Memoirs Of A Desert Rat: Hq Squadron, 4th Armoured Brigade 1942-1946

Kenneth W. Morris was a clerk in HQ Squadron, 4th Armoured Brigade ('Black Rats'), initially part of the 7th Armoured Division, who served in battles and campaigns including El Alamein, the liberation of Sicily and the Italian Campaign. As a clerk, he had access to a wide range of materials pertaining to his brigade's activities, and the privilege of working alongside distinguished senior officers like brigadiers Carver and Currie. Memoirs of a Desert Rat: HQ Squadron, 4th Armoured Brigade 1942 1946 is a personal story that chronicles thousands of miles of arduous campaigning - few units marched as far or fought as long. It is rich in detail - Morris documented troop movements, locations and precise timings - and both humorous and poignant at times, providing an intriguing mix of combat and downtime, desert life and bloodshed. It is a unique perspective on the war and the only known memoir of an HQ Squadron 'Black Rat'. AUTHOR: Kenneth W. Morris was educated at the City of London School and kept diaries from the age of 10. Between 1942 and 1946 he served as a clerk in HQ Squadron, 4th Armoured Brigade ('Black Rats') in the Western Desert, Italy and North-Western Europe. After the war, he became a civil servant at the Ministry of Education and qualified as a lawyer in 1958. During this time, he served under many British prime ministers, undertaking report and speech writing. On his retirement in 1981, he was the assistant accountant general at the Department of Education and Science. He was awarded the OBE in 1982 in the New Year Honours list and gained the Freedom of the City of London in 1989. He died in 2001. 44 b/w iilustrations