The Trusty Servant Nov 2017 No. 124 | Page 4

N o .124 T he T rusty S ervant hit; as they turned to face the dug-in 6-pdrs, the Shermans had broadside targets. A final attack was launched on Snipe, four panzers were hit at 200 yards and two more were hit at 100 yards. The guns had three rounds left. When darkness fell, casualties were about 70 dead and wounded. Only one gun was retrieved. At 11.30 pm Bird was sent off in a jeep with a driver. He was asleep when the driver said, ‘I think we are in a minefield.’ Bird got out and walked in front of the jeep – and they did not hit a mine. It was some days later, when the Battalion had a chance to revisit Snipe, that the full impact of the battle was revealed. A conservative estimate concluded that Bird’s guns alone had destroyed 33 tanks, five self-propelled guns, several artillery pieces and many trucks. A further 20 tanks were hors de combat. Colonel Victor Turner was awarded the Victoria Cross for ‘an example of leadership and bravery which inspired his whole battalion’. Bird was awarded the DSO for his courage and leadership: ‘He had paid no heed to his own safety. He was always at the critical point performing many duties, directing the fire, loading another gun, fetching ammunition and cheering his men. All this he did under intense fire.’ After the war Bird helped the artist Terence Cuneo recreate the scene of Tom’s and Turner’s action at Snipe. He suggested to Cuneo that it would be inappropriate to include a dead body in the picture as ‘it might make a Regimental Christmas card’, which it did. After recovery from his wounds at Snipe, he was asked by Wavell, the C-in-C India, to be his ADC and Comptroller. Bird was a fellow Wykehamist and had been at Winchester with Wavell’s son Archie. Among many things, he was responsible for mixing two gins every evening and helping with the crossword; he also attended an Old Wykehamist Dinner with Wavell and Douglas Jardine. When Wavell became the Viceroy, he asked Bird to stay on, but the latter decided that it was time to return to the war. He finally joined 8 th Battalion the Rifle Brigade in North West Europe, but within 48 hours his fighting was over – he was badly wounded. When he Tom Bird the day after Snipe opened his eyes in hospital he said to the doctor, ‘I am going to live’, and the doctor, noting his determination, replied, ‘Yes, I think you are.’ After lengthy recuperation, Bird accepted a posting as ADC to Jumbo Wilson in Washington, where he had taken over as Chief of the British Joint Staff Mission. Bird was advised that precedence was not something Americans were fussed about. ‘It was simply not true, they could mind very much indeed’, commented Bird. He accompanied Wilson to the Potsdam Conference, where Germany and the post-war order were discussed. On return to Washington Bird’s relationship with Lady Wilson, known as ‘The Alligator’, broke down completely. Bird went to Jumbo and asked to leave – ‘it took more courage than any night patrol’. Wilson was furious at the perceived disloyalty. A replacement took 12 agonising weeks to arrive, as candidates declined because of ‘The Alligator’s’ reputation. By the time that Bird left for England in December 1945 the rift with Jumbo was healed and they remained friends. He was demobbed as a Major in December 1945. One of his battalion’s riflemen described Bird as ‘a man of exceptional courage. When all seemed to be lost, there would be Dicky boy, calm and seemingly aloof from the dangers around us’. ‘Snipe’ by Terence Cuneo 4