Page 221 - The Bugle 2018

Obituaries
Major Tom Bird DSO MC* The Rifle Brigade. A Rifleman of exceptional courage. Company Commander of S Company 2nd Bn The Rifle Brigade, the anti-tank company that defeated Rommel’s armoured counter- attack during the Second Battle of El Alamein at Snipe.
Thomas Arthur Bird was born on 11
Aug 1918, the younger son of Arthur Bird,
a company director and country squire,
and his wife, Evelyn. He was a shy boy in
the shadow of his older brother, Edward.
Educated at Winchester, Bird was studying
at the Architectural Association at the outbreak of war. The two brothers were close and joined the Supplementary Reserve of the Rifle Brigade together. Edward was subsequently killed whilst serving in the 1st Bn The Rifle Brigade at Calais in 1940.
Tom was posted to the 2nd Battalion and was soon caught up in the desert War. During an attack on Tobruk, he led a carrier platoon to test the northern defences. Meeting very heavy defensive fire, he withdrew his platoon without loss and after two hours advanced again; on this occasion the fire was decreasing and was silenced by the guns supporting his attack. His platoon penetrated the minefields and wire and moved forward to enemy strong-points at Ras el Medauuar which were still engaging the patrols of the neighbouring company. Working his carrier around the flank, he completely surrounded the strong enemy position, protected by mines and booby traps, and forced it surrender. The position contained, in addition to infantry, nine 105mm guns, as well as machine guns, and had up till then completely held up the advance on this flank. He showed considerable bravery and initiative in taking on such very superior numbers and handled a difficult situation with skill and coolness and was awarded a MC.
Six months later he commanded a fighting patrol to the north of Gebel Kalakh and led his patrol across 2,700 yards of open ground in brilliant moonlight, the last half under heavy machine-gun fire. At about 100 yards short of the objective a wire fence was encountered, which he negotiated under intense fire, and then took his patrol in with great gallantry and determination, overrunning three enemy posts and capturing two officers and fifteen other ranks, including the entire crew of an anti-tank gun. In spite of heavy small-arms and mortar fire from positions sited in depth and on either flank, he withdrew his patrol without casualties. Tom was awarded a bar to his MC.
In the 2nd Battle of El Alamein, on the 26th October 1942, the battalion had secured one end of the ‘Kidney Ridge’, feature known as the ‘Snipe’, a small oval-shaped depression 2000 yards in front of the British forward position, after a confused night attack. That night and next morning the Battalion’s position was attacked by a large force of German and Italian armour. Tom Bird was company commander of the 6-pounder anti-tank company. He was put in command of the anti-tank defences of the position by the Commanding Officer, Vic Turner, and sited and co-ordinated the fire of fifteen guns of the Rifle Brigade and six guns of the Anti-Tank Regiment. The position was immediately counter-attacked during the night and five separate tank attacks were made the next day; all these were repulsed. Paying no heed to his own safety, he went from gun to gun giving encouragement and when necessary taking the place of wounded men in gun crews. After each attack he went round finding out which guns had been damaged and redistributing them and their ammunition to each section as he thought best. All this he did under intense fire, never showing the least concern, but proving himself an inspiration to all ranks. He was finally wounded in the head at about 2pm, but carried on until the effects of concussion and the hot sun knocked him out just before last light. His company accounted for fifty-seven tanks burnt; besides others hit and guns and lorries destroyed. He was always at the critical point performing
many duties, directing the fire of a gun whose No1 was wounded, loading another of which all the crew but one had been wounded, fetching ammunition and cheering his men. One of his brother officers remembers, “When all seemed to be lost, there would be Dicky boy, calm and seemingly aloof from the dangers around us.” His courage and leadership gave all ranks confidence and enabled them to beat the enemy off and withdraw in good order when orders to do so were received. He was awarded the DSO.
Subsequently he was appointed ADC to Field Marshals Auchinleck and Wavell in India. He returned to 2RB in September 1944 and was badly wounded during the advance to Arnhem. After recovering, he was ADC to Field Marshal ‘Jumbo’ Wilson in Washington and in March 1945 he married to Alice Hunsaker at Boston, Mass.
After leaving the Army later that year, he became a distinguished architect in the neo-classical tradition. Tom Bird died on 9th August 2017 two days short of his 99th birthday. His wife predeceased him and he is survived by their two sons and a daughter.
Major General Mark Bond OBE The Rifle Brigade and The Royal Green Jackets. Mark Bond was born on 1 June 1922 in Dorset, the only son of Ralph Bond & Evelyn Blake. After education at Eton he joined the Rifle Brigade because his uncle Algernon had been in the Regiment and was wounded at Ladysmith.
In 1942 Mark Bond was posted to ‘I’ Coy
1RB, commanded by Freddie Stephens, just
after Alam Halfa but in time for El Alamein
where he was wounded in the head only
hours after the start of the battle. He subse-
quently discharged himself from hospital and hitched back to re-join his machine gun platoon at Tobruk. In Italy under Lt Col Victor Paley he was captured near Naples, whilst leading a recce patrol. His POW train was attacked by US fighters and, after the initial break-out from the strafed train, he was re-captured, but the planes returned and, profiting by the distraction, he jumped down into a stream, hiding himself in a small cavity in the mud bank. Subsequently on foot for six weeks, he headed east for the coast. He had swopped his battle dress trousers with a shepherd for canvas trousers and a blanket. He ate what he could scrounge to start with, but later, in the snow covered hills there was no food so he attempted to raid a German B echelon group but got recaptured and sent to POW camps initially in Czechoslovakia and then Brunswick, Germany. His friend and fellow Rifleman Hugh Butler (later Major General) was in the same camp although in a different block. Hunger was always present: slicing bread evenly was key and always subject to the closest scrutiny.
He was liberated by the American 9th Army in April 1945 and flown back to England to find his home had been requisitioned. His father, Ralph Bond, Algernon’s younger brother, had inherited the family estate of Tyneham in Dorset, which had been owned by the Bond family for over 300 years. In 1943 his father was notified by the War Office of a compulsory evacuation order taking over the village for training troops ready for the D-Day landings. The family was promised that the village and land would be returned at the end of the war. This never happened and Tyneham fell into ruin. The War Office notification telegram was sent on the same day that the family heard that Mark was missing in action.
He rejoined 1RB in Tidworth but the Battalion was reforming and not in great shape as many of the best officers and NCOs had left the army. He felt a move to The Parachute Regiment would be more interesting. It was from there that he was selected by Field Marshal Montgomery to be his ADC. He liked Monty, found him sympa- thetic, inquisitive rather than critical of subordinates, but Mark often suggested to visiting commanders ‘Don’t complain, you’ll regret it!’.
He was later Brigade Major of 147 Brigade before re-joining the Rifle Brigade in Malaya. After a tour in the Ministry of Defence
THE RIFLES
REGIMENTAL ASSOCIATIONS 227