Page 138 - RSDG Year of 2022 CREST

146 EAGLE AND CARBINE
Squadron. Tours in Northern Ireland and Cyprus followed before he was posted to ‘24 Cadet Training Team’ in Edinburgh. He left the Army in 1982.
Outwith his routine duties he was a member of the regimental ski team, regimental polo team and took part in point-to-points. On the flip side, Arthur did have his fair share of accidents, coming off the Cresta Run track and disappearing in to a straw stack. One night at Saltau he led a convoy of Centurion tanks down an embankment which resulted in considerable damage to some German’s back-gardens.
As one of his fellow erstwhile officers wrote, “I will miss him enormously as we were all irresponsible subalterns for a long time together in a lot of different places and somehow survived”.
Arthur was a man of many talents and when the Regiment was in Catterick his wife Caroline and Joanna Macrae ran a gallery, ‘The Greys Gallery’, in Leyburn in which Arthur and Hamish Macrae were heavily involved.
Arthur Freer
Arthur Freer, who was born on 9 August 1922 and died on 1 January 2022 aged 99, was the last known survivor of the battle of Nunshigum. Arthur volunteered to join the Royal Armoured Corps on 9 August 1941, his 19th birthday. He was sent to be trained at Catterick in North Yorkshire and then to Bovington, where he excelled at signals and returned to Catterick as a wireless instructor to train recruits. But this was too dull for Arthur, so he volunteered for active service with the North Riding Yeomanry and was drafted to North Africa and subsequently to India, where he was eventually seconded to the 3rd Carabiniers who were stationed near Madras, now known as Chennai.
In October 1943 Japanese forces were approaching the India-Burma border, having advanced up through the jungle, pushing back the British as they advanced. The Regiment was ordered to move all their tanks, in complete secrecy, by rail up to Assam on the North-East border of India. Corporal Arthur Freer was selected to form part of the tank escort on the clandestine train journey which took 14 days. He then accompanied the tanks on transporters to their destination, just north of the town of Imphal, completing the whole trip in 20 days of high adventure and considerable discomfort. Here the Regiment regrouped and prepared themselves for the arrival of the Japanese and Arthur was appointed radio operator to B Squadron Leader, Major
On leaving the Army Arthur moved with Caroline to the United States, working on oil-rigs in the Gulf of Mexico and in Arizona and California as a first responder to industrial accidents. In the following years Arthur and Caroline adopted Sarah and David living and working on a riding retreat at the Highland Ranch in Philo, California. He took inspiration from the surrounding mountains, redwood forests and lakes to produce some of his finest paintings. At this time Arthur was diagnosed with a brain tumour. Recovery was a long and physical challenge with his face movement and hearing badly affected.
Arthur returned alone to Scotland in 2003, setting up a studio in the Scottish Borders and later Angus where in 2014 he bought a house near Lunan. Arthur felt at home at Lunan (a historical stronghold of the Blairs). He enjoyed developing the garden at Damside, walking on Lunan beach with his soul-mate Ruby, a fox terrier.
Arthur died peacefully at home on the 18 December 2022.
Edward Sanford. This was a prestigious appointment for the operator was a key crewmember upon whom the commander relied for all his communication during battle. The operator was also the senior member of the tank crew and was responsible for keeping the tank combat ready. B squadron was one of 3 tank squadrons in the Regiment, with 15 tanks, divided into 4 troops of 3 tanks and a headquarter troop of 3.
The battle for Imphal kicked off in late March 1944 when the Japanese launched their offensive to reach the Indian capital along the axis Imphal - Kohima. Arthur’s squadron was soon in the thick of the fighting around the Imphal Plain and the foothills that overlooked it. But it was on 13 April 1944 that Arthur took part in the decisive battle of Nunshigum, which became the Regiment’s 2nd World War battle honour and is still celebrated each year by the Regiment.
Nunshigum is a mountainous ridge about 7000 yards long, its plateau rising about 1000 feet from the Imphal plain, from where the occupier can dominate the ground in front. The ridge had been taken by the Japanese between 8 and 11 April and B Squadron was detailed to go and dislodge the enemy. The squadron’s tanks toiled up the steep slopes at walking speed in support of the infantry, whose job it was to clear the Japanese who were dug into bunkers. Because the ground was so steep the commanders had to stand up in the turret to direct their driver, using their pistols