“Fighting in a tank in World War II was terrifying.”

Well, he kept his word. For 15 years, he interviewed veterans, spent hundreds of hours in the archives and toured every European battlefield where Sherwood Rangers drew gasoline and blood during World War II. He does not complain about that at all; He admits that every minute was worth it: “At first, I was drawn to know that it was the British Army’s Armored Regiment that took part in the most battles: 36 during the entire conflict, 16 of them between victory day, On June 6, 1944 and 1945. He then explains that he became fascinated by the personal stories of its members. “They were twenty-year-old boys, fighting and living a bad life inside a tank, without hygiene. “They loved to drink, make love and complain, but they never lost their humanity, despite what they went through,” he says.

Today, after revealing the difficulties faced by the most famous tankers of the war, and feeling sorry for Brad Pitt and “Fury”, Holland in Spain presents the final investigation into the Sherwood Rangers: “Brothers in Arms” (Bookcase). Nearly 700 pages go a long way: from the war’s analysis of English armored units, to the psychological consequences suffered by soldiers who spent the conflict locked in those steel coffins. “It’s a myth that fighting in a tank was safe. The numbers tell us that the situation was more dangerous than in the trenches of Verdun, the Somme and Passchendaele, an example of the carnage that occurred in the First World War. Here is an example: “The regiment was commanded by 36 officers. Between June 6 and August 21, 1944, the number of their victims, after counting the inscriptions, reached 44 people.

Steel Knights

Very British, yes, although Holland orders an Americano to awaken his senses first thing in the morning. But no one should doubt his love of country, because it does not take long for him to benefit from the regiment he says he feels passionately about. “None of my grandparents were directly involved in the war: one of them was conscripted into the island’s auxiliary forces during the war.”Blitz‘, German bombing raids on Britain, and another on the Birmingham Fire Brigade.

You could say I adopted the Sherwood Rangers as relatives in that sense…or they adopted me! “, he joked. He feels that they are part of his family, that they are his brothers, hence the title of the article. Although he also does not deny that it is a reference to the legendary “blood brothers”, Spielberg’s series about the 101st Airborne Division was an era.

Of course their brothers in arms admire them. In 1939, the Sherwood Rangers were still fighting on horseback in the Palestinian desert, facing Arab rebels with swords in hand. It was three years later when they changed their grumbling about Sherman tanks, the backbone of the Allied armored divisions of the war. A vehicle despised by many historians that struggled to defeat its German counterparts, but which the Netherlands defines as “the best tank of its time”. So, without hesitation. “It wasn’t about having the strongest weapon or the biggest frame. You have to think about the whole “package.” The Sherman was mechanically very reliable and easy to repair and operate on the battlefield. Moreover, there were many more of them, 36 for each fearsome German tiger, and they fired at a much higher speed.”

On these steel mountains they fought at Alam Halfa (Africa) in the summer of 1942 and landed on the beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944. Their destination: the Gold Strip. “It was hell: all the armored vehicles of the participating regiment received at least one hit during the operation. “Whether or not their crews survived was a matter of luck,” he explains. From there, Holland scrolls through the pages of the various theaters of operations in which the Sherwood Rangers fought. From Belgium to Bremen, via the Rhine crossing. This is with the fear of knowing that they will be clear – and priority – targets for the enemy. Because, as the author admits, the Sherman was a battle tank with a higher than normal height; And a perfect moving target that pedestrians didn’t even want to approach.

Personal stories

But these are not all major operations for the Netherlands. In its pages, the British collect the short stories of the most prominent members of the Sherwood Rangers team. Many of them, more than strange. For example, Sherman’s chauffeur became popular among his colleagues because he carried at his side a huge doll with blonde curls wearing a “flowing crinoline suit.” They named her Margaret and she accompanied the unit throughout the conflict. It was a strange way to encourage his teammates. Peter Selleri preferred to do this by reciting Shakespeare’s lines over the intercom when the bombs fell. Meanwhile, Mickey Gould made his comrades smile when he presented them with one of the few books he took to war: a well-worn copy of “Winnie-the-Pooh.”

Holland has his favorite characters within Sherwood Rangers. John Simkin is one of them, “I had a conversation with him when he was 90 and it stayed with me. “It was almost luminous,” he explains. The then captain became famous for handing over a heavy German tank on insistence. “He rammed a Tiger tank and shot it ten times before they could react.” In the end, the enemy crew surrendered even though their craft was much heavier. “His service was extremely arduous. When he was not yet 21 years old, his best friend’s armored car exploded in front of him. Despite this, he never lost his closeness or his silly sense of others.” Humor,” he says. He even told him that he “slept for 14 hours under the bombs after weeks without sleeping even a wink.

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  The book’s attic

Keith Douglas is one of the people he chose. This captain, poet and writer died in his spare time on June 9, 1944, when he left his tank to scout the terrain and avoid a German ambush. “Whenever I go back to Normandy I go to a cemetery Tele Sur SeoulWhere he was buried and I greeted him. His poems were wonderful. “I feel proud to have found the exact spot where he was killed thanks to the investigation conducted through aerial photographs,” Holland explains to ABC. When he arrived at the place, he felt shaking. “It was a beautiful afternoon in May, the birds were singing… knowing it was there gave me goosebumps,” he says.

– What is the story of the regiment that influenced you the most?

During Christmas 1944, the Sherwood Rangers were stationed in a Dutch town, near the German border. That day, a soldier dressed as Santa Claus and another dressed as an elf rode a sleigh pulled by a tank and distributed dozens of chocolate bars to the children that they had been saving for days. How can you not love these guys? This is impossible!

After reviewing the exploits of the Sherwood Rangers, Holland recalls that tanks have not lost their value or raison d’être even though war has changed and drones have taken to the skies: “Since the invention of tanks, the means of destroying them have been developed, there is nothing new in that sense. After all, they work alongside the infantry and it is necessary to give them support.”

The historian notes that out of 14 tanks delivered by the British government to the Ukrainian army, only two were out of service. “We won’t have to wait long before anti-drone systems are improved,” he says. His conclusion is that no matter how many years pass, the tank will remain an essential piece, just as it was in World War II.