John Cloudsley -Thompson
John was born in Murree, India in 1921. He attended school in England, and in 1939 he volunteered to join the Army. After attending RMA Sandhurst , he joined 4 CLY just in time for their posting to North Africa
Soon after arriving in the desert, John suffered a bout of dysentery and recovered in hospital. Fearing that he would miss the coming battle, he wrote an SOS letter to his Colonel (CO) requesting him to facilitate a return to the Regiment, and took part in Operation Crusader in November 1941. By this time, John was B Squadron Transport Officer, in charge of delivering supplies of food, ammunition and petrol for the tanks. He experienced the confusion of desert battle conditions while trying to supply the Squadron and ended up running into the South African Division, warning them that German tanks (21st Panzer Division) were nearby.