Another 7^th Green Howards man Joseph appears to have been in the wrong place at the wrong time, as his final resting place gives a clear clue as to his fate.  The majority of the 7^th battalion, including Carlton Edwards were involved in an attack on the Sidra Ridge area of Libya during the beginning of June, where their primary role was to support the tanks advancing towards the massed Rommel Korps opposite them.  It was a black day for the Allies as the 50^th Division (of which the 7^th Green Howards were a part) and the 150^th Division (in the Cauldron) suffered extreme casualties from prolonged fighting.

Although the Sidra Ridge battle cost the 7^th battalion dearly, it was still a ‘preferred’ option to being where Joseph was with the 4^th or 5^th battalion Green Howards (presumably he was on detached duty was this unit).  These unfortunate troops were in the extreme frontline of an area known as ‘Knightsbridge’ which was in the heart of ‘the Cauldron’.  The Cauldron was quite simply the worst place to be at that time as Rommel’s troops surrounded it on three sides and were giving the troops within a constant stream of troops, tanks and dive bombers to contend with. 

A soldier who survived the Cauldron wrote a brief diary of events and below are a few extracts:

“30^th May.  Shelling.  We’ve no stretchers and there are 236 injured friends lying all around.  Their moaning fills the silence of the night, it’s just unbearable to hear.  The heat is oppressive and we’re tortured by thirst…

1^st June.  At noon there was a terrible hail of bombs from wave after wave of dive bombers.  The trenches and walls of the fort caved in burying men alive.  It’s a horrific sight.

2^nd June.  Another hail of bombs from 20 planes, they come right down  low and machine gun.  We can’t hold on.  More men are killed, many more.  To round off this hellish day the R.A.F. comes and bombs us twice – so much for the help they promised us.

3^rd June.  This afternoon we were bombed three times by German and Italian airplanes.  We couldn’t get any water until the evening.  There were more injured everywhere.  Their screams of agony ring around us.  They beg for water but there is non to be had.”

This constant beating continued until the 10^th of June when the Cauldron was finally taken and any survivors taken prisoner.  Joseph died five days before and was laid to rest in a communal grave in Knightsbridge War Cemetery.      

He was the husband of Hilda and the son of John and Martha Jefferson, all of whom resided in Filey.