 155 Battery was supporting the 5th Battalion, The Hampshire Regiment, some twelve miles North-East of Hunts Gap at Sidi Nsir. They had been established there as an outpost and patrol base whose object was to give warning of any impending enemy attack and if necessary to gain time.
On the 26th February 1943 the Germans commenced 'Operation Ochsenkopf' in which they launched a determined attack towards Beja, the vital centre for the Allied Communications, with the intention of breaking through the 1st Army lines. The main thrust of this operation was led by an armoured Battle Group including the 10th Panzer Division under the command of Colonel Rudolph Lang together with a number of the new and much vaunted 'Tiger Tanks'.
Thus it was that just after 6 a.m. on the 26th February, 155 Battery and the 5th Hampshire's came under fire from mortars and the first stage in the battle for Beja had begun and was to last nonstop for twelve hours. Before long F Troop was in action against tanks as they advanced down the main road, No. l gun, commanded by Sergeant Henderson, over open sights. Three tanks were hit and the road blocked where it passed through a minefield.
Throughout the morning F Troop and to a lesser extent E Troop were under constant mortar and machine gun fire and also experienced several attacks by eight Messerschmitt who raked the gun positions with machine gun and cannon fire during which a number of men were hit and ammunition vehicles set on fire. Ignoring the risks the Gunners salvaged what they could and manhandled ammunition to the gun positions under heavy fire.
At this point it would have been possible to withdraw the guns and engage the enemy tanks and vehicles from a safer distance but the Battery placed the protection of the Hampshire's first and remained in position so they could engage the infantry, machine guns and mortars who were closing in on the Hampshire's positions.
At 3 p.m. the supply route for ammunition was cut by enemy infantry and no more ammunition could pass. Shortly after this enemy tanks attempted to advance down the main road. The leading Panzer Mk VI was hit three times by Sergeant Henderson's gun. Then a Panzer Mk IV which tried to pass was knocked out and a further one set on fire by the same gun. Soon both troops were in action against enemy tanks over open sights. But the enemy had the advantage of being able to engage the guns from hull-down positions and thus they engaged the guns one by one, setting on fire ammunition dumps, killing or wounding the detachments and eventually smashing up the guns themselves. But for nearly an hour the enemy was held at bay. 'Then at 4 p.m. another attack was launched against P Troop from its southern flank. Again Sergeant Henderson and his crew destroyed the leading tank but then received a direct hit and were put out of action. As the enemy tanks advanced the three remaining guns engaged them at ranges of 50 - 10 yards; Lieutenant Taylor, the only officer on the gun position, and all available survivors, including cooks and the fitters running from gun to gun and servicing them in turn. Finally by about 5.30 p.m. F Troop was silenced and the tanks surrounded E Troop who again fought to the bitter end engaging tanks at ranges of 10 - 20 yards. The tanks smothered the gun positions with machine gun fire and any man who moved was immediately shot whilst some tanks went round the gun position swivelling on their tracks and crushing in the slit trenches. At 5.51 p.m. the last dramatic message reached HQ at Hunts Gap over the wireless "TANKS ARE ON US" followed a few seconds later by the single letter V taped out in Morse code - then silence.
Of the nine officers and one hundred and twenty one other ranks on the gun positions or in the Command Posts and Observation Posts at the start of the battle only nine survived and escaped to join the remainder of the Regiment. One officer and seventy eight other ranks who were at the wagon lines or detached from the Battery also survived and reached Regimental lines. The rest of the Battery were killed wounded or taken prisoner. Of the Hampshire's who fought just as heroically and gallantly along side the Gunners, two hundred reached safety.
The gallant action and sacrifice of 155 Battery provided the vital delay in the advance of Lang's Battle Group and thus gave the rest of the Regiment time to prepare and summon further support, so when the next day the German tanks advanced down the narrow road towards Hunts Gap and Beja, 153 and 154 Batteries, supported by three batteries from other Regiments of the Divisional Artillery plus the R.A.F. were ready and waiting for them. Before long the road was blocked with smashed and burning tanks. As the Germans struggled to recover their damaged tanks and vehicles fate took a favourable hand - it poured with rain and soon the heavy German tanks were hopelessly stuck in the Tunisian mud! The Gunners of 172nd Field Regiment R.A. took remorseless revenge for their lost comrades of 155 Battery! By the 5th of March Lang had been ordered to withdraw with barely five tanks left and nearly forty destroyed which was to earn him the unenviable nickname of 'Tank Killer".
Immediately following the battle the Commander of the 5th Hampshire's, Lieutenant Colonel H. Newnham, voiced the feelings of his Battalion when he recommended to the Commander 128 Infantry Brigade "most strongly that the performance of 155 Field Battery should be put on record and that at a more suitable time when it is possible to collate information, just tribute may be made". This was supported by the Commander of 128 Infantry Brigade, Brigadier M. A. James V.C., in a memo headed 'Citation for Gallantry' which he passed to HQ 46 Division "I very strongly support the remarks of Comd 5 Hamps and I recommend that the facts be recorded so that when sufficient eye witnesses can be obtained, if His Majesty considers it advisable, balloted awards of the Victoria Cross may be made to members of this very gallant Battery"
Sadly despite the fact that this action was reported in the Illustrated London News, dated 23rd June, 1943, under the heading 'THE V.C. BATTERY' and accompanied by a vivid drawing by war artist, Bryan de Grineau, depicting 155 Battery's last stand, this award was never made. One 'Official' reason given to the C.O. of 172nd Field Regiment R.A., later for the failure of the award to be granted was "too many, prisoners"!
Never the less the bravery of the Gunners of 172nd Field Regiment and of 155 Battery in particular did not go unrewarded and the following Gallantry awards were made:
Distinguished Service Order : Lt. Col. W. D. McN. Graham - C.O. 172nd Field Regiment R.A.
Military Cross : Capt. J. S. Perry R.A. 154 Battery R.A. : Major J. S. Raworth R.A. 155 Battery R.A. (Battery Commander)
Distinguished Conduct Medal : LBdr R. S. Hitchin 155 Battery R.A. : Sgt. R. Henderson 155 Battery R.A.
Military Medal : Gnr. R. Kennard 155 Battery R.A. : Sgt. E. R. Lodder 155 Battery R.A. : Gnr. W. Shelton 154 Battery R.A. : Bdr. G. H. Wallis 155 Battery R.A.
Mentioned In Dispatches : Capt. S. T. Bormond R.A. 155 Battery R.A. : LSgt. M. A. W. Benham 154 Battery R.A. : B.S.M. Green 155 Battery R.A. : Lt. P. G. King R.A. 155 Battery R.A. : Capt. R. F. Lawrence R.A. 155 Battery R.A. : Gnr. J. Lewington 155 Battery R.A. (Killed in Action) : LBdr. N. H. Lovelock 155 Battery R.A. : Gnr. K. A. Pearson 155 Battery R.A. : Sgt. Perryman 155 Battery R.A. : Lt. R. J. H. Taylor R.A. 155 Battery R.A. (Killed in Action)
There were those at the time who felt that the importance of the success in this battle was very much underrated by High Command, but not by the Germans. A German Afrika Corps Commander talking to Brigadier Graham many years after the war admitted that their failure at Sidi Nsir and Hunts Gap "marked the end of our hopes of victory in North Africa". Indeed within two months of the battle for Beja, Tunis had been taken and the Germans had surrendered at Cap Bon.
However the pride of the C.O. of 172nd Field Regiment R.A., in the achievement of his men in their baptism of fire was such that he felt that all those who had been actively involved in the destruction of the German tank force should receive some recognition for their courage and bravery. Thus he personally designed and subsequently had made by Arab craftsmen in Tunis, a badge to commemorate the battle. It was awarded mainly to those members of the Regiment who were in the gun crews, Command Posts and Observation Posts at the time of the battle. The exact number of badges awarded is uncertain but it was less than two hundred although it is known that a few at least were also probably bought from the makers by members of the 5th Hampshire's.
The badge itself is stamped out in white metal in the shape of a shield with a raised edge. The centre is covered with a dark red felt and mounted on it in white metal is a Tiger tank pierced by Crusader's sword (the sign of the First Army) and small plate bearing the single word 'BEJA'. The badge measures 2 inches by 2¾ inches and has a pin brooch fastening on the back.
The badge was worn without too much regimentation either above the right breast pocket of the Battle Dress Blouse or on the right sleeve below the badge of the 46th Division. Thus it is that this little known badge has a small but nonetheless important part in the history of the badges and insignia of the Royal Regiment of Artillery.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I am most grateful to the following people for their kind help and first hand reminiscences which made the compilation of this article possible;
Brigadier W. D. McN. Graham D.S.O., O.B.E. Lieutenant Colonel J. S. Raworth M.C. Mr. J. W. Hullis also to the Royal Artillery Institution at Woolwich for their help in providing access to official records and documents and for permission to quote from them.
Copyright N. E. H. Litchfield August -1981 with permission.

William married Marianne Agnes Patricia THOMAS, daughter of Brig. Henry Melville THOMAS C.M.G., D.S.O., R.A. and Dorothy Violet Hope RAWSON, on 3 Jun 1931 in Brompton, London, England. (Marianne Agnes Patricia THOMAS was born on 29 Sep 1908 in Bengalore, Misore, India, christened on 19 Nov 1908 in St Mark, Bengalore, India,² died on 3 Jan 1992 in Monchique, Portugal and was buried in Monchique, Portugal.)