Saul Deitch - WW2 Military Service

Lance Corporal Saul Deitch (Gunner) 640640 (1912-1975+)
4th Battalion Infantry Depot
Royal Sussex Corp
Soblan Barracks, Colchester Essex.
Served From: 1939-1945

The Indian 4th Infantry Division, also known as the Red Eagle Division, is an infantry division of the Indian Army.

The division was formed in Egypt in 1939 and was the first Indian formation to go overseas during the Second World War.[1] As with all formations in the Indian Army prior to independence, it primarily had British officers and Indian other ranks. However, it did include Indian officers with ranks as high as Captain and Major. During World War II, it took part in campaigns in East Africa (Eritrea and Sudan), Syria, North Africa and Italy.

The brigade was sent to North Africa in 1942 where they fought in the Battle of Alam Halfa. The 44th Division was reported to have performed badly during that battle and was disbanded afterwards, the Royal Sussex Brigade was attached to various units after this. They fought at the Battle of El Alamein. In 1943 the 2nd Battalion and volunteers from the 4th and 5th Battalions were formed into the 10th Battalion,Parachute Regiment which landed with the 4th Parachute Brigade at Arnhem during Operation Market Garden in 1944. Captain Lionel Ernest Queripel, from the Royal Sussex won the Victoria Cross posthumously, at Arnhem. After the battle the battalion was dispersed.

A new 2nd Battalion was raised again, after the old one became 10th Para, and along with the 4th and 5th Battalions, was reformed with the 133rd Brigade which was sent to the forgotten theatre of war in Iraq and Persia in 1943 with the 6th Indian Division where they remained for the rest of the war.

During World War II, the Division was in the vanguard during nine campaigns in the Mediterranean theatre. Major-General The Hon. P. Gerald Scarlett appears to have been the division's first commander, from October 1939 to January 1940. The British 14th Infantry Brigade was attached to the division from 1 June to 20 July 1940 and then the British 16th Infantry Brigadewas attached from 9 September 1940 to 14 December 1940.[2] In the first of Archibald Wavell's operations in Egypt, as part of the Western Desert Force, it took part in Operation Compassin December 1940. The Division was involved in the decisive battles of that campaign in the camps around Sidi Barrani. Along with the 7th Royal Tank Regiment, the 11th Brigade of the 4th Infantry Division destroyed the Italian Maletti Group at the Nibiewa Camp.

In December 1940 the division was rushed to the British Sudan to join with the Indian 5th Infantry Division), to prevent the numerically vastly superior Italian forces (ten divisions in total) from threatening Red Sea supply routes to Egypt as well as Egypt and the Suez Canal itself from the south. The East African campaign culminated (March 1941) with the battles at Keren in Eritrea where 42 Italian battalions (an initial 33 battalions, subsequently reinforced by a further nine battalions) were defeated by 19 British and Indian battalions.

Having returned to Egypt, part of the Division (the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade) was hurried across to Syria and was heavily involved in the advance on Damascus (June 1941). From 14 to 17 June 1941 the 4th Armoured Brigade was attached to the division.[2] The rest of the Division was heavily involved in the fighting which ebbed and flowed past Tobruk from June 1941 onwards, having been rejoined by 5 Brigade, returning from Syria, in the autumn of 1941. For most of this period the Division was dispersed with units temporarily attached to other formations much to the disgust of Major General Francis Tuker who assumed command of the Division in December 1941. Notable at this time was the break-out at the end of January by 7 Brigade, having been cut off at Benghazi during the Germans' counter-offensive from Agheila and moving 200 miles avoiding the enemy to rejoin the 8th Army.

Early in April 1942 the Division was dispersed with 7 Brigade going to Cyprus, 5 Brigade to Syria, 11 Brigade to the Suez Canal Zone for training and the Central India Horse to Iraq after a period of training. By May 1942 11 Brigade was back in the fighting at Tobruk (attached to the Indian 5th Infantry Division). 11th Brigade was caught in the siege of Tobruk which fell on 21 June, and so disappeared from the order of battle for the next 18 months. 5th Brigade was rushed to the desert in June 1942 – after escaping from Mersa Matruh, the brigade held the vital Ruweisat Ridge at Alamein in the fighting of July–August 1942.
The situation had become so confused that General Erwin Rommel, also known as the Desert Fox, lost his way and was forced to spend a night in the open. With the dawn came the realization that he was in the company of 4th Division. With a sigh of relief, he slipped away, undetected.[3]

Shortly before the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942 the 4th Indian Division was back together again with the 7th Brigade returning from Cyprus and 161st Brigade attached (until December 1942) to fill the gap of the overrun 11th Brigade. The Division had a relatively subsidiary role in the battle, holding in stiff fighting, as a diversionary tactic, the Ruweisat Ridge which was at the centre of the Allied front whilst the breakthrough was planned further North.

By December 1942 the Division was once again dispersed but strong representations by its GOC, Francis Tuker, (including his asking to be relieved of command) resulted in the Division being brought together as a fighting entity in March 1943 and it fought with distinction through to the fall of Tunis in May 1943 gaining a particular reputation for its prowess in mountainous country. The Division had the honour of capturing General von Arnim in Tunisia, bringing an end to the North African campaign. Its major battles in North Africa were Benghazi, Tobruk,Wadi Akarit, Enfidaville and Tunis.

the division then moved in January 1944 to Italy (joined by the newly re-constituted 11 Brigade), where it took part in the Italian Campaign. It took a major role (sustaining very heavy casualties) in the second Battle of Monte Cassino (where in Tuker's absence through illness it was commanded by Brigadier Harry Dimoline, the divisional Commander of Royal Artillery). During the battle, the Division was to attack in an arc towards the south and southwest, taking Point 593 and then moving southeast, up the heights towards the Abbey. The Indian Division would only advance on the Abbey, once the NZ Division had attacked south and southeast taking the town of Cassino.[4] The main attack eventually commenced just after last light[5] with the NZ Division's 28 (Maori) Battalion tasked to cross the Rapido River and to seize the station south of Cassino town, to establish a bridgehead for the corps armour to move into the town and to the foot of the Cassino massif—the attack starting at 2:130. However, the 28th Battalion attack failed, and so had the 4th Indian Division attack on Point 593.[6]

The division also suffered heavy casualties during the third battle (in March 1944) when it was commanded by Major-General Alexander Galloway, who had been released from command of the British 1st Armoured Division.

Command of the division was assumed by Major-General Arthur Holworthy late in March 1944 and the division took part in the advance from Cassino after the fourth battle in May 1944 to the Trasimene Line in Central Italy and then the Gothic Line. As part of the attachments and detachments for the campaign, the 9th Armoured Brigade was attached to the division from 8 July 1944 to 19 July 1944.[2]

In November 1944 the division was shipped to Greece to help stabilise the country after the Axis withdrawal.[7] Holworthy was succeeded by Major-General Charles Boucher in January 1945 who commanded the division until the end of hostilities.

According to author Chand Das, during World War II the "Division captured 150,000 prisoners and suffered 25,000 casualties, more than the strength of a whole division. It won over 1,000 honours and awards which included four Victoria Crosses and three George Crosses".[7]

Saul Deitch was also Based in Deolali.

Deolali was a British Army camp 100 miles north-east of Mumbai. It was the original location of the Army Staff College. (Now the Defence Services Staff College of India and the Command and Staff College of Pakistan).

It is also the source of the British slang noun doolally tap, loosely meaning "camp fever", and referring to the apparent madness of men waiting for ships back to Britain after finishing their tour of duty. By the 1940s this had been widely shortened to just "doolally", an adjective meaning "mad (insane)" or "eccentric". The town was the setting for the first four series of the British sitcom It Ain't Half Hot Mum, set in 1945.

Editor: Karl Neilson