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I was the last Desert Rat left firing at Rommel's Panzers: Incredible tale of heroism behind Antiques Roadshow painting
- Ray Ellis, 93, is the only surviving 'Tommy' depicted in the painting
- Artwork shows the last day of the Battle of Knightsbridge in June 1942
- Viewers will see Mr Ellis describe the 'miracle' that saved his life tomorrow
By David Wilkes and Nigel Blundell
PUBLISHED:18:19 EST, 29 March 2013| UPDATED:18:19 EST, 29 March 2013
Ordered to ‘fight to the last man and the last round’, they stuck to their guns as their comrades fell around them.
For three days, the brave band of Desert Rats suffered relentless Panzer attacks and mounting casualties as they held the line in North Africa from Rommel’s advancing tanks.
Their heroism during one of the bloodiest battles of the Second World War was later immortalised on canvas.
Now the only surviving ‘Tommy’ depicted in the painting, 93-year-old Ray Ellis, has told of the ‘miracle’ that saved his life.
In an emotional moment to be shown on BBC1's Antiques Roadshow tomorrow, former sergeant Ray Ellis points to the dramatic painting and says: 'I am that man. I fired the last round'
'The Battle of Knightsbridge, 6th June 1942' by war artist Terence Cuneo features the helmeted figure of Ray Ellis and his doomed friend
The helmeted gunner in the foreground of the artwork, he is shown fighting to the end as the bodies of his brothers in arms from the 426th Battery of the South Nottinghamshire Hussars lie all around.
In an emotional moment to be shown on BBC1’s Antiques Roadshow tomorrow, the former sergeant points to the dramatic painting and says: ‘I am that man. I fired the last round.’
Describing the events of the last day of the battle on June 6, 1942, Mr Ellis told how he remained at his 25-pounder gun and witnessed the death of the shirtless comrade beside him.
He said: ‘My regiment had been given the order to fight to the last man and the last round and not to retire, and this painting shows our position after a long day’s battle.
‘I fought in that battle. I am in fact that man there. And the reason I can say that is because the regiment was almost wiped out – but by some miracle, I was the last man virtually, and I fired the last round.
‘That round, which was at about six o’clock at night, hit a Mark IV tank. Then the man standing at the side of me was killed because a German tank had come up behind us and fired its machine gun, almost point blank.
'And I took a deep breath and waited for mine. For some reason the tank didn’t fire and I survived and am still here.’
Ray Ellis, pictured left on his wedding day with wife Irene in 1946, was also pictured in Mersa Matruh during the war, right. Remarkably, the photograph was found on the battlefield months after being blown up during the Battle of Knightsbridge and made its way back to Mr Ellis
Mr Ellis and his fellow gunners pictured in Palestine in 1940. From left, Clifford Smedley, Reg Leigh, Ray Ellis, Jim Radford and Jim Martin. Smedley died at the 1941 Siege of Tobruk, Leigh survived the war, Radford was also killed at Tobruk while Martin was killed at the Battle of Knightsbridge
Mr Ellis was among 90 men from his regiment who were captured at the ‘Battle of Knightsbridge’, ironically named – possibly by a homesick soldier – because it was a barren desert crossing.
The rest of the regiment, which had already served in the nine-month Siege of Tobruk the year before, were killed. They had been ordered to delay the Germans at ‘Knightsbridge’ to protect the 8th Army as it withdrew.
The picture was completed by celebrated war artist Terence Cuneo in 1978.
Mr Ellis said: ‘When Cuneo was commissioned, he needed someone to tell him what it was all about, and I spent many hours with him describing the situation which he later painted.’
The painting now hangs proudly at the Queen’s Royal Lancers and Nottinghamshire Yeomanry Museum, near Newark.
It was brought to the Antiques Roadshow when the BBC’s experts visited Newstead Abbey, Nottinghamshire, former home of poet Lord Byron.
Mr Ellis turned up there to pay tribute to his dead comrades. The twice-widowed former headmaster, who lives in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, has written a book of his wartime experiences, Once a Hussar, to be published next week.
Ray Ellis turned up at the Antiques Roadshow at Newstead Abbey to pay tribute to his dead comrades
He said: ‘You feel guilty for having survived. I found my comrade Jim Hardy lying nearby. He had been cut in two. I took his water bottle and drank his water. I was in tears when I was taken prisoner.’
Mr Ellis was shipped from Libya to a prison camp in Italy. He escaped by marching out of the main gate as if on a work party and hid in the mountains for a year.
A young girl discovered him and led him to a farming family who sheltered him.
Mr Ellis named one of his daughters, Nerina, after her, and has returned regularly to the hill village of Massa Fermana, near Ancona, to visit the family who kept him alive.
A remarkable story also surrounds the photograph showing Mr Ellis in the desert during the war.
He said: ‘This photo of me at Mersa Matruh was blown up with my kit when my gun took a direct hit during the Battle of Knightsbridge.
‘It lay on the battlefield for many months until it was picked up by members of the regiment who visited the site while advancing through Libya after the Battle of El Alamein.’
On the Antiques Roadshow it is made clear the Cuneo painting is not for sale. Paintings by the artist, who died in 1996, regularly fetch £30,000 to £50,000 at auction.
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