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The Battery was obviously as overflowing with praise for the 5th Hampshires, for having kept the enemy tanks at bay for as long as possible from their guns, as were the 5th Hampshires for all the support which they had had, from the guns which had been supporting them.

Lieut.-Colonel Newnham was so full of enthusiasm for the 155 Battery that he lost no time upon reaching the safety of our own lines back at Hunt's Gap, stating that "Those gunners, they were tremendous! Every man was worth the Victoria Cross."

On the 10th March he submitted a recommendation that 155 Battery should be given the highest award for valour, its devotion to their guns was an epic, with survivors remaining in action, as others had been silenced. Bitter disappointment however was to follow, when his plea was not honoured. It is known that the Victoria Cross Awards Committee operates on very strict rules, which means that each case not only has to be substantiated, but also has to be corroborated . Being as we were in a forward position, with no War Correspondent present on the spot, we had no outside witness of the actual battle, not even a photographer!

Furthermore, the Col. went on to say that the gallantry of all of the battery's personnel could not have been excelled, it being impossible to name those outstanding -each and every man gave his utmost. All in all, it was considered at the time to be QUITE OUTSTANDING as a whole. Even more so when it was in fact a real occasion of British doggedness and courage, all the more so, by virtue of the fact that this was the very first time these troops had ever seen action before. The fight which they had put up upheld the fullest and finest traditions of the British Army. It would certainly have been nice if a Victoria Cross could have been awarded to the Battery as a whole.

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