Photo Credit: A column of British Churchill tanks advances across the rugged landscape of Tunisia in 1943. The lead tank is a Churchill Mk I with a hull mounted 3-inch howitzer.

Captain Hollands’ Rampage

British Captain Ernest D. Hollands took his tank on a daring attack against the German army at Steamroller Farm.

This article appears in: February 2023

By Christopher Miskimon Columns of smoke rose above the skyline around a Tunisian farming complex on February 28, 1943, wafting past the late afternoon sun through atmosphere punctuated by the crack of bullets, booming explosions and the screams of wounded men. Some of that smoke poured from the burning hulks of Churchill tanks belonging to A Squadron, 51 Royal Tank Regiment of the British First Army. Major E. W. H. Hadfield commanded that squadron, a unit decimated by a line of German anti-ta