Bren at War

[Luis Bren]

Men of the Leicestershire Regiment man a Bren gun near Tobruk, 10 November 1941.



Soldiers of the 4th Indian Division decorate the side of their lorry 'Khyber pass to Hellfire Pass'. 'Hellfire Pass' was the nickname for the strategically important Halfaya Pass, fortified by the Germans and which the British attacked, unsuccessfully, during Operation Battleaxe.
Soldiers of the 4th Indian Division decorate the side of their lorry, North Africa, 21 June 1941.



A knocked-out German PzKpfw III tank being searched by infantry 1 June 1942.

[Vincent]

Luis,
Thank you for all the pictures, especially the Cameron Highlanders at Giza. Where did you find them?

Attachment 60117

My father.

[Luis Bren]

Hi Vincent!
I happy to share with us this pics i found in Imperial War Museum website!
What Year the pic of your father?

[Vincent]

Thank you, Luis.
I don’t know the year. I will see if I can find it. He was a Cameron.
My uncle was with the German 5th Light Afrika Division, later named the 21st Panzer Division.
After the war they were good friends. I remember one night when I was maybe five years old, they talked about some of the battles in North Africa. They used things on the table, knives, forks, spoons, salt & pepper, etc to make a map of the battle fields and show where they were.
My father was captured by the Germans and later escaped. My uncle was captured by the English and sent to a POW camp here in Texas where he spent the rest of the war.

[Paul S.]

...
My father was captured by the Germans and later escaped. My uncle was captured by the English and sent to a POW camp here in Texas where he spent the rest of the war.

I have to admit that gave me a laugh.

[Gopher]

When I was in college, I worked a part time job. My supervisor was a former German soldier that had been captured in Africa. He was shipped to New Orleans. Upon arrival, word was pasted to be very careful when leaving the boat as the American guards were all very young and were armed with machine guns.
He did farm work for the rest of the war and said it was not unusual to slip out of the POW camp and go to town.

[Peter Laidler]

When I lived in Newbury there were a few ex POW's still lioving in the area who had been employed on the farms and at the big Ordnance Depot at Thatcham. Willi Hubner was one who made a fortune by 'buying' all the sheepskin jerkins that were being burned after the war, Turned them all into civilianised leather jerkins for the farmers and warm slippers. Really nice bloke. Another was Klaus Hecker who was another nice bloke. Shame about his son....................

[Arthur OZ]

Peter L in photo 3 maybe he did not want to move it off its fixed lines.

[Luis Bren]

Gunner J Hinchcliffe, a Bren gunner of the 5th Duke of Wellington Regiment (600 Regt RA) sets out on a 'recce' patrol in the Dunkirk perimeter, 3 March 1945.



A Bren gunner of the Norwegian Brigade takes aim during training at Dumfries, Scotland, 27 June 1941.



A Bren gunner takes cover behind a memorial while buildings burn in Uelzen, 18 April 1945.



A Bren gunner of 36th Infantry Division guards a jungle path in an area recently cleared by artillery near Pinwe, November 1944.



A Bren gunner rests in a cornfield near Briquessard, during Operation 'Bluecoat', the offensive south-east of Caumont, 30 July 1944.



Bren gunner of the Brecknock Battalion, South Wales Borderers, in the prone firing position, on an exercise near Bootle, 16 August 1940.

[tankhunter]

Photo 1 of Gunner Hinchcliffe. I wouldn't have carried No.36 Grenades like that!!!!
I can ASSURE you. They would NOT have stayed on his 37' Pattern Waistbelt for very long in the Field!...................Nice Pic's though Luis. Thanks for sharing them with the group.