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Auction: 19001 - Orders, Decorations and Medals
Lot: 875

'[Captain G. A.] Singer pointed out the tanks some distance ahead. Our second shot went home and the crew jumped from the burning tank into a slit trench. As we got level, Singer jumped off [the tank] and collected the crew. Among them was von Thoma, who was slightly wounded in the leg.'

A prized trophy goes 'in the bag', Gloucestershire Echo, 23 December 1942, refers

An important 'Second Battle of El Alamein' group of seven awarded to Major S. B. Ferguson, Royal Tank Regiment, who had the rare distinction of the confirmed 'kill' upon the tank of General der Panzertruppe (General of the Armoured Corps) W. J. R. von Thoma, Rommel's Second-in-Command - it was Thoma's bugged conversation as a P.O.W. that would reveal the rocket sites at Peenemünde

1939-45 Star; Africa Star, clasp, 8th Army; Italy Star; Defence and War Medals 1939-45; Korea 1950-53, 1st issue (Capt. S. B. Ferguson. R. Tks.); U.N. Korea 1950-54, unnamed as issued, good very fine (7)

Stephen Baddleigh Ferguson was born on 5 July 1918 at Cheltenham, Gloucestershire and educated at Cheltenham Junior and Dean Close School. Serving in the ranks of the Royal Tank Regiment for 4 years and 345 days, Ferguson would go to Sandhurst in 1939 and was commissioned 2nd Lieutenant on 11 May 1940. Serving in North Africa as a Troop Commander from February 1941, he was advanced Lieutenant on 11 November 1941 and was posted wounded in action on 15 July 1942.

Recovered, it would be his smart action initially in support of the 10th Hussars on 4 November 1942 that led to the 'bagging' of General von Thoma. A piece entitled 'Helped to capture von Thoma' which appeared in the Gloucestershire Echo of 23 December 1942 gives further detail:

'A Cheltenham officer's part in the capture of Gen. Ritter von Thoma, the Commander of the Africa Corps, is now revealed and it is disclosed that the officer was Lieut. S. B. Ferguson, the younger son of Mr. V. B. Ferguson, the Chief Warden for Cheltenham, and Mrs Ferguson, of Abbotsdene, Charlton Kings.

Captain Grant Allen Singer, the millionaire M.F.H. who actually made the capture, only to lose his life the next day, was ahead of the tanks in his scout car. When the armour of his car was pierced by a shell, he was picked up by the tank of which Lieut. Ferguson was the commander.

To tell the story in Lieut. Ferguson's own words,

"Singer pointed out the tanks some distance ahead. Our second shot went home, and the crew jumped from the burning tank into a slit trench. As we got level, Singer jumped off [the tank] and collected the crew. Among them was von Thoma, who was slightly wounded in the leg. After the capture the General presented Singer with his field-glasses."

Lieut. Ferguson had previously written home about his adventures, but it was not possible to reveal his name in connection with the capture before.

After leaving Dean Close he joined the Tank Corps, in the ranks. Later, on leaving Sandhurst, he became attached to the Northamptonshire Yeomanry, and after service with several units, was posted to the Royal Gloucestershire Hussars when he arrived in the Middle East.'

The capture of von Thoma is a fine story indeed. With the battle of El Alamein raging, the 10th Hussars found themselves advancing with the 2nd Armoured Division on the morning of 4 November. They saw the opportunity to strike and quickly advanced some 4,000 yards, destroying an 88mm gun and a number of supply vehicles before they found themselves engaged in a classic 'tank vs tank' battle. Ferguson, in the rear with the Royal Tanks clearly soon found themselves called into the heat of the action. Six tanks would be destroyed, before a seventh was spotted moving to the flank. Some dispute between the 10th Hussars and the Royal Tanks clearly exists in who made the 'kill', but the contemporary reports quoted above would suggest the honour to have been that of Ferguson. Having silenced the tank, they advanced and found the commander [von Thoma]. What such a high-ranking officer was doing in such an engagement remains a mystery. Perhaps he wanted a first-hand knowledge of the extent of the Allied break-out to relay to Rommel, perhaps he was searching for an opportunity to be taken prisoner in such a dire situation. Before the battle, Rommel had been preparing for the potential move of a retreat into Libya. Hitler had however decreed:

'As to your troops, you can show them no other way than to victory or death.'

von Thoma was considered by Rommel to have been attempting to seek the second option. Nonetheless, he went 'in the bag' and was swiftly taken to offer his formal surrender to Field Marshal Montgomery at his Headquarters. Churchill himself held the captive in high regard. He is quoted as having said:

'I sympathize with General von Thoma; defeated, in captivity and [forced to have] dinner with Montgomery.' (https://www.krh.org.uk/uploads/4/5/0/9/45090939/20110914-10-hussars-von-thoma_1_pdf.pdf refers).

Having seen hot action in Africa, Ferguson would later find himself in action once again in Italy during 1944, being wounded for a second time on 19 October 1944, by this time having been advanced Captain. The Gloucestershire Echo of 31 October 1944 again offers a first-hand account of his wounding:

'Captain S. B. Ferguson, has been slightly wounded on the face and head and is in hospital in Italy. In a letter to his parents he says:

"I was sitting on the turret of my tank when I heard a noise like an express train coming towards me. There was a terrific blast and I woke up on the floor of the turret not feeling any too well. I got one cut, the biggest of 5 just over my left eyebrow. It was not a shell, but a mortar bomb fired from a thing called a Kebelwerfer, that has six barrels."'

Returned home soon after war's end, Ferguson was married at Selsdon, Surrey on 16 July 1945 and must have served at some point with the 10th Hussars during the preceeding years, for his unit is given as such. Having seen further active service in Korea, Ferguson was promoted Major upon retirement on 17 August 1954. He died in Cheltenham in January 1982; sold with two copied portrait photos, newspaper extracts and research.

Footage of the surrender to Montgomery is available via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4FIVO2DwXw during which the narrator states 'General Ritter von Thoma, who fell into the bag with alot of other desert wildfowl.


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Sold for
£900