Our finest hour

TEBOURBA. The name may be familiar to thousands of people, for a dual carriageway in Southampton commemorates a famous battle in a dusty corner of north-east Africa.

Yet few will know the reality behind that small but significant Second World War fight at the end of 1942.

For it was there that the blood of our grandfathers and great grandfathers soaked into the Tunisian soil.

And it was there where outstanding acts of heroism took place against the might of the German Army, who outnumbered the soldiers of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Hampshire Regiment, by four to one.

On paper, the British never stood a chance against that kind of strength, especially since Hitler's troops had air superiority as well as modern tanks.

Thankfully, though, the Hampshire regiment was well trained - and it showed in a victory against all odds at Tebourba, a small, arid Arab village 20 miles from Tunis.

Perhaps, more importantly, valour was to play a decisive part as well.

Sixteen officers and men were decorated and 20 were mentioned in dispatches for their inspirational roles in the battle, which lasted from November 29 until December 4.

In all, the 2nd Hampshire's strength was reduced to 194 from 689 in the face of violent German resistance.

The Hampshires somehow stood firm as they were bombarded with attacks from tanks, infantrymen and airplanes.

The British repeatedly counter-attacked, firing Bren guns from the hip and making bayonet charges.

One Hampshire soldier showed typical valour.

Major Le Patourel led four volunteers through a hail of machine gun fire to the German positions on high ground.

They silenced the enemy fire, but the four volunteers died. Major Herbert Wallace Le Patourel was not deterred.

He pushed forward alone with a pistol and grenades to attack the Germans at close quarters.

This incredible man of self-sacrifice did not return; his comrades thought he had been killed in action.

Le Patourel was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross - the highest award for courage.

Yet on the day the official announcement was made, he came back from the dead and was eventually able to collect his medal.

Le Patourel had been wounded and taken captive before being repatriated in 1943 from Italy with 700 other British wounded and sick prisoners.

He died in 1979, aged 63.

Ultimately, The Battle of Tebourba meant the British 1st Army could consolidate a position in the region from which they were never dislodged.

King George VI said it was "a triumph of individual leadership and corporate discipline".

Tebourba was yet another blow to Field Marshal Rommel, head of the feared Afrika Korps, who was already reeling from the defeat at El Alamein two months previously.

Four months after Tebourba, 250,000 Germans and Italians surrendered to the Allies.

Alan Cairns from Ashurst in the New Forest, told the Daily Echo: "Major Le Patourel, a Guernseyman, was aged 26 when he was awarded the VC.

"Two other officers in the regiment were also to receive Britain's highest gallantry award during the Second World War.

"They were Captain Richard Wakeford, 23, and South African Lieutenant Gerard Norton, 29, both of whose heroism during the Allies' advance in Italy in the summer of 1944 was recognised.

"Both also survived the war."

The opening ceremony of Tebourba Way, which links the suburbs of Millbrook and Shirley, took place on a wet April 30, 1953, amid military and civic fanfare.

The Southampton mayor, Alderman Burrow, told the crowd: "May this road be a way of peace, a highway which, though named after a battle, may serve only to keep in perpetual memory those who fought that we and succeeding generations may have peace."

For the soldiers who died at Tebourba, and for Major Le Patourel, who attended that poignant ceremony in the pouring rain of an English spring, their wish was granted.