In the Face of the Enemy: A Battery Sergeant Major in Action in the Second World War

By E. A. Powdrill

In Part One Powdrill describes his experiences in France during ‘the Phoney War’ and then their baptism by fire in May 1940, culminating in the evacuation from Dunkirk having left their disabled guns behind. Ernest was wounded but many of his colleagues were killed by ferocious German counter-battery fire.

Part 2 tells a very different story in more detail. By now a Sergeant Major in an armoured tracked regiment, the author fought through from the Normandy beaches to the River Maas. He describes the near constant action in graphic terms. In the Face of the Enemy is a splendid soldier’s story full of understatement and atmosphere. Success is tinged with sadness for lost comrades and admiration for his fellow men.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pen and Sword
• Release date: Apr 21, 2009
• ISBN: 9781844684502

Reviews for In the Face of the Enemy

[jmkemp-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I borrowed it from the library and liked it so much that I bought my own copy. I found it very interesting because it is unusual for an other rank to write a memoir. Especially one where the author was a battery sergeant major who also had access to the battery clerk's notes. So much of the 1944-45 campaign is very well documented with grid references for gun positions, ammo expenditure and times of moves. There is also some of the human element to it as well. I was especially moved by the mystery of Gunner E T Jones who disappeared in the middle of a battle between the authors casualty evacuation runs. Gunner Jones was never found and is commemorated on the memorial for the missing at Bayeux.