Alfred Edgar
RUSH
1912 - 1943
Early Life
ALFRED EDGAR RUSH was born on the 13 April 1912 at Scurvy Hall, Great Waltham and was the youngest son of Arthur and Ada Jale Rush (née Middleton).
Both Arthur and Ada had been married before. Arthur’s first marriage was to Lillia Collins on the 20 December 1899 at the Parish Church, Ford End and they had three children, Frederick Arthur, born 9 April 1901, Ernest David, born 16 February 1903 and a daughter, Lily Annie, born June 1907 at Little Stonage, Little Waltham. Lillia died in late 1907 and Lily was baptised privately on the 24 March 1908 at Great Waltham and she died aged one year.
Ada had been previously married to Horace Charles Brooks on the 3 March 1903 at Terling, Essex, but he died in 1906 at West Ham. Ada and Horace had one son, Frederick, born in 1904 at Forest Gate, Essex.
Arthur and Ada married in 1910 at Chelmsford. Their first son, Christopher Frank, was born the 29 April 1910 and was baptised at St Martin’s Church, Little Waltham on the 19 June 1910. Alfred was baptised two years later at the same church on the 30 June 1912.
The family lived at Scurvy Hall Lane, Little Waltham. Alfred’s father, Arthur was a Shepherd at Holts Farm, Boreham. In 1921, the family were living at Thistley Green, on the Dunmow Road, Felsted. Alfred worked on the farm before enlisting.
BAPTISM ALFRED EDGAR RUSH 30 JUNE 1912
ST MARTIN’S CHURCH LITTLE WALTHAM
Jessie and Alfred
In 1935, Alfred married Jessie Rose Knight in Chelmsford. Their daughter, Beryl Evelyn was born on the 12 September 1936.
ALFRED WITH HIS DAUGHTER, BERYL AND HIS WIFE, JESSIE
Military Service
Alfred enlisted into the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards Service No. 2612065 at Aldershot Barracks before the War.
At the broadcast announcement on the 3 September 1939 by the Prime Minister, Neville Chamberlain said that as Britain was once again at war with Germany, their Battalions were put on a war footing within a few days. Their mobilisation stores were unlocked and disgorged a complete set of new equipment for each man. Their ranks were filled by officers and Guardsmen of the Regular Army Reserve who were called back from civilian life on the 31 August. At Wellington Barracks uniforms and equipment were issued and the men were marched to Waterloo Station and dispatched to as far as possible to the original battalions in which they had lately served.
The 3rd Battalion in the 1st Division, under the command of Lieut. Colonel Sir John Aird, Bt.M.V.O.,M.C. was posted to Barrosa Barracks, Aldershot.
He was a Sentry at Buckingham Palace at one point.
The Battalion was ready to go overseas and were inspected by HM the King on the 7 September and were ready to join the British Expeditionary Force having completed their autumn exercises.
The BEF was transported to France in two Corps. The I Corps, which included the 1st Division, began to move across the Channel on the 20 September, the 3rd Battalion of the Grenadiers were the first to arrive in France. They arrived at Cherbourg then travelled by train through Normandy to the BEF’s assembly area between the towns of Le Mans and Laval. They marched to the village of Tennie and their billets, and settled down in barns and cottages to enjoy a week of gentle acclimatisation.
The Battalion then travelled north to Normandy, through Rouen to the sector of the Franco-Belgian frontier, north east of Arras. The Gort line was constructed and the Battalion was responsible for a small sector of the line around Genech and Bachy, digging and draining trenches, supporting walls and constructing sump-pits at the corners of the trenches, to prevent water-logging.
By Christmas Plan “D” which was to advance deeper into Belgium to the line of the River Dyle had been put into effect. The attack by the Germans on the 10 May 1940 came as a surprise, the Battalion were at Nomain on the Belgian frontier and without their Commanding Officer, Major O.W.D. Smith was in temporary command. They left on the 11 May reaching Velaines the next morning and their new Commanding Officer Major Adair.
The BEF sector of the Dyle was fully manned by the morning of the 13 May. The Germans made one attempt to cross the River Dyle, but the whole Dyle line was outflanked by the Germans and on the 15 May General Gamelin ordered the withdrawal of the Northern Armies from the Dyle to the Escaut, a journey of 60 miles, which was part of the Maginot Line. Bridges were blown up on the way.
On 23 May the Battalion withdrew from Escaut and marched back to the Gout Line near Roubaix. The idea to withdrawing the Allied Forces to Dunkirk was suggested on the 19 May by Lord Gort to the British Cabinet, but it was told this would be a ‘last resort’. Meanwhile the troops were put on half-rations and ammunition supplies were sufficient for no more than four days, although the battalions sent their butchers out to round up straying cattle and scour empty houses for food and supplies.
The defence lines were improved at the Gort Line on the outskirts of Roubaix by the 3rd Battalion. The Battalion were suddenly switched to counter-attack the line of the Ypres-Comine Canal before advancing by foot to 10 miles south of Dunkirk, having destroyed all but a few of their vehicles. When they reached Zuydcoote, three miles from Dunkirk, they were told to abandon all remaining transport, a long line, which had been dumped by the troops.
On 2 June the Battalion left Dunkirk for England and on arrival they reassembled at Wakefield. In a few days, they moved to Louth, near the coast in Lincolnshire.
The 3rd Battalion began to train from October for specialised forms of warfare, chiefly combined operations and desert fighting, as they were earmarked for early employment overseas.
On 14 November 1942, the 3rd Battalion Grenadier Guards under Lieut.Colonel A.G.W. Heber-Percy sailed from the Clyde, in company of 1200 other troops on board a Belgian Ship H.M.T. Leopoldville. She was uncomfortably crowded and nine days later, having sailed widely the north coast of Ireland and far out into the Atlantic and into the Mediterranean the ship docked at Algiers.
The Battalion fought their first battles since leaving the beaches of Dunkirk around Medjez-el-Bab. These were followed by the most violent of their north African battles of Djebel Mansour in February 1943. The Brigade, nicknamed “The Plumbers”, were called upon to plug leaks as the Germans tried to break out from encirclement. They were stopped and pursued over the Kasserine Pass towards Tunis. Complete victory came with the joining up of the 1st Army with the 8th Army and in May with the final battle leading to the fall of Tunis.
Grenadier Guards and Bren Carriers at Kasserine Pass March 1943
The Battalion spent June and July at Sousse awaiting orders to embark for Italy. The heat, up to 120 degrees in the shade, was crushing and fortunately they were bivouacked under fig trees close to the sea. Reveille sounded at 5.30 am and training confined to the morning and evening, leaving the men free in the afternoon to sleep or bathe. The Commanding Officer, Lt Col Heber Percy, organised rest centres and expeditions to give his men relief from camp life.
The Commanding Officer’s Humber ‘Box’ staff car
Death and Memorial
On the 14 June, with his orderly and driver, he organised and personally led an expedition to revisit the battlefields and sights of Tunisia. He was accompanied by Captain A G Way with his driver, Guardsman Fox, two more drivers, Guardsman Ashton and Preston, an interpreter, Réne Helling ‘transferred’ from the French Foreign Legion and thirteen Lance Sergeants, including Alfred.
They packed Heber’s Humber ‘Box’ staff car and three 15cwt trucks with supplies the night before and started early in order to get as far as possible in the cool of the morning.
Good progress was made and, having reached Kairouan, they pushed on to Fondouk, revisiting the ground over which the Battalion had fought on the 19 April. At Sbeitla they watched the Americans repairing the railway bridge and station. Fruit and vegetables were bought at the market and Helling exchanged French notes into Tunisian currency. They visited the magnificent yellow sandstone Roman remains before driving on to reach Kasserine by midday. Heber Percy described the events before, during and after the battle and they had lunch in a small French café by the side of the road. It was refreshingly cool and swallows flew in and out nesting in the ceiling.
On the way to Gafsa they passed the Ferriana oasis with water running on both sides of the road and fig and olive trees for about a mile. They pushed on at speed along a tarmac road through the debris left from fighting between the Americans and Germans. Having covered 200 miles, the trucks were filled up with petrol and they washed themselves under a pump. The road deteriorated and it was a relief to reach the Krill oasis with a pool of clear water, palm trees and assorted birds flying about. Half an hour later they arrived at Tozeur and were astonished to find a 50-bedroom hotel, ‘Transatlantique’, with electric lights and hot and cold water in every room. They were the first troops to visit since the end of the campaign and they were greeted in the courtyard by the manager. They gave their rations to the hotel and dined that night on French cuisine before retiring early.
The following morning Ashford’s truck refused to start but after a gourmet breakfast, the remainder carried on 100 miles south to El Oued, crossing the border into Algeria. Further progress was halted by large sand dunes across the track and they returned via Nefta to Tozeur. Reunited with Ashford and having paid the exorbitant hotel bill, they headed due east towards Kebili, soon reaching the De Gache oasis. There was a large herd of camels resting under the palm trees and another pool of clear water with small fishes in it. The whole party was refreshed and in good spirits.
In holiday mood, they turned south east to cross the largest Salt Lake in the Sahara, Chott Djerid, 60 miles long, dry and shimmering white. The staff car was in the lead travelling at speed when it struck a soft patch of salt. It was extricated and Starling, assisted by Howland, checked the carburettor, which was found to be faulty. Ashford’s truck, with four Lance Sergeants aboard, was also not running properly and he was told to push on slowly following the concrete posts that marked the route. The remainder watched as his truck disappeared into the distance when a loud explosion was heard and it was seen to be lifted high into the air before tumbling down.
When the party got to the scene, they were horrified to find Ashford’s truck upside down with bodies, clothing and equipment all round it. The horn was still blaring away and it was apparent that the truck had struck a mine. Ashford, Radley and Williams were dead. Barker was still alive and tried to rise to his feet but fell back dead with a broken back.
Alfred was hardly breathing and unconscious. He was put in the staff car to be carried to the French hospital at Kebili as quickly as possible, with the other two trucks following as best they could. Kebili was reached at 9 pm that night and Rush was given morphine by a French doctor. There were no facilities to treat someone with such serious injuries and they were advised to drive to Gabes, 150 miles away.
Nearing El Hamma, they went through the battlefield of the New Zealanders and the Afrika Corps. The road was pitted with craters and there were minefields and the twisted wreckage of burnt-out tanks and vehicles on both sides. Astonishingly they were halted by the Staffordshire Yeomanry doctor, whose car had broken down. He had been sent to photograph the graves of men in his Regiment. He treated Alfred and gave him another dose of morphine.
Gabes was reached at midnight and Alfred was admitted to the Civil Hospital where a French surgeon diagnosed a haemorrhage of the brain with no hope of recovery. Starling discovered a British casualty clearing station nearby and Alfred was transferred to it by ambulance. Lance Sergeant Alfred Rush died without regaining consciousness on the 16 June 1943 aged 31 years.
His body was collected and he was initially interred at Baharine but was reburied at Medjez-el- Bab War Cemetery on the 15 June 1944.
GRAVE ALFRED EDWARD RUSH
PLOT NO. 3. G. 18
The Commonwealth War Graves Committee is implementing a total landscape redesign project for the Medjez-el-Bab War Cemetery in Tunisia, the largest Commonwealth War Cemetery in the country. The Cemetery which spans 19,000 square metres and contains 2,903 graves is being re-imagined to honour its historical significance while addressing environmental challenges such as water scarcity and climate stress.
Alfred is remembered on the War Memorial in Great Waltham.
In 1945, his widow Jessie, married Raymond E Short in Chelmsford. Jessie died in 1989 at Torbay in Devon.