IT WAS during the battle for the Reichswald Forest that John Towlson earned his Military Medal.

The troop commander’s Churchill tank Indomitable – of which he was driver – fell into a camouflaged pit late at night on February 8 1945.

But the attack on the Siegfried Line extension could not be halted. The commander mounted another tank and left the crew in the middle of the forest with no protection.

In the words of John’s citation: “There were many enemy left round the position including bazooka teams who repeatedly attacked. A spandau team worked their way towards the tank and engaged the crew who replied with bren and sten. Later they came under enemy artillery fire.  Despite all this Lance-Corporal Towlson rallied the crew together and worked unceasingly through the night to free the tank.

“By this display of courage and devotion to duty in the face of the enemy a valuable piece of equipment was saved from destruction, and furthermore was brought back into action at the earliest opportunity when it was badly needed.”

“We had to dig the tank out,” said John, “but it was terrifying being stuck there with the enemy firing at you.”

John, who now lives in Whitstable, Kent, volunteered for the 9th Royal Tank Regiment. In the months leading up to the invasion he was stationed at Charing.

He recalls all too well driving off the landing craft under water and thinking: “I hope the engine doesn’t cut out or I’ll be stuck under the sea.” He also remembers a large number of bodies in the water off Gold beach, mainly American soldiers.

“The front line was three miles away and we headed up there,” he said. “I remember this light coming slowly towards me and then suddenly whooshing past at incredible speed. That was my first experience of anti-tank fire.”

Although the Churchill was a robust vehicle, its vulnerability was brought home to John when the tank ahead was hit and exploded, lifting the four-ton turret right off. 

His own tank also took hits. An anti-tank shell struck obliquely so that it spun the turret round wrecking the gearing. Another shell came through the side just missing his legs and those of this co-driver. 

But there were lighter moments. On August 13 he suddenly realised it was his birthday, and as if from nowhere the tank commander produced a bottle of whisky. “Although he was an officer we were always on first name terms inside the tank,” he said. 

When the war in Europe was over, John was sent to Italy as a sergeant tank commander, to prepare for the invasion of Japan. But the Americans dropped their atom bomb and he never had to make that trip.